A Teacher's Ruminations

Another brief anecdote about my son...a few days ago we had a lot of snow in a short time in Calgary. Driving to work in the morning was treacherous - no snow days here. When it was time to go home I saw a teacher walking away from the parking lot. I stopped my car and asked her where she was going. She said that she was walking to the train station because she doesn't drive when it snows so much because her car gets stuck in the snow. So, I offered to drive her and she was grateful. It took me a few minutes out of my way but I probably saved her a good 20 minutes and the risk of slipping on the ice. After I dropped her off, my son, who was playing with his DS in the back, quietly said, "That was nice." I said, "what was nice?" His response: "What you just did. That was nice." You think they're not listening or noticing but they are. Our actions DO speak louder than words. "Slice of Life Story Challenge" at http://twowritingteachers.w...

Today, unlike other days, my son didn't want to listen to the radio on the way to school. Instead, he wanted to count to a very high number. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one right now. Suffice it to say that this is a personal project of his that keeps increasing in size over time. So, as we drove away he started his counting frenzy. He got into the 200's before he stopped and then we engaged in the following dialogue. My son: If someone got to 99... Me: You mean 999? My son: Yes. If someone got to 999 where would they end up next? Me: 1,000. My son: You mean 1-0-0-0?! Me: Yes. My son: Wow! He would be rich! Or she! Then, he asked to listen to music on the radio. A lovely way to start the day. “Slice of Life Story Challenge.”

In the current climate of teacher bashing, increased standardized testing, and the push to evaluate teachers by student test scores, it is imperative that teachers, families, and students stand up and say, "Enough!" Although there may be individual projects many of us are engaged in to stop the tide of mediocrity and the destruction of public education, there are two projects that need and deserve all of our support now. First, teachers stand tall in defense of our profession and for the welfare of our students by signing the declaration of professional Conscience for Teachers at the change.org petition site. Encourage your school to become a School of Professional Conscience when your faculty votes to endorse the Declaration. http://education.change.org/petitions/view/a_declaration_of_professional_conscience_for_teachers And, while you're at it join the following cause on Facebook and make your voice heard beyond the confines of your school site. We are teachers...

I have just joined the Read to Me - Picture Book Reading Challenge. I have committed to reading 200 picture books to a child between now and Dec. 31, 2011. I will be blogging about the books I choose to read and my experiences reading to individual children. I will be doing this at school with my students and at home with my son. I am looking forward to this challenge. Won't you join me? If you are interested go to the following website to participate! http://www.theresabook.com/read-to-me-picture-book-reading-challenge/

OK. My daughter read a recent post I wrote on this blog and she says I'm too hard on myself. Instead of beating myself up about what didn't go well in my classroom she wants me to celebrate all the things that do go well. So, here it goes, my end-of-year present to myself - a list of all the positive things that have transpired this year, not in order of importance, with little or no additional commentary from me. 1. A parent who could not attend the recent literacy session I did for families asked when I was doing the next one because she'd heard the first one was very informative. 2. Our last Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting went really well; I shifted the focus to teacher practice and pedagogy. 3. My students freely give each other appreciations during closing circle. 4. My most challenging student is gradually and successfully becoming a valued and valuable member of our class. 5. Five students have made considerable progress in their spelling devel...

At the end of the day we have a closing circle in my classroom. It is intended to give the children and me a moment of quiet and reflection at the end of the day in the same way that morning meeting energizes us to spend the day learning and playing together. Depending on how much time we have for closing circle - I find that 5 - 7 minutes is just right - we may do a quick check in about our day by putting our thumbs up for an excellent day or thumbs sideways for a good or OK day. If we are not rushed then I will may ask the kids to answer the following question: what will you share about your day with your families tonight? Lately, we've been doing appreciations or thank you's. The only provisos are that you appreciate someone who is present in the room, that you start your appreciation by saying, "(Child's name), I appreciate you for...", and that you look that person in the eyes as you speak to them. I've noticed that the children's comments ha...

At the end of every marking period, my grade 2 team asks students to give themselves report card marks on a modified one-page sheet with descriptors similar to those on the report card that teachers are required to complete. The children score themselves on a scale of 1 - 5 in the same way that we teachers do on the report cards. As part of my doctoral work I am reading an article entitled, Rewriting narratives of self: reflections from an action research study by James Pauline, Educational Action Research, 7: 1, 85 - 103 in which the researcher recounts his back and forth use of quantitative and qualitative data, and how the qualitative data gave him more useful and interesting information than was available from the quantitative data. He especially remarks on the fact that the numbers and rankings gleaned from the quantitative data are beside the point to the information he gets from the conversations, written reflections, and comments of his research participants. While he init...