Day 46

Weird hair day was just that--weird; but he kids enjoyed it so I guess it was worth the distraction. I was decked out in my pink wig, a real hit with all.

Yesterday was the last day of the term and today we are finalizing grades. This should be a real eye opener. I gave my post test (pre-final) test in math yesterday and it was a disaster. I am not sure most students learned much of all about multiplication--can you believe it multiplication. You would think I was talking about a foreign language. I will reteach and retest next week.

My daughter/teacher's aide came in today and helped me correct papers. She is a great help and my students thinks she is the best.

I left last night by 5:30 p.m. to attend a Scout meeting. Now that I know what I am doing in Math, I have next week all planned. I love it when I can plan a week in advance. I might have to schedule a day in advance, but I have things ready for a full week of work. I never thought I would ever get to this point.

Day 45

Pajama Day! Bahumbug! Those of us who did not ware our pajama's today were treated as second class citizens because we did not support the days Red Ribbon activity. It is a sad indictment when pajamas are more important than teaching. Enough said!

Classes went as planned today and I was able to get another of my students through with the benchmark tests. Only one more student with one more test. Tomorrow is the deadline and I will make it. My class is doing about average. I am doing about as good as the other classes are.

I had one of my students get into a fight today on the playground. He came to the defense of a friend and was caught. He will be participating in alternative recess for the next week. His intentions were honorable, but his action was inappropriate. All three boys will be doing the same thing.

I was able to leave today at 5:30. I almost have everything ready for next week. It all depends on how my students do on their post test in Math. if they do well we start a new chapter, if they do not we reteach and retest. I am looking forward for tomorrows weird hair day!

Day 44

Today was maturation day. I was surprised that it was a good and informative presentation. I now have 5th grade boys who are using deodorant. It was real smelly in our class this afternoon. I hate to say that beside it being crazy tie day, this was the most exciting thing that happened today. Things went pretty much as planned, except the maturation presentation was longer than I had planned. We did not get to our Language Arts work today.

We also complete our benchmark test in Math. Things went pretty much as expected; high of 70 & low of 30. About the same as with our LA test.

I worked until 5 p.m. tonight and went over to see if any of my students were roller skating. I only had one. I did not go to Chunky Cheese after.

Day 43

Another week has come and gone and as Mondays go, today was okay. We had an interesting assembly today (zooish) that the students enjoyed. If they enjoyed it, I enjoyed it.

I met with our LCM committee this morning again about my two students. This time I was given some ideas and we will see if these interventions work. Everything that I and others have tried have not worked. The committee finally agreed to have one of my students tested for SE. This is a good step towards progress.

In SS today we started the student election process again. It was a little noisy; again the students had fun. We received our school T-shirts. White is not my favorite color. At least it is a polo shirt.

Camos/Sports clothes was the special today for the first day of Red Ribbon week. My students enjoyed wearing my BDUs.

I attended a class at the district today after school. I really have to hurry to get there in 25 minutes. It should be fun.

Day 41 & 42

This is getting to be a bad habit. I missed making my comments yesterday. Not sure why; nothing remarkable happened that I can remember. I left class early on Thursday to be a part of a color guard for a new church that had an open house in my home town. I left at 3:45 p.m. I was told that one of my students was found in the restroom crying because another student had made a comment about her being adopted. I will have to look into this on Monday. As far as I can remember, all went well on Thursday.

As Fridays go, today was pretty good. We made it through the day without any issues or problems. Friday's are short days and things went as planned. Spelling tests, Art, and reading; pretty normal for a Friday. The art project was music art. I played Halloween music and the students drew what they visualized. Some of the pictures were quite creative; others less.

After school we met as a team for our meeting with the assistant principal. We were ready and it went well. Our tutors and reading specialists joined us and they were happy with what we were doing. We discussed a few other things and than set up my students to take their benchmark test. I will administer the test on Monday.

After school tonight we had a PTA carnival. I volunteered my room and supervised a booth for three hours. It was good to get it over with. The assistant principal made a comment to my wife that the school got a great deal when they hired me. Complements are nice to hear; as long as I do not let them get to my head. Needless to say I left tonight around 8:30 p.m. Good thing I have Monday and most of Tuesday's materials ready.

Day 39-40

Not sure where I lost a day, but today was day 40, not 39 and it was the best. I met with my principal and he told me he brags about me when ever he gets a chance. He liked my presentation and he normally has two or three things he recommends the teacher to improve and his only comment was that I need to make sure that I allow my students enough time to answer a question and not jump right in if they falter. I thought his observations were right on. He also provided dinner.

One of my students had a melt down today and shed a few tears. It happens about every three or four weeks. I finally got her calmed down and after a talk, I thing she is back under control. We will see tomorrow.

Today's activities went well until language arts and we I tried to get my students to use a pre-writing activity to help them with their next paper. I have some work to do to get them to see the value in this approach.

