I'm not actually writing because I have news to share but because it's been almost a month since I actually wrote anything. Yikes. I guess this is as good of a time as any then to write a little about a trip I'm taking this summer. First, a few bullets about room 25.
-I have another new student. We're back to that magic number 21. He's really sweet and completely random most of the time but hasn't caused any ripples.
-The last day is MAY 24th! That is sooooo much earlier than the last 2 years I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the last week in May.
-Oh wait, yes I do. We have common core standards and curriculum alignment training for 2 days for the following week. Psh.
-I am helping with the Kindergarten Academy starting July 16th so my summer just got a week shorter. It will be really great for the kids and make the start of the year for all kindergartners and their teachers smoother but I'm still not sure jumping in 1 month ahead of everyone else is a good idea.
-Going along with the last bullet, my patience at this point in the year is at an all time low. Especially for those things that students have been doing all year long. It's APRIL and we really don't need to be breaking down in sobs over a place in line. Starting a month earlier dealing with the little things that 5 year olds think are big things might run my patience a bit short a little early. We shall see.
-We are having the K program on Tuesday and going to the zoo on Friday. Did I mention the end of the year is practically here?
-Testing on May 7, 8, 9th is going to mark the end of the year. Big bonus that I don't have to do the major tear down/put away that we did that last 2 years.
Ethiopia Bound!
This year, I am going back to Ethiopia June 8-22. I probably knew when I got back last year that I was going to go again. It took me a little longer to accept that reality and embrace the challenge of leading the team but I'm excited about where God is leading. Yes, you read that I am leading this year's trip. I am leading a group of 8 from my church with the organization Blessing the Children International. We chose a different organization because they will allow us to stay longer, are the same cost, and it will hopefully allow us to develop some relationships there that we can continue through the years as Windsor sends more teams each summer.
At this point, I have raised all my financial support and we are working on figuring out what we will take and do while we are there. We are probably going to do some first aid clinics and hopefully a fun day with the kids. We have a great team and we've already seen God stepping up and providing. It's a great story to share and we haven't even left yet so I'm looking forward to what everything else that is coming. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we prepare and depart!!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Cat in the Hat & Fishing for Friends
I'm completely aware that pictures of my colleagues and my bulletin boards are not very exciting but it's really all I have to offer. The first 2 belong to my fellow K teachers and the last 2 are mine. Actually, I'm behind because the Cat in the Hat is already down, the shamrock men for St. Patricks Day only have a few days left, and the spring flowers are in the box in the plans ready for when we get back.
Giant Grasshoppers & Dead Fish
Do you see that HUGE grasshopper!?? We got to hang out with them a little over a week ago at an all school field trip to the U of I campus and the "Naturally Illinois Expo." Thanks to be able to leave all my troublesome students back at school, we had a good time. It was a lot of scientists talking and explaining things at a level WAY over our students comprehension level but they didn't complain. We stayed almost 4 hours when we could have been done in 2. If it weren't so crowded we probably could have stayed in the bug room for 45 minutes. They really were pretty cool.
They also had some dead fish for us to touch. We did touch them but didn't like it very much.
I'm on spring break and have a couple more pictures of bulletin boards so hopefully I will get to that later this week. It's on my list.
They also had some dead fish for us to touch. We did touch them but didn't like it very much.
I'm on spring break and have a couple more pictures of bulletin boards so hopefully I will get to that later this week. It's on my list.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
T-Shirts are my favorite.
I hope there is never a time in my life where I feel like it might be not okay to wear a t-shirt on a lazy weekend. Or every day of my summer vacation and spring break. T-shirts and hoodies were made to be enjoyed for long term. If you have disagree, than we will have to agree to disagree. I hope I wear t-shirts when I'm 80.
Remember when my principal told me I needed to "grow horns." Well, it must be working because last week a student said, "Ms. Lock, are you ever going to smile again?" I'm not sure that's the kind of teacher I want to be but at least for now I am accomplishing what my principal wanted. The old adage goes "Don't smile until after Christmas" and perhaps that's what went wrong. I smiled too early and got ran over.
Perhaps these two paragraphs are what sum up my classroom management issues. My personality is more fitted for a t-shirt but it needs to be more buttoned up. I'm too relaxed when I need to be zoned in. I let little things go that can escalate into bigger things that are too far out of control. I've said all along that I thought this year was better than last year and I still believe that. There's just a lot more that I can do better. I'm sure I'll never have it all figured out. I've changed some things and they have gotten better. I hope I'm always changing to make things better. It's the best practice and best way to be successful in the career I have chosen. For now, I know I need to put the t-shirt mentality away and keep wearing a tie. Save the t-shirts in the tub for the weekends. That's where they're at their best anyway.
Remember when my principal told me I needed to "grow horns." Well, it must be working because last week a student said, "Ms. Lock, are you ever going to smile again?" I'm not sure that's the kind of teacher I want to be but at least for now I am accomplishing what my principal wanted. The old adage goes "Don't smile until after Christmas" and perhaps that's what went wrong. I smiled too early and got ran over.
