Thank You!

November is quite the month to show gratitude for all that we have.

What stands out most to me this past week was our Veterans' Day celebration which took place on Thursday. Northwood puts on such a wonderful day filled with speakers, awards, and presentations. It's so nice that the school raises awareness for all that our veterans do for us every day, but I must admit, I think I took away more from that day than another person throughout the entire school.

To the left is a picture of Mr. Mishler (a custodian at Northwood) and I. I've known him since the beginning of the school year, and we talk almost every day. But this past week, I learned that Mr. Mishler served in Vietnam, and when I saw him speak to a group of seventh graders, I never know the great amount of physical and mental anguish he experienced so many years ago for Americans across the country today.

The Veterans' Day committee, which I served on, arranged for Veterans to speak in various classes throughout the school day. The class periods were reduced to about thirty minutes so make room for a very touching assembly at the end of the school day. Throughout the day, I asked students what they thought about the speakers. While they enjoyed the Veterans' stories, they especially enjoyed Mr. Mishler's story. He brought many items that he collected from the war. For example, he had emptied bullets, a man-made mini bazooka, government-issued monetary certificates, a helmet, a backpack, and photos. He even wrote a poem after he came home, which he asked me to read to the students because it was too hard for him to read.

At 3:30, the assembly ended and students rushed out of school, but I was in no mood to go home. I had met so many wonderful people throughout the day that I wanted to stay and continue socializing with others. Rather than heading home, I stayed late to laminate students' work and go to the Band concert at 7:30. Rather than enjoy the show 100%, I helped the two music teachers out by keeping the students who were performing in the bleachers quiet. What a day!

Be a Life-Long Learner

Another week has passed. Honestly, I cannot believe how quickly time is going by! Graduation is only six weeks away!! I never, ever thought that the time would finally come for me to walk across the stage, but here I am with only a handful of weeks left in my classroom. Leaving Northwood will be a whole new challenge I'm not yet ready to tackle.


Last week, members of the district's administration came in to observe teachers for ten minute segments. I was fortunate to have Northwood's assistant principal visit my room. On Monday, Mrs. P. and I have a conversation about my observation, and she gave me some very helpful advice:

1. Transition into something new at least every ten minutes with students in middle school and below. 
2. Make goals measurable (which I've been doing all semester!), and use higher-level verbs to begin them.
3. State the goal at the beginning of the period and refer back to it multiple times so that students know exactly what they're supposed to be accomplishing for the day.
4. Constantly be checking in on students' progress and understanding.
5. Be attentive of every little comment in the room. Call a student out from the other side of the room so that they know you are paying attention to everything. 
6. Converse with teachers from students' prior grades to see how you can build on what students have learned rather than simply reteach the content.

At the end of our discussion, I asked Mrs. P. if she could observe me again before I leave Northwood, so on November 19, she'll come in during my fifth period to see how I'm improving. The next day, my cooperating teacher told me that Mrs. P. was impressed with my very firm desire to learn how to be the best. 

I have also arranged a practice interview to take place with Mrs. P. and the principal, Mr. W. 

There's not much else to report this week. We lost two days due to a reward days and a teacher institute day. This next week looks to be full, though. 

Failure Is Success If We Learn From It

And so begins second quarter in District 200! I cannot believe how quickly first quarter has gone by! It seems like yesterday I went into Northwood over the summer to introduce myself to Mrs. D., and now I'm more than halfway through my student teaching. Where does the time go? I feel as though I've grown and accomplished so much since the school year started. It's interesting how you can go to school for years to study teaching, but it isn't until you work full-time in a classroom that you actually learn how to teach. Every day that I teach, I also learn - what a wonderful gift!

Report cards went out this week. You can imagine how much work goes into preparing grades. First, I decided to look over all of the grades I had recorded to see which students were missing assignments. Second, I made contact with these students and encouraged them to turn in any late assignments for half credit - some points are better than no points, right? Third, I collected any work that was turned in. Fourth, I administered a number of tests that were never taken due to absences. (It's unfortunate that students miss school so frequently. I have a handful of students who miss at least two days of school a week.) Fifth, I entered all of the grades into the Report Card (RC) template. It is required that I leave a comment on any student who has received a D or an F. Of course, I left comments for each of my students, even if it was just to let parents know that their students were doing well in my class. Finally, I posted the grades so that report cards could be printed out. And boy did it feel great to have my grades posted one whole day early!

One student was kind enough to pose for a picture with his Haunted House assignment, which is due on Tuesday, October 30th. He is one of my most hard-working students, and his drawing is beautiful. More pictures to follow next week. Permission to take this photo has been granted by the student's parents.

There are two struggles I wish to address pertaining to this past week.

First, I have been working on strengthening the boundaries between myself and the students. Of course, I feel that I have set up these boundaries for most students, but there are a number of students who tend to hang around my desk during class or visit me before school or during study hall. I think the two students that have really caused me to lower these boundaries are the twins, Dain and Jake. They are both great kids, but they are also very needy. The kids often crack jokes with me, which is great, but I think they have taken my leniency too far because they have been calling me "Noon" or "Nooney" for a couple of weeks without my correcting them. I hate to say it, but I've let it go for too long when I should have nipped it in the butt the first time it happened. On Thursday, I told them both that they are disrespecting me each time they do not call me Ms. Noonan. On Friday, they said that I was being mean when I told them that they needed to sit in their desks and work on their projects during class time. Dain will often hang around before going to lunch, and when I told him that his lunch period was time I was able to work on my own, he was confused as to why I was telling him to move onto lunch. I feel terrible, but it's my own fault. I have to work on being more conscious of treating all of my students the same.

And second, I am continuously working on strengthening my classroom management skills. I put a new a new consequence plan into motion because their talking has been somewhat excessive, to say the least. On Thursday, one of my seventh graders, Mikey, was talking, just as he does every. After asking him to quiet down several times, I told him he would have to serve a detention with me. I had finally done it! I had given out a detention just like everyone had been telling me to do! "Nail someone with a detention. That way, everyone will know that you are serious in your discipline." After class, I told Mikey that I was going to call his mother to see when it would be best for him to serve his detention. He seemed sad as he went on to his next class, and I felt terrible. When I told Mrs. D. that I had assigned a detention, she said to make a call home, but to tell his parent that we would hold off on a detention. What?! I was shocked! Mrs. D. second-guessed my decision and overruled the detention that I had just given out, even though she was one of the main people telling me to give out a detention when necessary. Why had she gone over my decision? Didn't I stick to my ground rules and give a detention as I said I would if someone wasn't following directions? Of course, now I feel that I should not give a detention ever again. I am confused as to what I should do.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 6 - Great Teachers Know a Hemingway When They See One: Getting to the Heart of Writing

Luckily, I have the great privilege to teach writing in my classroom!!

