No Contest

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday (we all really needed the break, I'm sure)!

Other Art Teacher and I got the art show hung just before school let out for Thanksgiving and just in time for literacy night, so we had a lot of traffic through that hallway.  It was wonderful!  We were hearing a lot of feed back about how good our 1st and 2nd graders did and how great the hall looks with all that art up.  Our superintendent even got to see the kids efforts, which is pretty great I think.

Done and Done!

So I spent the last two days crawling around my floor mounting art for the 1st and 2nd grade art show; I am absolutely tapped out.  Because of certain issues, we (the other art teacher and I) mounted the artwork on large sheets of black bulletin board paper to be hung on the wall.The way I did mine meant working on the floor was easier than the tables. But I am sore, and my knees feel absolutely shredded.

But everything is hung and labeled now! Yay!  We've gotten a lot of positive reactions from teachers and students so far.  The older kids keep asking when they get to have an art show (it will be in the spring). I am very happy they're all so excited.

Overall, very pleased with how it all looks and the reactions.

Back in the Saddle! (Or at Least Trying to Blog Again)

When the new school year started, I had every intention of blogging on at least a semi-regular basis.  Alas, I have been lazy.  Of course, things have been rather busy...

Worst Day Since Yesterday

EDIT: Is it bad that I'm too lazy to go through and change all the present tense wording to past tense? I wrote this yesterday but forgot to post. Blegh.

Really, what can be more embarrassing than having a half-dozen teachers and aides witness a class full of kindergartners pushing your buttons thoroughly until you explode? To be honest, I really couldn't say.

In my last post, I declared that there was a new contender for the title of "the Challengers". Well the  kindergartners aren't giving up their title so easily. As you might have guessed, I've had a vexing time today (and I'm not even getting into the standardized testing going on right now--I'm testing a group to help out).

To start us off, I was informed that there was a new student, a quiet and sullen little boy standing near the back of the line. Then, one of my usual troublesome boys was really acting up; I left him sitting outside the office where he--I am sure--promptly fell asleep (I think he needs it anyhow).

I had a nice long talk with the kids about their previous behavior, and they were quite eager to offer up reasons the class didn't go well and how they could change that. Of course, there was plenty of chit-chat and interruptions galore. Nothing said penetrated their brains, I am certain, except for those precious few whom give me no real trouble on most days.

At first, they were marginally well behaved. But by the end of class, well... I didn't lose it like I would have at the beginning of the year, but I felt as though I could have.

Maybe I should have closed the curtains entirely (it really kind if stinks being on display for anyone passing through the cafeteria) and stood quietly while they went insane. Maybe that would have made an impression. I don't know. All I know is that I'm at my wit's end, and summer vacation has never sounded sweeter.

The No Good, Very Bad Day (but at Least it Wasn't Raining)

I think my kindergartners have a contender for the title of "The Challengers". I have just finished royally chewing out my 1st graders. And I gnawed a little on the fourth graders the other art teacher has (using my classroom). The poor things looked a little shocked, but they were treating their sub quite rudely.

Deep breathes, Underwood. Deep breathes.

Been having trouble with this class for several weeks now (since Christmas in fact), and they've had several instances of very disruptive behavior which was addressed first by putting their heads down and then by writing, as in this post.

Today was just the icing on the cake, the proverbial straw, my last nerve et cetera et cetera.  To even be heard (because counting down, ringing the bell, and standing quietly waiting for silence did little to provoke much more than several shushes and a return to previous deafening levels of sound) I had to yell so loudly they probably heard me the next county over. I marched them back into the hall to line up and chewed them out (which was witnessed by their teacher to boot). The final verdict is that they will no longer be doing art, they will be writing about art instead.

Joy.

Now I'm at the kindergarten, and these kids have been hit with a serious case of Spring craziness. I tried, but nothing was getting done. We came outside instead much like the other classes (as much because of general insanity as because the teachers are having a meeting).

The sun is shining, there's a nice cool breeze (80 degree weather this week, geeze), and this group of kids will be having art tomorrow, too, so why not?

