Wolfpack

In Education, things are constantly changing; new research for best practice, curriculum, standards, schedules, laws, funds (or lack there of), programs, etc. Most educators know this before they begin their career. 

While I was in college, Professor Lisa Baylor, who taught one of my Intervention Specialist classes, constantly reminded us that, "Schedules change and that's okay". It was a phrase she had used in her classrooms and it really stuck with me, because I've never really been fantastic at change. Routines keep me sane. The familiarity and repetition can be very soothing so when things change, I really try  to handle it as best I can and I often refer back to that phrase.

In fact, when I first began my career at GESD, in an induction group we were asked to come up with a mantra or message for the year to share with everyone, and I used that phrase. Sure enough, my schedule constantly changed my first year. With the help of amazing colleagues, leadership, and administration I coped pretty well. Now, changes in my schedule don't affect me.. as much. ;) 

This year, I'm really struggling with changes because of how it is affecting me students. For example, a few weeks into the school year, we lost a position and had to change the entire middle school schedule. I was really mostly okay with the schedule change for myself, but I was very nervous for some of the students. Since the schedule change, things have definitely felt overwhelming. The students are somewhat adjusting to their new teachers, but instructionally we've had to start from the beginning to build up procedures and protocols as some teachers have new students or have lost students or have even changed content. This has been extremely difficult. The cool thing, is that the school I work has built up and continuously fosters a positive, we-can-and-we-will-together attitude. Amidst the changes, we have been able to rise and carry on. 

The collaboration and spirit among the staff is inspiring. It's cool working at a place that genuinely supports each other and works together on a daily basis in order to improve student and staff growth. We care about each other in a genuine manner, not in the 'oh, we're work friends' kind of way. It really does make a difference on those real rough days, to know that you are have an entire wolf pack behind you getting their hands dirty for the betterment of our entire school community.

This weekend, yet another big change. Due to architectural issues, our buildings are not deemed safe until some construction is done. That being said, these changes are not new, but there has been a lack of educational funding to fix things before they reached this point. Reality is this is where we are at, so what are we going to do,

There is a plan in place that seems reasonable and as good case scenario as this situation could be. I'm nervous about how it will affect our kiddos and I have tons of questions. Will all my students be able to make it? Will they be able to bus all students to the new location? What all will I need to bring to put in the shared classroom? How much instructional time will we lose? Will my students that struggle with routines be okay? Will I still be able to hit all of my service minutes? Questions flooding in the whole meeting.

Though it is scary, I do firmly have faith that things will work out. We will get through this. There is always something, but as a staff/team/wolfpack, we've become pretty great at fulfilling our school pledge as 'problem solvers and lifelong learners'.  We will rise from this, together. It is a change and it will affect things for a little while, but we'll pull through because we always do.

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Look at the FACTS!

Data Data Data!

It really is so incredibly important to constantly be looking at the data. Personally, I think one of the worst mistakes that are made by teachers is when we look at a child and bring preconceived notions to the table. Collecting data provides facts about the students and allows us to look at what we know; not what we think about the student. I have multiple different trackers that I use for different types of data… behavior trackers/small group trackers/specific skill trackers/overall progress trackers… etc. Here are a couple of pictures of my different forms of trackers I use for data collection. I also have provided links to blank versions of these resources.

I use different trackers for small group instruction in various areas. I have a math intervention group that I see 3 days a week. I track all of that data filling out these forms I’ve created. They are easy to use/read and allow me to have evidence and notes to share with my colleagues to keep everyone on the same page about the progress of this group.


This next one I use in a class that I co-teach in using small group instruction two days a week. I have one sheet for each group. Each filled out sheet goes into a binder with student samples directly behind it. This allows my colleague and I to review student work and plan for future groups. All of this data helps us learn how we can improve and to praise our students when they have made progress. :)This is a version of blank trackers that you could manipulate to collect data of any small group.



I also work with many different students on behavior trackers. The picture below shows how I track all of that data throughout the weeks. I have each daily tracker filed behind this sheet in a binder, in order, with parent signatures. This allows me to have easy access to the information when it comes to parent and/or team meetings about this individual.



What types of data collection trackers do you use?

-C

What I've Learned from my Students

Here we are, a week after the second quarter has finished of my first year of teaching. I can not believe what my students have taught me already. They continue to amaze me each and every day.

1. Respect is EVERYTHING.

For the majority of the students at my school, respect is literally all they have. All they have to offer; to take away; to lose; to earn. Respect drives every interaction. If you have their respect, that means they feel that you respect them. Respect is such a big deal because of their home lives. All they know is who has been there and who hasn’t. Once you lose that respect, it will take a very, very long time for you to earn it back; if ever.

