Soon after beginning teaching kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary, the principal agreed to milk a cow in front of the school for some reason. My son, a high school student at the time, was somehow involved in bringing the cow to our school. That night at home he commented, on how the teachers looked and said, "Mom, I couldn't tell which ones were janitors and which ones were teachers." I was surprised for two reasons. First, I didn't realize a teenager, especially a boy, would notice what grown-ups looked like. Secondly, I am not a "fashion-plate" myself so I didn't think he came by it genetically. Nevertheless, I decided to always look like a teacher.
Later I was enrolling in some graduate classes at Idaho State University. I attended after my regular job at BYUI. I only had a short time before the administration offices closed and had to pay my tuition before the deadline. I became frustrated when no one seemed to want to help me. Finally, I walked into an office full of people who were ignoring me and said, "I'm trying to give this Unversity a lot of money. Can somebody help me? Everyone in the office were suddenly anxious to help. I don't think I would have gotten the same response or been as believable if I had been dressed like the janitor.
WHAT I LEARNED: Appearances matter.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
"I KNEW THIS WOULD BE HARD"
In kindergarten we gave a screening test in the first few weeks of school to see how far kids could count and other things to assess what the students could already do. I thought I should prepare the kids so I told them they would be taking a test but that all the questions would be easy.
I had the first student sit on a chair in front of me and asked her, "What is your name?" She smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand and exclaimed, "I knew this was going to be hard!".
I hadn't realized that even kindergartners have test anxiety. From then on, we would practice test questions before a test so students could see that they could be successful and that they knew more than they suspected.
WHAT I LEARNED: If you will relax and not worry, you will be surprised how much you really know. Confidence is a big boost to success.
I had the first student sit on a chair in front of me and asked her, "What is your name?" She smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand and exclaimed, "I knew this was going to be hard!".
I hadn't realized that even kindergartners have test anxiety. From then on, we would practice test questions before a test so students could see that they could be successful and that they knew more than they suspected.
WHAT I LEARNED: If you will relax and not worry, you will be surprised how much you really know. Confidence is a big boost to success.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Joe II
I've introduced you to my student, Joe, and his enthusism. Later in the year, I made a list of words on the board to show all the words that could be made from the two letters a and t. (e.g. bat.fat, mat, and sat etc.) After the students had discovered each word I told them, "You are reading." Joe jumped up and said,"I'm reading! I've got to write this down!" Then he ran around the room looking for paper and pencil.
WHAT I LEARNED: Learning is exciting. We had better take note.
WHAT I LEARNED: Learning is exciting. We had better take note.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Joe
Early in my professional teaching career I had a student named Joe. He was the most enthusiastic of any student I had.
We had to learn the Pledge of Allegiance so I started by explaining that we are learning the Pledge of Allegiance because we live in the United States of America. Joe erupted in enthusiasm. He said excitedly, "You mean right here on Winther Boulevard (his address) is the United States of America?" I assured him that it was and he sat down and began learning the Pledge of Allegiance in awe.
WHAT I LEARNED: We take for granted the privilege of living in the United States of America sometimes and the many blessings this affords us.
We had to learn the Pledge of Allegiance so I started by explaining that we are learning the Pledge of Allegiance because we live in the United States of America. Joe erupted in enthusiasm. He said excitedly, "You mean right here on Winther Boulevard (his address) is the United States of America?" I assured him that it was and he sat down and began learning the Pledge of Allegiance in awe.
WHAT I LEARNED: We take for granted the privilege of living in the United States of America sometimes and the many blessings this affords us.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Counting Club
When I began teaching kindergarten, one of the goals of the curriculum was to have each child count to 100. I started a 100's club. When a child could count to 100 they received a paper badge showing they had met their goal.
It became a pretty big deal in kindergarten. I had one student, a gentle, blonde girl who was developmentally delayed. Her mother had worked with her to give her every advantage possible. Though this student tried very hard and practiced every night, she could only count to 8.
One day the mother said, more like thinking out loud, "I wish you had an 8's club.". This got me thinking. I had learned in college that the image a student forms of himself in the first year of school, stays with him throughout his lifetime. I decided that my over-riding goal in kindergarten would be to help each child become a successful learner in some way. From then on, we had a counting club instead of a 100's club. Everyone was in the club. They received a badge according to which increment of 10 they could count to.