My Hero...

Ohhh Spring Break, how I miss you.  It went by far too quickly, and I have learned what the worst day of the year is:  the following Monday.  I was pretty exhausted, which didn't help (for the curious, check my lj here.)

We had parent-teacher conferences today, and so it was certainly long.  I don't get parent or student visitors, and the time is generally spent working in the classroom.  It did afford me the opportunity to take down the snowflake mobiles my second graders did; I promised I would give them back after Spring Break.  Tomorrow I'll take pictures of them.

Shortly after arriving at the elementary from the kindergarten, I was paged by the office to receive a phone call.  Jodie, who is one of the secretaries at the kindergarten building told me that Dr. Warren, our Superintendent, wanted to see me.  Do you ever get that feeling in your gut, like you expect to turn around and find it laying on the floor because it's fallen out?  I sort of felt like that, only less dramatic.  I also had people sing-songing in the background that I was 'in trouuuubllllle'.  Those ladies crack me up.

As I have mentioned before, the "artroom" at the kindergarten is a stage.  I have no access to water, and so, just before we all left for break, I submitted a grant proposal for the money to buy a portable sink and accessories.  They're expensive, usually running anywhere from $700-$2000.  So no way can my art budget ever cover the cost.  When I arrived at the administration building, Dr. Warren had my proposal and was basically saying that it was ridiculous and unacceptable (though of course far less bluntly said), and my first thought was that I needed to rewrite it or something.  But, as it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised.

Dr. Warren, who told me she didn't even realize one could get portable sinks, said that the grant was unnecessary as I should have already had a sink, and I was to fill out a requisition form to be turned in as soon as possible.   They're going to buy my sink for me, no fuss, no muss.  When I was told I had to see Dr. Warren, I had no idea that it was going to be something so absolutely fabulous!  I was seriously squealing like a little girl on the inside.  I still am!  Dr. Warren is totally my new hero.

Attitude!

Just recently I have decided that I need only 3 rules for my classroom:

#1 - Have a good attitude.

#2 - TRY.

#3 - Have fun!  (Okay so this last one is silly, but I like it and think it's still important.)

No. 2 has been an unofficial rule for most of the year, something that I have continuously pounded into my students' heads.  But the first really only occurred to me after today.  Attitude is important!  Of course I knew this; so do most people, if only in an abstract, back of the mind sort of way.  It may go by a different name or phrase -- we routinely admonish the kids to "make good choices".

This week my kids have had a free-draw day, earned each 9 weeks through good behavior.  But today's 1st graders have had somewhat appalling behavior since Christmas, and as a consequence, they lost their free day.  Now, as it so happens, I had nothing planned for this eventuality.  So I got out a quote on attitude, one that my college mentor teacher gave to recalcitrant students to copy.  I had the children sit quietly with their heads down while I explained to them exactly why they didn't get free day.  Then I read the quote:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes. -- Charles R. Swindoll

 I feel that this quote is something of a truism, and I was really getting into it.  After reading it aloud, I further expounded upon how important having a good attitude was.  I'll admit I was on a bit of a tear (they've been incredibly frustrating for months now--talking, sniping, arguing, tattling, the list goes on).  I wasn't shouting, but I was loud and rather vehement, gesturing and pacing through the room.  And I'm not sure why (or even if I wasn't imagining things), but it seemed to me that for once the kids were actually taking in what I was saying instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.  Time will tell, I guess.

And then they spent the rest of the class copying that quote.

Now, having thought back about today and how thoroughly I lectured my students, I've thought about how this all applies to me, not just in my teaching but in my life.  Attitude really is one of the most important things in life, and I think it's something that one should always try to keep in mind.

