First Time Absent - Panicked Meltdown

Everyone always jokes and frets about having to be absent from their classroom. Of course it's hard giving what you worked on to someone else and crossing your fingers it is executed the way you imagined. Does that ever happen? Usually not. Can things be easily fixed? They sure can. Does it make it any easier for the first time to give up the order of your classroom? Nopers.
I was one of those people who worked for a lot of companies and employers where sick days were not an option. They were piddly part-time positions, but the boss always flipped out when you took off for any reason. Even when I was legitimately sick or my husband was in the hospital, taking days off was frowned upon. You were not given promotions. You were not given special opportunities if you took off for being sick. Unreliable was the label most oft thrown about.

During my time at field work I fretted taking off of work. I fretted missing class. The punishment for missing was severe. At least, it was in my eyes. I could lose a grade level. I would have to put in extra days to make up the time missed. I felt guilty for being sick of missing a day. I pushed myself to overcome illness. I wanted to be that person who was so absolutely dedicated to their job.

Sadly,  my mind started to embrace this idea of militant worker. Nothing was too intense to skip work for. When I look back, I think some of the mindset solidified even more when I went back to school only 3 weeks after giving birth to my daughter. I don't think I was ready to start school again, but I couldn't miss out on starting my endeavor towards becoming independent and employed. This created in me a lack of personal care, because if I had to leave my daughter at home without me at only four weeks old, then there was no reason for me to ever miss anything because nothing is worse than that.

Halfway through my day last Monday, I relinquished my position as head of my class and went home to rest up. My building buddy compassionately convinced me that I needed to go home, because either she heard I was sick from word of mouth (of which my big mouth had to say something to three people) or I looked absolutely horrible. When I sat down during my third hour planning period, I knew I needed to go home. I was feeling horrible. So I compiled my lesson plans for the rest of the day, post-it-noted them, and clipped them together. I drew up my lesson plans for the following day and post-it-noted them and clipped them together just in case I wasn't going to make it in the next day either.

In retrospect, here is what I wish I would have done:

1. A Substitute Binder/Folder

• In this binder or folder, I would include tabs of each of the periods that I teach. 
• In each period, I would have a class list. 
• A starred list of reliable students who can be extremely helpful if there are questions or concerns. 
• Also in the tabs, I would include certain guides as to the people who are also in the classroom and a description of their role. 
• There would be a copy of the lesson and a direction for what to write on the board (learning targets and classroom steps). 
• There would also be a tab that includes the time schedule for my school, as well as contact information and people to ask for help.

2. A Special Bin
In this bin the substitute teacher could place all returned or collected work that I need to see that was completed during my time away. So whether  it is work that was from the day before or work that is from in-class, it would go in there. I would want it to have hanging files if possible. That way, I could label them per period or something along those lines. There would also be a special papers folder, just in case someone stopped by and needed to drop off papers.

3. Sub-Surprise
I want to have a little container that is labeled "Sub Surprise" and I would leave a note to let the substitute know that they can take something out of the box as a thank you for their help. It might be candies or little notepads or stickers with a little thank you note. It sounds like a nice idea.

Right now would be the point where I say everything went well with as short a notice as I could muster, but I haven't arrived back in the classroom. I have been assured by my 4/5 Period para that things went well with very few snafoos. I am hoping there is a substitute report. 

I couldn't help micromanaging. I sat at home trying to write lesson plans, correctly homework, looking for lesson ideas, going through e-mails, catching up on my website, working on my class calendar, etc., etc., etc. Relax? No! I couldn't break my mind of needing to work on things. I felt lazy. I felt horrible! If I didn't knock myself out, I was going to go insane trying to keep working from home! I made banners for my class. Printed out things to hang in the classroom for the upcoming season. I was a busy little monkey!

While at home as a wife, my husband was bothered by my presence in the house. My daughter was acting out of sorts, because this was a break in her daily routine to have me home. Oh my goodness, it was chaotic! On top of that, I had to keep telling myself to sit down and relax instead of trying to do things around the house! Are sick days really helpful? Not unless you check out of the world and lock yourself away. . .LITERALLY!

