New Placement

So we finally found out where we are going to be placed for our second blocks- I will be with the "dreaded" grade 6s (haha just kidding) locally- this means I will be able to take the bus to my placement which is fabulous- this means not having to rely on others for rides/having to wait around/having others wait around for me- also, unlike Stevensville where I was, this school is VERY close to my house, so I feel there will be many more opportunities for myself to get involved outside of school...

I have been informed by other full-time teachers who had taught at my new school that it will be a challenge. There is a GREAT deal of theft in the school (especially with students stealing from teachers), and they are having problems with Grade 7 girls doing drugs...not just doing drugs but doing them ON school property. Since the school is in a mixed income area, there are a variety of different students who go to school there. I thought hearing about the school's reputation would make me extremly nervous and anxious, but actually I am more than excited. I feel that going to this "troubled" school and teaching there will be one of the best learning experiences I could ever ask for. My teacher (another male!) has a great reputation, and I hope to learn a lot from him. I have been told that I will develop a thicker skin while teaching at this school, and I look forward to the challenges I will face on my way- it will be a learning experience I'm sure I will never forget.

Social Issues Day

This past Friday was Social Issues day, and I found it to be extremely insightful.

The day started off with Carson speaking to us about the Holocaust in general, and we received an information book filled with tons of great information and great insight (as well as liberation stories). Since I haven't learned much about the Holocaust since I was in Polish school (it was an extensive topic back then, since many concentration camps were in Poland, including Auschwitz, the largest one), it was great to have a refresher about the issue as a whole.

Max was truly an inspirational speaker. His story was so moving, and so touching...and it hit so close to me, because the Death March he spoke of took place just 30 minutes from where my family lives (and where I was born) in Poland- my grandparents lived through that, and it was just so eye-opening. His story was so sad, and he was "only" (only is in brackets, since the amount of time is too long to begin with, but shorter than others had experienced) in the concentration camps and in that horrible situation for 9 months- I can't imagine how others were in those situations throughout the entire war. It was horrible to hear how he actually watched his dad and uncle get quarantined- and it was a great reminder for all of us to tell our loved ones how we feel and how much we appreciated them.

The first thing I wanted to do when I got home was to call my Grandma in Wroclaw, Poland and ask her about the concentration camp that was located near her house- I want to hear about her own experiences, and what it was like to live in Poland at that time...I cant imagine what Max went through, but it is amazing to see that his life took a turn in a great direction once he came to Canada- he is a parent, and even a grandparent, and his story was (hopefully) an inspiration for everyone who heard it.

Anxiety

So I had a great Christmas break- It was so nice to just be home and be with my family and just relax for once- now its back to the real world, and I have to say, I'm having a bit of anxiety when I think about our upcoming block.

My anxiety doesn't have to do with the possibility of teaching Grade 6s (which is quite scary on its own)- what scares me has to do with getting to and from my placement. I know that the counsellors are trying to work it out so the individuals with rides are put with those without so we can carpool. However this is difficult since I am one of a very small number of public student teachers- and many public teachers (as well as the Catholic) have applied for out-of-region placements. I did not, as I hope to teach within the DSBN (at least to supply teacher for the next year). Now, what if my ride is one of the people that has been selected for an out-of-region? Many schools are not within bus routes (except for Glenridge elementary which is down the street from me), so I'm getting a bit anxious about having a ride when out of region placements start. I know I'm probably being silly and I might be worrying about nothing- but this is a real concern for me, and I felt like maybe posting on my blog would let me just get my anxiety out and it would make me feel better (which hasnt happened yet lol).

Again I'm probably worried about nothing, and I am worrying FAR TOO EARLY...but I just wanted to get this out...now hopefully I can just forget about it and worry about it when (or if) the situation arises.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break- we all deserved it, and I hope the time you all had to spend with your families and friends was great.

