My Life as a Teacher

Spring Fever Hits Class

2008-05-04T18:20:00.003-04:00

I wish science could put find out why students seem to lose their minds after March 21. Ever since spring rolled around my crew has, to steal a phrase from Emeril, kicked it up a notch in the crazy department. They're not disrespectful or anything. They are just goofier than ever.

They had a tough time staying quiet while doing their work before spring, but now it's even harder for them. They pick on each other a lot more, they hit each other a lot more, and they all seem to have forgotten how to walk in a straight line.

They comment a lot on the gray hairs I have developed. I just blame them for it. But they do make me smile all the time. Which, they also comment on a lot.

Off the subject, there was a run-in between a Detroit councilwoman and an 8th-grader during what appeared to have been a field trip. It was after the councilwoman had an argument with the council chairman. She called him "Shrek." Here is what happened....

Teachers Should Get Hazard Pay

2008-04-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

I've always told people that I want no part of teaching kids above 5th grade.

It is because at that age, kids seem to think they run things. I don't want to be the one to have to set them straight -- verbally or physically. I admit it: I would be the one on the news for punching a student who attacked me the way the Baltimore art teacher was attacked recently. And any classmate cheering on the assault attempt would have hell to pay, too.

Teachers on the secondary school level have it rough. I don't understand why school boards are so slow in realizing it. They want to make it harder to suspend or get rid of students because that makes the school district look bad when trying to suck up to No Child Left Behind and other government mandates. Well, if school boards want to keep unruly children in schools, they better come up with more money to pay the people who have to deal with them on an everyday basis.

Same Place, New Faces

2007-09-01T01:05:00.000-04:00

The new school year is five days old. The biggest change is that there are more males teaching here. As for my class, I have all new students but one. I had to hold her back. She seems to be doing a little better now. Most of the kids all knew me from seeing me around the building last year.

This year's class is a little bit goofier than last year's. I have 20 students. Half of them are boys. But so far, there doesn't seem to be a "bad" student.... yet. The other noticeable difference from last year's crew is that my kids now have pretty good handwriting. I haven't tested them to see what they can read yet. That'll happen next week.

As always, it's cool when my former students and the other older students say hello to me or give me a hug. Some keep telling me they wish I was their teacher, even without giving their current teacher a chance.

I'm looking forward to working with my crew this year. It looks like I'll get some good support from parents/guardians once again.

Five days down... 175 to go.

Another Year Comes to an End

2007-06-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

Friday, June 15 can't come soon enough. It is the last day of school.

Right now, I have to complete doing all the mind-numbing paperwork and record-organizing, finish doing report cards, and throwing out pretty much everything in my room. I've hoarded so much stuff, it's crazy.

I have decided to give away a bunch of posters, process charts, and pictures to my kids who keep fighting over them. I am surprised how many of them want old USA Today newspapers that I brought in to bore them with sports, news and entertainment stories that interest me. I know they can't read the articles,, or understand what the hell they're about. So, I just tell them to find their high-frequency words and circle them. If they do decide to try to read an entire article, I tell them to make sure they sit with an adult to explain the story.

This year was probably the most fun because I knew the kids from last year. So they were able to quickly bond with me. I hope they learned enough to make it through the second grade.

My favorite moments of the year:

As mentioned before, sharing current events (mostly sports) through the newspapers. They actually liked hearing me talk about stuff--unless I was making fun of the local pro football team.

I never got annoyed--as I'm sure about 99% of other teachers would--by the fact that my students would climb all over me like I was a human jungle gym. Some would sprawl themselves on my lap. Others would just lean on my back while I'm talking to another student, or trying to read a story. It reminded me of those nature shows when the father lion is just chillin' in the grass. The lion cubs are all bouncing on him or pulling his ears and he just sits there like nothing's happening.

Watching their reading skills improve. I had some of my students in kindergarten, so seeing their progress made me really proud.

My least favorite parts:

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my summer break. I may drive through the neighborhood to see if any of the kids are out playing. But the last week of August will be here before I know it. And school will be back in session.

On Spring Break, And Still Doing Schoolwork

2007-04-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

I opted not to take a trip to the beach or another day job during Spring Break 2007. But now, in between watching "The Price is Right" and all of the Judge Fill-in-the-Blank shows, I've been doing homework.

I have to do report cards. Those will be due a short time after school starts back up. Report cards are a pain because there is no cutting and pasting. I have to write out the grades, the ratings for individual skills and then comments for each of the goofballs. I find myself writing "so-and-so is making good progress" a lot.

