Good News, Coping Strategies, Buy in Bulk Esoterica

Good News: Some generous person or organization funded all the Donors Choose projects in SFUSD today.  I got two, one a biggie for recess equipment, which makes me feel better about not having resubmitted the grant for a loft.

Coping Strategies: Something that comes up in teaching at high-needs schools is secondary trauma: many of your students are traumatized, and that trauma is shared with the educators on site.  And there's trauma just associated with teaching in a high-poverty environment, or in dealing with systems that really aren't set up to do the best for children.  Everyone has some coping strategies for these issues, maladaptive or not.

I have a new one: every time I am upset about classroom stuff or irritated with the district's utter disdain for certain necessities (heat) or fondness for extra-legal procedures that take forever, I am going to up the weights I use at the gym.  At this rate, I will be scary cut by May.

Teacher Esoterica, Buy in Bulk: Those little cups that you get pickled ginger in sometimes?  About 2 ounces and food safe?  Those and the lids have dozens of uses: fill 'em with pre-portioned paint for easy clean up, distribute high-density snacks like dried fruit, store beads that have been sorted by color, etc.  These are so great I want to buy some for every teacher at my school and just see what other uses people discover for them.  They are not perhaps the most waste-sensitive solution, but we reuse them many times and besides, my class is rumored to be the best composters at the school.  So I figure they can have a pass to save me a little after school work.

Know Your Veterans

One of the more disappointing things about the deficit thinking Teach for America and other education reform projects is the disdain they inspire for veteran teachers.

I don't think it's intentional, but if you believe that schools are failing, and that unions protect the lazy, and all we need is some accountability and no tenure and some performance-based pay, it's hard to hold those failing, lazy, unaccountable teachers in any esteem.

It's unfortunate, because it leads to a lot of wheel-reinventing.  Chances are good that someone at your school's done a unit on ocean life before.  Another veteran knows how to get a bus for a field trip.  Someone down the hall had a student with similar needs to the child who's challenging you.  The veterans know families and circumstances at the school.  They know the secret trick to unjam the copier and what snacks the custodians prefer.  It's hard to share all this important information with people who believe you fail children every day.

Beyond that, veterans are closer to retirement than you are, and cannot maintain storage spaces forever.  Over the break, I have been given the following by retirees:

• A huge set of science posters, including one that has eggs on it, and when you shine a light on an egg you can see the type of developing chick inside.
• A photo-heavy book on life cycles.
• A set of magnetic picture frames for completing a class gift to families.
• Over two thousand stickers.
• Several cute die-cut notepads.
• Labels.

That's in just two weeks.  I've been given a literal car full of high-quality teaching materials, including thirty bins (great for material passout, crayons, etc.), the giant scissors that are part of the standard treatment regimen at the Crazy Doctor Hospital*, a paper cutter, a copy-paper box full to the brim with stickers, a class set of mirrors, over one hundred pure beeswax crayons...need I continue?

New teachers should appreciate veterans because they're doing a hard job well, and because they're all part of the school community.  But when they fail to do so, they miss out on the tangible goodies, too.

*Now providing both amputation and a cutting-edge treatment called "ticklectomy".

Teacher Esoterica: More Stuff to Buy in Bulk...or just buy.

1. Squirt Bottles.  The applications are endless: misting students with cool water on hot days, getting cool painting effects, demonstrating how rainbows appear, quickly creating a humid environment in the snail tank or greenhouse.  It's worth it to have a lot of these, each labeled with its intended use (or at least some of them labeled "water only").
2. White Address Labels.  A quick source for important information ("I have a permission slip!" stickers, for instance), name tags, file organization and similar.
3. Shaving Cream.  Practice writing while cleaning all the glue off the table!
4. Bubble Wrap.  Sensory pleasure for all ages!
5. Air popper and popcorn.  For about twenty dollars, you can provide cheap, healthy snacks that just about every kid will eat.  Freshly popped popcorn needs neither salt nor butter, and buying kernels is far cheaper than microwave packages.  One cup of kernels makes two big bowls of popcorn - enough to feed a whole class generously.  This can also provide an extremely cost-effective fundraiser.