My Last Day

I was dreading the last day of my Block since the first day of Block- I knew I am one of those people that gets very easily attached- and I became attached to each and every one of my students. I KNEW I would cry on my last day (because I am also a big baby haha)...and boy did I. A little girl hugged me for "too long"- I cried. 3 little girls sang a song that they made up about me...I cried even more. Before I presented my kids with their end of Block gifts, I had a speech to give them about how great they were and about how much they taught me this year- again, I cried (The kids by the way thought this was hilarious and kept bringing me Kleenex). When I saw Mary in the hallway and she asked if I had cried...I started to cry (I was on a roll that day)- later on when we had parent teacher interviews, most of the parents knew I was leaving because they had seen me crying in the hall (oy!) We had a party on my last day for me, which was amazing. A little boy who I never expected to do this ran up to me before the end of the day, and gave me a huge hug, telling me he'll miss me. It was so unexpected, but it was one of those great moments that makes you realize how you can truly touch students as a teacher....

The most rewarding part of this whole experience has been the relationship I formed with my associate teacher...he wrote me a note on my last day that showed me that I did make an impact...

To Kari,
Thanks for a great teaching block. You were fine. Just Kidding! You were great. Best of luck in your rich future. You're a great teacher already.
Ken Kells

And now I am going to cry some more (haha)...Cheers!

I lied!

Okay...so according to my last post, boys do not like fairytales- well guess what?! They did today and it was the greatest day EVER! See, apparently they like fairy tales when they have something to do with drama...and primary kids LOOOOVE drama- especially my kids! So when I had them pretend to BE fairy tale characters and interview their friends (who were other characters), they thought it was the greatest idea ever. They would not stop bugging me all day: "Miss Kalisz is it time for our interviews yet?" "Miss Kalisz, do we have to do reading? When can we do interviews?" "Is it time for us to do drama yet???"- this went on all day...until it was "time"....

And it was fabulous! Kids were on the floor CRYING because some of the dramatizations were hilarious- one little girl (or should I say, Rumpelstiltskin) actually hunched over, made her voice raspy, and started talking to the audience about how she promises NOT to steal their babies- brilliant! My associate and I even conducted our own interview (with him being a princess of course- this was payback for the "African Dance" fiasco)- the kids loved it!

The kids were great- even the shyest kids and the BOYS completely surprised me- it was such a great day because we all had a lot of fun....and it showed me that even though not all of my fairy tale activities were "loved", this one day made up for it all :)

Note to Self: Boys do NOT like fairy tales!

So I learned a very valuable lesson this week: 8 year old boys do not like fairy tales- they hear the word fairy and they freak out. Another word that they hate? Princess. Again...these are things I learned this week AFTER I had created a whole one-week unit based on fairy tales...I figured one week I would teach about fables, another week I would let the students enter into the wonderful and magical word of castles and dragons and princes and princesses....nope...boys didn't go for it. So today I "gave in" and allowed "Disney", t.v show and biblical characters enter into the lesson- this is called quick thinking, and adapting lessons to your students' needs- as much as I do NOT believe that Spongebob Squarepants should be called a "classic" fairy tale character, I somehow made him fit into the lesson...which just goes to show, teachers must ALWAYS be ready to change their lessons at the blink of an eye....

So to all of you future grade 3 teachers here is a friendly hint for you: Fables = GREAT gender neutral topic...fairytales? Yeah...go with some Robert Munsch instead ;)

Memories

I decided that I'm going to go past the "required" number of posts because I need some way of remembering my time at Stevensville- and this blog is the perfect way of doing it. I don't want to forget some of the more memorable times I've shared with my associate and my kids, so I'm going to continue to write about them here, so I'll always have the memories (I'm a huge sap- I'm already anticipating the tears I will shed during my last week).

On Friday I taught my kids a drama lesson- I came in wearing the "loudest" outfit I could find, brought a giant drum, and had my kids dancing and prancing and stomping and jumping and bouncing around the room- I had transformed the room into a jungle, and my kids into the animals- I taught them about tableaus and how to use their faces to show great expressions. I let them use their imaginations, and for the last 2 minutes their loud "animal" voices to express themselves- after my lesson, two little girls came up to me with hugs and said thank you...it felt so rewarding because I didnt even really feel like I did anything that great- but to them, it was great.

