MLKJr. Day

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character..."


Since the kids had MLKJr.'s bday off from school, I figured it only appropriate that they learned a bit about the man that was special enough to have a national holiday named after him. I thought it was going to to be tough history to explain to the kids-- boy was I wrong. We talked about how MLKJr. changed the world; how he worked to bring all different kinds of people together; how he worked for peace. I can honestly say that it was one of the best lessons we've shared yet. A good teacher knows that only assessment will show whether the kids grasped the ideas or not. So-- I asked them to write about their own dreams. "Think BIG," I said. Here's what I got:

"I have a dream that everyone would have a wonderful family like us. My family is lucky enough to have a house and love, food and fun and friends." -Meg

"I have a dream that people would not litter because the world would look much better than it does. [...] When I grow up, I am going to be a person that picks up trash all over the world." -Braley

"I have a dream that everyone treated each other like their best friend." -Colin

"I have a dream that no kid or adult will get bullyed or hurt inside." -Olivia

"I wish poor kids would have toys and bikes. Sleds for the winter and jackets, mittens, or even clothes and have a mom or a dad." -Alex

"I have a dream that every pet in need would get help because pets need love, food, and water. So we should make them feel happy by playing with them, buying chew toys, lots of food, and water and some doggy biscuits too so we can make them happy. So give them your hearts. Give them yourselves. Give them everything." -Isabel

And my all time favorite...
"I have a dream that you could sit in a room with a bully and read a book together in peace. I would read Free at Last because it tells you facts about Martin Luther King Jr. He is a really important guy because he changed the world." -Joe



I'm pretty sure they got the gist :)

A New Year

I said hello to 2011 in NYC, a pretty good start. Tomorrow it will be back to work after a relaxing vacation. As stressful as work can sometimes be, I'm glad that I am excited to go back tomorrow. I can't wait to hear from my kids what they did over vacation and catch up with my coworkers. Four months ago I started a job completley unsure of myself, what I was doing and if I was doing it remotely right. It's hard to feel satisfied at the end of the day when you know that you're not reaching every student even with all of the hard work you put it; knowing that 5 of your kids may have passed that test, but two still struggled even with all the studying you did with them, when your student gets a 100 on their spelling test, but it's with third grade words. But at the end of the day I'm trying to rejoice in those little things. Yes two didn't pass the test, but the five that did went home feeling like a rockstar. Though the words he had on his test were coat and boat, those are two words he couldn't spell before and now he can. I feel confident going back. I may not have all the secrets yet, but I know if I keep trying I'll get there.

-Sixth

Motivation

It is "holiday recess" (to be politically correct)...

and since we are in the midst of a blizzard I sat down to work on my lesson planning for the following week.

I opened my plan book to find a small piece of notebook paper that I quickly stuck in there while packing my stuff to leave for vacation.

The paper has a note on it that one of my students wrote and put on my desk before she left on our last day of school. It reads:

"Dear Miss Rosen,

I hope you have a Awesome Christmas and a good vacation!!!!

I'll see you when we get back (which will be in 2011) but I'll miss you!

Sincerely,

Student"

This little letter made me realize that although I desperately need this week long break from job-I really do love my hectic, challenging, exhausting, time consuming, wonderful job. And I am actually looking forward to seeing my students next week and listening to their stories from Christmas and vacation!

Also, while reading this note I am even more pleased that she used correct friendly letter format, spelled 'which' and 'sincerely' correctly, and has two paragraphs! We do need to work on using 'an' before words starting with vowels

! I definitely look at everything through a teacher lens now!

-Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing

A Christmas Present

Student: Ms. Sixth, when's your birthday?
Ms. Sixth: Not until May why?
Student: Oh man, you really need a new pencil sharpener, so I was going to get you one, but I don't think I can wait that long.

