The Heart of a Teacher

Hey girls,

I don't know if anyone still checks this but I just got an email with a really touching video in it that I thought I'd post for you all. I know that most of us are teaching/working with kids and that it may be difficult for those of you who are on those days when the paperwork seems overwhelming, the kids are pushing your buttons, and everything seems so stressful. Hopefully this video will remind you why you became a teacher and refresh you for the days ahead.

The link is http://www.heartofateachermovie.com

Remember, we DO make a difference each and every day that we walk into a classroom, preschool, Head Start classroom, or preschool center and interact with a child. The kids value our time and love that someone cares about them, even if they can't say it.

Keep up the good work and stay positive ladies.

Love you all,

Christina

some updates and some cool things to check out

Hey friends! I got this email from my principal and she urged us to do what we can with the info. I thought I would pass it on (it will be at the bottom). I have found 2 really awesome websites for cool little readable books, worksheets, etc. The first is http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/ The other is Carl's corner: http://www.carlscorner.us.com/ Things are going better with me but yesterday was super hard, Ke'Vaugn was pulled from my class (one of the nuns was observing him and he flipped out and was screaming and yelling out and when I put him in the back of the room to walk on the 8 that I have on my floor (research shows that making an 8 shape with your fingers or walking in an 8 calms kids down - also the smell of strawberry oil also does this and the smell of cinnamon) he kept screaming and when I asking him to stop he started singing so she took him out and put him in PreK 4 and he did really well. They called his mom and told her that he either had to go to PreK 4 or leave the school and she took him out. It is such a shame though because he was a very smart boy and he definitely has some issues that I knew I could help him with. I am really going to miss him! But my principal and all the teachers said I could not have saved him and did everything humanly possible to help him - he just wasn't ready maturity wise to be in there. Although he really did take up so much time and energy, I loved him and will miss him but I know it will be better for my class. However, now I have only 17 kids and hopefully I will be able to give them the attention that they need. I am super nervous because my principal has to observe me on Wednesday and I do not know what lesson to do. She wants to see science or Social studies - ahhh! I am thinking about doing the Leaf Man lesson I have done in every K class I have worked with so far...it generally goes well. But boy am I nervous! Let me know if you have any awesome lessons you could pass on that I could try. We are officially doing human nutrition next week and Wednesday is fruit - I plan on making a smoothie with them - but I cant do that in front of her just bc the kids will be so excited and going crazy. She likes order and silence and perfection - AHHHH! So nervous! Other than that, I think of you all often and I miss you so much. I hope everyone is doing well! You all need to send updates about what is going on with your lives. Here is the email I got: Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it! Rule 2: The world doesn't care about your Self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.. Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up,it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Rule 8: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. Rule 9:Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. Rule 10: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Job Update

Hey girls-- I hope everyone is doing well and settling into their jobs nicely so far. I thought I'd take the time to let you know what was going on with me. I spent the summer applying to K-2nd positions in Palm Beach County and emailing out my resume/cover letter or dropping copies off to schools in my area (I was working full time so I couldn't make as many visits to schools as I wanted), with no luck. I was called last Thursday for an interview at a school down here for an iterim Pre-K ESE position, and went in and interviewed Friday morning. That afternoon the AP called to offer me the job. I was really torn up about whether or not I should accept, since the 11 day count is coming up this Tuesday and I still would prefer a permenant job. Unfortunately, with the current school climate I was pretty much told by everyone I spoke with that this was my ticket into the school system and that it would be in my best interests to accept the job and worry about what is going to happen to me at the end of my term later. So this morning I officially accepted the job and will be starting in a few weeks. The kids seem great, I will have a full-time aid and a part time speech teacher in the classroom with me, and there are only 7 students right now. They have all been diagnosed with autism and are in the mid-functioning range, are all verbal to some extent, and don't seem to have many of the typical challenging behaviors that are seen in students with Autism. It should be a nice 6 weeks while I'm employed, and I am looking forward to doing something besides sit around the house. I am hoping that it will lead to SOMETHING more permanent opening up to me in the future and am keeping my fingers crossed for that to happen. Hope all is going well with you.

