Love & Logic In Action

A few of my students like to wear their jackets all day long.  This kind of annoys me, but since the primary culprits are a few of my tougher students, it is a battle I typically don't choose.  Today I decided to throw some Love & Logic at it...

(Remember, this is relaxed and smiling through the whole conversation, in true Love & Logic form)

Me: "I noticed you're wearing your jacket.  Why is that?"
Student: "I like my jacket!  And it's cold in here."
Me: "I'm glad you like your jacket!  I like my jacket too.  But it's not really appropriate to wear in school.  Do you think you could hang it up?"
Student: "But it's cold in here!"
Me: "It is a little chilly, but I just turned the temperature up."
Student: "But..."
Me: "Would you mind hanging it up?  Just for me?" (Bigger smile)
Student: "Well..."
Me: "Thanks." (Smile, walk away)
Student: [goes to hang up jacket immediately without another word]

BAM.  Thank YOU Fay & Funk!

source

There was a little Love & Logic later on in my day too...
I got pretty rotten sub reports for the 6 student reading intervention group I run at the end of the day when we break up the students across the grade...There are a few unruly kiddos in that group!  One STORMED into my room at 2:00, sat down, and literally sat grumbling and grimacing to himself.

I walked over with a GIGANTIC smile and exclaimed, "[Student]!  I'm so glad to see you!  I've missed you the past few days."
Student: "Thank goodness you're here." (aka thank goodness another sub isn't here because I might EXPLODE!!!)
Me: "I'm glad I'm here too!  You seem a little upset.  Could you help me get the materials set up?"
Student and I walk over to the shelf to grab the bin of intervention materials.
Me: "You seem pretty upset.  What's going on?"
Student: (getting worked up and beginning to sputter) "Yeah, I am, well, Mrs. Teacher lied to us FOUR TIMES today, she, she..."
Me: "Wow, that's pretty awful.  Take a deep breath.  Listen, I haven't been here all week, right?"
Student: "Right."
Me: "So, remember, I haven't done anything to be mad about, right?"
Student: "Yeah."
Me: "Okay, so you're not mad at me.  That's great.  Listen, why don't we sit and talk for a minute?"

I sit down with him and tell him about being home sick.  Pretty dull, but kids love to hear about their teachers' lives.  Especially really needy kids.  Like putty in my hand...

Me: "So, I can tell you're still a little frustrated.  But remember, you're not in trouble in here.  So let's just have a fresh start for Intervention.  Can we do that?"
Student: "Okay."
Me: "Great.  I'm going to bring the books over to our group and get started.  Feel free to sit here as long as you like.  When you're ready to join the group, come on over."

Before I became a Love & Logic convert, I might have thought he'd sit there for the entire 45minute block, taking advantage of me.  Or that it was inappropriate to not immediately side with his teacher.  Or that I should get on him right away about starting his work or entering the classroom appropriately.

All so untrue.  In fact, he came over to the group about 2 minutes later, sat down, and started working immediately.  He started to get upset again, remembering the conflict he'd had with his teacher, but all I needed to do was look at him and calmly say, "Hey, remember, you're not in trouble in this room.  Fresh start, okay?"  and he immediately relaxed.  Kids like this one need MANY things, but most of all, they need to be shown that you care about them.  They need to be heard, and know that you like them.  This student needed to know that I wasn't mad at him.  It doesn't ALWAYS work, but it works just often enough that it is SO worth it.

YAWN!

Wow, 5:30am sure does come early.  I think it comes even earlier when you've spent the past 2 1/2 days on the couch in jammies...needless to say my body is not into this whole going back to school thing...

Good news is I feel pretty okay.  Head and body aren't achy, no fever...but my tummy is still a little off and I STILL have no appetite. <-- This NEVER happens to me.  Usually when I'm home sick I end up snacking all day long, but I've barely consumed anything but some toast and a baked potato since Monday breakfast.  I have been drinking copious amounts of gatorade though so at least I am ingesting some calories, but gatorade does not a meal make...

Okay, just gotta get through TWO days this week, then TWO next week and it's Thanksgiving...I can do this...hopefully the nurse doesn't have to call my dad again!

Gimme a break...