Make your writing blow people away.

Schmidt opens the chapter with these mouth-watering (for me, anyway) words: "Some kids love to write. The verbal/linguistic region of their brain is positively teeming with polysyllables and highly polished phrases snatched from the radio, pilfered from adult conversations, or hoovered up during your last read-aloud session. These kids have an insatiable appetite for paper, as long as there's a pencil nearby. You know who they are - the ones who linger in the room at recess time, pouring intense, secret thoughts into their journals. Or write a class play, even though you're not in the market for one" (113).

Skinny to Steroids When we begin a new Spelling unit, we do a 'Stretch It' exercise that runs along the same lines as this exercise. This week's sample sentence is "They observed it." We normally do this on the board together as a class. I ask the students to answer five questions: who? what/which? when? where? and how? Here is an example of how the exercise goes:

• Who? The twins, Bobby and Billy, observed it. 
• What/Which? The twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the bats.
• When? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats. 
• Where? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats from the observatory deck at Brookfield Zoo. 
• Why? Late last night, the twins, Bobby and Billy, observed the vampire bats from the observatory deck at Brookfield Zoo because they had won an exclusive all-night pass to spend the night in the Bat House. 

This is a really great exercise that I use quite frequently in class. The students also have a great time completing it. Some students choose to write an additional sentence on their own, which is great. 

There's a Jewel While I always try to compliment and encourage my students, there is always room for more. I really like this exercise because if I call students' work out, two things happen: first, the writer feels like what he or she is doing is wonderilf, and second, the other members in the class see that if a classmate can write so well, so can they. It is also my goal to maintain a safe writing environment for my students. If I can not only teach but show my students that their writing is welcome in our classroom, I feel that my Hemingway's, Gaimon's, Shakespeare's, and [fill in the blank] will come into the light. 

I have bookmarked this chapter and intend to use as many of the writing activities as I can throughout the remainder of the semester!

October - My Month to Howl :)

I came into school one morning this week and this was on
 my desk! :) My kids are the best. 

With Halloween being about a week away, I feel more energetic than I have all semester! Since Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, I tend to go the extra distance to make it super special.

My students seems to be having a good time in class - it's clear that they enjoy my over-the-top Halloween moods! One of my students asked, "Ms. Noonan? How can I get into the Halloween spirit?" I about fell to the floor, acting as if he asked me the more sincere and important question a person could ever ask. This week, I plan to give him some ideas on how to better get into the spooky season.

Banner and lantern

Mrs. D. and I have done some decorating around the classroom. We didn't go too crazy, but during the week of Halloween, I intend to really kick up the spookiness with haunted music, treats, and a festive contest to go along with our descriptive writing assignment (which I will talk more about in next week's blog).

I am currently putting together 175 treat bags to pass out on Halloween. They are adorable. Pictures will follow.

My desk

I never really thought that the middle grades were anything out of the ordinary, but over these past two months, I learned that I was mistaken. One of my most eccentric students, Nate, came into class Friday morning wearing his mother's coat. He said, "Ms. Noonan, because I was late this morning, I had to wear my mom's coat to school." At this point, I'm trying not to laugh too hard, but then he continues. "And when I put my hands in the pockets, I found these." Nate pulls out three empty, mini bottles of alcohol. I was stunned! Did I let him get caught having them? Did I risk getting caught with them? Aside from the panic, I couldn't contain my laughter at this point. I took the bottles from him and gave them to Mrs. D. Nate then asked if he could please put his mother's coat in his locker. I let him go and shared yet another laugh with Mrs. D. about the whole situation.

I've also been working extra hard on my classroom management techniques. I don't know if it's because I'm a student teacher or simply because we are going into second quarter, but many of the students in my classes cannot get a grip on their excessive talking. I gave each of my new classes a seating chart. I then explained that the noise level has been unacceptable. If not for myself, then I need to look out for the 75% of my students who actually make use of their time in school. I have had students ask to go work in the hallway because they cannot concentrate in the classroom. This is not fair to anyone. I've only had this talking problem for about two weeks now. Before then, there were no issues. Am I doing something different? Are students just getting more comfortable in my classroom? Whatever the reason, I've taken the necessary steps to change their behavior. I've been noting which students are acting up so that if a conference comes out of it, I have sufficient evidence that the student has had an ongoing problem. I also note down the steps I take. For instance, I'll warn a student, ask him to apologize to the classroom, have a one-on-one, make a phone call home, etc. I've also taken another step to hold students for ten minutes from lunch (I've done this twice this past week). The students know that I will resort to detentions if I have to, but until I actually assign one, the students may try to test me some more.

I'm looking forward to the next two spooky weeks!!

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Maybe it's time for me to step back and kind of take a close look at where I've been this semester and where I'm going. Midterm has just passed. I'm halfway done with student teaching! I'll be graduating in about two months (something I never thought possible), and I've come a really long way. But something is happening to me. The momentum that's been keeping me going is sort of fading. Is this because I've been sick? Am I just having a rough couple of days? Am I tired? Am I in the right place?

The last week or so has been tough for me. I've already been sick three times this semester, and the more things that keep rolling downhill, the more lousy I continue to feel. But no matter what takes place, I need to continuously remind myself that teaching is what I was put on this earth to do. And I must add that after reading chapters eight and nine in Schmidt, I'm again reminded of how wonderful the world of teaching is.

Chapter 8 - Great Teachers Are Gossipmongers: Putting the Social Back in Social Studies & Chapter 9 - Great Teachers are Drama Queens: Using the Arts as a Second Language

What's nice about Northwood is that all the teachers work together. There are many times that I've been teaching when the kids have said, "Hey! We remember this from this other class." When the students tell me that, I try to either add to what they've learned from another class or send them to that other class with something English-related. I've mentioned Channel 1 in previous posts. Channel 1 is generally watched at Northwood during the fifteen minute period before/after lunch. Because Mr. W., the history teacher, started showing it during his class each day, I decided to read newspaper articles relating to current events with the students. By doing this, I keep both the kids and myself up-to-date on what's taking place in the world around us. And in the instance when Mr. W. isn't able to show Channel 1, I then show it to my kids during the shortened period.

