Appreciation!

11/23/10

I felt like Sally Field today, "You like me! You really like me!" Today I received my appreciation! Students wrote a sentence each of things that they appreciate about me. They did this for everyone in the class, and today mine was read out loud. I got to sit in the special chair and everything. It was such a wonderful experience! I started to tear up - the students wrote such heartfelt and detailed information. They noticed the smallest details and remembered things that I didn't even think were that special. Many commented on the Science Theatre and how much they loved that experience, and a few students said that they loved the voices that I created when different characters spoke in Read Aloud books. It's the little things that make the difference!

I reviewed my legal duties as an "employee" of Newton Public Schools. Amy printed off the "Summary of the Conflict of Interest Law for Municipal Employees" as prepared by the Massachusetts Ethics Commission, for me to read over. For the most part, it was written in laymen's terms and was easy to follow. However, I did find that many of the conflicts of interest did not relate to teachers, but instead more to municipal jobs.

I was SHOCKED to see that I qualified to follow the laws even though I am not an employee! I should have read this before school started! In the Section I, it clearly states that "whether paid or unpaid" all municipal employees must follow the codes. I'm thankful that I am ethical and have upheld all of the expectations outlined in the document.

I did have a few questions about the document and how the expectations relate to teachers. First, in Section II (b) Gifts and gratuities: the document states that you should not accept gifts worth more than $50. I'm surprised by this - what if a teacher is given a holiday gift from a family that is worth more than $50? Does the teacher have to return it? What about things like Rex Sox tickets that a family gives to a teacher if they cannot make a game? Would the teacher have to pay for the tickets? I just know that in wealthy communities like Newton, these issues may come up.

Second, in Section III (a) After-hours restrictions: would tutoring count as a conflict of interest? Would you be able to tutor a student who is not in your class? I know that a lot of teachers supplement their income by tutoring, are they in conflict with this expectation?

Finally, I wanted to note a subtle language use in Section IV (c) Partners. The term partner is much more inclusive and does a great job of reflecting the population of teachers. Many teachers are GLBT and have life partners. It is refreshing to live in a state that is inclusive to all members of the community!

Museum Inspiration

11/22/10

I can't even believe that today is the Monday before Thanksgiving! Insanity!

I had the best moment this morning. One of our METCO students came up to me and proudly told me that she went to the MFA over the weekend. She said, "Miss. Donahue, I found out that the MFA was free this weekend AND that there was a new wing - so I went!" I almost started to cry right then and there! Here's a glimpse of our conversation:

me: You did!? That's fantastic!

student: Yup! And I saw Monet's paintings IN PERSON!

me: Oh! Don't you just love Monet's work? Aren't they so much better in person?

student: Oh, Miss Donahue, they were so beautiful!

me: so, will you be going back to the museum again?

student: YES! And, have you ever seen the stair case at the front of the building?

me: I sure have! Isn't it beautiful?

student: So beautiful - did you see the paintings on the ceiling at the top of the stairs?

me: I sure did! So detailed, aren't they?

student: Yes! I don't even know how they got up there!

It turned out that this was the first time that the student had EVER been in a museum. She told me that she was inspired to go after seeing my weather presentation! YES! I made a difference!

Well, I finally read up on the Newton Public School's Internet policy. The document is really geared toward parents and students. The verbiage geared toward parents is more, "don't worry, we only allow your students to look at educational sites." The verbiage geared toward students is more, "don't even try to look at inappropriate websites because we've already blocked them."

What I did find interesting is that all communication is stored on a Newton server and all data is stored. The policy also reminds students/parents/staff that email is not a private form of communication, and that Newton will retrieve and share this information with city, state and national agencies if necessary. Specifically, users are not to share passwords, forward chain letters, use profane language, look at pornography/inappropriate websites, destroy data of other users, or hack into others' data.

It was good for me to read the policy, and something for me to make sure to do wherever I work.

Math Test on Multiplication and Division

11/19/10

The day started with a math review - Nick and Adam were there. Nick came because he wanted the extra practice. Adam came because his parents had a parent/teacher meeting that morning, and they told him to go to the review. Nick sat diligently and solved every problem that the teacher presented to the class. Adam on the other hand sat with his head on the table and spun a top - he didn't even pick up a pencil.

