Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

WBT

Dear Teacher Friends,

While skimming Pinterest just moments ago, I stumbled upon this blog post (http://www.hopkinshoppinhappenings.com/2012/12/alternative-assessments.html) and found myself intrigued. From there, I navigated to find information about what Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) is all about (http://www.wholebrainteaching.com), which led me to check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeWEgvGm2Y&feature=share&list=PLF1DCD38BF8902185). It seems pretty cool, albeit a bit corny, and I think I have a great (challenging) group with which to test some of these ideas.

Do you have experience with Whole Brain Teaching? Which elements have you used? What are your thoughts about WBT? Do you have any suggestions for a WBT newbie?

Ms. K

Big News!

I have changed the name of my blog because I am no longer "Married to Middle School."

I have accepted a position as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at a nearby university! Okay, so It's not quite the direction I saw myself heading from the middle school, but I am content with seeing where this road takes me. I will be teaching 3rd-6th grade language arts methods courses for students who are a semester away from student teaching. I'm not gonna lie, I am a little bit (really) nervous about teaching college students (especially college students who are about to become teachers themselves), but I am also so stinkin' excited about this opportunity.

Here are a few of the perks:
1) Tuition is paid for my grad school classes.
2) Perk #1, in addition to a lighter workload than I would have if I was teaching full-time, also means that I will be able to complete my degree much more quickly.
3) I will receive a stipend (about half of what I'm making each month now, but perk #1 is a HUGE helper here).
4) I will be able to sub for nearby elementary schools to make some extra living/spending money and to get my foot in the door. :D
5) This will look great on my resume.
6) I might really enjoy teaching at the university level and decide to finish my career at this level.
7) I will be able to move to a bigger city. This means more people and more things to do.
8) No less than 2 self-serve frozen yogurt establishments in the same town I will be living in. No more traveling at least half an hour from home to get my Fro Yo fix. If you know me, you also know that this should probably be #1!
9) I won't have to travel 2 hours each way to attend my favorite team's sporting events! :D

I am sure I could list more perks, but I think 9 is already more than a few. ;)

So far this summer, I've been doing a lot of reading to prepare for teaching these courses. I will be developing activities, quizzes, and tests for the content soon. I am also starting to pack for my move at the end of the month.

I anticipate that this will be a whirlwind year for me, and I hope to Maintain My Sanity (Kinda).

Wish Me Luck!

So many things have happened since my last post. I have enjoyed a break from teaching over the past few months because my wonderful student teacher was teaching at least part-time. Besides reading a few of the young adult lit titles that have been on my “To-Read” list for ages, I used some of my free time to apply for grad school and different teaching positions. I received my acceptance letter for grad school at the end of March, and I am looking to continue my teaching career closer to the university.

I interviewed for a middle school language arts position (at a school in the same town as the university I will attend, no less!) a few weeks ago. Although I really want to teach at the elementary level, I viewed this job as a good opportunity to get my foot in the door at a better district than my present one. The interview seemed tough, but I felt like I gave strong answers. I was frustrated when I did not get a call within a few days. It seemed like I had to wait forever to find out whether I got the job. To make matters worse, my best friend interviewed for a different position in a school in the same district the day after my interview and they offered her the job after only a couple of days. Please don't get me wrong - I was totally elated for my friend. It just made me feel more concerned about not hearing anything about my interview. Since my student teacher was teaching full-time at that point, I had nothing to take my mind off of things and my anxiety level went through the roof. I finally got my rejection letter almost two weeks after my interview. ):

I allowed myself to wallow for a bit, and then I asked my friend for tips. She told me that she had hand-delivered her résumé to principals in the district. Of course! Why hadn't I thought of that? I decided to take a personal day to do the same. Within a few days, I received a call for an interview - at an elementary school in the same district as the first interview! Folks, I am super excited about this interview! Please keep me in your prayers/positive thoughts, especially this Thursday at 4:30 P.M.

I hope to be able to share good news soon!!

Glimmers of Hope

First glimmer of hope: I received a text message from a former cooperating teacher yesterday. He is now in administration, and it sounds like there may be openings in his school for next year. I am going to need help updating my documents for this round of job searching. Please send positive thoughts my way.

Second glimmer of hope: My administrators moved some of the support staff around in order to use them more effectively. I now have an extra adult, in addition to my para, in my room during my last rotation. This is not only my worst class in terms of behavior, but they are also very low academically. I put a ton of effort into keeping my students engaged, but whole group instruction is difficult with this group because they do not focus well. I rearranged my classroom today and tried the 'centers' approach with them. I was so pleased!

Here's what I did:

10-15-minute introduction/focus lesson

25-minute rotations (X3: sustained silent reading, language arts work, and reading indicator practice)

5-minute recap/exit slips

I realize this is not a new approach, but it is the first time I have used centers in my own classroom. If things continue to go well, I may change the structure of my first rotation, too.

A New Year, Hopefully a New Classroom

This is my third year of teaching sixth grade reading and language arts in a middle school setting. I have been thinking about starting a blog since before I had my own classroom, and I can finally check that off of my list.

The title of my blog, "Married to Middle School," seems fitting for two reasons. First of all, I spend a lot of time working after school. I am really bad about this. I often work until seven in the evening (sometimes later). This has a negative impact on my already nonexistent social life. I know this part will not change much once I have an elementary job, but I suspect that it will not bother me as much as it does currently. Secondly, I applied for a few (literally - only three or four) elementary positions. I did not get so much as an interview. I am not sure if this is the case in other states, but in Kansas, the job search is very competitive because there are so many applicants and so few jobs available. I had a bit of a meltdown at the start of the school year when the reality that I would be teaching another year at the middle school level hit me. I am not myself this year. It seems as though my smiles come less frequently, and with more effort on my part to produce them. My heart is definitely more attracted to teaching in an elementary classroom.

I need a divorce from middle school. I want to be “ecstatic in elementary,” or something equally great. Don't get me wrong; there are things that I appreciate about teaching at the middle school level. For instance, I like the daily schedule. Our school has the sixth grade split into two teams, and since each teacher teaches two subjects, we have three rotations of students for around 90 minutes each. I appreciate that I only have to plan for two subjects each day. It melts my heart when a student who has been a non-reader can't wait to tell me about his/her latest great read. Although it seems that there is always at least one whose only interest in school is making my day miserable, MOST of my students are great. I really enjoy the sweet students I keep after school for tutoring because they put forth the most effort, even though they are the students who struggle the most.

The problem is that I CRAVE an elementary classroom of my own. I mean, the kind of craving a person gets for anything and everything that is chocolaty, minty, caffeinated, or spicy when her doctor has just forbidden all of these things for two entire months in order to try to heal her esophagus. (Yes, it happened to me. I promptly "disposed of" (read: ate) my entire box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that afternoon so that they would no longer be a temptation and promised myself to start the very next day with strict dedication to the new diet restrictions. It's perfectly logical reasoning!)

Because of these reasons, I have decided to take my job search more seriously and make it a bigger priority this year.

Here are my resolutions for 2012:

1.              Have a closer relationship with God.

2.              Become an elementary teacher.

3.              Pay off credit cards and car loan. (Credit card debt eliminated 4/2012!)

4.              Live a more active/healthy lifestyle.

5.              Stay caught up on grading.

6.              Be more positive and confident.

7.              Be more social/be a better friend.

8.              Read more often.

9.              Be a good leader for my student teacher (goes along with #6).

10.           Be able to discontinue my acid reflux medication. (3/2012)

11.           Sort clothing that I want to keep by season and donate or discard the rest.

12.           Organize my classroom.

What are some of your resolutions?