All Toys are Learning Toys

Since I've been teaching for awhile, I've been able to experiment with lots of different toys and games.  Some haven't worked out, either because they are too messy (Moon Sand) or breakable (foam puzzles).  Others have been surprising hits:

1. Lite Brites and Lumimos: Kids will spend a long time designing with these, and they practice fine motor skills, patterning, and geometry.  If you have the design sheets for the Lite Brite, they also practice initial letter sounds.  I have a Lite Brite Cube, which should allow four kids to play at once but is maxed out at three and best with two.  I also have two Lumimos.  Lumimos are currently on clearance at the Lakeshore Learning outlet in San Leandro.
2. Skittles: This is a fun (loud) table game.  The kids practice turn-taking, fine motor skills, motor planning and adding.  I drag the Skittles board out after January, since I've found before then their motor skills are not up to wrapping the tops.  This is also a great way to check if your tables are exactly leveled.
3. Hammer and Nails.  I start the kids with a practice board before they graduate to wood scraps and real tools.  I also have goggles and gloves.  Hammering is a skill you must teach; I have had any number of students whose caregivers confirm that they hammer at home who still use methods that lead to broken fingers and puncture wounds.  Still, it's possible to be very serious about untoward consequences without being scary, and everyone should be able to hang a picture.  This is a great activity for motor planning and creativity.  Over the year, I also teach kids how to sand and stain wood - there used to be a FOSS science module on this, but it's been added in a reduced form to the Trees unit.

Five Fast Suggestions for Newbies

It's amazing how much really simple, obvious stuff is not so obvious when you are actually, you know, teaching.  It's like the constant multitasking and long days makes for little critical reflection (not doing so well on cutting the sarcasm, you see).

Anyway, five things I've learned that are big time or brain savers:

1. Sticky note to the manual/lesson plan/back of the easel board: a fast way to mark down who's able to answer the questions.  This is particularly useful for oral skill drills (phonemic analysis, etc.) and the ever-popular "informal and ongoing assessment".
2. Get everyone a water bottle.  Set some rules for use and you're free.  This cuts down on water trips - key in my classroom, since the pipes are leaded (I don't trust flushing them) and the counter isn't level so the water always, without fail, escapes the sink and destroys whatever is sitting there.
3. Identify the key supplies you do not want kids to use and teach them how to use everything else (obviously, this is an early elementary thing).  In my case, the permanent markers are off limits (except in very specific circumstances) and I teach the kids how to use the stapler, the pencil sharpener and the tape.
4. Provide regular stickers.  These are cheap, and your students will not - let me repeat, WILL NOT - become sticker-dependent.  Besides, since you control the stickers, you decide if you feel like passing them out.
1. If you have access, provide books for prizes too.  If you are in the Bay Area, you do.
5. Apologize to your class as needed.

Some Games Worth Buying for the Kindergarten Classroom.

1. Wok 'n Roll.  I actually bought another one of these so eight kids can play at once.  I make them play with the motor off twice (once just collecting pieces, once color matching while collecting) before letting them turn it on.  I also put the game on top of a storage bin lid so that it doesn't take a tumble off the table.
2. Kids on Stage.  This game kids can learn to play with only one teacher demonstration lesson.
3. Starfall Speedway.  Two games in one box and six kids can play at once.

Ongoing Teaching Fascinations

One of the things that I want my students to find interesting and enjoy is coloring neatly.  Mind you, I didn't say coloring within the lines or coloring true to life.  When we go over what it means to do a nice job coloring, these ideas generally come up in the brainstorming.  The former I nix entirely; it may be that exciting coloring requires outside the line work.  As to the latter, if I want true to life coloring it's part of the directions.  (In science, for instance if we call it a "diagram" or a "science sketch" part of that is coloring the way you see it.  And certain portraiture projects involve accurate coloring.)

