Don't Stare at the Evil Eye!

After having a bird fly in my classroom and a student staple his finger, summer is here!  Today was a crazy, hectic day- but there was also a healthy dose of excitement mixed with nostalgia.  I can't believe my first year is over.  Of course I'm already missing my kids- they got sweeter as the days grew shorter.  The number of hugs multiplied, and although there were still some discipline issues, I grew closer with many of them.  I really really hope they come visit me next year!

I'm sure I'll write more lovey-dovey and eloquent posts later, but I wanted to share some of the funny pieces of advice that my kiddos left for my upcoming class.  I received a lot of very touching pieces of advice, but you know I love their humor. :)

"If you sleep in Mr. Johnson's class, he will yell at you and you will need ear surgery."

In my defense, I didn't implement this rule until after I found gum on the floor.

So, there's a minor spelling error here, but the locker monster is a real thing.  It raids kids' lockers and steals important papers that they PROOOMIIISSEEEE they finished at home.  Sneaky locker monster!

I wish I knew what "talk moments" referred to!

(Mrs. Combs DOES like worked turned it.  This is true.)

She really did bring me cookies...

BEWARE!

Or don't fight anywhere?

Yes, because I'm super scary!

"Listen and pay attention and be quiet and give Mr. Massey oreos."
Cookies seem to be a theme....

WHAT??! 

Good advice for anyone!

"Have a lot of fun, but don't do anything dumb!!!!!"
-Yes, please!

She WILL send you to the office!

"Don't ever stare at Mrs. Comb's evil eye when your in trouble"
HA!  I like to think of it as more of a "stern eye." :)

Aren't they adorable?  I'm off to lose myself in a book.  Happy summer!

-Mrs. Combs

Countdown to Summer!

School's [almost] out for the summer!  Only 5 days remain, which is truly insane.  I can't believe my first year is coming to a close.  I'm now in the awkard position of needing to finish strong, but wanting to plan for next year.  I've learned so much throughout the year that I want to create and implement the new procedures and lessons NOW!  For now, however,  we must finish our book report mosaics.  (They should look super sweet when they are complete!)

One thing I'm excited about is the possibility of using interactive notebooks.  There are many ways to use them, and they require a lot of time and prep, but I think I'm up for the challenge. My kids never found a solid way to take and retain notes (I blame the locker monster), so this method should help.  Plus, they will get to color, glue, and create, which is way more fun than regular notetaking.

In other news, Maniac Monday turned into Maniac Monday/Wednesday.  Halfway through 3rd hour, we started getting rained on. We toughed it out for 20 minutes, but finally "called it" and went back in.  Unfortunately I had to teach the last 2 hours of the day in soaking wet jeans and a tee shirt, hair tied up.  According to the words of a student: "You don't look like like a teacher, Mrs. Combs."  Classroom management becomes more difficult when you don't look the part.  Thankfully Wednesday was beautiful and we were able to get back outside and have some fun.  Wish I could post pictures!

Here's to a smooth last week and zero goodbye tears!  (Yeah right...)

-Mrs. Combs

Is that your suitcase?

Alright, guys.  I have nearly as many post in my "drafts" folder as I do my "published" folder.  For some reason I haven't been able to complete a post for a while.  Maybe I'll combine all of the drafts into one super post one day.  It would be an amazingly disjointed, passionate, mess.

School is so close to being let out!  I can't believe that I've already gotten one year under my belt.  I tell my kids that this year they are my guinea pigs, and next year I'll be PERFECT.  There will be no more typos on quizzes, no misspellings on the board, no failed mathematics, and certainly no misplaced Promethean board pens.  Oh yeah, and no more calling kids by the wrong name.  That one has to go.  We'll see how far my perfection lasts next year.  (I give it 2 minutes)

One of the things that I LOVE about teaching is the humor- whether a kid says something witty in my classroom, or whether I just catch one of our two hundred sixth graders lost in their own little dance in the hallway.  Today's humor was a little more serious, though, and it had absolutely nothing to do with students.

Background information: We (the other reading teacher and myself) are currently teaching the book Maniac Magee to our kiddos.  Maniac does a lot of "crazy" things in the book (besides bringing up a whole lot of racial issues....which is f-u-n to talk about).  For instance, he can outrun any kid in town, unties an impossibly large knot, intercepts a football from the star quarterback, etc.  From the beginning of the unit, we knew that we needed to take our kids outside and let them have fun doing some of the things Maniac did.  We are calling it MANIAC MONDAY and it will take place this next Monday.  We are using it as a motivational tool- students have to keep their grades up and stay out of trouble in order to attend. Right now, out of my 95 kids, 25 are on the no-go list.  That means only the kids on top of their game get to have a fun day.  The others will be inside with our instructional coach who has promised a "painfully" educational lesson.  Yikes!

