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!!