In my Kindergarten, neat coloring means:

• controlled strokes (long or short as needed, but not with total abandon)
• a legitimate attempt to color all colorable areas (leaving stuff uncolored is okay if you have a reason for it) in a picture
• prioritizing completeness of one picture rather than finishing (say, if they're coloring a take home reader)
• using multiple colors (at least three)

Later in the year, we add experimenting with shade and coloring more lightly/more heavily.

To assist students in this, I try to provide the best coloring tool for the job.  But I have spent some time working on finding a tool that is manageable and high-interest (if the tool is manageable, I will provide it more often; if it is high-interest, the kids spend more time with it).

For the edification of equally minutiae-minded people, here's what I've learned.

Big Crayons

Pros: Available in a wide array of colors.  Some students find thicker items easier to grasp.  Students generally color more heavily.  Very nice for crayon shaving/crayon melting projects.

Cons: Boring.  Many students associate big crayons with "preschool babies" and similar and want thinner ones.

Use: Out and always available.

Regular Crayons

Pros: Available in a huge array of colors.  Some students find thinner items easier to grasp and like using "big kid" supplies.  Very nice for shade and tone studies.  Children are more likely to use a tripod grasp when using these.

Cons: Requires training around "Why it is not a big deal when crayons break but we shouldn't break them on purpose".  Kids get bored.

Use: Out and always available.

Oil Pastels

Pros: Color well on black.  Smudging allows interesting color effects.

Cons: Messy.  Finished works need to be sprayed with fixative.

Use: Restricted to certain art projects.

Glitter Crayons

Pros: Thinner, therefore "big kid" supplies.  These inspire heavy coloring since the more you color over something, the more glittery it gets.  High novelty factor.  Finished works have a nice shimmer.  The glitter embeds itself nicely and doesn't get all over everything.

Cons: I haven't found these in assortments larger than 16 colors.  These are expensive (~$2.50/box), so we don't have enough for the whole class to use at once.  This can cause interpersonal drama.  Not that easy to find unless I am willing to pay shipping (I just bought the last three boxes at Flax, for instance).

Use: I toss a few of these in every crayon tray and require that they stay where placed unless borrowed through a conversational exchange (no snatching) and returned.

Thick Markers

Pros: Exciting for children.  The marker stands inspire sharing, teach the art of "cap until it clicks" and reinforce rainbow color order.

Cons: Leak through paper.  Hard to do color mixing.

Use: Restricted to large projects.

Thin Markers

Pros: Exciting for children.  Small tip enables detail work.  Do not leak through paper as badly as thick markers.

Cons: Not the best tool when there is not ample time for coloring, since kids will use these for a long time.  Hard to do color mixing (although nice for design work using darker colors on lighter colors).  I don't have marker stands for thin markers and the click of the well-placed cap is not as audible, so there is loss to drying out.

Use: Generally available by request.  (They have to ask but the answer is usually yes.)  We keep fresh roll trays around for sharing these out.

Gel F(x) Markers

Pros: Nice on black paper.  Interesting "fade in" effect that is fun to watch.

Cons: Run out very quickly.  Color mixing is not really possible.  I have only found these in thick sizes, so they don't lend themselves well to detail work.  Expensive; I got a class pack from DonorsChoose but I wouldn't spend the $70 replacing it.

Use: Restricted to black-paper projects as a special treat.

Mr. Sketch Scented Stix

Pros: Between the scent and the tiny tips, kids will color with these in great detail.  Inspire sharing.  Appear to last for a very long time; caps go on securely without a lot of effort.  The scents apparently last a long time (the kids will sniff their work for days afterward and claim they still smell the pens; I haven't tried this).

Cons: Leak through paper more than other thin markers.  Require teaching "How to Share the Scent of a Marker" lessons before someone takes an inadvertent pen to the nostril.  Not the best tool for projects with a short timeline - left to their own devices, some kids will spend 90 minutes with these.  I personally loathe the smell of almost all of these.  Expensive; I got a class pack from DonorsChoose but would not really want to spend $80 to get another one.

Colored Pencils

Pros: Excellent for reinforcing tripod grasp.  Allow blending and shading.  Available in a wide array of colors.  Kids will use these with good enjoyment.