The day began with the math test. Because Maura would be out all day correcting the math tests, Amy decided to teach science today and sent me to help cover math. She wanted to work on quiz boards with students so that they would be on time to finish next week. So, I'll take over again on Monday with my continued weather unit.

For the most part, math was hands-off today. Students were able to either finish their math tests or work on math work books. Each student has a list of work book pages that they need to work on - these pages provide enrichment for each unit of study. On student reached a problem that required a skill not yet covered in class. He raised his hand and asked for help. I ended up sitting with him for about 10-15 minutes and had a great exchange. This student will be referred to as Tim.

The skill that Tim was faced with was multiplying numbers with decimal points. I gave him the following problem to work on: 25 * 3.2 =

I explained that this problem multiplies 25 by 3.2. The conversation went as follows:

Em: How would you approach this problem?

Tim: Well, I think I would start by finding three groups of 25, which is...75.

Em: Excellent thinking - I really like how you started by breaking down the problem into familiar parts. Write down 75 to keep track of your progress.

Tim: [Writes down 75.]

Em: How would you translate ".2" into a fraction?

Tim: [pauses, thinks] Oh! 1/5!

Em: Exactly! Now, what is 1/5 of 25?

Tim: [pauses, thinks] Five!

Em: Exactly - now you want to add the 5 to your original 75, so what do you get?

Tim: 80!

Em: Congratulations! You just completed the problem!

Tim: [smiles] I did?!

Em: You sure did! Now, let me show you how you can use Cowboy math (traditional algorithm) when multiplying with decimals.

[Em writes, Tim completes]

25

x3.2

------

40

750

-----

800

Tim: Why did I get 800 when the answer is 80?

Em: Fantastic question! I like how you're thinking critically. Your answers don't match because you aren't quite done yet. We need to make sure to include the decimal point into our product - this corrects the place value.

Tim: How do I know where to put it?

Em: You count the total numbers to the right of the decimal point, then you place the decimal point that many numbers from the left. This shifts the place value of the product back into the right place. Remember that we multiplied by 3 and 2/10, not 30 and 2 ones. We need to reduce the number by one place value.

Tim: Oh, ok - so there is one number after the decimal point, so I'll put it in between the zeroes in the answer.

Em: You got it! So what is the answer?

Tim: [does the math] 80! Oh...I get it! That's cool!

Tim and I repeated this process a number of times together. He was able to do the 4th problem on his own.

After math, I went back and read aloud for about 20 minutes. The story is getting good - Morning Girl and Star Boy are growing up and going through lots of awkward situations. It really tells the universal story of the awkward pre-teen.

I stayed at school until 6:45 working to pull my ppa+ together. This is a time consuming process!

Well, I survived my first take over week and I feel good! YAY!

Techsploration Tom

11/18/10

Techsploration Tom came to school today! He gave a fantastic presentation on electricity! He had the coolest gadgets and was a dynamic presenter. He pulled students up to demonstrate how static electricity is created - so neat!

We took the students out for a recess, then the classes rotated in for a science lesson. I didn't teach science today, but I did get a good experience on how to rotate students in to a Creative Arts lesson. It's strategically difficult and takes a lot of energy, but it is worth it! Techsploration Tom loved me! He loved my energy and excitement towards science. I was also the person that sat through all of his lessons, so we got to talk quite a bit. I was also pulled up on stage to "sing the science blues" - it was pretty funny! Me singing - yikes! The students said that I did a great job, but all I did was yell out the words in some assemblage of a rhythmic tone.

Disaster struck when I saw two students looking at the Hokusai books and giggling. My heart sunk - somehow I missed that this book had two drawings of naked bodies. I looked through all of the books before putting them out for students to view - but these images were at the end of the book, and I just missed them. I went into immediate damage control - talked to the boys before they moved to a different classroom, then ran to get Amy and tell her about the issue. We took them out of class (there were four in total) and had a discussion about what they saw. They all seemed okay with it, were more giggly about it than anything else. One boy said that he had seen similar images before at an art gallery that he went to with his family. The principal came in and joined the conversation (my heart sunk again - what would she think of me?). It turned out that she was an art major and she did a great job of normalizing it for the children. PHEW! Crisis solved.

