Naked, Bald Trees

     The sign of a good teacher is the ability to be flexible. I say this because I spent hours trying to blow various paint viscositys through a straw over the weekend, and ended up with brown blotches and a headache. I figure if I can't do it with relative ease, I cannot expect Kindergartners to do it, either. So I decided we would paint our trees today instead. Ahh, flexibility.

     I used watered down tempera paint at home, and mixed up a batch that was still thick enough to hold color on the watercolor paper. Since I had already checked to make sure I could use the school's tempera, I didn't bring any extra. (Note to self: ALWAYS bring your own.) Upon arrival, I discovered that the tempera paint supply in the office was limited to magenta and orange, and had been used heavily, based on weight and the amount of dried paint on the outside of the bottles. I found a bottle of watered down brown, added it to what I had, and then after splitting it into 4 batches, watered it down a bit again.

     When the students showed up, (24 today), I showed them that we would be painting "just the trees" today, having learned that if I was not specific, we would end up with squirrels and other additions. We talked about the fact that we had no sky, no grass, no leaves... just the naked tree. And they giggled, as any K-2 student would do when you say that word. And then my tiniest Kinder raises her hand and says, "It's like the trees are bald." How cute is that?

     So I get everything handed out, and the class quiets down while they are working. They naturally finish at different times, so some start cleaning up while others are evidently trying to cover their entire paper in brown. Finally, I get the brushes in the sink (and rescue the ones going down the drain, toss out the watered down tempera paint, and collect the bald tree scenes on the only other table in the lounge.

     After enduring several pokes (two of which were at my breast!) and the repeated question, "What are we doing now?" (even though we had already talked about it it at the start of class), we were ready to start the second project for the day: cards for our principal, in recognition of Boss's Day, coming up on Wednesday.

     Over the summer, I had been given a set of cards for high school graduation announcements that were blank, and so I showed the students we were going to use these to make cards for Mr Principal. (Not his real name). I set up the three tables with different activities, and told the class they could move around to whatever table they wanted to work at. One table had crayons and markers, one table had Sharpies and finger ink pads, and one table had scissors, glue sticks, and some construction paper.
    
     We had to ensure that Mr Principal did not come in, of course, and he was just across the hall from us. Oh, the terror when he came near the door!

     By the end of this project, every table had every item. Yeah, you can imagine that cleanup was fun. How is it possible to lose glue stick tops? And one of them that was returned (minus the glue stick itself), had some blue construction paper all screwed into the cap. What is the thought process here?

     We were able to get most of the pieces of construction paper (I call it destruction paper) picked up from all of the nooks and crannies it always ends up hiding in, glue sticks and tops mostly together, and we even checked the floor for runaway crayons and Sharpies. I have to say, they all (mostly), worked together to clean up so they could go home to their waiting parents.

     I collected the cards in a brown gift bag for Mr Principal, and the plan was that I would decorate the bag before giving it to one of the secretaries to give to him on Wednesday. However, between the huge falcon constructed card, my personal exhaustion, and the need to clean up and take one of the students home, I admit I cheated and gave them all to Mr Principal early. He was thrilled.

     Next week: q-tips and paint. What could go wrong?

 - I figured out how to load pictures... The first one is mine. -

Watered Down Art Club



This was the model... my daughter did this one for me.

Notice the scarecrow? And the heart?

I love the hay bales!



This is the one with a stump and ferns. And a very angry scarecrow.

This is one of my Kindergardener's work. Notice that everything has to be at the bottom of the page, and there is a sun in the top corner?

 

     Just when you think you have things figured out... kids can ensure that you need to think again.

     Our project today was based on Monet's "Haystack" series, using crayons and oil pastels and then watercolors for a "crayon resist" technique. I showed them several print outs of some of Monet's work, all showing haystacks. We talked about haystacks, that we could make them shaped a little differently (Monet's kind of look like houses), and that we could have more than 2... I don't think I encouraged the inclusion of scarecrows, squirrels, hearts, or houses. Okay, it's art, it's their work and their ideas, it's all good. So I have them using colors I specifically chose for the project - yellows, oranges, browns - for the haystacks (and other items). "Where's the green?" one child asks. "Well, that's not a color I want you to use in the haystacks" I reply. (Because we are going to use green next anyway). I tell them we are really focusing on fall colors, to which these kids argue that green is a fall color. "Look outside" they tell me. Well, they ARE right, it IS still pretty green outside. I promise that we will get to green in a bit.

