just saw my classroom for the first time!

[ulysses]

It's huge, easily 30x40'. The school was built years ago on the "open classroom" model of yesteryear, and half of my room was a science room, so I've got all the sinks, showers, etc over there, plus the other half with desks. I'm teaching a self-contained learning disabled class of 15 kids (middle school, mix of grades 6-8), I get a paraprofessional, and I get to teach them all of their core classes - science, social studies (elections unit this fall!), math, language arts. I am so f***ing psyched!

The neighborhood is pretty rough, but I knew I would be going to a high-needs area. School starts in eleven days! :D

[trof]

1. Good for you, man.

Best of luck.
Ya make us proud.
:-)

[donco6]

2. How exciting for you!

Good luck. We're cranking up to get the schools ready here, too. I always like this time of year. It's fun to see the teachers coming in again with their boxes of stuff to put on the walls and plants and fish and all that.

[ulysses]

5. fish!

Damn - I'd thought of plants, but I need to figure out a low-maintenance animal I can have in the class...thanks!

[roguevalley]

7. use spider plants. they recycle the air and eliminate smells. they are

also easy to regrow by taking the 'spiders' off and planting them. Kids love them.

[ulysses]

10. thanks.

I'll get 'em.

[donco6]

13. We have lots of teachers with fish.

It's a fun teaching tool. The kids like to take care of them - sometimes they bring in a new one. They tend to stick with guppies and goldfish, with maybe a betta or swordtail thrown in.

[ulysses]

18. I don't know much about them.

The science teacher at the private school where I worked last year had a fairly exotic fish and a guinea pig in her room - she spent a lot of weekend time going to the school to take care of them, which I would like to avoid. A guinea I could bring home with me, and offers the "fur" factor that fish don't, but we'll see.

[Heddi]

31. Please don't get a fish for your classroom

because, generally speaking, the fish get the shit-end of the deal.

--please pardon me while I get into rant mode :) ---

I keep tropical fish. ALOT of them in a large (to me) aquarium. They are ALOT of work. Just as much work to keep a single betta in a 5-gal tank as it is to keep several fish in a 50-gal tank. You need to clean the tank regularly, check for disease, illness, check the water quality....etc.

Also, I don't know what the age range is of the kids you're teaching, but kids of ALL ages have really bad tendencies to stick things in animals cages/tanks that don't belong there---I remember the guinea pig in my 3rd grade classroom was fed a hefty diet of pencil erasers and scraps of notebook paper....ugh. Fish are even more sensitive--I've had entire tanks go sour b/c of minute amounts of soap that got in the tank b/c I didn't rinse my hands good enough.

Fish are just a pain in the ass for school---the temp has to be steady (some schools shut off the power during winter/summer breaks). Feeding has to be steady (even during vacations, weekends, snow-days), and frankly they're just not that fun for kids to watch.

I'm pretty much against ANY animals in classrooms because the poor animals take the brunt of asshole kids who think it's fun to shove crayons up Mr. Bobo's behind, or put dirt in his food dish----but if you want an animal, get something that you can take home with you at night and on weekends and that's not a pain in the butt with regards to upkeep, cleanliness, etc.

Good luck with teaching, though. I thought about being a teacher before I decided to go to Nursing School!

[ulysses]

35. I'm starting to think no fish

the more I think about it just because of the upkeep issues and because...well, fish are a little boring. Pretty and instructive, but you can't pet a fish.

I would really like to have an animal in the class, but trust me - I'm not going to keep one in harm's way.

[Heddi]

36. Good! Thank you

Animals are fun for kids---but unfortunately (as I said earlier) the poor classroom animals get the short end of the stick and unless the teacher has the desire to treat the animal like it's their own (just living at school instead of home) the poor animals usually suffer extreme neglect, abuse, lack of food and water, etc.

Plus--animals like hammys and piggies are very social animals---and I just don't know if a school is the right place for the animal to get their social needs met. Kids can rough-house and fight over piggy and next thing you know you've got a piggy with a broken leg b/c two 8 year old sociopaths were arguing over who got to pet piggy the longest.

Although I have to say that one of the KEWLEST things when I was in school was I had a teacher who kept pigeons in the classroom. She and her dad raised pigeons and she brought a couple in to live in the class during school time. They were in this HUGE cage, and we got to see the mama pigeon laying eggs, and as the year went by, we saw the babies hatch, and grow up. The birds were really well taken care of and they were locked down in such a way that no gummy little fingers could poke them or open the cage and accidentally let them fly out into traffic. But I think that was the exception to the rule as far as classroom pets go.

