Bullying

Question: 

Did you experience bullying as a child either as a victim, witness, or bully? How did you survive that experience and what did you learn from it that is helping you now as a teacher?

Answer:

Growing up, my experience with bullying was always the witness, and that was a really tough place for me. My heart always went out to those who were not treated like they should, but at the same time, I did not want to be the snitch. When I talk about bullying, I do not mean physical. I never witnessed that. More, I witnessed emotional and social bullying often between other girls. I would always befriend the person who was being hurt, in hopes that it would help. However, I think that it could become so bad that nothing could help because of the internal self-hurting that the person faced. Knowing this, as a teacher, I bring everything to the surface. I think it is so simple to turn your back on the little girl who says "You are not my friend." Why? Because it happens every single day with first graders. But, if I do that, these little things turn into big things. I think the most important part is to voice the feelings of the person being hurt. I stress the idea so many times that we are all people, and people do not have the right to hurt others. We talk everyday about how we are all different, and we all like different things. If we weren't different, it would be SO boring. One thing we do have in common, is we all have the ability to be kind and that is our job to make sure that our classroom and our world is a safe and happy place to be. :)

Q & A

Q: What are 3 things that you want to improve or initiate within your classroom this semester?

           - I have initiated 2 new things that I want to improve. I have really gotten into guided reading groups which I would like to continue learning about and adding new strategies to increase my reading scores. Many of my kids have been starting on chapter books and loving them! I love seeing them love reading, it is amazing! I have also started a big emphasis on being kind. It is something I am passionate about and have noticed that my first graders can be very hurtful. We recite a kind class promise every morning but I am looking to introduce ways to successfully face these challenges so that they can use the strategies outside of class. Lastly, I want to initiate routines that they do not get at home! I got them all their very own toothbrush and wanted to use this as a reward for them and a way to teach these positive routines to carry over to home and benefit them :)
                   
My goals are… to have all students feel like they are successful at reading and mat by the end of the year. Also, to be very very cautious of my lesson plans and spend time on them so that the kids are moving around and learning things that are relative to their life and interests.

To be successful, I need…stay calm and positive with them every single day. Raising your voice will get you no where.Teachers must always remember that students will copy their behavior because they simply look up to them! I want to continue to laugh with them and teach them that life is full of amazing opportunities for them!


All My Love,

Miss Abney

New Year, New Possibilites

I have been so fortunate to spend so much time at home with my family and friends who are absolutely amazing! I have taken full advantage of this relaxation, and have probably taken it to a whole new level. While my break is quickly coming to an end, I have been thinking so much about my adorable little firsts and hoping they are enjoying their time away from school (but secretly ready to come back).

Many people have been posting blogs about the New Year and I am incredibly excited that 2013 is here. The tree came down too fast and Christmas was over too soon, but I am still inside my cozy house with LOTS of snow outside! :)

Okay seriously, how cute?!

Anytime I have the opportunity to recharge, I take it. The New Year is probably my all time fave! I don't think about it as a way to change (I never want to change who I am) BUT I do see a new and endless possibilities. For me, it's kind of a chance to create a New Year bucket list, and that is exactly what I have done! Some people say to make one resolution and stick with it. ONE!? You're kidding. I say the more the merrier. I made a million and two (it seems like it) and blocked them into my all-time favorite categories. My advice, break them into months and go after each one like crazy. At the end of 2013, I'm sure you will have hit most of them and there will be little room for disappointment. So, for you slow pokes out there who are still thinking about their resolutions, here's a little inspiration.

January & February: These months are organization months, because these are the cold months to stay inside and revamp.
-Clean out my closet and get rid of everything that has hung on a hanger since last year. Basically, organize the place.
-Clean out my computer. From the ancient music files to the scattered lesson plans, let's go.

March & April: These months are for fitness. The sun is out, but not scorching.
-See a personal trainer and try new classes. I love running, but I need to switch it up. Kickboxing, Pure Barre? You betcha.
-Find/create new smoothie recipes. Time to get creative in the kitchen.

May & June: These months are my "me" months. School is ending, time to plan some trips and focus on myself! Don't be overwhelmed, this should be your biggest category.
-Journal gratitude and positivity every day. Have you heard of a one-liner journal?
-Cut out technology on certain days.
-Pamper myself more. Massages, nails, you name it.
-Adventure: more hiking, skydiving, and simply explore my new community.
-Study the Bible. Do it with friends for more enjoyment and accountability.
-More time in prayer.
-More craft time. Make more jewelry!
-Read 10 books. I know that doesn't sound like many, but look at my list and think about time. Let's be realistic. I am starting with two new ones that were just gifted to me. Thanks :)

July & August: These are my travel months because July is my month to get away.
-Go on a spontaneous trip.
-Go on a service trip.