Highlight of my day? Last period: My associate brings the kids into a room into the library and tells them we are going to do a drama activity on improvisation. The kids were to pretend they were an expert on a certain topic (chosen by the teacher), and they would have to give an impromptu speech on this topic. The kids were a bit confused, so my teacher decided it would be hilarious if I was the first "expert"- First of all, public speaking causes a bit of anxiety in me so I was having a bit of a panic attack at first (haha)- His introduction: "Coming all the way to you from Africa, we have a famous African dancer, Miss Kalisz!"- Oh dear god...what was I going to do? So I stand up there and my kids are laughing in their seats- they can't stop- Then? Somehow I started making things up off the top of my head, and the next thing I know, I'm performing an "African Monkey Dance" for them, as they are laughing their heads off.

That day I was their teacher, but I also became human in their eyes, because I feel as though they saw me in a different light- and I feel I earned their respect by making a fool of myself in front of them- my associate loved it so hopefully that'll show in my evaluation somewhere ;) (haha)...

Hopefully next week will be just as memorable...Candace, I cant wait for you to meet my munchkins!

What a great first day!

I was extremely nervous prior to today- it was our first OFFICIAL day teaching, and even though I was only going to teach one lesson, it was my first "real" lesson in front of my associate. I have to say (I know this sounds stupid), but today was one of the proudest days I've ever had.

Prior to my lesson I went over some of "Miss K's Classroom Rules" with the kids, and I reminded them that I will be teaching all month. The boys (who usually boo just to get a laugh) actually cheered- it warmed my heart :) This introduction allowed me to make a statement in front of the class, and it let the students know exactly what to expect over the next month.

My lesson (on fables) was well-received, and after school, my teacher gave me some GREAT tips about what went great and what I should do for next time (mainly coming up with an extra activity for those students who finish much earlier than the others)- I ended up making things up off the top of my head for them to do and was later commended on my ability to "think quickly on my feet" (and to think, I thought I looked unprofessional!)

Perhaps the biggest highlight of my day was during indoor recess- the kids were being very rambunctious, so to maintain order (and to let them get out some of their crazy energy), I put on the "Macarena" and we danced together. The best part? : When my associate walked into the classroom, saw us dancing, and actually joined in. It was hilarious, and definitely made my day (and perhaps even my month!)

I hope everyone had a great day today, and hopefully the days just keep getting better!

It's happening!

I have to say, I'm SO excited about this next upcoming month. I think it will definitely be an experience to remember, and I'm so glad I'll finally get to see what a whole month looks like in the classroom.

On Friday my associate and I were preparing for my month at Stevensville. We came up with ideas about how I will teach my first unit (on fairytales and fables), and how I will incorporate other areas of the curriculum (mainly art and drama) into this. We also moved the desks around in the classroom to "start fresh". My associate moves the desks around every month so the students get a chance to sit with other people, and don't always sit beside their friends who they like to chat with. During this time, my associate decided it was a good idea to move my desk (I have my own big desk in the class at the back of the room) to the front of the room (which I wasnt planning on doing until next week) so the students could see it being moved so they would realize that I will now be their teacher as well. The students were asking why my desk was being moved so it gave me a great opening to explain to them that I will now be teaching them everyday along with their normal teacher. It was so heartwarming to see how exciting the students were to hear this (especially my girls) so it just makes me even more excited about this upcoming month.

Good luck everyone! :)

A lesson of my own

Today I went to Stevensville because I had the opportunity to teach my grade 3s without my associate teacher being at the school (he was away at a meeting). Before I knew it was a Reading Day, he had asked me if I wanted to come up with a lesson for the afternoon that I could faciliate under the supervision of the supply teacher. I eagerly agreed before I realized it was Reading Day, and I did not feel it was right to go back on my word. So I came up with a fun lesson that went along with my classes' media unit. I taught them about advertising, and then the students had time to get into pairs and create a commercial about the product of their choice.