After the craziness of the day - and a job offer by Techsploration Tom - it was finally time for reading buddies, where our students read to 1st grade students. That was until the principal came up to talk to the entire 5th grade about their behavior in the lunch room. For some reason, these students can't control themselves in the lunch room! It was supposed to be a five minute conversation, but ended up taking 20 minutes (the students were really passionate about the issues) - no more reading buddies today!

Instead I read more from our read aloud book, Morning Girl.

8 Minute Commute

11/17/10

Having slept on my friends couch at BC last night, I had the most amazing commute - 8 minutes. It was bliss! I arrived at school around 6:45, so it was nice that I got to take my time getting ready this morning.

I quickly put up my bulletin board about weather in art. It looks pretty awesome!

Yesterday, Apple announced that the Beatles would now be selling their songs on iTunes! This was an exciting announcement - too bad I already have all of their songs! I opened a web browser this morning and it went right to Apple's homepage. There was this huge b&w photograph of the Beatles. I decided to print off a copy for two of my students who love the Beatles. I wrote little notes on them and taped the sheets to their cubbies. When they walked in, they LOVED their special notes! I gave one of them to the student that I had to kick out of class yesterday. I think he was surprised that I didn't hold a grudge against him. Hey buddy - I'm not going to treat you differently just because you don't listen to me!

In Morning Meeting I talked about the importance of a handshake - and how handshakes can start friendships and great partnerships. For the greeting, we shook each others' hands and said good morning. For the discussion, I asked if students had good hand shaking stories - who did they meet? Some students shared how they met famous people or made new friends. One student shared that his grandmother is a State Senator and has shaken the hands of many influential people in government, including the Governor.

In LA, I read the book Empty Pot by Demi. It's an adorable story about a boy named Ping who enters a competition to become Emperor of China. Using the seeds that the Emperor gave to him, Ping tries very hard to grow the flower - only nothing grows. A year goes by and despite his best effort, no flower grows. He returns to the Emperor with all of the other children in the land and he is the only one with an empty pot. The Emperor is pleased with Ping for he was the only one who told the truth. All of the other children planted new seeds - the Emperor gave them all cooked seeds that would not grow - he was looking for the most honest person, and Ping was that person. Ping was chosen to be the next Emperor.

This book was used to explain how to make predictions while reading text. I read the book aloud and wrote my predictions up on the white board. I started by looking at the cover art and predicted that the story took place in Asia, the art work looked similar to the Hokusai prints that I was familiar with. As I made predictions, I either crossed them out if I was correct, or put a smiley face next to them if I was right. My predications:

I think this story takes place in Asia :)

I think that Ping will become Emperor because he is the main character :)

I think that Ping will grow the most beautiful flower X

At first Ping won't grow the flower, but then he will X

Maybe Ping won't grow the flower :)

The students really loved the story and understood the concept well. I took them outside for a quick body movement break - a sprint across the field to get some energy out. When we got back, I had them chill for a minute or two, then read more from Morning Girl.

Science began and I presented my lesson on haiku and Hokusai. I was observed my second time around, and it went really well! I spoke with a lot of genuine energy about the topic and shared how I worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, have a life long love for art, and how I took many art and art history courses in college. I also told how my dad lived in Japan for a while during his time in the Navy and brought back many Japanese works of art, furniture, and other cultural artifacts.

I then introduced the students to the poetry form of haiku - 17 syllables 5/7/5. I talked at length about the artwork of Hokusai - particularly the 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. I showed the students the books that I had brought in for them to look through and explore the great detail that he included in his prints. The students were mesmerized and totally engaged.

After the presentation, students returned to their desks and I handed out the haiku draft sheets. I modeled on the overhead how to use the sheet to brainstorm ideas for words, and how to break them into syllables. I walked around and helped students who were having a hard time transitioning from the word brainstorm to the creation of the haikus. I wrapped up by giving the students their final draft copies, getting their copies into their binders, and collecting finished work. I then lined them up to go to lunch.

