Month in Review (aka "Wow, I'm Lazy")

Wow, I suck at blogging! In my defense, this has been a wacky month. Very much looking forward to winter break for a few days to recoup! Here's a recap of some of the great business going down lately:

• I was quickly called to action by my principal and made a mad dash to collect cards for the Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign. About 130 cards from my students were sent off to the American Red Cross to be distributed to soldiers. My favorite card (which I forgot to take a picture of, damn!) was made by a young lady in 8th grade who has notorious attitude problems. The letter she wrote in her card showed real thought, caring, and compassion for a soldier's work, and was beautifully decorated.   
• A church in a nearby suburb sponsored our school building and donated over 260 gifts--one to every student in Pre K to 3rd grade. Each child received a clothing item, toy, and book for Christmas from their generous parishioners. They also donated more than $700 to be put towards gift cards for our older students. Then, when a family in our school had a house fire last week, they quickly rallied their troops and gathered bags of gifts, handmade quilts, monetary donations, and household items to give to them. Talk about the Christmas spirit!
• Amazingly, I cranked out seven different kinds of Christmas cookies this year. Almost all of them are being given away as gifts (co-workers, principal, family and friends, I thank you and so do my thighs).
• My office is being merged with the office of another group of service providers in our building. My office houses myself, the social worker, and our Committee on Special Education (CSE) chairperson, and the other office contains a variety of community mental health and counseling providers. We're hoping that having all of us in the same office will facilitate communication regarding students and families, and generally get help out to those who need it faster. Plus, they're a fun bunch of folks!
• I tested a boy who is going to be declassified from special education next month. W, a student diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), was a major behavior problem when he was younger, but has since blossomed into an articulate and responsible young man. He has been receiving services to help assist him in focusing in the classroom but hasn't needed them, so at his reevaluation meeting next month, we're going to discuss exiting him from special education. My first declassification this year and a great success story!
• The holiday performances put on by our students were, in a word, precious. There is nothing like working in a school around the holidays.

Caring

I just stumbled upon something I'd like to share, and in the process, relate it back to something going on in my school building.

Each month, the students in my building practice a character trait as part of our character education and PBIS programs. This month, our character trait is caring. Every morning on the announcements, the school is reminded of small ways that they can be caring towards others.

I just found out about the American Red Cross' Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign, which sends American service men and women holiday cards. I forwarded the link to my staff (yep, spamming your inbox again!) because I thought it would be a great way for students (and everyone else) to demonstrate caring this December. If you choose to participate, cards must be postmarked by December 10th.

Snow Day!

SNOW DAY!

That is all.

Update 12/03: Snow Day v2.0! The southern half of the city is still covered in snow and has a driving ban so plows can clear the streets. Guess that includes a school bus ban as well! Not a flake in my backyard, but you won't hear me complaining about a day off.

Dove Makes Kids Touchy-Feely

There's a new phenomenon going on in my school: students are obsessed with my hair. Yes, you read that right. My hair.

Ever since the beginning of the year, I've had kids randomly start touching my hair, commenting on how soft it is. Now, my hair is nothing special. Brown, straight, past my shoulders... rather ordinary. What compels the children to stroke it?

It's not just the wee ones, either. Sure, there was the kindergartner that snuck up behind me and began petting the nape of my neck while I was crouched down talking to another student and the first grader that assaulted me on gym duty to stroke my hair and hands (which are also, apparently, quite soft). But when a fourth grade boy, P, who came down at the end of the day for a behavior check-in started to caress my tresses from behind as I sat at my desk, I couldn't believe the fascination (P is also one of the gentlemen who thinks Boyfriend drives a Nascar... see "Ask a Question"). In P's case, I took the opportunity to have a quick talk on keeping one's hands to oneself, appropriate touches, and asking permission. Ever since, P has always asked very politely for permission before touching my hair.

I can't deny them, the whole situation is just too amusing. It never gets old hearing a child exclaim, "Miss, your hair so soft!!" But understand it? Nope!

Streaking Towards the Future

This week, I had the fortunate pleasure of escorting eleven 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to a local college for a field trip. Undergraduate education majors from this college have been visiting every week to tutor our students in reading and math skills. As a thank you to the students, the college students invited their elementary buddies to their college for a visit. The college is close enough to school that we were able to walk, and when we arrived, the kids were given a royal welcome. The college students' professor was there, the Dean of the School of Education, and the college mascot! Each person personally welcomed and thanked the students for being there (minus the mascot, who just fist pumped), and their excitement of having our students there was so clear. After the welcoming, our students went on a tour of campus and had lunch at the college dining hall. Let me tell you, there's nothing more thrilling for an 11-year-old boy than unlimited all you can eat pizza and cookies. After lunch, the students were given drawstring backpacks with the college's name on them, and two reserved seat tickets to a basketball game on campus.

