Teaching | BulgingButtons

April 13, 2015
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Another Monday Do Over

Monday again.

That means a new week, which in turn means a new start.

I get to start over with my students, and yet again tackle the daunting mountain of paperwork that their education seems to require. I get to laugh with them, lead them, and help them learn.

I get to start again with my colleagues, producing and sharing lessons so that all of our students can learn in ways that are meaningful and helpful to them. I get to explore different ways to share ideas with our students, and I have the opportunity to learn from the experts around me.

I get to start again with my family, sharing my life and my home with them with love and grace. I get to choose how I communicate with them, and what to focus on. I get to set the tone in my home.

I get to start again with my goals and dreams. Will I write this week? Will I sew? Will I make my home more beautiful? Will I lavish attention on my beloved dog? Where will the week take me?

I get to start over with myself. Will I care for myself this week? Will I nurture and love myself? Will I feed myself correctly and push myself to make good decisions, even if they aren’t my preferred choices?

I feel so fortunate that it’s Monday, and that I get a do-over. I hope I use it wisely.

April 9, 2015
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

Throwback Thursday – State Testing Edition

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My little fourth graders are doing their state assessment this week. I don’t want to get into too much detail about it, but needless to say I have some strong opinions about what they’re being asked to do. Long story short, the munchkins are working hard and I’m proud of them. Enough said.

So, this week of standardized testing made me flashback to some of my own testing experiences over the years, stretching all the way back to the second grade. That one was a doozy. We were doing some inane multiple choice fill in the bubble test and it was a BIG DEAL. Such a big deal that our desks were scattered all over the room, I guess to prevent us from cheating. Anyway, I finished early (which would become a pattern) and was sitting quietly waiting for the time to be called. I happened to have a tissue, and I folded it neatly into the shape of an envelope on my desk. I was feeling pretty clever. Alas, the student teacher (I will never forget her name, she scarred me) swooped down and grabbed my precious tissue envelope and threw it away, giving me a mean look. What? Did I skew the results of the test with that tissue? Wow.

My next big test memory occurred in my freshman year of high school. In those days the freshmen were still in junior high, and we had to sit for some end of the year state test. We were all housed together in this weird room behind the stage. It was the first and last time I ever sat foot in that room. To this day I have no idea what it was used for other than that test. Continue reading →

March 19, 2015
by BulgingButtons 8 Comments

A Rainy Day Whine

Disclaimer: I know I have it good.

Whine: It’s raining. Wahhh. I live where it rarely rains. The children here are used to playing outdoors everyday before school and at lunchtime. Today that won’t happen. It will make them a little crazy. Wahhh.

Before school I will open my classroom twenty-five minutes earlier than usual to students. Wahhh. I normally use that time to prepare for the day. It’s much more difficult to do that when students are in the room. They require attention, which I happily provide, but then other things are left undone. Wahhh.

Today is our computer lab day. That means that today I don’t get a prep period, since each classroom teacher is in charge of the lab for his or her class. Wahhh. No restroom break. No time to check email, make phone calls, scan homework, look ahead to the next lesson, or even just have a few minutes of quiet. Wahhh.

Then comes lunch. Immediately after the students eat I will pick them up from the cafeteria and return to the classroom with them. Wahhh. I won’t be able to catch my breath and enjoy some grown-up conversation. Instead I will run to the restroom (finally) and inhale my lunch and desperately try to make it back to the cafeteria in the allotted fifteen minutes. Wahhh. Then the squirrelly, hyperactive, anxious kids and I will spend the next few minutes in “relaxation” mode in the classroom. Wahhh.

By dismissal time we will have spent six hours and fifty-five minutes all together (with only a fifteen minute break). Wahhh. I don’t care how much you like spending time with ten-year olds, that’s a long time, especially when there are 34 of them and one of you. Wahhh.

At dismissal we will stand huddled together in a small covered area with the half the rest of the school waiting for parents to pick up. There will be more than usual, due to the weather, so it will go slowly, and kids will be so wound up that it will be noisy. The younger grades will be dismissed from the cafeteria, so there will be confusion about that. Wahhh.

After the children are gone, I will crave silence and solitude, but no, we have a meeting to learn the ins and outs of the brand spanking new standardized test we will be administering next month. Wahhh. Can teachers opt out? I don’t think they can. Wahhh.

My sweetheart says I should just show a filmstrip, and part of me agrees, but in this era of “data-driven” instruction and “high stakes” testing there’s no way I could do that. It will be teach, teach, teach, even when the kids and I all need a break. Wahhh.

Now I need to paste my game face on, remember to have a sense of humor, and give it my best. Thanks for listening, I feel a lot better. And who knows, maybe the sun will come out after all.