My crew just finished taking their state tests, so I didn't have much in the way of lesson plans during that week. I have to catch up now. I told myself that I would try to have lesson plans at least 2 weeks in advance. (I also told myself that I would have my taxes done in February. That didn't work out.)

So far, I have gotten about 4 days of language plans done. Math is next. When I started my teaching career, I hand-wrote lesson plans on a school-mandated form. That took forever. So, I just used the computer to write them, still keeping the necessary information. I thought I'd get in trouble since I didn't let anyone know I was going to go against the standard. Luckily, it was okay. Now, doing lesson plans is mostly cut, paste and copy what is written in the teacher's guide.

I hope my students are having a lot more fun during the break than I am. But I'm making good process so far.

NCAA Brackets as a Teaching Tool

2007-03-19T20:59:00.000-04:00

Sorry, I've been neglecting my blogging duties on this site, but I'm back.

Right now, my focus -- outside of my students -- is the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. And as may students are used to by now, they're teacher is a sports freak. So, I give them another example of how sports is a great way to teach subjects such as geography or math.

Geography

I list on the board the sub-region cities for the first- and second-round games, the four regional championship sites and the national championship site, which this year is Atlanta. We go over where the states the cities are located in on a map. Then we'll pick a team and discuss which directions it has to travel to get from city to city.

Language Arts

Students learn how to correctly use capital letters in writing the names of the cities the games are played in. I'll also give the students the sports section of the USA Today and have them circle the high-frequency words they recognize.

Math

I teach the students to count by two's when teams score a basket. Sometimes they just have to add 1 when a player shoots a free throw, or add 3 when a player makes a 3-point basket. This helps with skip-counting and counting-on skills for addition. I also show them how the seedings of the matchups in the first round always equal 17. For example: the number 1 seed always plays the number 16 seed. 1 + 16 = 17.

Science

We'll break down the mascots of the schools represented in the tourney and list the characteristics of the animals in terms of size, skin, claws or no claws, and what they like to eat.

I would add music to this because CBS traditionally ends their national championship telecast with the song "One Shining Moment." But I usually spare them the pain of hearing me make an attempt at singing.

Let Them Play!!!

2006-11-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

In the USA Today's opinion section, there was a debate over recess in schools. It has been an issue for many years.

I consider myself pro-recess.

Recess was a big deal for me in elementary school. It was mainly because a lot of my friends weren't in the same class, and this was the only time of day to socialize. Okay, so kickball and freeze tag may not count as socializing to you, but you get the point.

It is understandable why schools are cutting back -- more education time and money-grubbing parents who want to sue at the instant their kid falls off the monkey bars. (Usually after said kid thinks he's an Olympic gymnast and gravity has proven him wrong.)

But students need a chance to play. More to the point, MY students need a chance to play. Lord knows I don't want to have to sit in a classroom with 20 fidgety, silly, talkative knuckleheads going over subtraction problems when I can just take them out for about 20 minutes and let them release tons of energy. Having the chance to go outside is a good behavior incentive as well. But my school doesn't allow much time for the kids to go out. They may get the last 10 minutes of lunch period, but that's it. But that is pretty much once in a blue moon.

I hope at some point in the existence of the planet, there will be a law in countries all over the world that requires school systems to allow at least 20 minutes of mindless running around, cooties touching, and dodgeball.

No Child Left Behind may seem like a good concept, but I'm more for, as one newspaper headline about this issue put it, No Child Left Inside.

Be Careful What You Say

2006-11-03T21:40:00.000-05:00

So, this year I'm teaching first grade and we're more than 2 months into the school year. Most of the gang I have this year were from my kindergarten class last year.

The one thing I have found to be very cool is the fact that they will take any of my common phrases and sarcastic comments and make them their own. Some examples:

> Whenever a student takes forever to give an answer, come to the carpet for whole-group teaching, or choosing a classmate to assist, I try to urge them to hurry up by sarcastically saying, "Sometime today, please." Now students say it on their own when a classmate is a slowpoke at doing something.

> The older kids in my school like to talk to me about problems they're having with their classmate or another teacher. Usually its very nitpicky things. When I'm not in the mood I'll just command them, "Don't start." I don't say it angrily or anything. It's just firm enough for them to know I'm not in the mood. Now, some of my students will say it to me when I pick on them -- jokingly -- about sounding out words or not putting their names on paper.

