New School Supplies

As teachers, we love school supplies. The past 2 weeks, Staples has been giving some of the school supplies away for very cheap or even for free (and extra supplies for teachers!). As you can guess, I've visited Staples numerous times throughout the sales. (Lucking for me it's only one avenue down and 3 blocks over!)

It had been rumored that new teachers received baskets full of classroom supplies from the school on Thursday. We began asking around and sure enough, all the new teachers we asked had gotten their baskets overflowing. It wasn't until 3:30 Friday that we found the right person to ask to get our basket of supplies... (That would be a draw back of working in such a large school: There are so many people and so much going on. They'll always send you to someone they think is right, but chances are, you'll be asking a few more people or put on the back burner while they try to figure out who can answer the question or help you.)


Friday, once again, was another roller coaster of feelings. Our 5th grade team came together for the first day of planning. We were required to set rules to use in our classrooms. I wasn't exactly thrilled about this, because I found a great idea to use for this year instead of rules. The students were going to write a contract about what students should do and what teachers should do. These were going to encompass our rules, but were also going to provide time for the students to start thinking about what is expected of them and lead to a great discussion between classmates in small groups and as a large group. I'm going to think on this over the weekend and see if I can't do a little problem solving to get what I want and what I'm required.

We were also told that students couldn't have snacks or drinks in the rooms. I understand the thinking behind this (mice), but I'm still a bit bothered. It's hard to expect a kid to learn through the morning and not be distracted by pangs of hunger - I can't even survive the whole morning without a snack. Plus, I remember the days of elementary school when I would starve from 10:00 a.m. to lunch and not actually be able to learn anything. The part about water also bothers me a bit. It's nice if the kids have water bottles (with lids) on their desks during the day. There are no distractions for drinks... but I guess this one I can be ok with because we do have a small water fountain in the back of our room. Now that I think of it, I don't think there are water fountains anywhere else in the halls. Huh.

There are 6 classes of 5th grade. We met for the first time to do our planning for day 1... It went ok, but I'm hoping we don't have to be teaching the EXACT same thing in every class. It takes away my chance to be creative and teach in a way that is comfortable to me. I told Ms. B that I want to try to keep to what we planned as a team, for sure the goals and objectives, but I would probably be making adjustments to the plans to fit my own teaching. She also made a good point about how our classrooms are all made up differently (some only special ed, some English as a Second Language classes, some special ed and general ed, and some only general ed) and how it would be impossible to teach the Same thing to all these students without making adjustments. For now, we'll try to do as we are told and we'll definitely take the advice and help from other teachers with experience, but I think I'll be just getting through those stressful meetings and then doing adjustment planning afterwards.

Unfortunately, I am still not completely clear on the whole format of what I am teaching, especially for reading. This will just come with time... and hopefully someone who is willing to sit down and explain what exactly it looks like. We'll also need to get our library leveled and maybe get some more books for our students. It just won't be happening for the 1st day.

Friday evening made it real for me and reminded me of what I'm doing all this work for and stressing about. The school had a meet your teachers event (unfortunately, the event wasn't technically required so only about half the teachers showed up), but Ms. B and I were there and so were 5 or 6 of our kiddos! They seemed excited about the new school year and ready for the 1st day. The parents welcomed us and were excited to start sharing information about their students with us. I cannot wait to meet them all and start what will be a FANTASTIC year.

Flat Land is to Kansas like...

... Cockroaches are to New York City. (RIP little ... I mean Large Roach. Yes I smashed him. Yes it was a little scary. No there are no pictures of me wearing a grocery bag over my smashing foot while dancing around and squealing.) I guess there is an interesting mice issue every now and then too. Not sure if the teachers were trying to scare me, but from what they said, I do not want to leave food out or else I'll have little mice helping themselves to it. No need to get class pets, they just come with the classroom! I actually thought about naming our roach today, but then I realized how wrong it would be to name it if I just intended the smash the life out of the little creeper. (I-yi-yi. That doesn't sound pleasant.)

The classroom library is looking much better. You can't tell, but the books aren't organized. We figured we'd save that for next week just to make sure our class was ready for the kids. Plus, we still haven't the slightest idea on how to level them. We did get rave reviews from a few of our fellow co-workers.

With today being the first official day of work, I am Truly a teacher in NYC now! I have health insurance, a pay check coming (hopefully soon), and a Teacher ID in the works.

I still have no idea what I am teaching though, this is to come tomorrow during the day... Kind of stresses me out to think that I will have just a weekend to prepare (and I have plans and guests for the long weekend). I kind of wish I could have had more time, but I keep telling myself that this is the worst part, next year I'll have a better idea, and I am NOT going to fail in anyway this year... it will all go ok! Soon I'll have an idea and won't be feeling like a headless chicken trying to see my way through the chaos.

