Monday, November 17, 2008

Do I Smell??

Last week was hard. I was feeling really sad about losing Cindy Wilson and thinking about the Wilson family. Let's just say my mind was not in the job, and what I needed more than anything was a good laugh. Enter my new student. Since my mind was not in the job, I had forgotten about an important meeting I had in the morning. I realized I needed to leave the house much earlier than I had planned, so I didn't have time to blow dry and straighten my hair. Instead I put in some gel and scrunch-curled it. Changes like this don't sit very well with kids who need consistency. He immediately walked up to me and said with authority and a scrunched brow, "Different." "What's different?" I asked. He pointed sharply at my head and repeated, "different." "Oh," I said. "Is my hair different today?" He nodded, still looking angry. As the morning went on, the obsession continued. "You grow out your hair?" he asked. "You grew all your hair out last night?" "No," I tried to explain. "I can't grow all my hair out in one night." Finally he walked up to me trimphantly. "I know Ston, I know. I know about your hair." "Okay." I was curious now. "What did you figure out about my hair?" "Oh Ston," he said laughing. "You finally take a shower! You finally take a shower, Ston!" There was the laugh I needed.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Stress of the Test

I can't make this stuff up. This is a real story written by a real girl in my class. Here's a little context. Twice a year we are required to give every student a reading assessment. The assessment we use takes about 20 minutes per kid and determines their reading level. I plan very specifically to make this as low-stress of a situation as possible, while making sure they know how important it is to do their best. This speicific child has been having some struggles in reading and had not grown last year as expected. I told her mom she would likely need to be referred to our Title I reading assistance teachers to get some extra help. A few weeks after I gave her the assessment this story showed up in her Writer's Notebook:
"My Reading Assessment. My teacher gave me my reading assessment today. I was so nervous. When she came and called me out, I almost couldn't breath. We sat down at the table and my heart started pounding so fast I thought it would jump out of my chest. She told me to do my best, but I was so nervous! That night my teacher called my mom. Ring ring. 'Hello?' I said. It was MY TEACHER!! I couldn't believe she was calling at my house at night! When she asked to talk to my mom I couldn't even say anything. I was SPEECHLESS. Why was my teacher calling me at night? Except I knew why she was calling. She was going to talk to my mom about my reading assessment. I gave the phone to my mom. I held my breath the entire time she was on the phone. I thought I might pass out! My mom said my teacher said I did good on my assessment, but I was still going to be in Title I. Title I. I was scared. But I love my teacher and I know she'll help me learn and I'll be the best reader. The End." Is this the most authentic way to see what our kids know?? Made for a funny story though!