Summer Goal: Improve my Knowledge and Practice of Differentiation

Materials

Learner Profile Resources

IB Learner Profile Guide

Advance Organizers

RAFT Assignments

Sample KUD's

See My Reading Journal for Responses to these texts

Behavior Rubric

I've now used this rubric for two years and I'd swear by it.  I use it once a month.  I have the students self-assess their behavior in one color, then I also assess their behavior in another color.  I have them take it home and have their parents sign it.  Sometimes on the back I have the students write an area they would like to improve in and a goal for that area.

Behavior Rubric by Ronee Treadwell

The First Year

Let me tell you, they aren't lying when they say your first year of teaching is an exhausting whirlwind.  But, on the bright side it doesn't have to be as bad as they say!  I've made it thus far without having one moment that I wanted to quit the teaching profession, move to Africa, or jump off a bridge!  From what I've heard my first year has been pretty smooth sailing so far.  Here are the things that I've heavily relied on:

• Resources from college and student teaching, (yeah, I actually use that stuff!).  I was a HUGE pack-rat during college, volunteering, and student teaching.  I took anything and everything people offered me, asked for copies of things that I liked, and wrote lists of things I would like to buy.
• Resources I scrounged out of what I like to call the "dungeon" at my school (aka the old shower room with piles of stuff that the teachers don't want anymore).  Warning:  Make sure you check with people before you make off with anything!  Teachers are very protective of their collections.
• My AMAZING grade-level partner.  She was recently moved to 4th grade after teaching 1st and 2nd for a long time, so the year is new to her, too.  BUT we plan everything together.  We share our good ideas, edit out our bad ideas, take turns planning units, etc.  It really has saved my life.  Oh, and she's been teaching and at the school for a long time, so she helps me remember the things a firsty might forget (meetings, calling parents about student of the month, etc., etc.).
• Utilizing the summer.  Be careful of burn-out, but I spend pretty much my entire summer planning my curriculum.  Many new teachers are hired on the spot and don't have this convenience, but I took full advantage.  I gathered up all the teacher and student books, brought them home, and poured over the school and my own resources and the standards to create a thorough curriculum.
• Create an organization system for EVERYTHING.  You are going to have so many calls, papers, meetings, planners, notebooks, tests, assignments, e-mails, appointments, forms... that it is critical to be organized.  I have a parent communication binder, a curriculum binder, folders in my e-mail, a file for graded work, work to grade, work that the students need to finish or start, a shelf for all my supplies for each day of the week, a hanging file pocket-chart for the day's activities, etc.  My students and I would be swimming in paperwork if it weren't for these things.
• Start the year out positive, firm, and know your stuff.  Of course things are going to come up that are unexpected, but the students are expecting to learn the ways of your classroom on the first day, and it's your job to have every detail planned out.  I probably spend the most time this summer planning out routines and behavior systems.  From going to the bathroom to sharing ideas in class to lunch count to homework, you need to have every detail mapped out.  Trust me though, there are going to be some things that you find just aren't working, and you need to make a little tweek.

New Classroom Poem

New Classroom

“New” is a relative term, of course.

For it’s walls all but whisper the stories of thousands of children.

Surrounding me, they watch with wise silence as I bustle about,

Sticking them with pins, and staples and covering them with brilliant shades of paper.

They practically sigh as I hang my welcome sign.

But it is my new classroom and I love it so.

It could be that it is simply that it belongs to me that makes it so irresistibly delightful,

But, no.  It is something else…

Some ancient glow that is hidden deep within the heart of this classroom.

A love for children so deep that only a building built for that purpose can know.

And it seems to accept me.

Welcomes me into this new world,

And takes me under it’s wing like a mentor. 

That woody pungent smell is beginning to smell like home.

At first sight I saw the potential in this dusty, forsaken, aged room.

Like a premonition I saw it sparkling clean, bustling with children,

Purposeful and happy once again.

Now, as the day draws nearer I draw comfort from this space,

This home I have built for people I don’t yet know.

I can feel my new classroom glowing with pride and,

like me, waiting with anxious pleasure.

~Ronee Treadwell 

Powerful Article

This article, by Ron Berger, is one of those well-needed bits of inspiration.  He postulates that excellence is a culture and a climate, not a quality of children.  He paints a picture of his classroom as we all dream ours to be, one of empowering and impressive student effort with a culture of respect.  He also describes a case-study, detailing one newcomer's change from obstinate and full of school hatred to open and willing to work his hardest (though sometimes still difficult).  I love these examples of teachers doing the true work of a teacher.  Take the time to read it, it's worth it.

Fostering an Ethic of Excellence

Yearning

I know you know the feeling...  I have never wanted anything more than having my own class.  As my current temporary position soon ends I've begun the applying process again...  I just hope I can find the right place for me.  My goal: turn my longing into the most persuasive interview ever witnessed.  It's a long road ahead, and previously well trodden.  It's like that stretch of I-5 I know so well.  It's familiar and yet not a place I want to be...  I simply pray for the chance to have my own space to make a difference.

Keep at it, your time will come!

After submitting well over 150 applications in cities all over from tiny to huge, low income to high, desirable and undesirable, I finally landed my first teaching job.  And while it is not the traditional first year teaching position, I am excited about the possibilities.  (In case you are wondering, I will be team teaching a third grade class that has 56 students).  For next year's application process, as interview questions go for behavior management, it can't get much better than describing a behavior plan for 56 students.

A Bone to Pick

Recently my blog and I were referenced thus: "She's a brand new teacher, and reading things from teachers who are fresh and shiny reminds you of the wonderful things you forgot about as the system hardens you."  While I think this was intended as a compliment, and I am thankful for the recognition, it brought up some feelings that have been stirring in me since I stepped into my first classroom as a student teacher.


I worked with many teachers during my undergraduate and graduate degree, a select few of which welcomed my fresh idealism, new ideas, and sweet naiveté with open arms, hoping to glean some new ideas, modern information, and inspiration from my fresh outlook on education.  These teachers, from what I've seen, tend to be the ones who have kept up on the newest research, are using modern best practices in their classrooms, and have not lost the desire to educate the whole child, not just prepare him or her for a test.  As I said, though, these are a select few.  I encountered many more teachers stuck way down in a rut they have trodden into a canyon that they could no longer find their way out of.  These teachers scoffed at my idealism, and brushed it off with an, "oh, you'll learn once your a real teacher."  And I have learned.  I have learned that their are still teachers that are fighting the good fight, still teachers that care about children and not tests, still teachers that use best practices behind closed doors, teachers that still have ideals, values, and a hope for the future.


When I run into these naysayers I simply shake my head and move on, taking my inspiration and motivation from innovators like those at Rethinking Schools, those involved with the Harlem Children's Zone, the Northeast Foundation for Children, and so many more.  New teachers, keep your head held high.  Don't let the patronizing and negativity lead you to believe that there is no room for idealism in education.  Where would we be without visionaries, researchers, and teachers who are willing to take a risk to better education?