     We get to add trees and shrubs using the greens. "I would like you to draw them along the middle of the paper", I tell them, showing my example. I saw trees in every spot possible... along the bottom, only along the sides, growing off the top of the page, and even where I asked them to draw them in. I also got blackberry bushes, an apple tree, and ferns. And a stump. With mushrooms.

     And then we got all wet. The idea was the kids would use their brushes to brush water along the bottom, to which I would add droppers of brown, red, and orange, allowing the colors to spread out before using their brushes to meld the colors. I didn't put that much water on the tables... we were using metal cupcake trays half filled with water. Suddenly, we had puddles on every piece of art. Some before I ever added the drops of paint. So kids did what evidently is the natural response to this problem - they held up their papers and let all of the water and paint run off and onto the floor. "Let's try and keep the water on the paper and the tables; I don't think I need to have to clean the floor, okay?"  I mean, how do you prepare for that? I guess I am prepared for it in the future.

     But we weren't done yet. We still had the sky to complete, which was going to be similar to the other colors, but only with the one color. And we had to clean out the water left in the tins because it was mostly brown. Which was a new opportunity to get more water onto the sodden papers.

     They came out pretty good this time. Even with the squirrels and houses and stumps with mushrooms. They were amazed at how the oily crayons resisted the watercolor paint. Even though I had promised that they would do exactly that. It was also the wettest watercoloring I have ever done.

     The placemats we fingerprinted last week had been laminated over the weekend (thank heavens for a local Lakeshore store that has do it yourself laminating), and several of the kids were reluctant to "get their placemats wet" or "dirty".  I tried to point out that they had plastic on them to prevent exactly that issue, but again, they didn't believe me, I guess. I had one kid who really could not grasp the idea that we could work on the placemat all term. He really wanted to take it home, and tried several times to do exactly that.

     And let's get back to class size. This class was supposed to limited to 20 children. I was given a new and updated class list, upon which I have 26 student names. 2 names are brand new. Which also means they have no placemats. Which I will have to make and laminate. And I will have to re count all of the prepared supplies. The good news? Today I was missing 8 kids who were sick, since there is something going around. So I had 19 artists. I also had my 17 year old daughter who really is an artist helping me out. She had two things to say afterwards, "yeah, they don't really listen, do they?" and "now I understand why you are so tired after teaching".  We both just laughed.

     Yep.

     The really important thing to take away from this experience is that the kids are having fun, learning new ways to make some arts and crafts, and hopefully learning ways not to do things. The artwork looks decent, considering that they don't have a great artist leading them. But their creativity abounds and they seem to be proud of their work.

     Looking forward to using straws to blow black watercolor on paper next week. I'm sure nothing could go wrong there...

Fingerprint Art

My first meeting with my Art class... I arrived a little early to figure out where I would be setting up, who was in the class, and get myself ready. My boss had left me message saying I had about 12 kids in the class, and based on that, I bought 4 inkpad sets (ones that have about 10 colors included) for the children to use. I figured a few more might come in late, but since the class was limited to 20, we could make it stretch if we needed to. Aaahhh, the best laid plans...fast forward to 25 students, with more parents showing up at school trying to enroll their kiddos into the class.

I panicked. I did. I'm not proud of it, either. The grade K-2 kids aren't exactly known for their ability to share easily. I had three tables set up, 8 kids per table... and 4 ink pads. You'll notice the math doesn't really divide out nicely here. A few of the students did not show up, but the ones who came in last moment more than made up for  the empty spaces... I was frantically trying to get extra chairs, write out names for their projects, and direct students.  I kept thinking, "I am not prepared for this many kids, I am not prepared..." Aaaack! My boss and the principal both came in and wrote names and handed out papers as I worked to get the students focused on the task.

And we made it work. This is a fun project to start the year off, and it is easy for kids to get moving with their own ideas. I had copied off a few pages in black and white for the kids to look at, to spur their imaginations, and they were able to look at my sample as well. We ended up making some fun images, sharing supplies, and being reminded to say please and thank you. They completed the project, and most of them even made some smaller versions to take home. They cleaned up, grabbed their backpacks, and waited for parents to pick them up. The hour flew by, especially once they were settled into their project.

Phew! I have a better feel for what I'll be dealing with next week. Think I will need to get a few more supplies. In checking in with my boss and the principal, they were suggesting that I have a volunteer from the PSO to come in and help with handing out supplies and whatever else I might need. Which would be great. Although once we got started, the kids were pretty good about handing and passing supplies. But another pair of adult hands - and eyes - sure wouldn't hurt.



