Working Smart

We are in that time of year where there is a lot to be done. Just this week I needed to finish up the district testing, about 20 minutes or so per child, I spoke at the school board meeting on Tuesday night, we have our annual Thanksgiving feast with lots of organization, costumes and parents to talk with, leadership team meeting, practice for the board talk, two subs to help along in all of this process as the regular first grade team is all out this week, as well as regular classroom instruction to keep moving with. Way toooooo much! In a week like this you realize that you just can't do it all. What I have started doing as I begin the days work outside of the time with the kids is to sit down and make a list of everything that needs to be done. From there I rate the list in order of priority. Once I have that I launch into the first thing. As I work I try to do the minimum amount on it to still accomplish the goal of what it needs to be. I usually don't like to do this, but in a week like this, it is survival! On a parent form that I am sending home I may not put the extra art work on it but just the simple message.... stuff like that.

I am so glad that we get next week off!!! I am really going to need it!

Did I mention that we are getting a new principal? They finally got one for us.

Parent Relationships

We had our annual fall carnival this last Friday. I usually grill up about 300-400 hot dogs that generate about that same amount of money for our field trips for the year. I usually do most of the work myself with a few volunteers helping out here and there. This year I have some great parents who really stepped up and made the whole thing really great and really smooth. Most of the time all I had to do was stand around and hold the sign and take tickets. Huge success. I was reminded of the power of a positive relationship with the parents. When there is team work on an event like this, there is often team work with everything else that happens in the year.

The real power in teaching is in the relationships that are built... both with the students and with the parents. Impact is not only in the lessons that are given, but in the lives that are touched and the values that are communicated.

behavior plan

Behavior Plan
2011-2012
Student 18


Target behaviors
• student will keep his hands feet and other objects to himself.
• student will be able to attend to a lesson without disturbing others.


Behavior systems
• Star system – When ______ is able to work on task for 15 minutes, he will earn a start on his star chart. After three stars are earned student will have choice time for 15 minutes. Choice time activities might include:
o Computer time
o Clay time
o Block time
o Puzzle time
o Unifix cube time
o Other desired activities
• Movement focus strategies – To help ______ direct his movement energy so that it will not be a distraction to himself or others the following items / strategies will be used.
o Fuzzy ball – When ______ is on the rug during a teaching time he may use the fuzzy ball in his hands. ______ may use the ball as long as he does not become a distraction to others or damage the ball.
o Textured seat- during a teaching time, studet may use a textured air seat and will be allowed to move his body on the seat during the teaching time.
o Velcro- ______ will have Velcro strips place on his desk that he may feel when in a work time.
o Fidget toys – ______ will have several fidget toys to play with when in a time that he needs to pay attention in order to focus his energy.
• Agenda– ______ will have a picture based agenda of the days events in order to help him see the progression of the day.
• Clip system- For every recess of the day that ______ does not have trouble with throwing things or bothering others he will be able to earn a clip up on the clip chart. A prize will be given to him if he is on the top at the end of the day.
• Breaks – ______ will get non-contingent breaks during the day when it is deemed that he needs a break.
• Heavy book- ______ will have a heavy book that he can use to place on top of his legs when in a desk work times.
• Tokens- When ______ is on task and working on the goals set out for him he will earn tokens that he can then turn in for small prizes such as pencils, erasers and small toys.

wow!

Did I mention that our principal is leaving! He got a district level administrative job in the district one city over. I am really happy for him, but I am wandering how it will work for us with a temporary administrator and then a new hire half way through the year. We will see!

Student 18

Student 18 came into my room this year with an IEP for Speech issues as well as for some RSP needs. It became very clear from the first day forward that he had some real issues with hyperactivity and inability to focus. As the year has progressed a bit I have seen that he has some problems with social interaction as well and as of late has been hitting other kids, throwing dirt at them and even spitting in their faces. I have felt really supported by the Psychologist and the rest of the team of people that she has notified of the issue. I have gotten some fidgets from one of the occupational therapists as well as a cushion seat for him to sit on. The RSP teacher and speech teacher is really wanting to help as well. The question I have been struggling with is how to best deal with his moving body which seems to be much of the source of the trouble he is having. When a kid is angry you can teach them how to work with that anger when it comes up. When they are defiant you can put boundaries around them for them to see what they can and cannot do. With this child, it seems that much of his trouble is coming not from mental choices, but from his need to move. As I am writing this I guess I am realizing that there is a line between his moving and the things that his body is doing and then what he does with it. At some point he is making the choice to throw, hit, or stick out his tongue. I guess I will have to have a two fold approach with him. I will need to do some things to focus on his moving and keeping his hands and body occupied and then I will have to have a second set of interventions to focus on his choices with other students. The second set will be harder as I don't see him being as mature to really be able to see what he is doing. I might need to spend a lot of time up front with him simply helping him understand what he is even doing and how it is being received by the other students. We have been drawing pictures/ cartoons some already, I guess I will go down that route to help him gain some perspective. It is tougher when a kid has a hard time even understanding what they are doing.

Student 12

Well, we are into a new school year. I can't believe that this is my 12th year teaching. Where has the time gone? One of my old students came by and is now in high school. I had him in second grade! What is going on here? I am starting to feel a little old. Ahhh.. oh well, on to the business at hand.

Student 12 has been having more tantrums lately. Today we were playing dodgeball and he had won the previous game, but then was hit casually by a ball that he did not see. He paused for a second and then burst into tears complaining that the ball had hurt his foot. Tears flowed incredibly quick. His face was soaked in less than a minute. There were two other events today that were of a similar nature. It is obvious to me that he seems to have very little coping mechanism for his emotion when things do not go his way. The question is what can I give him in terms of tools to deal with this kind of disconnect between his feelings and the resolution to the problem. I think I need to start first by reinforcing his crying as NOT the means to a resolution. I want him to use his words to express what he is feeling and then seek a resolution. Uugggg…. Criers are harder to deal with than most.

Praise in the classroom

Kids thrive when you praise them...

Journal share out

I tried something new this week. You know, it was one of those moments when you are just about to do the normal routine thing and then it hits you that you should just drop it all and have you and 23 kids chase after this idea of something. I have really been trying to get the kids to take their journal time more seriously. I have never been very good about writing back to them. I suppose I will some day when I finally get it all together. But, I decided to have them take their journals and find a partner and share what they wrote with their partner. I am sure there are tons of teachers out there that already do this and have been doing it for years, but I thought it was a good idea and I tried it. It actually went pretty well. I don't know if it suddenly turned all my kids into writing fanatics, but they were really into it. I think we will do it gain some time.

Donor's choose

So, I starting the process of using donor's choose to see if I can get two i-pads for the classroom. Our computers in the room are so old and broken down. Two of them have been at the school longer than I have (11 years). They freeze and break down all the time even on the little bits of functioning that they are still able to do. I am excited to see if someone out there might help us out. I would love to have the kids be able to use some of the math and language apps to get some extra practice. Even just using Starfall.com a little more would do worlds of good for many of the kids that need that extra practice. Well... here's hoping!