> They have picked up on my use of what Cedric The Entertainer once called the "I wish" philosophy. If I see a student about to write on the chalkboard while the class is lining up to go to lunch, I'll just tell them, "I wish you WOULD write on my chalkboard." Or sometimes, I'll just cut it off after "I wish you would.." and they get the hint. Now, occasionally I'll hear a student say "I wish you would..." whenever a classmate starts to bother him or her.

Fortunately, I have good control of dropping any profanity out of anger -- and they test me often -- becase the last thing I want to hear one of my students say is, "I wish my teacher WOULD give me some @#*$% homework over the weekend."

The First Day of School '06

2006-08-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

The day finally arrived. The first day of school.

I had seen my class list at the end of last week and saw that I had a few of my students from last year and a couple of students from another class who knew me. So I knew what I was in for.

As usual, there was confusion as to what extra students I would inherit. Some students just parked themselves in my room and I just figured they were late adds to my class roster. Wrong. They just had no idea where they were supposed to go.

Most of the students were happy that I was there teacher. Other students were just happy to see me period. I got a few hugs. A few parents I remembered from last school year were happy to see me as well.

We didn't do any formal lesson plan. We just practiced walking in the halls, practiced how to shut their mouths when I'm talking and practiced how to make the room look clean before they go home.

My class dynamic is tough to figure out right off the bat. I have at least a couple of bright students. I have a couple of chatty kids and mostly goofy kids. So far, none of them has any tendency towards violence.

It should be a fun and definitely silly year for me and my crew.

Summer is Winding Down

2006-08-08T09:24:00.000-04:00

Some school districts across the USA have already begun the school year or are close to beginning. I have 2 weeks of freedom left.

Mentally, I'm starting to get geared up. I've already started thinking about laying out my room -- which now is only a guess as to which room at my school I'll be in. I'm planning what to put on the board, how to map out the seating arrangement, and how I'm planning to actually organize my desk for the first time without it looking like a tornado went over it.

I plan to take advantage of all the tax-free days to get supplies, too. My school provides a lot of basic supplies, but I want to get other things like extra pencils, stickers, posters, paper name plates and post-its.

I do not know who my students will be -- or what grade for that matter. I know if I'm not teaching kindergarten, then I'll be guaranteed that the kids will already know me from last year. I just have to remember to be a lot sterner just to get rid of some of that familiarity.

I'll even be looking forward to seeing the older kids as well. A few of them always came and hung out in my room right before school started every day. I never minded them coming in, but they would get in trouble from other teachers and the principal.

Two weeks and counting.

Summer Break Musings

2006-07-13T15:26:00.000-04:00

There is only about 6 weeks left in my summer break. So far, it doesn’t seem to be going by quickly. I think it might have something to do with a summer job I am doing outside the world of education.

People have asked me if I miss my kids. I do -- just a little. I definitely don’t miss their whining for no reason. That’s the main reason I’m kind of glad I’m not teaching summer school.

I do, however, wish I could take some of my students on summer trips to historic places or the local amusement park. But, thanks to certain freaks and the idiots that show up on those Dateline NBC child predator specials, I don’t think parents would go for that.

I’m sure my goofballs would love it if I just dropped by the neighborhood out of the blue. I know 2 of them have birthdays coming up soon. I remember because they bugged the heck out of me about it.

I don’t know what grade I’ll be teaching, but I have started to brainstorm what I may do with my classroom in terms of what I’ll put up on the walls. I want to put more pictures of historic things and people. But, the school system suggests I make my room print-rich – having tons of words all over the place so the kids are at least exposed to them even though they may not know how to read them. So I’ll be putting my excellent handwriting skills to use.

It's Over... It's All Over...

2006-06-16T22:50:00.000-04:00

Another school year is in the books. And summer break is here. Thank goodness.

Overall, this was a very fun year. Kindergarten is not as bad as some people tried to make it seem. And I'm easily adaptable, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

My observations of the past year:

My co-workers are extremely helpful. I know a lot of workplaces have tons a back-stabbing and the gnashing of teeth. The staff at my school remind me a lot of being at a small church.

Kids actually react to any changes teachers make which may disrupt any routines. I decided to step up my wardrobe for the end-of-the-year program from just a routine every-day dress shirt to a routine every-day dress shirt... and a tie. My kids kept asking me if I was going to church. (I usually only wear ties to church, funerals, weddings and job interviews.) I don't think they even noticed the fact that they had on their Sunday best at the time.

