End of one 2nd Trimester and the beginning of another.....

I am doing what teacher's love to do most.....report cards :( It is a nice feeling though to have another trimester finished! I can't believe I have made it to February.

I am also now in my second trimester of pregnancy. I made it through with no morning sickness or throwing up. I kept waiting for it to happen but it never did....I guess I will have to keep saving my sick days :) In a couple weeks we will find out if Baby Brown is boy or girl!

Don't you dare do that!! (A post about teaching)

Earlier in the year I would often browse through all the cute teacher blogs out there. I have a list on my blog that I like to look through but the past couple months I haven't wanted to even read them. The cute classrooms, cute lesson plans, and cute ideas are another world to me. I was discouraged because I knew my classroom could never be like that, not the class I have now. There is not time to find the perfect "font" for lessons or incorporate fun art projects. I had 10 sets of markers in the beginning of the year, we have pulled them out to use every so often, now I am missing most. I had a paper tray for blank lined paper but started to notice that the paper ran out quite fast....I have to hold on to my white board markers or those to go "missing." When I have a sub I usually lock up everything. My personal class library will most likely be destroyed by the end of the year (what ever happened to treating your books with love and care?). I try every day to make my teaching engaging and fun. My kids have suddenly decided that fighting is cool, so I am now breaking up fights at least once a week. Rather than focus on adjectives and pronouns, we are reviewing how to stand in line, how to talk with kindness, modeling examples of helping one another. I am often giving students pep talks to encourage them to not give, try their hardest, and act like a scholar. My students need instant gratification...week long or month long class points is too far of a concept. I give daily Scholar of the Day awards to students that set a good example for ANYTHING. They really love it, but of course before I started giving out the awards I had to teach them what they do when they don't receive them. No negative comments, we only say positive things to our classmates. We had to practice this several times because I knew, that if some students were not chosen they would throw their books across the room. So maybe in some fairy tale classroom their are students who work well together in groups and have color coded bulletin boards....but in my class its.... making it through the day with no tears, no punches, no stealing, and of course the clincher that EVERY student should be above grade level for state testing. No pressure on me :)

An Apple For the Teacher

On Friday I received my first apple of the school year. I also received a free Starbucks from another teacher and so I thought, this is going to be a good day.....

That original thought of a "good day" quickly faded as I started to greet my students. Tears and obvious bad attitudes entered through my door. Quickly I had to assess the situations and get the whole class on track. One student was crying because their sibling got injured that morning, another one was in a terrible mood because they didn't get breakfast, one girl with a special circumstance was accidently pushed by another student, and so on....

Everyday that I come to school I have to prepare myself for a potential war zone. Yes, my students know the routines and expected behaviors but it is a different world where I am. I did not ask to be their mom, dad, counselor, nutritionist, guard, but this is what the Lord has given me. There is no doubt that the Lord specifically put me in this school but sometimes, like on Friday, I know that there is no way that I can do this job without the Lord.

Slowly my skin is starting to thicken. I am now used to being yelled at by parents and how to quickly resolve misunderstandings. I am still learning how to deal with absolutely horrible behavior, outright disrespect from students, while hiding behind a smile. There is no sending a student to the principal, sending them to the office, or switching classes. They are in my class and I have to find a way to get them to conform to the class. Teaching is the easy part. It is everything else that enters my door at 7:30 am.

I did get an apple on Friday.....

My Other Home

This is where I have been lately....

I spend close to 10 hours a day in this room....

When the movers were placing the furniture in my room...they carefully measured the desks, putting equal spacing between each row. I thought to myself...they must not know kids. The first day of school those perfectly lined rows became quickly uneven. Kids learning this way..inching their way forward and to the middle. Stay put! Fix your desks! They must be touching! Is what I say. Oh well...who needs perfect rows?

I am slowly perfecting each part of my room...it is a work in progress and I care almost too much about how it looks. But I do know that an organized classroom is a productive classroom.

Stay tuned for more stories.... did I mention the break dancing videos for P.E.?

I may be learning a thing or two.

Motivation

I am just about to finish my school year. I now have my CLEAR California Credential. No more BTSA! Mikey is just about to finish his school year ! (2 days) I created a collage for him to look at while he studies.....but he seems to study best outside the house. June is going to be WONDERFUL!!!!!

Tears, Singing, and Cupcakes :)

I was for warned by the third grade teacher of some particular "chatty" students. I was also told to be aware of an uncontrollable boy with undiagnosed needs....

I came to school very early Tuesday morning to finish preparing for the first day of school. I was excited to meet my students and teach! I had my armour on. Prepared for the worst with a plan a, b, and c. I picked up my smiling fourth graders and walked to our classroom. They were VERY excited for school to start and to have the "new, young" teacher. I began the day by giving them their prayer journals. After we had prayer I then proceeded to explain the rules and procedures of the class. One student asked if I was going to be strict about the "card system." I said, "oh yes," this is your warning, if I ask you to pull your card it is too late. His smile turned upside down. My students listened and I began to teach...... I noticed one student imp articular, I will call him James, he desperately wanted attention. I let it go for a while but then I knew I had to put a stop to this behavior. "James, pull your card!" At that moment the class became completely silent and every one's eyes were downcast. James got up and pulled his card. I could feel the terror in the room, I felt bad at this moment, what had I done? James then went to the back desk and filled out a refocus sheet (thanks Katelyn!). I went over to talk to him and noticed tears streaming down his face. "oh, no" I thought, "I can't make a kid cry on the first day of school!" But I explained to him the reasons and told him how sin affects our lives....

My class has done well with the routines. We go unnoticed in the hall ways and line up the quickest after recess. The student who was suppose to be "challenging" has been succeeding. I know it's only the first week of school but I feel the Lord working in my classroom. During Bible time we have been learning the hymn of the month, In Christ Alone. We read the lyrics and then listened to it for the first time yesterday. They loved it! Today I played it again and they all starting singing and playing imaginary instruments. James, who is the attention getter, asked me to play it again Mrs. Brown, play it again. The whole class cheered and we sang it again! In the afternoon time we were finishing up our art project and the sad, insecure girl with a horrible home life looked up at me and asked if I would play "the song" again. So during art time the whole class was worshipping the Lord while painting. I just stood back and watched as the boys played the drums and air guitars and the girls sang. This is going to be a good year.....

Fruit of the Spirit, NOT Fruits....

This has been my project for the past week. Changing a completely empty room into something that is Fourth Grade ready. I decided to chose a Fruit of the Spirit theme for the year. I want my children to build up their character to honor God above all else. Bearing Good Fruit. I have a challenge ahead of me, quite the group of kids.....

P.S. I do have to give credit to my wonderful sister who has spent countless hours helping me this week. A couple friends from my Bible study helped as well! So thankful!