Properties of Matter

Sorry it has been so long; there has been a lot going on in my life lately! We have ended our Washington State Geology and Convection unit, and are moving swiftly into Properties of Matter (POM). I was very familiar with the first unit, since it was what I did student-teaching. However, I am in uncharted territory, so the planning has been much more extensive.

I have been checking and rechecking my script (in my head) and boy, am I glad I have! Kids are asking new and interesting questions left and right, and I am so excited that they are! BUT--it takes a lot of work to think of a somewhat simplistic answer or another question to aim back at them to deepen their thinking skills. It has been so cool to watch the students finalize one unit (which they were so happy about) and start another one with such wonderment in their eyes. Truly a great feeling as a teacher--one of the best so far!

Right now, we are practicing measuring using the metric system. I have introduced the metric system, and we have measured length/distance. We discussed volume of solids (and measured), but are still working on volumes of liquids. I had them get familiar with beakers and graduated cylinders without liquids, and I can see that reading measurements accurately might be tough for them. Students see a lab set-up and want to get to it right away. They get a little carried away and then add error to the lab because they rushed through the measuring bit of it... So, instead of pressuring myself to keep up a consistent pace, I am going to take my time, and beat the dead horse so their measuring skills are up to par for when we make it to Reactions and Mixtures.

Other than that, we are also starting a new unit for Math: Populations and Data Sets. I think the kids will dig it because it's a lot more visual than equations are. We will be working with graphs, word problems, and could even fit in a project or two! They love using color on poster paper :-)

In another note, my family and I buried my maternal Grandfather on Tuesday, February 19th. It turned out to be a beautifully sunny day, although cold, and he is now laid to rest next to his wife. It is good to know they are together again with new bodies and in eternal peace.

More adventures to come as we get further into POM!

Anti-Bullying Campaign

My school has a big bullying problem. Middle schoolers are already in a weird middle-ground, where they are battling new feelings, hormones, and independence, but now they are dealing with another beast--bullies. On Friday there was a theatrical performance by the Taproot Theater, who put on a play about how bullying affects others. After the performance there was a conversation between the audience and the actors. We had two performances; one for 7th graders, and one for 8th graders. I took my 7th grade science class, and when we made it back to the classroom I asked if they enjoyed it and learned something. Most of them said they had a good time, and learned something. However, when I asked my 8th grade math class, they laughed saying, "it was stupid."

The 8th grade class is responsible for most of the bullying at my school. It is really sad to see how they treat each other--putting up a facade in front of their peers, then spreading rumors. Students even meet up at the local park off-campus to fight. There was a recent video posted online about the fight, and several of my students were suspended. So not only is the bullying hurting feelings, but it is affecting kid's education because any bystanders are also suspended if caught partaking in the fight.

My Reaction: Mostly, I am shocked because I never dealt with any of this when I was in school (I went to school in the same district in which I teach). It has only been 7 years since I was in high school---not that long ago! How have things changed so quickly? I was never involved in off-campus fights (as a bystander or fighter) and so maybe I didn't even know it was happening then...Who knows!? But what I do know is that middle school kids, especially girls, say extremely mean things about each other all the time, and think that is the norm.

How can I teach my kids that it is not normal? When I hear negative things said in my classroom, I tell students that those comments are disrespectful and uncalled for. They are asked to stop, but I know that is not enough. I need to show them a different way. Empathy is such a hard concept to teach. If you have found a successful method to teach kids about bullying, please share! I would love to hear about your experiences with and battles against bullying.

Back At It

Coming back to school after Christmas break has been difficult. I was mostly sick over the break, and tried to nurse myself back to good health before school started up again. Since fighting the worst of it off, I have had a stuffy/runny nose for almost a month! I am experience a lot of congestion still, and am getting sick of it (pun intended). I didn't feel like I had much of a break because I was stuck inside being ill. You win some, you lose some.

