Treating Students Equally

This is in response to: When Students Feel Too Equal: Part one of a possible series on dealing with boundaries at Equality 101!

As a teacher, one of my main goals is to reach every one of my students. I try to make sure I connect with each student everyday (I might ask them about a game they like or how recess was or even how they are feeling).

In Kindergarten, this is an easy task that doesn't ever get taken out of hand. The students might pry into my life, but I can easily distract them, to help maintain the distance needed for the continuation of our teacher/student relationship. They ask similar questions though, and are always wondering about my family (something very concrete in their lives).

But where do I draw the line on what I know about their personal lives. Again, they are only 5, so they won't be telling me about getting pregnant or how they were grounded for smoking weed (or at least I hope that will never be the cast). But I do know a lot about their home lives. I know that some of them don't have enough food for dinner every night. I know that Dad was arrested because of spousal abuse. I know that they are homeless. I know that they don't have a father (and I know they are from in vitro fertilization), but they don't know that. I know about adoptions, divorces, new baby siblings, etc. But how much do I let that play in my interactions with the students.

To quote myself from the comment for the blog above:

"This year I have a student who is homeless. She also is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Student – being ESOL she’s allowed x amount of mistakes, but how many more do I give her because I know she’s homeless? Grant it, she is a well behaved girl who LOVES coming to school and LOVES learning, so there aren’t many “problems” to be had; but yes, I do find myself being a more lenient on her."

Now, for my student with special needs, he too gets these "special" arrangements, but he's allowed them by law. So why do I give it to the child who is homeless?

Again, I turn to my own quote, "[I] want the rules to be fair and apply to everyone, but [I] want to give all our students equal opportunities to succeed (even if [I] have to fudge the rules to make up for the missed opportunities life has took away from them, even at the age of 5)."

I want them all to succeed and if that mean liberally applying rules and policies, I'll do it. This isn't the cold world yet, where most people don't give a damn about your disadvantages. Here I do get to codify them and help them succeed. This is what Affirmitive Action is about. And this is how it affects Kindergarteners. Does that mean the other students are aware of this "leg-up" some students get so they have equal access to the lessons and school? Of course not. The rules still apply to all students in the class, but some have amended rules that are used to better their grasp of the social and academic curriculum that I am trying to teach.

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Brief: Pre-Ker suspended for HAIR, WTF

Found this article over at sphere.com about a 4 year old in Texas that is under in-school suspension for the length of his hair! This is ridiculous! If girls can have long hair, why can't boys?

Everything I needed to know in life I learned from my child's Kindergarten Teacher Part 2

So here's the long awaited Part 2 of my highly popular series "Everything I needed to know in life I learned from my child's Kindergarten Teacher" where I try to impart my vast knowledge of education onto parents of Kindergarteners.

3. Don't Worry, things will work out at the end, if you are doing your job. I had a mom come in and talk to me about her child's social progress in Kindergarten. Mom is considering removing the child from my school district to a more social curriculum. This student has made wonderful progress in academics but is struggling with the social component of Kindergarten. But I hope Mom doesn't remove her, if Mom would just continue on the current course, the child will eventually get it, and become more comfortable!

So don't worry! Continue to do your wonderful job as a parent (which she is doing) and the child will get it!

Books for a New Generation!

So my friends over at mental_floss just posted this wonderful article about the death of the book. And it's true, with digital readers (like Kindle) publishers are more frightened to take the risk of a large publication of the unknown author. Books are unequivocally on their way out! But Mobile Art found a great new book that incorporates an interactive technologically advanced print, picture book!



This is great! It gives the uber-modern children (you know, the ones that can do more on the computer by age 5 than I can did at age 20!) a medium that they are comfortable with (computers) and reminds them how books work. (The need to flip a page and all those other Concepts about Print, that several of my Kindergarteners didn't know about when they entered school.)

I can see more practical applications for it too! The children can point to each word on the screen as they read to page, and the word gets highlighted as they read/point. It could chime when it's time to turn the page... etc. I would love this app for my phone!