Being a teacher is like being a well-beloved mayor. I was walking around the baseball field at the school, late one afternoon, where a lot of students were playing a pickup game. People from the nearby apartments were yelling my name and saying hello. A student had his bookbag stolen by a girl and he was chasing her around me. He asked me to tell her to give him his bookbag back. I had to tell him that school had ended 3 hours ago. I was no longer in teacher mode. (It was harmless play anyway. They'll probably get married in the future.)

The end-of-the-year paperwork sucks. Tons of forms to fill out. Tons of records to make sure theyare in order.

Cleaning up ranks a close second-place in sucking. I can't believe I keep so much garbage in my room.

And lastly, even though I (jokingly) tell the kids I can't wait till summer break so I don't have to see them until August, I know I'm going to miss them. But I'll see them in 2 and a half months when they'll begin to get on my nerves for the following 8 months.

Woo-hoo!

End of the Year Means End of Sanity

2006-05-13T01:57:00.000-04:00

What is it with the end of the school year that makes kids act completely goofy?

I have had students think they're grown and try to do whatever they want. I have had students just decide that school property is no longer worthy of being cared for. I have had students think they were auditioning for a video on "UnCut." And just 6 months ago they were little angels. Most of them, at least.

Just this week, one student who must have recently been exposed to the silliness of mooning, decided to expose his new found talent to the class. He was promptly removed. Other students have decided to have unannounced track meets in the classroom.

Even students that aren't in my class have decided it's too late in the school year to follow uniform rules and where whatever they want. There has been an increase in fights -- which really aren't anything major at the elementary school level.

I can't wait until the madness ends.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open with Parents

2006-04-27T18:38:00.000-04:00

The parents and guardians of my students always want to stay informed of how their child is doing. And that's a good thing.

We have a behavior color system and a chart that students are supposed to show their family every night. Unfortunately, not all students show it to anyone. You can tell the ones that do. When an adult drops them off, they warn the student to "stay in green" or else. Sometimes, parents will leave various phone numbers where they can be reached if the kid gets out of hand.

Parents often ask about homework. Sometimes I'll give them a bunch of stuff, and sometimes they get nothing. But I can tell if parents get concerned about the lack of homework. Also, I can tell if parents even help the kids with homework. A big sign is when every answer is completely wrong or the directions weren't followed.

Parents also sometimes ask to drop in and observe. I never object to that. It's good for parents to see what that average learning environment is for their child. Unfortunately, grown-ups in my room -- including the principal -- seem to cause my students to suffer an instant loss of common sense and courtesy.

Hypocrisy at Its Best

2006-04-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

It seems that everything I find myself telling my kids to do -- or not do -- is a complete 180-degree from what I did -- or did not do -- in school.

Talking while the teacher is talking
My students love to have the side conversation while I'm trying to show them something. And would love to know what 5- and 6-year olds have conversations about anyway. I have to put my finger on my mouth -- the universal sign for "shut the hell up." And I have told them that -- without the hell part. Its funny when they tell me that "shut up" is a bad word. I tell them they'll be legally allowed to say that after they graduate college.
Anyhow, I remember my days of getting in trouble for talking to my classmates. There was one particular time in high school when my friend was pretending his english book, which was about the size of one of those hotel Bibles, was a bird he was teaching to fly. I fell out laughing when he threw it in the air. My teacher made me stand in the corner.

No hitting classmates
This is rampant with my kids. Everytime someone cuts in line, he or she gets pushed or hit. Then he or she hits back. I tell them that if someone hits them, then tell me. That flies in the face of every command given by parents, including mine: If someone hits you, then hit them back. I always hit back. Now, I just remind my kids they better be careful who they bother because they don't know what the reaction will be.

Stay awake in class
I know my kids may have it rough. So, I don't really come down on them too hard. Besides, my sleeping in class days didn't begin until college.

Have fun with your teacher
They are already experts at this -- to a fault. I can't think of ever even thinking about being cool with my teachers. I respected them, but I never goofed off with them. The problem with my kids, I think, is that our relationship is too cool. I'll tell them to sit down and listen. They'll look at me like, "yeah right," and slowly they'll comply. Another teacher will come in, say the same thing, and you would've thought Denzel's cop character from "Training Day" just told them because they instantly do it.

"It Can't Be My Child..."

2006-03-28T21:07:00.000-05:00

One of the frustrations of teaching is dealing with people who don't take responsibility for themselves or, in many cases, their kids.