What I learned: You definitely need to have enough inkpad sets for about every 4 children. Reminding them to use their sponges to clean their finger before switching colors is helpful, but don't expect that they will all remember that every time. Reviewing the "only 1 finger" rule was VITAL!  I maintain this is a good first project, but accurate info on who is in the class is crucial for the prep. Adding 1 or 2 names is one thing... 7 is quite another.  If I plan on taking pictures while they are working, I had best get my camera OUT.  Have all one color Sharpie... or they will argue for the brown one instead of the black one.

I am excited for the rest of the year, and looking forward to what they will produce.

Here is my sample.

Love that the sun has sunglasses on.

One of the Kindergardeners. Sharpies had more appeal for him.

Love the bat!

This is a totally different take on the project.

Love the owl!

Happy mice

The tree is really well done here.

A new school year, a new adventure...

     Yep, I spent another summer applying for the teaching positions that were posted, and not receiving any calls. I don't really take it personally anymore. When you find out that for every position posted, there are hundreds and hundreds (one even had close to 1,000 responses) of applicants, you know that unless the person reviewing potential candidates knows you personally, then you aren't likely to get a call. Who can possibly review that many applications? It does amaze me, however, that people seem surprised when you tell them that yes, you have been applying to jobs, but no, you have not received any invitations to interviews. Yes, there really are THAT many people looking for teaching positions in this area.
     So yeah, the first day of school was a tough one for me, as it always is. I did get to see my God-daughter off to the bus, as is tradition. She is in first grade, and her sister is in third, so it was fun to see the other God-parent and our friends. Certainly took a little of the ache away.
     My plan this year is to continue to substitute in the district that I always have been associated with, and then to pursue a Reading Endorsement... essentially, this means I could be a Reading Specialist, working with kids who struggle to read, a Reading Coach, working alongside teachers to create better reading programs within their classrooms, or become a really awesome reading teacher within my own classroom. I chose this endorsement because I have always loved reading... immersing myself into books and places and allowing my imagination to come alive. And I was a natural reader... I learned to read early and easily, and I was encouraged by my parents to continue. So with that as my own background, I find that I struggle to understand the "how" of reading, as it came so naturally to me. There is a program called Read Oregon that allows me to take the courses online, from many of the state universities. After being registered as a non-registered student (yeah, read that again...) at 4 universities, I start my classes in a week.
     I also thought maybe I would try something different, and volunteer at my God-daughter's  afterschool program, holding a "Homework Club", a place where kids could come and do their homework, have a teacher available answer questions, explain how to solve that math problem, or just give them the quiet space to work.  So many students these days don't have parents at home when they come home from school, or who are able to help their kids with homework. I contacted the principal, and through the grapevine, I found out they were also looking for an afterschool art teacher for the K-2 ages. I thought, "I could do that!", and added it to my list. I met with the principal and the AmeriCorps volunteer (who is my boss), and the principal told me that as a paid employee, I would be much higher on the potential list for new hires when teaching positions were available. And he told me that as a paid employee, I would be better regarded than a volunteer. Finally, a principal who is honest and knows how things really work!  So, they decided to take me on as a paid employee Art Teacher for their afterschool program, and then I volunteered to do the Homework Club. I start next week.
     I am putting together art projects at home, so that I have examples to show the students. My goal is take pictures and post them here...

See you next week!

It's the start of August...

     The beginning of August brings a bittersweet taste.  Locally, school won't begin for another month, but the back-to-school advertisements are filling the television and newspapers. School supply sales abound, and many folks are taking their last real vacation before another year of catching the bus, homework woes, and making healthy but edible lunches begins.  Summer heat remains, and vegetables grow into full size for harvest. Berries and cherries, peaches and plums, the best of the summer fruit, are available in the grocery stores, along country roads, and at weekly farmer's markets. And teachers begin to review their notes from last spring, select themes for the classroom, and peruse Pinterest for new ideas. 
     That is, if you are employed. The unemployed teachers continue to scan the job listings, apply to newly posted positions, and resign themselves to another year of subbing.