Perhaps these two paragraphs are what sum up my classroom management issues. My personality is more fitted for a t-shirt but it needs to be more buttoned up. I'm too relaxed when I need to be zoned in. I let little things go that can escalate into bigger things that are too far out of control. I've said all along that I thought this year was better than last year and I still believe that. There's just a lot more that I can do better. I'm sure I'll never have it all figured out. I've changed some things and they have gotten better. I hope I'm always changing to make things better. It's the best practice and best way to be successful in the career I have chosen. For now, I know I need to put the t-shirt mentality away and keep wearing a tie. Save the t-shirts in the tub for the weekends. That's where they're at their best anyway.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Horns and Love Bugs
I kinda grew horns. Everyone was improved and I had a lot of good conversations with parents both just because I needed to tell them that their children were being monsters and because we had parent/teacher conferences. On a high note, everyone who had a monster child, agreed with me. They just didn't have a lot to suggest we do about it. I have to admit that Monday I was feeling pretty discouraged. It's hard to be mean all the time and can be discouraging to be so negative all the time. By the end of the week, I had found a better balance and so had the rest of the class.
We survived Valentine's Day and the sugar that comes with it. There were 3 of my kids out the next day probably from stomach aches. We tried to keep things sane in our room by having a "healthy" party since it's Dental health and Heart Healthy awareness month. We had carrots, apples, oranges, granola bars, and one cookie. They had more than enough suckers and other candy in their treat bags.
On Tuesday, we are starting a "Kindness Initiative" because Kindergarten is too young for kids to be treating each other the way I hear them being "friends." It seems that is always a condition on friendships that results in hurt feelings 9 times out of 10. Someone won't sit with you if you don't share your crayons. Someone calls you stupid if you if you beat them to the place you wanted in line. Someone else gets friends to chase you on the playground because you answered a question before them. It's just not nice and we are going to try to come up with alternatives. I have a bulletin board ready to go that says, "Fishing for Good Friends," a book called "How Full is Your Bucket" waiting to be read, and a list of kind words ready to be brainstormed. I hope it will push us out of this phase of constantly picking on one another one second and being friends the next. It's my goal for the rest of February and boy do we need it.
Oh yeah, we made these bugs out of hearts. They were cute.
We survived Valentine's Day and the sugar that comes with it. There were 3 of my kids out the next day probably from stomach aches. We tried to keep things sane in our room by having a "healthy" party since it's Dental health and Heart Healthy awareness month. We had carrots, apples, oranges, granola bars, and one cookie. They had more than enough suckers and other candy in their treat bags.
On Tuesday, we are starting a "Kindness Initiative" because Kindergarten is too young for kids to be treating each other the way I hear them being "friends." It seems that is always a condition on friendships that results in hurt feelings 9 times out of 10. Someone won't sit with you if you don't share your crayons. Someone calls you stupid if you if you beat them to the place you wanted in line. Someone else gets friends to chase you on the playground because you answered a question before them. It's just not nice and we are going to try to come up with alternatives. I have a bulletin board ready to go that says, "Fishing for Good Friends," a book called "How Full is Your Bucket" waiting to be read, and a list of kind words ready to be brainstormed. I hope it will push us out of this phase of constantly picking on one another one second and being friends the next. It's my goal for the rest of February and boy do we need it.
Oh yeah, we made these bugs out of hearts. They were cute.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Sick Day
I am at home with strep throat today. It's my first full sick day in 2 1/2 years so I guess you could say I've done a pretty good job staying away from the germs. When the doctor asked, "has anyone around you been sick?" I just told him I was kindergarten teacher. He didn't ask for more specifics. I did a great job of going sick yesterday and exposing everyone to it. Whoops. In my defense, it wasn't until noon that I really felt like it was not good news and by the end of the day that I really felt terrible. Besides, if I had gone to Convenient Care earlier my "quick" strep test might not have come back positive and I would have had to wait for labs. Instead, I am positively fighting strep throat and on antibiotics for ten days. Guess I'll go do all the lesson plans that I didn't get to do Sunday. Good times.
In other blog worthy news, my fire alarm puller has been moved across the hall to another teacher. It was the principal's decision with a lot of different factors going on there. I feel bad but relieved and bad for feeling relieved. Hopefully, now we can get everyone else back on track. The principal did an observation yesterday which went terrible maybe because I was sick but maybe because we have taken several steps back dealing with other student issues. New plan is that I have to grow horns and have some conferences with parents. If we can accomplish that, I think we end the year with a bang. Just do it.
In other blog worthy news, my fire alarm puller has been moved across the hall to another teacher. It was the principal's decision with a lot of different factors going on there. I feel bad but relieved and bad for feeling relieved. Hopefully, now we can get everyone else back on track. The principal did an observation yesterday which went terrible maybe because I was sick but maybe because we have taken several steps back dealing with other student issues. New plan is that I have to grow horns and have some conferences with parents. If we can accomplish that, I think we end the year with a bang. Just do it.
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