The other problem with being new AND absent was missing out on any decisions that might have been made. My jaded sensibility says, "It wouldn't have mattered if you were there anyways." My practical sensibility says, "The same decision would have been made, and so what?" It is what it is. Just sit back and take in everything that is happening anyways. Another mindset I need to shed is one of paranoia, that everyone is out to get me and we are all in competition. That they are somehow looking for a way to ruin me. In reality, we are all working towards the same goal of student and school achievement. {insert smack to the forehead}

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Now that I have returned to work and seen what happened in my absence, I couldn't be any happier. Having a little bit of distance was good. Some students were clearly happy to have me back. Others took it as an opportunity to act out even more. Maybe because they missed me so much they are in need of extra attention of any level. Either way, it was good to be back. It was hard catching back up, though. So much so fast. It was intense and slightly overwhelming, but I couldn't have asked for a better absence. It makes me feel more confident about taking off in the future.

First Angry Note

Bucket Filling is all the rage in so many classrooms now adays. It is supposed to help students help others feel better and more positive, eliminating the idea of bullying. Who wants to feel bad? We all want to feel good. I had experienced bucket-filling during my field work in  Milwaukee Public Schools and when I saw that one of my co-teachers was doing it, I thought "What a great idea!" and I ran with her idea. Especially with so many students who need that extra positive boost, I figured it would be a great thing to have.

So in my classroom, I have bucket slips that students can fill out. These slips then go into a class bucket. Each week we try to fill the bucket. Then I have volunteers put them into pockets that have the students' names on them. I ordered a hanging jewelry holder with plastic pockets and I used address labels to label each student's slot. The slips of paper are folded in half and slip into the pockets. Then, before tests, or sometimes on a random day, I tell the students they can get a bucket filler.

Last week we were doing WKCE testing, so I heavily encouraged students to fill out bucket fillers for all students so that they would be able to read one before testing. During that week, one of my student volunteers showed me that another student wrote an anonymous note to another student saying "You smell bad, take a shower." It was a one-time incident and with the high stress of testing, I didn't want to lay it on the students, so I let it go, especially since the student did not receive the note. I took a little extra time and went through a few of the students' pockets to make sure the notes were appropriate.

So this week was going well, except one girl was really fighting me. You can't always have a happy day with everyone all of the time, but when you're breaking the rules and not following policy, don't be angry at me for it. It isn't my fault you were on your phone or that you were excessively tardy for class.

On Friday I cleaned out my bucket filler pocket (yes, I have one, too). It had been a long week and there were only three. So I read the first couple, and they were very nice and made me laugh. Then I had one from the girl I was battling with during the week. "I am filling Bonilla's bucket Your' fat and mean"  She even signed her name. Over under the picture of the bucket on the paper, she wrote BIT. I wasn't sure how to react. I didn't react personally, but I needed to know if there was a procedure for this. Do I need to show it to the special education teacher? 

I shared it with my co-workers in my house and was told I just need to file it away. Date it and treasure it. One of my co-workers showed me her first angry note and had a good laugh about it. And then we focused on the grammatical issues and lack of punctuation and we joked about how it could be turned into a grammar lesson.

How nice it was to have a silly perspective on the situation. The funny thing is, I think she put it in the pocket a while ago, without me being in the room, a few days ago. She even thanked me for the incentive cookie from earlier when we spoke at the end of the day.

It is what it is, but I have so many positive relationships with students, I can't be phased by a note like this from an angry student who has issues controlling their emotions anyways. Let it be an outlet if it lessens their rage. If more start to appear, then there might be an issue. But I think after Thanksgiving, I'm going to have a talk with the students about remembering the point of the Bucket, indirectly addressing the problems. Reminding them that they are doing exactly what bucket filling is meant to stop, and that's bucket dipping.

Funfetti Cookies for Incentive

Funfetti Cookies
About 20 cookies

This recipe was bopping around on Pinterest and I snagged up the repin. I made these as an incentive treat for Friday Freewrite Nummy Snack for my students. The cookies were easy and I could make a bunch quickly. When I made them, I tripled the recipe so that I would have enough cookies for everyone, plus co-workers, and my daughter and husband. They went over really well.

