Mrs Hoffmans Class|My Thoughts On Elementary Education & Elementary Special Education

It’s been snowing a lot by me and over the past 2 weeks local schools had their share of snow related delays and closings.  This may be because some students and teachers have specific rituals they do, before going to bed, when snow is in the forecast.  Here are some of the things they do in hopes of a day off:

1. Place a spoon under their pillow
2. Put an orange in the freezer
3. Wear their pajamas inside out and backwards
4. Tape a penny to the front door
5. Yell “snow day” into the freezer
6. Run around a table exactly 5 times
7. Flush ice cubes down the toilet
8. Throw ice cubes out a window and at a tree
9. Throw a paper cup out a window that faces north
10. Do a dance while singing “let it snow… let it snow”

This is a fun list that students of all ages can enjoy.  It could also be a fun way to teach the scientific method, probability, history of rituals and superstitions.  Can rituals impact whether or not there is school?  Do all students in the class need to participate for there to be a snow day?  Who came up with these ideas?  Maybe your class is creative enough to come up with some rituals to add to this list.  If so please share them.

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Growing up, whenever I learned about Martin Luther King Jr., I learned about his dream and how he contributed to the civil rights movement.  What I never really learned was about Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood and what specifically lead him to become a freedom fighter.  The book reviewed below illustrates this from the viewpoint of Martin Luther King Jr.’s older sister.

Title: My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Author: Christine King Farris

Illustrator: Chris Soentpiet

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing

Copyright date: 2003

Grade  level(s): 2-4

Genre/Category: Biography

Number of pages: 36

Primary audience: boys  -  girls  -  both

Awards (if any): N/A

Summary: A look at Martin Luther King Jr. childhood through the eyes of his older sister.

Book’s Strengths:

Theme Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood

Character(s) Martin, Alfred, Christine, Mother Dear and Father

Setting Atlanta, Georgia

Plot Martin always played with his brother, sister and 2 white boys from across the street.  One day his friends said they could no longer play with Martin and left town.  Martin started to see what his parents were protecting him from and decided he would one day change things.

Style conversational narrative

Dialogue very little dialogue

Curricula uses:

Reading skills: vocabulary, setting, sequence, compare and contrast

Other areas: history of Martin Luther King Jr and segregation

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On August 22, 2010, the NY Daily News published the article “Department of Education Employees Busted For Using Sick Days to Take Paid Vacation.”  Even though this article is a few months old, with winter vacations coming to an end I think it is an appropriate time to share it.

According to the article over a dozen teachers have been fired or required to pay heavy fines for using sick days to extend their vacations.  Though each of the people discussed in this article were able to obtain notes from doctors, Facebook pictures, tans and bragging tipped off co-workers and administrators.  DOE spokeswoman Ann Forte stated in the article that, “Sick days are for when a person is sick; if teachers or staff are found to be abusing the policy to take a vacation, we will take action.”

If you were planning on taking an extra day please think twice.  An extra 24 hours of relaxation isn’t worth the possible consequences in my opinion.

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Some general things to ask yourself before showing a movie:

• Do you know the copy write laws and are you following them? – visit Movie Licensing USA for information on the laws

• Is the movie appropriate for your students? – consider age, gender, background and English proficiency

• Are students going to sit at their desks or move to a designated viewing area?

• Why are you playing it?  Is it simply for entertainment (you need a licensing agreement) or does it have an educational value?

Questions to ask yourself when the movie is chosen as an instructional tool:

• Will the movie be used to introduce or conclude a topic?

• Are you going to play the whole movie or just a scene or two?

• What will students be doing while watching the movie?  Are they taking notes, answering questions etc.?

• If students are only watching and listening to the movie how will you know if they learned anything?

• When the movie is over will there be a discussion?  Will students be asked to complete an “Exit Slip” or write a journal entry?

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About a month ago I wrote about “The Many Jobs Of A Teacher.” Recently I needed to play the roles of detective and judge.

The Situation: At the end of the school day two students were arguing over a toy that they both said belonged to them.

Facts and Observations:

Student 1:

• Was seen with the toy as he entered the school in the morning and was told to keep it in his book bag

• Said the toy was given to him by his father when he came back from a business trip

• Began to cry when told the toy will be taken and left on the teacher’s desk

Student 2:

• Was seen holding the toy at the end of the day

• Said the toy was given to him for his birthday

• Said he gave the toy to his brother

• Said he lost the toy on the bus

• He does not take the bus

• Walked away and joined the class on the carpet when told the toy will be taken and left on the teacher’s desk

Conclusion: Based on the facts and observations it was decided that the toy belonged to student 1. While student 1 was seen in the morning with the toy and had an emotional attachment to it, student 2 had no emotional attachment to it and no clue what his “story” was.

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Most of the time teachers are good at leaving detailed lesson plans for their substitute teachers but there are occasions when nothing is left or only a plan book listing times and subjects can be found.  The latter happened to me a few days ago.  On the teachers desk was an opened plan book that said “P.E.,” “NY map review,” “geometric shapes pg 64, 70, SL 1 10,” “spelling,” etc.  Lucky for me this was a co-teach classroom.  The teacher I was in for taught science and math while the other teacher taught social studies and English.  Since science is taught every other day all I needed to do was figure out math which I did during first period prep with the other teacher.  Since situations like this do occur there are things a good substitute can do to prevent total chaos.

• Get to the school 15-30 minutes early, it will give you time to make plans for the day.

• Find another teacher teaching the same grade level.  Sometimes a teacher will email plans to a co-worker last minute.  Also, sometimes all grade level teachers teach similar material around the same time.  They may be able to point you in the right direction for page numbers etc.

