These kids make me think. Hard. All the time. And these kids make me laugh so
much! I learn so much from them on
a daily basis. I am learning how
important it is to be clear in what you are expecting and how to be more
explicit in your explanations. I
tell one student to “grab the door” and he walks over, grabs it by the side and
proceeds to say, “Ms. McCauley, its too big for me too carry.” I laugh because I am not really sure
what else there is to do. I say,
“sit down right now” and I have a kid literally sit down right where he is, on
the floor, in the middle of the classroom. I say, “take a seat” and I have a 2nd grader pick
up there chair and ask me where I want them to take it. I just love these kids. Sometimes they
are just being smart. They think
it is very funny to take everything I say very literally. Other times I am pretty sure that they
really have no idea what I was actually asking for.
The 2nd through 4th
grade and I are currently reading Flat
Stanley. It is a book about a
boy who is flat and the adventures that he goes on. One of the things that happens in the book is his family
mails him to a friend to visit. So
as a project we mailed “Flat Stanleys” to some of my friends and family.
They are pretty excited about it and in the three days since I mailed
the letters, every day at least one kid asks me if we have gotten any response
yet. I have tried to explain that
it will probably take weeks.
In 5th and 6th
grade math I was asked if I am a tomboy – one of my 6th grade boys
is very interested in that answer and lately, on a daily basis, has been
pointing out different things that I do that make him think that I am a
tomboy. Another one of my 6th
graders pointed out to me that “math is mental abuse to humans”. I also have a 5th grader
that has really been struggling with math this year. I think that I have done everything short of standing on my
head with him to try and help him understand. We have written out problem after problem. We have drawn pictures. We have used blocks. We have tried examples using pie and
pizza (unfortunately imaginary pie and pizza). We have stood up and walked around. If you can think of it, we have probably
tried it – and then some. But he
is finally getting it! It is so
exciting that math is starting to make more sense for him! I am no longer
getting blank stares during math class, but getting answers when I ask questions! Today this student and I did a little
bit of a victory dance in excitement for how far we have come! But then of
course we got right to work on homework….
Then there are the students that
have to have things explained several times and I have to think of every
possible way to say something to help them understand. It is frustrating when they say, “ok, I
get it” and then two minutes later are asking you to explain the exact same
thing again. So it’s back to the
drawing board. How in the world to
I communicate this subject to you in a way that you can understand? It’s a question that I would love to be
able to ask these kids and sometimes I do. However, they typically don’t know either and so it is a lot
of trial and error.
I
have a second grader that often asks me what day it is. Every time I tell him I get a similar
response. Generally it is
something along the lines of, “Ms. McCauley, time is going way too fast.” I can’t help but agree. These days mostly fly by. When I am being called in several
different directions at once sometimes I think that I might just lose my
mind. Sometimes I get a little
short with one of the kids and yell at them when they really didn’t do anything
wrong. Sometimes I am far too lax
and let them get away with a lot more than I should. At any rate I am learning and I think that they are learning
too. Teaching can be
frustrating. But getting hugs from
my kids in the morning, having little ones that want to hold my hand when we
are just walking around, being called over to the swings to watch as they show
me what they can do, and victory dances in the classroom make it more than
worth it.
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