Kids with Grit

How does my teaching, my responses, my philosophy help my students have grit?

Great video every teacher and parent should watch...

Starting School and Jet Lag

Starting school again after holiday is always a little exciting.  My kids know exactly what I expect by this time of the year.  The Christmas activities still need to be put away, but I know what I need to teach next.  We are starting to learn our times tables, so that is the MOST exciting thing ever (nine year olds really get into this).  My classroom is a well-oiled machine.  The only problem...  jet lag.

It's killing me!  And it's killing the kids!  Being international has so many advantages, but jet lag is not one of them.  My kids struggled through the mornings this first week back.  As they told me about their adventures in Australia, Florida, the Seychelles, the poor things worked so hard to wake up each morning.  About 11:00 (after snack time and recess) they were finally awake.  But after lunch their eyes were at half mast again.  This is especially difficult when I feel the same way.

But we made it.  We learned something, I think.  And we all managed to stay some-what awake for the last five days.  On Friday as I said goodbye to them, about half the children were jabbering about sleeping this weekend.  If a nine-year old gets excited about sleeping during the weekend, you know it was a rough week!

Drugs didn't work..

... sick day it is.  My work load may increase, but at least I get to sleep late in the morning.  And those detailed lesson plans are sitting on my desk for someone to try and follow.  Hopefully no snot stains will be found on them from my dripping nose.  Gross, right?!  Good luck to my substitute tomorrow!

It's that time of year...

... for my winter season cold.  The problem with getting sick and being a teacher is missing work.  Most people would take the opportunity to lay on the couch, watch the tube, sleep, sleep and sleep some more.  But teachers... we have to write a detailed explanation of our working day so someone else can manage all those little bodies that rely on us five days a week.  When it comes down to a "sick day", we teachers ask ourselves, "How sick am I REALLY?"  Because writing those substitute plans for someone else to do your job that day is a pain in the ass.  And when you come back from your day on the couch, it just means you have double the work to catch up on.  So how sick am I really?  We'll see when I wake up in the morning.  Maybe my head won't feel like it's going to explode.  I made it through the day today.  I can do it one more day, right?  Drugs.  That's the answer!

Kids say the darndest things!

The bulletin board surrounding my school's elementary office has been converted to a "Wonder Wall".  Kids write questions about things they wonder.  Questions such as "How many stars are in the sky?" and "What sound does a fox make?" are written in kids' handwriting across this board.  One question that popped up was "Why is Ms. P so happy?"  As I walked through the hall this week, unseen by two Grade 5 girls, I heard this conversation:

Ten year old girl reading the Wonder Wall: Why is Ms. P so happy?

Her friend in a pre-teen tone: Because she has a husband.

Of course.  Why didn't I know that? :)

Writing Report Cards Part 2

In the midst of report card writing I am always a bit negative.  It's a big job and feels a bit overwhelming.  But the truth is that as I write comments for each child, they always make me smile...

E is a funny, kind girl who is an asset to Class 3P.
F enjoys sharing his creative stories with his classmates.
G brings a smile to his teachers and classmates each day.
It is a joy to teach V each day.

These kids are such a joy and privilege to spend my days with.  Their smiles and laughs and curiosity make each day a wonderful experience.  Even writing their report cards warms my heart and always ends with the corners of my mouth turning up.  Maybe writing reports isn't all THAT bad.

Thank goodness it's only 3 times a year...

Report cards.
I'm writing them now.  I'm grateful that my current school has trimesters instead of quarters - one less set of reports to write a year.  With 13 years of report card writing experience, you would think it gets easier, but it really doesn't.  Each child is different, each school is different, each year I teach different stuff (or so it seems with all the changes in curriculum).  And then there is always that kid (or two, or ten) who you want to be blatantly honest with and write the TRUTH straight out in that report card comment box.  But you know if you did that, you'd get fired.  Things like...

• Your kid is lazy.  
• You are a bad parent when you let your child stay up until midnight every night.
• Your kid is not smart enough to be above grade level like you want her to be.  Accept that she is average.
• Your child has anger management issues and it is obvious that he has learned it from you by the way you talk to his teachers!

During one of my "breaks" from these dreaded reports, I googled a bit and found some funny teachers out there who feel my pain...

Funny Report Card Notes from Teachers

Good luck to all the teachers writing their reports!