Well, ladies and gents, I'm firing up the printing presses once more. I officially have 12 school days left of service with City Year San Antonio and I know that I am going to regret not doing as much as I can to preserve them for posterity. Today's post will serve as a catch-up to my current situation, so then the rest of my posts will make sense to Future Mae as she reads this while she feels nostalgic one night while relaxing with Future Pat on their porch overlooking a secluded glen with a stream running through it. Or whatever.
The situation in my classroom has changed slightly. I still have the same teacher, but after a few months working together and after the STAAR test (the Texas standardized test) had passed, she encouraged me to begin (or re-begin) pulling out students during class to work on ELA things. So I have been pulling a group out pretty consistently from her most difficult period. I take my focus list students, including Romeo, hater of all non-NBA books and knower of everything, and two students who aren't on my focus list, but just happen to be some of the louder, more rambunctious students. It's almost as if it was a strategy. We are currently zooming through the class group-read, Bunnicula, and using our extra time to discuss important topics like the achievement gap, teen pregnancy, conflict resolution, and the history of lacrosse. Hey, they picked the topics.
Speaking of STAAR, all of my students took it on time and tried their hardest to meet the goals they set for themselves (some said 70% or higher) but we haven't received the results yet. I am equal parts anxious and excited to hear how they did. There is a lot riding on the test in Texas, and my school certainly puts a lot of weight on it, but I am really confident in how hard they worked to get prepared for it and that they really gave their best effort.
After they took the test, we still had 5 weeks of school left. I'm not exactly sure why they take it at such an awkward time, because now the students don't really see any reason to continue learning things, even though we still have a month of school left! However, it is how it is, so we make do.
And I make do by playing games with my students. Earlier in the year, I met with pre-assigned student groups on Wednesdays and Thursdays for behavior coaching lunch. Now, I meet with students for lunch every day I'm at school for two out of the three lunch groups to eat together and play basketball and football outdoors. Every day. And I still don't get to take all the students that I would like, because it's only me and I can only handle 10 at a time in such a high-energy, loosey-goosey environment. Today I took 12, and it was a little much. I live for these lunches, you guys. I always insist that I get to play, because duh, and the students always include me. Blossom even picked me first to be on his team one day! Several students ask me every morning if we'll get to play, and I have made minions out of several of them to keep our group in check and push each other to be good sportsmen and wish each other well while we're playing.
Speaking of, one day I took only 3 boys for one of the lunches, and we got out to the court to find 3 8th graders who had the same idea as we did. I told the boys that they should ask if they wanted to play 3-on-3, and the older boys obliged my 6th graders. My guys played well, but got schooled a little bit, but I was SO proud of their sportsmanship. They congratulated the other guys and didn't foul once! One of my students who could win a cursing match with a sailor any day made it the entire game without uttering one dirty syllable. When I pointed this out to him at the end of the game and told him how proud I was, he said, "I guess you're right! I didn't curse!" That's mah boy.
Guys, this is going to be really bad in a couple weeks. I am completely in love with my students and I literally had a moment of panic today when I thought about the last day of school and leaving them. I've watched so many of them grow so much. They make me so proud so many times a day I've literally not been able to keep track of moments that I wanted to record. Two examples, and then I'm going to bed.
One day we were working outside when one of my students spotted an obviously pregnant student across the courtyard. She said, "Sheesh, Miss, I've heard all about that girl. I can't believe she would even come to school." I proceeded to remind the whole group how brave that student was, because she would obviously be aware of everyone talking about her. I also pointed out that it was definitely not only her decision that resulted in her pregnancy, but that the father didn't have to deal with nearly as much at school as she did. The next day, I was with a different group at lunch with some overlapping students, and they spotted the same student. One of them started gossiping about her, and one of the students who had been with me the day before said, "Hey, be quiet, it's not just her fault. Imagine if that was you."
Another one of my students who has had behavior coaching with me all year got hit in the eye with an elbow today, so we had some time to chat while he iced his orifice. I knew that he was in band and choir, but that he really hated band because he didn't get along with the director. In November, I had even accompanied him to the guidance counselor to discuss the conflict he had with this particular teacher. Today, I asked if he was going to sign up for band for 7th grade or if he was going to stick to only choir. He said that he was going to do both again. I expressed my surprise, because of the conflict with the director, and he said that he actually really liked band now. I asked what had changed from the middle of the year. He said, "I finally started listening."