Many of my assignments require some sort of artistic elements. For example, our first major writing assignment required that we make a classroom newspaper, which I believe is an art in itself. Not only were the students required to write original articles, but they were also asked to compile the newspapers with mine and Mrs. D.'s assistance. They were asked to draw illustrations, create charts, and take photos (which they were quite successful doing). Our second writing assignment dealt with writing short stories. When I created the rubric for that assignment, I decided to assign 10 points (of the 75 total points) to physical creativity. On my last blog post, I included a picture of a locker one student created to go along with her story. Another student put his story on a poster board. His story was about a girl who was sick with leukemia, and the poster board symbolized the ad for a bake sale raising money for her medical bills. And another student, whose story was a historical fiction piece, typed her story out in an old-fashioned script.

I have final taken the role of Lead Teacher in the classroom, so now I'm teaching three eighth grade LA classes and two seventh grade LA classes. In the spirit of Halloween, I have come up with two very artistic assignments to go along with our theme of descriptive writing:

• Eighth grade: Students are required to make a blueprint drawing of a haunted house. I have created my own haunted house to serve as a sample for students. Their haunted houses will be drawn onto larger white paper. Not only will students have to draw all of the rooms in their haunted houses, but they are required to write six paragraphs describing six different rooms in the house. They must describe one bedroom, a sitting room, and a lab. They will then choose the three other rooms to describe, and if students want to describe more rooms, they will be awarded additional points. Rather than having my students write a six-paragraph essay, they will be describing something that they created on their own. 
• Seventh grade: Students are required to make a spooky menu out of colored paper, drawings, stickers, etc. To begin, students will be asked to think of some of their favorite foods and restaurants. They will then learn that they have been asked to create the menu for the spooky new haunt in town. 

Short Stories & Parent-Teacher Conferences. What More Could a Girl Ask For?!

In my dream world, I consider myself a fabulous writer. I'm on the New York Times Bestselling List. I'm a Newberry Honor winner. I hold a class on Thursday nights teaching young writers about what it takes to be published. To say the least, I live in a world where I eat, sleep, and breathe reading and writing.

All 90 short stories I was lucky enough to read and grade :)
It only took five days to get through them all!

Over the past couple of weeks, my dreams have come true (minus the whole bestselling author part): I've been working closely with my students as they worked on writing their own original short stories. We started from scratch. I taught them the elements of short stories. We worked on developing characters by performing a couple of different activities (journaling about characters and visualizing characters). We also spent a day using plot diagrams to map out Disney movies so that students would fully understand the five elements that are crucial to a good plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution). After this, I turned the students loose, and they went to work on creating their short stories!

"The Hurt Inside," written by Lexi, was mounted
on a beautiful hand-made locker she created. The
locker stands over two feet tall. This is a great
example of the product of a student who goes
above and beyond for an assignment. 

In addition to simply writing a short story, I required students to do something physically creative with them as well. Rather than just handwriting or printing out the stories, students were asked to draw an illustration, use colored paper, or mount their stories onto some sort of prop. Some of the ideas my students came up with were out of this world! To the left is a photo of Lexi's locker. Her story, "The Hurt Inside," gives readers a glimpse into the world of bullying and the life-changing effects it has on young people. Here is a list of some of the stories that students wrote:

• "The Balcony," by Brooke (Two young girls are taunted by a young ghost on a third-story balcony)
• "Dreams," by Lizzy (A boy finds out his girlfriend is in a psychiatric hospital, but soon learns that he's the one trapped in Spring Meadows)
• "Crisis in Ukraine," by Danny (A group of students takes a field trip to Chernobyl only to find that the Ukraine government is trying to kill them)
• "Paranormal Happenings," by Emilee (A young ghost from the American Revolution is awoken after a present-day family builds a shed over his tomb)
• "Nightmare of Sesame Street," by Stefani (You can imagine what this one is about...)
• "Letters to Kyoto," by Kevin (A Samurai goes to war, but writes the love of his life letters each day that he is gone)
• "A Stroll in the Park," by Grace (Trick-or-treaters are looking for more than candy this year...they want FLESH!)
• "Some Nights," by Nickolyn (A young lady falls in love with her father's apprentice)

Of course, I did run into some problems, mainly those relating to stealing others' ideas. One student stole the story line from Call of Duty, Nazi Zombies. I'm sorry, but when a man named Tank Dempsey shoots a zombie and a green, glowing ammo box floats over the dead body, I'm brought back to my own game-playing days. Hello! Ms. Noonan is not that old! Another student wrote the story of the three little pigs word for word. I was blown away. Not only was she stealing one of the oldest fairy tales in existence, but she was creating work that I would expect to see in the second grade. And another student stole the entire story from My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. While this assignment was meant to challenge my students, it was not intended to make them struggle. I wanted to give my students the freedom to play with their writing talents and let their stories take them somewhere. While over 90% of the students really impressed me with their work, a couple of them put no effort into their stories.

Parent-Teacher Conferences 

"Welcome Parents," reads the whiteboard in the conference
room. Two of my students, Alec & Emilee (both members
of student  council), were kind enough to do this.

Since I had never experienced parent-teacher conferences before, I really didn't know what to expect. Were parents going to yell at me for doing a lousy job? Would it be my fault that their child was failing? Would parents come in to praise me? How would I conduct the conferences? Am I capable enough to present myself in a professional manner? 

This is where Mrs. D. and I sat for conferences. I sat at the
table to the left. You can see the three piles of classroom
newspapers for parents to take and read. 

In preparation for the sixty conferences I had planned, I did a couple of things. Since our first big writing assignment was our classroom newspaper, I made extra copies of the newspapers for parents to look at and take home. Of all sixty conferences, I was shocked to learn than only about five parents that came said that their child shares his or her schoolwork with them. Then it sank in: These are young teens who have a enough going on in their lives. Why on earth would they take the time to show their parents the beautiful work they completed in class? But when I offered parents a copy of the classroom newspaper, they were appalled by the great work their children had shown in their articles. The parents were also very appreciative that I made extra copies for them (which made me feel really, really good).