2. They are way older than junior high.

My students have seen so much more life than most of us did when we were their age. They know (and care) more about surviving on the streets than about annotating and paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence. They can’t see past tomorrow. They’ve grown up way too fast without learning how to think about their future. One sad reality for me was when we asked one seventh grade class what one of their life long goals were.. and the majority of them said they wanted to make it to high school.

3. I have a bigger impact than I thought.

One of the eighth grade teachers has her students write appreciation letters to different people at the school. Last week I received eight letters from eight different students. Two of the students have actually never experienced me in the classroom. It’s really cool watching students open up and begin trusting in you; they gain confidence and begin trusting in themselves. I try to instill in each one of my students that they matter; through my actions and words.

4. I care about them way more than I thought I could.

My students are the reason I teach. They really do listen to what I have to say and they work their butts off… even when they don’t want to. They brighten my darkest days. My favorite part of my warning is when two sisters come in through the gate beaming and running down to hug me. They are both much younger than the students that I work with… but every morning they hug me and tell me good morning. Over long weekends, I worry about my students. I genuinely care about them and want them to be successful in all areas of their life.

5. I really can do this.

Whenever I am doubting myself; my students and their hard work and progress remind me that I can. They remind me that I’ve worked hard for where I’m at; that we have worked hard together this year… pushing ourselves and each other.

My students really are amazing. I am so proud of them and everything that they have been doing and working for.

-Giddy First Year Teacher Moment-

I'm Only Human

So I have this warped concept in my head that goes something like this...

Caroline. You are now an adult. You have a career. You're a big girl. Get your stuff together. No excuses. No exceptions.
And then... I remind myself that I really am only human. Nobody is expecting me to be perfect.

This really reminds me of Christina Perri's song: I'm Only Human.

     **Please let me preface this section with the understanding that I am completely aware that this song was not written to be viewed/compared with any type of job/career... but bear with me.



I can hold my breath. I can bite my tongue. I can stay awake for days if that's what you want. Be your number one.

I can hold my breath and I can bite my tongue. There are many times throughout my week that I am reminding myself to breathe and bite my tongue.. and that is typically because I might be too tired to process through rational thinking for that given situation in that moment. It seems that I often wake up exhausted no matter how early I get to bed the night before. I argue that the 'you' (at least in my situation) is actually representing myself. I am asking myself to do too much. I'm expecting myself to do everything.

I can fake a smile. I can force a laugh. I can dance and play the part if that's what you ask; give you all I am.

I can fake a smile and force a laugh. I can play 'teacher' and ditch my personal life at home. Sometimes that's a good thing.. sometimes I avoid too much and put my personal life too much on the back burner until I am forced to deal with it.

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it

Hey Thomas the Train.. 'I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.' This reminds me of the Mondays.. like when I get to work and my mindset is it's only Monday... I think I can make it through today.. and tomorrow.. and all the way to Friday.. I think I can do this. I'm working on changing that mindset to.. I know I can do this. I will be successful; no actually, I am successful. (still learning.. but seeing successes none the less).

But I'm only human; I bleed when I fall down. I'm only human; I crash and I break down. Your words in my head, knives in my heart; you build me up and then I fall apart cause I'm only human.

I am human. I hurt when I fall. When life happens both professionally and personally and both positive and negative... I'm allowed to have emotions; in fact, I am human and I should have emotions. I will break down. I am the one putting 'words in my head' and 'knives in my heart' because I am expecting myself to be this supernatural goddess with no boundaries/limits. It is imperative that I remind myself that I am going to mess up and that I am going to have those days that are just meh or blah. Even if my students, myself, or my colleagues/friends build me back up... it is inevitable that I will slip and fall again. And most importantly.. I must recognize that all of that is perfectly acceptable.

I can turn it on; be a good machine. I can hold the weight of worlds if that's what you need; be your everything.

I can totally go through the motions. I can put so much on my shoulders and deal with so much because I put all of those weights on my own shoulders. There are times that I wear way too many more hats than I have heads because I think that that is what is expected of me. I can flip that smile on and push through and get what needs to be done regardless of what's happening at home. Once again.. this can be good thing.. but it is important to allow myself to be human.



The rest of the lyrics are pretty repetetive.. however, it all goes back to I am only human; and I need to allow myself to make mistakes; to feel something (both good and bad); and to pull myself together and recognize that it's okay that I don't have it all together; that nobody expects me to be perfect; and that I must seize every opportunity to grow and to learn and continue moving forwarding.



-Happy thoughts of a first year teacher mooching off the internet at Starbucks on a Tuesday night.

A Little Self Reflection

This is more of a personal update from the perspective of a first year teacher that made it to her first long break.