I met with Eileen to discuss how the lesson went. She loved it and told me that she had lived in Japan for a few months with her husband - who was also in the military. She did suggest that I add two small bits to the presentation to bring in "real world" connections.
1) when talking about Japan - bring in the time difference. 13/14 hours ahead of us, so it it tomorrow there. Figure out what time it is there.
2) do the math for Hokusai's age. He was old! It's a quick subtraction problem and will be good for students to see how long he lived:
1849
-1760
-------
89 years old!

I tried out her suggestions in the science class following my observation. They LOVED the suggestions! It took a few seconds for them to wrap their heads around why it was tomorrow in Japan, but I did a quick explanation of time zones and they understood it a bit better. It helped that one of the students was from Australia and she gave the example of how it's hard to call her grandparents because the time zone (similar to Japan's) is so far ahead. This real-life connection was a perfect addition to the lesson.

The students also liked the quick subtraction problem and couldn't believe how long Hokusai lived to be!

After the lesson and lunch, it was on to PLCs. It was all about PEMDAS and rounding. Maura realized that the students hadn't quite understood that [P & E], [M & D], and [A & S] go together. She stressed this as she provided direct instruction to the group. I walked around to the students and checked their answers. A number of students still don't grasp the exponential multiplication process. It must be frustrating for them - they know the process, but when they do the math, they choose the wrong operation.

Rounding was a bit easier to check - they had to circle the highest place value, then underline the place value to the right. If the number (or neighbor) to the right was higher than 5, the highest place value would increase, and everything to the right turns into zero. If the neighbor was less than 5, the highest place value would stay the same and the rest would turn to zeroes. Nick wrote this on his page:

5 (arrow up)

4 (arrow up)

Great visual reminder for him, and a good strategy to use on his test.

The bulletin board that I put up got a lot of attention today! The teachers loved it and said that the students were learning so much about art and culture just by looking at the paintings and listening to my presentations in science. One teacher said that I was giving them such great life skills - now they know the names of some famous artists, so going to a museum is a bit less intimidating.

One student, who will be called Ken, was looking at the Paris Street, Rainy Day and said "this scene looks really familiar!" I overheard him saying this and asked him to think about it and tell me when he realizes why it looks so familiar. Later that day, Ken came up to me and said, "I figured it out! It looks just like the Magic Tree House cover about the earth quake!" I congratulated him for making the connection, and I looked for the book. The book is Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne, and the cover has many of the same elements of the painting: dress, cobble stone streets, ornate buildings. Truly a great connection.

Ken asked me later in the day if he could borrow one of the Hokusai books that I brought to the classroom. I looked at the book and noticed that it was the one that was written in Japanese. I asked Ken if he spoke another language at home. Ken looked excited to answer the question and said, "Oh - yeah! I speak Chinese and a bit of German." Ken then went on to tell me about his life - he was born in Germany, then moved to China to live with his grandparents until he was 5. He then moved to the US to be with his parents and to start kindergarten. Each summer he travels back to China to live with his grandparents in a small province south of Shanghai. We talked for nearly all of recess, discussed more of the paintings that were on the bulletin board, and I also found out that Ken reads Chinese - which means that he'll probably be able to read much of the Hokusai text, as Japanese and Chinese characters are very similar.

It was a great day, but I was exhausted when I got home!

Busiest Half Day Ever

11/16/10

Though today was a half day, it was still very, very, very busy!

I awoke to a text message from Lynne at 4:30 am this morning - a reminder that we had a QC today.  YIKES!  I hopped into the shower and got ready within 45 minutes - I was out the door at 5:50am and was on my way.  It was raining, and by the time I got to 128, there was extreme traffic due to an accident.  Drat!  My article reading time was slipping away...

I finally got to school, but it was almost 7:00 am - just enough time to read the article and get to the Response Logs - all 6 of them - before school started.  YIKES!  I didn't get to write the paper, but at least I got the article read!

A quick morning meeting that was just a high five and greeting with each other - then it was on to schooling!  I met with students who had divided an conquered their Talking Calendars, and led them to their next steps - organizing their information and creating bulleted notes. 

We had a quick PLC meeting to discuss the topics that needed to be covered tomorrow for PEMDAS (order of operations) and rounding direct instruction.  I was assigned to the "both" group and was teamed up with Maura. 