Check out our super conference room! At Northwood, many
of the walls between classes are collapsible. For conferences,
we were able to fold back two of the walls, so our room was
the size of three classrooms. Mrs. S. is on the left (SPED), and
Mr. Cooper is on the right (Math). This photo was taken from
behind my table. (You can see the pile of newspapers again.)

I also promised myself that I would grade the students' short stories early if their parents were coming to conferences - that way I would be able to hand parents the most up-to-date grade sheet for their children. Unlike the classroom newspapers, over half of the parents at conferences sat down and said, "So tell me: I'm dying to know what you thought of my child's very long short story!" Some parents told me that they were receiving edited drafts daily from their own children as they worked on their short stories! Because I did not place a maximum amount of pages on their short stories, some students turned in twenty pages of work. How amazing! Many of the other teachers told me that they would have put a restriction on the length, and I completely understand why (grading could become monstrous). But because I love writing as much as I do, I wanted my students to flourish and let their writing take them where it would. Growing up, I was given many, many opportunities to write creatively - I was never held back. Therefore, I feel like it is my duty to let students give me what they will. After all, it's their short story. If they wanted to write me a novella, so be it.

When I gave parents their child's updated grade sheet, I also had extra credit to offer in case the student's grade needed to be brought up. For the seventh grade, I allow the students to complete two article reviews a quarter. Each review (if done well) is worth 10 points. For the eighth grade, students are able to write an essay in response to this prompt: What I would tell America's Founding Fathers. While this essay is required for seventh graders this year (it is part of our Veterans' Day assignment), it is optional for eighth graders. They must do it outside of class because they will have their own Veterans' Day assignment to do in class. This essay will be worth 30-35 points. Many of the parents took these extra credit assignments for their children to complete over the weekend (which is great!). I was glad to see how involved the parents were with their children's academic lives. By forming a relationship with parents, I will be able to work more successfully with students if I have that entryway into their lives outside of school.

My beautiful, delicious, and homemade pumpkin pie!
Thanks, Danielle! :)

Honestly, I could not ask for a better group of students and parents. Conferences were fabulous! I learned so much simply by meeting my students' parents. I was able to get a glimpse into their home lives, parental support, and out of school interests.  And not only were the parents amazing, but the students really showed me they cared about their grades by showing up to conferences. October is Ms. Noonan's favorite month :) And because it's October, Ms. Noonan makes it a habit to talk about how much she loves pumpkins every day! Danielle, a student who I've gotten close with due to our love of reading, did the sweetest thing at conferences: She baked and brought me a pumpkin pie! She hugged me and told me how much she enjoyed having me as a teacher. When we were done with her conference, it turned out her mother was an avid reader as well. She and I talked for another ten minutes about book recommendations for one another. 

So what did the parents think of me? It was clear that I have been making a difference in their children's lives. When I introduced myself to parents, almost every parent said, "So you're the student teacher I've heard so much about." Gosh, it felt so good to hear that! Many parents also told me how much their children loved having me as a teacher. I was so lucky to be able to attend conferences this quarter. 

Education is the Mother of Leadership

Fifth Period's classroom newspaper!

Late last week, the students finished up on their newspaper articles. Mrs. D. and I have been working hard on editing and assembling the classroom newspapers (which took a long time to do). All this week, they have been asking to see the classroom newspapers. It's been hard to tell the students that we were still working on them, but I stayed late on Friday after school and finally finished compiling them! It's been one thing to read the students' articles and gather them into a classroom newspaper, but it's something completely different to see the finished product of the newspapers! On the left is a picture of fifth period's newspaper. It turned out to be seventeen pages! I have an activity planned on Wednesday for the students to go through their newspapers. I will also give students the chance to read their articles aloud. After completing a project like this, I think it's important for students to have the chance to share their work with the class.

Unfortunately, I was out of the classroom the first three days of the week. I felt sad to have missed school. Planning is one of the greatest parts of teaching. So when I had a great week of short story writing planned, it felt terrible to sit home for three days while Mrs. D. taught my plans. When I returned to school on Thursday, nearly fifty of my students asked where I had been and how I was doing. Mrs. D. told the students that I was in the hospital over the weekend, and my students explained that they were worried about me and had missed me. While it was terrible to miss class, it felt wonderful to be missed by my students. Mrs. D. even made a joke about my absence: The kids really missed you. They wouldn't stop asking about you. What am I? Chopped liver?It's interesting. As I'm writing this right now, I'm thinking of my students. It's Sunday afternoon, and I wish that it was already Monday and that I am in the classroom right now working with my students. I've been blessed with a really great group of students. Jokingly, the students told me that they thought I left them like their last student teacher (who, they say, I also happen to look like as well). The students then began talking about a surprise going away party for me at the end of the year. This almost brought tears to my eyes, the thought of leaving them. They asked if I was going to come back, and I assured the students of three things: 1) I'll technically be done and graduated by December 15th, but I'm going to finish out the last week in December and go into Winter Break with the students; 2) I plan to come back and work with the students on the spring musical (I already discussed this is Mrs. D.); and 3) I will absolutely, definitely, and surely be at their graduation in May. I have made these three promises to my students, and nothing is going to stop me from fulfilling them.

Here is a journal prompt I used to introduce character development:
Complete the following story: As Tom looked around at the creepy wax
figures surrounding him, he became aware that he had stumbled into a
restricted area of the wax museum. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise
 and saw... (Who?)

This week will be my eighth week as a teacher! In a week and a half, I will be filling the role of Head Teacher by taking over the two seventh grade classes in addition to my three eight grade classes. In regards to my writing projects, I want to take a look at where I've been and what I have planned through October:

• Energetic Paragraphs - students were assigned to look at and use some of the vivid language we've been studying and creating  
• Newspaper Articles - students did some exploring around Northwood and wrote a range of articles relating to interviews of school personnel, reviews of books and movies, articles, tips, and sports coverage
• Short Stories - students drafted, edited, and completed original short stories using short story elements, the five parts of a plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution), and vivid language
• Veterans' Day writing - students will write poems and short stories in honor of the veterans who will come speak at our school during the first week of November
• Spooky writing - I'm not sure what I'm going to have the eighth graders do, but seventh grade students will be creating Halloween menus using descriptive writing to come up with Halloween haunts and scary recipes

I am looking forward to meeting some of my students' parents this week during parent-teacher conferences. I'm also blown away to realize that I am close to hitting the halfway mark of my student teaching experience. What a journey it's been!

