You hear that? It's the winds of change.

I remember recently asserting that last year was my rookie year, and this next year I will be perfect.  I've made all my mistakes, and I know exactly what I'm doing now.  I regret to inform you that this is no longer true. Things are changing.

The way our department is set up, sixth grade has had 2 Language Arts (reading) teachers and 2 English (writing) teachers.  We were separated into teams- 1 LA teacher and 1 English teacher both had the same set of kids for an hour each.  This system worked, but not as great as it could have.  Reading and writing are difficult to separate because one leads to the other.  Reading teachers needed to be on track with their English partners, and also be on track with the other reading teacher.  If we had been completely in sync with our partners, it would have been fantastic...but that that didn't always happen.  Part of that is due to the fact that our 6th grade English staff was completely new (with me being EXTRA new :).  

This upcoming year, things will be different.  Instead of teaching just one subject, we are all going to teach both subjects.  For example, I will have one set of kids for an hour, they will take a break, then come right back to me for the second session. Repeat.  This is what my schedule could look like:

1st- Reading (group 1)  

2nd- Writing (group 1)

3rd- Reading (group 2)

4th- Writing (group 2)

5th- Writing (group 3)     

6th- Plan

7th- Guided Study

The only thing that won't be completely smooth about this transition is that because of our 7 hour schedule, and electives being at the end of the day, we will have to separate one group.  The highlighted 5th hour will have to have reading with my team partner at some point during the day.  It is not ideal, but it is doable!  Fortunately my team partner and I work very well together.  We are the most in-sync-est team in the building, so I know it will work! :)

Of course, there is one aspect of this new situation that scares the livin' liver out of me.  What is that situation?  Oh, it's "Johnny."  You know Johnny- he's the one who is ALWAYS in trouble, and is most often discussed in the teacher's lounge.  He blurts out, tattles, and calls people names.  Every class has a Johnny.  With this new setup, I will get Johnny for two hours in a row.  Usually by the time class is over, I'm ready to pull my hair out (assuming he hasn't made it to the office).  Basically, I'm worried about potential hair loss this year. 

On the upside, I will have fewer students , and those students I will get to know REALLY well.  If class sizes remain the same, I could deal with as few as 60 kids, versus 90-100. Of course, that could all change too.  

Here's to using my degree like it was supposed be used- ENGLISH! :)

-Mrs. C

Summer for Realz

School is out...again!

Today was the final day of my 4th grade summer school adventure.  I would love to say that it opened my eyes to the wonders that are elementary school, but that's not exactly the way it happened.  If anything, it made me realize that secondary is the place for me.  I really enjoyed many of the kids, but at times, the tattling, stubbornness, and rowdiness was just too much.  I'm ready to get back to kids who get my jokes and enjoy dystopian novels.

Tonight I will be meeting with teachers from the English department to discuss possible changes in our schedules and classes next year- I may end up doing more than just the reading element.  This will be interesting..!

-Mrs. C

The 25%

I have probably learned more in the past week than I will all summer long.  Trying my hand at teaching 4th grade has been quite the experience.  I will say, though, that I am definitely getting attached to some of them.  Because there are 2 middle schools, and each middle school has 2 teams of students, I have a 25% chance of having some of the kids again, assuming they don't move out of the district.  There are a few that I'm rooting for!  On the flipside, there are a few of them that I'd prefer landed in the opposite 75% ;).

One thing that I enjoy about 4th grade is that they are still VERY eager to please.  With my 6th graders, there are kids who are absolutely fine with sitting for an entire hour (every day) with their arms crossed and heads down.  No amount of praise or encouragement will make a difference.  Fourth graders, on the other hand, thrive on praise.  I've allowed them to work in groups, and I've noticed that if I praise one group for an EXCELLENT job in a certain area, the others hear that praise and try their very hardest to earn the same compliment.  Even the trouble makers- they still have some amount of pride in their work.  I like that!  I suppose somewhere in the journey from 10-12, kiddos change a bit!

One thing that I need to work on is training myself to only answer students who follow the procedures.  I tell them that they need to raise their hands and wait to be called on, but more often than not, if Mr. Blurts-a-lot yells the correct answer across the room, I will accept the answer, leaving Procedure Patty with her hand in the air, unable to answer.  It's so much easier to go with the blurted right answer, rather the right behavior...but I'm realizing it's not sending the right message and making class more chaotic.