I just received an email from today's sub with a VERY detailed recap of the day.  I do appreciate detailed sub notes to a certain point...that is I greatly prefer them to yesterday's sub's note that she "enjoyed working with my class!" (lies.) and "the day went well!" (more lies.) but "Mister Principal did have to come in a few times." (ahh the truth comes out...).  No you did NOT enjoy working with my class, do not lie to me Ms. Substitute...  Anyways, the notes from today were far better, although not fantastic.  But no blood was shed which is a plus.

Well, I was GREATLY amused when I read the following:  "[Student of the previously mentioned Crazy Mother] went home immediately after lunch (his mom ate with him) because 'the other students' behavior was upsetting him so much.'  He also came into school late today for the same reason because of the day yesterday."

Give. me. a. break.  In what corner of the UNIVERSE is it appropriate to a) Come into your child's FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOM to eat lunch sitting with him at his desk?  Seriously, um, deranged??  b) Allow your child to go into school late, missing valuable instructional time, because some of the students were off task the day before?  And c) pull your child out of school 2 hours early for the same reason?  Seriously, that should be illegal.  Oh wait, I believe that keeping your child out of school IS illegal...crazy, crazy, crazy.

I absolutely cannot WAIT to listen to the voicemail(s) awaiting me in the morning, explaining why it was simply NECESSARY that her precious baby not be around those unruly children, and letting me know that it is somehow MY fault that the students were behaving like that...Honey, just WAIT until your child is 35, still living in your basement, and telling you that everyone at work is "upsetting him too much" and that he needs you to come into work to eat with him in the break room...oh wait, you'll probably love that.

^I really do apologize.  That was completely inappropriate and unprofessional.  But I have been laying on the couch for 53 hours and believe I have at least some right to be a little crabby.  I mean honestly.  I am officially grossed out by this family...

Sick Days #4 & #5

You may have noticed that I've been sick an awful lot this year...it would appear that while I am in better SPIRITS this year than during year 1, my body is not such a fan of the whole work thing lately.  You would think that since I am actually putting in less hours at school, getting more sleep, and am on average less stressed-out than last year, I would be healthier.  You would be wrong.

It was all going fine until around 8am Monday...already at school, I started feeling a little iffy.  Just not quite right.  This continued all morning, until during math I actually stopped my teaching, assigned a practice page, and sat down.  At lunch, I went to my car to lay down in peace.  (I know, pathetic)  All afternoon I progressively felt weaker until at 2:15 I walked next door to Mrs. P's room and informed her that I felt a little light-headed.  She took one look at me and walked me down to the nurse's office, who called my dad.  Who drove to school and picked me up.  I'm 23, btw, and the school nurse is still calling my dad.  Some things never change I guess?

I was pretty miserable Monday night and all day yesterday with awful achy muscles, chills, fever, and headaches.  I tested negative for the flu at the doctor, but that meant that all I could do was rest and wait it out.  Thankfully, I am feeling much better today, although my temp is still hovering around 99...I swear if it hits 100 and I can't go to school tomorrow again, I will kill someone.  I am out of activities for subs to have my monkeys do!!!

They certainly gave yesterday's sub a run for her money, as I heard from multiple teachers and the social worker...I think I can pretty much sum things up by saying she was small, soft-spoken, and wearing a tucked-in flannel shirt.  I know, that sounds mean, but she never had a prayer against my quick-to-judge monsters!!!  Yikes!  Thankfully, today's sub seemed to have her act together and I got a really positive email from her after school.  Hopefully the room is not quite as messy tomorrow as it was this morning when I stopped in to set up!

Man, if only I had a job where you could just call in sick and go back to bed, knowing all of your work would still be waiting for you the next day...now, we've missed two days of real instruction (3 if you could the half-assed teaching I did Monday), which puts us behind, which means we likely WON'T wrap up the units I'd hoped before Thanksgiving break...oh well, so it goes.  We will endure.  For now, though, it's time to relish the last of my sick day (hopefully my last one of the year...man, to think it's not even winter yet...), and start thinking about some plans for tomorrow...

Running Shoe Woes

New Kicks

This is the story of my year-long attempts at buying good running shoes, that (hopefully) FINALLY came to fruition this afternoon.  Last fall I picked up a pair of Asics running shoes at Kohls one evening after school on sale.  I didn't put a whole lot of thought into them--I'll admit that I picked a pair that looked cute (I know, I know...) and felt alright!  However, after wearing them at school the next day, I HATED them because they were rubbing my right ankle bone like crazy!  Obviously they went back to the store soon after.  (Well, actually they sat in the box in my room until June when I finally returned them.  Thank you, Kohls, for having the loosest return policy ever!!!)

