Exerpts from my TMMS journal

December 14, 2012

The first half of today went really well.  All of my kids are really becoming avid star watchers, with most having watched the Geminid Meteor Showers last night!~ and today I was able to have Ken be a” phone a friend” and answer all sorts of Astronomy questions from them! I was amazed at how much thought they have put into this unit.  Rony asked me the other day, “How long does it take to work for that Space thingy?” (NASA) He wants to be a part of building a colony on Mars. Honestly he has some great Ideas! All the kids are working very hard on their Postcards from Mars and can’t wait to see them hanging up!  I am going to ask if we can put them in the display case.

The kids have had a very tough week; Jerome has been suspended again; this time for breaking a desk in Julia’s room.  I heard he took out a few lockers too.  Word has it that he also had to be restrained. Somehow, maybe it’s because I am not Tootle the Train and I never stay on the tracks, they have been OK in my classes.  A few little dust-ups but nothing I can’t work with.

Deunta told me I was “fuckin’whacked” when I asked him to begin his postcard, (suspensions and absences) cuz, “I ain’t goin to do that shit.” Unfortunately he had to leave…..He did return with an apology and was able to participate in the “phone a friend” asking Ken about what was the big fuzzy thing in “the dude’s sword? (Orion’s sword/nebula)  Gotta love it….the dude…. 

……Then, Cheryl showed me a text she had received about the Sandy Hook shooting.  My first thought was about my Syracuse friend, JoAnn, who is an elementary school teacher “somewhere”in CT.

My next thoughts were of KJ and Ellie and how much I needed to hold them.  I had the same awful gut wrenching sick feeling I had when my two babies were at Waybright Elementary School and the planes hit the Trade Center in NY.

These are some of my FB posts and blogs. The FB page is where JoAnn and I have a lot of mutual friends who are teachers (Syracuse University)

Profoundly sad.  As a public school teacher, I spend 5 days a week with students with whom I have become very fond. I do not teach them, they teach me. I guide them and help them learn.  I encourage them when they fall, to pick themselves up, turn it around a try another way. I laugh with them, I cry with them. I listen to them, I hug them and yes, I discipline them. They have become, “my kids” too. I would throw myself under a train for KJ and Ellie as I also would do for my TMMS kids. An on occasion, I have already.

I have no words to express how, profoundly, utterly helpless I would feel if I could not have protected my kids from the animal who attacked them, today.

We had our first lock-down drill about 3 weeks ago and my "kids" did great. It was routine and business as usual.....Never again, will I ever. ever take this drill as routine and business as usual. I am sure that each and every drill we have, will open this horrific wound. The next one we have is going to be very, very hard for everyone. Peaceful thoughts are wished to all; we all need them, we all have been touched by this tragedy.

December 17, 2012

I  sat in a circle with my 8th graders and reminded them that when they walked through my door on the first day of school, they became "my kids" and that our door to the hall will be locked and remain so until further notice. I also told them that if, IF someone broke through the door, the first thing they would see is the flat screen ....really close up, followed by the rock I use for a paper-weight, the tape dispenser, the scissors and my great big teeth, biting them.....and the list goes on......simply locking the door brought a visible relaxing of the shoulders. I do not have shades for my huge windows, but I am going to break out the sewing machine and make some this vacation, so we can hide better. That also reassured.......so sad that in a community where violence is not uncommon to "my kids," the last bastion of security, our school, is questioned.

December 25, 2012

Peace to all

First official teaching job.....

I can't believe I've made it this long at Marshall Middle School.  I had been two solid years, subbing , teaching and being a para at the High School level, that the switch back to middle school was daunting. When I was in the Wakefield system, I started out,, almost six years ago at Galvin Middle School, and seamlessly moved back and forth as the preferred substitute teacher between there and  Wakefield High School. I was working in my hometown, wandering the halls that were familiar to me and following y father's legacy. The students I first met in 6th grade at Galvin are now Juniors and Seniors! Some of the students I interacted with at the High School are graduating from college! Some go to college with my own children and some have even dated my daughter and son.

This year, I tried something new. I was hired to teach Science to low level Middle School learners, at an inner city, very poor and very socially challenging school.  My "tough kids" in Wakefield can't hold a candle to my Lynn kids.  There was poverty in Wakefield; there was abuse and neglect, but it was hidden.  I developed a good nose for who had slept in their clothes.I knew who was sliding down the slippery slope, after all, I had known their families for years, I knew them!  I knew nothing about my Lynn kids, except that they walked into my classroom, "the old in-house room" skeptical, distrusting, rolling their eyes at the new "old" teacher.Many were conversing in Spanish and all carried a swagger a mile wide.  Ok, I reminded myself that "kids are kids" and that I could do this, I had done this many times, but not here, not Science and not at a school where the students were rumored to run the school. (I had worked for six months at English High School in Lynn, prior to my switch to TMMS.)

I also found out very quickly, that part of the "problem" here was no one seemed to have a firm hand at the helm.  Memos would go out, then get corrected, then get recalled, only to go out in the original two days later.  Meetings were called, hours after I had gone for the day, and I would be chastised like a child, for missing them.  I was forced to attend long new teacher meetings as a stipulation of my hiring, I was assigned a mentor........Imagine, I was shown all there tricks of the trade to help me as a "new teacher!" Hello???? I had been a substitute teacher for five years and had been "mentored" by so many wonderful veteran teachers ,many with  whom, I continue to collaborate!  I have made many lesson plans, followed many units and managed many a classroom of diverse and challenging children. I've written many IEPs, chaired numerous meetings, been to many, many "back to school nights.  This was TORTURE!

