Pop bottle people!!!

I found this great idea on, of all places, Pinterest!!! Since my students will be completing a project on important people this January, I thought this would be a great addition!
If you click on the picture, it will take you to the original picture/s on Flickr.

Planning

I have spent the last few days planning my unit in LA on the Hunger Games. I bought two units from Teacherspayteachers but neither unit completely filled my needs. One unit from Secondary Solutions is very assessment focused while the other unit by Tracee Orman is more discussion and project focused. Tracee's unit is also somewhat correlated to the Common Core standards which we are now supposed to be using instead of the former state standards. I am a little disappointed that neither unit focuses much on writing. The Secondary Solutions unit has some focus on grammar, but the common core focus and my former sixth grade focus is on pronouns. So I have been spending time looking for some in-depth material to help teach pronouns. It seems odd to me that we focus on one part of speech because I can tell you that no class I have ever had can identify many of the parts of speech in a sentence. I still have students saying nouns are verbs and vice versa. Plus, lets face it, grammar is boring!!! After about 5 minutes, my students eyes glaze over and I know I am just talking in the wind! There has got to be better way!!!

Anyway, after spending about 9 hours yesterday gathering different materials I am ready to start planning the unit. At least the first 9 chapters. I don't plan on starting this unit until the 9th of January as we have some science fair writing and social studies writing that needs to be completed. Since our first week back is only a 4 day week, I will spend those days focusing on writing rather than reading. Of course, I will assign new independent novels so the students will still be reading!!!

Now the time I have spent thus far is only for preparing LA. I still have all the other subjects to prepare. That is why I have petitioned my principal to PLEASE let me move from being self-contained to joining my junior high and departmentalize!!! There is no way I will do the other subjects justice because there just isn't enough time to plan for everything in depth!!!!

I have also done a little blog surfing and am so excited by all the new reading challenges that are popping up out there. I like to read all the lists of the books that are recommended so I can get new ideas for my classes. At present, I am reading 3 different books. My "just for enjoyment" book is I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark. I just love these kind of mystery books. It is about a young woman whose three year old son goes missing and there is a picture of her taking the child but she really didn't do it. I am only half-way through it so I don't know how they are going to figure this out!
I am also reading Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama. I was in the bookstore and noticed it on the new releases table and I couldn't resist. I am only on page 35, but I have to say that I am quite impressed by what this man has to say. It isn't a book about religion at all. He is outlining a series of ethics for the whole world that trancends religions.
My teacher book that I am reading is Caught'ya!, Grammar with a Giggle by Jane Bell Kiester. I am hoping to get some ideas from this book to make teaching grammar a bit more interesting to my students!

My class always does a Martin Luther King presentation for the school in January so I am preparing for that too. I found this great choral reading but I can't remember where. I will look back to see which blog I found the link for it on. We will have to begin practicing that as soon as we return to school!!
Now I just need to find some time to plan my other lessons!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Ok, so I'm not very good at keeping this updated but that is going to be my New Year's resolution. (not that I bother to keep any of those mind you!)

Here is a recap to the end of my school year before Christmas break. Like all students at this time of the year, mine were not all that motivated to learn. However, I kept pushing them up to the very last day. (OK, not the last day as that was a half day and we watched a movie to go with our Egypt unit and then they had a party.)
I gave a Social Studies, Science, Spelling and Vocabulary test the last week. We worked diligently on completing our writing portion for the science fair and for those who had completed that, work continued on their Egypt projects that will be displayed for our Open House at the end of January.
I sent students off on break with instructions on how to complete their science fair boards (which are required back to me by Friday, January 6!) I have been receiving some emails from students with questions on the boards so that is a good sign that they are working on them!!

After break I plan on starting the novel, Hunger Games with my students. I absolutely love this book and the other 2 in the series and I think it will be a book that all my students will enjoy. If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to read it. It is set sometime in the future in what mimics the former United States. Each year, from each district, a boy and girl are chosen to go and fight at the Hunger Games to pay back the central govt. the cost of food. This is a fight to the death tournament. Something changes though, when two people are left standing at the end of the tournament. That's all I'm going to say! I believe this will be a great book to base some of our argumentative writing on. I have a slow and unmotivated group of children this year, so I hope I won't be disappointed in their response.
This is the first group that actually wants a basal reading each week rather than a novel because they think it is easier. It is all about easy for them. I am hoping that this novel will kick some of them out of that easy mode.
With the new Common Core standards being pushed, I have no choice but to try to raise the level instruction whether they like it or not.

I have had some discussions with the junior high teachers and our principal and have voiced the concern that with the new standards and the new inquiry approach to teaching science and social studies, that one teacher cannot adequately prepare all the subjects to the level of depth they need to be prepared and taught. So, in essence, I am lobbying for teaching only one subject area. None of the other teachers really like language arts and it is my favorite, so it looks like I will get to keep a sixth grade homeroom next year but only teach language arts. I will be sad to give up Social Studies, as I love teaching ancient history, but I just can't do it all anymore. Not to the level I need to be teaching the material. We are one of the last holdouts that keep sixth grade self-contained. Most of the schools in our area have sixth grade departmentalized so that the teachers can teach their specialty. Since I am endorsed in both language arts and social studies, I could go either way, but the teacher who presently teaches the seventh and eighth grade social studies really doesn't like language arts and it is not her endorsed area, so it only makes sense that I would take that. I wish it could start NOW as I feel like I am fighting a losing battle with my present class. I just don't know how to get them motivated. Tell me, how does a child get 33 missing assignments and the parents don't care???? Yes, that is what I am dealing with. But enough of that.

I spent this last week on vacation in St. Maarten. My husband decided that I needed to get away so off we went. It was GRAND!!! The weather was gorgeous and I really did not look forward to returning to Chicago with 35 degree weather and cold winds. It was a great week of sun and relaxation and reading. I finished 5 books during the week. Two books were read on the flight to and from the island. (it is about a 6 hour flight and I really don't enjoy the movies) I read three books that I think middle school students would really enjoy.
The first book was The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann. This book was about a civilization that rated their individuals as Wanted, Necessary and Unwanted. If, at age 13, you were labeled Unwanted, you were sent to your death. The civilization didn't allow for any creativity or independent thought at all. Simply drawing a picture in the mud with a stick could land you on the Unwanted list. This is a MUST READ for anyone who loves futuristic novels.
The next book I read was Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri. This was a quick read about a boy who had gotten in with the wrong crowd while living in Detroit with his mom. She decides she can't handle him anymore and takes him to Philly to live with a dad he has never met. The boy has to adjust to being seemingly abandoned by his mom, and to living with a man that he doesn't know and who has horses in the middle of a ghetto. It is really a novel about helping others. Don't you think any middle school student could benefit from reading about helping others instead of being so self-absorbed???
The third book was given to me by one of my students. (one of the few who is an avid reader and just LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, books) This book is titled Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer. It is written in journal form. The young girl who is the main character records how her life changes after a catastropic event changes the earth's climate. It is really a battle of life and death. Her entries show how a family must pull together in a time of crisis. It raises a number of questions about our lives and what is really necessary to survive. The main character fights to keep hope alive when it looks as if their is no reason to keep on living. A definite must read!!
The other two books I read were thriller whodunit novels definitely NOT for middle school students.

Since today is Christmas, I will spend the day getting caught up on laundry and enjoying the football games on TV. In between I will actually cook a delicious gluten free dinner!!! I hope everyone else is enjoying a break from school and will be doing things that make them happy.

Make Reading a Joy

I found this on the Reading Sage, great blog to give insights about reading and how some kids really struggle. These are some great ideas to help instill the love of reading in your students. I already do most of these but there are some I really need to try.