I have to say, my teacher makes it look a lot easier than it actually is. He is extremely laid-back, so he is usually "okay" with his students interrupting and having kids come up to him and ask questions while he is with other students- I am not okay with this. When I am with a child discussing something, I do not think it is appropriate for other students to come and completely interrupt us (unless it is imperative that they speak to me). Today I had students stand directly in front of the student I was speaking with, in order to get my attention...and the funny thing is, they didnt see anything wrong with this. I think this is because my teacher usually "lets this go". This became a problem for me today because my students were being a bit disruptive and interrupting each other (and myself) during my lesson. The lesson overall went great, and the end results (the commercials) were AMAZING. The marks I gave ranged from B to A+ so they definitely understood the concepts and used their imaginations...but their behaviour was not something I would applaud.

The grade 2 teacher (who had my kids last year) asked me how my lesson went (apparently the whole school knew how nervous I was- haha), and I told her I had problems with class management in the sense that I did not want to be "too strict" because thats not at all what my teacher is like with the students. She made it very clear that last year when she had my students, they were EXTREMELY well behaved, because they knew that the kind of behaviour that they were exhibiting with me today (which is normal for them) was unacceptable. She gave me some great suggestions and insight for when I have my own classroom someday:

She told me that classroom management is something you need to start the first day of September. During that entire first month, you need to show your students WHAT type of behaviour is acceptable vs. unacceptable. She uses CHAMPS in her classroom, and uses statements such as "CHAMPS walk to the carpet quietly"- and cues like this are enough for the students to walk over to the carpet without a sound. She believes that if you do not start molding your class into well-behaved students in September, it is very difficult to change those "bad habits" later on. She also said that she believes effective teachers can use simple cues and those should be enough to let the students know what is acceptable. For example, when she does a certain motion with her hand in front of the class, the students know it is time to quiet down. This is because in September, she started showing the class what behaviour is expected when she does these cues- by the end of October, the students are usually successful at recognizing those cues and what behaviour is associated with them.

I learned a great deal with my chat with this teacher. She is an incredibly dedicated woman and will actually be retiring this year, so she has MANY years of experience under her belt. I really appreciated the advice that she gave me, because she understood why my situation was frustrating me. Although I do not feel it is right for me to employ any of the methods she discussed with me in my placement classroom (since I am not the teacher), I will definitely do so when I have my own classroom someday.

School (Parent) Council Meeting

Last week, myself and two other student teachers went to the Stevensville school council meeting. I had never attended any kind of "parent" meeting at a school before, so it was very interested to see how they were run. The principal was there (which surprised me- boy does he do a lot!), as well as a teacher representative and 5 parents- not the greatest turnout. We sailed through a few of the topics (mostly having to do with fundraising) and we had a great time discussing the school's Christmas Bazaar. During one of the "Parent-Teacher Interview" nights, the school holds a Christmas Bazaar where they serve food (chili and hot dogs- yum!), have a huge bake sale, sell Christmas baskets, do a raffle, and even have something called "Trash/Treasure". This topic brought up some disagreement between the parents.

Trash/Treasure is like a yard sale- the students (and their parents) donate their old ANYTHINGs really (anything you would donate to goodwill) to the school, and the school put its all out on giant tables and sells it for 25 cents- $1. Its a great way for the school to make some money and it helps families de-clutter their houses. One of the parents had a huge concern because apparently some families decide to donate their trash- half-coloured colouring books, broken (non-usable) items, etc. So there was a discussion if it was even worth it to have this event at this year's Christmas Bazaar because they wanted someone to go through EVERYTHING before putting it out to ensure we are not putting out any inappropriate things.

