Meet Jorgelys Q.

           Almost everyday, one of my students says or does something that completely catches me off guard. When Jorgelys Q. walked into Room 206 in early September with her goofy grin, round face and slightly playful skip, I knew almost immediately that there would always be something to smile about with her in the class.

            I don’t think I have yet to meet a student so happy and full of joy as Jorgelys. It’s amazing—she is just always happy. It doesn’t matter whether she is taking a Math test, getting chastised by the assistant principal for singing in the bathroom or walking in a silent, single-file line to class. She comes to school everyday with a slightly goofy smile and a joyful sparkle in her eye. 

             

Early this past week, we had a really rough day where the class as a whole was off-task, incessantly chattering, squirming on the rug during mini-lessons and, generally, behaving disrespectfully towards each other and towards the teachers. It got so bad, that at one point in the day I nearly lost it and raised my voice well above where it ought to be to quiet the 30 rambunctious little bodies in the room. It was very clear to the entire class that I was not happy.

 Yet, even in the midst of my stern chastisement, Jorgelys maintained her goofy smile. I think the grin may have even widened a little. Infuriated by her apparent insolence, I demanded that she let me know what she thought was so funny. She simply shrugged her shoulders and grinned at me. “I don’t know Mr. Miller? I’m just so happy and excited. For some reason I’m so happy today—I can’t even control it.” She then wobbled over to her seat and began to hum “Yankee Doodle” in the most nonchalant and innocent way. She was completely unaware that I had just spent 2 minutes asking the class to bring the noise level down to “Level 0.”    

   

In the midst of that heated moment, I couldn’t help but be amused by her innocent and joyful attitude towards life. Here was a little girl who wouldn’t let anything, even the stern, scary teacher bring her down. Learning for her is, and I hope always will be, a joyful, fun process.

Meet Karma M.

I find myself often-telling friends and family members about the more challenging students in my class. These students are continually at the forefront of my mind simply because they require more attention and energy. But today I’d like to talk about one of the students in my class who is perhaps one of the best-behaved students in Room 206. And yet, even so, Karma W. presents we with a different but, nonetheless, challenging problem. Karma does not talk to any adult at VOICE charter school.

The first week of school Karma came in to the classroom a shy little girl. As we went through the attendance that day, every student said, “here” when his or her name was called. When I got to Karma, however, I almost marked her absent because she said nothing. She didn’t even raise her hand that day. It was only because another student spoke for her informing me that she was in fact present that I marked her present that day. Of course, that day I made nothing of it and moved on to the next student.

But over the course of the last month, it has become increasingly clear that there is more than just shyness here. Karma is selectively mute around adults. For the first 2 weeks I never once heard Karma’s voice. She remained respectful and clearly was engaged in the class. Her reading and writing was at grade-level and her math was excellent. But anytime an adult was near her or focused their gaze on her she would close her mouth and refuse to speak. Interestingly enough she grew increasingly talkative with her peers. I even managed to get close enough on occasion to hear her giggling with a friend and chatter with her partner during reading pair-share. Recently I have even been able to communicate via “yes” or “no” head nods or thumb signals.

 I did some research by talking to Karma’s previous teachers. Apparently, she spoke to teachers until she got halfway through 1^st grade. But then she just stopped and has not spoken to adults since then. That is all the information I could really gather to help piece together this mystery, which is far from resolved. I am concerned that Karma’s inability to communicate with teachers will hinder her academic and social progress in the years to come. This week, I’m going to try a new strategy—writing notes back and forth with Karma. I feel like she is starting to build a certain level of comfort in the classroom and I would really like to harness this momentum to slowly start building a relationship with her. We’ll see how she responds this week, but I remain optimistic.

Restorative Justice in Room 206

The model for dealing with behavior problems at Voice is restorative justice. Restorative Justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by misbehavior rather than simply providing a consequence or punishment. It is best accomplished through collaborative, well-thought-out processes that include all stakeholders. This week my co-teacher, principle and I are trying restorative justice with one of our students who made a comical, but what was interpreted as offensive, mistake.

On Thursday, Jaden M. walked into the classroom grumbling unhappily with an unusually large frown on his usually joyful face. “What’s going on Jaden? Why are you upset?” I asked. Jaden looked up at me and said,” I’m upset because I got in trouble yesterday.” “Why what happened?” I responded. “Yesterday after school I got in trouble with the President-thingy. He said I was being rude because I asked him if he was the deliveryman. But I thought he has the deliveryman because he had a helmet and bicycle. The he took me to Mr. Headley, and I got in trouble.”

