I do not like mClass math, I do not like it, Sam I am……

mClass math is “supposed” to be a math version of Dibels and we do the assessments on the same Palm and upload the data.  Unfortunately it is NOT anything LIKE Dibels and for Kindergarten at least, I think it’s stupid.  At the BEGINNING of the year for example, to be benchmarked in counting, they have to count to some ridiculous number like 80(Steven could count to 2..), never mind the report card only goes up to 20(for the whole year)……  The rest of it is like that as well. I don’t find any useful information, but it is a colossal waste of time.   Hummm, how do I REALLY feel about it……..

Anyway, the 6 or so lowest kids are supposed to be progress monitored every month.  The test we are to use for the monitoring is ADDITION.   We haven’t actually TAUGHT addition yet, nor will we until almost the end of the year.  Lowest kids, concept not yet taught, THAT makes sense.

The math specialist doesn’t really help, she just fires off emails that are all labelled URGENT.  Out of 27 emails, 20 of them were “urgent”.  I put a copy of the book about the little boy who cried wolf too many times in her mail box…..   You can’t talk to her about anything that is bothering you, she takes it all personal and gets defensive.   The new math program is less than stellar(hint: it will be one of my linked categories at the bottom of this post).  Her main answer is to just DO it and stop complaining.   THAT’S helpful.

Someone (probably her) decided that our aides couldn’t do the diagnostic interviews (progress  monitoring) but the classroom teacher has to do it(that way we will understand where the kids are better or something like that, so apparently the score they get doesn’t actually DO that….).   She’s been getting on our cases because we haven’t really done them.  Yesterday she walked through the lounge while the kindergarten teachers were eating, and stopped by one teacher and LOUDLY told her what a good  job she was doing getting it done(funny thing, the aide that did her’s for her later did mine too), while pointedly ignoring the rest of us.  Reminded me of myself a few minutes earlier on the way to the lunchroom with the kids, “I like how Nancy is walking in line…..”

I about gagged.

Out of ALL the cuts they are making next year, apparently she isn’t one of them.  Worst luck……..

What is it about Kindergarten kids……….????

 AT LEAST ONCE every year.    

You might not know it from some of the things i say, but I do love my kids……….

And this one?  Normally can’t keep her shoes tied to save her life.

Trophies Reading, one of our stories, “Elmer”

In our Reading Program we have this book and the kids really liked it.  And most books we read several times, so the second time, as we looked at the story, I had the kids draw the elephants from the story, or one that could be in the story.

Since we are an indoor school, I created a “bulletin board” out in the hall outside our room using some of the pictures that they made.  I think they did a really great job on their pictures.

Today we had perfect attendance… well almost

The first time since early January I think, but alas, it was not to be.  One of my kids got sick after lunch and threw up in the middle of our math lesson.  Fortunately, it wasn’t much volume wise, and he didn’t get any of it on the manipulatives, just mostly on himself and the floor (and as luck would have it, he happened to be on the tile….YES!!!).  So after I had him sent off to the health office, and the floor cleaned up and disinfected (I keep Clorox Wipes around for just this kind of thing, a side on that, the principal suggested the other day that the Clorox Wipes weren’t on the “approved list”,  I replied, “What Clorox Wipes?”) we had the class discussion again about what you are supposed to do if you THINK you might throw up… Namely, go stand by the trash can.

Apparently this kid has a really bad gag reflex, both the times the nurse has tried to take his temperature, she has made him throw up again…….

Her comment was, “I just HAVE to get one of those thermometers that reads their foreheads……”

On a different note, “Twilight” came out on DVD this weekend.  I have, and have read all of the series, but some of the people at my school are a little crazy.  In the lounge at lunch earlier this week I heard one teacher complaining that she had gone to Walmart early for her copy and was really bummed that they didn’t have the “deluxe” edition.  Then, one of the office workers mentioned that over Saturday and Sunday she had watched the entire movie SIX times.  That’s just goofy.

One of the hazards of living close to your school

It’s not really a hazard, and not a problem, but since I transferred schools last year, the main shopping district, with  Walmart, and Target in it, is now common ground for my shopping and the students from my school.  It’s always funny to run into kids outside of the school context.  They look at you like you are an alien or something.  They just don’t know what to think when they see you someplace else.  Like I live at school or something.  Like teachers don’t have a life…….OK, maybe we don’t, but we are allowed out once in awhile……

Anyway, my granddaughter had her 7th birthday party Saturday at Pistol Pete’s Pizza Parlor.  While there I ran into one of my students.  THE student.  The one that makes my life the most interesting, this year.  You know, the one who’s goal and mission in life seems to be to make me crazy.  Her mom says the same thing, so it’s not just me.  Her little sister is in preschool at our school and I have tried to trade, but the preschool teacher won’t even talk to me about it.  Little sister is NOT like my little darling.  And little sister was having a birthday party too.

So the kid from my class kept swinging by to check me and our party out.  Apparently she didn’t get enough of me last week at school.  After she hit me up for arcade tokens (of which I had none),  I asked her how many kids were at her sister’s party.  She gave it some thought and finally said she didn’t know.  She then looked at our party and said, “I don’t know how many, but they are all black…..”  Because clearly, the kids at my granddaughter’s  party were not.

Kids.

Wonderful Worms………

In our reading series, we are doing a unit on insects and such and today we read this book.  On the way to school this morning I stopped by a fishing supply store and bought some night crawlers.  After we read the story and talked about the book for a bit, I had them go to their tables and I put a paper plate on each table then got the worms out of the fridge and put a couple on each plate.  I’ve done this before, so some of what followed was predictable.

First there were the “eww!! and  icks”  and other noises of disgust, followed quickly by curiosity.   Well, for the most part.  The most “Macho” Hispanic boy was away from his table crying, almost in hysterics, and the most opposite of macho girl, asking matter-of-factly if she could hold one……(turns out SHE has a pet snake, “it doesn’t bite”)  I had laid the ground rules that they could touch, but they were NOT to hurt the worms, they were living creatures too.  What followed was some of the most absorbed, focused investigation that I have seen out of this crew.  Most  at least touched, and some held the worms.  One girl kept saying she wanted to hold one, but every time I would approach her hands with the worm, she would shrink away.  Just couldn’t quite get over the idea of touching that worm.

That was in the morning, later, just before going home, I let them see and touch the worms again, this time, many more actually held the worms.  It was really fun to watch.  City kids don’t get much “Nature”.  I really wanted to be a fly on the wall of that conversation when they went home, “Well, what did you do in school today?”  “Played with worms.”

My Wife the Librarian

My wife is an elementary school librarian, in other lives she’s been a 5th grade teacher, a kindergarten teacher, and a 1st grade teacher.  The other day she had a 5th grade class acting up in the library and she made the comment to them that they were acting like kindergarteners (she seriously maintains that there are a lot of similarities).  One boy replied, ” I’m just a kindergartener in a 5th grade body.”   She about choked.