Now, I love garage sales. I would even consider myself the queen of garage sales- when there is one, I am there, and I've been going to them for years and years. Now, myself being this garage sale junkie, I decided to volunteer to collect and organize ALL the trash/treasure before the event so that way theres no giant "mess" out on the tables, and the school is not selling half-eaten chocolate bars. Its great because the event is on November 29th which is our second last day at Block, so I will have all of November at the school to collect and organize the materials. And (something I just realized): I get to see all the stuff before it goes out- do you think I can put items on "hold?" :)

The rest of the meeting focused on EQAO results, and the good news was that our school was above the board and the province- the bad news: there is still lots of improvement that needs to be made- in some cases, the percentages of students at the provincial level was in its 60s- that means that there are still a great deal of students at Level 1 and 2 that need a lot of help. I also found out that the students actually receive their individual results- I had no idea the schools release these to the students and their parents (I thought it was confidential except for the teachers). In a way I think it is good because they can see how they did (since the test was probably very stressful for them), and they can see how they rank compared to the province (and their school)- this may motivate them to try harder...BUT at the same time, for those students who did not do well, they may feel discouraged after seeing these results, and some students still fail to believe that their mark on the test does not go towards their report card.

The meeting was only an hour, and in that time I learned so much- its great to see parents getting involved in their childs' school. Hopefully more parents will begin to do so as well.

Rain Day = Crazy Day

So today I had my first experience in my block where I had to raise my voice with my students. For some people this may be deemed traumatic, but I thought that today at Stevensville was probably the most beneficial day I have ever had, and the biggest learning experience.

The day started off with the scariest experience of my life- the office buzzed down to ask us to send a child down to the office (my student with ADHD)...but he had not come to class...At first we didnt think anything of this, but then the secretary came to our room in a panic (thinking out teacher was kidding when he said he was not in class) and explained to us that the boy's father was at the school to drop something off to him- and he was the one who had dropped him off at the school this morning. This is where the panic set in- we had an 8 year old boy with ADHD missing- I searched the whole school and finally, after putting an annoucement on the PA system, he emerged from the bathroom he had been hiding in. His reasoning for this scare? "I hate school and its boring"...

The rest of the morning went quite smoothly: the kids had a spelling test, I did some PM Benchmark testing with them, they had a science test...and then things started to go a bit downhill. After informing a boy that he could not stay indoors for recess to colour a picture, he threw his chair. Now, he's in grade 3 and the sweetest child in the world, and I dont think he really MEANT to act up- but he did. I was in the room with him and did not raise my voice but calmly told him to pick up his chair, and he apologized.

Then, during recess, a boy in the class slapped a girl in the face...This same boy about an hour earlier had grabbed another child (with force) and tried to throw him into the recycling bin-while both myself and my teacher were in the room, he did not see what happened; I did. For this reason, I felt it was appropriate for myself to handle the situation. I raised my voice, told him to let go of the other child, apologize, and reminded him that we keep our hands to ourselves in the classroom (using the statement in a positive way instead of saying "dont touch other students"). As a side note, my teacher was extremely impressed and proud of me for handling the situation appropriately because he "didnt think I had it in me" (the raising of the voice).

The end of the day resulted in even more rambunctiousness on the part of the students, and it resulted in my teacher raising his voice (loudly) with his entire class (which he almost NEVER does). He explained to me that some days (Friday afternoons/indoor recess days), the kids simply have a "bad day" and get out of hand. They also take advantage of the situation, so the teacher sometimes has to raise their voice to remind the students of where they are, and to remind them to respect their teacher (and one another). I thought it was a very valuable lesson that I learned today- I did not like to have to raise my voice, and I know most of us hope that we never have to- but today I realized that sometimes it is okay to do so if you have tried other tactics and they do not work- I do not agree with teachers constantly yelling and raising their voices with their students on a daily basis, but once in a while when the students are having one of those "bad days" and they need to be reminded that they are in school and are there to learn and show respect, then I think that it is acceptable, if done properly (and fairly).

Guest Speaker

Today in counselling group we had a guest speaker come in and speak to us about Classroom Management. Colleen was EXTREMELY informative and was full of so many good examples of all the techniques that she discussed. I was very impressed that she practiced what she taught (as a teacher and as a principal) and her techniques worked. I have a child in my class with ADHD, so it was great to have her remind me that children with this disorder do not remember/consider the consequences of their actions. This explains why my student engages in the same innappropriate behaviour over and over again.

