Saturday, April 14, 2012
New Job
I am now considered a permanent employee! On Friday, I started my new job. I am working at a elementary school for 3 1/2 hours a day. I get to work in a resource room helping individual children with their school work. I am looking forward to getting to know all the children well!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Familiar?
On Monday, I went to an elementary school that I had not been to before. I got to be in a classroom of first through third graders. The children looked at me with curiosity wondering where their other teacher's aid was. I greeted them with a smile and a hello. As I took my seat in the back of the class, the nine children sat at their desks. As they were all sitting there with their library books out, engaged in "quiet time", this one little boy at the front of the room turned to me and said from across the room,
"Have you ever seen a hummingbird?"
I replied softly, with a shake of my head, "Yes."
He then said, "I saw one this morning and it was green."
I smiled and softly said,"really?"
He then said, as he was touching each cheek, "And it had red cheeks."
"Wow," I said softly again with a smile.
This little boy was adorable! He continued to talk about things, from across the room. I had to motion for him to be quiet and to look at his library book. I walked up to his desk and read the name tag on his desk. Oh, the last name looked familiar. I went back to my desk in the back of the room and watched this little boy. His last name caused me to wonder if he was the little brother of a boy that I worked with at the local high school.
I later asked the teacher if this boy was new to the class. She asked me why I was wondering. I told her that there was a boy at the high school that had the same last name and that he was new to this area. I was wondering if this was his little brother. She said that yes, he was new to the class and that his brother went to the high school. She then told me what his brother's name was. Yes, the two boys were brothers.
As soon as I had met this little boy, he seemed familiar. There were such strong traits of sweet behavior that he and his brother shared. I enjoyed spending time with all the kids. But this little boy, with his big smile and excitement to tell me about what he had saw in the morning was the icing on the cake for the day. As the boy got ready to go home at the end of the day, I told him to tell his brother that I had been in his class. I made sure that he knew my name, and then I told him that his brother didn't call me by my name, but liked to call me "Tracy".
I am scheduled to work at the high school after Easter break. I will see the older brother for the last class of the day. I am sure that we will have fun talking about being in his little brother's class.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Learning Spanish During Lunchtime
One of the things that I do each day is to monitor the safe-room for lunch. This saferoom is a classroom designated for the special education students to come to, to eat their lunch and to hang out with their friends.
One of the things that I have been doing during lunch has been to learn some Spanish. One boy is fluent in Spanish. I am always trying to learn new Spanish words or sentences, so, I asked him how to say something in Spanish. So, he thought up a sentence for me to learn. This is the sentence he picked out...."We are going to your grama's house to see what new things she is doing." At first, he spoke very quickly. I told him he needed to slow down and to say things clearly. I wrote down what he said, and I then tried saying what he said. He corrected me by telling me that when I make the "r" sound, to make sure my tongue is close to the roof of my mouth. It is cute how he corrects me and shows me how to do it properly. I am learning how to say new things each day. I am very thankful for him to teach me what he knows. I figure that if I am teaching him each day what I know, then it should give him satisfaction to teach me something that I don't know. It makes him feel good to know that he knows something that I don't know...builds confidence in himself.
One of the things that I have been doing during lunch has been to learn some Spanish. One boy is fluent in Spanish. I am always trying to learn new Spanish words or sentences, so, I asked him how to say something in Spanish. So, he thought up a sentence for me to learn. This is the sentence he picked out...."We are going to your grama's house to see what new things she is doing." At first, he spoke very quickly. I told him he needed to slow down and to say things clearly. I wrote down what he said, and I then tried saying what he said. He corrected me by telling me that when I make the "r" sound, to make sure my tongue is close to the roof of my mouth. It is cute how he corrects me and shows me how to do it properly. I am learning how to say new things each day. I am very thankful for him to teach me what he knows. I figure that if I am teaching him each day what I know, then it should give him satisfaction to teach me something that I don't know. It makes him feel good to know that he knows something that I don't know...builds confidence in himself.