One of our teachers are still out. Several teachers have chipped in to help the sub keep her class going. We are not sure when she will get back.

I left tonight around 5 pm. I am ready for tomorrow and for Friday. I have to leave right after school tomorrow to help with a color guard. It was nice to leave early tonight.

Day 38

Today was the day I have been waiting for. I finally taught a class that was observed by my principal. All new teachers have to be observed by their principal each quarter. I was the first of our new teachers. I believe things went well. At least I received a note from my principal say it was a fantastic presentation and I will have lunch with him tomorrow for a debrief.

My students were very good during the presentation; they had fun and I touched all of the right buttons I was suppose to touch. I gave him a copy of his observation form, retaught with a smiley face on it where I wanted him to set, a copy of a special lesson plan I prepared and a copy of my daily schedule along with assignments I gave out to my students. He stated that I gave him more than he expected. I had a chair set up for him, a clip board for him to use (he brought his own), and I prepped my student to let him know he was coming in to observe them, not me. He liked my jeopardy activity and the students even invited him to participate.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I had a mom visit me and wanted me to prepare some paperwork on her student. I was told that she would not allow her student to attend speech, but she was all for it. This was a good sign. I was also told by the assistant principal that the student I asked for more SE help was going to be monitored and a decision would be made to determine if she could qualify for additional help.

Even one of my team members told me she really appreciated what I was doing and that I was a good teacher. I hope it turns out as well as it seams today.

We had pictures taken today. As I told my students in my old job, you can only do so much with ugly.

I was out of there today by 6 pm. I hope to be out of there by 4 pm on Thursday and help with a color guard for the American Legions.

On a scale of 1-5, 5 being tops, today was a solid 4.

Day 37

Today was another good Monday. Things went pretty much as planned. Not much in the way of excitement today. I met with the committee that helps with at risk students and they made a couple of recommendations on how to deal with my students. I will try their recommendations.

After class today I pretty much had things ready for tomorrow. My principal is scheduled to come in an observe me teaching. It took me a few hours to make the final preparations for his visit. I am about as ready as I am going to get. I will spent several hours over the weekend developing a PPP for his visit.

I had one my parents students come in for a visit again today. He has been in once before and I provided his son with the missing assignments so he could catch. I enjoy visiting with my parents.

I also had a volunteer come in today. She will be in each Monday for a couple of hours to help where ever I need. I have asked her to help me with filing. Filing is my weak area--still.

I left tonight at 7:00 p.m. and came home to complete an assignment for tomorrow. I just need to get it printed tomorrow and I will be ready. We have pictures tomorrow and I will wear a shirt and tie.

Day 37

The Wednesday before a four-day weekend went pretty well. We had our normal Friday spelling test on Wednesday. The pretest for next week also went well. I had at least one more student make 90% than the past two weeks. I have not corrected the spelling test to see if after only three days how my students did.

I met with the vice principal to find out about getting one of my students more SE services and the principal told me I was doing a great job in working with my at risk students. I was doing better than most of the other teachers. It is always nice to hear a complement. However, twice in two days concerns me.

For art we made paper airplanes, colored them, and then flew them. it was the highlight of the week for my students.

I was able to finish up by 7:15 and went home for the weekend. I would have left sooner but I spend time getting ready for Tuesday so Monday night I can spend more time getting ready for my Language Arts lesson that my principal has to observe. I have 30 minutes to insure he knows I am a good teacher. I am ready for his visit.

Day 36

I was only at school for part of the day today due to a medical appointment. My students like my sub and asked to have him back if I am going to miss again. I do not know if this is a good sign or not.

I met with the mother of one of my students today. She was very concerned and supportive of what we plan on doing for her daughter. This is a good sign. It was decided that I would not let my student go to the library if she has not written in her planner. This will go for all students who want to go to the library in the morning.

I had another student stay after school today to have me help her with her math. I may have made some progress. She seam to think that multiplication of multiple numbers was easy. Additionally, I am trying to get another student into resource reading. I visited resource with one of my other students since I had come back early. The resource reading teacher will look into what the protocol is.

Finally, one of my students lost her house key on the way to school today and was really feeling bad. Her mother was mad at her, her sister was mad because the mom yelled at her for letting my student take the key. My student was left school today in tears. I gave both her and her sister an otter pop; hoping to make them feel a little better. It is amazing how a little cold, colored sugar water will make a person feel better.

I was able to leave tonight by 6:15. I have everything ready for tomorrow and almost everything ready for Monday. I should not have to stay too late tomorrow. We will see.

Day 35

Today was a great Monday as Mondays go. I started my day meeting with the LCM Cmty discussing one of my students. I had concerns about keeping her on task and with her social skills. I talked to her mom yesterday and received a little more information about this student. Plans were made and now I need to carry them out. Hopefully there will be some positive improvement.

