Posts under ‘teaching’

Antonio moved to Wisconsin.  Again.
Kelly moved next door (after the social worker showed up after the my-mommy-hits-me-with-a-belt incident after a week had gone by since I reported it after which her mommy kept her out of school for three days and threatened to take her to another school unless the principal switched her out of [...]

We had a lovely day last Monday.  Worked excitedly on all sorts of new words: yank, topple, wince, wide grin, heartwarming, corduroy, infant, sum, addend, process, cobble, shards, pulverize, currents, grains, weathering.  Read them in context, discussed them out of context, acted them out, placed them in new contexts, shared personal experiences that related to [...]

I had to do it again today.  Call the Department of Child and Family Services to report a parent.
This one haunts me for different reasons than the last one: last week, I knew the mother intended well but just needed some parenting help; today I know the mother intends bad.
This mother instructed her seven-year-old child, [...]

This week I had to make the phone call all teachers dread.  To the Department of Children and Family Services.  The supreme form of tattling.
Kelly walked at the front of the line holding a water bottle with ice in it.  The last time Kelly was carrying a water bottle with ice in it, she’d brought [...]

He’s back!  He’s better than before!  He’s José!
I met with his mother yesterday.
And his brother.
And his social worker.
You’d be surprised how many kids come with entourages these days.  It’s my second social worker conference this year.  The other one (surprise!) was Griselda’s (I just knew they had a connection).

If only their entourages brought them movie [...]

11 warning notices filled out to be sent home to kids not meeting grade-level standards
5 notes to parents (homework issues)
3 mini-conferences with parents (Kelly, Jesus, Brianna: Kelly brought a glass perfume bottle to school because Jesus, a 2nd grader in another class, called her fat and stinky; Brianna’s having a hard time counting to 20 [...]

As a mom, I walk up the path to the school with hope and trepidation.  Probably more of the former.  As a teacher, ditto.  I think this is a good thing: when teachers and parents have similar feelings and expectations.
Tonight we finally had our Back-To-School Night. 7 weeks into the school year.  Why so late, [...]

Every school has to have one. They’re loved. They’re hated. They’re sometimes ignored. A charter school in New York is working hard to minimize them by choosing to pay its teachers principal salaries and its principal teacher salaries. 125K for the teachers, 90K for the head guy. But minimized or maximized, they’re still [...]

Last week José smiled. On a fairly regular basis. When he wasn’t frowning, that is.
And, he sat downstage right or left most of the time we were at the rug, rather than practically out the door and with his back to me.
I considered all this enormous progress and worked hard to acknowledge [...]

The first month of school is a crucial time in the life of a classroom. Don’t meld them into a working group, and you pay for it for the rest of the year. Classroom life is chaos. Teaching and learning are repeatedly interrupted by stretches of wildness. Days are exhausting. [...]