     The piece of advice I have heard most often is, "don't take it personally". In the first few years, I was happy to substitute. I got to practice my classroom management, I didn't have to determine grades or deal with serious academic issues, and I worked fairly often. I didn't take the lack of positions as a personal affront. And then I took on a couple of long term sub assignments. By then, my classroom management had improved, I felt confident working with students and teachers and parents, and I could handle the issues that come up in classrooms. I developed (appropriate) relationships with the kids in those classrooms.  We laughed, we learned, we worked together. I became a teacher in those days... it's hard to explain exactly, but now I realize that I did. I graded work, examined my own teaching and worked directly with students who needed extra help. I spoke with parents and counselors and other teachers on how to help my students, how to best support them, what other things had I not yet thought of? I took pride in my student's achievements, and I took it to heart when they failed. Walking back into a classroom a week after the regular teacher had returned to his duties, I was surrounded by cheering students, anxious to share with me their latest news and stories. I took that personally, you betcha.
     I was advised that if I wanted to be seen as a "real" teacher, then I needed a "real" teaching job. So I moved away from my family, my home, my mentors, and my friends for a "real" teaching job. It was a tough year. I learned a lot, I worked 12-14 hour days, and I continually worried about my class. I bought my own curriculum, I searched high and low at hardware stores for items we needed for science experiments, and I gave my all to my students. And I was delighted to do it.
     After a year of "real" teaching, I returned home, and returned to subbing. Not nearly as busy as I had been before I had left, I spent my year looking for positions, wondering what to do, and taking in all of the changes. The once a week Spanish teacher was replaced with Rosetta Stone programs in the computer lab. Common Core headlined every standard, and class sizes were past 30. "Don't take it personally" repeated through my mind constantly.
     Here is my question. How? How do I not take it personally? All I want to be doing right now is finishing up on lesson plans based on my previous experience, and organizing myself for the incoming classroom.  I want to be reviewing files and seriously thinking about how best to approach this new group of minds. When it is something so integral a part of you, how do you not take it personally?
     If you figure it out, please clue me in.

Teachers "get" the summer off? What an outrage...?

     In recent local news, there is a representative in Washington who is lambasting teachers for asking for a raise in pay. She says that teachers have the weekends, evenings, and summers off, that teachers knew they were going into a sector which did not pay well, and that they have excellent benefits.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/lawmakers-facebook-post-blasts-teachers/nYTkm/

     Huh.

   Perhaps she needs a little education. Teachers are paid for their number of days of work - usually about 180 days. I know that some districts provide the option to spread the salary over the entire year (instead of receiving pay only during the 9 months of a school year), so that teachers will receive a paycheck during the summer. It is still the same amount of pay. They are not getting paid for their summer off.
    
     The term "summer off" riles up a lot of teachers I know, and here is why: the summertime is the best time of year to catch up on the latest teaching trends, updating professional knowledge, and attending seminars. Which most teachers I know, pay for out of pocket. The state licensing requires that you complete X amount of credit hours before issuing a new license. And we pay for the license, too.  For example, my license costs $100. That does not include the classes I took in order to earn the license - over $1000 spent there. Guess who pays for the professional development that we take while enjoying our "summers off"? Oh, that's right, we do. Some districts used to pay for the development, but that was cut when we first starting trimming budgets. I have worked with a teacher for the past four years every summer to review and update lessons, units, and teaching strategies. Discussion of what we have seen in class, in schools, and in the news allows us to determine whether we are serving our students to the best of our ability. And as we adopt new curriculum (Common Core), teachers will spend their time off learning how best to incorporate those requirements. I don't think that qualifies as "summers off".

     Many teachers I know spend evenings, weekends, and summers with their second job, which is typically mentoring or tutoring students, one on one. How many representatives spend their "off hours" working a second job which is making up for the lack of political leadership?  I say this because large class sizes (we are talking in the teens for private schools, thirties in elementary, and sixty students and more in high school classes), affect the quality of teaching. Behavioral and Special Education students require more one on one time in the classroom, which is provided - however, with a larger class size, comes more of these students, which means that the other students are left without that extra attention. And so they come into teacher's homes, or meet at the local library for tutoring and assistance. How many teachers spend their evenings with a stack of papers to grade on their laps, not really focusing on their own families? How many weekends are spent planning lessons, buying supplies, and entering grades? Does this representative think that teachers get paid overtime for this? There is no overtime when you are a teacher. We do, however, get to pay back our student loans for our Masters or Doctorates in Teaching, Counseling, Education, or Administration.

     I wonder who paid this representative's access to office supplies. My guess is the taxpayers, of whom teachers are a part. Who pays for school supplies in the classroom? After the district, it's the teachers, along with the parents who are able to school shop with their students. And when you have 30 kids in a classroom, with conservatively half of whom don't have school supplies, that cost stacks up. And yet, teachers supply their students with everything they can provide to give each student the best chance at learning. So teachers spend their "summers off" watching the sales, so that they can spend their own money to provide supplies for their next batch of students.  For example, Dixon Ticonderoga yellow pencils run about $2.79/dozen.  Estimate a dozen pencils per student in the school year, and you are looking at about $83 out of pocket expense.