Classes went as planned and I have no real concerns about what was done. I will be gone tomorrow for a half day to get my final shot. I have made a plan for my sub and hopefully she will be able to carry them out. I should be able to meet with her before I leave and will be back before school is out.

Met with my active student again today to talk about him hitting or acting like he was going to hit other students. I am not sure how to get him to stop; however we made a plan that involves him not doing it for two weeks and if he is successful, I will give him a treat.

One of my students have been bullied coming to school last week. He along with a friend was able to identify the young man and the assistant principal assigned him duties to make sure my student got to school okay. I hope this will work.

I left early tonight. It was only 6:45. I will take it anytime I can get out by this time. I did take a little time to work on items for Wednesday and Monday. I also corrected a pretest I gavfe my students in math. They do not know this stuff.

Day 33 & 34

So much for making comments everyday. I was in class only a half day on Thursday and we only had students until 1:25 on Friday. I had a play on Friday night and Scout meetings on Saturday so I stayed late on Thursday to make up for not staying late on Friday and coming in over the weekend--did you keep up with that.

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday. I had a new sub and she did a good job. Many of my students know her because she is a mom of some of the students in the school. She got along with the students and only had a few issues. I finally completed my work at 7:30 on Thursday. I had all of Friday ready and a good start on Monday. On Friday I finished getting Monday ready and a got good start on the rest of the week.

Both Thursday and Friday were very unremarkable days. We did have a fire drill on Friday. It was published in advanced and everyone was ready for it. Not a big deal. I finally got one of my students refereed to the LCM committee and we will discuss her behavior issues on Monday. I also was able to send an email on another student who has a speech issue. I am not sure what else I have to do. One final issue I tried to solve but did not was to get one of my lower level readers put in our reading club. It is a special reading program for slower readers. I have to check with her resource teacher first before I can do anything else.

All but four of my students passed the practice math test. The other four I gave them a new test and they did a little better. Only two students passed the Spelling Pre-test. At least those two do not have to take spelling next week.

I will try to do a better job on Monday. Some nights when I get home I do not get the chance to use the computer. I have a wife and a daughter in college and they use it first on school nights. Not much more for now.

Day 32

After leaving early last night I have been in a catch up mode all day. Although I knew what I needed to do, it just seam that things did not go as smooth as normal. I think it all started when we were called to the gym for an unannounced assembly just as school was scheduled to start. Again it was for a worthy intent, "Walk to School Day". It only last for about 15 minutes, but when your day is planned out, 15 minutes throws off your day.

I had several students stay in today in recess and it caused some confusion. I am not sure I want to continue doing it.

I have to be gone again tomorrow for a half day for a doctor's appointment. I am using a sub that has been used by one of our other 5th grade teachers. I will have about 15 minutes overlap before I have to leave.

I had one of my students stay after school tonight to catch up on her work. It was good for her, but it was an hour I could not do my work. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I finally left tonight at 7:45. I am very ready for tomorrow and for my sub; however I will have to stay late on Thursday because I cannot stay late on Friday. We have tickets to a play.

Day 31

For a Tuesday, today went pretty well. I was able to get through most of the material I prepared. I would have made it through all if it had not been for an assembly we had. It was not bad, in fact anytime we can discuss social skills, the better off we are. Each month we have a social skills assembly hosted by our counselor. They make it entertaining and informative.

I spent a lot of time reviewing & working with my small group math team getting them ready for our chapter test on Friday. Tomorrow we will practice some more and than Thursday we will have our final practice. Hopefully by Friday they will do okay. In science we made it through landforms, but did not get a chance to tell them about their final project. Hopefully, creating their own land form will be enjoyable.

Today I met with one mom about her son, emailed another about her son, and answered a note from two others. I like it when the parents of my students are concerned enough to contact me. These were all in reference to my weekly Monday morning about missing assignments.

I left school today at 3:45 to attend the monthly SS lesson plan exchange. It was okay. I will probably go back again next month. I was home by 6 pm. I will pay for this lapse tomorrow. that is all for today.

Day 30

I love Mondays. It is the first day of seven more days of work. I worked yesterday and completed my mandatory training. I am off the principals bad list. I canned chili sauce over the weekend and took small sample bottles to school for some of those I work with. The chili sauce turned out very good.

Today was a ho hum day. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I confiscated one of my student's toys (Lego people) and gave it to the secretary in stead of the principal. Hopefully, this young man will keep it put away during class.

I worked until seven p.m. tonight and tried to get a head start on tomorrow night. I have a SS meeting and cannot stay after school. I finished my PPP on erosion, weathering, and land forms. I presented part of it today and will present the rest tomorrow. This is an introduction to the subject. I also created a GO to help students take notes. I will provide the other two teachers copies tomorrow.