;)

[Xithras]

37. Get a snake!

Seriously. Snakes fascinate children, they can be handled continuously for hours (except right after eating), they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, they don't require a strict feeding regimine (in nature, snakes routinely go weeks without eating), and they will help your kids get over unnatural fears against "wierd" animals.

The coolest teacher I ever had kept three snakes in his classroom. The fact that I still consider him my coolest teacher after 20 years should say a lot, and the snakes helped put him there.

[ulysses]

38. the thought did occur, yes.

Definitely high on the "cool" list, but I'm not sure how Ms Uly would react to my bringing home a snake for winter break, though...to say nothing of the cat...

[Xithras]

39. You can help her get over unnatural fears against "wierd" animals too!

Besides, snakes in properly sized tanks are extremely unlikely to escape. This is especially true in winter when leaving the comfort of the tank means putting up with cold weather or drafts.

One of the kids in my class accidentally left the cover off the boa tank one weekend, and the snake never went anywhere. Why not? Because the tank was comfortable, and once a snake finds a comfy spot it hates to move.

[donco6]

40. Heddi's right, forget the fish

I'd forgotten about the potential torture. Oops.

[ulysses]

27. thanks, trof

It always seems weird to me to be going back to school when it's hot as hell outside, but the three days we like to call "fall" in the south will come soon enough.

Yes, this was supposed to be a reply to trof. :dunce:

[roguevalley]

3. have fun, honey. Middle school kids can be so much fun. Your class

sounds wonderful. There is *NOTHING* like the first classroom you get to have. Its yours. Own it. :)

[Beaverhausen]

4. Sounds great! Cheers to you!

Teachers are GREAT!!!

[Endangered Specie]

6. Science? Teach them some Evolution!

Its a suprisingly easy concept to grasp.

[ulysses]

9. this is Georgia, mind you.

Going to have to see what's allowed. ;-)

[Endangered Specie]

14. I thought they ruled Evolution ok in GA?

(At least its not Alabama)

[ulysses]

16. one never knows how it will change, though.

re: Alabama - true. :D

[Seldona]

8. As a parent,

I want to say thanks.

I hope my children get half the excitement and vigor in their instructors you appear to offer.

Those are some lucky students indeed.

[sandnsea]

11. Middle school kids

I'm sure no expert, never run a class of middle school kids. But as a mom, here's a few things that always struck me as odd about middle school.

Schools today usually have discipline structures where the kids help make rules or otherwise talk about the rules, from K-5. Then, just when a kid wants to express himself the most, has hormones hopping all over the place, the schools clamp down and shove the most idiotic rules down the kids throats.

They also ramp up the expectations when kids are least able to concentrate. I've seen so many kids get totally discouraged in middle school and never catch back up.

After 4 kids, it became clear to me that middle schoolers are just like pre-schoolers. They need lots of things to keep them busy and exploring. Lots and lots and lots of encouragement. And their no's and pushing the limits and testing the rules don't have to be taken seriously every single time. "That's an interesting thought", and refocusing on the important task at hand, is often enough. Some basic rules that respect their intelligece, and consistency on those rules, usually keeps kids from testing the silly rules so many middle schools implement to try to keep order.

Just some thoughts. Good luck to you, you are taking on a huge challenge and I'm rooting for you!

[ulysses]

15. for all the problems

that this system has, they've given us a pretty good handle on how to approach discipline and rules, including investing *all* of the kids in the rules and expectations. I completely agree with you there. The achievement expectations are largely mandated and quite high - I agree with putting them at a high level - but I think that that's where educators come in, in building the foundation the kids can stand on to reach them.

They need lots of things to keep them busy and exploring. Lots and lots and lots of encouragement. And their no's and pushing the limits and testing the rules don't have to be taken seriously every single time. "That's an interesting thought", and refocusing on the important task at hand, is often enough.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[sandnsea]

22. Excellent!

What I mean on the standards thing is that they start pushing the kids and raising standards because "when you get to high school, bla bla bla". Then, between 10th & 11th grade, the standards go back to something sane and reasonable and the kids pick up and take off again. The standards should be high, I agree. But they should also be attainable and not based on some weird scare tactics, "when you get to high school it's going to be soooo hard". That's all.