Christina

Dear cohort, Being a teacher is so hard. I never imagined such a tough time but I have been crying almost everyday because it is so much to do and deal with and think about. I need you to send me some encouragement. I actually thought I wanted to quit on Wednesday but then I remembered that the first year is always hard and my kids are extra special and they need me. I have one boy who would be considered oppisationally defiant - if I tell him to do something, he finds a reason not to do it. For example, he is very smart and wrote his nam eperfectly (one of the only kids who could do it) on the first day of school. This week, all he says, and he doesnt say it, he yells it, is "I can't write my name!" "I can't do it!" And then he writes random letters. We read The littel engine that could twice and talk about how we don't use the word can't in my room, we just say, " I think I can." So when he says, "I can't" another girl at his table usually says, "No Ke'Vaugn, say, I think I can" and then the whole class chants it and he will for a minute and then moves to "I think I can't I think I can't." On Tuesday he was throwing his pencil in the air and I said, KeVaugn, please don't do that. Your pencil needs to be used to write your name. And he said, "Why?" And I said, "Throwing pencils is dangerous (we had a whole lesson about this the day before because KeShawn was throwing scissors and Patrick was throwing pencils). I said, "You could poke someone in the eye or poke yourself in the eye and I need my students to see so they can do their work" and he says, "You want me to poke my eye?" And he put his pencil SO close to his eye I nearly passed out from a heart attack because I thought he was going to poke it. So I told him I needed him for a special job and I sent him to the office with the lunch money. I talk to his mom every morning and afternoon adn she is really adament about fixing this behavior but it is seriously killing me. If I tell a student they are doing a great job (even if it is just sitting criss cross on the rug) he yells out, "You don't think I'm doing a good job?" "You want me in the corner!" "I'm a bad boy." And I say, "No Ke'Vaugn, you are a good boy and a smart boy and I need you to show me what you should be doing." We are using a daily behavior sheet with him that has smiley faces and sad faces and I talk to his mom daily but it takes every ounce of my energy to deal with him and him along. I have another boy, Keshawn who is also on the path of distruction but I can actually get him to focus if I really try and think of every single thing we learned about behavior management. For example, when the kids are sitting on the rug for calendar time, he is yelling or playing with the computers, or running around. He is the one who loves to throw things across the table - crayons, pencils, scissors, you name it. Then we have Mr. Patrick Brown - the boy who might drive me off the edge. He is cute but has no self control, loves to throw things, never stays in the right place or does what he needs to do, and has been pushing, punching, and fighting. I sent him to the prinicpal's office on Friday for punching a student and she jus tlet him sit there and he fell asleep for 2.5 hours. The poor kid isn't getting enough sleep and he has a newborn baby sister and he has been staying with his Auntie and his mom is about 19 or 20 years old and too worried about the baby to deal with him and his issues. This is the worst thing that has happened, well maybe not worst but: Patrick was sitting at the table on Thur because he had to watch the other kids paint since he did not make good choices. I was helping some kids with their projects and looked over and Patrick had his hand up Wynter's skirt and he was well - you know. I almost passed out again. I could not believe it. THEY ARE 5!!! So I seperated them and asked the PreK 4 teacher what they heck I should do. She told me to call their parents just to let them know and to talk to the class about private parts and how no one touches them but you or maybe your parents at bathtime but no one in school should ever touch a part of your body the your bathing suit covers. The afterschool care lady told me that she caught Joshua touching and squeezing wynter's boobs on the playground so I am really worried about her and am hoping she hasn't been abused or isn't seeing too much at home. I talked to her about it yesterday but she seemed innocent enough. I have to keep a close eye on her. Ra-Nya has ADD, she cannot sit at lunch for more than a minute and she has trouble sitting and doing her work. Alan was left back last year in public school and his report card is not too helpful to tell me why he was held back. It turns out he definirely has ADHD and he gets distracted SO easily and it is SO hard but not only that, his pants are too small and they wouldn't button and then he broke his belt so all day yesterday he had to have me try to zip them up and he said, "MY pants don't fit me," and then guess what happened: KeVaugn pulled his pants down and said, "Ms. O'Hara, my pants don't fit me." I am not exaggerating at all as I write these stories for you. Darling loves to grunt and throw tantrums and when she gets in trouble, she proceeds to wail - so loudly - and it is so difficult to calm her down. She is getting better though, so that is good. Then there is Jasmine who has diabetes. I have to check her blood and give her an injection of insulin before lunch everyday and before she goes home. She is really good about it but her blood sugar is always high and it makes me sad because I know how much that stinks. I have 2 parents who are illiterate that I know of which makes communicating by papers nearly immpossible. But I have no energy to call them because these other kids are near about killing me. Not only all that, but my prinicpal is pretty much horrible. People told me she kind of sucked, but she is a 75 year old nun who has been at the school for 32 years so I figured she couldnm't be that bad. But she comes into my room almost everyday and tells me things I need to change. She wants me to had 7 or 8 centers at a time and to push my desk against the wall so the kids can play under it. She wants centers to be only manipulatives because she told me this yesterday, "Kids should not be in school at 5 years old. They are too young. They need to be at home with their parents. I wish Kindergarten did not exist." So I pretty much wanted to cry but I just said, "I think what we do in Kingeraten lays a foundation for the rest of their time in school." And then she said, "How long are you having them nap in the afternoon?" And I said, "They rest for like 20 minutes," and she said, "They need to be laying down for 45 mins-an hour during the first few months of school." Now this sounds OK because I only get 1 25 minute break a day while the kids are at PE (I have them at lunch too) but when I tried this yesterday, the kids went crazy because no 5 year old takes a nap anymore and it was a disaster. So I am going to cut out the nap and if she asks again I will tell her that they get some rest time after lunch. I think I will still have them put their heads down for like 20 minutes or so. But anyway - this one really sucked. I had them on the playground last week and she came out and said, "Ms. O'Hara, why are your kids outside?" and I said, "For recess. They really need to burn off some energy." And she said, "We don't really do recess at St. Pius. The kids get too wiggly. They need to be inside at centers or something. You can use it once in a blue moon for a reward, but that is all." Now I did not know what to say as you know how passionate I am about recess. So I said yes maam and took them inside but I need to gather some research and take it into her office to show her why it is so important. Most of the teachers at my schoool really dislike her and told me that I have to stick up to her or she will continue to boss me around all year. Does anyone have any good research on recess? I'd love to have it if you do - my email is lohara88@gmail.com. And now I am worn out after spilling my guts but to those of you who are not teaching, just let it be known that it has not been easy for me and I am hoping things continually improve. I know they will, but man oh man I never imagined what a crazy life this owuld be. I am about to go to the public library to check out books on colors and shapes because my school library does not have many to choose from - they dont even have Brown Brea Brown Bear!! I love you all and hope things are well. Update us soon!