This was a short posting today. No telling what tomorrow will bring.

Day 29

Yesterday was the end of the sixth week and the tenth day of this blog. My students leave at 1:25 on Fridays. Fridays are our test days and I evaluated my students three ways. We had our Friday spelling test and pretest for the next weeks words. We did DIBLES testing in our small reading groups, and we had our first Science quiz on volcanoes & earthquakes. I have not corrected the tests so I do not know how well my students did.

Before the Science test reviewed the Science Vocabulary words in preparation for their quiz. I discovered some issues with our DIBLES materials and hope to have them fixed by next week. I did not have large print reading examples for all three of my reading tutors and will get them copied by next Friday. Additionally, some of my testing booklets are not in order. I now need to record my DIBLES scores. I also finally completed my last student on the IOWA test. When I sent my materials to the Assistant Principals office, both the Principal and Assistant Principal were in the office. The principal told my student that since I had finally completed my testing (the last teacher in the school) that I could stay for another week. My students had a good laugh over it.

I spent about a half hour going over Brain Teasers with my students. They had fun and it gave me an excuse to give them a reward for answering a question right. I put up 20 questions every day and invite my students to submit answers for the questions. The student who answers the most questions right gets a reward. The questions stay up all day. They can use the computers in my room during recess if they want to. So far only two students have participated. One young lady had won both days.

Yesterday I had my weekly weigh-in, and event look forward to every week. If I gain week I owe the class treat. If I loose weight I do not owe them a treat. I have a line graph on my wall showing my progress, rather my lack of progress. After six weeks I am exactly where I was on week number two. The students enjoy it so I continue with it.

After our students left on Friday, the fifth grade team got together for their bi-weekly planning meeting. We reviewed our progress with our Science unit and then set things up for our Math unit. In Science we are on our Earth unit (I will start weathering next week) and working on chapter 2 in Math. The principal set in with us yesterday and also one of our reading specialists. We completed our team meeting and went back to week.

I left early yesterday (4:30 p.m.) because I will come in on Sunday. Either I stay until 8 p.m. on Friday night or I work for several hours on the weekend. That is life on the 5th grade front.

Day 28

Yesterday was only a half day for me (at school). I had a medical appointment in the afternoon and had to have a sub for half a day. My sub was one of those on the preferred list and she is super. Most of my students know her and she fit in very well. I returned to school about 45 minutes before class was done and took one of my students out for his IOWA testing. One more test and he will be done. When I arrived the sub wanted to know if I was back to take over the class. I said no. She was still in charge until class was over. That way I could watch my students and see how they did with someone else. It was not a true test because I was in the back and they would come up to me. She also let a few things go that I would not let go so I would get involved in a quiet way, not usurping her authority.

I really can not think of anything unusual that happened yesterday. Things went as planned. I did get an email letting me know I was on the district's bad list because I had not completed my mandatory risk management orientation. I tried to call them to get a password and log in and received a recording. I emailed them back and hopefully I will get my password today. I also received my first paycheck and was surprised that I did not get what I thought I should received. I have been working for six weeks and thought I would get six weeks of pay. I was misinformed. Pay periods are from the 20th of one month to the 20th of the next month, paid on the 1st. So much for false expectations.

One thing from yesterday, I did not get my nomination in for student of the month so none of my students will be recognized during for September. This is one are where I think a little flexibility would have been nice, especially for a new teacher. A reminder over the intercom would have been nice.

I went to my Scout meeting last night and did my duty to Scouting. It actually went very well.

Day 27

Wednesday! Only two more days to go until next week. My weeks always start on Saturday. Since I started teaching elementary school, I have only taken one day off that I did not do something for my job. That would be Labor Day Monday.

Things went well in school today. I took to school the items my wife brought back from Hawaii and showed them to the 5th & 6th grade. I gave my students a piece of lava and a raw macadamia nut. I will take them a chocolate kiss with a macadamia nut in it. I gave a bag to each of the other 5th grade classes. The reason these items were timely is we have been studying about volcanoes and Hawaii is one of the best examples of volcanoes.

Classes went as I planned except I did Science first and math last. I knew the new math concept would not take as long as it would take to complete our Earthquake section of science. I showed my students a PPP I put together and then showed them how a candy bar could be used to show a fault and how the fault can cause an earthquake. When I was finished, I gave each of my students a candy bar and let them try it. They enjoyed the project.

I found out one of my students had stolen one of the macadamia nuts when I was not looking. I talked to her and now I plan on having her taken to the LCM committee. She has some real serious social issues and I do not think I am making much of an impact on her anti-socialism.

I finally left tonight at 7:45. I cannot stay late on Thursday night because I have a Scout meeting. I now have both Thursday and Friday ready, and a good start on Monday next week. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow so I will have a substitute teacher for a half day. I believe I have a good plan ready for her.