When I first heard this I was a little confused. But as I put the story together I became more amused. It turns out that Jaden M, who is one of the most innocent and well-intentioned students in my class, accidentally mistook the principle (“President-thingy”) of the school the floor below our school. He asked the principle if he was the delivery man because the principle looked like he could be one as he was leaving the school on his bike. The principle took offense to the question, thinking that Jaden was being rude and mean-spirited. He then took Jaden to the principle of our school and reported the situation.

Amusing as the situation was, the principle of my school, my co-teacher and I had to help Jaden come up with a restorative solution. We sat down with Jaden and helped guide him through a plan that he initiated. This week Jaden is going to deliver an invitation (with our help) to the principle inviting him to visit the 3rd grade class during one of our class meetings. Jaden is going to introduce the principle to the class and ask him some interview-style questions so that the rest of the class can get to know the principle better. The idea is that Jaden will restore his relationship with the other school’s principle by getting to know him better. As comic as the situation might be, I think this is a valuable lesson for Jaden and a great opportunity for our class to get to know someone in their immediate community.

The Man in the Mirror

I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

I'm asking him to change his ways.

And no message could have been any clearer.

If you want to make the world a better place,

Take a look at yourself, and

Then make a change.

                                                                        --Michael Jackson

            Struggling with some pretty heavy behavioral issues this past week, including mean-spirited bullying, lunch-line craziness, disrespect towards adults and an overall all sense of negativity in our classroom, my co-teacher and I have really been looking for simple pillars of community and virtue to rally our class behind. We decided it was time for a change in attitude in Room 206. Interestingly enough we found some hope in Michael Jackson’s song the “Man in the mirror.”

            The simple message of starting with yourself and changing your own attitude combined with the catchy song of an iconic legend is something that the students have responded to very positively. As the students walked into class to unpack each day this past week, we played the “Man in the Mirror” quietly in the background. On each wall of our class we posted the lyrics to the song. My co-teacher even came in on Thursday wearing a Michael-Jackson-style hat. The message seems to be spreading. On occasions I have heard students humming the song while going to the bathroom or while reading after school. 

            When 3^rd graders are confronted with metaphor, the response can often be quite entertaining. When one of my students, Jaden O, was off-task, drumming his pencil incessantly on his desk, I sternly reminded him to take a look at the man in the mirror. For a second Jaden gave me a puzzled look. Then he inquired, “but Mr. Miller, who is the man in the mirror?” I could help but smile as I explained the concept to him. Nonetheless, I believe that whether my 3^rd graders fully understand the idea or not, whether subconsciously or consciously, the use of more creative measures such as song or catch phrases to encourage behavior is both effective as a teaching mechanism and also fun for our classroom culture.    

Meet Sam L.

Today I’d like to talk about Sam L. I’ve been thinking a lot about Sam lately because he presents a unique challenge to my classroom. Sam is a very intelligent kid. He is reading slightly above grade level, picks up very quickly on our daily writing workshops and had one of the highest math scores in our class on the first unit test. He also plays the violin at home and is on a soccer team outside of school. He is a very respectful and well-intentioned boy who also really likes to volunteer to help with odd jobs around the classroom.

Yet Sam can also be very naughty at times. He talks incessantly when on the rug or at his desk, has a very difficult time staying in his seat and can’t keep his hands to himself. I’ve witnessed him untying other student’s shoe laces, scratching away at the wood on his desk destroying its polished lining, poking at my shoes with a pencil (he sits right in front of me on the carpet during mini-lessons and this has become his favorite mini-lesson past-time) and running around playing tag in the middle of independent practice when students are supposed to be seated in their chairs working silently. 

Of course there are very valid reasons for why Sam behaves this way—he has ADHD and struggles with Voices’ really long school days. The sad thing is that he is rarely ever ill intentioned. It seems to be largely out of his control—he simply has so much energy. The problem is that all this energy is infuriating for his teachers to deal with on a regular basis. Some days, my co-teacher and I have had to talk with him multiple times a day for multiple different behavior problems. I’ve seen him thrown out of music class, asked to sit in his chair because he can’t handle the rug in science class and forced to sit out recess because he gets to rowdy.

 
Because Sam is often asked to leave the classroom to cool-off, my concern is that he is missing out on social experiences and classroom activities that are crucial to his development as a 3^rd grader. I think one of the issues is that he is not getting enough physical exercise in school. There is currently no P.E. and the space at Voice is very limited (recess occurs in a small parking lot with no jungle gym and there are very few opportunities for the students to really burn off energy). I think I’m going to try giving Sam more opportunities to let out his energy. I’ve watched another teacher at my school take kids out and have them do jumping hacks, push-ups, hopping games and other such activities in the hallway to burn off some energy. I think I may try some of these strategies with Sam this week and see if that helps at all. I’m also going to start look into P.E. programs at other schools to see if we can get a more solid P.E. program going in my class. Hopefully, this combined with other strategies to keep Sam engaged and challenged will help him better make it through the day.      

