Duel of the Dunes: My partner, Heather, and I got 2nd place in the female division. Teach for America had 5 of the top 10 teams in this division! 

Duel of the Dunes: Adventure race on South Padre Island (included biking, kayaking, and running)...Teach for America participants pictured :) 

Week 2 of 1st Grade

Yes, I've been demoted to first grade, but it's off to a good start. I definitely have new challenges with my new grade level and content area. I also taught reading last year, but in Spanish and to second-graders; in Spanish, you just have to sound out the words, there are no crazy short a, long a vowel rules. Also, by the time students reach second grade the focus is mostly on increasing reading fluency and comprehension....not learning how to read the words "hat" and "sad." The advantage of teaching in English is that I can convey myself exactly as I want to, this makes tasks like disciplining with empathy much easier. There's also a new satisfaction in helping little six-year olds learn English (starting with the names of the letters of the alphabet) when, previously, they have only been exposed to Spanish.

My typical daily schedule:
I get 3 groups of students for 105 minutes each. My average class size is 20 kids, bigger than last year but manageable. Every class starts with the morning message (a cloze activity-the students finish a sentence). They have 5 minutes to write their name, date, and the sentence. Then, I read aloud a book (higher than 1st grade level) on the carpet for 15 minutes. I love this part because I can really ham it up and be super dramatic. The students laugh and excitedly share their ideas about the text. The kids especially enjoyed hearing "The Recess Queen" (about Mean Jean and Katie Sue). Plus, for many of my kids, it's their only exposure to an adult reading aloud (especially, in English). Then, we sing a short phonics song ("A is for Alice who chased an alligator...) and practice word flashcards (short /a/ for now). The next 10 or so minutes are spent in shared reading, a time when the students and I read together a short (6 sentences or less!) story or poem. Sometimes I write the story or poem on chart paper and we read at the carpet, other times they read from books at their desk. Next is our "centers" time when kids rotate in heterogeneous groups through the listening, library, ABC, computer, and skill centers. Right now we're learning what to do at each center, it's a slow process with some of my classes. For example, at the ABC Center the students draw a letter card, say the name of the letter, make the letter's sound, then classify the letter as upper-case or lower-case. I'm realizing just how basic the activities need to be. Eventually, I will pull out ability groups for small guided reading lessons during centers time. Before I know it, my 105 minutes are up and it's time to switch classrooms!

Challenges:
You may remember my stories last year about two hyper boys spinning around on the foreheads on the carpet, giving themselves carpet burns. Well, this year I have their younger brothers...in the same class. One's a crier who refuses to stay in the classroom, much less to participate (he's already been absent for 3 of the first 8 days of classes). The other boy is on medication for ADHD and is an engaged and active participant in class when medicated. However, two days so far he has run out of the school building multiple times, kicked desks, thrown books, stood on top of rolling chairs, and walked on tables...needless to say, those days were less than pleasant. These two boys have variable conduct, and they are in one of my two typically "calm" classes.

Another special boy refuses to follow directions and will only sit and play at the computers. This is a more recent habit, but one I haven't yet been able to change. Today, I even tried unplugging all the computers and stacking up the chairs (attempt-unsuccessful). So, far he has called me "stupid," given me the bad finger, threatened to bite me, and said "f--- you"---all in 7 days of school. The assistant principal is already on a first name basis with the student, especially after incidents with his female classmates (kissing and inappropriatey touching them). Even his aunt (the boy's legal guardian) does not know any secret tricks to get him to behave.

I forgot to mention, I have multiple students who do not know the alphabet...including a few who were already in first grade last year. Today we sang, the alphabet song to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb"--abcdefg, hij, klm, nopqrst, uvwxyz (it's fun, you should try it!).

The little ones have already managed to get a co-teacher and I sick (despite constant use of hand sanitizer), so I'm off to bed!

P.S. My principal observed my class and said, "You were born to teach first grade"--so that's encouraging! :)

She's learning her English alphabet! 

More mischevious than he looks

The rest of the road trip pictures.

Here they are, our pictures from Oregon to the Rio Grande Valley. Click on each link below to enjoy! :)

Rest of Oregon to Monterey, CA.

Monterey to LA.

LA to the end.

"F" Stands for Flexibility

At Teach for America institute I was always told that the "F" in TFA stands for flexibility. On Friday, I found that to be very true. I stopped by school to drop off maps, books, and other social studies goodies that I had been collecting all summer. Upon asking for my classroom keys my assistant principal said, "Yeah, you're starting this school year in a new classroom with a new grade level and different subject." My initial response was, "You're kidding, right?" Unfortunately, he was not. After my initial shock and disappointment settled in, I started to collect my belongings from "salon 20" and move them to my new room.

My new assignment is first grade reading; I will be teaching primarily in English, but to children with widely varying proficiency of the English language. Thankfully, I get to teach reading all day as I will have three rotations of students. This means considerably less preparation than last year, but more collaboration with fellow teachers in my "triad." After nearly completing the classroom move and beginning of the year preparation, I'm excited about my new teaching challenge. As one wise friend advised me, "Lori, you have such a rewarding job, you get to spend all day teaching young children to read."

Home Again...

Greg and I have returned to the HOT Rio Grande Valley. We just completed our incredible 25-state, 10,400+ mile, 7 national park road trip on Wednesday. I spent Thursday and Friday organizing my life (cleaning house, unpacking, running errands, etc.) before meeting new Teach for America corps members at a fun Mexican dinner on Sunday. Now I'm back to work with teacher inservice this week. The rest of our road trip pictures from Oregon, California, and west Texas will be posted soon. :)