As an instructor of small children, I know that how I feel has immediate effect on my students.  If I am unenthusiastic, so will they be.  I've noticed that my students are always more difficult to keep on task if I'm feeling low energy or low on excitement.  And it makes it hard.  But I also know that if I just take a few minutes before class to breathe, and to do whatever I need to do to change my attitude, the whole day just brightens.  Both my students and I will have much more fun.  Sometimes, I just need to do something utterly silly like wave my hands wildly in the air and jump up and down or have a quick stretch.  It wakes me up!  (Sorry, theater person here; we do crazy warm ups like that.)  Or maybe I'll read a bit of an interesting article or funny anecdote.  Sometimes I start the class speaking with a silly accent; giggling kindergartners can really lift my mood.  But if I ignore my less than wonderful attitude, I end the day feeling disillusioned, exhausted and put out.

It's something to think about.  If I police my current attitude and try to keep to a positive outlook, will things go more smoothly, even when they don't?  I'm not sure, but I think that it will at least make me feel better, more productive, and more fulfilled.

March Madness

It's funny, the last week or so, I've been feeling a lot more "awake" (which is ironic, considering some of the hours I keep) than usual.  I think I know the cause:  I started a lesson last week with my 2nd graders that I've been looking forward to for some time.

A wonderful thing, that enthusiasm.  I need to get more pumped about the other lessons I've been teaching, too, and stop feeling like an automaton.

The lesson is on Pysanky AKA Ukrainian Easter eggs.

When I was a kid, I used to watch Reading Rainbow.  (Is that still around?  I hope so; it was fantastic.)  One of the stories on the show was "Rechenka's Eggs", a story about an old woman who rescues a goose; the goose lays beautifully painted eggs as repayment for those it broke.  A very lovely story.  Afterwards, the show featured a segment showing the audience how the eggs are made.  I was (and still am) fascinated by how intricate and beautiful the eggs are.

When I was ordering supplies at the beginning of the year, I found the book in a supply catalog and got it.  As the 2nd graders are going through a pattern unit, I felt this would be an exciting project with lots of depth--culture, design, fun--and it's 3-dimensional, which the kids haven't really gotten to do yet, unless one counts the snowflake mobiles we created recently.

I can't, of course, provide 40 some-odd 2nd graders with real eggs, for various reasons, so I've decided to get plastic Easter eggs instead.  The eggs will be hot glued together, so as to survive the project as a whole egg, and then they will be gessoed white (gesso is canvas primer for any non-artists reading this--it's usually white and is thicker than normal paint, so it should provide a good working surface).  In lieu of dye, the kids will use tempera, and I'll apply a coat of spray varnish to give the eggs a glossy, finished look, which is also the final step for real Pysanky.

I haven't written out the entirety of the project's lesson plan, just what I need for this week and last, but I'll be hashing it out as I glue egg halves together this weekend.

When I'm not occupied by lesson planning, I've been playing catch-up with Art Sonia.  I signed up for it near the beginning of the year, but just never found the time to get any pictures taken.  I have a LOT of artwork to photograph, but I'm about half-way done.  I've got two more 1st grade classes to do and eight kindergarten classes.  Sadly, 1st and kindergarten each had about 3 times the finished work than 2nd or 3rd grade, as their projects have tended to be shorter in duration.  But I'll get it done eventually.

In other news, I'm still waiting to hear back from a Praxis III examiner.  I signed up at the beginning of last month to take the exam during March.  I won't be terribly put out if it gets pushed into April, as I know how swamped they are, but that's not going to stop me from checking up on them periodically.  I'd really like to get it over with, and I really kind of wanted to show off the Pysanky lesson.  Ah well.  Six to one, half a dozen to the other, as my father would say.

Now Presenting: A Crucial Step for Surviving Kindergarten

Roll your eyes towards the heavens, take a deep breath, and let it out--slowly, lest you explode.  Repeat as necessary.

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (or Most Other Consequences)

When I was student teaching, my mentor teacher introduced me to the concept of writing as a consequence of misbehavior (or rather, reintroduced it, as I certainly didn't make it through school without having to copy definitions now and then).

Flash-forward a year, and I had yet to utilize this consequence with my own students.  Until last week, that is.  For the last few weeks, one of my 1st grade classes had been acting up terribly, and I finally had had enough.  The "attitude paragraph" came to mind, and so I told them that they would be spending the next class writing instead of making robots.