I don't know how the "not my child" mentality manifests itself. But it seems like its more of a wall of denial than actual support of a student. And it is used more as a response to a report of a child's bad behavior than to report of poor performance in class.

With all that being said, the parents I deal with are tremendous. I haven't been second-guessed -- yet -- about my observations of my students' behaviors and academic progress. And it helps that the students usually do own up to their actions especially since their lying capabilities are horrendous.

I can tell a parent that their child was put out for jumping on the tables or hitting classmates and their response is usually about how the student will be punished. Fortunately, it's not an empty threat most of the time, based on the report my students give me the next day. No TV that night, or no trip to their favorite destination on the weekend is often how they are punished.

I'm glad I haven't had to argue with a parent about their student's progress either. Most of them are progressing fine anyway. And the ones that are a little bit slower are that way when they do work for their parents as well.

So when I hear about negative confrontations between parents and teachers, I just consider myself blessed to have responsible parents of my students.

Boy, I Think They Like Me

2006-03-17T23:27:00.000-05:00

This week I got a very good vote of confidence from relatives of students.

On Tuesday, I was walking my rowdy class to lunch when I saw a couple of girls -- they were sisters -- outside of the office. They said hello as I went by. I came back to see how they were doing. One of the girls was in my 1st class at the beginning of this school year. There was a woman with them who turned out to be their mom. I introduced myself.

"I know who you are," she said. "You are a famous person in our house."

I didn't know what to say. She went on to say that her daughters mention me all the time, especially the youngest who was my former student.

The next day, a grandmother of one of my current students sat in my class. As usual, my kids acted worse when another adult was in the room. After about 15 minutes, the grandmother had to leave. But she said her daughter speaks highly of me. Again, I had no idea what to say.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall in the homes of my kids, just to hear what they say about their school day and their silly teacher. I guess I am rubbing off on them. One of my kids who rarely talks out loud kept repeating "well, well, well.." (which I always say when someone just got caught doing something wrong) and he was saying "here we go." Which, out of habit, I say right before I'm about to give instructions.

So far, I haven't heard any complaints from parents. I have been given the green light by some to yell at or even pluck their child. I guess I'm glad that I've even earned their trust to do all that. The parents are all very concerned about their children's education. Hopefully, they will continue to be happy with the person providing it.

Field Trip to the Circus

2006-03-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

We left school about 10 minutes before the show was to begin, and it took about 20 minutes to get to the arena. Once we got there, the bus driver gave me his cell phone number to call after the show because he said he wasn't parking by the arena -- which is a downtown arena as opposed to one in the middle of a wide open, 20,000-space parking lot. The driver let us out -- into traffic. Fortunately, a traffic cop was there to keep other vehicles from smashing the students.

Finally, after parading all the kids a block and a half, we get shuffled through the doors, up 2 ramps and into the arena. The show is in progress: A bunch of camels, a llama, some goats, a pig and other species are just doing goofy stuff. We find a section of seats in the dim lights and sit down. Not more than 25 seconds later, one of my kids asks if she can buy something. I have to explain to her that I just sat down, and I am not getting up until intermission, and that she can't go anywhere without me because I am not trying to get sued when she gets snatched. At least most of my kids brought their own lunch. Everyone else had to eat a school-supplied lunch which we broke out about 10 minutes after we got there.

Intermission came. So I asked a few of my kids if they had to use the bathroom. Only 4 wanted to go, so we went. I waited for them. Then it was my turn to make them wait as I tried to find a chicken fingers stand. It didn't take long. One of them accidently called me "daddy" and an employee laughed. We headed back to our seats. One command I think kids apparently don't understand is, "stay with me." Two of the knuckleheads turned into the wrong section entrance. I had to grab them by their collars.

We sat down and watched the rest of the show. When it was over, I had to gather my crew of 18. Some of them wanted to stop and buy something. Again, I had to tell them that nobody's buying anything. It was time to go. We had to meet up with the other classes that rode our bus. We made it outside, but the rest of our bus-mates were nowhere to be found. So we stood there. One of my students -- who I think is the most impatient human on the planet -- started whining about when we were leaving. I just told him there was some public transportation up the block. If he needed to, he could just get on it and meet us at the school.

The rest of the crew showed up, I called the bus driver -- who must have just been cruising the city streets -- and he picked us up. We made our way back to school. I had to give myself a big pat on the back. I didn't lose anyone in my 18-member posse. Lawsuit averted.

