"Be respectful and act responsibly."
The first day of school is halfway over! I was up at 5:45 and was over to school a little before staff devotions at 7. I'm wearing a skirt with bright flowers on it and a white shirt that I just managed to spray water all over when I was trying to rinse my plate off in the teachers' lounge sink. Brilliant. I also have really loud shoes on... clack, clack, clack... Not as bad as the "clompers" that I had as a kid, though.
One of the first activities of the day involved the students coming up with classroom goals. One student misunderstood the directions (write some goals to make 3rd grade a fun and safe classroom) and wrote stuff like "Do some crafts" or "Read as a classroom." They brainstormed by themselves and wrote ideas down on their papers and then got together into two groups and wrote down all their ideas. Those got posted on the board and read and then Janine went through and helped them bring them down to two main classroom rules: Be respectful and Be Responsible. (One of the groups came up with the rule "No burping.")
There are 4 sequential consequences for breaking the classroom rules. Each day is a fresh start. These are the consequences in the order that they happen:
1) Write name on board
2) Stay in class and miss part of recess
3) Write a note home to parents or call them in the presence of the teacher
4) See principal
Of course the most makulit (the word that best describes this child -- no English equivalent can be found) boy shot up his hand and said, "What if we keep doing it after we see the principal?" This is also the kid who snorted several times and then announced that he needed a Kleenex and then proceeded to twist his tissue into a point and began to drill his nose. I tried to tell him not to be so dramatic about it but unfortunately... I was laughing. It was really funny. I sat in the back covering my face at various moments because I was laughing at the kids. They're funny... and one of them talks waaaaaaaaaaay too much. It reminded me of some of the older adult students in classes in college. They talk way too much and ask questions at every opportunity (as they studiously scribble the answer word for word in their notebook and formulate another question that takes about 20 minutes to answer). The girl that talks too much is really spiritually tender and insightful, but she still talks too much.
One classroom management strategy that Janine uses to get the students' attention is to say, "Show me five!" as she holds up her hand. Each finger represents one thing: Eyes facing the speaker, ears listening, mouth quiet, hands still, and body not moving.
Anyway, two kids were absent today so there were only 6 kids in the class. They did 2 math speed tests/diagnostic tests and one really long spelling test. I felt sorry for them. Today they have PE and Library so they won't be back until the last half hour of school. Today was just a lot of introductory stuff and so is tomorrow and probably some of Monday as well.
I used to be jealous of the teachers because I thought they never had to do any work. We students had to take all the tests and do all the homework. Yeah... well now I know how much work goes into teaching and preparing and setting up a classroom. I'd rather be a student. :)
The first day of school is halfway over! I was up at 5:45 and was over to school a little before staff devotions at 7. I'm wearing a skirt with bright flowers on it and a white shirt that I just managed to spray water all over when I was trying to rinse my plate off in the teachers' lounge sink. Brilliant. I also have really loud shoes on... clack, clack, clack... Not as bad as the "clompers" that I had as a kid, though.
One of the first activities of the day involved the students coming up with classroom goals. One student misunderstood the directions (write some goals to make 3rd grade a fun and safe classroom) and wrote stuff like "Do some crafts" or "Read as a classroom." They brainstormed by themselves and wrote ideas down on their papers and then got together into two groups and wrote down all their ideas. Those got posted on the board and read and then Janine went through and helped them bring them down to two main classroom rules: Be respectful and Be Responsible. (One of the groups came up with the rule "No burping.")
There are 4 sequential consequences for breaking the classroom rules. Each day is a fresh start. These are the consequences in the order that they happen:
1) Write name on board
2) Stay in class and miss part of recess
3) Write a note home to parents or call them in the presence of the teacher
4) See principal
Of course the most makulit (the word that best describes this child -- no English equivalent can be found) boy shot up his hand and said, "What if we keep doing it after we see the principal?" This is also the kid who snorted several times and then announced that he needed a Kleenex and then proceeded to twist his tissue into a point and began to drill his nose. I tried to tell him not to be so dramatic about it but unfortunately... I was laughing. It was really funny. I sat in the back covering my face at various moments because I was laughing at the kids. They're funny... and one of them talks waaaaaaaaaaay too much. It reminded me of some of the older adult students in classes in college. They talk way too much and ask questions at every opportunity (as they studiously scribble the answer word for word in their notebook and formulate another question that takes about 20 minutes to answer). The girl that talks too much is really spiritually tender and insightful, but she still talks too much.
One classroom management strategy that Janine uses to get the students' attention is to say, "Show me five!" as she holds up her hand. Each finger represents one thing: Eyes facing the speaker, ears listening, mouth quiet, hands still, and body not moving.
Anyway, two kids were absent today so there were only 6 kids in the class. They did 2 math speed tests/diagnostic tests and one really long spelling test. I felt sorry for them. Today they have PE and Library so they won't be back until the last half hour of school. Today was just a lot of introductory stuff and so is tomorrow and probably some of Monday as well.
I used to be jealous of the teachers because I thought they never had to do any work. We students had to take all the tests and do all the homework. Yeah... well now I know how much work goes into teaching and preparing and setting up a classroom. I'd rather be a student. :)
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