Cleaning and couture

Ever wonder what teachers do when the kids all leave for the summer? This is the fifth in a series of posts (I don't know how many) about what teachers do during the summer. I started writing this on the first day of "summer" because SOME people (who are not teachers) think we party all summer. But now you will know the truth. 
After the hard work of book sorting, they begin the tedious work of cleaning out the clutter.  Meanwhile, teachers are reflecting about the year. They think about what went well and what did not go  Then,some days,  they head back to school to review curriculum maps based on new ideas and mandates such as the CCSS. They draft and revise Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions.  Thye talk about best practice and standards and how it can / might / should / will fit together with real teachers and real kids in real schools.  It's hard work and it makes your mind rather than your body tired.

Then, usually on a Saturday morning, teachers take a moment to look around their own homes and are amazed at the messes and cobwebs that have accumulated while they were busy teaching, cleaning classrooms and writing curriculum maps.  So then, teachers start cleaning closets and stairwells, preferrable while they are still in "working" high energy mode. 
Now in MY CASE, the real reason I got going on the cobwebs so fast was because I was planning some sewing - and that is MORE fun than cleaning - so I want to get to it sooner. In order to enter the world of high couture I need to find a clean space to work. 

This cleaning (and sewing for some of us) is hard work too, but the teachers who do they are grateful they are teachers and they reflect on their friends who chose corporate lives while they embark on these summer missions of cleanliness and couture :)  

You know that feeling: Happy, sad, & reflective rolled into one?

I suspect that IF you are 1) a teacher or have been 2) a student, THEN you know exactly the feeling I am about to try to describe. 

It's the last day of summer school (Summer I) for my graduate students.  Most of them have been working during the day and taking my class in Beginning Reading and Writing in the late afternoon / evening for the past 6 weeks.  It is an intense course during an equally intense time of the year when we are all trying to juggle readings, case studies, powerpoints, projects, report cards, end of the year school events, cleaning out classrooms, and packing up.  This class during this busy time of year is always a huge undertaking (which is probably why my husband has grilled so many dinners and made so many pots of tea lately)! 

In spite of the frenetic nature of this season of life, I must admit that I will really miss this class - a lot!  Things have not been perfect from my end (missing readings from Eres) and sometimes I have flown into class looking like a sweaty mess (I was packing up my room in 100* heat) but they consistently been smiling and ready to read, write, listen and talk about the power of literacy in our lives.  They have a lot to say becuase they found time to read, think outside of class times in their own busy lives. 

As I sat reflecting on their personal choice projects and on their case studies, I am sure that students in many classrooms for many years will be blessed by the teachers who have come into my lives during this busy but wonderful season.  It's like the last day of school - happy (sigh of relief) but sad at the same time (I really will miss them.)  As one of my 1st graders said last week, "I gonna miss 'dis reading club a lot of lots!"

The Future of Education is in good hands

I challenge my graduate students to share their writing with others because we ALL write to share our thoughts with others.  As I read this and other final reflections on the semester, I am confident the future of education is in good hands with teachers who are critical thinkers, active researchers, and reflective practioners. 

http://mssingletonliteracyblog.blogspot.com/#!/2012/06/curtain-call-semester-at-glance.html

My Grad Students ROCK and RAP and REFLECT TOO

I feel compelled to share another of my grad student's phenomenal reflections.  The future of literacy is definitely in good hands! Check this out!

http://mrsrowesbulletinboard.blogspot.com/2012/06/balanced-literacy-for-our-english.html

curriuclum reviewing, reflecting and revising

Ever wonder what teachers do when the kids all leave for the summer? This is the fourth in a series of posts (I don't know how many) about what teachers do during the summer.  I started writing this on the first day of summer because SOME people (who are not teachers) think we party all summer.  But now you will know the truth.

After the hard work of book sorting, they begin the tedious work of cleaning out the clutter. There is something very special that happens in a quiet and empty but usually hot and sticky classroom. Teachers are reflecting about the year. They think about what went well and what did not go quite so well. They think about the kids who grew exponentially and those that floundered at times.  Teachers think about read alouds and mentor texts and earmark ideas for the next year.

Some days when the sun peeks over the horizon, those same teachers head back to school to review curriculum maps based on new ideas and mandates such as the CCSS.  Like any learning, the CCSS make us reflect on our practice and question how we can do it better.  We draft and revise.  We think and plan and then we edit drafts.  Then we go back and do some more research to clarify points and revise and draft some more.  It's hard work, similar to the writing work our students do all year during our writing workshops.  It's the kind of working that makes your mind rather than your body tired. 