Everything I needed to know in life I learned from my child's Kindergarten Teacher

Long Title for the post, eh?

Welcome to the first in what I assume will be a long series about things I hope parents learn from me as the school year goes on and their kids spend the next 12 years in public education.

This is one that needs just a little context:

Today was open house, where parents were invited to come to school and oogle and judge me as they think they can do my job better than me. (Ok, I'm sure they all weren't doing that but it always seems that way).

Ok so here is it:

1. All I needed to know in life I learned from my child's Kindergarten Teacher, I learned that I shouldn't sit in someone else's seat. If my name tag isn't on it, and I haven't been invited to sit down. I probably should ask.

2. Do onto others and I would have them do onto me. I shouldn't go through someone's desk! I wouldn't want them to go through mine and see all my papers and private thoughts.

When Teaching Becomes Customer Service

I spent the better part of today dealing, electronically, with a helicopter parent.

I understand that he is concerned about his daughter being challenged in Kindergarten. SO AM I! But I don't need 5 emails in a 3 day week from him asking the same questions, "What am I doing to challenge his daughter?"

Well what am I doing? I'm doing what I do for everyone! In small, flexible, homo-genus groups I give on level instruction.

So if his child is reading at a level 9. She is grouped with other level 9 students. There they would work on skills needed to move to the next level. If she were reading at a 1, there she would work on Knowledge of print and letter rec. Grant it, for the whole group lessons, I do not (and could not feasibly) differentiate according to level, but skills that everyone needs and that all Kindergarten students need to know in order to become 1st Graders.

Math is structured the same way. All math groups are working towards the same objectives. For instance, sorting. My "below" math group would be working with four color bears in small amounts and we would work together to create sorting rules and be able to follow them. My "on-level" works with attribute blocks to sort and re-sort, independently creating their own sorting rule. My "above" group works with attribute blocks and non-standard manipulatives, to sort and re-sort using two attributes (large, fat shapes in one sort, other in the second group).

Now, this child in question is not an extremely high reader. She's about average when compared to the Kindergarten as a whole and slightly above in my room. In Math she does have talent, but nothing that is so standoutish that it makes me wonder why she's in Kindergarten. Her skills are above grade, but she is learning to think critically about what she is doing. I honestly don't care that she can add 2 digit numbers, but am more concerned if she can successfully analyze the data on a tally graph and explain how she drew her conclusions or if she can explain why you would need to sort objects!

Yes, she's almost there, and the more I continue to push her in her "above" math group, the closer she will get to needing "1st grade math." But considering that we are only 23 days into school, she (and the rest of the students in Kindergarten) are just getting used to the way things are done!

Now, I have to spend hours on Monday putting this child through the wringer so I have more concrete data on her.


I want this child to learn as much as possible in Kindergarten, and I'll do all that I can, but parents have to understand that at an 18:1 ratio, that sometimes things are slow to happen. Differentiation of centers does not begin until middle of October (I even polled my Kteam and they all agree that for another couple weeks we need all the students to get more used to being in school!)

Sigh.

Why can't I just teach students? And not their parents?
Maybe I should just go an teach at an Orphanarium... lol

Writing!!!

Let's all pretend I actually posted this up yesterday...

OMG, we wrote today! The students have started to really get Writing Workshop. From my high students to my struggling students!

My strong writer drew an amazingly detailed picture (though didn't have enough time to add words, but detailed picture is the first star, so he's on the right path). Most of my middle writers spent the whole 30 minutes drawing and writing (adding details if I asked them too, but they all added some words!) One of my struggling writers used the word wall! I haven't even taught the lesson about going to use the different "walls" around the room! And another struggling writing and I were able to sit together, and sound out the sentence "It was raining." And she wrote, "It wuz rang!" That's wonderful!

If they make leaps and bounds like this all year, they are going to be amazing. Good for them for showing me that my initial expectations for writing were so wrong.

I was so excited about their writing, I had tears in my eyes.