This week marks the end of the first semester of my first year as a public school teacher. Wow! It has been a wild ride. It is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I was happy to find that our topics this week are differentiation and curriculum mapping. Lesson planning and execution are two very important parts of teaching. With all the demands on me so far this this year, I have not been able to spend enough time on this important task. I have not done a lot of differentiation. What I have done is work with small groups and give individual attention to the students in need of intervention. For the few gifted students, I have challenged them by asking them to be peer tutors and by giving them enrichment work. Within my regular lessons, I have not offered differentiated tracks. Now that I have more time on my hands, I plan to put a lot of time into lesson planning and look for ways to differentiate instruction. Curriculum mapping is something I have not done. In a lot of ways, it has already been done for me. First there are the Common Core standards, the big outline. Then, we have a district calendar. It is not quite the same, though. I know what I need to teach and when, but there is more to it than this. I love connecting everything together across subjects. This will be a fun project. I look forward to starting next semester strong with these two important tools in place.

Our school levels classrooms by reading scores. The highest functioning kids are in what is called the AP class. Each grade level also has an ELL class and an ESS class. My class contains the ESS students in our grade level. I have two students with IEPs. I have a lot of support from our ESS "push in" teacher (we also have a special ed teacher who works with students who are not mainstreamed. Instead of pulling students out, we push extra help into the classroom. She is in my room about 2 to 5 hours a week. When she is unavailable, we have a TA who comes in to assist. It has been wonderful to work with our ESS teacher. She has served as a mentor to me. We plan together weekly and use a team teaching approach when she is in the classroom. I asked her to teach a lesson this semester, which took a couple of days to present. We plan to have her do more teaching in the classroom next semester. It has been a very positive experience. The only challenge I had was early in the year when I was working on getting the classroom management under control. She was nothing but encouraging and only stepped in when I asked or with my permission. The TA, on the other hand, took the liberty of telling me that my class is pretty noisy, and have I considered using Dojo? I really didn't appreciate that because I was already using it and felt a little judged. It didn't get our relationship off on a great note, but we have worked through it. He is always willing to help with a small group if I ask or jump in to assist when the students are doing independent work. He does a good job with the kids. It kind of reminded me of all that unasked for advice I got at grocery stores when my kids were younger. He was probably out of line, but again I need to keep my pride in check. I know all too well what it is like to be a TA when you don't really like the way the teacher is doing things. Been there, done that. Glad to be where I am now.

Before I get into this week's topic, I have a very important newsflash. I TOOK MY FINALS TODAY!! I'm just a little excited about that. Now, on to the topic at hand: technology. This is an exciting topic too. In June, I was handed a Macbook Air and an iPad Mini. In July, I received several hours of training on those devices from Apple. My school has an Apple grant. I knew nothing going in, so it was very overwhelming at first, but I love it now. I still have a lot to learn. So far, my students mostly use their iPads for enrichment Apps. We did start an online journal this week. I am very interested in getting into a program called eBackpack so assignments can go virtual. I had two fifth graders help me set it up, but unfortunately their knowledge did not extend to the teacher settings and our school tech specialist is not familiar with the program. I just need to pull aside one of the teachers who are using it to get those questions answered. I see a lot of benefits in going digital. I have some disorganized kids. Their folders are falling apart, and our school does not have new ones to provide. I know this will help organize their learning as well as help the environment and prepare them for our technological society. I look forward to learning and growing more with this amazing tool at my fingertips. The kids love it. I have also found that when they are on their iPads, they are quiet, and the atmosphere is more conducive for small group and individual assessment times. I use the Apple projector all day long. I use a virtual behavior chart with Dojo and project it onto the screen. I can project everything up from my iPad very easily such as video clips or documents via Hover Cam. Whenever I need help, the kids have my back. It is an exciting time in education.

Let's talk about reading! This is the most important part of my job. Sadly, I did not begin the year feeling prepared for this task. My Phonics class has been very helpful. The coolest part of this journey by far has been my phonics project. My job was to take on a student for independent tutoring. It just so happens that I have a six year old son. This has been a wonderful thing for my training but more importantly for his reading development. We have probably logged over 10 hours this semester doing the Action Reading program together. The result is that his reading skills have exploded. His teacher has noticed. He was behind at the beginning of the year, and now he is leading his class. Now I know what works. The tricky thing is that my school asks me to use a different curriculum. I do not think the program at my school is as effective, so I am trying to bring in the other program as well and hoping I don't get in trouble!

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-na-teacher-discipline-20151029-story.html Upon looking for classroom management articles for this week's blog prompt, only the biggest current headline in classroom management gone wrong popped up. First of all, it makes me thankful I do not teach high school. That said, kids are kids. I have teenagers at home. The issues get bigger, but they are still the same issues. Teenagers still need boundaries and love and guidance. I can apply this situation to my first grade classroom. As the article indicates, a student violated the clearly stated cell phone policy. After refusing to hand over the phone, security was called. The problem came when the security officer used excessive force to gain compliance. From what I can tell, I do not think the teacher was in the wrong. But other teachers have weighed in that the teacher may have been too quick to call security. Perhaps she should have had a backup plan. Maybe asking a responsible student to walk the child to the office would have set a better tone than bringing in security. If there is one thing that gets my blood boiling, it is disrespect. That is a hard pill to swallow. As a teacher, I must be ready to face it calmly, however. It happens. I have seen it in my class. My response wasn't the best. A child was refusing to put some pencils away and showing disrespect, so I took them out of her hand and put them in the community bucket. After she had her recess time out, I talked to her about the incident. She told me her mom had bought the pencils for her and that they were special. I told her she could have them back as long as she doesn't play with them when she is supposed to be listening. I apologized to her for losing my cool. I have apologized to my class a few times for getting into reactive mode and taking things personally. I shouldn't let their behavior get under my skin. I also think it is important to model how to admit when you've blown it and move on. I want them to feel safe and loved at school. I can't be perfect all the time, and they can't either. The important thing is to be consistent with the rules and own up when we have blown it. Every day is a new day!

This week we are talking about assessment. I was thinking an assessment was a formal test, so I am happy to find out it does not have to be. I do informal assessments frequently in the classroom. That said, I do not do them enough. I would rate myself around a 5 on this. I'm a very intuitive person. I tend to figure people out fast. My perception of a situation is usually very accurate. So I was relying a lot on this natural ability and my detailed gradebook to keep track of my students. I know which ones are struggling. I have them sitting next to stronger kids for help and always pull them aside first during small group time. But I know I need more formal records and actions. This week I started a log to monitor each student as they work through our decodable books. I am pulling them aside one by one and having them read the books to me. When they finish each one independently, I will check it off and start them on the next one when it is their turn again. My students are funny. They sometimes act like they know more than they do. This decodable assessment actually indicated that their skills are not as far along as I thought they were. Now I see why this is a step I should never leave out. During our lesson times, I will often have the students come up with answers by tables and help each other. I plan to do more individual answer time so I can see how many kids really know the answer. If it is just one at each table, the rest still have a lot to learn!

Second quarter, here I come! I finished the first quarter strong, but there were certainly a wide range of emotions up to that point. Physically, I took two sick days- one for an upset stomach and one for laryngitis. After watching most of my kids go down with something or other, two sick days wasn't so bad. Emotionally, I started the year feeling excited but also behind and overwhelmed. I was learning technology at the same time I was getting my classroom and lesson plans together. Adding the college classes really put me over the edge for a couple of weeks. The classes were fine, but I was tired. I didn't know how many hours I would need to put into my job. I was frustrated at the number of wasted hours I spend learning technology as well. But now I am really thankful for all the new skills I have learned. I love what I am able to do with computers in the classroom. We have an Apple grant, so the kids each have an iPod, and I teach with a Macbook and iPod. The hardest thing so far has been classroom management. I tried to do things exactly like another teacher, but that didn't work for me. Everyone was getting in trouble, and I wasn't happy. I got some other ideas from a couple of mentor teachers which worked much better. First I needed to get my procedures under control. Then I needed to find a way to make them want to follow the rules. My favorite classroom management strategy was to introduce table competitions. Every time I give the students directions, the first table on task gets a point. At the end of the week, everyone at the winning table gets a small prize. My hardest students have their good days and bad days. We have a lot more good days now, though. We use Dojo for individual behavior, so the parent notifications help. I also remind the students that every day is a new day. The student with the most Dojo points at the end of the day gets a small prize. It makes me so happy when a student who has never gotten it before wins the prize.