Another reason why the transition from break to school has been tough is that for science class, we haven't had many experiments left to do as we wrap up our Earth Science unit. We have just finished learning about plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes. The last cool experiment we did was convection in the mantle, in which we studied rhioscopic fluid heated by a tea-light candle from underneath. We turn off the lights, and use a flashlight to see the fluid move. The kids like it because we get to turn the lights off, and use fire! But more importantly, they can see how the mantle convection behaves and why tectonic plates are moving.

Since that lab, studying volcanoes and earthquakes has been mostly me talking at them, and dealing with behavior during that time has been consuming. The Washington State science standards just say that kids need to know that volcanoes are landforms created when 2 tectonic plates meet and earthquakes result from plate movement...kinda boring. I tried to put a video in there, but some classes couldn't get through the note-taking to get to the video-reward. Can you say, "lame?" Next week should be better. Here's to hoping!

Math is always tough because I've never taught it before, and I have a lot of squirrely boys who can't sit still. I am working on making math more interactive with projects and technology, but the curriculum doesn't offer a lot of solutions, so I have to go digging through the world-wide-web to find something suitable. Also, many of my students failed their unit test, so I am offering re-takes. This means more grading for me, but I want them to be successful. They have to correct all the mistakes on the old test, then schedule time after school with me to take the new version. So far, only 1 student has come by...but I'm glad at least one student is taking advantage of the opportunity!

Lately I have been feeling bogged down with discipline, and all I want are my kids to follow directions. When I tell you to stay in your seat, please stay there! There are always 4-5 students who struggle with following directions and it's driving me crazy because I tell them the same things every day...I am re-teaching classroom expectations because my students are starting to tow the line. Two of my five classes have to take out their planners, notebooks and writing utensils outside before they can come in. It's intense, but I think they are starting to catch on (in a good way).

If you have any suggestions for incentives for getting students to follow classroom expectations, please drop me a comment or two!

Happy Holidays

Christmas Break has arrived! I am officially on my first day of break, and it has hit me like a ton of bricks! I have a cold...It caught up to me on Monday, as I woke with a very bad sore throat. It quickly changed into a congested nose and relentless cough. But at least I can rest up and come back healthy to start 2013.

The last week and a half with my kiddos was great! It shocks me to think how little time I have actually had with my students--not even a full month yet. But I feels like it has gone so fast. One day it is Monday, and the next thing I know it's Thursday! Weeks go by with a blink of my eye. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love how quickly things move in my life right now. It creates a familiarity and constant in life that I can always expect. I even know what to expect from my students, and am working hard to beat them to the punch before problems arise.

Come the New Year, I think I need to slow down a bit with my students. Given the fact that we have a lot of "getting to know you" to do still, I should probably do some re-teaching about classroom expectations. Starting in the middle of a semester has its challenges, like wanting to get up-and-running with the curriculum, but also needing to slow down to teach the kids my expectations about classroom procedures and behavior. The only problem is I'm not sure how to re-teach expectations in an engaging way. Day one with my kids we went over a powerpoint, and had a classroom discussion, but this time around I do not want to lecture them about it, but am not sure what else to do. Got any suggestions? I have a bulletin board with the "Safe, Respectful, Responsible" school theme ideas we came up with each period, and I can point that out to them again. Maybe a signed contract? Please, oh please send me some ideas if you have any tricks. Even you elementary school teachers--middle schoolers still love some of the elementary ideas because they are in between two worlds.

A new seating chart is in order for the new year, and that will definitely help out with behavior management. I also have tons of little drawers around my room, that kids open up (even though it is an automatic detention if caught in them), but I recently received tens of little keys that have locked many of the drawers already. YAY! One problem is almost solved :-) And I am getting savvy at seating arrangements too.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. My beau and I got our first Christmas tree. We have such a little apartment, full of both our junk, but we found a corner for the tree and are so happy to come home to the refreshing pine scent. It makes the season that much more merrier to have our own mini-Christmas tree.

Week 2

So week 2 is now over, and I am starting to get into a groove. The kids know my expectations and I am following through with behavior consequences. Even my most challenging class is starting to figure it all out.

