First Full Week! (a bit of bragging)

So this past week was my first full week in the classroom. Let's just say that school and student teaching really doesn't prepare you for the "real" classroom. But needless to say, I think I did very well. I told the girls on the first day that one of my biggest rules is respect. I will respect them and they will respect me and their classmates. Yeah I know that is pretty vague, but amazingly it works (at least in my classroom). I have a class of 10 8th-10th graders that are at an average 4th math level. You might think having ten kids in a class would be a piece of cake, but it isn't. For 55 minutes, I don't sit down or stop moving. Now teachers and other people might think that a good teacher wouldn't do that anyway. But in "normal" classes the teacher is not barraged with questions for the whole class period. I do have to say that the feeling is amazing when a student knows you are the teacher and wants your help, even though they know that you aren't good at math. (Yes I told them on the first day that I am not a math teacher, but they don't seem to care.)

Everyday we start with a warm up (as most math classes that I was ever in started with a warm up). This week we did word fractions -- the first 2/5 of flour and the last 4/6 of shower (flower) --this was incredibly difficult for these girls and sometimes even confused me. But by the end of the week, most of the girls could do them on their own with minimal questions. Earlier in the week, I gave them fraction bars, so they could write the words in the bars and figure them out that way, I thought it would be a hit, but it only was with some students. I told them that we wouldn't get to fractions for awhile, but doing it this way will help when we just use numbers, that made it a little better.

I stole an idea from one of the girls in my cohort at SU -- Good News. Good News is a time at the beginning of class where we go around and say something good that has happened today or in the past week. I told the girls that we will do this once a week on any given day, it could just be random, or if I read the shift report from the day before and it seems that many of the girls were not in a good place the night before. Doing Good News is great because it gets the girls to think about something positive. We did it for the first time yesterday and there was one girl who actually wanted to go first! Many of the girls said that they were glad that they got good grades for the week. Good News would be a good starter or ender for many group meetings!

So at Joan Macy (the school) we have Room 22. This is essentially a time out room. If the teacher just can't tolerate a student anymore they can send them to room 22 for 5-10 minutes. While sometimes a Rm. 22 is needed, I have found that many times the girls are just being teenage girls and the teachers send them to Rm. 22. I am proud to say that I am the only teacher that did not send any girls to Rm. 22 last week. I also only gave one zero because my TA made me (one girl didn't turn in her homework). I don't think that warrants a zero for the day, but I guess those are the school rules and the TA has been working here for much longer. Anyway, going back to respect. My dad says that the girls know what is expected of them and do it because of how they are treated in my class. I try not to treat them like they are at some residential center. Yesterday, three of my students were in Rm. 22 earlier in the day and once they got to my room they did what they were supposed to do. They also know they have a choice in my classroom. Sure they don't have to participate in the game, but they can't just sit and do nothing they have to do problems out of the book. And so far they have all chosen to participate. It is also interesting the power of the words please and thank you. I have a feeling that other teachers just bark out orders, but many people don't respond well to that especially teenage girls and especially teenage girls that are in residential treatment. So just something for all of you reading this...say please and thank you.

In the research project I was a part of, we found that Procedures are key. That is what I worked on this week in the classroom. I have different procedures than the other teachers. Many of them stand at the door and collect homework and daily pointsheets. Yes I stand at the door, but that is not a time to do secratarial things. By the end of the week, the girls would come in put their point sheets in the correct basket and get started on their warm-up with out having to be reminded. (It is amazing!!)

Well anyway, I started working out with a trainer this week. Oh my goodness, I have never been more sore in my life. Friday, I could barely walk, but I guess no pain no gain!! Sorry there isn't much funny stuff in my blogs, but right now my life is just working. And working with girls that are on probation or have been taken away from their families and placed in residential treatment just doesn't provide for much comic relief.

grace and peace!