2006-03-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

Kids are curious about everything. There are some questions they ask, and my answers come flowing easily. But there are other topics I have found that sometimes have to be tip-toed around for whatever reason.

Death and destruction
It is a hard thing to talk about people dying. Not becuase it may bring sadness to the students, but because they don't understand the magnitude of someone's death. I know they have had relatives die. I have talked to my students about the deaths of Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, the 2 space shuttle accidents, the September 11 attacks and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It just seemed more to them like I was explaining how Dora the Explorer and Boots got to a magic castle. It didn't phase them at all. Which I think is good for now.

The truth about Santa Claus
An episode of the very funny "Everybody Hates Chris" announced -- apparently for the first time to some viewers -- that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. This led to complaints to UPN about how the show ruined kids' lives forever. When some of my students asked me about Santa and where he lived, I played along and showed them where the North Pole was and told how he'll bring them tons of toys. And there were some who already knew that actual living grown-ups are the ones supplying the holiday goodies. I would have loved to just set the record straight, but Christmastime is the best time when you are a kid. And they'll eventually learn the truth anyway -- probably by 2nd grade.

Being smart is actually a good thing
I never understood why people made fun of others for doing something right. There is one student whose reading abilities exceeds the rest of the class. She read a book to them and the other students looked at her like she was juggling a bowling ball, an axe, and a flaming tree trunk. And they started getting mad. I tell them they should practice reading and writing every day. And I tell them that anyone who thinks that doing well in school and getting smart are bad things is an idiot. And they should tell them that to their face.

Everybody doesn't have to be their friend
It makes me laugh when a student complains that "so-and-so doesn't want to be my friend." I just tell them "so what." Then I explain that they have other friends already and that by the time they get to be my age, they'll have a billion other friends. And then they ask me if I'm their friend. I simply -- jokingly -- explain that if I am, they need find better ones.

It's actually okay for boys to like girls
This is like walking into a landmine of controversy. My kids sort of understand that grown-up men and women can like each other. (I stress sort of.) But when I ask a boy to sit next to a girl, you would think I asked him to eat a dead bug. "Eeeewwwww. I don't wanna sit next to a girl," is usually the response I get. I just tell him to wait about 10 to 12 years and that whole idea is going to change. And they hate when I use the word kiss in teaching them letter sounds. I wonder what the reaction will be when they find out what "Brokeback Mountain" is all about. And, no, I'm not going to be the one to explain it.

There's No Day Like a Snow Day

2006-02-13T11:25:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, my favorite words to hear on WTOP radio during Washington-area winters were, "Prince George's County schools are closed." There was nothing like hearing that you got an extra day off from school. Who cares if we used up all the snow days and have to go to school through July?

Now, no matter what the source is, hearing that my district's school system is closing because of snow gives me the same happiness. It's not that I don't want to see the kids. It's more that I just want an extra off-day to do nothing -- except write blogs, apparently. Sure I could grade papers, or do more lesson plans. But I get a free pass to watch "The Price is Right," play music on my keyboard, or better yet, sleep.

I remember back in the day, hearing the weather reports the day before school: "We're expecting to get 6 to 10 inches of snow tonight," or "This is a big one, so make sure you have bread and milk and batteries." And then looking out my window the next morning wondering why the hell I'm seeing the grass in my yard and not the white stuff that's supposed to be covering it. And that would just ruin my day knowing that I'll have to walk to my bus stop instead of going back to sleep.

(So far, the forecasters have been on the money. Today's off-day was courtesy of a storm that hit on Saturday actually. Everything just froze up Sunday night.)

I just know today, I don't have to worry about someone hitting someone else. Or taking 26 little ones to the cafeteria for lunch. Or helping someone with the zipper on his/her oversized winter coat. Or worrying about someone needing to go to the bathroom -- except for me, of course.

Random Hugs

2006-02-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

It's really hard for me to remember what life was like when I was in elementary school, but there is one thing I know I remember: I never gave a hug to ANY of my teachers.

Now, on almost every school day, at least one student -- either mine or from another class -- walks up to me and gives me a random hug. I'm not a child psychologist, so I don't know if there is an underlying meaning of the random hugs. It does make me wonder what their life may be like outside of school. Maybe they get lots of hugs at home, and are just used to it. Or maybe nobody hugs them at home, and they want to be hugged. People always say that some kids don't get attention at home, and teachers are their best source for it. I just don't know. I just honor their request for a hug and move on.