Our goal was still to count to 100. Some learned early and some learned late in the year but everybody was in the club. When they reached 100 I had them raise their hands like a victorious Olympic athlete and the whole class stopped what they were doing and clapped.
What I learned: It is important to have everybody in the club. Small goals make everyone successful in some way and breeds success for larger, more important goals.
It became a pretty big deal in kindergarten. I had one student, a gentle, blonde girl who was developmentally delayed. Her mother had worked with her to give her every advantage possible. Though this student tried very hard and practiced every night, she could only count to 8.
One day the mother said, more like thinking out loud, "I wish you had an 8's club.". This got me thinking. I had learned in college that the image a student forms of himself in the first year of school, stays with him throughout his lifetime. I decided that my over-riding goal in kindergarten would be to help each child become a successful learner in some way. From then on, we had a counting club instead of a 100's club. Everyone was in the club. They received a badge according to which increment of 10 they could count to.
Our goal was still to count to 100. Some learned early and some learned late in the year but everybody was in the club. When they reached 100 I had them raise their hands like a victorious Olympic athlete and the whole class stopped what they were doing and clapped.
What I learned: It is important to have everybody in the club. Small goals make everyone successful in some way and breeds success for larger, more important goals.
Monday, November 3, 2008
I Begin my First Kindergarten Class
I started teaching professionally after earning my BA in education at Boise State University. I interviewed for a fifth grade position at Sunny Ridge Elementary, a rural school where my children went to school and a kindergarten position at Lincoln Elementary in town. I took the kindergarten position because my own childen were more near the age of fifth graders and I didn't want to come home to the same thing after dealing with fifth graders all day.
My classroom was in a portable unit behind the school. I was excited to get my classroom ready for the first day of school and make my lesson plans.
I don't remember a lot about many of my first students, except one. She was a Romanian girl , recently arriving in the United States and speaking no English. Her mother brought her to school on the first day but as soon as the mother left, the young girl started crying and trying to run out the door. All I could think of was how difficult it would be to find her if she got lost in the neighborhoods near the school and all the dangers that lurked there. What would I do if I lost a child the first day of school? It would be so much safer to stay at school until her mother came to pick her up. I didn't know what to do except hold her tightly in my arms so she wouldn't escape. I taught my first day of school holding her screaming and crying in my arms.
What I learned: Many times in life we think we would be better off if we could run away from a situation. If we will just take a deep breath and not panic, we will find that there are many people who want to help us. It will be OK!
My classroom was in a portable unit behind the school. I was excited to get my classroom ready for the first day of school and make my lesson plans.
I don't remember a lot about many of my first students, except one. She was a Romanian girl , recently arriving in the United States and speaking no English. Her mother brought her to school on the first day but as soon as the mother left, the young girl started crying and trying to run out the door. All I could think of was how difficult it would be to find her if she got lost in the neighborhoods near the school and all the dangers that lurked there. What would I do if I lost a child the first day of school? It would be so much safer to stay at school until her mother came to pick her up. I didn't know what to do except hold her tightly in my arms so she wouldn't escape. I taught my first day of school holding her screaming and crying in my arms.
What I learned: Many times in life we think we would be better off if we could run away from a situation. If we will just take a deep breath and not panic, we will find that there are many people who want to help us. It will be OK!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Reading
A few years ago I had to write an essay on the things that had influenced Language Arts in my life. Afterwards, I was thankful for the many influences that had affeccted me positively.
I have mentioned before that my Dad read to us at night. I still remember, as five little girls squeezed in close to him, the smell of a mixture of sweat and wood chips from his day's labor. To this day I can still smell the same thing with warm feelings and fond memories.
We read many of the classics, including poetry. As I've said before, they are a great blessing to me now. It gives me something worthwhile to remember and rehearse when I can't sleep at night.
Though it was usually my Dad who read to us, my mother listened to me read aloud every day after school. I remember sitting on the red couch with her and reading from my Dick and Jane book. I loved Dick and Jane and especially their little sister, Sally. I still remember when I learned to read the word "laugh", truly an impressive word.