We are planning to have Maniac Monday in our school's outdoor learning environment.  The kids will be contained, which is especially important as we are doubling up our classes.  Today we decided to go take a look at the area and figure out how to set it up.  The other teacher had just gone down to the 7th grade room to borrow a suitcase from someone.  We thought we would use it in one of the activities.  When we stepped outside, she left the suitcase by the door, and we propped the door open with a rock.  Not 2 minutes later, the assistant principal came out the door and started asking us questions about the bag.  Little did we know, but we had set up the perfect school emergency situation: leaving an unidentified piece of luggage in the central area of the school, and exiting the building.  What makes it even worse/better is that our assistant principal had very recently been to a training that covered issues like this, so he was on the lookout for situations just like the one we accidently created.  At least we know how it would be handled if the situation DID arise!

12 days to go!

-Mrs. Combs

But First, Let Me Take a Selfie!

TESTING IS OVER!

I repeat:

TESTING IS OVER!

At least for Language Arts.  Math is Monday, but who cares about math, right?  ;)

We don't know what constitutes passing/not passing- still waiting on the State to figure that out and surprise us.  I did get some feedback from the curriculum instructor, though, who said...and I quote "I thought they looked pretty good," when referring to the kids' raw scores.  Most people would think "pretty good" is lame...but I'm all about it!  I can breathe now.

While breathing today, I allowed my kiddos to take one of their favorite quotes and draw/write it on pages of old books.  It is a hobby that I had taken up a while back, and thought that the kids would enjoy the rebelliousness of destroying books in a reading class.

Some of the quotes I got were sweet...some were inappropriate, and others were funny.  Here are my favorites!

I think I'm rubbing off on them!

Oh dear...

Girl is very self-aware!

So, if you become president, you won't know?  Scary!

These are a few of my favorite things!

ME EITHER!

True.

#precious

Let's pretend the spelling was on purpose...

-Mrs. Combs

Fingers Crossed!

It is official.  I have absolutely zero minutes left with my kiddos before they take their state reading test tomorrow. 

I wish I could say that I felt confident about how they will all perform, but I can't.  I'm actually kind of petrified, for several reasons.

1. I'm a first year teacher in a tested subject.  Although it may not be true, I have this thought in the back of my head that if they don't test well, my employers won't be happy with me.

2. The way that test questions are worded very easily trip them up.  My kids know how to find the main idea, but will they understand "To which paragraph does this subheading belong?" Thou art confusing, question!

3. The reading test requires them to GO BACK TO THE TEXT to find the answers...and some of mine are barely motivated to read it once...let alone twice. 

4. It is 50 questions long.  If you have the attention span of a gnat, 50 questions is daunting.  Squirrel.

5. It's on MONDAY MORNING!  I can't even form complete sentences until Tuesday afternoon.

6. The kids are stressed..and it's our fault. The pressure that the state puts on school districts is filtered down to the kids. They know very well that they HAVE to pass or people will be unhappy.  

 7. Not every kid thinks in multiple choice.  I recently had a girl answer a poetry interpretation question by drawing a diagram of how the metaphor compared the sea to a dog. By test score reports, she is very low....but I saw something completely different.  Not only did she understand it, but she could portray it through art. She won't have that chance tomorrow.

I could go on and on.  Basically, I know that tests are "necessary," but I'm not a fan. I can't wait until they are over so that I can go back to teaching. I'm tired of practice tests. 

-Mrs. Combs

Sweet Motivators

A veteran teacher once told us first year teachers that "You should spend at least $300 on candy each year" as a form of classroom management.  I thought she was crazy.  She was dead serious.

Over $100 later, I totally understand.  I doubt I will EVER drop $300 a year on candy, but I do understand why she does it, even though there is a part of me that fundamentally thinks it is wrong to bribe children to answer questions or do the right thing.  If used sparingly, candy rewards can turn the entire class period around.  Here are my candy procedures.  You may or may not want to follow them.

1. ALWAYS have candy on hand.  You never know when you will need it.

2. ONLY allow kids to eat candy in your room if YOU give it to them.  If they are allowed to bring in their own or carry it over from another class, your reward will be old news.  A tootsie roll won't look enticing if they are already working with a bag of skittles.  On the other hand, a candy-less kiddo will do just about anything to earn a piece of that chocolatey taffy weirdness. #perspective. 

3. NEVER reward students for simply following an everyday class procedure....unless you want to intentionally leave a few students out for messing around.  Sound mean? It is.  But I betcha those kiddos tow the line the next day!

4. When giving candy for correct answers, do NOT cave and give candy to the entire class each time.  Because honestly, did they alllllll really earn it?  Next time they might not even try if they know you are a softy. 