[ulysses]

23. well, sure.

That's the shit that comes from the political end of the equation, though. I posted in GD the other night about my frustrations with political answers to educational problems. :)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

30. OMG

you SO understand the mind of a middle schooler! You are a GREAT mom!

I have taught eighth graders for six years and I taught high school before that, seventh grade before that.

Everything you said is the God's honest truth. I am continually dismayed at how middle school administrators do NOT understand these things about middle school aged kids. They really ARE a completely different ball of wax and different guidelines apply.

There's a reason they call toddlerhood "the first adolescence."

The number one rule for middle school kids? (This applies to everyone but ESPECIALLY to 11-15 year olds!) TREAT THEM KINDLY AND WITH RESPECT. That does NOT mean let them walk all over you, but strict does NOT mean nasty, belligerant and rude. If you are kind and respectful to them, if you listen to them and value what they have to say, my God, 99% of them will stand on their heads for you if you ask them to.

Wish more people knew what you do about that age of kid. They are so freaking misunderstood.

[LWolf]

12. Fantastic!

I have a few more weeks before I face my classroom again. It's a 20 X 40 trailer for 30 + kids. But it's as pleasant, welcoming, and fun as I know how to make it.

Enjoy your year.

:toast:

[ulysses]

17. they've been remodeling my school

over the last year, and I was afraid that I would get put in a trailer for a while - two weeks ago they were still putting up sheetrock. It's coming together, though.

Best of luck to you this year, too!

[KG]

19. cool!!!

how long till the first job whine? :hi:

[ulysses]

21. ROFLMAO!

Gimme a day or two. :D

[Deb]

20. Extra room for physical activity breaks

AND running water. Wow, think of all the program choices you have now!

I'm so excited for you, believe me, I know what those two things can do to make a self-contained classroom into a learning appropriate room.

Best of luck to you and much success to your lucky students this year!

[Cybergata]

24. Good Luck!

I don't know if this is your first year, but I'm in the middle of my 30th year. The first year is really hard...wel my 26-27th year were really hard too...but if you really care about what you are doing, nothing can stop you.

My father always told me there was an old Spanish saying, that "teachers have one foot into heaven." I'm not a Christian, so I might say that teaching & caring makes for good karma. All the work I've done in my years of teaching has been worth it.

Have you worked with middle school kids before? I personally love the age group, but it is an age lots of people would avoid. Feel free to email me is you need someone to talk to when we both start teaching in a couple of weeks.

[ulysses]

25. jesus - 30 years

Good on you. That's amazing.

I've worked with this age only as a sub and some tutoring - it's the only age group I haven't had as a lead or support/lead teacher. I've taught for five years in private schools, so this is my first foray into a public system since I graduated in 1987.

I may just take you up on the email offer. I've enjoyed middle school kids a lot when I've had them before (the hormones tend not to bother me too much) and I expect that this is going to be a great year, but we always have our tough days, don't we? :)

[Cybergata]

29. Or, Tough Classes or maybe just a few

To me there is nothing worse than working with a bunch of kids who are mean to each other. I have always tried to strive to build a community feeling in the class hoping to avoid the meanness.Sometimes all these kids have had is meanness in their homes. It can be a challenge, but the personal rewards are so worth it. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like the look on the face of a child that finally gets something.

[Lisa]

26. good luck!

As I tell my classes, "now go kick some scholastic butt!"

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

28. From one teacher to another

big hugs and loads of luck. Keep your chin up, take a multivitamin, get your rest, don't wear yourself down.

And don't go whole hog too fast, too soon, you'll burn yourself out by Christmas. Take it from me.

--A middle school teacher

[ulysses]

34. thanks -

I get to be Mr. Badass Consistency this year, so we'll pace, yes. :)

[Maestro]

32. Wow!

That is mighty big! I wish the best for you. This is will be my first year without a class and children. I will be a bilingual teaching specialist for my school going into the bilingual K-5 classrooms doing lessons, serving gifted students and doing remedial work plus helpling the regular ed teachers with their ESL students. It is a big change but a good one for me. It is even at a new school so there are big changes for me. My district is moving to starting the year closer to Labor Day so I don't start with kids until the 24th.

[ulysses]

33. what a cool opportunity!

Again, wish I'd made use of the opportunities I've had to learn Spanish...