The Friday Freewrite Nummy Snack revolves around my students earning 4 points by the Friday of that week. They earn these points by having 2 out of 3 feathers left on their Turkey at the end of class. The feathers are lost if the class gets off task, are too loud, are not following directions, etc. They earn the feathers back by staying on task, keeping a reasonable volume, following directions, etc. I just silently add or remove the feathers. Then at the end of class, I allow a member of the class to draw a line next to their class name.

If they achieve the goal, I bring them in a nummy snack (preferably homemade) to enjoy while they work on their Friday Freewrite, which is their personal writing portion of their Friday class. They practice using the Writing Process. This was one of the items I made for the 2nd Quarter Friday Freewrite Nummy Snack Incentive. Poor Science class has to eat them at the beginning of the class before the lab if they earned it, at the end of the class if they earned it by the end of the class. Either way, the kids LOVE the idea and it keeps the class running a smooth as can be expected. This snack was great.


Ingredients

• 1 box of Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Spray a baking sheet with Non-Stick Spray.
4. Roll into about 1-inch balls and place on the baking sheet. About 10-12 per baking sheet.
5. Bake for amount 8 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges. 
6. Place on a cooling rack. Store in a sealed container or Ziploc bag.

 

Note: By my last batch of cookies, they were baking faster, so just keep an eye on them.

Easy Tomato, Basil, & Mozzarella Pasta

Easy Tomato, Basil, & Mozzarella Pasta
Serves 4

I made this for dinner after a night of Parent/Teacher conferences. It was quick, fresh, and filling. A great meal for long day. I precooked the noodles and refrigerated them, which worked out very well. Great for lunch leftovers the next day if your husband and/or kids don't eat it all first!

Ingredients

• 1lb Rigatoni 
• 1 packed pearl mozzarella balls
• 2 packages cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 cup Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water with salt to a boil. Cook the Rigatoni to preferred texture, drain, rinse, and refrigerate.
2. Halve the cherry tomatoes, chop the fresh basil and combine in a large bowl with the mozzarella.
3. In the large bowl, add the Olive Oil, salt, and pepper and stir with the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.
4. Finally, add the pasta and thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Shake if you have a top to the bowl.

Special Moment - The Power of Post-Its

I have a large class for my second 100 minute block of Literacy. The class is high intensity differentiation central due to the range of student needs and learning styles. Accompanied by the ticking-time-bomb of raging hormones and high riding emotions, it's a veritable battlefield. I have wonderful support in the room for my students with emotional disabilities, as well as my English Language Learners, but sometimes it feels overwhelming, keeping up with all the social circles and remembering who can sit within proximity of whom. Then there are the students who are sometimes resentful of certain aspects of the class dynamic due to being buffers for other students.

So when I want to do small groups or partner work, I have to be very careful about who is paired with who. I just redid the seating plan with the new unit starting and the new quarter underway, so today was the first day I was able to test out whether the new seats were going to potentially work. My overall assessment was that things were going well in pairs, but I noticed one of my students with emotional concerns was looking less than thrilled while working with his partner. His partner has trouble concentrating and completing tasks, but is exceptionally smart. I paired them together knowing that both students love to talk and if one can at least write and they can share their ideas, they will do well. But oh no. . . my one student wasn't talking and was keeping his head down while my gifted and talented student was checking out of Planet A334.

Concern for the partnership was growing and I nonchalantly made my way over to their group and started asking my students if everything was alright and if they're working alright. The other student smiled and I saw he had written a good deal of his work already and was doing well. I think he was taking a break while his partner finished writing the Table of Content down on his paper. I wasn't, though, getting any answers from either of them as to whether they were working together or what was going on.

I asked my student who has emotional concerns if I could write him a note and he can respond when he's ready. He shrugged his shoulders and I walked to my desk and wrote him a little note on a Post-It. As I made another turn around the classroom, I stuck the note on his desk. I saw him look at it and respond. As I continued coming around working with students, he handed me the note as I passed. I stopped at my desk, read the note, and responded on a new Post-It note. As I made another turn, I stuck the note on his desk. I was keeping an eye out for his response note, but time was ticking down and I needed to wrap up the lesson and pass out homework.