TOP 10 Reading Strategies

-Read out-loud and have deep conversations about the readings
-Ask lots of questions to populate your minds curiosity
-Seek wise teachers that share the truth ( many teachers dumb things down for kids)
-Use a giant old encyclopedic dictionary to look up words
-Take notes and write words that your brain can chew on
-Reread everything and find new ideas and meaning every-time
-Read like actors reading for a play with passion and enthusiasm
-Find books that create a passion for learning
-Go to poetry readings
-Learn to sing new lyrics and songs
-Play strategy games that engage deep concentration
-Create time in your life to create serenity, bliss and wisdom from beautiful prose and poetry
-MAKE READING A DAILY HABIT IN YOUR HOME

What I'd Really Like to Say

This is the blog entry from Kim and Karen: 2 Soulful Sisters Blog. I have included the link, (I hope as I am new to adding links)Ok, I can't get it to add as a link so just cut and paste into your address bar to get here or click on the link on my bloglist.
http://2soulsisters.blogspot.com/2011/11/ditto.html#links

If you want to read it on her blog just hop on over there, they are great.
I wish I had the guts to print this out on my newsletter and send it home to some of my parents.
I have some fantastic parents this year who are very supportive and work with me to achieve the best education for their child and then I have those others who are quite aptly described in the article below. They are the ones who make it difficult to teach!
I hated sitting at conferences hearing "my child has always been an A student and now they have C's or failing grades." You know, I got them this way, so maybe you ought to be questioning the teachers before me and see that I am working my tail off to try to get your kids to grade level. I think some parents just want the A's and if their kids aren't getting them then it is the teacher's fault. I think they should be questioning how their child made honor roll last year when they can't read, write or perform math at grade level. Hmmmm.....

What teachers really want to tell parents
By Ron Clark, Special to CNN
updated 9:12 AM EST, Tue September 6, 2011


Editor's note: Ron Clark, author of "The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck -- 101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers," has been named "American Teacher of the Year" by Disney and was Oprah Winfrey's pick as her "Phenomenal Man." He founded The Ron Clark Academy, which educators from around the world have visited to learn.

(CNN) -- This summer, I met a principal who was recently named as the administrator of the year in her state. She was loved and adored by all, but she told me she was leaving the profession.

I screamed, "You can't leave us," and she quite bluntly replied, "Look, if I get an offer to lead a school system of orphans, I will be all over it, but I just can't deal with parents anymore; they are killing us."

Unfortunately, this sentiment seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 4.5 years, and many of them list "issues with parents" as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest out of colleges.

So, what can we do to stem the tide? What do teachers really need parents to understand?

For starters, we are educators, not nannies. We are educated professionals who work with kids every day and often see your child in a different light than you do. If we give you advice, don't fight it. Take it, and digest it in the same way you would consider advice from a doctor or lawyer. I have become used to some parents who just don't want to hear anything negative about their child, but sometimes if you're willing to take early warning advice to heart, it can help you head off an issue that could become much greater in the future.

Trust us. At times when I tell parents that their child has been a behavior problem, I can almost see the hairs rise on their backs. They are ready to fight and defend their child, and it is exhausting. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I tell a mom something her son did and she turns, looks at him and asks, "Is that true?" Well, of course it's true. I just told you. And please don't ask whether a classmate can confirm what happened or whether another teacher might have been present. It only demeans teachers and weakens the partnership between teacher and parent.

Please quit with all the excuses

And if you really want to help your children be successful, stop making excuses for them. I was talking with a parent and her son about his summer reading assignments. He told me he hadn't started, and I let him know I was extremely disappointed because school starts in two weeks.

His mother chimed in and told me that it had been a horrible summer for them because of family issues they'd been through in July. I said I was so sorry, but I couldn't help but point out that the assignments were given in May. She quickly added that she was allowing her child some "fun time" during the summer before getting back to work in July and that it wasn't his fault the work wasn't complete.

Can you feel my pain?

Some parents will make excuses regardless of the situation, and they are raising children who will grow into adults who turn toward excuses and do not create a strong work ethic. If you don't want your child to end up 25 and jobless, sitting on your couch eating potato chips, then stop making excuses for why they aren't succeeding. Instead, focus on finding solutions.

Parents, be a partner instead of a prosecutor

And parents, you know, it's OK for your child to get in trouble sometimes. It builds character and teaches life lessons. As teachers, we are vexed by those parents who stand in the way of those lessons; we call them helicopter parents because they want to swoop in and save their child every time something goes wrong. If we give a child a 79 on a project, then that is what the child deserves. Don't set up a time to meet with me to negotiate extra credit for an 80. It's a 79, regardless of whether you think it should be a B+.