The situation in my classroom has changed slightly. I still have the same teacher, but after a few months working together and after the STAAR test (the Texas standardized test) had passed, she encouraged me to begin (or re-begin) pulling out students during class to work on ELA things. So I have been pulling a group out pretty consistently from her most difficult period. I take my focus list students, including Romeo, hater of all non-NBA books and knower of everything, and two students who aren't on my focus list, but just happen to be some of the louder, more rambunctious students. It's almost as if it was a strategy. We are currently zooming through the class group-read, Bunnicula, and using our extra time to discuss important topics like the achievement gap, teen pregnancy, conflict resolution, and the history of lacrosse. Hey, they picked the topics.
Speaking of STAAR, all of my students took it on time and tried their hardest to meet the goals they set for themselves (some said 70% or higher) but we haven't received the results yet. I am equal parts anxious and excited to hear how they did. There is a lot riding on the test in Texas, and my school certainly puts a lot of weight on it, but I am really confident in how hard they worked to get prepared for it and that they really gave their best effort.
After they took the test, we still had 5 weeks of school left. I'm not exactly sure why they take it at such an awkward time, because now the students don't really see any reason to continue learning things, even though we still have a month of school left! However, it is how it is, so we make do.
And I make do by playing games with my students. Earlier in the year, I met with pre-assigned student groups on Wednesdays and Thursdays for behavior coaching lunch. Now, I meet with students for lunch every day I'm at school for two out of the three lunch groups to eat together and play basketball and football outdoors. Every day. And I still don't get to take all the students that I would like, because it's only me and I can only handle 10 at a time in such a high-energy, loosey-goosey environment. Today I took 12, and it was a little much. I live for these lunches, you guys. I always insist that I get to play, because duh, and the students always include me. Blossom even picked me first to be on his team one day! Several students ask me every morning if we'll get to play, and I have made minions out of several of them to keep our group in check and push each other to be good sportsmen and wish each other well while we're playing.
Speaking of, one day I took only 3 boys for one of the lunches, and we got out to the court to find 3 8th graders who had the same idea as we did. I told the boys that they should ask if they wanted to play 3-on-3, and the older boys obliged my 6th graders. My guys played well, but got schooled a little bit, but I was SO proud of their sportsmanship. They congratulated the other guys and didn't foul once! One of my students who could win a cursing match with a sailor any day made it the entire game without uttering one dirty syllable. When I pointed this out to him at the end of the game and told him how proud I was, he said, "I guess you're right! I didn't curse!" That's mah boy.
Guys, this is going to be really bad in a couple weeks. I am completely in love with my students and I literally had a moment of panic today when I thought about the last day of school and leaving them. I've watched so many of them grow so much. They make me so proud so many times a day I've literally not been able to keep track of moments that I wanted to record. Two examples, and then I'm going to bed.
One day we were working outside when one of my students spotted an obviously pregnant student across the courtyard. She said, "Sheesh, Miss, I've heard all about that girl. I can't believe she would even come to school." I proceeded to remind the whole group how brave that student was, because she would obviously be aware of everyone talking about her. I also pointed out that it was definitely not only her decision that resulted in her pregnancy, but that the father didn't have to deal with nearly as much at school as she did. The next day, I was with a different group at lunch with some overlapping students, and they spotted the same student. One of them started gossiping about her, and one of the students who had been with me the day before said, "Hey, be quiet, it's not just her fault. Imagine if that was you."
Another one of my students who has had behavior coaching with me all year got hit in the eye with an elbow today, so we had some time to chat while he iced his orifice. I knew that he was in band and choir, but that he really hated band because he didn't get along with the director. In November, I had even accompanied him to the guidance counselor to discuss the conflict he had with this particular teacher. Today, I asked if he was going to sign up for band for 7th grade or if he was going to stick to only choir. He said that he was going to do both again. I expressed my surprise, because of the conflict with the director, and he said that he actually really liked band now. I asked what had changed from the middle of the year. He said, "I finally started listening."
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