I taught 8th grade for a lot of years then circumstances forced me to teach 6th grade and my principal and other teachers were concerned about how that was going to go!! I am not built for elementary kids! and 6th grade is pretty close. I've taught 6th grade for 4 years now and they are growing on me. :) It works out well for my teaching partner and I. I whip them into shape - mathematically and work ethic wise in the 6th grade and they are ready to progress in the 7th grade. As he gets to each unit he says he can tell what I teach because they KNOW it. Really know it!. He was gone one day last week and the sub came in to ask me to help with the project they were working on. I asked if they needed help with understanding the project or understanding the proportion part. and they said - "Miss Staley, we know how to solve proportions - YOU taught us!" ha! They remembered!
Kids often do really well in math in elementary school then get lower grades in 6th grade. Parents freak! It's because we study things that actually require work! and they have HW and actual grades. Last year parents were contacting me " my kid has always gotten 97s in math and now with you, they are getting an 85 - what are you doing?" Then by the end of the year - many of them thanked me for pushing their kid so hard and making them learn. I also tell them all the time that not only am I to teach them math, but my job is to teach them to be good, responsible people. This week one of the sweetest girls had a birthday and helped her mom make special cupcakes (they imported ingredients they couldn't get here). Well kids saw her in the hall with the cupcakes and mobbed her - all wanting one even if they weren't friends with her. I shooed a bunch of them away and got on them about being greedy. I went to the bathroom and when I got out I saw the girl sobbing. Kids had mobbed her again and flipped the cupcakes on the ground and grabbed them like wild animals. I was sooooo upset with their behavior. I had my H block and gave them a huge lecture on how we treat others and how that girl's special day ended in disappointment. I started crying - I was so upset for the girl. The kids asked why I was crying and I told them it hurts my heart when people's feelings get hurt. I let them cut math short and we made birthday cards for the girl and I let them use my special stickers and stamps. :) they wrote her lovely letters and I hope they learned a lesson.
At the end of the year the school gives the students surveys to fill out on every teacher. I picked the 10 lowest categories for last year and gave the kids a mini survey this week to see how I am doing so I know what areas I need to improve on. The kids responded better this year than last. I was a little surprised. I am tough on my kids. I expect a lot and some don't respond well to that. But these kids seem to. Here are some responses.
She puts in fun games, that make us remember stuff without even knowing. HA! like I'm being sneaky about making them learn.
She challenges me and has options to learn more if you don't understand something. Ex: extra help
She always is on your back and always gives us extra-work 2 months in advance so we can prepare for the test. YES! I am on their back!
She involves fun and jokes along with learning
she makes us get up and actually do something instead of just listening. Yep! they are expected to MOVE in my class. Math is a sport!
Like she laughs around and enjoys herself so it becomes fun when you learn in her class or during advisory.
We watch fun activity video about the topic and Ms. Staley does things to help us understand and also have fun like beat the clock. She wants us to be perfect on the topic by putting extra work on haiku to us to work on.
she always lets us do math games and if we do really well we will get a sticker or stamp
Oriental trading rocks and bribery works!!
She is really funny and makes Math extremely interesting. Before I did not like math, but know I really enjoy it. Ms. Staley happens to be my favorite. This is from a girl that is extremely immature and I am on her case constantly!
we do games, she makes it easy to understand
MAYBE... she could bring in pie this is in response to what I can do to improve. 6th graders :) They think with their tummies!
She gets stories into it to make it fun, and enjoyable.
She is so perfect she does not need to work on anything :) HA!! Several kids said I was perfect. I think we need to have a vocabulary lesson on what that word means. I am nowhere near perfect.
Yes,she shows us Charlie pictures and I enjoy that.
Because she makes me understand things in math that I don't understand, and makes me smarter. And, almost always, she shows us pictures or videos of Charlie
She makes us watch spy guys. She shows us Charlie photos!!
Because she makes me understand things in math that I don't understand, and makes me smarter. And, almost always, she shows us pictures or videos of Charlie
She uses khan academy and myimaths and the spy dudes which are cool.
Obviously Charlie (my niece) and spy guy videos are a hit!!
She always make new activities in class so we enjoy learning our new unit. She's always happy when she teaches which make the other students happy too and they stay calm during the math class (most of the time). I love math class this year because of Ms. Staley. The stickers are a great way to reward us, and makes us want to succeed.
I think we are fine. You do what you can and learning with the games is fun I love that line. "You do what you can." Yep. that is all I can do.
This year we have most of the 8th graders in one class and we split them into three groups. I have the lowest group. 11 girls and one boy. I love my Algebra kids but they drain the life out of me! After every class I go into my teaching partner's room and lament how I pour my heart and soul into those kids and yet we still don't understand slope!!!! augh!!! They are all kids who struggle with math and for the most part hate it and have failed most of their life. I'm in there dancing around, talking to the board. Doing all I can to entertain them and teach them. I give up my lunch time regularly to give them extra help. and here is a comment from one of them.
I think Ms.Staley is a very good teacher! She always tries to make math more fun for us, which is hard to do because most of the people in my math class despise math. But now, we don't at all anymore which I think is good. I can enjoy she likes teaching, sometimes she gets frustrated but then again so do all teachers and we're a bunch of 8th graders so it gets hard.