I love that she told us about "positive" statements and how they should be used instead of negative ones...so for example saying "We walk in the hallway" rather than "We do not run". It makes sense that the students will focus on the word "run" and do the action anyway so this is a great solution.

I think it was also important that she spoke of consistency. Like Colleen, I believe that consistency is very important in the classroom, because it will allow the students to know what to expect (they learn to predict the outcome of their actions).

I thought it was a great idea to have a guest speaker in, because I think that in the Faculty of Education, unfortunately we are not taught enough about HOW to teach or different techniques we can use that WORK- having Colleen come in and speak of her personal experiences was extremely valuable to my own learning, and hopefully to the learning of everyone else in our counselling group as well.

Microteaching

Today, myself and the other 3 student teachers at Stevensville Elementary had our microteaching. I had butterflies in my stomache all day today, leading up to my lesson (which was the last of day)...and boy am I glad its over!

My kids were AMAZING- they were so well behaved and barely even realized there was a camera filming their every word- I was so proud of all of them. My microteaching (for the most part) went quite well. It was interesting to hear the feedback from the counsellors and from my peers, since when I was teaching the lesson, it was hard to focus on exactly WHAT wording I was using. The good thing was, I didn't say "gonna" or "you guys" AT ALL...the bad thing: Apparently I love the word wonderful...because in my 20 minute MT, I probably used it about, oh 15 times...I didnt notice this at ALL until my peers (and counsellors) told me I overused the word- then when I went home to watch my tape, it was actually embarassing to see how many times I said it...embarassing, but actually kind of funny because I never even knew I use the word wonderful.

The experience was definitely valuable and it was nice to hear the suggestions as well as the compliments from my audience. Some of them I may not necessarily have agreed with (such as my "bubbling" personality eventually causing me to burn-out quickly in the future) ....but I definitely value the opinions of others. It was also interesting to see just how our teaching styles differed (and boy were they different).

Overall I'm happy with my performance, and I think we all did a great job. I cant wait to get to started teaching lessons in the classroom for the whole class :)

Oh...and as for a volleyball practice update: I got nailed in the face with a ball today- it was numb for over half an hour...but I swear the girls are getting better! :)

P.D Day- A Taste of Tribes

This past Friday was a P.D day, and unlike the last (where we attended staff meetings for the morning and had planning in the afternoon), we had the opportunity to attend teacher workshops. This was a great experience, and it was amazing to see just how many teachers come out to all the workshops.

I attended a "Taste of Tribes" workshop that was run by a teacher at my placement school. She is the grade 6 teacher, and she uses "tribes" in her classroom, and encouraged me to attend this workshop so I could get a feel for it. It was truly eye-opening.

Tribes is not something that you add to the curriculum- it is a WAY of teaching and enriching the curriculum. It focuses on community and respect, and there is a pathway that the teacher leads the students through in order to achieve the end result (which is respect for oneself, and for each other). Tribes does include group work, and this is great because it encourages students to work with individuals in their classroom that they may not have really spoken to before.

It also includes activities called "energizers". These are quick-thinking/high energy activities that do 1 of 2 things: they "wake up" the students in class who have lost focus and have drifted off, and they also "calm down" students after recess in order to get them ready for thinking and for participating in their work.

Tribes offers weekend-long training sessions (2 fridays and saturdays) where teachers have the opportunity to basically LIVE the tribes way, to see how they can use it in their classrooms. The statistics on this are truly in favour of the program, and in fact, many schools in the Niagara school board are enacting MANDATORY tribes training for all the teachers in their schools (especially for those schools in lower-income areas).

If any of you ever get a chance, I would definitely recommend finding out more about Tribes- it has worked in many difficult classrooms, and the respect that it brings about in students towards themselves, and towards others is reason enough to give this a chance.