One Christmas must have been particularly good in the typically "up and down" construction business. Besides getting the "bride doll" I had wished for, we got lots of books. We got the complete set of Brittanica encycopedias as well as a set of Science books, and volumes called "Lands and People". From then on, whenever I had question, my father took me to our books for research. Sometimes I was sorry I had asked. Passing by the living room an hour or more later, I would find my father still reading something that had caught his attention.
When I was in third grade we lived in the country near Star, Idaho. I loved to read. I would steal a flashlight under my blankets so I could read at night. I would read on the landing of the stairs or hidden in our apple tree until my exasperated mother would find me and remind me of forgotten chores. Still, she took us every Saturday to the Bookmobile, parked at the Star Mercantile, to check out more books
When I was in Junior High we lived in British Columbia,Canada. Television had not yet come to our tiny town and my Dad still read to us. Now classics for older readers broke the walls of the room. My sisters and I put on plays in the hayloft of the barn. Sometimes we had an audience of my Mom and Dad but most of the time our audience was the complacent cows.
When my children were in elementary school, each got to choose a book and we would read it together at night. Ben was in high school and didn't have much interest in novels. Most of the time he read the encyclopedia. I would catch him, however, when I read to the girls, listening around the corner. Josie chose to read "Little Women", Sara chose "The Life of Helen Kellar" and Emily chose "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Emily also read "Emily's Runaway Imagination" by Beverly Cleary with her Dad.
I don't think my experience can be replicated exactly, but I enjoy reciting poems together with my grandchildren. All tell me about the books they are reading and sometimes I read the same books. I am impressed with their parents and how they encourage their children according to each's own personality and need. .
I believe that reading can unlock the doors to any thing you do in life.
I have mentioned before that my Dad read to us at night. I still remember, as five little girls squeezed in close to him, the smell of a mixture of sweat and wood chips from his day's labor. To this day I can still smell the same thing with warm feelings and fond memories.
We read many of the classics, including poetry. As I've said before, they are a great blessing to me now. It gives me something worthwhile to remember and rehearse when I can't sleep at night.
Though it was usually my Dad who read to us, my mother listened to me read aloud every day after school. I remember sitting on the red couch with her and reading from my Dick and Jane book. I loved Dick and Jane and especially their little sister, Sally. I still remember when I learned to read the word "laugh", truly an impressive word.
One Christmas must have been particularly good in the typically "up and down" construction business. Besides getting the "bride doll" I had wished for, we got lots of books. We got the complete set of Brittanica encycopedias as well as a set of Science books, and volumes called "Lands and People". From then on, whenever I had question, my father took me to our books for research. Sometimes I was sorry I had asked. Passing by the living room an hour or more later, I would find my father still reading something that had caught his attention.
When I was in third grade we lived in the country near Star, Idaho. I loved to read. I would steal a flashlight under my blankets so I could read at night. I would read on the landing of the stairs or hidden in our apple tree until my exasperated mother would find me and remind me of forgotten chores. Still, she took us every Saturday to the Bookmobile, parked at the Star Mercantile, to check out more books
When I was in Junior High we lived in British Columbia,Canada. Television had not yet come to our tiny town and my Dad still read to us. Now classics for older readers broke the walls of the room. My sisters and I put on plays in the hayloft of the barn. Sometimes we had an audience of my Mom and Dad but most of the time our audience was the complacent cows.
When my children were in elementary school, each got to choose a book and we would read it together at night. Ben was in high school and didn't have much interest in novels. Most of the time he read the encyclopedia. I would catch him, however, when I read to the girls, listening around the corner. Josie chose to read "Little Women", Sara chose "The Life of Helen Kellar" and Emily chose "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Emily also read "Emily's Runaway Imagination" by Beverly Cleary with her Dad.
I don't think my experience can be replicated exactly, but I enjoy reciting poems together with my grandchildren. All tell me about the books they are reading and sometimes I read the same books. I am impressed with their parents and how they encourage their children according to each's own personality and need. .
I believe that reading can unlock the doors to any thing you do in life.
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