     This representative is right, people who chose the teaching profession did not choose it because of low pay. Does that mean that teachers don't have the right to seek reasonable pay for their work?  Perhaps if all the teachers became legislators, we would see some quality education in this country. And I would invite legislators to spend an entire day in a classroom.  I suspect they would change their tunes pretty quickly.  How many legislators have to deal with groups of people who spit, bite, have bloody noses, throw up, cough, or urinate (sometimes all in one day)?  Do they have to take yearly courses in infectious disease, child abuse, and sexual assault?  Teachers get to do all of that, and more.

     I saw a post on Facebook recently about some possible responses to critics of summer break, and I think perhaps this under educated representative might need to take a peek at it...

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/2013/06/five-responses-critics-summer-break?eml=Teachers/e/201306018/Facebook///SMO/Teachers/TopTeaching/Christy/

     Last but not least, it is important to note that legislation to re-work the teacher pension system is definitely needed. But when teachers who have not had any pay increases in several years certainly have a right to ask for it. Particularly when the political leadership spends taxpayer dollars with no thought about where it is coming from.

     Thank you, from the bottom of my heart to the teachers out there... and for the people who have a clue as to what teachers do every day, whether school is in session or not.

Money and Class Sizes

I was finally called two days prior to Halloween to substitute for the first time this school year. I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with my phone. So into one of the newer schools I walked, and into a Kindergarten classroom of 30 kids. No, that is not a typo. 30. 3-0. THIRTY. Now, I did have an aide who worked in the classroom... she had other duties until 9:30, so I had the kids to myself for an hour and a half. Try taking attendance and getting an accurate lunch count with a bunch of kindergartners who don't know you and who are scheduled to have "choice time" right off the bat. Oh, and also try to figure out who the problem kids are since the teacher didn't leave that kind of info. Oh, and she also forgot to let me know how she calls attention in the classroom, how she disciplines, etc, etc. But I digress.
What I am hearing from others is that this is a typical number. 30 kids per classroom. From this experience, I can tell you that no teaching ever happened. I was playing a steroid hyped game of whack a mole all day long. Aside from the parade of parents who came in to help (and I had been given nothing to give them to do) and the administrators who came in to talk to the constant pencil stabbing kid, I was in a state of chaos. I'm not sure I can even say controlled chaos. I have taught a class of 28 before, although they were 4/5 graders, not age 4/5. I could handle the 28, because they knew how to behave, what was expected, and so forth. Kindergartners are a whole different story.
So now that the election is over, I am starting to see reports of how much money was spent on the election - you know, those really annoying ads vilifying the "other guy" that we are all thankful we no longer have to be subjected to, and should include travel, hotel, and gas expenses...

Here are some links to some interesting monetary expenditures:

http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance
Obama and Romney raised close to 15 million ($15,000,000). If one was to divide that equally into each of our 50 states, that would be $300,000. How many teachers could work then? And how would that affect class sizes?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/nov/5/virginia-senate-race-tops-52m-outside-spending/
This article by the Washington Times speaks to several Senate races in states like Virginia, Wisconsin, and Ohio. 52 million dollars in just Virginia. How far could that money have gone to lower class sizes and employ teachers? 52 million divided into 50 states gives over a million dollars to each state. $1,040,000 to be exact.

So when we are told that we don't have money, I find it a bit hard to choke down. The money is there. It's just being held by people who don't care about education, evidently.

What is worse, on a side note, is that several states had issues allowing people to vote...  Florida had long lines, Hawaii ran out of ballots... so places hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy were able to get folks in to vote, but Hawaii... RAN OUT OF BALLOTS? Yet another issue...

I realize I am a little rambly here. The point, my point, is that all of that money that everyone complains is not available, is really available, just not accessible for education. To promote self serving politicians, yes, but not to educate our youngest citizens.

Which returns me to class sizes. The more teachers we employ, the smaller the class size, which means the more attention each student is likely to receive from the teacher. The better the teacher can assess student performance, assess his/her own teaching performance, and get down to the essentials of teaching students to think. The more teachers we employ, the more taxpayers we have. The more teachers we have, the more other businesses, local ones in particular, are helped by teachers shopping for their classrooms. The more teachers we have, the more educated our young have the opportunity to become. The more teachers we have, the differentiated we make our classrooms, and thus, the more inclusive.

Maybe instead of spending all those millions on one job, we could spend those millions on thousands of jobs, and affect millions in the future generation.