Now, despite the fact that they wouldn't be making art, I didn't want the kids to write a bout something completely unrelated to the subject, so I found a handful of simply worded art definitions for them to copy.  (Any flashbacks to elementary school yet?)  They sat and wrote the whole forty minutes.  If they finished early, they started over.  The next time I had that class, the behavior was much better, and we were able to start working on the robot project.

The week before last, one of my 3rd grade classes had some atrocious behavior, and out came the definitions again.

On an individual basis, I use a check mark system.  The first check is like a warning, but I think my consequences were simply too vague for my students. I'm not even entirely clear on them either!  I've decided to go with the writing.  Two check marks will result in copying a half-page of definitions (which is roughly 5 or 6 short sentences) and 3 nets 'em a full page plus a talk with their teacher.  I've yet to have a child get more than 2 checks so far, so hopefully that trend will continue!

Going in Circles

Well I encountered a few more interesting challenges last week, and for once they didn't come from kindergarten. 

My lovely 2nd graders have been in the process of creating snowflake mobiles since just before we left for Christmas break.  Last week I had intended to finish the project off by having them tie all their snowflakes to a straw with fishing line.  It was, shall we say, terribly optimistic of me to assume this could be done quickly and cleanly in the span of 40 minutes.  Not. So. Murphy and I?  We're bossom buddies.  In either case, I'm going to need another day to wrap things up.

In one of my 1st grade classes, I had a particularly frustrating (and kind of sad) situation crop up.  The kiddos are using basic shapes to make robots right now.  One of my students wasn't drawing anything, pulling the old "I can't" card.  So I do my usual spiel about trying anyway, but still I get vehement (read: sullen) protestations.  The kid was adamant that all she could make were letters, which is totally bogus.  I suppose there's something about this particular project that is causing major brain blockage, because usually she will jump right in and start drawing stuff.

I tried everything I could think of (with twenty other children vying for my attention, at any rate).  I drew an example shape (we focused on a circle).  I made a dot-to-dot.  I even stooped so low as to guiding her hand for her, hoping she would get a feel for it.  I could barely get her to hold the crayon--all she would do is make a "c" and claim that was all she could do--even on the dot to dot. With the guided drawing, she completely relaxed  her hand to drop the crayon when we hit the c point.  She just STOPPED at near completion, and that was it.  Some of her peers tried too, but they weren't any more successful.  Maybe I should have tried an "o".  Sadly, I didn't think of that until it was too late.  Also, I'm hesitant to label it beligerence or a desire to get out of drawing; she's always very enthusiastic. 

At the moment, I'm stymied.  This week I'll be ready to try again, but...it's frustrating!

I have been incredibly remiss in regularly updating my reflections these last couple of months!  Shame on me.

It always seems that when I feel like there's something to reflect on and blog about, I never have immediate access to my blog.  I suppose it shouldn't matter; for example, at the moment of writing this entry, I am using Notepad, to be copy-pasted at a later time.  Doesn't seem all that difficult, I know.  But somewhere in the grand scope of things, it just didn't occur to me to do it, or it became an excuse not to write.  In short, I've been lazy.

But my New Year's resolution is to STOP--being lazy, that is.

The week following the holidays was quite slow and easy; the kids (all but one class) had earned free days for the 9 week period, so every class got to have free time while I kicked back and putzed around at my desk.  Not exactly the most stellar method of getting back into the swing of things.  It is now our second week back, and I have managed to kick some of the laziness in the butt.  I have some great lessons with my kids--unfortunately, I still end up dragging because I'm just not getting enough sleep.  Going to bed in a timely manner is perhaps my most difficult challenge!  But I've got to do it.

This week, my kids are doing the following:

K - Non-objective dot pictures.  They have a lot of fun with it, and it kind of builds on the book we read before the holidays (the Dot).  Today I even had a couple kinders who used the term as an answer to a question (correctly, if you don't count actually saying the word right), and I was thrilled to death!  I have no idea what I'm going to do with my 2-day a week kindergartners, but I have until Friday to figure it out.

