Permit Received

I received my teaching permit/certificate in the mail yesterday. I am very excited to have it. The next steps are to get all my ducks in a row- transcripts, forms, recommendations. After that I need to send in my applications for the non-existent jobs. I am still optimistic, sanguine if you will. While there were RIF's, I still believe that things will change towards the end of summer.

My plan is to read this coming week too. I want to read some fiction as well as some teaching stuff. When I read it of my own volition it is far different than reading for class, so I'll still be relaxing. I'll get to reflect a bit as well, think a little about my student teaching and the classroom that I want to have going forward.

Remove the student, keep the teacher

Friday was my last day as a student teacher. It all came together after school as another teacher came up to me and said congratulations you're officially a teacher. Officially a teacher? Pretty cool.

The last day was pretty good. I wish that 1 or 2 of the kiddos would have held it together a bit better, but as a whole it was fun. I was happy to get a chance to talk to one of our kids (one of the 1-2 above) that has been "off" all week. I wanted him to know that I had high expectations for him, and know that he can do whatever is put before him... that being said, the behavior of late isn't going to cut it. I'm hopeful for him.

I also got in a soccer game with the kiddos. Picture 15-20 kids, boys vs girls and Mr. Hanson, on a small basketball court. No whining, no yelling, lots of encouragement, good fun. Gives me thoughts of a lunchtime soccer club (maybe once a week?) when I finally get my own classroom. Kids need adults to model how to play, how to be good sports, and how to get organized.

Hope!

Application Happy

Now is not the best time to be completing teacher certification. Many districts have RIF'd (laid off), and jobs just aren't there to submit applications for. Nonetheless I continue to put all my stuff together, and get my ducks in a row prior to the start of summer. Summer brings uncertainty, as everyone scatters- not good for references etc.

In Seattle, like many places, there are people and organizations that are upset by how the layoffs are being done. I get that the purpose of the union is to protect teachers. Without a union, the oldest would likely be skimmed off the pool as they are the most costly (although my guess would be that it might be publicized as a skill-set issue, not purely economic). What kills me, particularly as someone that is applying now (with ZERO seniority), is that the bottom of the totem pole continually gets chopped off. I am not sure what is worse: A) being cut simply based on time worked, or B) having a job based on time worked (not because of skills).

While I see merit pay as having flaws, there needs to be a better way than is currently being used. I also truly believe that the people who need to worry most about merit pay are those that have holes in their practice. What other assessment is there of our teaching practice? Principals do evaluations, but in many cases it takes a preponderance of evidence to remove bad teachers. How else can we ensure that we are providing great instruction... and not a set of instructions?

Ligers and Squirrel-B's...

I was reading some non-fiction with a first grader during reading today. He had read Junie B Jones, but had also brought over a non-fiction book on "moving" (animals that move). After reading his Junie B book we checked out the non-fiction. He was excited, and was totally engaged. That shouldn't be surprising, as it was a book he chose and was interested in. Hell-ooo!!

When we were done, I asked him to use what he had read to create an animal using 2 different animals in the book. He needed to include 1 special part from each animal... the result was awesome! He made a Squirrel-B, a flying squirrel that had a stinger and bee stripes. He then wrote a sentence about the Squirrel-B on the bottom. I was excited as he made the connection between reading-writing, and he was pointing back to the pieces of the text and writing about it (not just the pictures).

That served as a reminder of what I want to have in my literacy block... there is more to reading comprehension than responding to the 100 questions at the end of a story.

Remediation *edited

While I was running, and staring at Mt. Rainier, I got to thinking. I had sent along a link regarding an average Algebra class versus a remedial class. At issue was how engaged the students were in the respective classes. What I was thinking about (and have now edited, as I got off on a tangent) was the question: Why would they be more engaged? While a video or stop motion, or any number of things might be more engaging than strict algorithms, aren't they still within the realm of math? Aren't these the kids that haven't been successful in math? I liken it to a person who doesn't like basketball being told that they should watch an NBA Finals or NCAA tournament game (compared to two awful teams), as it will spark more engagement. Perhaps it is a difference in what we (and they) consider to be interesting. To me, the video was interesting... but I enjoy math and interesting techie stuff.

What I started to think about was the notion of remediation. A question that I need to post is: What is different, in terms of instruction, in the two classes? I also wonder what is different in the remedial instruction compared to the instruction the students have received in the past. If they had the same instruction (which I am not sure of at all), in particular being taught using the same instructional methods, then how can we expect their performance to have changed? Isn't that the definition of insanity?

That also got me thinking about remediation. Remediation in elementary school can often mean pull-out. In some cases that can be good, particularly those that use different instructional methods to teach old concepts. As an example, in reading we have some kiddos who head out to get extra reading support. When they are getting pulled out they lose connection with their classmates (and that community). Additionally, does nailing those strategies again and again really amount to anything different compared to past instructional strategies? Additionally, are any gains that they might get worth it? Remediation often seems like another method of gatekeeping, and another way for us to pawn students off to someone else- abdicating our responsibility.

Don't Quote Me

I have gotten myself back in the groove of reading for pleasure. Well, pleasure tends to be education books so I suppose I am reading for professional development as well. Alas... I am still in the midst of To Understand. I found myself nodding my head along today and writing a few great passages down...

• "When we assume that kids aren't doing high-level thinking we may need to consider whether the conditions we create are conducive to high-level thinking." -p 77
• "I want to change our emphasis from the number of kids participating to the quality..."- p 78
• "What we have in many schools is a whole lot of disengaged kids slogging through the essential skills in the right order, but who are starving intellectually."-p 79

Granted those are just some from a small section, but they are indicative of the remainder of the book. I find myself reflecting on my own practice, and the types of questions I have asked and who I asked. Was I being equitable? Was I trying to go for a myriad of ideas instead of simply going deep with one? Vice versa? What type of classroom environment did I create or establish, and how did it impact the learning my kids were doing?

In many ways I wish it were fall and I had a position already so that I could get moving. The creative juices, and the intellectual energy is starting to spin. Onward to applying and working through the process. One word descriptor? Arduous.

Butterfly Release Party

I wasn't able to accomplish what I wanted with the butterflies. I had hoped to be able to cycle back from the butterflies to our plants that we planted a little over a month ago. The main question I wanted the kids to think about was what do living things need to stay alive? This would be an interesting and challenging question for them as we had a butterfly not make it, and several plants not really become plants (more like cartons dirt!).

The dreams of getting to that point are over. Nonetheless we had a great time letting the butterflies out of the pavilion today. They wrote wishes/hopes for their butterflies before heading outside, then we went out and released them... and they don't go fluttering away in rapid fire fashion. It is a one by one, 10-15 minute thing (for our 30+ butterflies). Most were really engaged and excited. Some less engaged, but overly excited (something I am not sure I would ever say). We then returned to all tell our butterfly wishes as I gave out snack.

In retrospect, my overall planning would have put me at the end of my teaching as of last Friday. Bringing a whole new set of stuff into the following week when I am leaving is a little difficult. My master teacher has stuff to get to, and I am trying to wrap up. Poor planning on my part, but not much you can do with nature... butterflies don't hatch on my schedule but rather their own.