7. What if You only had 36 Weeks?

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

*Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices.



Every morning I drive over the southern end of the Black Mountains and am treated to beautiful sunrises, as well as a 6% grade downhill. (This means that for every 100 feet, the mountain descends 6 feet) that opens to the east into a beautiful county. Our kids came Tuesday. I have known them as students for four days. They have already changed my life. They are our future and the future looks bright!

What if you only had 36 weeks?
I do wonder. What really matters?

I am thinking that there are two things that matter to me. First, students matter. I have taught them (the students) for four days. Yes, my feet are tired; yes, I did not sleep much the first week; and yes, I love them. They are magical, tireless, and willing; they are respectful, and silly, and make some fabulous and some poor decisions; they are gentle, and mean, and insightful, and worried; they are compassionate, and insensitive and then sensitive, and precious. They need teachers who care about them, as they are, and who want to help them be better people! There is a sense among the teachers at our school that this group should be designated as our "Students to Watch". Overall, they have come to us with a reputation of being a wonderful group of students!
Secondly, we must embrace those who make up our school community: children, teachers, administrators, support personnel, parents, and community partners. By embracing I mean get to know them, work with them, and honor the gifts they bring.

Advice

1) Structure. You will hear this in any and every education class. Structure is paramount and giving students clear expectations across every element of the class period is very important. We use the following format in our class:
*Practice
*Do
*Communicate
*Create
Our language function is ANALYZE.
I know, it is just another way to say warm-up, give notes, practice, and apply... but I like it.

The other structure I use is a modified CHAMP model of classroom management. It is part of the Safe and Civil Schools Network (safeandcivilschools.com). I use a quadrant approach to let students know if they are to work alone (quadrant 1), with a partner (quadrant 2), as a team (quadrant 3), or whole class (quadrant 4). For each of the categories associated with CHAMP, I let students know what my expectations are. If there is no conversation, I place a magnet on 1 next to Conversation; if they can communicate with a partner the magnet is on 2, if they can talk to anyone at their table, it is on 3, and if they can talk to anyone in the room, it is on 4. The same goes for asking for Help. Usually if there is a test, there is no talking; they are working alone, quadrant 1. The Activity indicates whether they are working alone (quadrant 1), with a partner (quadrant 2), as a team (quadrant 3), or as a whole class (quadrant 4). Pair and group activities give students opportunities to collaborate and communicate. Expectations related to Movement are always good to share. Quadrant 1 means, no movement; quadrant 2, only one of the members of the pair may move; quadrant 3, only one member of the team can move; and quadrant 4, the whole class can move. The last expectation I give has to do with the final Product. My approach differs from the actual CHAMP model. (CHAMP model explains the P as it relates to Participation.) I use product to indicate if they are turning in their own work (quadrant 1), work they have completed with a partner (quadrant 2), team work (quadrant 3), or whole class (quadrant 4).

 

So far all is good!!

2) Team Work! A second important thing you can do as a beginning teacher is to be a team player. I happen to be working with an amazing, caring, passionate team. Our personalities, to me, center on respect and trust for all members. We are all different and bring different, important elements to the team. In one week I have seen and been able to participate in collaboration, as well as the sharing of information about our students. (Today I did almost faint when the nurse was showing us how to use an Epi Pen and she shoved it into the leg of my team mate; it wasn't loaded; I didn't know that.) We have conversations before school, during lunch, and after school, conversations about our students that are constructive, that focus on their needs, that provide us with more insight in to how to help them be successful. My team mates have shared with me their knowledge, their tools, their insights that have made me feel welcome. I believe one of the most important things in teaming is valuing one another as individuals, as educators, whose focus is students.

3) Ask! The third piece of advice I have is to reach out. I have the gift of working with another math teacher who has shared her files with me. She is the vertical team leader. I have come with few resources. Her format and her approach to teaching math are proven to be successful. It is my hope to learn as much from her as I can so that all or students will be successful. To pre-service teachers, never think you know everything. There are those around you who are gifted educators; they are your resource... rely on them!

4) Celebrate. Next is the importance and value of celebrating!!! Yesterday we were told that, Friday is "Spirit Day" and teachers are invited to wear jeans and the school t-shirts to show pride. My team leader sent an email to the staff to encourage us to bring gifts/treats to our administrators. What a great idea!!! Only I didn't bring anything. So, I allowed our students to participate in this Spirit Day event. At the beginning of each class I had small strips of paper 8 1/2 x 1/2 for them to write appreciation notes to our administrators and our team mates. (It took ten minutes and was part of the practice.) We made "Spirit Chains" for these leaders. What an easy way to allow students to say thank you. (: And now we each have appreciation chains so that if we forget; we have evidence that our students appreciate us.

5) Advocate. My fifth piece of advice is to be an advocate for all stakeholders. There are several people in any school who are 'behind the scenes', yet provide such a gift. They are the administrative assistants who greet and meet everyone. On the first day of school our administrator patiently helped about twenty students find out what bus they rode. The custodians in our school are amazing. I asked the head custodian what I could do to help his staff. He said, "Put the chairs on top of the tables." I asked the custodian in our wing on Friday afternoon how the kids were doing keeping the restrooms clean. She shared, "Well, the boys had paper towel wads that had been saturated and thrown and there was some graffiti on the walls."  The administrative assistants (we have two) keep up with everything: logistics, supplies, discipline, student-schedules and have shown more patience than you can even imagine!   The guidance counselors, nurse, assistant principals, and principal, as well as others are amazing people. Our principal took a child to her office to call the little girl's mom to find out where she should get off the bus on the first day of school. Both assistant principals have been in my room, connecting with the students. One AP shared a math puzzler with my students that captured their thinking and made them smile. (He faced away from the board, asked the student to write a 3-digit number on the board so all could see, then asked them to reverse the numbers - 256 to 652. He then asked for one of the digits (tens, ones or hundreds) and told them the original number.)  (:

What I see in this school is that everyone is working so that our students are successful. As beginning teachers, my advice is to find a way to let those people know they are valued and that you appreciate them! No one should feel that they do not matter. Verbal acknowledgements of appreciation to your students, your administrative team, the support personnel, and your team mates must be shared openly!

6) Do your paperwork! Okay, next piece of advice is to get organized!! You have to sign in everyday! You have to call roll every day and our team recommends calling roll every period. The newest technologies allow for you to set up online grade books, online correspondence, and many teachers have their own websites. Use them. It is expected; it is needed. Communication is your friend.
In order to get class lists, set up homework lines, and to access information about our students, we have to complete many modules (okay, only four). On Thursday afternoon, I finally finished the correct modules and voila, the system crashed. It came back on for us around 1:30 Friday afternoon. Thank goodness for good old fashion folders and paper. Your team mates will have systems for organizing. All that being said, have a backup plan, a backup system!

7) Live it wide open! My final piece of advice today is to take care of yourself. Every day I take my lunch: a sandwich and an apple. Every day I drink water. Drink lots of water. Every day I go for a walk. I have to say, it would be so easy to lie down and take a nap, or unfold my lessons and lesson plans and student papers onto the table to begin working on the next day, but i don't. I took time to breathe, to unwind. You have to take care of yourself!

What if I only have 36 weeks? I hope I will give 110% every day to try to make a difference in the lives of those who are in our school community: students, teachers, administrators, support personnel, parents, and community. I hope I will embrace the experience. Friends, we only have 36 weeks to make a difference in the lives of these children, these colleagues, this community.