On Thursday, a few of the kiddos really warmed my heart.  I know for a fact that I am not nearly as good with them as their actual 4th grade teachers (One of them was the district teacher of the year.  No big deal, right??!), but they do seem to like me.  One kiddo has brought me a Hershey's kiss for the past 2 days, and today, several from my 5th section made it clear that THIS was their favorite class out of alllllll of summer school.  Not bad for my first week, am I right? :)

Hopefully the kids do some funny stuff that I can write about.  It's about time that they made me laugh...!

-Mrs. Combs

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

So far I've experienced 3 stages of summer school, which I believe are much like the stages of grief.  Or maybe totally different.

Day/Stage 1: "Where's the nearest escape route?"
Day/Stage 2: "At least it only lasts for 1 month..."
Day/Stage 3: "Wait, I kind of like these little guys!"

I wouldn't say that I've reached full blown acceptance of my summer school situation, BUT there have been major improvements since Monday. 

On Monday, I wasn't sure where to be, what to do, how to talk to 4th graders, and where the busses load...among other things.  Elementary is a whole new ballgame.  They require your attention 110% of the time.  They want to be the helper.  They aren't capable of choosing their own seats.  They cannot deal with "Hold on just one moment."  It is really and truly exhausting.  Pretty sure I took a 4 hour long nap on Monday.  It was more stressful for me simply because I didn't know the schedule or the building, plus I was/am teaching out of someone else's classroom.  I don't like being out of my element!

Fortunately Tuesday went more smoothly.  I knew where to send the kids and was somewhat familiar with how the bus routes worked.  I struggled a bit more with classroom management,  though.  I felt as if I had very little leverage.  There are no grades, so that's not a motivator;  students are whisked in and out of the room so fast that I feel like I can't really connect with them; and although the head of summer school helps with discipline it's not the same structure that I'm used to.  Basically all I'm left with is "please do your work" and "I'd hate to have to call your parents."  Neither of those inspire greatness.

Today I was actually dreading the lesson because I was going to ask them to work with a partner.  Based on the partner - work skill level of my 6th graders I assumed it would be tragic.  When it came time to work, I was shocked at how well the kids did!  They put more thought and effort into their work than some of my Pre-AP do!  Walking around the room, I heard kids say "Let's go back and look in the story," and "I said my ideas, now what are yours?"  Is this real life??  I don't even work with adults that well! ;)  I can only assume that they have some rockin' 4th grade teachers that have groomed them to be able to do this. I was blown away.  Even the kids that I initially labeled as troublemakers jumped in and worked well together.  It was awesome. (It didn't hurt that they were competing for candy :)

So, although they still exhaust me, these kiddos are really starting to grow on me.  I still think I am better suited for secondary, but I'm confident that I will survive the summer.

My first 4th grade rookie mistake?  Telling a student that I am not very good at teaching math, and that I didn't want to confuse him on his homework.  The student heard "I won't help you," when what I really meant was "You reaaalllyy don't want me to teach you math!  It's for your own good."  I've got to learn how to word things differently.  Maybe I should learn some math as well!

-Mrs. Combs

School's out for the summer....right?

The school year is over and summer is here!!

Well, almost.

During the month of June, I will be teaching summer school.  And not just summer school...summer school for 4th graders! It will be an entirely new experience.  My certification is only for grades 6-12, so I'm really scraping the bottom of my expertise barrel. I'll be in a new school with younger kids in someone else's classroom (probably the weirdest part).  Fortunately, I was given the "reading comprehension" class, rather than math or phonics- I would have really been out of my league then!  It looks like I will have 14-15 kids at a time for 30 minutes a day, with 5 total classes.  I am hoping that 30 minutes will be long enough for us to learn, but short enough for us to have few behavior problems.  Fingers crossed that these kids are similar to 6th graders in most ways.   

I was planning on changing my blog's name from "Rookie Mistake" to "Totally Professional and Experienced," but I'll wait until AFTER summer school to make that change.  I have a feeling I'll be learning quite a bit over the next four months.  

Here's to more silly mistakes and getting more teaching experience under my belt!  I'll keep you updated :)

-Mrs. Combs

(or should I be "Mrs. Kerry" for elementary kids??)