Summer Plans

Hey girls,
I hope everyone is having a good summer so far. I have been relaxing at home in West Palm and gearing up for summer work. Which by the way, if anyone is down here and needs a place to crash let me know, you are always welcome to stay with me!! Other than that, I started training today at a TV station that broadcasts in HD in Miami, West Palm/Stuart, and Boston. I'll be working Master Control (so basically I'll be putting all the stuff that is aired on the air) on the weekends, and may even eventually end up hosting one of the shows that is produced there or working on producing my own show for children (yay educational television). Other than that I have my summer camp job which is running June8th -August 7th and will be a full time position during the week. I'm still waiting to put in an application with Palm Beach County, but I will be coming in to a lot of teaching stuff from my second grade teacher who is retiring at the end of this year and may have a lot of resources once that happens. I'll let you know of what I have in case anyone wants access to it, but i'm not sure exactly what it will be since I haven't gone through and looked at it yet. Hope you are all doing well and I miss you girls like crazy!!

<3 Christina

My Job

Update:
I am a currently a counselor at Children's Home Society. I was hired as a Family Support Worker and was then "bumped up" to a counselor. I absolutely LOVE it. I opened my first solo case today. Basically I'm assessing the family to determine strengths and needs, and providing support, access to community resources, and teaching parenting skills. Not sure how long I'll stay. I really like it and there may be an opportunity to move up in July, and I don't think I can turn that down, though it's not guaranteed. Just keeping my options open. Most of my families are voluntary though a few are court ordered. Hope everyone's job hunting and summer activities are going well. Miss you all.

Hey ladies! I hope everyone is doing well!!! I am having a BLAST in Jacksonville. I found an apartment today! My roommate's name is Kelli and we're living right by the Towncenter which is the coolest mall ever. If you ever need to go shopping, PLEASE call me. I leave for Italy in 2 weeks and am getting very excited although I still have 27.5 MILLION things to do in order to TEACH next year. AHHHH! But I am trying not to stress and to just be really excited about ITALY! Gina, I have been practicing some Italian on this CD I got from the library. You'd be so proud :) I got a new insulin pump on Tuesday and it checks my blood every minute or so and tells me if I am low or high which is AMAZING! Other than that, I just wanted to say that I LOVE YOU ALL and hope you're having lovely summers. Send updates on job searches, INTERVIEWS (how'd yours go Daniella), engagements, and everything else!!! Miss you all!

I love these girls. Best memories of my life have been made in the past three years.

Welcome

Hey everyone, here is our cohort blog so that we can keep in touch!!! <3 you all, Christina