Yesterday, near the end of the day, when the neurons all over the room were firing fast and furiously, one of my colleagues thought she smelled something burning!  I suspect she did!  We were pretty hot at that point and there was an energy sizzling in every corner of that room!  At the end of the day, we were as tired as if we had worked all day cleaning our hot, sweaty classrooms.

Book Clubs: Verse

A Fabulous Idea

By: Jessica B.

There is this fabulous idea

You see

That motivates students to read, read, read

And become the learners they want to be. 

It gives students a chance to choose

From different genres and poetry too!

Mystery, adventure, horror, and humor

They even want to start sooner! 

The students meet once a week

To talk about the books they read.

Talking leads to lots of thoughts

And students leave with more than they brought.  

What is that? Standards you say?

They are included every day!

Reading, listening, thinking, and speaking

Growing and learning is what we’re seeking.  

Now what could this idea be?

It’s Book Clubs

You see

And all that they can be.

reflecting

Ever wonder what teachers do when the kids all leave for the summer? Now you will know. After the hard work of book sorting, they begin the tedious work of cleaning out the clutter. Amazingly, for effective teachers everywhere, there is something very special that happens while all the cleaning and sorting is taking place in a quiet and empty but usually hot and sticky classroom.  Teachers are reflecting about the year.  They think about what went well and what did not go quite so well.  They think about the kids who grew exponentially and those that floundered at times.  Teachers think about the lessons and units that excited them all and about the times where teaching and learning were less stimulating.  Teachers think about read alouds and mentor texts and earmark ideas for the next year.  In true confession, effective teachers do not stop reflecting when they get to the bottom of the piles of books and papers.  They continue to reflect as they attend workshops, read professional books, and even when they sit on the beach.  Teachers everywhere do this to prepare for the next school year because great endings make fantastic beginnings :)

clutter clearing

Ever wonder what teachers do when the kids all leave for the summer?  Now you will know. After the hard work of book sorting, they clean out the clutter. It too is hard work if you are the kind of teacher who focuses on conferencing with their readers and writers to the bitter end of the school year.  Sometimes there are very important papers than get put in piles and you have to go through all the piles to figure out what is important and what is not.  Sometimes, you have to take a few things home and get them sorted so that you can use them effectively in September!  Teachers everywhere do this to prepare for the next school year because great endings make fantastic beginnings :)

book sorting

Ever wonder what teachers do when the kids all leave for the summer?  Now you will know.  First, they sort the books like this.  It is hard work.  The books need to be matched to partners that are all over the room.  Teachers everywhere do this to prepare for the next school year because great endings make fantastic beginnings :)

Gifts for teachers?

 

I adore a pair of earrings that I got from a student the other day.  I recently pierced my ears, an act that went unnoticed by my husband but not the 7 year old girls in my reading club.  While I have given lots of teacher gifts myself (to my kids' teachers) the season of gifting spurred the bi-annual question I ponder when some kids come laden with gifts.  Should professional teachers, who are paid to do their jobs, be gifted by families appreciative for the service to their child?

Did you give your obstetrician a "mug" after the safe delivery of your child? 
Do you give your lawyer earrings after she settled your divorce?
Did you give your plumber who came out on a Saturday night a new carry bag after he unclogged your drain?

I question the "gifting teachers" tradition that lingers in in the 21st Century. (Admittedly, this is primarily and elementary school issue.) It appears that the gifting of teachers is an age old practice that goes back to the proverbial apple for the teacher in order to put her in a good mood for the day!  Food items were the most common gifts back in the ol' days when teachers made little money, lived in rented rooms in the homes of students, and were under the constant surveillance of local boards. Times have changed.  We are now professionals with advanced degrees who teach not just for a few years, until we find a husband, but men and women dedicated to careers providing students with the foundations they need to be lifelong learners.  We study the art as well as the science of teaching and know our content well.  We know child psychology and development as well as the periodic table (most elementary school teachers have not looked at this lately, but we still understand what it means.) 

Truth be told, some of my colleagues feel differently and are actually critical of families who they think should have gifted them. I disagree with those colleagues on this point. I think do what we do because we care about every child and because it is the right thing to do. We have worked hard to be considered professionals and thus we need to be treated as such.  A note of gratitude is a treasured thanks to me.  A couple of homemade (or store bought) cookies is pretty neat too!  Donating a book to the library or the classroom in thanksgiving for a great year would also be pretty special. 

PS Some of you reading this may totally disagree with my views on this (or any other) point.