This one may be hard to accept, but you shouldn't assume that because your child makes straight A's that he/she is getting a good education. The truth is, a lot of times it's the bad teachers who give the easiest grades, because they know by giving good grades everyone will leave them alone. Parents will say, "My child has a great teacher! He made all A's this year!"

Wow. Come on now. In all honesty, it's usually the best teachers who are giving the lowest grades, because they are raising expectations. Yet, when your children receive low scores you want to complain and head to the principal's office.

Please, take a step back and get a good look at the landscape. Before you challenge those low grades you feel the teacher has "given" your child, you might need to realize your child "earned" those grades and that the teacher you are complaining about is actually the one that is providing the best education.
And please, be a partner instead of a prosecutor. I had a child cheat on a test, and his parents threatened to call a lawyer because I was labeling him a criminal. I know that sounds crazy, but principals all across the country are telling me that more and more lawyers are accompanying parents for school meetings dealing with their children.

Teachers walking on eggshells

I feel so sorry for administrators and teachers these days whose hands are completely tied. In many ways, we live in fear of what will happen next. We walk on eggshells in a watered-down education system where teachers lack the courage to be honest and speak their minds. If they make a slight mistake, it can become a major disaster.

My mom just told me a child at a local school wrote on his face with a permanent marker. The teacher tried to get it off with a wash cloth, and it left a red mark on the side of his face. The parent called the media, and the teacher lost her job. My mom, my very own mother, said, "Can you believe that woman did that?"

I felt hit in the gut. I honestly would have probably tried to get the mark off as well. To think that we might lose our jobs over something so minor is scary. Why would anyone want to enter our profession? If our teachers continue to feel threatened and scared, you will rob our schools of our best and handcuff our efforts to recruit tomorrow's outstanding educators.

Finally, deal with negative situations in a professional manner.

If your child said something happened in the classroom that concerns you, ask to meet with the teacher and approach the situation by saying, "I wanted to let you know something my child said took place in your class, because I know that children can exaggerate and that there are always two sides to every story. I was hoping you could shed some light for me." If you aren't happy with the result, then take your concerns to the principal, but above all else, never talk negatively about a teacher in front of your child. If he knows you don't respect her, he won't either, and that will lead to a whole host of new problems.

We know you love your children. We love them, too. We just ask -- and beg of you -- to trust us, support us and work with the system, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve. Lift us up and make us feel appreciated, and we will work even harder to give your child the best education possible.

That's a teacher's promise, from me to you.

Veterans Day

I absolutely love the blog Runde's Room. Jen, the author, puts up such wonderful ideas. I don't know where she gets the time and energy to do all she does! If you have never visited her blog I suggest you drop in and give it a read, you will be hooked! She also has some great things on TPT too. I have several of her items!
She posted a wonderful entry for Canada's Remembrance Day, our Veterans Day. She put this wonderful little video on the entry. It made me cry! I am definitely saving it for next year.



Click on this link to go to Runde's Room and see the blog entry about Remembrance Day.
Runde's Room: Remembering Remembrance Day#comment-form

I've got to get better at this!

Ok, so one entry a month isn't very good for blogging is it??? I just don't know how to find the time to write down what I do every day like some people do. By the time I get home I am so exhausted and I still have school work to finish, so I just never get around to it. I've got to try harder.

This past week I worked on decimals with my class. Now remember, this group is WAY behind where they should be. I introduced decimals, we made place value charts that were foldables that I had them attach in their notebooks. I also have a huge chart on my bulletin board and most students seemed to use that one instead of the one they made. Oh well! We talked about place and value and we learned to compare and order decimals. I was skeptical about how well they learned all this but when I gave the quiz on Friday, all but 1 passed. So now we get to move on to rounding of decimals. I am not sure how well they can round whole numbers so I think I will start with a pre-assessment to see if they have any rounding skills before I move on to rounding decimals.
I have a step-by-step chart that I will have them put in their notebooks to hopefully help them as they go through the steps. I gave the chart to the 5th grade teacher and she said she taught it to her students so hopefully next year they will come to me already knowing how to round.
After rounding I am hoping that we can get to adding and subtracting decimals. We'll see how long rounding takes!

