Quirky Thinkers

Another fabulous day with my fabulous students at the Learning Acadmey. It was a day full of laughs, smiles and dotted with the expected mental breakdowns. I began to truly see the wide array of abilities that students obtain in mathematics, and thus, began to think more about differentiated instruction.

The usual routine took place- the weather report, the lunch menu, the pledge and the moment of silence for all good deeds. The classroom once again had a substitue, though a different one, in the classroom today, and her name is Mrs. Daniels. Once the mundane daily routines and chores were accomplished, the students were given a morning folder with various language arts and mathematics worksheets. For example, there was a crossword puzzle with the short letter"i." As the students were working, I was walking around the desks and helping individual students when they needed assistance. I began to notice that Matthew is not a morning person and likes to say, "I don't know." At this time he was working on the beginning words with "t" word search and couldn't quite figure out that many of the words went diagonally. I asked, "Which 't' are you on, Matthew?" His lackadasicial response was, "I don't know."

"I don't accept 'I don't know's.' It is either a 'yes' or 'no' response." Matthew just sat there was a bowed head and slumped shoulders. I proceeded to help the confused child by going across each row and stopping at each "t". For example, "Ok, this word is 'teach.' Let's look for the 't's' and then look for an 'e' around each one, ok?" We proceeded to do this with five words until he caught on, and after that he never had an issue with the word search again. However, during the one-on-one assistance, a boy named Michael would constantly ask for help, even when he had just showed me that he knew how to do the problem/task.

While the students were working, Mrs. Daniels would ask questions about the different items in the room, as she had never worked with this class before. I finally learned what the manners sticks were! Tiffany said that when you were good all day then you got to stay on the green stick (there were two if these in each child's cup); the one yellow one meant that you had one chance before a call home when the one red stick was pulled. There was lots of fussing over what would happen if the child continued to misbehave after earning the red stick. "I think you get suspended and lose the red stick," said Bentley. The witty Cody piped in with, "I don't think you can lose a red stick." An obvious classroom management technique that associates behavior with color. Mrs. Daniels also inquired about "good tickets." It was quickly explained by Jacob that when someone does something good or answers a question right in group discussions that they receive a ticket that cannot be taken away even if they do something bad. Good tickets can be traded in for treasure box, free homework pass, lunch with the teacher, and extra free time (the amounts vary with each bonus).

After the question session and the morning review work, Mrs. Daniels passed out a short "i" coloring worksheet. Her first words during this assignment were, "Please put your name on the paper, and then put your pencils down." How many students put their name on the top of their paper? Three, and Mrs. Daniels had yet to notice. Mrs. Daniels would say each word by breaking up the phonemes (i.e. I...t), and the class word have to blend the sounds together to form one word. "I am going to help you with some, but then you may have to help me the others," Mrs. Daniels said. So they continued the page with her saying the broken sounds, then the class had to say the sounds and she put them together. Along the way, the fidgeter, Bentley, would play around and not pay attention. At times like these Mrs. Daniels would simply say," Put your finger one number ____ (i.e. four) so I know that you know where we are." This would pull Bentley back into focus without embarassing him by calling him out to the whole class. By the end of the worsheet, Mrs. Daniels realized that not every child had their name on the paper and she said, "How many times do I have to say to write your name on the top of the paper?" Every student, except three, scrambled to their pencils to write their name on their paper. It was quite amusing to see the hustle and bustle of students who once looked so bored.

After the short "i" practice, the class tranistioned into a matching worksheet where a picture was shown with a sentence (i.e. "The boy takes a long drink."), and a picture would correspond the sentence that the child would have to match together. Mrs. Daniels would read the sentence, and then call on an individual student, They would have them say which picture the sentence went with. Often times, Michael would call out the answer and Mrs. Daniels would say, "Shh, is your name ____?" He would not answer another question without his name being called again.

On the bottom of this worksheet was just enough space for a few sentences. Each student had to write their own sentence using two of the bolded words from the sentences above. For example, the bolded word could have been "drink" or "ate." Kyle quickly finished his sentence so his could color the pictures. This would be a reoccuring behavior in the assignment to come.

Next, came a transition into mathematics. As the children were cleaning up their area, Mrs. Daniels would ask questions such as, "How many cents are in $1.00; How many months are there; What is the fourth month: etc." She would call on each student one by one and as each got a question correct, the would receive a good ticket.

The students were then handed a worksheet to do on their own. The worksheet had 100 squares with just enough room to write one through one-hundred in each square- some squares already had prewritten numbers in them. During this time I would walk around and observe to see how each student was doing and how they were accomplishing the task. Matthew will go down each side and count by 10's. Zach writes P instead of 9. Bentely counts one to one-hundred outloud. Anthony tends to look over at Matthew's paper when he comes to a sequence he doesn't remember. Michael got done with the worksheet much more quickly than all the others and proudly screamed, "DONE!" I went over to check his work and just as I suspected, many of the boxes had the wrong numbers in them. I attempted to help him by recounting each box, but he was mentally checked out and refused to look at the paper again. I think a good thing for him, in order to slow down, is to go back and check his work and then he may quietly tell teacher that he is done. Tiffany, when proudly announcing her success, had me check her work. I noticed that with the boxes prenumbered, she would write the same number right after it, causing the one-hundred to be a ninety-five.

After this worksheet, it was time for recess and time for me to write about my obserations.

Today was a better chance for me to see how each child accomplishes mathematics assignments, whereas I really only experienced reading accomplishes last week. I was able to pick up more about what a want in my teaching philosophy. I do not think that colors should be associated with behavior. Manners sticks are still excellent ways to get your point across, however, just having the "three stricks and your out" moto versus the colors is just as effective. Each strike the student receives, they have to put their name in the teachers bucket and once three are in there the student either gets a call home or gets sent to the principales office. My goal each day I work in the Learning Academy is to pick up on one technique that I can put towards my own teaching philosophy. I look forward to the days to come!