I made it to Fall Break! What a whirlwind this has been. My job has been a lot more intense than I expected it to be. Adding classes and family obligations on top of that has left me feeling overwhelmed. The thing that really put me over the edge was having to ask for extensions on my midterms. I felt like I was failing at life. But then I talked myself down from the edge. What was the worst thing that could happen? I know things are going well at work. They want and need me. I feel supported (even if I am pretty much expected to train myself). I know there is a teacher shortage in Arizona. Again, I am wanted and needed. I know I am not at risk of being fired from my job. So the worst thing that could happen is failing a class and having to repeat it. Again, this would not be the end of the world. It is just something I have never experienced before. I don't like that scenario at all. As it turned out, my teachers were happy to give me an extension. The first midterm has been graded, and I got an A. I don't think I am going to fail. On the job front, I just finished parent conferences. I went five days in a row with the class under control. I definitely ended the quarter on a high note. I had a 100% turnout from the parents. Even more exciting is that it was all positive. I got some really nice feedback from the parents. One said how much her daughter loves me. Another said they like the way I communicate. I did have to have a hard conversation with a couple of parents whose kids are pretty far behind academically. Nobody wants to hear that, but they needed to know. I talked about how we were trying to help at school and begged them to work with their kids at home with materials I send home weekly. The only negative feedback was from a mom who hasn't made any effort to contact me. She doesn't empty the weekly folder and read the notes. She hasn't signed up for Class Dojo, where I send positive messages and pictures on a regular basis. Her daughter is a behavior problem. I had to send an email one day because she poked another kid with a pencil and showed a disrespectful attitude toward me. Instead of responding to the email, she returned a school wide survey saying the teacher doesn't send home positive communication. (She didn't come to the conference either, Dad came.) That rattled me a little. It is difficult to get on the phone and check in with parents with positive feedback on top of everything else I'm doing, but I know some parents will get really offended if all they hear is negative. That was the one setback after a very good week. I am not going to lose sleep over it.

Let's talk about what has worked and what hasn't. The beginning of the year was all about getting organized. Not being organized doesn't work. I had a lot of organizational ideas, but they required going and buying things. Thankfully, a couple of my colleagues saved the day by giving me some all important supplies like baskets. Transitions were a real problem as we began to chaotically pass things out. Now I have a basket ready for each table, and transitions are going much more smoothly. Another thing I quickly discovered was that students like to find excuses to stall and avoid work, even if it means breaking their pencils in half. I found that supplies are best pooled in a central location for each table. Nobody can make the excuse that they don't have what they need, and nobody can get out of work by spending lots of time at the pencil sharpener. I still have trouble keeping up with the pencil needs. Sometimes I sharpen pencils after school, so we have a ready supply for the next day. Whenever I can, I will assign a quick working student to the task once a day. One thing that has worked well is ClassDojo for behavior and communication with parents. I have over half of the parents connected. I'm hoping to get many more this week when I have conferences. It is a virtual behavior chart. The parents see everything going on, both good and bad. I can also share pictures and reminders with the parents through the website. It is a great tool. My principal encourages all the teachers to use it. Focusing on the positive and making things fun works. I started out getting frustrated because they were too loud and slow at following directions. Now we make it fun by having table competitions and singing a line up song. They are on task, and everyone is happy.

Here we go! Observations and midterms and conferences, oh my! What was I thinking? Of course, a week ago I was riding high after representing my school with a small task force to the EDISA convention in Phoenix. Last week I had three really good days, one really bad one, and one so-so day. It turns out I'm a perfectionist. I want good days all the time. I know this is not a realistic goal, however. Today, for my first blog entry, I will share two things I'm proud of and two things to improve. I'm proud of this- my classroom. I'm not a decorator. At all. My writing isn't (usually) very neat. Yet, somehow I pulled this together. I'm also proud of the fact that I have developed a strong, positive relationship with my students. I love them all, and they love me. We have fun together. One thing I would like to improve is my knowledge of the curriculum and implementation of it. There are so many details on my plate, but I know this needs to be a very high priority. I have made great strides in classroom management, but there is certainly room for improvement there as well. I need to find the right balance between keeping it positive while holding kids responsible for rule breaking.