Summary of Chapter 1: Christian Teachers in Public Schools

So I know this has nothing to do specifically with WBT, but since it is my blog I can write pretty much what I want, right? I will write later about WBT for the upcoming year though.

I bought Christian Teachers in Public Schools: 13 Essentials for the Classroom because I was struggling on how to show love to some of the student personalities I consistently come across. You know the ones...mad at the whole world but for whatever reason decide to take it out on just you. I know my actions don't always demonstrate a WWJD manner. Also, I was reading  WBT blog where the author wrote a response to each chapter of Chris Biffle's new WBteaching book published by Amazon. So I decided to emulate the way she documented her readings.

Prayer is the essential to Christian life. I  mean how can I become more like God if I don't talk and listen to Him? Chapter 1 is about Learning to Pray. I was able to gather some specifics on what to pray for my students.

1. Pray for me to have caring interactions with my students so that they may see Christ through me. Not simple huh? Hard to show Christ's love to someone for the hundredth time disobeyed you and challenges you to even look at them with "the teacher look." How can I react, redirect, and possibly discipline or punish in a way that the child can still see God's love through me?

2. Advertise a "Prayer Walk" and ask teachers to e-mail or submit on a sheet of paper specifics so when I come to their classroom door I have something specific to pray for. Explain also that their requests will remain confidential. Through this I will be a witness also to the teacher/ administrator body.

3. Pray specifics for students. This I have done for the past few years. I also have asked students if they wanted me to to come by during Extended Learning and I will pray with them. I have had students come by. What a true honor for me to pray with a child. There also has been two incidences where I have stopped teaching and had everyone bow their heads and I have prayed aloud. There are tooooooo many children out there who do not attend church, attend and don't pay any attention, and come from houses and not homes.

I loved when the author said that "We face needy children and new challenges for which human resources are simply not enough." So true. Teachers are constantly having more and more added to their plates with nothing being removed. Plates are full and over running with all the haveto, mustdods, and needtobedones. Only other teachers can understand the pressure. Doctors can walk away from patients. Lawyers can close their doors. Architects work until the project is completed and then breathe for a while. Teaching does not afford such. We can not simply turn out our lights at the end of a school day and go home. We have papers to grade. Students to worry about. Lesson plans to tweak. Our projects do not end. We are like a continuous wave in the ocean: at times large, other times small but always moving. I know of no other profession as difficult as teaching, which is why I know I need God more in the classroom. The more I give over me the more He will be in control. The more He is in control the less I stress.

It is great that there is WBT out there. It contains so many great ideas and improvements for my classroom. However, without God's guidance even WBT isn't enough to reach children on the academic, emotional, and spiritual level. Teachers are always looking for the right tools to implement in the classroom to help with student engagement, classroom management, and reduce teacher stress. Prayer should be at the top of the list.

Change....January 1, 2013

So many changes have occurred since my last post. Of course, since the last post was in August, there should have been some changes.

Most of my students bought into Class-Yes! but were becoming a little bored.  I did well with lower my voice to a whisper for them to mimic me, but other voices I am seriously uncomfortable with.  However, when my new class came along about 9 weeks into the school year, I simply just didn't feel like or have the time to "train" them.With all the common core and my alter "perfectionist" persona, I also begin to struggle with even remembering Class-Yes! I always push my students and myself. With common core implementation I am wanting my students to meet and surpass the standards with minimal effort. AND, guess what? Yep, seventh graders just aren't buying it! Mostly, they just are not academically motivated. They are happy to pass. They do not want to take their knowledge to a higher level. Thankfully they are not high in the misbehavior department.

The scoreboard never took off for me in the classroom. I tried all the possible/ suggested ways and a few of my own. I think so many of my students have either (a) burned out on any type of reward because last year they were rewarded for everything or (2) are apathetic to most positive motivation. After 20+ years of classroom management being done one way, it sure is hard to make a consistent change. The scoreboard is still up (I tried to erase it before Christmas Break and the ink is dried to the board!). Maybe I will try it again...or wait until next year.

Mentioning next year, I was informed that I will be teaching eighth grade next year.  My principal really liked me implementing Genius Ladder. We call it the Genius Paragraph since we are in middle school. So new common core, new textbooks, BUT the same students. So I am being careful with what I use for presentations because I do not want a repeat for the students next year.

Another change was the school dropped a couple of teachers because our numbers did not qualify us for the number of teachers. So no longer do I teach language and reading but only language. Now if you don't know common core doesn't differentiate. Reading and language go hand in hand. Also, once my classes had settled down ( We have a lot of transition until September), and I had learned just about everyone's name, I received a whole new class of 30 students!  Initially, the students were bucking me and my ways because I am "old" school. Naturally, they wanted to return to their former teacher. Secretly, I wanted them to return also! Time was cut by 15 minutes in all classes. Stressful because now I teach only language arts, yet I help with the lesson planning for the reading also since the teacher has NEVER taught middle school (and shhhhh!doesn't want to learn)

Finally on a personal level my husband's 3rd vertebrate has slipped and we have been driving almost every other month to a hospital 3 hours away for various tests etc. to convince insurance that the only solution is surgery. That or him living with his head chopped off!

Now a reflection on the words "on a personal level". Exactly what effective teacher out there has a personal life during a school year?

I have done a couple of wholebrain implementations with a little twist. I will talk about at least one of them this weekend. Don't want to share without pictures.

Have you tried http://www.learnzillion.com ? Great site offerring support for common core teaching! AND, as always meeting my standard...... FREE!