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 11 - Great Teachers Speak in Tongues: Mastering Communication in the Information Age

Not only is communication with students important, but communication with parents adds tremendously to a student's success. The relationship between teacher, student, and parent(s) is crucial. Obviously, the student is the most important member of this group, but when each person participates, the student is then able to excel to the best of his ability.

Schmidt gives us the Ten Essentials of effective communication:

1. Proactive - It is important to get to know your students from day one. If you show an active interest in your students' lives, parents will take note of that and really see you for what you are: a great teacher.
2. Positive - By keeping a positive attitude, even in times of struggle, parents will be more prone to support your actions if you consistently have faith in their child. 
3. Frequent - Keep parents in the loop at all times. Send home assignments, updates, or newsletters regularly. By doing so, parents will be able to rely on you as a strong figure in students' lives. 
4. Clear - When communicating with parents, make sure to be clear in your speech and/or writings. Parents have busy lives, too. Make sure your correspondences with them do not bring about any additional stress or confusion. 
5. Basic - While it's important to keep parents in the loop, it's often impossible to let them know about everything that goes on in the classroom. However, remember the most important things that take place and be sure to keep them informed. 
6. Attention grabbing - Keep things exciting! 
7. Appealing - In addition to keeping things exciting, they must also be appealing. Send home notes, emails, and letters that are fun to look at. 
8. Inclusive - When communicating with parents, try to make your correspondences family friendly. A student is a part of a family, and that family should be brought into the loop about a student also.
9. Timely - Like I said, parents have busy lives. When communicating with them, be sure to be precise and brief. Parents know it's important to make time for their children, but try to inform them in a timely manner.
10. Error-free - As a teacher, you must be correct in your writings.

By reading this chapter, I feel that I am more prepared for parent-teacher conferences this week. I've come across a number of things in this chapter that I've never taken into consideration before. For example, at parent-teacher conferences this week, I'm going to have extra copies of our classroom newspapers available for parents to take home with them. I want them to be able to see how their student contributed to a classroom project.

I really, really enjoy how Schmidt discusses a Parent Preparation Packet. I've never thought of having students and parents filling out a survey about their lives. I feel that this will give the students an extra sense of  importance and belonging to know that we will not only be discussing their grades at the conferences, but also who they are as individuals.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 3 - Great Teachers are Ringmasters: Nurturing Free-Range Students in a High-Stakes World

What have I learned about behavior from reading this chapter?

Schmidt explains that all behavior is motivated by one of two basic instincts:

1. To seek pleasure.
2. To avoid pain.

Further, she writes: "To drive for pleasure may not be apparent at first glance, since most classrooms are stark affairs with very few amenities. To most observers, pleasure doesn't live here. But the pleasure that free-range kids are seeking comes from being able to fit in by doing what the teacher expects - what other kids seem to do with ease. They employ odd, even annoying behaviors, in the hope that they, too, can experience satisfaction, recognition, and maybe even garner a little praise. They're making self-accommodations to gain their share of school's simple pleasures" (45-46). 

I have never looked at student behavior in this light before. While I believe that all students try to find their place in a teacher's life, I never took into account that students might act out to do so. Over the past six weeks that I've spent in the classroom, I've really gotten a taste of classroom management (and how lacking my skills are in it). But everyday, I take what I can from the teachers at Northwood by observing their behavior strategies and testing out the ones I feel would work for me. Here are two things I've tried with my students:

• Paperclips - I have a handful of students who talk excessively during each class period. In this situation, I have placed 3 paperclips on an index card and put it on a student's desk. Throughout the period, when this student talks, I walk over to his (or her) desk and remove one paperclip. By doing this silently, two things happen. First, the student knows that he has been talking when he shouldn't have. And second, I do not have to call this student out in front of the entire class. If the student has any paperclips left at the end of the period, I give him Pride dollars. But if the student doesn't have any paperclips left at the end of the period, he will receive a 30 minute detention with me either before or after school. Whenever I give the index cards out, I have no trouble with my students talking in class.
• Silence - Rather than trying to shout time and time again over my students, I simply stop talking when they are talking. The students soon see what is happening and quiet down. If this happens a couple of times, some of the students even grow annoyed with all of the talking and tell each other to quiet down. I tell students that I have all the time in the world to wait. While this is not 100% true, I do have an entire semester to teach the students what they need to know. 

I find that both strategies work, but I am in no way comfortable with managing students on my own. I intend to learn more about student behavior every day that I am in the classroom. 

We Learn By Teaching

Before

Well, what can I say? It's been another great week in Room 129. I'm still adjusting to running three eighth grade classes, but I can't complain. The kids continue to be wonderful, and we continue to form and strengthen our relationships every day (which I think is the best part of teaching). It's hard to believe that I'm just finishing up my fifth week of student teaching. Where is the time going?! I've seen my students enter my classroom on day one, and now I've seen all of the different activities they've become involved with (newspaper club, art club, football, volleyball, student council, etc.). Just as I feel myself growing, it's been great to see the students progress as the school year goes on.

After

On Monday, students took their Language Arts MAP tests. MAP tests are used by the district so that staff and teachers are able to assess student progress over time. The MAP tests look at both individual students and Northwood Middle School as a whole. While Mrs. D. took students to the computer lab to complete their tests, I spent the day in the classroom grading the students' binders. We require that students keep a binder in the classroom to hold their handouts, worksheets, etc. There are five major sections in the binders: journal writing, sentence patterns, spelling, DOL/grammar, and writing assignments. I graded their binders on a number of things, including the following: Were binders easily identifiable from the outside? Where are five sections (and all current assignments) included in the binders? Were student drawings, contracts, and song lyrics included at the front of the binders? Binder checks were out of 30 points. Many students receive full credit, but even after prompting students for over a week to have their binders completed and set up in a particular order, some students received low grades. After I graded their binders, I put them neatly on the shelf (as you can see in the Before photo). By Tuesday, this is what the shelf looked like (see the After photo). You can't even imagine what the shelf looked like by Friday!

