All the Things That Didn't Get a Full Post Because of My Virus

I think it is really important that kids be able to give something to their mothers for Mother's Day. I don't do too many crafts in school, but we did make Mother's Day magnets. I learned how to use a glue gun! It's not as exciting as it sounds, I always hoped it would be used from a long distance. Anyway, I thought it was sooo sweet that my ELL student translated her Mother's Day Cinquain to Chinese. It just seems like a neat picture of what her education is doing for her family.


In Other News:

We had to parents ready to come to blows today in Parent Pick-Up. They didn't fight yet, but one of them promised to come back and "shame" the other in front of everyone tomorrow. There was also a lot of screeching tires when one parent tried to park her car in the parent pick-up line. I told her that she couldn't park there, so she got back in, slammed the car door in my face, and laid on the accelerator in our school parking lot. Never a dull moment there!

Our staff went bowling on the PTO to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. I always thought that if I heard everyone on my staff yelling "strike" it would be over something different...

Finally, why haven't I posted in so long?? I got a virus on my computer!! It was my work computer too, but it seems to have been cured by the magical box we are supposed to plug these machines into once a week.

If Only I Thought Before I Opened My Mouth

"Okay," I said loudly in the middle of our big fat test training meeting. I was certainly playing the part of the sulking teenager Principle Sadie always had me pinned as last year. I think sarcasm and anger is never attractive when coupled with youth. Too often, it is just a guise for folly. I do better to be well tempered and keep my mouth shut at the age and stage I am in, but sometimes I surprise myself with a gust of passion that exits my mouth before I think it through.

I was worked up over my ELL student. The "SEI Coach" was addressing the staff about testing procedures for ELLs (don't even get me started on that), but she wasn't giving any straight answers. The packet I had said that 1st and 2nd year language learners were entitled to a direct translation of testing procedures. I wanted my Mandarin speaking student to have this because I know it would help her.

The "SEI Coach" responded to my questions by saying, "Well, you haven't been translating things into Mandarin all year, so she can't have that." It was said half jokingly, but it was really brushing off my request, and the wording in my packet strongly suggested my student would be entitled to this. You better believe that is a case I will make. I just wish I had made it more professionally.

After the meeting, I talked to her. I was pretty mad because I don't think she was telling me the truth, and I made that apparent. That is not the worst of it though. Later I was telling the librarian how irritated I was about her attitude and how I didn't think she was telling me the truth. What I didn't know was that SHE WAS IN THE LIBRARY TOO. So much for my helping my gradelevel team get a softer reputation.

Besides all of that, I really am forgetting that we all in a school are on the same team. We're all advocating for kids from different angles. I have got to work with people. I am right to pursue this and advocate for this kid, but I am definitely wrong to go about it the way I did today.

There is not a lot of support out there for our kids and our schools right now. The last thing we need is to turn against the people in the boat with us. I guess I have an uncomfortable apology to make.

Thank You!

Thanks to Joel from "So You Want to Teach" for sharing my blog. I have been doing a lot of reflecting recently about where I am in my attitude towards teaching and where I've been. If you've read much of my blog, you've known much about my frustrations and doubts. It is time, now, for me to share some of my inspirations. I have dealt with a couple of difficult colleagues, a couple of difficult parents, and a couple of difficult kids. I have also been privileged to deal with some amazing people. They don't read this blog, because I blog anonymously, but I still want to say thank you in some cosmic way. My next series of posts will be thank you letters for people who helped me and are helping me find my way as a teacher. This first one is to a student I have this year in my third grade classroom (names have been changed).

Dear Xing,

At Meet the Teacher, when I first met you, I was at a crossroads as a teacher. I wasn't teaching a gradelevel I wanted to teach. I wasn't feeling confident in my abilities as a teacher. I was passively planning to do my job because I couldn't think of a better option.

I remember when you walked in that hot, August night. You looked so little to me! I remember I was talking veraciously to you, and you were looking at me with your curious eyes. The words I was saying were nonsense to you, and you were so scared to enter a world where nothing made sense. It was your first year in the country and I knew you would remember it forever.

I went home that night and I cried. How could I be there for your first year in this new world and fail to give you and our classroom my whole heart? I knew I couldn't do that. Thank you for helping me change my mind.

You came to school not even knowing your name in English. You wore a brave smile every day. You helped me remember why I want to do this.

Now you are speaking short sentences and reading little books. You smile and wave and greet me with my name every morning. Your Uncle is always thanking me for my patience with you. I know, though, that no matter how much you learn this year you taught me more.

Yours Truly,
Ms. Understood

The Light of Communication

I always wondered what kind of amazing inspiration Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher must have had, but I am learning her inspiration must have been her student. As a teacher, you have to be inspired by your students where they are now and you have to reach out to them. I still think Annie Sullivan had a stroke of genius, but I am learning to find ways to reach my student who speaks no English.

SEI (Structured English Immersion) is the philosophy used in education for ELLs (English Language Learners) in my state. In SEI (at least the model used here), the general classroom teacher is also the English language teacher. There is no work done with these students out of the classroom. I guess this is supposed to be "immersion."

This year, I have a third grade student who speaks only Mandarin. She learned to read and write using characters. She does not know one word of English--not even yes and no. She doesn't know letters. She is such a bright girl, but she is completely in the dark about what I and everyone else in the school is saying.

I am also responsible for teaching this child third grade content. That's almost funny considering the circumstances, but I am. So, I am having to find ways to communicate.

I am using a Chinese to English dictionary to help translate key words, but it doesn't translate exactly because the languages are so vastly different. Today, I borrowed letter cards with animals from kindergarten and I had her write the characters on post-its for each animal and stick them to the cards. I am first going to teach her the words for the animal and then we'll start on phonemes and letter sounds. This went very well today, and I had the idea to make my own letter cards using more practical items. I printed out photos of pencils, buses, water bottles, and a variety of other things. I am going to use one for each letter, then I will have her write the translations tomorrow. We'll do letters and basic communication at the same time. It was like my own little Annie Sullivan moment of inspiration.