September & October: These are devoted to my career because school is in full swing. (Finances are included)
-Plan engaging and hands-on lessons so my kids truly love and value learning.
-Less planning on the weekends.
-Blog more :)
-Save up my money for my future and for travel.

November & December: Obviously these months are my favorite, because they are devoted to giving and others.
-Give more compliments.
-Send more mail: letters, thank-yous, and care packages.
-Random act of kindness once a month (Pay for a stranger's Starbucks, they won't forget it.)
-Become a mentor.
-Always remember to be positive and loving in every situation.
-Be more open and accepting at doctor's appointments. They know best :)

Yes this is a lot. But it's not really a do-all list. It's a do what you can and see what comes from it. Don't think of them at resolutions, think of them as possibilities and go get 'em!


Happy New Year,

Miss Abney xxo

Happy Holidays!

I have completed 100 days of teaching! The fact that I am already sitting here and typing this is incredible. I cannot believe that time has passed so quickly. When I look at my experience thus far, I am in disbelief. My life has changed completely for multiple reasons and I do believe that I am flying back for Christmas with a renewed heart.

I thank God for this experience every day and for the wonderful relationships I have built. If you want honesty, I did hit my slump mid-November and began questioning a lot of things. Why did I choose this path and what is my purpose here? It did not take long for me to snap back into reality and remember the million reasons why I am in Arizona teaching first graders. Now, I am in a place of complete happiness and gratitude. I am the luckiest girl in the world. I am not only teaching children to read (whoa!) but I am teaching them how to function in life and how to break the cycle of poverty. I have spent so much time teaching life skills, and I stop my lessons every time that there is an opportunity to teach them something about themselves or the massive world around them. One thing that has really upset me is the fact that 6 year olds can be so unkind. I have witnessed my kids saying and thinking hurtful things and it has broken my heart.

I will not forget the day that I had to stop my lesson and show my disappointment to my little ones. I had heard multiple students picking on one little girl and the class refused to sit by her. I was very clear about my expectations for them and how they had let me down. The next day, I came to school with a kind class promise. Every morning, we recite this to start our day.

1.    I will choose to be kind.

2.    No one has the right to hurt anyone else.

3.    We may all be different, but we can all be kind.

Along with this, we have a box that we are trying to fill with kind notes. If someone is kind, we can write it down and put it in the box in hopes that our class can fill it up! A lot of my students have internalized these kind behaviors and throughout the day I hear them say “That’s not kind, we need to be kind, or please just be the bigger person.” This honestly makes me smile so much, and I hope that it can be continued on throughout their lives. Think about it. If they choose to be kind, and teach others to be kind, we are going somewhere J

The biggest accomplishment for me so far is the student I wrote about at the beginning of the year, the student who kept me up at night because I was worried that he wasn’t getting this excellent education that I had promised. This student has not been suspended since September, nor do I plan on any more suspensions for the rest of first grade. There are so many wonderful things that I could say about this student, and I enjoy every second with him. I began a paper trail immediately and we were able to go through the testing process to determine that he is emotionally disabled. Thankfully, this will not change his placement in my class, but will protect him throughout his life. I learned quickly that he loves to help, and it is obvious that he is so academically talented. He has become a teacher in my class, and helps students work through problems. I sent him after a kindergartener who had run away, oh and he also killed a bug for us J I don’t know what I would do without him, and I am so lucky that we was placed in my class. I truly think that God placed him in my class for a reason, and I am so proud of the growth he has made.

I could go on and on about my 25 amazing students, each and every one of them. I love them so much and am inspired by their willingness to learn and grow. My adventure here in Phoenix has been so wonderful. I have connected with amazing doctors with unending determination. I have been placed on a team of outstanding first grade teachers. I have met people who have allowed me to grow in my faith. I take in the beauty of the desert every single day with picture perfect sunsets and scenery. I have been connected with sponsors who support every decision I make and care about the welfare of my students. I have formed relationships with amazing people from all backgrounds. I have a deep appreciation of Indiana and Midwestern hospitality. I continue to find even more reasons as to why my family is perfect in every way. And, of course, I have been able to live out a passion of mine while being surrounded by 25 amazing individuals who have found a perfect spot at the center of my heart.

