Hills, no. MOUNTAINS to climb!

We all have faced challenges in our lives. But today, as I talked to a fifth grade boy, I  tried to remember when I realized I had real challenges to overcome. I know I wasn't ten.

Jamie has been in my office a couple of times this year. His name comes up occasionally as I talk to other kids. He can be rough, and he uses foul language at times. His last name is notorious in the neighborhood as his older brothers are often in trouble and are suspected vandals. Because they're left alone, they get into mischief.  But Jamie is a likable kid. He has bright eyes and owns up to his mistakes. His grades are good, mostly B's, and he is learning to play the cello.

Yesterday, Jamie was disrespectful to staff and had to spend lunch and recess with me today. As we ate lunch together, I found out a little more about Jamie's life. They are being evicted and as of today didn't have a plan for living arrangements. One of the older boys will go and live with "real" dad. Jamie does not want to do that. He's hoping to be able to stay with step dad. Mom has talked about possibly going to stay with a friend or relative. Jamie does not want to do that as he'd have to change schools. He's been at our school for most of his elementary years. Things at home are stressful.

But, I know there are things I cannot change. So we talked about making choices and controlling anger... And then I told Jamie that I knew his teacher really liked him. He looked me right in the eye. I said, "You know, she thinks you have potential. Do you know what potential means?" He shook his head. "Well, it means she thinks you're smart and can be a good student and go to college after high school."  We talked about his grades and what he liked about school. He told me about  his step dad who had his own business, but is back in school and wants to be an engineer.
Then, Jamie said, "My dad graduated from high school. But he didn't really do anything after that. He kind of turned into a bum."

Imagine realizing your dad is a bum. Imagine not knowing where you're going to live. Imagine not being able to count on your parents for support and having to leave the only people you can count on and the routine that you can depend on. Imagine having no control over what will happen. It's more than most of us have ever had to deal with. But, it's what some of our students deal with daily.

Real Math Reform

On the recent snow day, I had time to watch the TED talk by Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers . He recommends that we make math in school connect to math in real life. To do this he suggests focusing less on computation and more on critical thinking and problem solving in the real world. Wolfram says that because of technology, math has been liberated from computing. 


http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers.html


Could we really turn math education upside down? Could we make programming a part of math instruction? Are we ready to teach without teaching the basics first????

Snow

Yesterday was the first day of winter at school. Opening day occurs on the day snow covers the grassy field and the blacktop becomes a slippery surface for sliding. At our school there are two snow rules.
1. Snow stays on the ground. If a snowball is thrown, the thrower will have to stand by wall.
2.The teacher on duty has the right to determine if a child is unsafe on the ice or equipment.

It was a joyful day for the children. Throughout the morning, from inside their classrooms, they watched snowflakes fall. When it was time for recess they bundled up and ran outside to play in the snow. And they ran, and they slid, and caught snowflakes on their mittens.  Fun!

Two six year olds couldn't resist temptation and had a snowball fight. When asked to stop, they couldn't quite hear the duty's direction, so they were escorted to my office. I asked them if they remembered their teacher's snow rules. "Yeah," one boy said, "I remembered. But it was the wind."
"The wind?"
"The wind blew into my ear and said 'Thhhhhhrrrrooooowww snnnnoooow'!"

Darned old wind!

Bullying

Definition
Bully 
One who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people. noun
To be cruel or over bearing, especially to smaller or weaker people. verb

Is This Bullying?

According to the Institute for Educational Research and Service, bullying is intentional, repeated, one-sided (a child who bullied is not remorseful, child who is bullied gets hurt) and involves the abuse of power. It is sometimes direct and can involve hitting, pushing, property damage, name calling or verbal abuse, or the use of obscene gestures. Indirect bullying can involve spreading rumors, exclusion, or getting another person to do the dirty work. Cyber bullying can be direct or indirect. 


The Institute for Educational Research and Service also clearly states that there is a difference between normal peer conflict and bullying. Because of recent media obsession with the topic, the line between normal peer conflict and bullying has blurred, and it seems some people believe all conflict between children at school involves bullying. 


I totally understand the hysteria. I mean, gosh, just look at poor Demi Lovato. The Disney star was recently on tour with the Jonas Brothers and snapped. Unable to control her anger, she hit a dancer.  It seems she's had a troubled past and needs to go into a treatment program. According to a CNN program, the root of her problems is not that she is an indulged child star, but that she was bullied. These days, news stories related to bullying are everywhere- from our local newspaper to People magazine.  


About a month into the school year, a group of kindergarteners got into a scuffle at recess. They all wanted to climb on a piece of play equipment and instead of taking turns, they all tried to climb it at the same time. They pushed, pulled, and one girl kicked. The teacher on duty sent the group to my office. Each child told their version of the incident, and in the end it was clear that this was a teachable moment. This group of students, new to school and the playground, needed some strategies for group play. We discussed and practiced making better choices and taking turns. We practiced using I statements and going to get help. We role played. Then I went into each kindergarten class and taught a short lesson.


The next day, I got a call from an angry parent who wanted to know what I was going to do about the bullying in kindergarten. The parent read the district's bullying policy and then described what had happened on the playground. Consequences were necessary, and parents should have been notified... I just listened and then explained what had actually occurred. I was told that what we'd done was not satisfactory and that if her child was ever involved in any kind of conflict, she needed to be notified. 


I encourage and appreciate parent involvement, but honestly, that was over the top. 


Problem solving, resolving conflict, and strategies for dealing with bullying are a part of the school curriculum. All teachers and the school counselor are working to help teach those important life skills. And because of the publicity, we're being more explicit and direct as we teach the skills. We can do a better job, and we're working on it. Our school is a safe and caring place. Is there some bullying? Yes. But we're working to deal with it. And we want and NEED parent support. But if Johnny is being bullied at home by an angry dad, he might come to school and do just what he's learned at home. We need to teach him strategies to cope with anger and conflict. 


