Kathianne
02-08-2011, 06:16 PM
Subbed at a middle school today where all the teachers I interacted with, granted only my 'team' were like me. Amazing. The school has won a boat load of awards and I can see why.
It was the 6th grade team, (4 teams of each grade, over 1100 kids in the school, 6-8). Subbing for the Language Arts teacher. Came into the school, the secretary was outside the office, greeting kids and adults. Walked me into the office and gave me the folder. Asked her assistant, yes in a school that size, the secretary has an assistant, to man the door for greeting.
Walked me to "Champs" teacher office, introduced me all around. Made sure lesson plans were there, showed me the classroom. This has never happened before, I'm always looking at a map and depending on the department, many don't even acknowledge your existence. One has to assert oneself to get clarity of policies. Not here, the other team members said that 1/7 would be a snap; 2/3 a bit of challenge, but would have a co-teacher who introduced herself to me; 8th would be fine, but not friendly. They pretty much nailed the classes, though 8th really was pretty nice. ;)
Lesson plans were detailed and very easy to follow. More important, the kids were prepared for the routine, they HAD a routine. Told them what to do and they did it, pleasantly too.
7th hour started fine, but then a boy had a massive nosebleed, with girls going goofy. Grabbed the tissue box and sent him with another boy down to the nurse. When I told the kids to 'be quiet' they did. One girl raised her hand and said, "But there's blood on his desk, mine too and the floor." Ok, now I'm thinking, where's the 'bodily fluids kit'? Can't find. Send a girl to the office, "Tell them I can't find the kit with gloves and alcohol wipes." I move the girl who raised her hand to another desk. All the kids go back to journal writing.
The boy who went with the injured one and the girl I sent after come back and say a custodian is coming. Cool, I hate the gloves and have never cleaned up blood. The custodian comes in, the kids keep on writing. Boy with bleed comes back, gives me note from nurse saying he's fine, he starts writing.
As you can probably tell from the periods, two of them are double and 1 single. All classes did sustained writing for 25 minutes, then 15-25 minutes on sustained reading, vocabulary, spelling.
It's not just 6th grade either. In the hallways and library the kids are friendly and in control. No slamming of lockers or shouting. They laugh, but not for attention.
Now get this, one class was writing 1st drafts of persuasive essays. One girl was arguing for a longer 'recess'. I asked her if they had recess. She said, "Yes. Five minutes." She had written a slew of reasons for more time, valid reasons, but hadn't said how long she'd recommend. Her answer, "At least 8 minutes, maybe 10." :laugh2:
It was the 6th grade team, (4 teams of each grade, over 1100 kids in the school, 6-8). Subbing for the Language Arts teacher. Came into the school, the secretary was outside the office, greeting kids and adults. Walked me into the office and gave me the folder. Asked her assistant, yes in a school that size, the secretary has an assistant, to man the door for greeting.
Walked me to "Champs" teacher office, introduced me all around. Made sure lesson plans were there, showed me the classroom. This has never happened before, I'm always looking at a map and depending on the department, many don't even acknowledge your existence. One has to assert oneself to get clarity of policies. Not here, the other team members said that 1/7 would be a snap; 2/3 a bit of challenge, but would have a co-teacher who introduced herself to me; 8th would be fine, but not friendly. They pretty much nailed the classes, though 8th really was pretty nice. ;)
Lesson plans were detailed and very easy to follow. More important, the kids were prepared for the routine, they HAD a routine. Told them what to do and they did it, pleasantly too.
7th hour started fine, but then a boy had a massive nosebleed, with girls going goofy. Grabbed the tissue box and sent him with another boy down to the nurse. When I told the kids to 'be quiet' they did. One girl raised her hand and said, "But there's blood on his desk, mine too and the floor." Ok, now I'm thinking, where's the 'bodily fluids kit'? Can't find. Send a girl to the office, "Tell them I can't find the kit with gloves and alcohol wipes." I move the girl who raised her hand to another desk. All the kids go back to journal writing.
The boy who went with the injured one and the girl I sent after come back and say a custodian is coming. Cool, I hate the gloves and have never cleaned up blood. The custodian comes in, the kids keep on writing. Boy with bleed comes back, gives me note from nurse saying he's fine, he starts writing.
As you can probably tell from the periods, two of them are double and 1 single. All classes did sustained writing for 25 minutes, then 15-25 minutes on sustained reading, vocabulary, spelling.
It's not just 6th grade either. In the hallways and library the kids are friendly and in control. No slamming of lockers or shouting. They laugh, but not for attention.
Now get this, one class was writing 1st drafts of persuasive essays. One girl was arguing for a longer 'recess'. I asked her if they had recess. She said, "Yes. Five minutes." She had written a slew of reasons for more time, valid reasons, but hadn't said how long she'd recommend. Her answer, "At least 8 minutes, maybe 10." :laugh2: