The Truth about Time for a Teacher

I have been attending our district's Lit Camp.  It is a wonderful mingling of literacy loving minds.  We are teacher of all grades and levels.  I love this group.  I never feel like ti was a waste of time and they are always pouring something fresh and new into my brain and classroom.

So tonight, at our training they asked us to read this article by Penny Kittle.  It addressed the time constraints and demands of teaching.  The average hours a teacher puts in for our typical 10 month year is 2280 hours.  The typical work year for 40 hour week jobs is 2080.  Explains a lot about why we feel exhausted most of the time.  We were asked to respond to the article.  Below is what I wrote with tears streaming down my face.

It's too much.  I am drowning.  I grade and I plan and I grade some more.  The copier is broken and my project overheats.  I had six questions I wrote for my lesson today and I only made to to one of them.  The loose insulation that floats in the air of the building is giving me the illusion of state fair cotton candy, but has broken my neck out in hives.  I want to do more, be more, for my students and my family.  Switching from my familiar and beloved science has caused tremendous growing pains.  Thanksgiving break is 3 weeks away; Christmas is 4 weeks after that.  Have I covered all of the material?  Did I follow all the IEP's and 504 plans?  Is my RTI documentation done?  I love teaching but there are times I think it might kill me.

Then I think of the kid I had last year that hugged me today and squeezed me so tightly I caught my breath.  I saw a dyslexic kid with a speech impediment recite 20 lines from a play today with confidence.  I watched a boy show his work on a difficult assessment.  I watched a girl successfully find a word in the dictionary.  Those are the moments we live for as teachers.  They keep us going when we fill crushed by the responsibility.

Be ready children.  Tomorrow I will hug you and teach you.  Tomorrow you will learn and so will I.

32 Things You Might Not Know About Mrs. G on her 32nd Birthday

So here is a list of 32 possibly little known facts about Mrs. G in honor of my 32 year on planet Earth.

1. I hated the color pink growing up and LOVE the color pink now.
2. I have more scarves and necklaces than anything else in my wardrobe.
3. I love the smell of old books.  Every Sunday when I reach into my purse to retrieve my tithe I take a big whiff of the old Bible in the pew rack.
4. I have become obsessed with coloring words in the Bible after doing a covenant study by Kay Arthur.
5. I always cry on the first and last day a school.  Happy and sad tears.  Happy to start a new year, or happy to know that it was my last day with my special "darling" child.  Sad to end my summer, or sad to know that it was my last day with my darling children.  Either way, I cry.
6. I love to craft.  Most of the time I have a scrapbook page going at my desk, a quilt top on my sewing machine, hand sewing or crocheting next to my recliner, and the door knobs of my craft room laden with garments needing mending or altered.
7. I have a favorite sewing machine.  I have 3 machines total, but I play favorites.
8. My best friend Jennifer makes me her homemade mac and cheese for my birthday instead of a cake.  I have yet to eat a better mac and cheese than hers.
9. I can't spell.  Despite my dyslexia teacher's efforts all throughout school, I am a terrible speller.  Most of the concept maps in my classroom have at least one misspelled word.
10. I don't like dark rooms.  My husband loves them.  I have a lamp beside my bed and recliner.  I am considering increasing the wattage of the bulbs.
11. I scratch a mosquito bites until they bleed to get the poison out.  I know that is completely inaccurate however I have done that since I was a child and I see no sense in stopping now.
12. I only wear eye makeup.  Anything else makes my face break out.
13. I can't tell you the last time my nails went unpainted for longer that 30 minutes.
14. I only use Sinful Color nail polish.  It is cheap and stays on me well.
15. I love to bake and cook.  I especially like to sneak vegetables into meals and then ask my family what the "mystery ingredient" is.
16. I like sticky notes and my label maker.
17. I enjoy reorganizing things even if my kids/students undo all of my good work within minutes.
18. I like lizards and turtles.
19. I have an irrational fear of being without underwear.
20. I never follow a sewing pattern exactly as it is written.
21. My dream is to create a successful ministry that aides teen moms.
22. I have 4 tattoos but would love to have a lot more.
23. I am impulsive.  Once I have an idea in my head, I am ready to put it into action.
24. I love the smell of lavender.
25. I am addicted to the tomato basil wheat thins.
26. I cannot turn down anything chocolate.
27. My favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz because I find that its timeless lessons give hope and everyone can find at least one character they can relate to.
28. I like bags and purses with lots of pockets/compartments so that my things can be organized.
29. I hate red pens.
30. I will not eat french fries with pointy ends.  If I am in a bind I will tear off the pointy ends before I eat them.
31. My two thumbs are completely different lengths and the nails are shaped differently.
32. I am self conscience about wearing dangle earrings and prefer to wear the diamond earrings that my Mom gave me.  They were given to her by my Dad one year for Christmas sandwiched between two frying pans.