As the weeks go by, the meetings have been less intrusive and I have been able to connect and teach the way I love to teach, by letting the kids take the reins and question everything. 

December 14th was a heart-wrenching and horrible last half of the day.  I was helping the kids finish their wonderfl Mars post-cards and models when I foujnd out about the school shooting in Newtown CT.  I looked around my tiny, cozy classroom, and saw my kids in a different light. I do love what I do

When we talk of no child left behind, yet still require all "children" to take standardized tests like MCAS, SATs and MTEL to prove acquisition of materials presented, just how many "children" are actually left behind? If everyone is encouraged to shine their own lights, what a brighter world in which we would live! 

Morsels and Millimeters http://juliemorse-mills.blogspot.com
My Graduate School Blog

Leave No Child Inside | Richard Louv | Orion Magazine

Leave No Child Inside Richard Louv Orion Magazine

21st Century Learning

Everyday I hear people grousing and complaining about all the kids, texting, facebooking, IM-ing....Geesh! I think it is absolutely wonderful! To be a witness to a world so full of changes and technology is utterly breathtaking for me. I grew up marveling at "color tv!" Pong changed the world! Lucky were the kids whose parents could afford Pong! We would gather around the enormous 19" screen and were mesmerized for hours, watching that tiny white ball lobbed back and forth , ponging its merry way from side to side.

I wonder, lately how much of a help or hindrance getting my Masters was.

What an interesting thought, lets talk!: Within each learner, just below the surface, there...

What an interesting thought, lets talk!: Within each learner, just below the surface, there...: Within each learner, just below the surface, there lie many gifts; these gifts are quirky and funny, solemn and intuitive, fresh, insightful...

Within each learner, just below the surface, there lie many
gifts; these gifts are quirky and funny, solemn and intuitive, fresh,
insightful and valuable; unique. Each
learner begins to use these gifts to weave the fabric, however nubby and
textures with bumps and twists, or smooth, well planned and seemingly
flawless. The materials our learners use
to begin their life’s work are also unique, dependant upon their culture,
family life, support systems, socio-economic contributions, hope, dreams and
fears.
The one of a kind weave they create begins with what they
feel most comfortable or confident with.
A child, who sings and dances, weaves in one way; a child who builds
towers of blocks and then knocks them down, another. Children who go to sleep
at night with all their “loveys” surrounding them or the little one who
clutches a favorite book are all showing the world, what kind of learners they
will be.
Harvard psychologist and author of several books regarding
the multiple ways learners’ access and process learning describe these gifts as
Multiple Intelligences. It is my belief,
my personal philosophy of Education that these gifts are to be celebrated,
shared and woven into the unique fabric that showcases the wonderful talents,
strengths and skills of each and every learner.
As virtually everyone has the capacity to develop, to a
reasonably high level of performance, these multiple layers of intelligences, a
more holistic approach to teaching should seamlessly be woven into each
learner’s fabric. Teachers as guides or
facilitators need to understand that all we need to do is hold those first bits
of color the learner chooses, until their work becomes to come together. We then need only to guide and suggest
different threads and stitches that might make more sense or create a stronger
fabric. After all, this is not the
teacher’s design, it is the learners own, unique pattern and weave. Teachers
also need to become collectors and documenters of fabrics designed by their
students. Learners will often reveal
their designs and patterns through misbehaviors and it is these, not
achievements, teachers discover the true self, document and portfolio these
designs for total understanding of the learner as a whole person. It is from
missteps and miscalculations that learning takes the greatest leap.
Recognizing the many layers of learning or multiple
intelligences is not a new philosophy. Plato observed that if you allow
“education to be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to find out
the nature of the bent.” (Plato-The Dialogues of Plato; Encyclopedia
Britannica). Incorporating multimodal techniques into everyday learning brings
learning to higher levels of comprehension, confidence and clarity.
Maria Montessori is recognized as observing that “nature endows
a child with a sensitiveness to order, which distinguishes the relationship
between objects, that makes a whole of an environment,” from distinct and
separate components.
Rather than focus on learning deficits as a paradigm in
Special Education, we need to work within the parameters of a growth
paradigm. Teachers need examine our
basic descriptive vocabulary when describing strengths and
exceptionalities. We need to promote
growth through rich and varied interactions, real life activities and hands-on
projects. We need to insure that we
foster connections with learners and their peers, collaborate with our own
colleagues, and seek innovation daily through technology and traditional
methodology.
As teachers and guides we need to become expert detectives,
determining the “who, what, when, where and why” of our learners and their
strengths and challenges. We need to be
at the ready to offer a steady hand to their loom as they weave through
turbulent times and soar through exciting achievements! It is essential that we collaborate, with
parity with colleagues, Administrators, parents and care-givers to achieve the
goal of opening all avenues, doors, windows and minds to insure that no stone
is left unturned, no thread left tangled nor any cloth cast aside in dismay.
Response to intervention at all levels should be employed to
move learners away from substantially separate classrooms and unnecessary
special education settings that segregate learners by disability and or
social/emotional behaviors.
I see a changing role of Special Educators in that more
districts are recognizing the need to identify strengths earlier in learners
and to foster self esteem, increase the appreciation of all learning styles and
to recognize the unique gifts all learners have to offer.
21st Century learning is an exciting frontier to
be embarked upon and embraced by all, as weavers or the world. Global Learning is here, it is now; diversity
and technology abound! Our learners,
once creative weavers on rudimentary looms, are now able to weave more color,
greater texture and endless fabrics into their life’s work, using technologies
and information that, twenty years ago was in it’s infancy; mere dream of
Master Weavers.
I
am a weaver, a dreamer, a guide and an admirer of designs. I am a teacher.

Weavers and Teachers