Later,

Allen 

Meet Jaden M.

Room 206 is full of character and personality. Over the course of this year I will probably spend at least a few entries focusing just on one student at a time. Today, I’d like to talk about Jaden M. Jaden is the kind of kid who confuses most teachers. He can be very kind, considerate and gentle at times. I’ve noticed this past week that he has taken one of the shy and quiet kids, Shamin, under his wing (often offering his snack to him when Shamin doesn’t have one and helping him hang up his back pack in the closet when he can’t reach his rung). Yet at other times Jaden can be incredibly difficult. He often turns small problems into big ones, refuses to do the independent work he is supposed to do and occasionally resorts to giving me a defiant glare that says “I’m not going to do anything you say, so what are you going to do about it?” This week, however, I think I may have found something I can use to connect with him: Pokemon.

Jaden is absolutely obsessed with Pokemon. Everything he draws, writes, reads and talks to me about has to do with Pikachus, Bubasoars and Squirtles. His favorite Pokemon is Charizard, but he also seems to like Snorlax quite a bit. This past week, while Jaden was waiting for his father to come pick him up after school, he asked me, “Mr. Miller, what’s your favorite Pokemon?” Now I have to admit that when I was younger, I, along with millions of other little kids, jumped on the Pokemon bandwagon. I played the video games and collected the cards for a few months of my elementary school days, but that was over ten years ago. (Side note: isn’t it crazy that Pokemon is still around and popular years later). I can barely remember anything about the game.

Digging deep down into my memory, I said, “Hmm...I think my favorite Pokemon is Jigglypuff.” For a split second, I was scared that I had chosen a Teletubby instead of a Pokemon. But I was soon relieved when a huge smile spread across his face. He was elated that I liked Jigglypuff—it was in his top 10 most favorite Pokemon. The next day after school, Jaden presented me with a large drawing. Amid the clutter of the stick-figures and dialogue boxes I could make out a tall figure that was labeled Mr. Miller and another round figure labeled Jigglypuff. Even though, I had no idea what was going in the scene, I acted very excited and thanked Jaden for the present and told him that I was really happy that we was sharing his Pokemon stories with me. I think that simple acknowledgement and indication that I was interested and excited in something that he is really passionate about has helped me to connect better with Jaden. He seems happier during my mini-lessons and has even volunteered in class. I think the key with Jaden is to continue to show interest in things that he likes. And with that, I think it might be time to whip out the gameboy and do some comic book reading so I’m prepared for Monday.   

The C in CTT

At Voice Charter School, my 3^rd grade class is the only class that is taught using the Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) model. When Mr. Headley, the principal at our school, notified me the weekend before the first day of school that I would be co-teaching with another first year teacher, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was originally going to be the special education intervention teacher for the entire 3^rd grade, splitting my time in both classrooms using push in/pull out strategies. With this new appointment I was to be the designated special education teacher in a single classroom—spending all my time with my 30 students. A third of these students have special needs and a high number have had to repeat a grade.

 

CTT classrooms are often created to strengthen the educational experience of students and provide a lower student to teacher ratio. This is particular true when there is a high quantity of students with special needs. In my classroom, certain students have IEPs that require them to be in a CTT classroom to receive certain services. This can be due to academic needs or behavioral needs. With two teachers, in the classroom the students definitely have more instruction and more help. Nonetheless, collaboration is really key and it can be challenging at times.

My co-teacher is a really great guy and has a hard-working but fun person to be around. We have somewhat different philosophies on teaching but have so far been able to communicate pretty effectively and compromise when needed. As with any relationship, however, we still have a lot to learn from one-another and a long way to go before we reach a point where we are maximizing our effectiveness. This was something our school principal mentioned in a recent meeting and something we have made a conscious effort to improve. 

  

I think one of the most important things the two of us have to figure out right now is how to manage the other adults who frequent our classroom throughout the day. On any given day we usually have an additional 3 adults come in. One of our students, Sarobi, has a para-professional who is with the student the whole day. We also have an assistant who is with us for much of the day. In addition, every so often we have another assistant who comes in to provide additional support. Because it is so early in the year, and we are focusing so much of our time on the students that we haven’t had much time to think about the adults who are there to support our students. I think that with some brainstorming and planning we will be able to collaborate and better use the team we have around us to help our students reach their goals.