I started the year using the Connected Math Project curriculum, but I have had to step away from it for a bit as this class was really having trouble with it. Maybe it was how I was teaching it, but no matter what, they weren't doing so well so I have moved back to a more traditional approach to teaching the math concepts. I am adding some of the higher level thinking skills that connected math offers, but I have to be very careful not to overwhelm this group.

Now it is not just in math that this group is behind. Their reading skills are atrocious! If you just want them to regurgitate what you tell them, most can do that. But if you want them to dig deeper and actually answer questions that require them to take the information they have read and then compose their own answer, they can't! This is across the board. I do not have one student that can do this even half the time. They really do not comprehend what they read. So I have to do a lot of reading and stopping to discuss/explain what was just read. I keep hoping that eventually some will start to be able to actually come up with well thought out responses, but it hasn't happened yet.

I gave a social studies test this past Friday and all the students did really well on the multiple choice, fill in the blank and reading the timeline portion of the test, but when they got to the essay and short answer section, they failed miserably. I only had 4 students pass that portion of the test. I just wanted to cry. I gave out the essay question the day before the test, discussed it with them and encouraged them to work on a response at home so they would be prepared when they came in for the test. I only gave the essay portion to about half the class. The other half had short answers. This group was allowed to use the text. Anyone out there feel my pain??????

I have been using the Scott Foresman Reading Street program for my language arts block. I really like to incorporate novels into my program, but I just can't find the time this year. This group requires so much help just grasping the skills that I don't feel comfortable trying to use a longer piece of writing. I think they would just get lost. I wish I had the accelerated reader program at my school. I do have some students that read a number of novels on their own and I would like to see just how well they are comprehending those.

I do assign independent novels to the students that they are required to read and fill out a short form about. I'm not sure they are all actually reading the books though. Some of the responses on the forms are WAY out there!

This week I am taking time to get caught up on some writing skills. We spend so much time focused on our reading skills that I often don't get to our writing block. Now that is really sad!

Well, I promis to try to keep up a bit better with my blog for those few of you out there that actually read it. I am hoping that in the summer when I have a bit more time I can actually add some links to things that I actually have made/do with my students. Till then, I don't know that I'll be able to do much more than just tell you about my day!

Upcoming conferences

Wow, I can't believe that in 2 days it will be November. We have conferences this week. I have to admit, they are not my favorite. It seems that parents do not want to hear any negatives about their child, so when you do bring up something, they immediately want to blame you, the teacher.
I am pretty good about documenting everything and I send progress reports weekly, so there should be no surprises academically. Now I have to decide if I want to bring up some behavior/work habit issues. I think with certain parents I will just keep my mouth shut and let them figure it out on their own. I have one set of parents that don't believe anything I say so I have decided not to say anything anymore. It is sad because I am just trying to help their child to become a responsible person, but they don't believe he EVER does anything wrong. Ugh! I love teaching, but the parents can be a real challenge at times.
I wonder if they realize that we really are PROFESSIONALS!! As in we went to college for this and we stay current with what is going on in education. Why, oh why, would any teacher make up something about a student? I mean, don't we all have enough to contend with?

On a good note, I have been visiting the Teachers Pay Teachers website and I have to say there are some pretty good things on that site. And lots of the teachers have free downloads for you. If you haven't visited the site I highly recommend it.

I have been using the math website www.ixl.com with my class to practice basic math skills and review in class work. I am quite impressed with the site. Check it out if you are interested in math!

I signed up for the math site www.tenmarks.com and set up a class and had my students do some work on this site this past week. The frustrating part is that I am now trying to go in and check their work and the report section doesn't seem to be working. I have sent an email and they responded quickly and said is should be fixed by Monday morning. I sure hope so as I told my students that I would be taking a grade on this.

I have spent way too much time on school things this past weekend. I really need to get a life!!!

Sunday, October 16

I have been reading all these other fabulous blogs by teachers and I just don't know where they get the time to write what they do and add all those pictures and links, etc. I can't even keep up with writing on this blog. I would love to make this a diary of what I do each day with my class but I just can't seem to find the time to do that. By the time I get a chance to sit down and write anything, I am so exhausted that I don't! Maybe all those other teachers are much younger than me, I am not sure. But I am glad that I started this blog because it gives me a place to keep track of all those wonderful teachers out there that are giving me new ideas every day.

