Life In Notes

One of my favorite weeks is Reading Week.  Reading Week has been a little different the last few years due to COVID and restrictions on visitors, etc.  This year, the administration did a fantastic job bringing in guest readers, having a Bingo For Books event, having a book fair and creating time to Drop Everything And Read. In Room 207, we had FOUR guest readers.  Everyone from a former sports writer, to an educational leader in Providence Schools, to an on-air DJ to the father of one of our administrators. Each time we had a visitor, the students listened, asked questions about the book...then asked questions about their lives.  To meet these four amazing people and hear their stories (and how they use reading in their lives) was a treat for the class. Una de mis semanas favoritas es la Semana de la Lectura. La Semana de la lectura ha sido un poco diferente en los últimos años debido a COVID y restricciones a los visitantes, etc. Este año, la administración hizo un...

  Resolve - as in to solve; to find an answer for through reasoning As in...one of my favorite parts of teaching is watching the resolve of some of my students.  A few years ago I was fascinated that one of my multilingual learners in my class was writing an entire essay in Spanish, then putting it through Google Translate to get it into English (which is the opposite of what I do with this blog). The photo above is from a student that was having difficulty remembering what his prime and composite numbers were...so he pulled up a list of prime numbers and split his screen so that he would be able to use it as a reference. Is it cheating?  No.  It is finding a reference and leaning on it until you remember it.  There is a good possibility that this student will remember their prime and composite numbers better than most because this reference is staring them in the face. That is resolve.  Resolver - como en resolver; encontrar una respuesta a través del raz...

Those times happen.   When you are just not feeling it. This is one of those times. The end. Esos tiempos pasan. Cuando simplemente no lo sientes. Éste es uno de esos momentos. El fin.

  Why do teachers have so much time off? The answer...  We don't.  It may seem like it as there are breaks and we are off for the summer, holidays, etc.  But, the truth is that teachers are always working.  There is planning.  There is grading.  There is thinking...  SO. MUCH. THINKING.  Thinking about how to solve problems.  Thinking about how to reach a student.  Thinking about getting a student the additional support they need.  Thinking about how to speak to a parent (or fellow teacher or administrator) about an issue.  Thinking about learning targets.  Thinking about classroom management.  Thinking about how to best utilize your time.  The list goes on and on and on. It is brutal. I worked for years at a desk job in an office.  I would come up with ideas, have meetings, send emails, track sales, etc.  I would also sit down all day.  Most of my day felt like a break. Now... I am constantly...

  My favorite shirt of the year on one of my favorite students. Every day should be a "Be Kind Kind Of Day". Wouldn't the world be such a better place if everyone stopped to be kind to others? Mi camiseta favorita del año en uno de mis estudiantes favoritos. Cada día debe ser un "Día de ser amable". ¿No sería el mundo un lugar mejor si todos dejaran de ser amables con los demás?

  This is what I wanted my winter break to look like. Así es como quería que fueran mis vacaciones de invierno. This is what it really looked like. Esto es lo que realmente parecía. And I wonder why I never feel rested... Y me pregunto por qué nunca me siento descansado...

Valentine's Day.  Otherwise known as the day for kids to have an excuse to eat candy and have their hearts broken. There was so much candy around in the class that if I didn't let the students know that they couldn't eat it in school...I would have had to get them down off the walls. I also had a student that spent the whole day sad because they didn't have a Valentine.  I explained to them that at nine and ten years old, all of the students in the class should only have their parents as their Valentines'. Growing up is tough enough.  They don't need to start in the world of romance any earlier than necessary. Día de San Valentín. También conocido como el día en que los niños tienen una excusa para comer dulces y que les rompan el corazón. Había tantos dulces en la clase que si no les hubiera dicho a los estudiantes que no podían comerlos en la escuela... habría tenido que bajarlos de las paredes. También tuve un alumno que se pasó todo el día triste porque no t...