SBAC in a Picture

No words needed..

Then and Now

When I was going through my grandmothers things I came across this letter of hire dated March 19, 1951. She was a teacher in my current district! "Recent changes in teachers' pay schedule will bring you an annual salary of $3,000."

New Teachers Conference

Yesterday I spent the morning at a new teachers conference at Mohegan Sun with another new 4th grade teacher in my school. We sat in on a session titled "Common Core and You." It was so encouraging to speak with other professionals dealing with the same struggles. I was expressing my concerns that I feel like I don't utilize my paraprofessional and another teacher gave me some great advice. She suggested sending my high students to work with my para instead of my low kids. After thinking about it for a moment I realized how smart this idea was. My high kids and my para could work off a rubric, freeing me up to help my most struggling students.

And if I had known the amount of free stuff given away at these conferences, I would have signed up a long time ago...

Fourth Grade Friendships

The first Monday of every month I ask my students to write down three friends they would like to sit near. I do this for two reasons. First, it helps me get an inside look at who is friends with who, but it also allows me to see who is having a hard time making friends and gives me an opportunity to nudge my students to include a particular student or pair up students who will be accepting and kind to those who struggle with making friends on their own. I keep all their cards filed away by month, and it is amazing to see the changes in friendships. Every so often I will get a card that completely catches me off guard. This past week I collected the April cards and came across this one…Number 2 spot, not too bad! :)

Who's teaching who?

I knew my first year of teaching was going to be challenging (they told me so in the interview). I spent most of my first three months trying behavior plans and reading articles on hyperactive students in an attempt to help one child, in particular, control herself long enough to sit through a lesson. I was in constant contact with her mother, which helped keep things consistent between home and school. I started keeping data on when and where her behaviors were effecting her the most. I spent countless nights thinking, "What can I do to help her?" I asked other teachers on my team, the school psychologist, the special education teachers, and our principal. The student knew her behavior effected her school work. We had conversations daily about what she could do better and what she needed from me. I started to feel guilty putting so much time and energy into one student. I had 21 other students who deserved just as much attention and support. As we neared Christmas I started seeing a significant change in her behavior. She was sitting quietly and knew to ask for a break when she needed one. We had made real progress and we had made a real connection. She was earning her reward regularly (playing legos on the rug during the last 10 minutes of school). She loved it because legos are awesome but I grew to love this time as well. It gave me a chance to chat with her about things other than fractions and persuasive writing. She made my classroom fun and her classmates and I truly enjoyed her being part of our class. 

At the beginning of January I got the unexpected news that she was going to be moving- in two days. I couldn't believe it! I spent most of those last two days telling her how much she had improved and how proud I was of her. I had to hold back tears and be strong for her. I told her she was going to do wonderfully at her new school, but secretly I wasn't so sure. She needed me and I needed her. 

As I was cleaning out my classroom the other day I came across her composition notebook. As I was reflecting on how far we had both come since those first few months of school, I flipped to this page.

I immediately picked up the phone and called her. She didn't believe me when I told her it was Miss Montambault. We chatted for a while and she told me all about her new school. We set up a date next week and she is coming back to visit! I haven't told the kids yet but I know they will be as excited as I am!