Not all comments were positive of course. I had two negative comments. Both from the same kid. So I need to work on my relationship with him :)
People wonder why I moved half way across the world? why I put up with the grossness of India?
Simple! I get to work with these kids!
Kids often do really well in math in elementary school then get lower grades in 6th grade. Parents freak! It's because we study things that actually require work! and they have HW and actual grades. Last year parents were contacting me " my kid has always gotten 97s in math and now with you, they are getting an 85 - what are you doing?" Then by the end of the year - many of them thanked me for pushing their kid so hard and making them learn. I also tell them all the time that not only am I to teach them math, but my job is to teach them to be good, responsible people. This week one of the sweetest girls had a birthday and helped her mom make special cupcakes (they imported ingredients they couldn't get here). Well kids saw her in the hall with the cupcakes and mobbed her - all wanting one even if they weren't friends with her. I shooed a bunch of them away and got on them about being greedy. I went to the bathroom and when I got out I saw the girl sobbing. Kids had mobbed her again and flipped the cupcakes on the ground and grabbed them like wild animals. I was sooooo upset with their behavior. I had my H block and gave them a huge lecture on how we treat others and how that girl's special day ended in disappointment. I started crying - I was so upset for the girl. The kids asked why I was crying and I told them it hurts my heart when people's feelings get hurt. I let them cut math short and we made birthday cards for the girl and I let them use my special stickers and stamps. :) they wrote her lovely letters and I hope they learned a lesson.
At the end of the year the school gives the students surveys to fill out on every teacher. I picked the 10 lowest categories for last year and gave the kids a mini survey this week to see how I am doing so I know what areas I need to improve on. The kids responded better this year than last. I was a little surprised. I am tough on my kids. I expect a lot and some don't respond well to that. But these kids seem to. Here are some responses.
She puts in fun games, that make us remember stuff without even knowing. HA! like I'm being sneaky about making them learn.
She challenges me and has options to learn more if you don't understand something. Ex: extra help
She always is on your back and always gives us extra-work 2 months in advance so we can prepare for the test. YES! I am on their back!
She involves fun and jokes along with learning
she makes us get up and actually do something instead of just listening. Yep! they are expected to MOVE in my class. Math is a sport!
Like she laughs around and enjoys herself so it becomes fun when you learn in her class or during advisory.
We watch fun activity video about the topic and Ms. Staley does things to help us understand and also have fun like beat the clock. She wants us to be perfect on the topic by putting extra work on haiku to us to work on.
she always lets us do math games and if we do really well we will get a sticker or stamp
Oriental trading rocks and bribery works!!
She is really funny and makes Math extremely interesting. Before I did not like math, but know I really enjoy it. Ms. Staley happens to be my favorite. This is from a girl that is extremely immature and I am on her case constantly!
we do games, she makes it easy to understand
MAYBE... she could bring in pie this is in response to what I can do to improve. 6th graders :) They think with their tummies!
She gets stories into it to make it fun, and enjoyable.
She is so perfect she does not need to work on anything :) HA!! Several kids said I was perfect. I think we need to have a vocabulary lesson on what that word means. I am nowhere near perfect.
Yes,she shows us Charlie pictures and I enjoy that.
Because she makes me understand things in math that I don't understand, and makes me smarter. And, almost always, she shows us pictures or videos of Charlie
She makes us watch spy guys. She shows us Charlie photos!!
Because she makes me understand things in math that I don't understand, and makes me smarter. And, almost always, she shows us pictures or videos of Charlie
She uses khan academy and myimaths and the spy dudes which are cool.
Obviously Charlie (my niece) and spy guy videos are a hit!!
She always make new activities in class so we enjoy learning our new unit. She's always happy when she teaches which make the other students happy too and they stay calm during the math class (most of the time). I love math class this year because of Ms. Staley. The stickers are a great way to reward us, and makes us want to succeed.
I think we are fine. You do what you can and learning with the games is fun I love that line. "You do what you can." Yep. that is all I can do.
This year we have most of the 8th graders in one class and we split them into three groups. I have the lowest group. 11 girls and one boy. I love my Algebra kids but they drain the life out of me! After every class I go into my teaching partner's room and lament how I pour my heart and soul into those kids and yet we still don't understand slope!!!! augh!!! They are all kids who struggle with math and for the most part hate it and have failed most of their life. I'm in there dancing around, talking to the board. Doing all I can to entertain them and teach them. I give up my lunch time regularly to give them extra help. and here is a comment from one of them.
I think Ms.Staley is a very good teacher! She always tries to make math more fun for us, which is hard to do because most of the people in my math class despise math. But now, we don't at all anymore which I think is good. I can enjoy she likes teaching, sometimes she gets frustrated but then again so do all teachers and we're a bunch of 8th graders so it gets hard.
Not all comments were positive of course. I had two negative comments. Both from the same kid. So I need to work on my relationship with him :)
People wonder why I moved half way across the world? why I put up with the grossness of India?
Simple! I get to work with these kids!
This is so adorable- love all their comments. So glad you are loving it & having a blast teaching some wonderful kids.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen you blog in a while! :) I'm sorry I didn't gt a Christmas card to you! Im thinking of you as you travel somewhere new over Christmas! Your kids comments are amazing! Thanks for keeping us updated on your life there! :)
ReplyDelete