Cons: The great art of sharpening is seductive.  In any colored pencil project, two to three children will want to spend all of their time sharpening until the points are extra sharp.  It may also be necessary to see what will happen if the other end gets sharpened (answer: nothing.  I have better things to get grumpy about).  Pencil sharpeners are not first-day-of-school tools in my classroom and I find colored pencils do not sharpen well in an electric sharpener, so these require a lot of work for me.

Use: Go-to tool when true to life coloring is required or thin markers are not available/suitable.  Otherwise they're available by request, but requests are pretty rare.

Recyclescrounge-o-Rama

The following things are endlessly useful in the classroom:

• Glass jars.  Try to get people to soak off the labels (or at least wash and dry them well) first.  These make for candleholders (tissue paper "stained glass), meditation jars, paint mixers and cream shakers (not the same jars, of course).
• Yogurt containers.  The two-cup Greek yogurt containers are fabulous for watercolor painting water cups.  The little individual ones are good for holding counting chips and things like that.
• The little trays and containers my Chinese takeout come in.  These are good for holding collage supplies.
• The trays on which sit summer rolls to go.  I have big containers of colored pencils and thin, non-scented markers (thick markers are in marker stands and stinky markers are out only when needed).  Kids grab a handful for personal or partner use and put them on a tray.  This is time-efficient for me and provides opportunities for negotiation - although it does involve some teaching and class meetings at the beginning of the year.*

*Although honestly I think fights over supplies tend to start with kids assuming that there will never be enough.  While I encourage careful supply use and conservation, I also make sure that we have more than enough of any one thing.  Supply affluence cuts down on hoarding and arguments, and I believe children learn best when they can devote their energy to learning, not worrying about who has a pink crayon and who doesn't.

Arts and Crafts Things Kids Like and Adults Lurve

1. Child Mondrian.  Just as a term, "neo-plasticism" seems very evocative of our mountainous piles of disposable geegaws, no?  Anyway, letting the kids loose with thin strips of black matte paper, white paper, tempera in the primary colors and q-tips or brushes make for a cool project.  It goes nicely with a unit on primary colors and hue.
2. Child Pollock.  A very nice project for the end of the year: make sure to recommend that children wear clothes that can get dirty.  All you need is a big space, an old bedsheet and a mess of brushes and paint.  Kids enjoy seeing the impact different movements and distances.  You can read Action Jackson in advance, too.
3. Paper Plate Aquaria/Terraria.  Bonus points for using blue cellophane on aquaria.

There are also plenty of projects that kids love and adults can take or leave.  These can be very fun; I need to make a list of some of the ones that have gone really well so I can get the materials to do them again.

Something else that is very fun is showing fifteen minutes of The Muppet Show as a five day of excellence whole class reward.  I provided fifteen minutes of the Harry Belafonte episode (because the performance of "Turn the World Around" is going to be EPIC and I am experimenting with using Mr. Belafonte as our lead-in to some of our social studies unit (working together, social change, all that)).  When we got to the outside door, I invoked my magical teacher skills to turn them all into Animal having a drum off with Harry Belafonte.  So they ran out the door beating frenetically on imaginary drums while screaming.  From my perspective it was kind of awesome.  That perspective would be "waving from the door".

Teacher Esoterica: Useful Clothing Items

1. Special Operations Field Trip Pants.  Mine have twenty four pockets*.  This is extremely useful: one pocket for MUNI transfers, three big ones for water bottles, one for bandages, one for hand wipes, one for my ids/emergency cash, a mobile phone pocket, camera pocket...  They also have two hanging straps, which enable two extra children to walk with me (if they are having a goat freak out or similar).
2. Spare Jacket in a Neutral Color.  To leave at school for when the heat goes out or you forget that you have yard duty and are not dressed for more than ten minutes outside.
3. Fingerless Gloves.  Protect against violently dry hands.

I don't really go in for aprons or fanny packs, which are also pretty popular.

*Not a typo.  24.  They're awesome.