And there are the students who have accidently called me "daddy," or even sometimes "mommy." I definitely don't know what causes that. Some have told me that they wish I was their dad, but I don't know if they're just goofin' off. I know some of the students don't have some sort of older male figure in their household, so maybe that's a void I'm filling for them. Or maybe, I just remind them of another male in their lives. When I worked at a summer camp 10 years ago, there was a kid who just latched on to me, and started referring to me as his brother. I have no idea where that came from. But I stayed in touch with him and his actual little brother.

I'm glad to try to fill whatever emotional hole my kids may have. When they ask for a hug, that just lets me know I must be doing something right.

Even Big People Can Look Up To You

2006-01-30T19:36:00.000-05:00

It's one thing when you make a conscious effort to teach, especially when its in your job description. But in many ways, you are always subliminally educating people whether the "student" is 5-years old or 65.

I'm not sure what my students have picked up from me in the 4-plus months I've known them outside of the school curriculum. I know they've taken up my favorite phrase, "you'll live." I say that to a student when they complain about the smallest cut in the history of science on their finger or arm, or complain when someone barely bops them in the head. But that is something I have explicitly done. I wonder what hidden "lessons" they have picked up from me and used in positive ways.

I was in journalism in my previous life. And after putting in 10 years with my previous employer, I switched careers. Upon my departure, I've had the obligatory "we'll miss you. blah blah blah." Most of which, I 'm sure, was sincere. There were some, though, who told me I was sort of a mentor to them. I don't really know how, and I didn't ask. I know I didn't make the effort to actually lead someone down my path. I did show how things worked and gave advice on how not to be stressed out by job-related situations. But, I just thought it was the courteous thing to do. I didn't see it as mentoring.

In the past year, I emailed a couple of guys who came to J-School after me. They are both doing very, very well in their careers at major newspapers. It had been a while between my email and when I had last talked to them, but both expressed the same sentiment. They said they definitely remembered me because they thought of me as a mentor. Mind you, I didn't spend as much time in their prescence as I did with my co-workers.

Fortunately, whatever it was they learned from me seemed to have a positive effect. I hope that whatever my kindergartners learn -- directly or indirectly -- will also have a positive effect. Maybe one day many years down the road, they'll remember me as a positive influence on them just like the bigger people I had met.

Using the Challenger Anniversary as a Lesson

2006-01-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Today is the 20th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger accident. Yesterday, I used the anniversary as a teaching tool. We've discussed the shuttles and other rockets before in the science unit on space. But I told my kids that they will probably be hearing a lot about the accident this weekend.

I wasn't sure how they would take hearing about how 7 astronauts died, but I figured being blunt was the best way. I showed them a poster of Challenger lifting off from another mission and told them that it was the one that blew up. They were interested in hearing how it happened and what happened to the astronauts. I showed them a clip of the accident. I told them that the mission was big news because one of the crewmembers was a teacher. And I told them despite the accident, if NASA picked me to be the next teacher to go up, I'd do it in a heart beat. I would give them a packet of work and be out the door.

There didn't seem to be any negative effects from the lesson. They have been very excited to watch other shuttle launches on my computer. And they were interested when I told them how I saw the shuttle Endeavour go up while I was near Disney World in 2000.

But I don't know how much my kids understand about death. They do know that it's a sad thing for people who know the dead person. I told a student I taught in 1st grade last year about the death of pro wrestler Eddie Guerrero and how the Monday night TV show was probably going to be a sad show. Sure enough, the next day, he told me he cried when he saw the other wrestlers crying during the tributes as he watched it with his dad.

I just don't think they know -- and I don't expect them to know -- the magnitude of death. I've talked to my students about weather disasters like Hurricane Katrina and tornadoes. I've talked about the terrorist attacks of 2001. There really is no delicate way to discuss huge tragedies. I just tell them that life still goes on and it shouldn't stop them from doing whatever they want to do.

You Gotta Be a Kid to Teach a Kid

2006-01-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

One thing I learned at journalism school is that when shooting interviews
with kids, you should bring the camera down to their level instead of
pointing the camera downward as if it was from a giant's point of view --
unless that is the intended effect, of course.

That same rule of thumb can apply very well to teaching. Kids seems to like
it when you bring your personality and even your whole body down to their
level. They seem perplexed when I can tell them the other characters from
"Dora the Explorer" or "The Proud Family." They like it when it seems like
you are being silly even though you are actually teaching them. There's
nothing wrong with doing the cabbage patch while singing the Bingo song.
Well, nothing except that the move went out of style several years before
the students were born.