A couple of weeks ago, the school principal, Mr. W., brought us news that because of high class volumes in the science and social studies areas, the district was willing to place a new teacher in the school to alleviate some of these numbers. You would think that everyone would be jumping for joy at the news, but along with the new teacher would come some major changes. The teachers took a vote, and the majority was in favor of bringing on the new teacher. But in order to make the necessary arrangements, each student would have to receive an entirely new schedule. Unfortunately, there was no easy way around this. The administrators were unable to simply pull a few students from this period and move them to that period. Being five weeks into the school year, I spent the first half of the week crying over this massive schedule change that was coming our way. I had already met my students, learned their names, and familiarized myself with their learning styles. We were forming relationships, learning about one another, sharing jokes. I was devastated to learn that I would be losing some of my students to other teachers.

Tuesday was the last day of our regular classes. Mrs. D. and I spent most of the day mourning the loss of our current classes, as did many of the students. While there was a handful of students who I became especially close to, I was extremely upset when I learned that one student in particular, Lauren, was moving to a different Language Arts class. Lauren walked into my first class on the first day of school shaking. She was new to Northwood and afraid of her new surroundings. Instantly, we connected. I explained to her that I was new as well and that it would take some time for us to adjust. Hesitantly, she put her trust in me, and within about a week, she had found her place at Northwood (just like I had). At the end of first period on Tuesday, I went over to Lauren and knelt beside her desk. I thanked her for being such a wonderful student and wished her luck in her new class. I explained to her that student teaching was a very important step in a new teacher's life and that I would never, ever forget the impact she had made in my life. As soon as the words left my mouth, she began sobbing, telling me that she didn't want to leave my class. I had never felt a connection like this with a student before, and for the first time in my life, I realized that I was capable of making a difference in students' lives. I consoled Lauren and assured her that we would see each other often. Toward the beginning of the school year, I learned that Lauren didn't know how to write in cursive, so I created a packet for her to begin working on writing out her name. On Wednesday, she came into my class and asked if we could meet during Skills Lab (study hall) to work on her cursive writing. Being thrilled at the idea, of course I said yes. So for the past three days, we've gone down to the library and begun working on her cursive writing. I told her to choose a book from the library, and we've also begun reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. At the end of the day on Friday, Mrs. D. told me that she didn't think Lauren wanted to meet with me to practice writing; rather, she just wanted to spend time with me. I can't think of any words to describe how this made me feel =)

Up until the day of the schedule change, I had been feeling pretty down about the whole ordeal. I was worried that the new students wouldn't like me. I was anxious about having to learn new names and reacquaint the new students with the way I ran the class. I was confused as to how I would get the students to take me seriously from day one - I already had the classes in my control, and I didn't want to lose that control simply because the kids weren't familiar with me being their teacher. I found a quote this week that really hit home in regards to this situation: "The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; and the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity." Rather than sulking around on Wednesday, I was glad to find that there were many benefits of this schedule change. For example, I was now given the opportunity to get to know and form relationships with my new students. After all, Northwood is only so big. I would see my previous students almost every day.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 4 - Great Teachers are Curiosity Seekers: Fostering Success in Multicultural Classrooms

How has my understanding of culture enhanced or changed by my reading of Schmidt?

I'd like to begin by mentioning an astonishing statistic that Schmidt presents to readers: "An African American boy who was born in California in 1988 is three times as likely to be murdered than to be admitted to the University of California" (77). In this chapter, Schmidt also mentions one teacher named Rafe Esquith who puts the name of his students who complete college on the walls of his classroom. Some of these students, many of which who normally wouldn't attend any college at all, have graduated from schools including Harvard, Columbia, Penn, etc. One student even graduated from Yale Law School. It is a great accomplishment to graduate from any one of these schools. Schmidt's statistic mentions the University of California. While this is not a bad school, it is not one of the top-rated schools in the country. It shocks, hurts, and confuses me that an African America student - one who is the same exact age as me - is three times more likely to be murdered than simply accepted to a college. Being a student in the twenty-first century, I strongly believe that young people are more than capable of accomplishing anything they put their minds to. In today's world, we are given the rights to do what we want. I am close to obtaining my Bachelor's degree, but I intend continue my education for quite a long time. Now if I can do this, why can't an African American from California do the same? It is terrible to think that someone living in my own time is not given the same opportunities I am given because of his ethnicity and/or location.

Schmidt includes ten ways that educators can promote cultural awareness in the classroom:

1. Read aloud
2. Family interviews
3. Graphing Multicultural Overlapping
4. Venn diagrams
5. Home-grown literacy materials
6. Holistic reading vs. comprehension checks
7. News from...
8. Roots
9. Rewriting history
10. Cultural awareness through music

As a student at Trinity, I chose ESL to be one of my two minors. When I first sat down with the head of the Education Department, I had never really heard of ESL studies before. I was told that it would make me seem more marketable if I became qualified to teach ESL students, so I enrolled in the necessary classes. But since my first semester at Trinity, I learned that having the privilege to work with diverse students has nothing to do with money no matter the amount. Over the past three and a half years, I have had many experiences that showed me the importance of diversity. I traveled to Eisenhower high school to work with native Spanish-speaking adults who were taking night classes to learn English. I took a tour of the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago to enjoy the city's culture and love of art. I also worked with a number of ESL classes during a couple different field placements. Currently, I am teaching in a school where over 40% of the students receive free or reduced lunches, come from single parent homes, and consist of many different cultures. And each time I find myself in multicultural learning environments, I encourage my students to celebrate diversity. It is one thing to view all people as equals, but it is something completely different (and wonderful!) to acknowledge one another for our differences and then do what we can to learn from and continuously respect each other for the gifts that we have all been given. What would the world be like if we all looked the same? Where would we be if we didn't revel in our uniqueness?

A wonderful group of students I had the pleasure of teaching in 2011. 

After reading this chapter, I feel that I have been informed of some valuable information that I will carry into my teaching with me. We all have different attitudes toward diversity, and I am grateful to have been able to see how Schmidt approaches it in her classroom. I've been able to take what I already know about multiculturalism and reflect upon it using her insights and classroom strategies.

A Teacher is Better Than Two Books

Okay, a teacher may be better than two books, but if it came to a hand-crafted library, I'm not sure I'd be up to challenge that. :)

How do I put my past week of teaching into words?

At the beginning of the week, I was starting to have some feelings of being the underdog. I am new, I am young, and I am training to do what many of these teachers have already been doing for many years. I don't want to say that I don't know what I'm doing, because I feel like I do, but I worry that the other teachers may think differently about this.