Thankfully, he was looking a little less frustrated as I passed out their Entrance Tickets. He even offered up an answer for my wrap-up discussion, "Did anyone happen to find an interesting piece of information while hunting through their nonfiction text?" He had been using a book on Einstein and he shared that Einstein used to play the violin as a child as a form of relaxation and started playing when he was thirteen. I thought that was a great piece of information to share, especially since I know a few kids in the class play the violin and all sixth graders are involved in band, orchestra, and/or choir. 

On his way out, he handed me his note back and gave me a big smile. I read the note and he said that he would be alright and he would figure it out. Later in the day he was already back to his old self. This particular event helped me to see the Power of Post-Its. An awesome experience.

Halloween: Spooky Poetics and Sweet Treats

For Halloween, I knew I wanted to do something special for the kids. I always think about how to decorate the classroom and what my students can do to help make the classroom more seasonal. After working with my third graders to write Cinquain poems, I thought it would be a good way to encourage my students to be more descriptive writers, review parts of speech, and have fun writing about Fall/Halloween.

I took my Facebook Introductions bulletin board down and purchased a candy corn border, after my students expressed a passion for sugar. Then I taught my students how to write Cinquain poems (the students said they learned these are diamond poems, but I'd rather teach them the appropriate title). We practiced using the writing process steps.

Prewriting/Brainstorming

We did some chalk board brainstorming of words associated with October.  The students came up to the board and wrote a word or idea. The words ranged from Halloween blood and gore to the smell of Fall and leaves changing color.  My students are obsessed with gummy bears and zombies, so there were many words involving the Gummy Bear Zombie Apocalypse. 

Students were then given a Cinquain template and we discussed what nouns, adjectives, and -ing words are. Then we reviewed synonyms and came up with some phrase examples. The students then went work.

Drafting/Editing/Conferencing

Students wrote their first draft on their template. Then they were to self-edit using a dictionary and/or thesaurus to help with finding more creative words. Once they were comfortable with their poem, they gave it to a peer to review and edit. Before they could get a publishing template, they had to have it approved by the teacher.

Publishing

Due to the shortness of the poems, quickly reading their poems was easy enough. Then they were given the chance to choose from several different templates. They were instructed to write their poem in pencil first, then go over it with marker. After they finished their poem, they could color in the template and make sure they put their name on the front.

 

These made for a great bulletin board display. It also looked great with the Halloween decorations the students put  up in the classroom, such as shrouds over the drapes, pumpkin lights, and a Happy Halloween banner.

For Halloween, I made the students candy bags. I found a baggie topper template and I edited it to include a special message from me on the back. I included goldfish crackers, stickers, a spider ring, tootsie roll pops, and smarties. The kids LOVED them, but forgot the cardinal rule of treats: DO NOT open them if your next class does not approve of snacks. It made for a sad situation with the other teachers when the students did not follow the rules. So just be careful and talk to the other teachers about stuff like that before you do it. Let them know your explicit guidelines for the students just so that they know what is going on.

Spicy Sausage, Cheese Tortellini, and Vegetable Soup

I've been finding it hard to come up with recipes to cook during the week, because by the time I've gotten home I am usually pretty exhausted. I was extremely happy, though, to have been inspired to create this recipe. Not only was it easy and delicious, but I had leftovers for the week at school. I was super excited to test out my brown-bagging soup container.

Lucky for me, even little Isabelle found something to like about the soup. We paired it with garlic bread and she dipped into the broth and picked out the pasta. So it was a win-win for everyone. A great opportunity and a quick fix.