 

If I can give you any advice, it is to please serve others and give all that you have. Go outside of your comfort zone and talk to perfect strangers, find out what they need. Forget that new shirt that you had to have, and give to others instead. Be grateful for what you have, and come to the realization that you have everything you need. Find out what you are passionate about, and make a change. In order to live your life passionately and whole-heartedly, you must go outside of yourself and get to the core of a problem. It will not change itself.

My one hope is that everyone will be hopeful that we can make a world a better place to live in.

 

Be kind, be passionate, be hopeful, and give.

 

All my love,

Jace xxo

Curriculum Mapping

How can curriculum mapping assist you?  Do you have one?  Does your school/district curriculum map?  Where would/will you start in creating a useful curriculum map for your classroom? 

Oh, curriculum mapping. I definitely did not like these two words at the beginning of the year. More importantly, I did not have any clue what that meant. After much time on Google, I was able to get a better understanding of what that meant. I have a curriculum map for every subject. Some of the subjects are very/overly planned like reading. Others are rough draft pen and paper, but are still there. I am a planner, and I think these have helped me more than anything. Of course, there are a few times where I look at the pacing and change a few things now that I know my kids so well, but for the most part, I stick to them. My district provided me with a math curriculum map but was something that everyone changed and followed their own map. For reading, we follow the map of our curriculum, but it misses a lot of important parts of common core, so this was something that I recreated completely, but I love it! This has been so helpful for me and I feel confident that my students will master every objective of common core. They are brilliant :) To start, I simply looked at every objective, sorted and grouped them, and then put in order by difficulty and similarity. So, for those of you that cringe when you hear those 2 words... get on Google, cut and paste objectives, and save yourself time in the long run.

My advice: write out the objectives in advance! It's easier to edit than create! Best of luck!!

All my love,

Jacey

Use me!

Where have I been?! I am so sorry that I have not updated in a while. It is safe to say that I have had so much happen in the past few months that finding the time to sit down and put it all into words is a miracle. I finally and officially feel like a first grade teacher. Took long enough, huh? I want to open my classroom up to you and hope to inspire you to go out there and change the world. Don’t know where to start? Find a teacher, find a classroom, and give your time, knowledge, and heart. Think about if every single person that read this volunteered just 15 minutes of their time. That’s one seriously amazing idea.

I always seem to find the time to blog when I am 30,000 feet above. That’s right, I am taking another long plane ride. This is actually starting to become pretty familiar. This trip was unexpected, and while I caught a last minute flight to celebrate and honor an amazing person’s journey on Earth, it got me thinking. I have always felt like I am here to serve. I remember saying my prayers when I was little and always ending it by saying “Use me!” So here I am, miles away from home, being a teacher and caretaker to a group of amazing children. I can honestly say that this experience is nothing like I expected. I pictured a torn apart building where I stood in front of children who were hungry and needed so much more love than they were given. I pictured myself being the soft-spoken “mother” who gave them everything they needed. Instead, I spend my nights researching the behavior of my children and read a few articles on parenting. How do you respond to a defiant child, a young boy who cannot regulate emotions or anger, a child who gets upset and runs away, a child who falls into a deep sleep out of nowhere? How do you restrain a child? This is what I do, and this is what I love, My one wish: I wish that I could spend more one-on-one time with my children. I want to figure them out, but I always have to remind myself that they all need my attention at all times, period.

I have been drained and exhausted many days, but inspired and proud at the same time. We are starting to test one of my students for an emotional disability. Sitting in a meeting and informing a parent that there is concern is so disheartening. I felt terrible and all I could say was “I promise you we are going to figure this out, and your son will receive an excellent education.”

Another parent pulled me aside after school with tears in her eyes and asked “Miss Abney, how do you make someone trust you again?” This was a moment I will never forget. I expect my students to come to me needing help and advice. But, getting that from a parent put me on cloud nine. That is why I am here. I want to go beyond the classroom and help the families. Think about it, if you help the parents, it will cycle back to the children. Now your problem has been addressed from the core and will carry on. Funny how that works. Teachers cannot forget that the children’s lives do not end when the bell rings. The world keeps turning and the impact still needs to be made.

