Smart Board!
So my Smart Board classroom management strategy is working really well! Since it aligns with the strategies that the students are used to in their classrooms the kids picked up on it right away. It was nice for me to be able to collaborate with the classroom teachers, steal a few ideas here and there, and come up with something beneficial for all students. Also, anything that's on a Smart Board is fascinating to them! With the compliment jar on the screen for them to see, it keeps them focused on getting that "prize at the end of the tunnel". I like that way more than the constant sticker giving.
I guess my initial excitement and happiness with technology had to wear off eventually and that happened this week. Our district has half-days this week for parent teacher conferences so I wanted to plan a short but rewarding Halloween-ish lesson. I have the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" clip from "Fantasia" on my flash drive as an mp4. In this lesson, we can discuss the job of a conductor in an orchestra, the way the music tells a story, how music can be inspired by stories and art, etc. I got to the first school I was going to teach this lesson at early to test that I would be able to show the video on a school computer. It played perfectly through Quicktime, so then I made the critical error of assuming that if Quicktime was on one school computer, it would be on all of them. Whompwhomp. It was incredibly frustrating to show up in a kindergarten room, tell them that we'd be watching a video clip and then having that clip not play because this particular computer didn't have Quicktime. Luckily, I lesson planned for a Plan B and had a recording of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ready. We instead did an activity where the students listened to it, drew what story they thought the music told, and then I shared the actual story. It worked well and accomplished similar SWBATs, but still, it stinks when you have a cool lesson planned but there is a problem.
Teacher's First Sick Day
I don't really get sick. I mean a seasonal allergy here, a sniffle there, but on the whole I'm not a sicky person. This weekend I was really busy and on Saturday night I thought I was just cold from being out all night, but ended up having the chills from a fever. I was still feverish on Sunday so my mom wouldn't let me go to school; she has a one day fever free before going back to school rule. That was awesome when I was a kid, but I felt so bad not going to school on Monday. I mean I teach a half-day every day from noon-3:15 which would make me fine to teach with some acetaminophen..but my mom said I shouldn't risk getting the kids sick which is valid...although I blame them for the random fever! Anyway, it was weird worrying about if the sub showed up, if they went to the right school, the right room, if the kids were behaving, if the plans made sense, yaddayaddayadda. But then I started watching a Frasier marathon and took a nap and it was fine.
Control and Scheduling
I've probably mentioned this before but I like to make lists, be organized, and in general be in control of my situations to the best of my abilities. I compulsively check my schedule to make sure I'm in the right building at the right time even though I have my schedule memorized. This week of half-days for the students made for some interesting scheduling conundrums. Every building has different schedules - one of my schools has 40 minute specials and the other three have half hour specials. It was difficult not knowing until a few days beforehand what my schedule would be. One thing I've had to do my best at is remembering to not sweat the small stuff. Okay, so I might not have been 100% sure about which rooms I was teaching in or if my schedule worked quite right, but the important thing was to just go with the flow. It is pretty much opposite of what my normal organized self would have wanted, but in a school setting it's hard to be really in control of anything. I have 4 building principals who made the schedules who gave them to my supervisor and above him there are even more decision-makers. The nice thing about not being in control, however, is it doesn't put a ton of pressure on me as a teacher to do much besides teach.
Life.
We started our wedding registry, I got two credit cards, I'm going shopping for a wedding dress soon, we booked the photographer, and are getting engagement pictures taken sometime next week after this tropical storm passes!
Where to begin, where to begin...
I think I'll start with my favorite story from teaching thus far. A teacher dropped off a class to my room and didn't tell my why this kid was crying bawling out loud. Apparently, he missed his mom. Then about 15 minutes into the class, one other girl goes "I miss my
mom, too!" and also starts bawling. Then 5 minutes after that, a third
child goes "They're crying and it's making me think about my parents and
I want to see them, too!" and so now I have 3 children crying out loud.
I decide to do the Hokey Pokey as a review (because it was too ironic to sing "If You're Happy and You Know It") from last week and while
all the kids are having fun, between versus all you hear is
"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH".
I try to find one thing to make me laugh in every day so I don't go nuts and this incident has provided me with a good chuckle each time I think about it (but obviously I didn't laugh at the little ones).
What I learned this week...
dealing with difficult students
I have a student who has been having a lot of issues in school - this student is disrespectful, destructive, won't listen to anyone, shows no real emotion/remorse when they do something wrong. I was speaking to my mentor teacher about it and she said that I should write everything down that this child does during my class that is inappropriate so that if Special Services needs facts from each teacher, I have written documentation.
when you have a problem, provide a solution
Okay, that's super vague so I'll explain. I teach in four schools, as I have mentioned before. In 2 schools I teach the students in their classrooms, in one school I teach in the general music classroom while the full-time teacher is on prep time, and in the fourth school I teach some classes in the general music class while the full-time teacher is on prep and in the instrumental music room while the string and instrumental teachers are not in the building. In this fourth school, we discovered that there is a scheduling issue - the full-time general music teacher, string teacher, and I all have classes at the same time but only two rooms in which to teach. It doesn't take a math major to realize this is an issue. Since, as I said, I spend a lot of time teaching in not-a-music room, I went to the principal and asked if I could teach the two conflicting classes in the classrooms to clear up the space issues. The principal said "Sure! It's very easy when you come in here with the solution to the issue you are bringing up." My supervisor had the same attitude when I brought it up to him. So, if you have a problem, don't go to your supervisor/principal and complain without first thinking through the options.
Tales of a travelor
I have to be on top of the procedures for 4 schools, which can be confusing sometimes. For example, on Tuesday, I accidentally ended a class 10 minutes early because their "bell schedule" is different than the other schools. By the time I realized it, the teacher had already moved on to the next activity so it's not like I could have run in and said "Time for more music!!" I just chilled in the hallway until the art teacher was done with my next assigned class. I felt kind of dumb, but now I'm sure I won't forget the time again! My name still hasn't been on any of the 4 lists typed correctly (in some places not typed at all). All issues aside, I like my travel time because I can get some fresh air, eat my "lunch" (food bar), and listen to the classical radio station. It keeps me on my toes. I think the second week will be a little easier (especially because it's only a 3 day week)!
Gettin' paaaaaid
My school districts split up each person's salary into 20 equal paychecks, received every two weeks. It works out well; some weeks you get "overpaid", some "underpaid" but at least it's a reliable check each payday. Today's check was definitely one of those overpaid checks because we've only had 7 school days instead of 10 in this pay period. But hey, I liked the number I saw! Getting that check made it all real. Today was especially real because as soon as I celebrated my paycheck, my dad brought up the things I need to start paying for, being a salaried woman and whatnot. Kind of a buzzkill for my big moment, but whatever.
Onward and upward!
