Meet Malasia M.

            Malasia: “Who me?” (loudly, with a puzzled expression on her face).

Me: “Yes you Malasia. The sucking sounds you are making with your teeth are very distracting for the rest of the students and inappropriate for the classroom. Please take a seat in the focus zone until you are ready to be dismissed for snack.”

            Malasia: “Ugh. Why you’se always sending me to that old chair?” (throwing her hands in the air, slowly rolling her way over to the “focus zone” and collapsing into the chair with a huge sigh)

            Me: “Thank you to those of you who are ignoring the distractions that sometimes come into our classroom” (trying hard not to look at Malasia as she begins to lick and gnaw away at the desk with her teeth)

            ----3 minutes go by, the class is dismissed for snack, Malasia joins----

Malasia: “Burp! Mr. Millah, can I drink this soda thingy?” (innocently holding up a 24 oz. bottle of Mountain Dew.

Malasia is one of those students who can infuriate teachers at times with her demanding questions, interesting sounds and uncoordinated movement. Yet at the end of the day I often can’t help but laugh at her personality and expressions. Malasia is probably the biggest girl in the class and can often put on a very tough front. I have a feeling that she may have been a bully in previous grades, but she has become more friendly and kind since entering my 3^rd grade classroom. Overall, she is making progress academically—particularly in Writing. 

            Yet today I want to talk more about the sounds that come out of her—the sounds that children make are perhaps one of the most laughable aspects of the profession of teaching. Malasia, sucks her teeth every mini-lesson, throws her hands up and down making loud smacking sounds every time she wants to answer a question, has a very loud “Huh?” when she doesn’t understand something and has somehow manages to make me (and the rest of the class) acutely aware that she has digestive problems during snack, all the way from across the room. 

           At the same time, Malasia can be incredibly kind and sweet. She often asks me questions in the most gentle and kind way possible—many times just a few minutes after being chastised for something else. She can be very kind to students whom others bully or whom she shares her snack with. Yet the barbaric sounds continue to be a problem. In Room 206, we are working with Malasia to help her control her impulses. We ask her to think before she acts, create a checklist of questions to answer before she says or does anything and have even created simple hand signals to warn her that her volume is getting to high. Improvement is slow, but I am optimistic that with more time and maturity she will be better able to control herself and the sounds that she produces. But for now, we try to find (and even show her) the humor in the noise she makes. 

Parent Teacher Conferences

This Tuesday at VOICE Charter School, we will be having our first set of parent-teacher conferences. When I first found out about the parent teacher conferences, I just assumed that they would somehow jus naturally come together and that this would simply be another minor (informal) time commitment that would supplement the work that I am already doing on a daily basis in the classroom. This notion couldn’t have been further than the truth; there is so much more to parent-teacher conferences than what might at first meet the eye.

The central component to the conferences are the report cards. My co-teacher and I spent several hours this week after school ended working through the 30 report cards we had to complete. This entailed inputting both behavioral and academic grades, filling out performance indicators, adding detailed comments and revising to make sure that our comments were specific, measurable and in-line with the grades we gave. I had to really keep my writing focused to avoid writing too much (although the temptation to just write everything on my mind was ever present.)

Having finished report cards, we then moved on to scheduling the actual conferences. The conferences will all occur on Tuesday from 1-8pm with a two hour break in the middle. Each conference is to last 10 minutes. The tricky part during scheduling was making sure the conferences were convenient for the 12 or so families in our class with siblings in lower grades. This prompted a high volume of emails exchanged between my co-teacher and I and the other teachers in the school, as we all tried to coordinate the meetings to make everything convenient for parents. We were able to resolve most of the conflicts after much work on this and several notes home to parents requesting their flexibility.

The last step was the actual preparation for the meetings. We collected writing samples, exam booklets, behavior notes and created talking points for each conference. Doing so required hours of planning and preparation. My hope is that each parent will have a solid idea of where his or her child stands in comparison with 3^rd grade benchmarks, where they can grow/improve and how the parent can best support their children. Yet, even with all this preparation, I still feel somewhat unprepared. I wonder how parents will respond to these meetings. I’m also interested to see how many parents will show up, what kind of questions they will have and how they will react to constructive feedback of their children. In a few days I will hopefully be able to report back on how these conferences go.

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