The only caviat to that idea is that some kids may not respect your
authority. They might think you aren't serious when it comes to discipline.
So, sometimes you have to come across as a Dr. Hyde-Mr. Jeckell on them.
When they know there's a stern Darth Vader lurking behind a fun-loving Wakko
Warner attitude, they'll understand that there will be a time when they know
they have to still follow the rules.

The bottom line is, you have to be able to have fun and let loose when
you're teaching a bunch of knuckleheads. They know they're still learning
something and you know you're still teaching something.

Neighborhood Celebrity

2006-01-11T18:49:00.000-05:00

If there is one positive result of being a teacher, it's the feeling you get
when former students and students who aren't even in you class -- and you
don't know at all -- are always yelling your name when they see you.

Some of my old students get in trouble for saying hi to me because they're
not supposed to be talking in line. They're trying to shake my hand or jump
in my face with big cheeseball grins. I play like I'm ignoring them, but
they don't care. Sometimes when I walk past classrooms, I can hear students
talking about me like they just saw their favorite rapper walking by.

It's even cool walking through the neighborhood to catch the bus. I hear a
random voice yelling for me. I look to see who it is, and there's a student
waving and smiling. One student even got mad at me because she said I
didn't say hello to her when she called to me. I don't remember her
speaking, but I apologized anyway. Sometimes, parents make it a point to
say hello, which is always great.

My best moment was during a parade that was part of baseball league in the
school's neighborhood. I was walking with the team I was coaching. The
turnout was excellent. And as we passed all the people, there were random
kids screaming my name and waving at me. My players we like, "wow, you're
popular."

Kids Pay Attention Even When It Doesn't Seem Like It

2006-01-07T01:12:00.000-05:00

Have you ever tried to explain something to someone and it seems like they aren't listening? Imagine trying to explain something to 25 somone's who are only 5 or 6 years old.

I have been teaching them how to write, and now we are going over word sounds. Only some of the students seem to actually be getting it when I ask them questions. Those are the ones I can look at and tell they are listening. The ones who look at me like I have 4 heads when I ask them a question are the one's who looked like they weren't listening. But looks can be deceiving. Some of them work so hard to try to impress me -- even to the point where they'll get mad at me for trying to help them write or solve a math problem.

One of my kids was playing with the plug from an overhead projector. I told him it was dangerous. I turned that into a lesson on electricity, which turned into a lesson about lightning and lightning safety. I think only about 3 people were interested because they kept asking questions. But the next day, a parent of one of the other 22 kids who I thought wasn't listening asked me what was I saying to her child about talking on the phone during a storm. She told me that her son was so excited about what his teacher said about lightning.

When I hear my students say to someone, "I know that already 'cause my teacher told me," it makes me smile. It makes me smile more when it is a student that I didn't think I reached during a lesson.

I have a wealth of useless information of random stuff -- weather, science, history, you name it. Sometimes, I'll veer off the curriculum and introduce something totally new that I think is cool for them to learn. We're doing a reading unit on stories involving the wind.

How I Got Here -- Cliff's Notes Version.

2005-12-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

I'm one-third into my second year of teaching, but this is my first entry. I teach kindgergarten in a major eastern-U.S. city. It is so much fun. I didn't realize, however, that it seems that male teachers like myself are somewhat of a rare breed.

My first year was kinda whirl-wind, but it was great. I taught 4th grade at the beginning of the year. I think I got along with the kids. Some acted a little too grown at times, but I kept them in check. Besides, that's the beginning of the stage where they think they can take on authority figures -- and find out they thought wrong. Unfortunately for my class, I had to leave 2 months into the school year to go to another school in the city. None of them took the news well when I told them, which surprised and moved me at the same time. I never expected them to be so attached to me in a short period of time.

My new school was very nice. I was the new 1st grade teacher there. The kids seem to take to me pretty easily. (I still haven't figured out why I get along with kids so well.) The rest of the year went well. I had a couple of "bad" kids, but no major problems and the year went well.

This year I started teaching 2nd grade, but got moved to kindergarten -- fortunately still at the same school. My 2nd graders didn't even flinch when I had to leave them. Most of them I taught last year anyway. Kindergarten isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The kids are pretty independent for the most part. They seem like they know a lot of things -- exept, of course, reading, writing and arithmetic. But talking to them is fun. As with most kids, they think you know everything.

So far, the year is going along well.