In a large urban city, particularly in a school building that is predominantly minority, low socioeconomic status, and in a bad part of town, you have to wonder how many of those kids actually have college in their future. Granted, not everyone needs to go to college to have a successful career, but we push students in our building hard to plan for higher education. By 8th grade, when they're picking out which high schools to apply to, it may be too late to start thinking about college, so we're starting to discuss college beginning in 4th grade. (Maybe it's for the best, since one of the students who went didn't know there were any colleges in our city. There are about 10.) Sure, to most of the kids who went on the field trip, the great lunch was the highlight. But maybe, for a select few, it was a first look into their futures.

As long as that future doesn't include this, I'm game.

The New James Dean

A fourth grader came into my office today to report on the great day he had. D has had off and on behavior problems throughout the last few weeks, many of them resulting from verbal altercations with the music teacher first period, which throws the whole rest of his day off. D proudly declared that he was "done being bad." Why, I asked?

"Because it's not cool."

You heard it here first, folks.

Today is a Good Day to...

This week was School Psychology Awareness Week, and the theme this year was “Today is a Good Day to… SHINE.” I emailed my psychologist colleagues a few weeks ago to see if anyone was doing something in their buildings to commemorate. After all, we have secretary’s day, teacher’s day, etc, why not a whole week to help educate and celebrate our profession and the awesome kids we work with?! Unfortunately, my colleagues were not inspired. One psychologist replied to my mass email (yep, I’m spamming your inbox) by saying that “people know [him] by the work [he] does every day.” True story.

I put up the “SHINE” poster that the National Association of School Psychologists sent out on a bulletin board in our hall, but am not doing anything special this year. Maybe next year I’ll be able to plan something.  In the meantime, I want to “shine” some light on the good/cute things going on in my building by writing a few blurbs for some of the ways NASP encourages students to “SHINE”: 

Smile

See my blog post about my student and homeroom of the month duties.  

Play

A. often comes down to my office right before lunch and at the end of the day to check-in. On his behavior plan, if he has had a good morning, he is rewarded with a positive call home at those times. Unfortunately, A.’s mom’s cell phone was recently disconnected, so he was unable to make his phone call home one day. He was about ready to blow his top, but I offered to teach him to play Uno as his reward instead. He loved it, and we played four or so games before he had to head back to his class. It was a wonderful break for me to get to play games (awesome), and helped him to hold it together! 

Laugh

As a member of my building’s Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) team, we are often called on to teach and refresh the faculty on how PBIS works in our building and how to handle behavior problems. Last night, I stayed after school with the team to film skits showing a major offense (student having a weapon) and a minor offense (horseplay in the halls). Let me tell you, there is nothing funnier than 7 adults hamming it up pretending to be rowdy kids. I can’t wait until we show the videos at our faculty meeting next week! 

Ask a Question

On my desk is a picture of Boyfriend and I on our vacation to Cedar Point Amusement Park this past June. The picture was taken after we rode Top Thrill Dragster, a massive “strata-coaster” with a racing theme.  Behind us is a drag racing car. Virtually every male student that has come into my office this year, after seeing the photo, has excitedly blurted out, “IS THAT HIS CAR?!” Yes, children, he drives a hot rod to the office every day… and gets excellent gas mileage to boot! 

Say “Thank You”

Every morning, I have an AM duty. There is a girl in 1^st grade that has narcolepsy, and she has an aide for personal safety. Because her aide is has a different duty during breakfast, I take her to breakfast and stay with her until her teacher picks her up at the start of the day. There are four classes of 1^st graders in the breakfast room in the morning, which you can imagine gets a little crazy! This morning, I saw one of the best displays of manners by a 6-year-old ever (or maybe, since they are still learning, I was just blown away that this gentleman had it down). A little boy came up to me, waited until I was available, then politely said, “Excuse me, would you please open my juice?” When I did, he said “thank you,” and I praised him from here to Sunday for his excellent manners.  

Be Proud

I’m feeling more and more confident in my job every day! 

Make a Friend

One of the students who “checks-in” with me twice a day for behavior came to the office one day before lunch with an office write-up and tears in her eyes. A. had been having difficulty with a girl in her class, K., with some relational aggression and general not niceness. I called both the girls down for a peer mediation, and it turns out that K.’s way of joking around was more aggressive than A. was expecting, which she took to mean that K. didn’t like her or want to be her friend. Once it was all out on the table, and K. understood why A. was upset, the two agreed they wanted to be friends. Earlier this week I passed them in the hall smiling and laughing with one another. Put another tally mark in my column!

School Psychology Awareness Week

Happy School Psychology Awareness Week! Let the party begin... no one outside of the profession will know what is going on!