Fall Break 2014
The first two months of school have flown by... I just keep thinking to myself:

I can't believe that I have a career... and that I have all of these responsibilities... and that so far, I actually think I'm doing pretty okay.
I've already grown and learned a lot these first 2 months of teaching. I think it is important to take time to reflect upon your progress/shortcomings. In order to be the best teacher I possibly can be, I must reflect upon the first 2 months of school.

What I wish I knew two months ago...
but am lucky to have figured out now.
1. It's okay to ask for help.
I have an amazing team of colleagues and admin that really are there to answer questions and to support me. I've learned quickly that it is okay to ask for help.. in fact, it's a MUST. It's my FIRST year, nobody expects me to have it all figured out yet. As much as I struggle admitting when I am wrong, when I need extra guidance, I have been showered with support and affirmations from my colleagues. At first... it was scary, really scary; like, first day of high school scary. Now, if you walk into a professional development workshop that I am in... I am constantly writing down questions on post-it notes and raising my hand. I am so grateful to my PD instructor for always stopping to answer my questions. :) She's pretty amazing.

2. There will ALWAYS be more work.
For the first couple of weeks, I was sinking in work; mainly paperwork, developing assessments, trying to stay organized. I would leave work to go home/Starbucks.. to do more work. Even if I relaxed right after work... I often felt like I wasn't prepared the following day and struggled with leaving work at work. Thus far, I have learned that there will ALWAYS be more to do tomorrow. No matter how long I work today... I won't be finished... and that is okay. I'm not superwoman; as long as I work my butt off and get what absolutely needs to be done... it's going to be okay.

3. Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.
Things aren't going to go as planned. Some days some absolutely amazing things happen. Your students might finally understand something; they might just make you smile; or whatever it is... it may just be the best day yet. Maybe your plans went swimmingly or you got a great eval from your observation. However, be prepared that there are days that don't exactly work out. When this happens... take a deep breath. even cry a little if you need to. But put your head back up and try again. Remember why you started teaching in the first place.

4. Always remember that you are still learning.
Sometimes.. we screw up. We don't quite hit the mark; we fail. I can ALWAYS improve. No matter what... I can always learn from other people/situations if I let myself.



Keep setting goals and working hard. You totally got this ;)

The Importance of Goal Setting

This past week, I learned SO much! I held my first IEP meeting on Tuesday, had a full day of professional development on Wednesday, and had four crucial meetings with my colleagues between Thursday and Friday. Holy Cow!

I'm going to mainly focus on the successes of those four crucial meetings with my colleagues for this post. I met with four of my general education co-teachers to strategize and set solid goals with deadlines. These were extremely beneficial and rewarding. I am already starting to feel greater successes within those classrooms.

Something about sitting down with a team member and laying everything out is extremely satisfying. It was so great having the opportunity to work on developing our dream environment to implement inclusion in. Each individual meeting had different things on the agenda.. however, the main focuses revolved around what we wanted to implement in that specific classroom, and what it would look like to implement said things. We also developed specific goals and deadlines in order to keep each other accountable and to push ourselves to move forward to create the best learning environment possible.

It was so exciting to end the week having a sound plan of implementation in 4 of my 7 inclusion-model classrooms. The plan is to tackle the other 3 classrooms this next week prior to leaving for fall break.

I feel like each of those meetings were crucial for the development of each professional relationship. Coming in with a game plan allowed for us to discuss some concerns that we had and almost forced us to problem solve and work through those concerns to develop clear and measurable goals.

I definitely feel that those were positive discussions and experiences and I encourage all of you to take the time to map out clear and measurable goals. Each meeting ended with us agreeing on one success we wanted for this upcoming week and how we were planning on achieving that success.

Do you have any ways that you work on goal setting with your team members or within your own classroom?

Math Groups

Inclusion.... it really CAN work stupendously. I want to 'brag' about a team member of mine that has been overwhelmingly welcoming to me and who has really been a peach to work with so far. I am learning so much from her and I am loving OUR successes this year. I firmly believe that we have had the successes because we have a clear goal and vision that drives every decision we make and every conversation we have:
we want all kids to grow and to feel success.
I love working with her and OUR kiddos are doing awesome.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, I am in her class with her for the entire 80 minute block with 7th grade. I have five students on IEPs in the class and there are roughly 30 kids in the class. On Tuesdays and Fridays, my Educational Assistant is also in there with us. We devote the majority of those blocks for small group centers/stations to help provide supports for all of the students. We typically have 4 groups and 4 tasks;
general education teacher group: guided practice or mini-lesson on current concept.
educational assistant group: math fluency.
my group: re-teach or extension depending on the specific groups needs.
Independent practice activity: typically an informal assessment so that we can collect data to see what they can do independently.

Things are going swimmingly and we are seeing an improvement with our kiddos engagement and enthusiasm for math class!