Lately my children have been mean! This is the newest phrase going on in my classroom. I have one child who is overweight and has been having issues with peers calling him names. Whenever we hear this happening we address it on the spot, but it is hard to monitor this outside of the classroom. Recently there has been a lot of problems happening in the after school program between several first grade students. I want to address the issue but I don’t know how to get the point across when in their culture it is “ok or normal” to use these disrespectful words.
- A concerned Miss Hansen
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
He be "perpin"
I am constantly learning new “words” in my classroom. On a weekly basis the children use a word that I have never heard before and I have to ask for clarifications. The children love that they get to “teach Miss Hansen” something for a change. Today I was speaking to a child’s grandmother and she said “he keep saying he don’t feel good but he just perpin”. “HUH??” I politely responded with “I'm sorry but what does perpin mean?” apparently it means lying or fibbing.
I told her I am always learning new slang around here! She laughed and said “you know one time I was workin at another school and this fine white teacher (I'm not racist I'm just sayin he be white) and he kept telling me “you so hot”. I didn’t understand what he was saying! I just said, “thank you” but I couldn’t figured out what I had done. Do you know what that means?” I informed her it meant she was sexy!! She was so surprised the guy was hitting on her it was hysterical! It makes me feel better that I'm not just “the white girl” that doesn’t know common slang!
-Miss Hansen
I told her I am always learning new slang around here! She laughed and said “you know one time I was workin at another school and this fine white teacher (I'm not racist I'm just sayin he be white) and he kept telling me “you so hot”. I didn’t understand what he was saying! I just said, “thank you” but I couldn’t figured out what I had done. Do you know what that means?” I informed her it meant she was sexy!! She was so surprised the guy was hitting on her it was hysterical! It makes me feel better that I'm not just “the white girl” that doesn’t know common slang!
-Miss Hansen
Interacting with Parents
In the 8th grade I got my first hand-me-down cell phone. I was only supposed to use the phone if I needed to talk to my parents and to play the game snake. As I got to high school I got my first new phone and it became more ok for me to make calls to my friends. I will admit that I have always had unlimited minutes and text messages because I was on my dad’s plan. I never had to worry about getting in a situation where there is an emergency and I was “out of minutes”.
I cant tell you how often we call students parents only to discover they are “out of minutes” for the month. So now we are in a situation where they don’t read their child's planner, because of laziness or they are illiterate, so they don’t see a note from the teacher and they cant be reached on the phone. What are teachers supposed to do when you kid is sick? Or failing first grade? Or got in a fight and is now suspended??
- Miss Hansen
I cant tell you how often we call students parents only to discover they are “out of minutes” for the month. So now we are in a situation where they don’t read their child's planner, because of laziness or they are illiterate, so they don’t see a note from the teacher and they cant be reached on the phone. What are teachers supposed to do when you kid is sick? Or failing first grade? Or got in a fight and is now suspended??
- Miss Hansen
Teaching 1st graders about money is stressful!!
My unit plan this quarter was teaching children about money. The first grade standards focus on identifying the value and name of a coin, adding small groups of coins, and showing different combinations of coins for a set value. My unit was scheduled to take 6 days but ended up taking 12! The children needed a solid 4 days of review and practice before they started to feel more comfortable adding small groups of coins. Today I did my final assessment. There were two parts to the assessment, one a written “test” where the children had to “count on” and write the value of a small set of coins and the other was an oral and hands on assessment. I told the children they were going to a candy shop but in order to buy something they had to show two ways to use coins to make up the set price. It was very clear which children understood the concept of adding coins and who did not! I feel frustrated that not everyone got as much out of the unit as I had hoped but I think some are just not ready for it. We will be starting measurement next week but will continue to give them opportunities to practice their new skills.
- A stressed out Miss Hansen
- A stressed out Miss Hansen
One Size Fits All- Reading Programs
Every teacher would agree that children learn to read at their own pace and in their own ways. Techniques like chunking, context clues, and sound words out are popular ways of teaching children the basic skills needed to learn how to read. So if we all know children learn differently and are all at different levels, why do we use reading programs that’s “one size fits all”.
At our school we use a reading program called Voyager. The first grade theme is about a group of children who learn about the sea. Through the year the children are exposed to a variety of literature genres and are able to make connections with the characters. However, while I like the repetition the program supplies, asking our high reading group and low reading group to read the same thing is just silly. I have children who should be learning to read chapter books and others who should be learning their sight words and letter combinations. It is just painfully slow and so frustrating (for everyone involved) for the low children to get through the reading each day.
I feel that the Guided Reading set up (where books are selected for children based on their reading level) would give children more of what they need to excel. I try to differentiate the lessons based on level, for example asking the high group more abstract questions and giving the low group opportunities to succeed.
- Miss Hansen
At our school we use a reading program called Voyager. The first grade theme is about a group of children who learn about the sea. Through the year the children are exposed to a variety of literature genres and are able to make connections with the characters. However, while I like the repetition the program supplies, asking our high reading group and low reading group to read the same thing is just silly. I have children who should be learning to read chapter books and others who should be learning their sight words and letter combinations. It is just painfully slow and so frustrating (for everyone involved) for the low children to get through the reading each day.