Ms. Sixth: So if I lived back in the day with the Egyptians I would only have about 8 more years left before I died!
Student: OMG you're only 22?!
Ms. Sixth: (in my head... gosh these 12 year olds are too fast with their math fact fluency)

I have a "store" where my students can spend the "dollars" they earn in class at the end of the week...
Student: I only need two more dollars then I can get my dad's Christmas present!
*I'm glad I can provide families their 2010 Christmas presents hahaha. This was one of the cutest things ever I must say.

-Sixth

Heading into the Holiday Season

We are quickly approaching the last week of school before Christmas vacation and it.is.crazy.

I have found myself totally not in the Christmas spirit. I am exhausted from work, I have no time to shop, and I am really dreading spending the small amount of money I've saved up thus far. I do not like malls to begin with and all those people and lines make me cringe, and even the Secret Santa swap we did at work turned out to not be very secret for me!

However, being a 4th grade teacher, I totally want to give my students that 'holiday feeling' that I can still remember from elementary school. I am trying my hardest to spread the holiday cheer during the school day, because to them, this really is the most wonderful time of the year (besides summer, of course)

I can say that my students will be giving their families gifts, much greater than the ones I am giving my family....I definitely put more thought, effort, time and money into their gifts than my own. I haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing.

However, myself and my other 4th grade counterpart deserve "Teacher of the Season" awards for what we were able to pull off! Our students are each memorizing a part of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and we are presenting our poem to all the other grades on Thursday. That isn't even the cool part...we had each kid illustrate their part of the poem, then we scanned their pictures and their lines into iMovie, AND recorded their voices reading their lines. We put all the illustrations and voices together into an amazing video complete with an opening, ending credits, and background music from the Nutcracker AND to top it all off- we are burning a DVD of it for every student to take home to their families. Ta-da! An amazing gift, if I do say so myself!

In addition to that- I took (and printed out) all their pictures. Then I got them unfinished frames that we are going to decorate in school with lots of colorful fun crafty items and they will be able to take those home as well!

Are we learning a whole lot? Probably not. Are we having fun? For sure.

I did buy myself a very 'teachery' christmas outfit and some earrings...maybe THAT will get me into the Christmas Spirit!

Ready to take on the week and most definitely ready for the break that will follow it!!

-Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing.

Thanksgiving!

I am thankful that I have survived this far into the school year and made it to our first "break".

Heres to hoping these days off will allow me to return to school reenergized and ready to take on the next 3 and 1/2 crazy weeks until Christmas!

Class Meeting

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to have my angel of a literacy coach come into my classroom. She taught my class and I how to run a "class meeting" and changed our class forever.

Class Meeting
1. Give a compliment
2. Get a compliment.
3. Apologize.
4. Pass.

Thats it. You can do one of the four. We sat around the perimeter of my gorgeous rug and passed a dried up purple sponge around the circle. (It was the only thing I could find in my room to use as a "talking object.") As each student held the sponge, they made a choice to do one of the above. Some passed, none asked for a compliment, many gave compliments. It was such a positive moment packed with second grade emotion. One girl broke down into tears, complimenting her two best friends for being "some of the best friends she's ever had," another one of my boys got all choked up talking about his best friend too, another said she was sorry that her mom's friend had cancer, and yet another said she was sad that a local teenager had recently died. I almost lost it. How quickly I forget, between cups of coffee and hours of planning, that these kids are 7. And 8. That having a friend to play with everyday at recess can make or break their day. In that moment, some felt so much genuine love for their friends that tears came rolling while just thinking about how happy these people in their lives make them. Wow.

In my dream classroom, I always knew that I wanted it to be positive and safe. A place where expectations are set high and kids try their best. It was at that moment that I realized that most of all, I want my kids to be kind to one another and know/appreciate the value of a compliment. The power of a postive attitude and how far you can get just on that alone. Class meeting. I'm pretty sure I can find 10 minutes in our day where everything stops and we think about the big picture. About life. About one another. Me and my 7 and 8 year olds....