So, for now, we're encouraging a team approach to this issue. Everyone needs to work together- the school, the parents, and the children. And the team needs to be educated to be able to separate bullying from normal peer conflict. Because conflict is a part of life. We all have to deal with it and it comes in many different levels and from many sources.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7RPCFfudmU

Conduct Slips

Recently four students at my school were issued conduct slips on the bus. The slips arrived via fax and said that the three boys and one girl were yelling and moving from seat to seat while the bus was moving. When the driver asked them to be quiet and sit still, he was ignored. Of course, I called each of the offenders to my office. The consequence was to miss three recesses and write a reflection of what happened and what could have been done differently. I explained that after a second conduct slip, students lose bus riding privileges for a few days. Three of the four students seemed to regret what they had done. Two understood that if they lost the bus privilege, it would be a family hardship.
Protocol in the case of a bus conduct slip is to contact parents. I decided to make the calls after school and looked up contact information for each child. Who should I call, mom or dad? My first inclination is always to call mom.. but is that politically correct? For child number one, I decided to try dad's number first. The call went something like this:
 "Mr. B.this is the principal. I am calling to talk to you about a conduct slip that your child received for yelling on the school bus and jumping from seat to seat while the bus was moving."
 "Ummm, well... My son really isn't with me much. I only see him on weekends."
 "Mr. B. I think you can see that your son's behavior is distracting the driver. I hope we can be a team and help him learn to listen to the driver."
"Like I said, he's not with me much."
 I then realized I wasn't going to get much support here, and said goodbye. This dad did not want to get involved with the problem.
I decided to call mom and got her voicemail. I left her a message.
Next, I tried to contact the next set of parents. This time I tried to call mom first.  The call went something like this:
 "Mrs. C. this is the principal. I am calling to talk to you about a conduct slip that your child received for yelling on the school bus and jumping from seat to seat while the bus was moving."
"Uh, huh. Well, you'll have to talk to his father. You see, he doesn't live with me. I see him every other weekend."
Passing the buck and not taking parenting responsibilities seemed to be an emerging pattern. Passing problems off to the other parent looked like a way to avoid confronting a child. No wonder they misbehave!
I was shocked and a little disheartened. Are children becoming disposable, something to put aside when a parent tires of them?
I tried to contact dad and got his voice mail. I left him a message.
I did get a chance to talk to the mothers of the other two conduct slip recipients. But still, I worried about the first two children with nonresponsive parents. Is this pattern becoming the new norm? If so, how can we help the children to learn from mistakes and take responsibility for their actions?

First Trimester

For the past 20 years I have been an educator. My first job was to teach kindergarten. Back then, kindergarten was 1/2 day, and I taught a PM class of 26. The next year, I was assigned a first grade class. To do a good job, I had to learn about the reading and writing process, child development, effective teaching practices, and how to use assessment to inform instruction. I was eager to try new techniques with children of all ages, and over time taught second, fourth, and multiage classes.  
Teaching and learning became my passion. I loved it- the set up, the planning, and creating a community of learners. I loved teaming up with other teachers. I enjoyed training student teachers. When given the chance to become a teacher leader, I jumped on it. Soon, I was working 1/2 time as a teacher and 1/2 time for the Curriculum Department in our district. After earning administrative credentials, I was named the Curriculum Coordinator and worked in the central office. I studied content standards in depth, worked with teachers K-12, and researched instructional practices. I attended workshops and conferences. Professional learning was a huge part of my job. It was intellectually stimulating, but I missed being in the schools. I missed the kids.


2010 -2011      In August, I started working as an elementary principal. The man I replaced was well liked by the staff and community. The staff here is fairly cohesive, and despite a student body with high needs, tests scores are good. A great staff, a great school, a dream job.
Nervous? Yes. Confident? Yes and no. 
My job is to be an instructional leader rather than a manager. The mission is to raise student achievement, and boldly go where no woman has gone before at this elementary school: into the classrooms on a regular basis to support teachers to implement a 21st century curriculum. My goal for the year is to be visible and to develop positive relationships with staff, students, parents. 
Friday marked the end of the first trimester. I have faced challenges, encountered some surprises, and have made made progress toward my goal.


CHALLENGES

• Remembering student names, getting to know parents and keeping up with email has been tough.
•  I'm still learning the ins ands outs of the school's budget. There has to be something I'm missing as I can't seem to find money for computers and documents cameras, professional development, and field trips! 
• Use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning is challenging for a variety of reasons.
• Time to meet with grade level teams and special committees is also in short supply.
• I need to make sure I'm giving positive feedback to student students and teachers. It's easy to focus on what's going wrong rather than highlight successes.
• I feel like I'm not doing enough to ensure that my school has quality leadership and effective teachers.

SURPRISES

• I can think of ways to handle angry parents with PTSD and mental illness. 
• I like working with "naughty" children who need to refocus or reflect and regroup.
• Outlook Calendar provides me with an outline of my day, week, month.
• Some teachers believe they cannot be creative and still deliver the adopted curriculum.

PROGRESS

• I have been in classrooms every day. The staff is getting used to it, although a couple of teachers still seem nervous when I come in. I have completed 12 formal observations. One teacher thanked me and said that this was the first time in 7 years years of teaching that she was given feedback she could use. 
• The school secretary is my partner and together we manage the day to day minutia. Thank God, the custodian and lunch staff are capable and efficient.   The para educators at my school are great with the students and support the work of the teachers.  
• The teachers work hard and are focused on helping students succeed.

A great staff, a great school, a dream job. Nervous? Yes. Confident? Yes and no.