Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.
– Dr. Haim Ginott (via jamesdemlow) Via James DemlowNot Too Cool For Jelly Bracelets
Like all teachers I have to maintain some sort of order and a standard of behavior in my classroom. I teach middle school kids who change classes. The issue with this was making sure my kids had a consistent method of classroom management that they could be held accountable to all day long with several different teachers. My students are too old for a color system and I don’t have time to keep up with all of my student’s colors, I have enough to do as it is. So being the resourceful teacher I am I came up with something I bought when I had no need for it at the time. One day while at Wal-Mart, they had a whole wall in the jewelry/purse department of jelly bracelets in sets of 5 for $1. Being the dork and someone who grew up in the late 80s to early 90s, I thought they were really cool and a deal that I could just not pass up, so I bought them and stuck them in my desk. So for one of my kids who needed constant reminders about his behavior, I came up with an idea … give him 5 jelly bracelets and if I have to remind him repeatedly or multiple times to do something, I take a bracelet. If he gets down to 2 bracelets, he gets trash duty: helping pick up trash after lunch. If he loses all of his bracelets, he goes to the office, no arguing. After explaining this, he seemed excited about this method and eagerly picked out his bracelets. When the rest of my students saw him get bracelets, they started asking “why does he get bracelets and we don’t?” I explained the process and the rest of my students seemed excited about it too, so I gave them bracelets as well. This has been working the past few days because I explained the process to the other teachers, all they have to do is ask for a bracelet, so my kids are held accountable for their whole day not just my class periods. Throughout the day, I receive bracelets from other teachers who are not afraid to take bracelets from my kids. I think this works because my students have a visual for their behavior. They are able to look at their wrists to see where they are on a scale. It gives them a well defined limits system, so my kids know where they stand. At the end of the day, my bracelets come back to me before carpool line, they get disinfected and passed out the next day. It doesn’t matter what color each kid gets. I usually go around the room first thing in the morning, during morning work and let the quietest students choose their 5 bracelets first and so on. The only rule is they can only have 1 of each of the following colors: black, white, and red. The reason for this is because these are the most popular colors, so I try to share them throughout the room. I am really proud of my idea! It may sound dorky, but I am just thrilled that it works for now and I will continue to use it as long as it works. I think the thing that strikes me most is that my middle school boys (my class is all boys) are not too old to wear jelly bracelets, even the pink ones!
Can a library with no books be called a library?
I have always loved reading for as long as I can remember. I love to curl up on the couch and open a book, especially when it is raining outside. It’s relaxing to me. As a teacher, I’ve used children’s books in my lessons for middle school students; even my most antsy students will sit still for a little while to be read to. I’ve read books out loud during Project Read time, and read a 4 year old books to help him develop his reading skills and hopefully love reading in the future. Two of my favorite stores are bookstores: Barnes and Noble and Half-Price Books (one of the greatest ideas ever!). There is an elite prep school in Massachusetts that is getting rid of their books and replacing them with more computers, a coffee shop with a $12,000 cappuccino machine, flat-screen televisions, and 18 handheld digital e-readers. While they are donating their books to other schools, the idea of not having a library with books that you can actually touch and turn actual pages is ridiculous. I realize that having technology is an important part of the classroom, the educational process and is the foundation of our global society but that is no reason to take away books from an entire school! (Mind you tuition at this elite prep school is over $40,000 a year!) So while I love technology and all things gadget, my books - the real ones with paper and ink - will always have a beloved place in my heart and all I can do is hope that taking books out of the library does not become a common place in our world. I promise to continue to teach my students that reading an actual book can take you to faraway places, scare the living daylights out of you, and inspire you to take action all from the comfort of your favorite place to sit.
President Obama’s speech to school children today encourages students to step up and take responsibility for their actions and their education. For the past week, the media, parents and others have been in an uproar over the President wanting to address students, just because he wanted to tell students to work hard for success because it is not just going to be handed to you. Not everyone has to agree with everything our President says, does and supports, but as a teacher I would hope that my student’s parents and others would want our country’s children to work hard so that they may be successful. I can teach my best lesson, I can create the greatest demonstration and I can invent the most interesting game but all of it is worthless if my students have no desire to be there. So while everyone is entitled to their political opinion, but please do not let those opinions stand in the way of supporting our children’s education and encouraging them to be successful.
The Dot and The Line: A romance in lower mathematics.
Not only does this show all the ways that a line can be used, but I think it’s a cute short movie to show to a class. It could be a lead in to talk about perspectives and how we see the world differently and why it’s important not to make judgement on someone until we actually spend some time to get to know them.
Yeah! Now maybe the car pool lane will run smoother and a little bit faster. Before you start to complain about how you love to use your cell phone, let’s stop and think … what if that cone was your child crossing the street on their way to or from school?
Why I run with glue
I think back to that report card phrase … runs with scissors. While I know that running with scissors is a dangerous idea, it still makes me laugh. The people who run with scissors are either fearless or not very bright … maybe a little bit of both. As a teacher, I want to run with glue because I want to glue whatever I teach to my students’ minds. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just cut out and glue whatever information we want our students to learn to them so that it is always with them? That’s why I named this blog runs with glue, because I teach all day long and pray that I did a good enough job that it sticks.
Through this blog, I want to chronicle what works in my classroom, different resources that I have come across (the good, the bad and the ugly) and just have a place where I can document the craziness that occurs in my classroom. I hope that you can relate somehow.
About me
I'm a teacher. I have a passion for my students, I want them to dream big, be successful, and learn to love. My blog is just a place where I can share the good, the bad and the ugly about education . . . from my view as a teacher.