I met more teachers today, can't remember many of the names or quite what they teacher. There are 40 to 60 teachers, 15 of which are new teachers (more new teachers than the number of all the teachers in my last school). It's nice to see so many young faces and to know that there are plenty of people in the school who are in the Same exact boat as me (wondering why our curriculum is such a secret! and stressing about getting our "classroom environments" ready for the kiddos.)

Today was a roller coaster of feelings... excited, nervous, happy, confused, frustrated, anxious, excited, happy, procrastination, accomplishment, enmity (towards the cockroach), relief (that I made it home while traveling through the mass of commuters)... Overall, though, I feel pretty good, or at least good enough to get through this challenge. I know it will all look better come this time next year, and I cannot help but think about how easy the beginning of the year would be for me if I had stayed at my previous school. That's ok though, because I'm ready to be challenged, and I'm ready to start making my difference here in my new school, my new zone, my new space, with my class of 21 amazing 5th graders - yep, got a roster today, but I guarantee there will be changes in that, so no name tags on the desks yet! The question is, when will name tags go on the desk...? When will I actually know?

An Afterthought. I'm not that worried about the cockroach problem at the school. They aren't that bad of little (or big) creatures...

“There is nothing per se that is yucky about cockroaches,’’ said Dr. Zuk. “The ick factor is all psychological. Cockroaches are nice, lovely, interesting animals.” Some roaches, she noted, are even monogamous.

Ok, so they are a bit gross, but what can you do? It's New York City. It comes with the territory. The kids probably carry more germs into the classroom than those little creatures anyway. If you are worried about it, check out this question page, do a little research, and then get back to me with any cock roach information you feel is important.

Calmly Overwhelmed

Teachers feel many different things. Right now, Overwhelmed just begins to explain the feeling I have. I am a calm overwhelmed though, as I've been here (kind of) before and I've seen everything fall into place and end up (eventually...) going ok.

Ms. B and I met in our classroom for our first full day of work. Where do we start? was a question we asked for probably about 30 minutes as we fumbled around the room aimlessly looking about. Luckily, we were blessed with help from an experienced 6th grade teacher. She didn't know what she was getting into... we were Loaded with questions. She shared with us some of the expectations for our classroom set up, which helped guide us through the day.

It's very interesting how different of an experience this is from my teaching experiences in Kansas. I'm very excited to use new ideas in the classroom to create a learning environment that works best for my students. Some of the requirements of our classroom include:

• Word Wall - We are not really sure exactly how we are going to use this, because I feel like it should be somehow separated for each of the subjects. I also want to make sure that we DO use the Word Wall. It seems the Word Walls were required, but some of the teachers hinted at not using them to their fullest, rather just because they were required.
  
• Centers for each subject - Math, Writing, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Technology, and Listening. These are physical areas in the classroom where each particular subject "takes place". It's interesting getting these centers into their places, especially because Ms. B and I aren't quite sure how this will actually look as part of our teaching and classroom. We are constantly thinking out loud, trying, trying again, asking for suggestions and opinions from others, and just agreeing that if it doesn't work, we can change it after we see what would work best for our kids.
  
• Little to No Teacher Desk Area - We were told that the administration doesn't like to see the teacher at a desk during the school day, so they encourage teachers not to have a desk. I guess that keeps teachers from just sitting behind a desk (and I wanted to not be one to be found behind a desk anyway... I guess this will help keep me up and moving all day). The thing about not having a desk though, is no teacher issued computer. To me, a teacher's computer seemed like a given. The teacher has their own computer to do their grades and other work on... Not here. It's fine though. We'll just use one of the two in the classroom Technology Center. I'll also use my home computer, which is completely fine, because I do my best work in my own personal space.
  

As far as our progress, (I would have taken pictures, but we ran at of time as we had to leave by 3:30 p.m. so the Custodians could finish their work), we have our centers somewhat set up. Our desks are set up and each has a chair. Our Math Center has all the supplies and manipulatives. We started hanging some posters.

As far as what we have left to do... Oooo the list goes on and on. I won't torture you with that, but a few things include getting all the books and curriculum for 5th grade, organizing our classroom library (VERY happy this is a requirement in each room!), hanging bulletin boards, organizing the rest of the centers, having a padlock broken off the mystery closet that we hope to use as a teacher resource closet, and many more tasks.

Countdown until school starts... Wednesday for classroom work, Thursday is school meetings, Friday ???? hopefully some time to finish preparation for the 1st day... Weekend... relax and enjoy the extra day :) and Tuesday... STUDENTS! First Day of School.

Zorgamazoo

I'm going to attempt a review
About a book called Zorgamazoo.
A mission is set for the brave and fearless
A story I am sure you won't want to miss.

Zorgles and Pixies, Octomabots as well
Mortimer Yorgle and Katrina Katrell.
A book of rhymes and imaginative fun
For adventurous types, this is the one.

Ok... as I said, it was an attempt. All in all, though, I give this book 2 thumbs up! I can't wait to get my own copy when it comes out on October 16. This is a great read for any young readers and old ones who are still young readers at heart.