Anyways, after failing at choosing shoes on my own, and after I decided that a half-marathon was in my near future, I took the matter to the experts.  I visited my friendly local running store and asked them to put me in the shoes that would be right for me.  They told me that I over-pronate (walking in on your arches) and sold me a motion-control shoe to stabilize my feet when I run.  Okay, wrap them up!  I wore them for two days before having the same problem with my ankle bone again.  So weird, because I've never felt that in shoes until the past year.  I was able to fix that by lacing them a little differently, and the shoes felt great.  For awhile...

In early August I felt that CRIPPLING pain in my shin that ended up being a tibial stress fracture (which I won't bore you about anymore, I promise!!).  Since I hadn't upped my mileage or changed ANYTHING about my running (distance, surface, etc.) other than the shoes, I attribute the injury at least partially to the fact that I was put in motion control shoes after running for years in neutral (regular) shoes.  Oh dear...Running Store, you led me SO very astray!!!  Anyways, the shoes were packed up in the box and stuck in the corner of my bedroom for a few months...

Today I finally dusted off the box and headed back to the running store.  While they didn't automatically agree with me that the shoes caused that problem, they did agree to exchange them for a neutral shoe.  The sales person who was fitting me though DID look at my gait (watch me walk) and was surprised that I'd been put in motion control shoes in the first place, since she didn't think I was pronating too terribly much.  *shakes head* Man, to think that just a different sales person back in July could have prevented the past 4 months of tibia drama!

In any case, these are my new Nike ZOOM Vomero shoes.  They feel great just walking around the house, but I hope they feel as good when I run in them.  I'm taking off running for a little longer, until I can get back to the orthopedist, but am looking forward to trying them out on a walk sometime this week.  Phew.  Hopefully I have NO MORE posts about the agonies of running shoe shopping, and that these shoes last me for at least awhile!

More Journal Gems

I made a BIG mistake of collecting all 24 journals at once this weekend to read and respond to...and an even bigger mistake of waiting until Sunday evening to start reading through them all...*shakes head* will I never learn?  I always say I'm going to collect a few each day, but between me forgetting to ask for them and students forgetting to turn them in when I DO ask, it doesn't exactly happen.  Any suggestions on how I can space them out better are welcome!

Of course, though, there were a few gems that I just had to take pictures of...unfortunately they are both from a student who writes pretty lightly so the pics didn't turn out too well, but here they are anyways.

Brings you band-aides, brings you chalk, thinks of fun games...the hallmarks of a true friend.  :)  God, I freakin' love kids sometimes!!!  Adorable.

This one just cracked me up!  She definitely has things planned out!  I love it.  And in response, I'm living my dream career!

Sweet Sunday

I have been L A Z Y this weekend!!!  After being up so early for GOTR yesterday, when I made it home from a lunch date I had with my aunt after the race, I pretty much collapsed on the couch and bummed around all evening.  Then, I slept super late this morning (emerging from bed only for PB toast...).  Needless to say, I feel REFRESHED, albeit LAZY.  And now I am off to Corner Bakery to grab lunch and settle in with my lesson plans.  I don't get anything done at home, and I feel like trying a new school work location (usually I like working at Caribou).  Also on the agenda today is return shoes I impulse bought last weekend, restock on my favorite food items at Trader Joe's, and stop at the library.  Let's hope that I get all of those things checked off my to-do list so I can start the week relaxed and ready to go.

Baby, just look at us now!

I caught up with my 2nd year teacher soul sister from my building this evening on the phone--for teaching in the same building, we haven't seen much of each other at all lately.  It's been a couple busy weeks in a row, so it was nice to compare notes and chat without glancing at the clock every 30 seconds to see how much more time was left in the lunch period.  We started talking about how rough October and November of last year were.  I believe her exact words were that last October she used to "lay in bed and cry" most nights.   I decided to go back and look at my posts from this past week in 2009, and reread this one:

November 9, 2009

I want to quit.  I can't remember any of the reasons I got into teaching anymore, 

and I just don't know if it's worth it.  I just need one thing to go right tomorrow.