Progress reports went home on Thursday, November 6. D's and F's were also mailed home. I have to make parent/guardian contact by December 14th for those students who are not passing...this is so much work, which I didn't realize teachers had to do! When I got the email about this, I didn't even have my grades set-up. At this point, I have made about half the calls/emails, but on top of everything else I have to do, it is hard to sit on the phone with parents/guardians and talk about why their child is not being successful in class.

For example, I sat on the phone with a parent for 45 minutes discussing her child's behavior and missing assignments. She then called the very next day to ask if the child's grade had gotten better..."umm...no. Your child needs to schedule time with me before or after school to make up the missing labs. Otherwise, your child's grade will not change. And, P.S We have a quiz on Tuesday."

So on top of getting to school an hour or more early, I haven't been leaving until 5:30 pm (school ends at 2:40 pm). If I get lucky though, I call during my planning period, so I can just leave a message ;-)  Don't get me wrong, I think that having conversations with parents about how their child can be more successful in my class is positive and valuable, but if I have to talk to each one for 45 minutes, I won't get any other work done. I guess teachers just win some (summers off) and lose some...

In the mean time, I am trying to get all my planning done for the upcoming week in order to leave school at a more reasonable hour. So far, I have everything done for this coming week. We'll see how it goes. Only 1 week and 2 days until Christmas break!!!

Finally, I have students

I began working on November 5th, with the intention to get a class that Thursday, November 8th. At that time, I was planning to teach 7th grade science and math. Those plans were then threw out, and I was told I will actually be teaching 8th grade math and 7th grade science....Okay...No problem. So, I made arrangements with other teachers, got their plan books and made copies for my updated schedule.

Simultaneously, as I was getting my room decorated and organized, the administration was in the process of hiring a new Language Arts teacher. The staff underestimated the number of students who would be entering the 7th grade this year, and many teachers had more than 32 kids in their classes. At my school, 29 students is considered "at capacity." Any more and the job of "Teacher" gets even more difficult. Anyways, over the month, there have been many changes, even to faculty who began the school year with students. Due to all these switches, I did not get any classes until this past Monday, November 26th! Yes, I spent almost a whole month getting ultra-organized for my classes and decorating the crap out of my room.

I took some before and after pictures of my room, so you can see the transformation.

It has been 3 days with students in my classroom, and I am still working out all the kinks. I have decided to change the desk arrangement to straight rows facing the overhead. Although I like how these desk arrangement now enables kids to discuss ideas with each other and share, I cannot maneuver swiftly through the room, and middle-schoolers can be squirrely. I need to be able to assess student work, and eliminate distractions. Right now, my kiddies can pass notes, have off-topic conversations, and avoid me pretty well, since I cannot walk in between their desk-groups easily. I think straight rows will allow me the room to walk, and they will still have table partners to discuss ideas with.

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. Since I didn't have students yet, I didn't have much to share...and I kept forgetting to take "after" photos of my room ;-)

T-minus 21 hours and 10 minutes

I officially start my new teaching job tomorrow, Monday November 5, 2012. Although I won't have students in my classroom until Thursday, I am still very excited and super nervous...though many teacher-friends have told me that "you would be crazy not to be feeling that way." Confidence restored!

My journey up to accepting this position has been frustrating. After applying to jobs up and down the I-5 corridor in Washington state for the last 4 months, and not getting any interviews, I was beginning to think something was wrong with me! The job climate in Washington is tense for educators; jobs are limited, thus very competitive. When a position was added at the middle school where I student-taught, I applied immediately and then the waiting game began all over again. I was called for an interview 2 weeks ago, which went well despite my nerves, and got the offer a few days ago...talk about a rush! I will have 3 science classes, and 2 math classes.

So over the weekend, I have been planning like crazy and buying lots of supplies for my new room. I hit up JoAnne's, Target, and The Dollar Tree for the things I need. There are still some classroom necessities I want, but am holding off until I get the things I have up in the room. I have so many ideas for classroom decorations and organization from The School Supply Addict. Hopefully the vision I have in my head will come into fruition as I start the process tomorrow.

For now, wish me luck. Have any advice for a first day get-to-know-you activity? I would love to hear from you! I don't want to bog the students down with too many rules and expectations right away...