I have a child who was placed into foster care, and the effects have scared me every day. I watch as he begins to stop trusting everyone. He has become so disrespectful towards adults and it saddens me. I understand why he thinks that adults are liars, that’s all he knows right now. I pulled him aside one day and he looked at me and said “I pray for my mom every night that she will become a better mom.” That pulled at my heart so much and I sat there, wanting to say so much, but knowing that I couldn’t!

Every day in my class is so different. I love that about my job. No day is ever the same. You never know the amount of love you can have for over 20 kids at one time, until you become a teacher.

All my love from another plane,

Jacey xxo

Technology and ELD

Blog Prompts:

Technology: I am asked to write about how I use and feel about technology in the classroom, which can lead to a pretty complicated response. Let’s just say that I LOVE technology, but when it comes to teaching, I am much more old school than I expected. I do use technology on a daily basis and am very comfortable with it. However, if I had to go a day without it, I wouldn’t mind. I think it is important to remember that my kids are all different types of learners. I have some students who LOVE to learn by looking at a book or reading something for themselves. On the other hand, a majority of my students love to learn by song or are visual learners. Every day for math, we use my doc cam so that I can do the packet while they follow along. The same goes with phonics or any other worksheets where they need guidance. I believe that is helpful for them and it is helpful for me as well because I can show everyone exactly how to do it which saves a lot of time! Also for math, we sing and watch 2 youtube videos during our math fluency warm-up time. This is a time for them to have the daily reminder of skip counting, odd, and even, which can be very tough concepts for young children to grasp. They love singing these, and I catch them singing them throughout the day as well J For science, my students LOVE seeing pictures of any kind! I make power points so that they can paint a picture of what I am saying and to make it feel more real. The more realistic the learning is, the better. Though, when the opportunity comes where a lesson can be hands on instead, I will always pick hands-on learning over technology. So, while I use technology every day, I am not reliant on it and believe there are many other ways for students to successfully engage in a lesson.

ELD: Upon becoming a teacher, I was so confused about how students are labeled as ELD or non-ELD. This is a subject that I never understood fully. When I think about a classroom, I think of how I have 24 unique students who all learn in completely different ways. It can be challenging to accommodate all of them during one lesson, but with preparation, it can be done. When I think about my students who struggle with a language barrier, I do not see that as their way of learning. ELD strategies are amazing strategies that should simply be used with all children. These strategies should never be limited or labeled as one type of learning. They accommodate children who are visual learners, tactile learners, and auditory learners in one lesson. These are strategies that include showing pictures, using kinesthetic movement, and creating rhymes to help pull concepts from their memory. I use these every day with my non-ELD learners and I think they are extremely beneficial. All in all, these strategies are perfect for any class regardless of if the desks are filled with non-ELD, ELD, SPED, or “high ability.” In my opinion, strategies are strategies that should be used and implemented in order to create successful learners.

Reading:
How prepared do you feel in effectively teaching your students in reading?  Is this one of your strengths?  A weakness?Have you started to plan to the Common Core Standards?  If you have, how is that going?  If you haven’t, why not?  What support do you need?

-I feel so much more prepared teaching reading than I did at the beginning of the year. I have been doing so much research on phonics rules and finding fun games for the students to play to promote fluency. I have learned that teaching reading requires a lot of differentiation. I have students who are reading 60 words per minute, and students who are reading 6. This requires extra time spent with my students during after school tutoring to focus on the skill that they need the most. Some students still need to practice letter recognition, letter names, and letter sounds. I would not say that this is a strength just yet. This definitely takes time. As for common core, I have been teaching this since day one and love it. There are always fun ways to teach common core standards and allow for a lot of creativity. We are currently learning about reality and fantasy and the students always catch on so quickly. This is a very fun time for us and I find them using these skills during other lessons as well.

Differentiation:
Do you differentiate instruction? Why? Why not?  What is the important for differentiating instruction?  What impact does it have on student learning?

-I absolutely differentiate instruction. Like I previously said, this is key for reading instruction because every student is at a different level. During our letter sounds instruction, my fluent readers read their own books and take a comprehension test. I also always differentiate during math. This is very important so that ALL of my students are being challenged constantly. For independent practice, the worksheet starts out simple, then leads to a challenge problem, then a create-your-own math problem. If this is all finished, they can turn to the back page which says "when you think you're done, you've just begun." This page incorporates very difficult math problems to challenge my high students and make them think outside the box. This has a huge impact on learning and allows for students to meet individual goals while working towards a group goal.