1 - These guys are making ROBOTS.  They love robots, so dropping names like R2D2 and Optimus Prime or Bumblebee gets them all sorts of excited.  What this lesson involves is looking at a print of a robot sculpture I have (it is made from things like retro TVs--very cool) and identifying basic shapes therein.  Then we talk about how robots can look any way they want, not just humanoid, or rather "people-shaped", and how shapes could be put together in fun ways to make a robot.  Yesterday was the guinea pig class, and they got it, but there was a distinct lack of imagination and a lot more "copy completely or partially the teacher's example and the picture on the board and the stuff in Transformers".  I was a little disappointed, but it went okay.  Today though?  They blew my mind.  I did a demo on the board (and erased afterwords) and we talked about thinking.  In otherwords, think about what your robot looks like.  Can it fly?  Does it have arms?  A head or face?  Wheels?  Absolutely NO copying something they've seen before.  They had some incredibly detailed and imaginative robots at the end of class, and I can't wait to take these pre-sketches and make some awesome robots next week.

2 - Now, the second graders are probably completly exhasperated with me as we still have to finish the snowflake mobiles we started before the break.  Right now they are more snowflake and less mobile.  But we'll be finishing them up this week, and I will hang them from the ceiling (where they will likely remain right up until Spring Break, lol).k

3 - Third grade is currently in the midst of my "baby", that is, the unit I created as an assignment during my student teaching.  They are into the third and final project of the unit, the Laurel Burch project.  This week, we looked at and discussed some of the artist's work and discussed how she used color, line and pattern to convey emotion to the viewer.  We talked about themes, in this case friendship, and did a brainstorming worksheet.  On this worksheet, we all brainstormed 8 friendship action words like play and hug.  Then the kids had to assign each word an emotion and each emotion a corresponding color, line, and pattern.  Not everyone finished, but that will be for next week.  The backside of the worksheet contains two areas for pre-sketches, which they will be required to complete before they can start the drawing on their 12x18 paper.

In other news, the Challengers are once again challenging me--go figure.

My classes with them have not been as incredibly frustrating as they were before (this may be due to a return to a more, shall we say, hard-nosed approach wherein I give out sad faces and sad notes at the drop of a hat), but nonetheless, they frustrate me.  I don't know what it is about my kids, this class in particular, that makes me lose it and be all raised voice grrr.  But I do.  Today I had to kick out a child in my class--twice, no less--and it was the same one who got removed to the office for dumping 2/3 of my table supplies on the floor and throwing markers.  I started the class by dropping him outside the office as we passed because he was doing his usual messing with the other kids acting up thing and told him to come to class when he felt ready.  He came back about halfway through and got to work.  Had one marker thrown, but otherwise okay. 

Then he started acting up more, so he along with some others ended up with a sad face.  then he got a sad note and began to throw a small fit that included the shoving of my marker bin across the table.  Where it not for the presence of other kids around the table, it probably would have ended up on the floor.  this was about five minutes to the end of class, but I sent him to the office anyway to sit outside. he dragged feet all the way to the end of the cafeteria (so of course now I'm having to shout across the caf at him) and basically doing everything he can to not actually leave.  An aid happened to be going that way, and she had to walk him out.

Okay, so now I've got to settle the rest of the class (who always take any opportunity to chatter that they can) and get them lined up and back to their home room.  Goes just fine.  After this, I sat and talked with my little trouble-maker.  It didn't do much good, as he really couldn't get past the stage of crying and protesting that he didn't "want a sad note!"  I explained why he was getting one, but I'm not sure he actually payed any attention.  He really just didn't want one, and I don't think this particular kiddo really got why what he did was against the rules.

He is honestly my most challenging student as far as behavior goes.  And I know that I'm not handling it correctly.  Problem is, it's proving to be incredibly difficult to change how I behave when confronted with his misbehaviors.  Part of the problem is that the whole class is kind of wild, so taking the time to deal with one student seems to give them cart blanche to go wild.  But really, I just need to stop and breathe.  I need to THINK before I react. Gah.  Back to the drawing board.