Collaborative Team Teaching: A Professional Marriage

I am thrilled to share that today's day-long session of the New Teacher Orientation was much more exciting and useful... I didn't have to pull out either of the two books I brought to read or the Sudoku from either of the two newspapers I picked up this morning... I didn't even have to resort to secret texting, and I only looked at my phone two times during the sessions today! (Wow, do I sound like I was scheming to be a teacher's worst nightmare or what?!)

Since being told I would be in Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) room, I've been a bit nervous and unsure what exactly this would look like. My experience with team teaching hasn't been the best, and most of them were during student teaching semesters in college. I was blessed with a few good partners, but I was also tortured with a few not-so-good partners. This afternoon's session on the CTT Model helped to alleviate some of my nerves and give me excitement for all the possibilities Ms. B and I will have in our classroom together.

So, what is Collaborative Team Teaching? It is not something you often see in Kansas, that's for sure. I'd be interested to see if there is cooperative teaching to this extent in any schools in Kansas. Maybe some classes have a taste of it here and there or in certain subjects... but here, in our classroom, it will taking place every day, in all the classroom subjects. It may look different from subject to subject, but Ms. B and I are both teachers of room 206. One more note, there is one teacher who is special ed. and one that is general ed., but it will look like we are both equals. In the classroom, it will not be specifically categorized as who is who. We are both the teachers. We'll also both be using special ed. techniques and strategies, but Ms. B is definitely the expert in special ed. In our room, the kids don't even really know who has an IEP (Individualized Education Program for special ed. students) and who doesn't. Here are 6 ways we will be implementing team teaching into our classroom:

NOTE: The ovals in the images are the teachers and the circles are the students sitting in their seats. The images are credited to the Office of Special Education Initiatives.

1. Team Teaching - Both teachers are teaching together. This can be used to model partnership and instructional conversations. It should not be used too early, because the teachers need to be comfortable with each other and the lesson needs to be well planned. Some ideas of how to use it include acting out a scenario, modeling team work, showing a demonstration, modeling a debate. The workload needs to be equal in this teaching model. It also is the most complex model but can bring energy into the classroom.

2. One Teaches, One Observes - This is especially good in the beginning of a co-teaching situation. It is also great to use occasionally to get feedback about teaching and the students. The teacher observing can also be used to observe and collect data on certain students. Other observations can be made including the students' engagement and involvement in the lesson or activity.

3. Station Teaching - This particular model is one that Ms. B and I have already shared our excitement about. We can set up stations and cover specific topics in the small groups. For example, with Math, she can be working with students on one area while I'm working on another. The other groups, without teachers, will be doing work in their books or playing math games or a variety of other activities that can be self-directed by the students. This model requires extra planning because instead of planning only one thing for the whole group, we'll be planning many smaller activities for many groups. It will also require us to make sure our students are familiar with the procedures and expectations of the classroom and stations.

4. Parallel Teaching - If we used this, we probably would not set it up like the diagram shows. It seems that it could be very distracting being so close, but if we were in separate corners and working on a quieter lesson, this could be a cool model to use. The nice thing about this model is that it decreases the group size. This gives students more chances to participate in the conversations during the lesson, and it might help alleviate some of the behavior problems. It provides the teachers with the opportunity to teach how they are individually comfortable within their group. This could also be fun to use if we wanted to have a debate. One teacher could teach students all the facts about one side of the issue and the other teacher teaches her group about the other side of the issue. The students could then come back together and discuss the topic with the knowledge they have gained.

5. Alternative Teaching - One teacher teaches the class while the second teacher teaches a smaller group as enrichment. This can be helpful because it gives students who need some extra direct instruction and assistance the chance to get it from the teacher. We have to be careful to vary the groups, because we don't want to segregate the groups or single out students. It can also be effective in providing students the opportunity to get caught up on work if they were absent.

6. One Teaches, One Assists - This is also good for new co-teacher groups. I'm sure we'll be using this more at the beginning of the year as we get to know each other as professionals. It can also be used in a situation where one of the teachers particularly favors a certain lesson or a certain part of a particular lesson.

These are the six models of co-teaching as outlined by Dr. Marilyn Friend. Also note that I used wording from the packet provided by the New York City Department of Education, Office of New Teacher Induction to describe the models as I learned them at the New Teacher Orientation.

Some other information I learned about teaching in a CTT room:

• One teacher cannot always teach the same subject. Teachers should use the teaching models and often switch subjects up so that students don't start seeing one teacher as the math teacher and another as the assistant teacher.
  
• The teachers should not divide the students as "my students" and "your students" or as "general-ed. students" and "special-ed. students".
• The teachers are equals.
• There are times of give and take and it's important to pick your battles.
  
• Communication is KEY!
• Two brains are better than one. Our planning and ideas will be excellent, because we'll have each other to bounce our ideas off of.

So... as we were told today, we've entered into what may seem like a professional marriage. Maybe the first day of school I need to bring my something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Any suggestions for what I can bring to kick of my professional marriage?? Click below to leave your suggestions and comments!