Spicy Sausage, Cheese Tortellini, and Vegetable Soup
Serving: 8-10

 Ingredients

• 2 cans Del Monte Diced Tomatoes (Basil, Garlic & Oregano)
• 26 oz Swanson's Cooking Stock - Beef
• 1 lb spicy hot or medium Italian Sausage (de-case the sausages if ground is not available)
• 18 oz Progresso Recipe Starter - Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 TBSP Minced Garlic
• 1 large Yellow Onion, diced
• 2 large carrots (peeled and cut 2-3mm wide)
• 2 medium zucchini (middle cut out, peeled, and cut into 2-3in fourths)
• 1 cup quartered baby button mushrooms
• 2 cups water
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 9 oz Bella Luna "fresh" cheese tortellini (for frozen, put them in with the zuchinni and reduce the water by 1/2 a cup)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Brown the sausage in a large pot. Drain off the grease and set the meat aside (on a paper towel to catch the excess grease).
2. Sweat the onions, carrots, and garlic. The onions should be slightly translucent, but still have crunch.
3. Add the sausage back into the pot. Then add in the beef stock, diced tomatoes, water, tomato sauce,  Progresso's Fire Roasted Tomatoes, bay leaf, and 1 TBSP pepper and 1 TBSP salt. 
4. Cover and turn on high to bring to a boil. Let boil for 15 minutes.
5. Turn the stove to medium or medium-low until you get a low simmer. Add in the baby button mushrooms and zucchini.
6. Let cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the zucchini is starting to become soft.
7. Add in the tortellini and continue cooking at medium of a low boil until the tortellini are cooked to your preferred level of doneness. 
8. Add in the Parmesan cheese. Let simmer for 5 more minutes.
9. Serve with garlic bread on the side. Additional Parmesan also adds a nice touch.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake

Inspired by Kraft Food & Family Spring '09. This is a really great recipe and there was pretty much nothing leftover for the next day. It was delicious! It is also a really easy and quick meal to make on a week night after work. Most of the items I keep in my cabinet, freezer, or fridge and if I don't have one of the items, it is a quick stop at the store. 

A reasonably priced meal and even the little ones will love it! Isabelle was in love with the cheesy broccoli and adored the stuffing, despite her resistance to eating chicken at the time. This is also a great meal for the hubby to make if I'm working late. BONUS!


Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake

Ingredients

• 2 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
• 1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained
• 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
2. Prepare stuffing as directed on package. We used the microwave directions, which made it quicker, since you bake it to be crispy.
3. Combine remaining ingredients.
4. Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with stuffing.
5. Bake 40 min. or until chicken is done and top is crispy.

Introduction Project

I wanted to do something fun with my students for the first week of class. Something that was familiar to them, but allowed them to be creative and share with me a little bit about themselves. I found these awesome worksheets while scrambling to get things organized for the first week and it was an great activity.

The worksheets were called Poppin' Into 6th Grade.  I got them from The Peanut Gallery with a film themed welcome back packet. I am all about the movies, so it was a perfect pack to help me orient myself. The students LOVED working on these. I then took their pictures and we taped them into the little photo spot. Then I hung them on the bulletin board in our classroom just in time for Open House. Students were excited to show them to their parents and then show their parents their friends from elementary school. The bulletin board had a filmstrip border with "I'm a Star" as the center. Apparently this is a popular border, as I've looked around the school and seen it in many, many classrooms.

When the students finished the Facebook style page (complete with a banner they could design), the students filled out a survey about themselves so that I could gather more information. Some of the students didn't want to put down "favorite" because they do not have a "favorite" anything, but I had to remind them to put down something that they like alot. Some students didn't have a favorite or even a liked TV show or movie. They said they  never watch TV or that they are never inside, because they are always outside playing sports. While there is nothing wrong with that, I wonder if someday they will realize how silly that sounds. Sure, we don't all watch TV, but most kids have seen movies and have ones that they like. Either way, the students enjoy working on it. I let the project guidelines be unstructured so that the students could really express themselves, but I suppose they needed more structure than I thought they did. I am actually surprised at how much structure and rigid guidelines they still need. Hopefully by the end of the year they will be a bit more independent and thinking more personally about decisions.

I wish I had pictures of the board, but I forgot. It was a great way for me to learn names and put them with faces right away in the first week. Next year I would have the students share their pages before I collected them. They were all moving at such different paces that it was difficult to make the presentations work this year.

Quick Classroom Part 2

I only had a few days to get my classroom put together for my students to arrive. Here is what I was able to do with a husband, a laminator, and a three-day weekend.

After the Weekend

The Classroom

The Science Side of the Classroom

The Literacy Lounge (Still Needs Work) 

 

Quick Classroom Part 1

I only had a few days to get my classroom put together for my students to arrive. Here is what I was able to do with a husband, a laminator, and a three-day weekend.

The Original Room