I can't handle this.

^And I meant it, too.  This time last year, I remember thinking about how many months were left until summer, and feeling like there was no way in hell I would make it through.  It seemed impossible.  That day was a real low point.  My whole life I have known I would be a teacher; I think sometimes that this profession chooses you, not the other way around.  So it honestly felt like my world was crumbling...this job I'd dreamed about for years, not only was I finding that maybe I was BAD at it, but I hated it.  HATED it.  And could not imagine coming back another DAY, much less a week, the school year, or year after year to come.


Let me be clear: This year is no picnic.  I have tough kids, I lose my patience, I still yell.  I do my best, but there are many days I know I could have and should have done better.  I get frustrated still.  But at no time this year, for a single moment or even a split second have I thought, "I will not make it through this," or, "I want to quit."  And this is something to be very happy about.  

This year I feel like myself again.  I am not a perfect teacher, but right now, I am excited to keep learning, growing, and most of all, to keep teaching.  

This picture is actually from student teaching:

Playing a science game, to be precise!

Oh Girls on the Run, where have you been all my life???

This morning I rolled outta bed at the ungodly hour of 4:50am, ate a quick breakfast, and jumped in my car by 5:20.  On a Saturday.  Why, you ask?  To volunteer at the Girls on the Run Chicago Fall 5K, duh!!!  I decided that volunteering at the race was a good first step to getting to know more about GOTR and starting it at my school in the future.  While I was bummed that I couldn't run in the race (I learned that it's not a closed event--anyone can register and run) because of my NEVER ENDING injury nonsense, my experience volunteering was fantastic.  Here's the recap...

Rolled into the parking lot of Toyota Park, home of the Chicago Fire at 6:20am, just in time to see a GORGEOUS pink sunrise!  I immediately got to work at the Coaches Only Tent, helping organize goody bags, water bottles, and bags of tiaras.  (<--sigh.  Why was this program not around when I was 9???)  Soon after, coaches began trickling in and we got them set up with packs of bib numbers and tiaras for their girls.  It was pretty busy up until the start of the race, but I had plenty of time to get excited as bus loads of girls started arriving, decked out in GOTR t-shirts, running tights, and HUGE excited smiles.  It was pretty freaking cute.

The race itself started around 9.  Here is a list of some of my favorite things about this race: tween pop music playing the entire time, all of the girls sporting a #1 on their race bibs, NO chip timing/race clock (because for the girls, it's just about the fun of the run, NOT winning/losing), seeing the girls run with their "running buddy" (an adult, usually a parent, who signs up to run the whole race with their girl), the huge smiles of the girls, running in tiaras, and oh so many more things.

Since our tent was involved in pre- and post-race activities, we got to stand and cheer on the runners for pretty much the entire race.  Let me tell you, there is nothing like seeing a 10 year old girl ready to pass out at mile 3 (Seriously, when I was 10, i could barely make it through the Mile in PE...), giving her a huge cheer, and seeing her smile and start running again.  Also, there is pretty much nothing like seeing dads running holding hands with their daughters.  Obviously, I had a few tears...shocking, right? ;)

It was a great experience to be a part of, and I left with a single thought on my mind: I NEED to start this at my school!!!!!

There be dragons

I get a lot of inventive spelling on student work...with all of our time spent trying to boost test scores, certain things like spelling have kind of fallen to the wayside... Combine that with messy handwriting, and it can be a bit of a challenge deciphering WHAT the heck they are writing.  But once in awhile, I get a true gem...

Question: "What are two reasons why Jose Manuel's grandmother would not let him out to play?"

Student Answer: "Jose Manuel's grandmother would not let him out to play, because the steer [street] where [was] to dragons.  and to many fast cars."

I seriously read it, and read it, and reread it...and thought, "How could DRAGONS possibly have entered into this story??"  It's a realistic fiction, set in San Juan.  Today I brought over the worksheet and asked him to read me the answer.  Turns out Dragons was actually Dangerous.  Makes MUCH more sense now.  I had him chunk the word he actually wrote and he realized it really said "dragons," and needless to say we both had a pretty good laugh.  I just couldn't let him erase it though so I could snag a picture of this gem.

Please know that in no way to I mean this to make fun of this child--I love him like crazy!  And part of what I love about this job are the smiles I get to share with students.