On Tuesday, I was teaching another lesson that Mrs. D. created, and when I teach lessons that are not my own, I feel like I am doing a disservice to the students because I'm not at my best when I'm teaching a lesson that was just handed to me ten minutes prior to the beginning of class. I also felt that the students picked up that I was not on top of my game because it took me more time to transition, ask questions, and present the lesson.

When students filed out of my classroom on Friday at 3:30, I struggled to prevent myself from laying in front of the door and keeping them for another seven hours! This week was one of the most exhilarating I've ever had in my life. I transitioned into taking over all three of the eighth grade classes, so I feel a strong sense of ownership now when planning, delivering, and reflecting on my classes. When the students see me in the hallway, they stop and chat with me. When I ask students to do something, they do it. (Mrs. D. says they do things for me, but not for her because they like me more. I deny this, but I must say that it feels great to hear Mrs. D. say that the students like me!)


The lesson planning has really picked up. It is overwhelming to have to write lesson plans and reflections for each class, but it is really rewarding when I complete them and tell myself that I planned and carried these lessons out! I really make use of the reflection sections because I like to think about what I would do to change these lessons in the future. I even take some of these suggestions and carry them into new lessons I create to teach different topics.

I've been taking plenty of time to write on my blog, but I've seriously been crunched this week because I am still learning how to manage everything. Now that I have taken over three classes, I have just been given a huge (and wonderful) responsibility. There are so many different things I need to give my attention to, and as I go into a new week, I intend to map out the many different areas that I need to stay conscious of as I learn to strengthen my teaching skills.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 2 - Great Teachers are Power Brokers: Building a Culture of Eptness

What exactly is eptness?

Unfortunately, we are most used to using this term in the negative. Ineptness: without having the skill necessary to complete a given task; awkward or clumsy; absurd or foolish; unskillful.

Teachers aim to create a culture that trumps each of these given notions. Instead, they work toward EPTness. In the text, Schmidt discusses what this particular classroom might look like. On pages 24-25, she explains that in a culture of eptness, students:

• Expect to play the roles of learner and teacher. I already see this happening in my own classroom because of the way that Mrs. D. and I set up the classroom's culture. After we created a list of rules and consequences with the students, we explained the importance of respect. In our classroom, we are expected to respect the students just as they are expected to respect us. We also explained that even though we have been trained as teachers, we are not the only teachers in the classroom. From day one, we have invited each and every student to stand as teachers beside us. Mrs. D. and I are eager to learn and be taught just as much as the students are. 
• Share in making decisions about their learning and learning environment. Again, we have incorporated this aspect into our teaching by welcoming the students into sharing the classroom responsibilities and decisions so that each and every person has a place (and a comfortable one) within our classroom. 
• Draw on a wide variety of resources for knowledge.
• See problems as opportunities to feel smart. (I really, really like this and aim to stay consciously aware of including my students in events that call for problem solving.)
• Are willing to struggle to clarify their thinking and speaking.
• Understand the connections between their classroom and the real world. A day has not passed in my young teaching career when I have not asked students to make connections between what we discuss in the classroom and what is taking place outside of it. 
• Use real-world knowledge and skills in the classroom activities and vice versa. 
• Feel they are important to the welfare of their classmates and the community.

I believe that Mrs. D. and I are on the right path to building a culture of eptness. While this is my first time reading and studying about the benefits of eptness, it encourages me that I have already been taking the right steps toward working in a classroom like this. 

Schmidt also lists ten teacher behaviors that are thought to promote eptness in the classroom. The one behavior that really hit home with me has to do with encouragement. 

When I was five years old, my parents filed for divorced. It crushed my little heart and left me feeling unsure of myself. For years, I had done everything in my power to please those around me, to make them proud, but I felt like no one paid attention. I felt alone. 

No student should feel like nobody cares, ever. Encouragement is what drives us. It fuels the flames of our dreams, and oftentimes, it comes from others rather from within. One of the driving reasons I chose to become a teacher has to do with my desire to work with others to help them achieve their goals. Out of necessity, I feel that it is my job to spark the fires within my students, especially those who are having a hard time feeling that support so crucially related to encouragement. Every student deserves to be encouraged no matter what. 

In the words of Thomas Edison: "Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration." This past week as we discussed our journal responses relating to this quote, I explained to students that if they wanted to achieve their goals, it would undoubtedly take a lot of work, but all of that work had to stem from somewhere (even just a little bit of inspiration). I told them that all it takes is a spark. 

I like to think that I am that spark. 

To Teach is to Learn Twice

Go Warhawks!

The other day, Dr. Bill asked me how teaching was going. I think I responded with something like, "Uh...WONDERFUL!" What a silly question, Dr. Bill! Another week is down, and I'm feeling stronger and more encouraged as time passes. I cannot believe how fast my time at Northwood is going. We're already a couple of weeks into the school year, and I will be teaching three of my five classes full-time in just about a week or so. During my first week, I jumped right in and began co-teaching with Mrs. D. Since then, I've been teaching a class at least once a day, and it's great! Mrs. D decided that it would be good for her to teach first period and for me to model after her and teach the other two eighth grade classes by following what she did. This has been working really well for us. I find that as each period passes, both Mrs. D. and I find ways to strengthen and change our lessons as the day progresses. This is not to say that first period is at a loss; rather, it means that I am able to assess how Mrs. D. and/or I taught and then make changes so that the lesson becomes more meaningful, time efficient, and lasting for the students. The only downfall I find in modeling after Mrs. D. is that I am not given much time to prepare for what and how I am going to teach. Personally, I find it best to plan a couple of days in advance so that I know exactly what I am going to do with the students. Since I am not teaching full-time yet, I have not been planning ahead of time because Mrs. D. has been planning the classes. While I am not nervous to teach second and fifth periods, I feel that I am not one-hundred percent prepared, and that is not fair to the students. But ultimately, I am grateful that Mrs. D. has enough faith in me to allow me to take on two classes in such a short amount of time.

My lesson on there. I also taught their and they're
over the course of three separate days. 

