Buzz

Tonight I had a student who would not pay attention unless I called him Buzz, as in Buzz Light-year. He also called me Space Ranger, which I deemed ok for the night, as he was the only one (out of 4) that came to class. He is obsessed with Toy Story, so I used this to my advantage.

He was working, but very distracted when I asked him how Buzz did his work. He said, "Buzz is a spaceman, he flies from planet to planet with lightning speed"-his face was completely serious. I then replied, "if you are really Buzz, then shouldn't you be able to work with lightning speed?" I was hoping it would focus him, and it did. He was done with the worksheet in no time and got to move on to the more fun activities (which are a must for this student, because he needs the extra practice with letter sounds and blends-the focus of the fun activities).

Teaching children is never dull :)

Broken Brain

Today at Kumon one of my students was just guessing at the sentences, instead of reading them. When I reassured him that he knew the words and if he looked at them he could read it he replied with, "but Mrs. Brandi, my brain is broken!". When I asked him why it was broken he said he had been thinking so hard to do all the homework (he had neglected to do it for some time and had twice as much as normal) that it broke and now he "just can't think anymore".

It took all my effort not to smile in front of him. I understand the 'broken brain' feeling. It happened often when I was in college. When I had been studying or writing a paper for so long that my head hurt. You know that feeling. So I composed myself and looked into this darling little preschooler's eyes and said, "I can help you fix it". "You can?" he said with much doubt. "Yes, we just need to change your batteries" His face lit up. We stood up, wiggled a little then sat back down.

He got right to work reading his sentences. Right before he left he turned to me and said, "Mrs. Brandi, does my brain take double A batteries or triple A batteries?" I told him I wasn't sure because we didn't have to take them out. He smiled and left.

Oh, the joys of the little moments!

Sub Notes

Up until today I have had teachers leave very detailed sub notes to where everything was, what work we were to do as a class, etc. Today, however, was quite different.

I went into today knowing it would be an interesting day. I subbed for a special education teacher who goes into several classes to offer assistance to students in inclusion classrooms. While these students are in their least restrictive environment as a student, I found today that often their social skills are lacking in comparison to their peers.

Today I came into the classroom and saw the schedule with the classroom numbers, the students names I am to assist, and the times I am to be there. All in all, that was fine.

In several classrooms I worked with students individually or in small groups to provide them with the needed RTI time. While I have knowledge of RTI and the various tiers, I was not familiar with all of the programs and books that they were using with the students. My instructions for this included a post it that said the time of day I was to use it and what page number. Thank goodness the students are used to the program, because they deviated from the book in most situations-something that was not explained.

As stated before, the schedule had room numbers on it. This would have been great if the room numbers were on the doors to the classrooms, or the names of the teachers on the schedule, but this was not the case. The classrooms had numbers, but they did not match what was on my schedule. I ended up asking students and teachers where my next class to go to was, because I've only been in a select few classrooms in that school. I felt all day long I was relying on other teachers to tell me what students I needed to work with and where classrooms were. I was consistently having to question the students on procedures for the various programs and how many pages in the book they do. I felt more like an intruder than a help to the school and students. While everyone was happy to help me out, I felt like my level of athority within the students' viewpoint was compromised and I was at their mercy.

I could understand if I got called in this morning because a teacher was unexpectedly ill. However, this was not the case. I had planned to sub for this teacher since last week, plenty of time for her to write up notes on what I should do throughout the day.

At the end of the day how do I write a note to this teacher telling about the day? I wrote what we did in the RTI groups and apologized if this was not what she had planned. But what else was I do do? When the principal popped in to chat during my 'plan time' I did my best to show enthusiasm. But all in all, today was more frustrating than it should have been.

If nothing else, I gained a greater appreciation for teachers that leave detailed sub notes, and now know where the rooms are, should I ever need to sub for this particular teacher again.

Still Learning

Some things that I learned/ learned again in the classroom this week:

1. Time to wiggle is essential for pre-kindergardeners.
2. Pre-kindergardeners have a difficult time saying Criminger. It often comes out as Criminer or Riminer.
3. Second graders can be both helpful and deceitful. It is good to have more helpful ones in the classroom, as they point out the craftiness of the others.
4. I am constantly being observed (both by the students and by neighboring teachers).
5. Children still draw mustaches on the pictures of those that aren't their closest friends.
6. Something as simple as a marker line on a picture can hurt feelings and stir up a need for revenge.
7. Even at age 7, students still need to be told to put their coats on and zip them up when it is below freezing outside.
8. It doesn't matter how many times I see it, the 'ah, ha' moment still makes me smile.
9. Every classroom and group of students is different.
10. I came from a small town and a part of me will always feel at home in a small school, like I grew up in.

Parents on Board

Since teaching Kumon I have realized once more how important it is to have the parents on board with the students' learning. The way that Kumon is set up I am able to work with each student for a half hour twice a week; one hour each week. Although this time is valuable, as I am able to work with specific skills that go with their worksheet homework, but encompass much more as far as literacy goes, the parents typically spend 10-30 minutes each night with their students on Kumon homework (the nights they do not come to the center). This totals up to anywhere from 50-150 minutes each week (or about 1-2 hours). A parent who is spending time reviewing flashcards with their students in addition to the worksheets will easily spend 2 hours a week or more working with their student on learning (which is twice as much time as I have to work with them).

Where my frustrations arise is when I have parents (and I have several) who do not feel that it is important to be on board with the students' learning. I have a couple of students (remember these are 3-6 year olds) who are responsible for doing their homework on their own and if they choose not to do it, it isn't done. I can understand a parent letting the student suffer the consequences in 4th or 5th grade-but in preschool? Most students don't have the self discipline yet to make sure it gets done. This snowballs when they come to me, take the whole 30 minutes to do their worksheet (because they don't understand how to do it or haven't had practice in their homework) and I have no time to work on the fundamentals of reading, such as letters and the sounds they make and strategies to figure out unknown words. This is just one of the struggles I face (yet have no power to change) while I teach Jr Kumon.

Education Reform Obama

Obama interviewed this morning on MSN about education reform, something that many agree is drastically needed. It is important to know what the government is considering in this area, as the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. Please take the time to view this interview, if you haven't already click here.