5. (This is my Common Core Candy Standard) Make sure that the answers they provide are thorough and based on evidence.  You infer that the character is angry?  What's your evidence?  Partial answers do not earn a super juicy Starburst.  They just don't. 

6. Don't give candy out during a review game.  They're already playing a game.  Seriously.  They should thank their lucky stars they aren't doing a worksheet.  Having bragging rights is way better than candy anyway. 

7. ALWAYS test the candy for quality of taste.  I find that planning periods work well for this step.  It also allows you the privacy of stuffing your face without shame. 

8. Keep them on their toes.  Throw a few sour candies in a bag of sweet candies for some interesting reactions. :)

Have a good one!

-Mrs. Combs

Dollar General is for Losers

Alas, Spring Break is over.  Even though I loved the time off, I can honestly say I was ready to go back.  I realize that you probably do not believe me, but it is true.  All I needed was a little time away to miss them- just like in any relationship.  It is healthy.  Very healthy.

Over the break (ok...so it was the last two days of break) I made some changes to my classroom that I really like!  I have never felt like I really nailed the desk arrangement, but I think I have settled for the following setup- much like my mentor teacher from Keys. :)  The only thing I dislike about it, is that with my "larger" classes, I have to use the bottom left desk, which is basically in no-man's land.  So far I am using it to my advantage- I banished a student with a terrible attitude and another student who is a highly energetic talker.  Maybe someday I'll let them rejoin the tribe.  For now, however, it gives us all a little peace and quiet.

In addition to changing the seating chart, I also created a reading corner.  I had attempted this once before, but I never really committed.  I have MUCH work to do before it is complete/cute- right now it  is simply a bean bag, pillow, and a rug.  Either way, the kids think it is cool. I am hoping to use it as a positive motivator.  Focused readers get to hang out in the reading corner.  Hope it works!  On that note- if anyone is wanting to get rid of throw pillow or bean bags, I will take them off of your hands!  (Obviously color coordination is not one of my priorities.)

The next element that I added is not super neat or cool...it is just an assignment calendar.  I've been needing one for a while- not necessarily for the kiddos who are IN class- those are posted on the Promethean board- but for those who were absent.  "Did we do anything important yesterday, Mrs. Combs??"  

*Eye roll*  Of COURSE we did something important!  Even when I have their assignments gathered and placed in the "missing work" folders, they STILL ask me- most of them without ever checking the folder.  Hopefully if they see the calendar plus the assignments, I will receive few questions that drive me insane.  That is the goal.  Less insanity.

This bulletin board is definitely my most functional board.  Objectives, missing work, calendar, creed- they all fit.  The two strips that are circled in green are my magnificent Spring Break find!  I discovered these little dry erase guys at Dollar General for less than a dollar a piece.  I teach two levels of Language Arts, so this works perfectly and does not take up much room.  

Oh yes.  Apparently shopping at Dollar General is looked down on by some students.  I had no idea it was uncool to do before today.  I tend to go off on wild thought trails with my 4th hour, and when I mentioned that I had found them at DG, I was instantly ridiculed by a young man who scrunched his face up as if DG was beneath him.  Every day I get a little less cool.  Sigh.  At least I have a lot to lose.

I digress.  Back to classroom changes.  One of the biggest changes that I made was a change in procedures.  Until today, students would come in, grab their bell work notebook, and complete a short assignment.  After taking roll and drinking more coffee, I would walk around and give each student a mark IF they completed the work and worked silently.  After a week or seven, I would take up the notebooks and give them a grade based on the number of marks they received.  This worked really well and allowed us to refresh certain objectives.

Recently, however, I found out that some of my kiddos were not reading a book independently at all!  I spoke with my counterpart, and she suggested having each class read at the beginning of each hour.  Now, every student is already supposed to read during the first 15 minutes of the day.  We call this time MIRP.  Unfortunately, not all MIRPERS have ben MIRPING correctly.  I imagine that some of them sleep through it.  As a result, we are ditching our bell work notebooks and adding another 10-15 minutes of independent reading.

It.

Is.

Awesome.

With our old bell work routine, kids were required to grab their book and then put it away after they got a mark.  I would wager that I have said "Put your bell work notebooks up quuiieetttlllly" at least 17,803 times.  (That may not be an exaggeration.  I would say three times per class per day was the norm.)   Now that we are reading, however, the kids no longer have to get up all at once, which eliminates so much talking and rowdiness.   Also, the reading calms them down, which allows us to start class positively.  Of course I have a grading system in place and have to monitor them, but it is honestly one of the best changes I have made.  At the end of the week, students who were not reading at all will have read over an hour, and my last nerve is still intact.

I believe I have rambled enough for one day.  This week is our second dress-up week, and I am determined to be the most Hawaiiany Hawaiian at school tomorrow.

Aloha `auinala (Good late-afternoon)

-Mrs. Combs