I feel that the Guided Reading set up (where books are selected for children based on their reading level) would give children more of what they need to excel. I try to differentiate the lessons based on level, for example asking the high group more abstract questions and giving the low group opportunities to succeed.
- Miss Hansen
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Years Traditions
The Tuesday we came back to school was an exciting day! The children appeared to be refreshed and re energised for school. As we sat on the rug discussing our break I got several expected answers:
"I played in the snow"
"I went to my grandma's house"
"my mommy had a baby",
"We didnt hear shots at midnight so we were sad"... Wait What??!?!
I was totally confused so I asked for more information.
"What do you mean "shots", like fireworks?"
"No Miss Hansen shots, we stay in side and wait but we didn't hear any so we were sad".
Still confused I moved on deciding to figure this out when not everyone was around. So when we went to lunch, I asked the other teachers if they knew what this child was talking about. Everyone did except the White girl from Parker, CO!
Apparently on New Years it is a tradition for those in the neighborhood to go out and fire their weapons into the sky as a form of celebration! The children are used to having to stay inside because "its shooting out there". (This phrase is used in the same way one might say "its raining out there", because of its regularity).
Crazy right!!!!
-Miss Hansen
"I played in the snow"
"I went to my grandma's house"
"my mommy had a baby",
"We didnt hear shots at midnight so we were sad"... Wait What??!?!
I was totally confused so I asked for more information.
"What do you mean "shots", like fireworks?"
"No Miss Hansen shots, we stay in side and wait but we didn't hear any so we were sad".
Still confused I moved on deciding to figure this out when not everyone was around. So when we went to lunch, I asked the other teachers if they knew what this child was talking about. Everyone did except the White girl from Parker, CO!
Apparently on New Years it is a tradition for those in the neighborhood to go out and fire their weapons into the sky as a form of celebration! The children are used to having to stay inside because "its shooting out there". (This phrase is used in the same way one might say "its raining out there", because of its regularity).
Crazy right!!!!
-Miss Hansen
Recess: Right or Gift?
Let me start by saying I think I truly have the best mentor teacher possible. She is willing to let me try almost anything in her classroom, which provides me with great incite into what works and what doesn't. She has let me totally change the set up of our room as well as add reading and writing workshop. She rocks!
The one thing we really don't agree on is Recess. In my opinion, (obviously because this is my blog) recess is a right. It is unrealistic to expect young children to have the ability and motivation to "sit still and behave" for 8 hours straight. He** I cant attend one of our 3 hour classes with out leaving the room at least 3 times.
In most careers, adults are in control of their own schedules. They can pee when the want, eat when they want, stand up when the want, etc. But in many classrooms, the children are given little choice/ control if any. They are told "no you can not use the restroom right now, it is inconvenient for me!" In my opinion, this is unrealistic and not productive at all. I believe there needs to be boundaries for the child to follow, but everyone knows, when you "gotta go" all you are thinking about is how bad you have to "use it" (as my children say). Meaning, even if they aren't in the bathroom during instructional time they aren't paying attention at all!
Recess is the one time during the day that a child can choose to run, slide, skip, climb or sit. The one time during the day they truly are in control. The phrase "they aren't paying attention, they don't deserve recess" is totally counterproductive! If they can't sit still and pay attention, it is CRUCIAL they have time to run around and get their energy out!
Right now in Cincinnati it has been too cold to go outside :( So we dance! The children love the song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" and yesterday we learned the "Cha Cha slide". This doesn't give them the same relief as running out side, but they seem to really enjoy it and it helps get their wiggles out.
Any other song ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
- Miss Hansen
The one thing we really don't agree on is Recess. In my opinion, (obviously because this is my blog) recess is a right. It is unrealistic to expect young children to have the ability and motivation to "sit still and behave" for 8 hours straight. He** I cant attend one of our 3 hour classes with out leaving the room at least 3 times.
In most careers, adults are in control of their own schedules. They can pee when the want, eat when they want, stand up when the want, etc. But in many classrooms, the children are given little choice/ control if any. They are told "no you can not use the restroom right now, it is inconvenient for me!" In my opinion, this is unrealistic and not productive at all. I believe there needs to be boundaries for the child to follow, but everyone knows, when you "gotta go" all you are thinking about is how bad you have to "use it" (as my children say). Meaning, even if they aren't in the bathroom during instructional time they aren't paying attention at all!
Recess is the one time during the day that a child can choose to run, slide, skip, climb or sit. The one time during the day they truly are in control. The phrase "they aren't paying attention, they don't deserve recess" is totally counterproductive! If they can't sit still and pay attention, it is CRUCIAL they have time to run around and get their energy out!
Right now in Cincinnati it has been too cold to go outside :( So we dance! The children love the song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" and yesterday we learned the "Cha Cha slide". This doesn't give them the same relief as running out side, but they seem to really enjoy it and it helps get their wiggles out.
Any other song ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
- Miss Hansen
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