In science, I gave a great slide presentation on weather vocabulary.  I made sure to stress the difference between weather and climate with students - weather is a short term condition for a region, climate is a long term condition for a region.  When I created the powerpoint, I decided that I was going to use art to depict some of the elements.  I had the definition at the top of the slide, then a famous painting underneath.  Rain was Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street, Rainy Day (1877), Snow was Wheatstacks, Sunset, Snow Effect (1891) by Claude Monet, and Wind was represented by Katsushika Hokusai's Ejiri in the Surugra Province (one of his 36 Views of Mt. Fuji prints).  For Fog, it was two of Monet's paintings of the Charing Cross Bridge in London - one on a foggy day, the other on a sunny day.  I explained how Monet loved to paint the same scene over and over again - why?  Because he was so interested in how the elements effected his subjects.  He painted over 25 paintings of stacks of wheat within a year's time.  Today, you can go to an art museum (like the Art Institute of Chicago) and see many of these stacks of wheat next to each other - it's like seeing the seasons change in front of you!

After the presentation - which the students LOVED - we worked on vocabulary flash cards.  We didn't have much time, but the students got a lot done.  They had to finish the rest for homework.

After the QC meeting, I went right over to BC and met with Audrey about my paper.  She made me feel so much better about it all!  She said that my research was superb (!!!) and that I was going to get it done.  I always feel so much better after I meet with her.  I do need to keep reminding myself that this is NOT a thesis - it's just a procedure that I need to complete!  Nothing fancy, just get it done!!!

I ended up staying on campus on Cameron's couch.  I was so tired, and I know that the weather tomorrow will not be good for traveling on 95.  So great to see him and to just catch up.  He had a long day as well, so it was good to just spend some down time together.  I also got to catch up with Matt!  It was so much fun to see him, hang out, and hear about his P1 supervisor experience.  He's in grad school for education as well - such a fun person.  He's going to be an amazing teacher!  

I went to bed around 9:30 pm, just as Cameron had a meeting - oh how I don't miss those late night meetings! 

Take Over Week Begins!

11/15/10

Take over week begins!

I arrived at school at 6:45 this morning - up at about 4:30 - ready to go!  I finished my lit review last night (finally)!  I feel really good about it - I found a great article that explained the history of mastery.  Turns out that Bloom (of Bloom's Taxonomy) created a mastery model as well.  When I was reading the mastery model, I could have sworn that I was reading about PLCs!  Turns out, they're just a modern day rip off of his mastery model of frequent assessment, direct instruction or enrichment, improvement of instruction based on assessment results, and a final assessment after direct instruction to make sure that all students are back on track.  Brilliant!  Bloom theorized that nearly all students would achieve mastery (usually set at 80% or above) of a given topic.  Much better than the typical bell curve!!  With my casual observations thus far on the PLC process, I think that Bloom was correct!  I have been amazed at how much students improve with just a 30-60 minutes of additional direct instruction.  Students who were struggling with a concept on the first assessment, pass the second assessment with flying colors!

In Language Arts, I finished up the "A Play" Inferring lesson with students.  After we completed the T chart, I explained to students their new response log topic...surprise!  It's inferring!  This new assignment will actually make it much easier for me to go through and grade their work - much less commenting necessary!!  This will be good because I have a busy week!!

In science, I let the students know that they were not going to work on quiz boards this week.  I knew that they would be bummed, so I had them do a 3-second-group-moan to get it out of their systems.  That was a big hit!  I explained that it was my take over week, so they were going to learn about weather and Ms Wink would continue with quiz boards next week.  

We played "Weather Scattegories" which ended up being a big hit!   Students were given the letters WEATHER on a large grid - they needed to think of as many words related to weather as possible.  They had 3 minutes to work on their own, 2 minutes to work with a partner, than 1 minute to work as a table team.  At the end of the time, I had students share their words and I wrote them up on an overhead of the sheet that they had.  The students loved it!  

I then gave them a pre-assessment and stressed that it was just to help me to know what to teach.  No grades, just information gathering.  After reviewing the assessments - I noticed that many students were not able to explain the difference between climate and weather - I'll make sure to emphasize this in my vocabulary presentation tomorrow.

Overall, the day went really well!  After school, I went over to BC and churned out three pages - not bad for having woken up at 4:30 am!