• Go to the school library and see if you can check out a movie.  You may also need to search for and sign out a TV and VCR or DVD player

• Look around the room for materials you can use.  For example, construction paper for coloring or plastic geometric shapes for making patterns.

• Bring materials with you:

  At least one read aloud book that you have a lesson designed for.  My book is “A Giraffe and a Half” by Shel Silverstein.

  A list of writing prompts and loose leaf paper (in case you can’t find any or it’s locked up)

  Construction paper of your own (again in case you can’t find any or it’s locked up)

  Various coloring sheets, word searches and worksheets that you can make copies of

• Know instructions for games and community builders.  Some of my favorites are: “Hangman” using only spelling words or words posted around the room, “Sparkle,” “I-Spy,” “Simon Says,” and “Line-Ups.”

• Ask a few students what they have been working on, to see the last page they read in their textbooks, etc.  I would get them started on an independent assignment though before doing this… You don’t want them to know you’re winging it.

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When I was in college, one of my professors had me fill out, what she called, a “Children’s Literature Format.”  Back then, I needed to take a book out of the library to complete the form but now that my student library is growing and it is getting difficult to organize, this form has come in very handy.

Here is an example of how to use the form.

Title: A Hen, A Chick, and A String Guitar

Author: Margaret MacDonald

Illustrator: Sophie Fatus

Publisher: Barefoot Books

Copyright date: 2005

Grade  level(s): Pre-K-1

Genre/Category: Folktale

Number of pages: 32

Primary audience: boys  -  girls  -  both

Awards (if any): N/A

Summary: Based on a Chilean folktale a boy is given pets from relatives, and by the end of the book the number of pets is at 16.

Book’s Strengths:

Theme is a playful way to help children learn to count and introduce animals

Character(s) a boy, his family, and his pets

Setting on a farm in Chile

Plot the boy starts off with no pets but throughout the story the number of pets grow leading to a farm filled with animals that like to dance.

Style song (comes with a CD)

Dialogue animal sounds

Curricula uses:

Reading skills: repetition, sounds, comparisons, punctuation, -ed and -s endings, and grouping

Other areas: counting animals, life cycle of animals, background of Chile, discussing other farm animals, recognizing sounds of animals, and singing and dancing

**Click here for a “Children’s Literature Format” template.  You will notice that I left out the ELA standards section in my example.  This is because that information will be different based on what state you are in and how you plan on using the book.  Also, since this is supposed to be an easy way to organize books the information should be kept to one page.

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Though schools are not a breading ground for bed bugs they are a potential center for their spreading.  According to the NY Post and NY Daily News there are more then double the amount of confirmed bed bug cases in city schools this year then there were this time last year.  The NY Department of Education does not consider this an epidemic and does not mandate that all parents in a school with a confirmed bed bug case be notified.

If you are concerned about the possibility of bed bugs invading your school, Bed Bugs: What Schools Need to Know is a great resource for teachers and other school personnel.  It discusses what bed bugs are; what to do if a bed bug is found on a student; how to keep bed bugs out of the classroom; and provides a parent notification letter.

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Since the beginning of the school year I have spent time in many “Peanut Free” classrooms.  These rooms contain students that have minor to severe peanut allergies.   Students can get hives, abdominal pain, start vomiting or go into anaphylactic shock from eating, touching or even smelling peanuts.  Depending on what causes your student to have a reaction can help you determine how “Peanut Free” your classroom needs to be.  For example, some students only have a reaction when they physically eat a peanut product while others will have a reaction because they smell peanuts on another student’s breath.  Here is a list of ways to make your classroom “Peanut Free;” starting with the least restraining to most the preventative.

Allow peanut items in the classroom:

• Don’t allow students to share snacks.

• Have a “Peanut Free” table where peanut products are not allowed.

Don’t allow peanut items in the classroom:

• Post a visible, easy to read sign on the door stating that peanut products cannot enter the room.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

• Send a letter home asking parents not to send snacks/lunches that contain peanut products to school with their child.

• Have students wash hands before entering the classroom.

• Have students wipe face with wet nap before entering classroom.

• Don’t let any lunchboxes in the classroom.

• Keep an EpiPen in the classroom and know how to use it– if this is necessary the student who needs it will have a prescription and the school nurse will be notified.

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If you look up the definition of teacher you will find that a teacher is a person who teaches or instructs others (usually professionally).  If you are a teacher you know that we are so much more then just “educators”.  We are also EMTs, Councilors, Detectives, Judges, Janitors, Police Officers, and Secretaries.

Teachers are EMTs – We may not be certified EMTs and deal with medical issues on a much smaller basses but we are first responders when a child gets hurt or sick.  We need to decide if a band-aide or resting is the cure or if the student needs to go see the nurse.  Some of us may even be required to know CPR and/or how to use an EpiPen.

Teachers are Councilors – We give advice to students about bullies, making friends, etc.

Teachers are Detectives – There are times when situations (normally appearing in the form of he said she said) occur between students.  We are the ones that need to figure out who was involved and what really happened.

Teachers are Judges – Once we take off our “Detective Hats,” we need to resolve the dispute.

Teachers are Janitors – Throughout the day we may need to clean up paint spills, pencil markings, and snack crumbs.  While, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we ask our students to clean up, there are still almost always things on the floor to be picked up and put away.

Teachers are Police Officers – This means making sure students follow classroom rules and making sure any consequences for breaking the rules are carried out.

Teachers are Secretaries – While secretaries work for a person or company we work for ourselves.  We keep records, sort files, make copies, set up meetings, write letters to parents and more.

I don’t think the job of a teacher can be defined in one sentence. Though our main goal is to teach our students our job description encompasses so much more.

I feel this is not a complete list and will add to it if I think of anything else.  Feel free to do the same by leaving a comment.

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