Many of my friends back home have asked me what school is like here in the West and so today I kept a "cyber" diary of the things that we did along the way. I'm sharing it with you all, if you would care to read.
Before that though, just a moment to explain a little bit about our school. It's a great place, over 500 students in all and believe me that's a number great enough to require 3 sections of each grade 1-5 plus 4 sections of kindergarten. Over 50% of our student population are ESL students (English speakers of other languages). The teaching staff there has remained pretty much the same for the past 15 years or more and there's a good reason for that~the people that work there from the teaching staff, kitchen staff and custodial staff are all in it together. They look out for one another, they "watch" one another's backs. They are friends with each other, I mean everyone. Our principal, Joe Brummit is perhaps one of the finest administrators that I have ever worked for. He genuinely respects and takes care of his people. Every day he walks through all of the classrooms and greets us by name. In nearly three weeks of school he has popped into my classroom for one purpose only, to see if there is anything that we need. I admire him for that. He "runs a good ship" and as a result the educational process works out very smoothly. Everyone who walks into that building is there for one thing, and one thing only~the students.
When I first arrived, I saw all of the weird signs that advertised a "pirate" theme. I had always wondered what in the heck they were there for and I soon learned that we are the "pirates". My first inclination was to say to myself, "That's a horrible thing for kids to align themselves with!" Yet you know, it really works out pretty well. We are friendly pirates, helpful pirates. I doubt that any graduate of the Olathe school system will give up the peaceful life to join in a group of marauding naughty boys. It will turn out ok, I am sure.
The signs are shown below. Actually most of them are pretty catchy.
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These signs are all over the place and when I first saw them, prior to knowing what our mascot was, I didn't understand. (comes from not knowing how to speak pirate I guess). I kept thinking "What kind of people are these guys?" Our behaviour plan, in a nutshell.
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So here it is, the day in a pirate's life, well an Olathe pirate that is.......
6:15 a.m.~The day has begun, early. I'm the only person here, save for Mr. Rex the custodian. There's a good reason for that. All the sane people, the ones with their acts together, are still at home pushing the snooze button one last time before getting up to start their day. I am not one of those people and I need to arrive as early as I can bringing with me one motive in mind...to stay only one step behind the other fourth grade teachers and at least a step or two ahead of my 17 fourth-graders. So far it works. In the quiet, it is much easier to take care of the ever growing pile of paperwork on my desk and to make out my plans for the day. I think of my dear friend Marcia back home in Hutchinson. Marcia Pyle, custodian extraordinaire, and I am so glad that she doesn't have to witness my very messy desk this morning. Thankful the kids had a good afternoon with the sub yesterday. I was just too sick to remain there any longer.
7:40 a.m.~Morning duty has arrived. Each grade level takes a turn in doing morning duty outdoors. Thursday morning happens to belong to my fellow grade 4 teachers and myself. It's an interesting concept, this before school thing here at Olathe Elementary. Kids start to arrive at school by 7:30, with those wanting to grab a bite of breakfast heading straight to the gym. The remainder of the kids are allowed a before-school recess of sorts and have the opportunity to have some play time. And play they do. They run, jump, scream at the top of their lungs, and run some more. It's an interesting group of kids on the playground and as I've said before now many times, as I look at them I know that I am in the West. Kids show up at school donning cowboy hats/boots, western boot cut jeans, and big belt buckles. Boys wear black Stetsons as easily as kids back home in Hutchinson wear KC Chiefs ball caps. It's just normal here. I like having duty as it gives me the chance to see other kids outdoors and even though I don't know hardly any of their names, they all come up to greet me and call me "the teacher from Kansas". I kinda like that too :) Mommas stand around waiting for their kids to go indoors and by the overwhelming number of tiny babies in their arms and tots in tow behind them, I don't think Olathe Elementary will have to worry about a decline in enrollment any time soon. The bell rings~the masses are now called.
8:05-11:30 a.m.~I wish I could say that this was a smooth morning but I would be lying if I so did. With basically no voice and a cough that could wake the dead, I probably had no business being there at school. But I would rather take a beating than to get plans ready for a substitute to come in so I went anyway. We had so much to do with very little time to do it in so every minute had to count for something good. We squeezed in science as we studied the ecosystems, worked on place value in math and took some placement tests for reading in the library. It was one of those hurry up kind of days all around us. I'm always so shocked and my fellow teacher friends will probably be the first to say AMEN to this, but we try to cram way too much into kids' poor little brains. Every year it seems that the urgency increases as to what children have to know to be a success in this world. Studying place value was a good case in point. Only about a third of the group had a fair idea about what was going on. The rest seemed lost. Tomorrow I am backtracking and starting over from the beginning. Even if it puts us a little behind, it will be worth it in order that they understand. Pacing guides are great when they work, but no class and dare I say that no student is the same. We'll make it there in our own time.
11:30-12:15~Lunch time, recess time. At our school, every student is expected to read at home for 20 minutes and to practice their math facts for 10 minutes each night. They have homework sheets that they must take home each evening and their parent must sign if they did it. It's a non-negotiable deal and if you choose not do so, then you forfeit your recess. I am thankful that for today all of my kids have brought theirs back. I had a meeting to go to during the lunch hour. It wouldn't have been fun for either party involved (students or teacher) to have had to share that wonderful 45 minutes together.
12:15-3:00~Always so surprising how fast the day goes by and when we reach the half-way point of the day, I always think "Geesch, have I made any headway?" We have writing and reading in the afternoon times. I love teaching the writing part and have found that many of my students can and do write very well. They are making a lotus, 9-square poster about someone they know who has passed away and today we were busy with deciding which information to use about their family member as well as make the 9-square grid on the poster paper. Oh man, I always wonder if I can get up off of the floor after being down there so long helping kids get theirs gridded out. I became my own mother today as I crawled on my knees to a chair and got myself pulled up. I'm gonna blame it on not feeling good, ok? Yeah, that's it. I couldn't get up off the floor because I had a temperature yesterday. My voice was fading fast and I got to coughing when I would talk too much. The kids noticed that it was getting worse and finally little Kennedy said to me, "Don't you think you ought to quit giving us stuff to do and rest your voice for a while?" Believe me, by 2:00 I was ready to take her up on it.
3:00-day is done. The "17" line up at the door and I won't let them go until they give me the name of an ecosystem and an animal that lives in it. I've decided that I had better use every chance for learning that I can. Thankfully they all remember except for one poor soul who said that prairie chickens live on the tundra. Trust me, they don't. But tomorrow she will get it and with that, I sent the last one out the door. Another 2 hours and my day was over. And you know what the neat thing is? Tomorrow I'll come and start the whole process over again. I am a teacher and it is true what they say sometimes, "kids are my business".
Good night friends and family. Love you guys one and all.
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