I am grateful to God for another year to love my family, serve the Lord, and pursue my dreams.  It has been a wild year and I am sure the next year will be no different but I am up for the journey ahead.

Note to My Kids before the Big STAAR test

This time of year is like the Super Bowl for teachers.  It is the "Big Show".  I hate that.  It is one day that puts a scarlet number on me and my students.  Testing is boring.  I stare at the same kids and silently pray over every single one of them by name.  I pray that they ate a good breakfast, that they have a snack, that they remember EVERY SINGLE THING we have ever done in class, that they use their strategies.  Then I remember... I am but one teacher, that has had then for less than one year, and they are 11 and 12 years old.  So from that reality I wrote them this letter to read with their parents the night before the test.

Dear Ones,

Tomorrow is your science STAAR test.  I know we haven't talked about it very much.  In general we don't talk about tests very much anyways.  Testing is important.  It tells me what you understand and what I need to provide you more support in.  At the end of a test there is always a score.

A score is a number.  It is not a memory of a lab that we did together.  It is not your complete understanding of science.  It does not define you as a student.  It does not define me as a teacher.  It does not represent the work of your family on vocabulary each week.

It is just one small glimpse into your schooling in science.  It will not keep you from going to 6th grade.  You will not retake the test if you are not successful on it the first time.  Most teachers would say I am crazy for telling you this because this could give you the impression that you can blow this test off.  I believe better of you than that.  I have instilled better values in you than that and so have your families.

Tomorrow is an opportunity to give your very best effort.  I expect and demand nothing but your best effort.  When the scores come in I will ask you honestly if you gave your best effort.  If you can say that you did, then it doesn't really matter what the number is because I asked for your very best and you gave that to me.  Have enough pride in yourself and your own learning to not cheat yourself out of being successful by blowing the test off.  You are better than that.

Furthermore, your STAAR test is over Thursday.  Do not get that confused with the end of the school year.  We have more time together.  There are more hugs to be had, more projects to be presented, more concepts to learn, and more labs to complete.  Show up Friday ready to work.  

I am putting a snack and a note in each of your testing classrooms for you all.  Be sweet tomorrow.  Respect your exhausted teachers and your bored classmates.  Give your best.  I am cheering you on my dear ones.

Love you dearly and most sincerely,

Mrs. G

Popcorn Reading and Mrs. G

I wrote this poem in college in my first ELAR pedagogy class.  In true slacker form I asked if I could take the early literacy experience writing response and respond with a poems as opposed to the essay requested.  The teacher was thrilled with the idea of my creativity and "risk taking" with writing.  I was actually just exhausted from all the fun I was having and wanted a quicker product.  Never the less, here it is.  A very dyslexic's child's view of Popcorn Reading.  Enjoy!

Ode to Popcorn Reading

By: Mrs. G

 

Oh popcorn reading let me count the ways,

The dread of you filled my elementary school days.

Words on the pages melted bellow my finger tips,

And I could never get the words to roll off my lips.

I would bury my head in my books,

While avoiding my classmates searching looks.

Oh No! I am caught,

All my thoughts are racing through what I have been taught.

My hands are clammy and I begin to sweat,

It can't really be my turn just yet.

Okay, I can do it,

After all it is just English lit.

Five measly sentences is all I have to read.

It will go by much quicker if I pick up the speed.

I hold my breath and race through the page,

It's all because popcorn reading has put me in a rage.

My eyes bug out,

And my lips turn into a pout.

My heart pounds and I think of running to the door,

And just when I think I can't take it anymore.

I call on the smartest kid in the class,

Because I know if I popcorn them they won't kick my …

Oh popcorn reading I hate you.