I absolutely love the language arts blogs I have found, I wish I could find some math blogs that would directly connect with what I am teaching. I am using the Connected Mathematics Project for the first time this year and let me tell you it is difficult. I have a class that is way behind in skills and they are really struggling. I really need to stick with this program though, because it is very close to what we need to be doing to get the common core in place.
My kids don't know their multiplication facts, can you believe that at sixth grade this is a fact! It blows me away. There may be a child or two that is not capable of memorizing the facts but what's up with the rest of the students? Without knowing the facts, they have extreme difficulty moving forward. And they definitely don't READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!!! Anybody else out there experiencing that???? Just this past Friday, I put a list of things on the board for them to accomplish, in the order I wanted them accomplished. Do you think most followed the order? No! I have 24 students and 15 of them just did whatever they wanted in the order they wanted, even though I kept saying make sure you have blah blah blah done. While they were supposed to be working, I was giving individual assessments and working with individual students so I wasn't walking the room to check on each of them. You would think by sixth grade they could follow directions!!!
I have not had a class like this in YEARS!!!!

All I do is work!

Well, I haven't had a chance to update anything in here because all I do is work. However, I have found this wonderful blog Sixth Grade Scott Foresman Reading Resources by this wonderful teacher from Alabama. The author is Shannon and she writes about what she does with her sixth grade Language Arts classes each day. She gives all of these wonderful links and shares her work and the handouts she gives her students. If you are using the Scott Foresman Reading street, I highly recommend her blog. It will help you immensely!
I usually teach more with novels but I have been presented with a class this year that is lacking in almost all their skills. So I have returned to the basal in order to help them come up to speed. I gave them their first reading test from the basal this past Friday and EVERYBODY passed. And not just passed, but with an 85% or better! And if you know anything about these tests, you know they are hard! I was so proud of my group that I gave them cookies, popcorn and a movie in the afternoon. Although I can't really afford to spend time on a movie, they have had such a rough start to the year and they have been trying so hard to do well (despite their overall lack of skills) and please me that I felt it was important to reward their work.
Now I am moving on to the next story in the basal and am hoping that they will do as well this week!
Now if only I could get them to write well and perform well in math! This is going to be a LONG year!

Teaching about Culture

I have started off the year teaching about culture. I found this marvelous unit, Building Bridges, on the Peace Corps website. This is an awesome site that has all kinds of lessons for all grade levels. If you want to teach your students about different cultures, this is the place to look. While I was looking around the site I found that I could ask for a volunteer to correspond with for my class. We got paired with a wonderful young man who is working with special needs young people in Jordan. My class will be emailing him several times a week and he will be sharing information about the Jordanian people with us. What a wonderful way to learn about another culture! My class is very excited about being able to correspond with this volunteer and learn about another culture. We are making a large map of Jordan to hang outside our room where we will post everything that we learn about the country and it's people. This is the address of the website. I am hoping that I have done this right so that it links right to the site. If not, I am also posting this on my Places to Visit where I know you can just click and it will take you there. http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/bridges/

Welcome to My Blog

Hi! I am starting this blog to keep a record of things I do while teaching sixth grade. I am especially interested in the movement of the Common Core State Standards. I am really passionate about creating an education for our students that prepares them for the global world in which they will live. We can no longer do what we have been doing for the past 50 years. It isn't working and we are cheating our students out of a chance to compete with those from other nations.
When my son, who went to a private boarding school for high school, entered Washington University in St. Louis, he expected to be top of the class since he was at his high school. However, he found, that even with the best education money could buy, he was not as well prepared as those students who came from foreign countries. He had to work very hard to catch up to where they were. Now, he could and did, but why aren't our students at the same level of education when they enter college? Why is our educational system continuing to teach material that does not prepare our students for the world in which they live? As educators, we need to push for changes that will make the system a better place for the students. If we back away because it is new or we like doing things the way we have always done it, then we no longer belong in education. We need to work together to make education in the United States a priority so that future generations will be able to be successful in our global world!