"Dear Diary..."

are you smarter than a 5th grader?

if you've never seen the tv show, I would suggest that you watch it.

once.

that's enough.

enough to make me a bit crazy (with major disappointment thrown in) at the number of adults in this country - educated adults - who fail miserably in this game.

one of the advantages of subbing is being able to see all the "stuff" in a variety of teacher arsenals, and try things out.

in a recent two-day assignment with 7th graders, I opted to try something fun for the last 20 minutes of a Friday afternoon.

using Brainquest, grade 5, we played our own version of "are you smarter..." and it was a huge success.

I asked them all to stand, and then went around the room, asking the questions in order off the cards.

if they answered correctly, they got another question.

if they answered incorrectly, they had to sit down, and the question went to the next person.

the "record" for number of correct answers in a row was 6.

and although it was very frightening when I went through most of the class before someone could tell me in what year we celebrated our country's 200th birthday, the kids had a lot of fun, and I felt as though it was "educational" fun, as well.

are you smarter than a 5th grader?

later,

Mrs. O'R 

split shift

today I had a wonderful day in 5th grade, half the day in one classroom, and half in another.
the teachers are beginning a series of tests and assessments, and I've got quite a few days scheduled in the next couple of weeks.
today I worked as part of a team, and observed two different teaching styles.
not having taught elementary students much in my past life, I'm trying to decide what techniques to try of the ones that I have observed.
I appreciate the ability of the one teacher to remain calm, and maintain an almost hypnotic, steady tone in speaking with the class.
but that's not me.
I like to shake things up once in awhile, and I think that can be a good thing.
the other teacher is a bit more animated, and seems to relate to the kids in a different way, maybe because she's the mother of teenagers, been there, done that.
but there's still that nice, sing-song-y way of talking to the class that I don't get.
I'll find my own way, I'm sure.
I never was as comfortable with younger students.
hope I get called for middle school soon.
later,
Mrs. O'R

who are you?

and what have you done with those lovely children I worked with two weeks ago?
it's amazing, the transformation, as we count down the days left in this school year.
many of those sweet, quiet yet enthusiastic students I met a while ago have evolved, and no longer listen to instructions or care about consequences.
a certain amount of this I was prepared for.
but some of them were wild!
and, to my disappointment, I had to send one young man to the office.
I expected he would have a meeting with the principal, and be back in a little while, hat in hand.
but apparently his behavior has so deteriorated in the last week or so, that he spent the entire day in the office, contemplating his fate.
I felt horrible, but you really can't let one student disrupt a class like that, no one gets anything done.
I'm scheduled at the high school tomorrow, and I'm almost afraid what things will be like there...
later,
Mrs. O'R

bubbling

today's assignment was a 5th and 6th grade science and math room at the elementary school.
I was always quite good in math, but a lot of the terms have changed since I was this age, so I arrived very early, to go over the lessons, and make sure I could present them with some confidence.
I can think pretty fast on my feet, and I'm pretty good at faking, when I need to.
but I'd rather understand what's going on, and sound like a "real" teacher.
science, on the other hand - never liked it, never did well, was glad to never have to take it again after that awful conservation class I had in college - I'll tell you about that some other time.
and this was a science room - like the kind we never saw until high school.
lab tables, counters covered with various experiments-in-progress, and several big tanks and aquariums with fish and other creatures.
lots of bubbling sounds all day long, making me a bit uncomfortable (ok, it made me want to pee!).
and lots of bubbling children.
I found myself immediately drawn to the sixth graders - these were children much closer to the age of the students I'd taught for years in junior high, so I felt a bit more at ease, I think.
and with the exception of one young man, who was straightened out by the other 6th grade teacher early in the day, they all seemed quite eager to listen to the new strange sub, and show her what they knew.
a quick homeroom session (they are, like the little ones, on automatic pilot, each knowing what tasks they are to perform), was followed by the first of two math classes.
their lesson was a review, so I confided to them that I had never taught math in my entire life (there was an audible gasp), and asked them to teach me.
they gladly obliged, making sure I knew every term and exception to the rules, with regard to mean, median, mode, and outlier.
these kids left, followed by the other 6th grade class, and we did it all over again.
the first group returned, after going to gym or music or art or something, and it was science.
luckily, it was a test, and they were to read quietly when they were finished with it.
unfortunately, there seemed to be major confusion about question #25, a comparison of two terms, so I quickly peeked at the answer in the teacher manual, looked up the definitions in their text, and assured them that this had, in fact, been covered in their reading.
but none of them seemed quite sure it had ever been discussed in class.
so I told them to do their best, write down what they did know about either or both terms, and not leave it blank.
I also assured them that I would leave Ms. Regularteacher a note about this, so that she would be aware of their confusion.
panic averted.
when the second class came back, I was prepared for the uproar over #25.
again, panic averted.
lunch was pleasant, several teachers now recognize me, and we chat about this and that.
after lunch, it was a science class of 5th graders.
a big class, and surprisingly much noisier and harder to contain than the older ones.
they change so much in that one year.
the teacher had left us a comic book about water pollution and conservation, and they were to read it in class.
rather than leave them to their own devices, and probably struggle to keep them on task, I decided it would be more fun to read it aloud, and we spent the class taking turns page by page, and reading it "like a play."
funny, just making it a bit more special that way, they seemed to take more interest in "their lines," and we had a nice discussion about the things they can do to save water.
after going to gym or music or or art or something, my 6th graders returned to work on their "math facts."
sounded like flashcards, to me.
but there was a glitch - they had just had a test, turned in their sheets, and didn't have new ones to work on, whatever that all meant.
I searched quickly, but couldn't find anything on the desk to confirm or deny, so I made the executive decision to go right to study hall/silent sustained reading/find something to do quietly for the last half hour of the day.
unfortunately, the end of the day is not when they want to be quiet and calm.
and I was ready for a long nap.
but we made it through, many were disappointed that I would not be returning tomorrow, and I felt as though I had really earned that jar of dafodils Ms. Regularteacher had left on the desk for me.
that, and the glass of wine that was waiting for me at home.
later,
Mrs. O'R