In my last blog post, I explained the S.P.I.N. activities that I created to take place during Channel 1. With the death of Neil Armstrong last weekend, I felt it necessary to read about and discuss the great contributions he made to further space exploration. I had planned to talk about space exploration for only one day, intending to end the week with Woodstock news and the controversy over Lance Armstrong's use of steroids. But students showed such great interest in space that I pushed my intended plans aside and created two additional activities that focused on v space, the first relating to the Virgin Galactica (the first spaceship airplane that will take human tourists up to space in 2014) and the second relating to life on Mars by 2023 and it being televised as a reality show by 2033. In my post-instructional reflections, I wrote about how proud I was of myself for creating this sort of mini unit on space. It was also interesting to look at space from a number of perspectives (historical, tourism, and entertainment). As time progresses, I am also learning how to create my S.P.I.N. activities in ways that allows students to really succeed (i.e., allowing students more time to complete their written assignments without having to do it for homework, giving one main writing prompt rather than multiple shorter ones, etc.). The first writing unit that I will be teaching is on Narrative Writing, and Mrs. D. and I decided that instead of requiring students to complete one giant writing assignment, it would be better to have them complete 3-4 smaller writing assignments so that they are given multiple occasions to work on their narrative writing skills. The first writing assignment that students will be completing is a newspaper article, so by exposing students to how and why newspaper articles are written through our S.P.I.N. activities, students should be successful in writing their own newspaper articles. I then intend to have students submit their articles to the school newspaper which will give them an opportunity to have their work displayed and published for others to read.

The students signed our classroom rules
and consequences poster.

While it is one thing to learn about IEPs and 504s in a textbook, it is completely different to see them in action. I have about six students who have either an IEP or a 504, and it is both challenging and rewarding to work with and accommodate these students in class. On Thursday, it was brought to my attention that one of my students, Tom, was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. A number of other teachers brought up this concern, which was surprising to me because I had not noticed this as being an issue. Tom is in my first period class, and he is a good student who completes his work and generally receives good grades. He is also new to Northwood, which makes this issue even harder because he is trying to find his place among the students. During our Team meeting period on Friday, we had Tom come in for an intervention type of meeting. Each of the teachers took turns, stating what they were noticing in Tom. We began with stating many positives we see in Tom - good work, participation, etc. Then we began discussing the issues. Mr. C. explained that one day, Tom is going to touch the wrong person and potentially end up in some trouble with the law. Mrs. P. explained that, unfortunately, there is a difference between girls and boys. Tom explained that he poked a couple of girls in the side because they poked him first. Mrs. P. explained that, while it is okay for a girl to poke a boy, it is not okay for a boy to poke a girl because girls do not take actions like that the way boys do. Mrs. H. then went on to explain that we all have bubbles of personal space around us. A boy's bubble may be relatively small, but a girl's bubble is extra large, especially in the region from the neck to the knees. After answering any of Tom's questions, we sent him back to class. He was very responsive, listened sincerely to our concerns, and promised that he would work better at keeping his hands to himself. I must admit, at the beginning of the meeting, I was somewhat afraid of how it would go. But since Tom was so cooperative, I think it was successful.

Ms. Noonan :)

And I suppose I'm officially a real teacher when I go through the drama of experiencing the first fire drill of the school year. Wow. It's hard to take attendance when the kids are celebrating to be out of the classroom and not paying attention to any single thing in particular. Of course, it doesn't help that I have over thirty students to keep track of. I'm also a real teacher, too, when I'm referred to as Ms. Noonan. Ms. Noonan, I want you to see us win a football game! Ms. Noonan, did we have homework last night? Ms. Noonan, can you help me with this assignment? :Happy sigh: I could get used to this. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Finally, I'm beginning to see how my personal life and my professional life blur together. During the first couple of weeks at Northwood, everything I thought about pertained to student teaching. But lately, if I don't get enough sleep, have an argument with a family member, or lose hours at work, my focus is taken away from teaching, which is currently my number one priority. One of my goals is to learn how to balance teaching, planning, working, and spending time with my family, and it's tough. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to keep my personal and professional lives separate so that I can completely focus on teaching, it is impossible to do so. I will continue to work at spreading my efforts and concentration evenly over the different areas of my life.

While I'm glad for the long weekend, I'm definitely looking forward to another week of teaching.

*Names of students have been changed in order to protect their privacy.

Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers

Chapter 1 - Great Teachers are Equal Opportunists: Capitalizing on How Kids Learn

In Classroom Confidential, Laurel Schmidt refers to multiple intelligences, the nine intelligences discovered by Howard Gardner in 1983. The nine intelligences are as follows:

1. Verbal/Linguistic
2. Visual/Spatial
3. Musical
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic
5. Logical/Mathematical
6. Naturalistic
7. Existential
8. Interpersonal
9. Intrapersonal

Of course, every teacher wants to integrate each of the intelligences into his or her classroom, but for starters, I'll choose three. First, I'd like to use the Verbal/Linguistic intelligence in my Language Arts classes because English classes are centered on words and ideas. Words in themselves are magnificent little creatures, but by putting our thoughts together, talking through them, and then expounding on them, we will undoubtedly imagine many wondrous things. Second, I'd like to get my students moving through the Bodily/Kinesthetic intelligence. Thought to be related mainly to sports and exercise, the Bodily/Kinesthetic intelligence allows students to internalize lessons through motions. Rather than allowing words to convey meaning, students can use their muscles instead. And third, I'd like to use the existential intelligence. This is the intelligence that I am least familiar with, but it is one that interests me greatly. Rather than teaching students what is directly in front of us, we should try to encourage them into deeper-level thinking about themes that are not generally addressed in textbooks (religion, philosophy, life, etc.). 

Schmidt describes 'full brain learning' and explains that before we instruct students to do something, their brains must be 100% on task before anything, otherwise their actions may get them into thoughtless trouble. I believe there are a number of ways that I can use full brain learning. For example, before students can learn something, they must be in the present moment with me. Therefore I can consciously keep full brain learning at the head of my thoughts when practicing classroom management or giving out directions. Schmidt gives us a number of hands-on activities that students can do in class. She describes how teachers should keep junk piles, collections, and random laboratory materials so that students can get lost in experimenting. By offering these options to my students, they will be able to use words to explain what is happening (verbal/linguistic), use their bodies to build and create (bodily/kinesthetic), and ask the bigger questions in life (existential). 

*In addition to reading Schmidt's text, I intend to read one children's novel a week and discuss how and why that book may or may not be useful to my students. For next week, I am reading A Wrinkly in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I encourage students to leave book suggestions with me, and I am compiling Ms. Noonan's Reading List for ALL of my students (not just my readers).