Friday, October 15, 2010
Systems of Equations Fox Trot Version
Here's a great example of why kids seem to understand Systems of Equations better in a problem situation than in the "naked math" version.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Homecoming and the Day From Hell
Honestly, waking up today I'm surprised I'm still here and I haven't attacked any of my students.
So I spoke before about the Double Block (DB) Geometry class that I have. As of now the class count is 25 students, 20 which are Special Ed and 1 is 504. So only 4 students do not have any documentation that they need extra help or assistance.
Of the 20 SpEd students 4 are qualify as ED (emotional disturbance) but only 1 has a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan). To me it logically follows that more than just one of those kids should have one of those because they have problems interacting with each others.
Well yesterday with all the crazy mums and bells and garters going around the DB Geo class was crazy. We were on a Pep Rally schedule so that also added to the chaos. Oh and of course I can't forget to mention that it's the end of the grading period too. WAY too much to happen on one day.
So my class was practicing identifying parallel and perpendicular lines today with a puzzle worksheet and a parallel chain. To start off with the kids got new seats because I had to break up some of the students that wouldn't stop talking and feeding off of each other. Then one of the "wonderful" students decided instead of working to make signs that said "kick me i'll like it" and using the glue sticks to attach it to peoples backs. It was a crazy day in there even though there were 4, count them FOUR different adults/teacher in the room (me - teacher of record, inclusion teacher - teacher of record for applied students, educational assistant I - goes into gen ed classes with one particular student but knows a lot of math and is a huge help!, educational assistant II - only gets to come in every other day and used to work with the applied students. ).
So at the end of the period as the class of 25 is putting up the material from the activity, which is a very noisy process, I end up hearing from the back of the room two punches while one of my autistic students was trying to tell me about the hockey game he was going to get to see that night with his dad. Turns out one of my wonderful ED students punched another student twice in either the leg or abdomen. There were only a few minutes left in class so I stood at the the front of the room and didn't take my eyes off of them until everyone else had left the room. Oh and as the students were walking out of the room one of them asked me "Hey Miss, did you like my kick me signs?!"
So, needless to say I spent most of the next period which happened to be my off period and when I was supposed to do lunch duty, writing referrals, calling parents and looking at students IEP pages and FIEs.
It wasn't until last night that I realized I still have received IEP (individual education plan) pages for about half of the students in that class. Ugh!!!!
And to top everything off there's 2 layers of icing on the cake.
I'm also the Step Team Sponsor (sponsor meaning I don't get a stipend) and I do the books at the volleyball games (that I do get paid for). At the pep rally first we couldn't find the music and then the music wouldn't play. So technically we got two performances in during 1 pep rally. One was a step performance and at the end was the dance they had been working on. And when I finally got to the freshman volleyball game late the clock wasn't working so we had to use an old school flip pad to show the score. Oh and the varsity volleyball and football team lost the homecoming games. Not the best day or night.
But hey, the kids that rode in my car for the homecoming parade were King and Queen so I'm pumped about that!
Well, it's time for me to relax and enjoy the weekend. I'm gonna go plant myself on my couch and rest and relax all day!
So I spoke before about the Double Block (DB) Geometry class that I have. As of now the class count is 25 students, 20 which are Special Ed and 1 is 504. So only 4 students do not have any documentation that they need extra help or assistance.
Of the 20 SpEd students 4 are qualify as ED (emotional disturbance) but only 1 has a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan). To me it logically follows that more than just one of those kids should have one of those because they have problems interacting with each others.
Well yesterday with all the crazy mums and bells and garters going around the DB Geo class was crazy. We were on a Pep Rally schedule so that also added to the chaos. Oh and of course I can't forget to mention that it's the end of the grading period too. WAY too much to happen on one day.
So my class was practicing identifying parallel and perpendicular lines today with a puzzle worksheet and a parallel chain. To start off with the kids got new seats because I had to break up some of the students that wouldn't stop talking and feeding off of each other. Then one of the "wonderful" students decided instead of working to make signs that said "kick me i'll like it" and using the glue sticks to attach it to peoples backs. It was a crazy day in there even though there were 4, count them FOUR different adults/teacher in the room (me - teacher of record, inclusion teacher - teacher of record for applied students, educational assistant I - goes into gen ed classes with one particular student but knows a lot of math and is a huge help!, educational assistant II - only gets to come in every other day and used to work with the applied students. ).
So at the end of the period as the class of 25 is putting up the material from the activity, which is a very noisy process, I end up hearing from the back of the room two punches while one of my autistic students was trying to tell me about the hockey game he was going to get to see that night with his dad. Turns out one of my wonderful ED students punched another student twice in either the leg or abdomen. There were only a few minutes left in class so I stood at the the front of the room and didn't take my eyes off of them until everyone else had left the room. Oh and as the students were walking out of the room one of them asked me "Hey Miss, did you like my kick me signs?!"
So, needless to say I spent most of the next period which happened to be my off period and when I was supposed to do lunch duty, writing referrals, calling parents and looking at students IEP pages and FIEs.
It wasn't until last night that I realized I still have received IEP (individual education plan) pages for about half of the students in that class. Ugh!!!!
And to top everything off there's 2 layers of icing on the cake.
I'm also the Step Team Sponsor (sponsor meaning I don't get a stipend) and I do the books at the volleyball games (that I do get paid for). At the pep rally first we couldn't find the music and then the music wouldn't play. So technically we got two performances in during 1 pep rally. One was a step performance and at the end was the dance they had been working on. And when I finally got to the freshman volleyball game late the clock wasn't working so we had to use an old school flip pad to show the score. Oh and the varsity volleyball and football team lost the homecoming games. Not the best day or night.
But hey, the kids that rode in my car for the homecoming parade were King and Queen so I'm pumped about that!
Well, it's time for me to relax and enjoy the weekend. I'm gonna go plant myself on my couch and rest and relax all day!
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