Teaching Math Shortcuts
This past week, while I was working in Math period, I started helping a young man about 17 years old, for the first time. I have been at this school for 4 weeks, but hadn't worked with this boy yet. He was a quiet one, usually keeping his down and not interacting with any of the other children. Realizing he was one of the students that I hadn't connected with, I honed in on him at the beginning of class. I told him that I hadn't worked with him before and asked him if he needed help with his math. He said that he didn't know how to do a certain problem, so that was my chance to start helping him. Usually, I get down on my knees, but this time I grabbed the closest chair and sat next to him. We started going over his math. I saw that he had made a mistake on subtracting a "9" from a larger two digit number. With enthusiasm, I told him that I had a shortcut for subtracting a nine from other numbers. I asked him if he knew how to subtract a "10" from a number. He said he did. So, I gave him some numbers, like, 17, 34, 48, 56 and 74. I asked him if you had 17 and subtracted 10, what would you have. He would say 7. I would say that is right, so now you add 1 more to the number and you have the answer. It went like this:
Me: O.K.... 56 minus 10... what do you get?
Boy: 46.
Me: Yeah, now add one
Boy: 47
Me: That's right! You have the answer! 56 minus 9 is 47...
I did this with a whole lot of numbers and then told him that it only worked with 9's. Then I realized that it worked with 8's also, you just have to add 2, after you subtracted the 10.
Then he chimed in and said, "Then for 7's you would subtract 10 and then add three?"
I replied with a yes. His eyes lit up and he smiled the biggest smile!
After learning that shortcut for subtracting 9's, 8's, and 7's, I asked him if he knew his 9 multiplication facts. He said that he didn't. I smiled and told him that I had a shortcut for the 9's too. So, I went on to tell him the shortcut.
Me: Nine times two... Say, the number one less than two...
Boy: One
Me: Yeah, that's the first digit to the answer. Now, one plus what number is nine?
Boy: Eight
Me: Yeah, that's the second digit. So, nine times two is eighteen.
Me: Now, we will try nine times three. Say the number before three...
Boy: Two
Me: Yeah, now, two plus what number equals nine?
Boy: Seven
Me: Yeah, that's the answer... nine times three is twenty-seven.
We did this all the way to nine times nine. He was quite amazed at his accomplishment of learning the nines that quickly. I was so happy to see his smiles and to see how he felt good about himself. I then showed him the second way of learning the nine facts by using his 10 fingers. He smiled on that one two.
Events like these make my day!
Me: O.K.... 56 minus 10... what do you get?
Boy: 46.
Me: Yeah, now add one
Boy: 47
Me: That's right! You have the answer! 56 minus 9 is 47...
I did this with a whole lot of numbers and then told him that it only worked with 9's. Then I realized that it worked with 8's also, you just have to add 2, after you subtracted the 10.
Then he chimed in and said, "Then for 7's you would subtract 10 and then add three?"
I replied with a yes. His eyes lit up and he smiled the biggest smile!
After learning that shortcut for subtracting 9's, 8's, and 7's, I asked him if he knew his 9 multiplication facts. He said that he didn't. I smiled and told him that I had a shortcut for the 9's too. So, I went on to tell him the shortcut.
Me: Nine times two... Say, the number one less than two...
Boy: One
Me: Yeah, that's the first digit to the answer. Now, one plus what number is nine?
Boy: Eight
Me: Yeah, that's the second digit. So, nine times two is eighteen.
Me: Now, we will try nine times three. Say the number before three...
Boy: Two
Me: Yeah, now, two plus what number equals nine?
Boy: Seven
Me: Yeah, that's the answer... nine times three is twenty-seven.
We did this all the way to nine times nine. He was quite amazed at his accomplishment of learning the nines that quickly. I was so happy to see his smiles and to see how he felt good about himself. I then showed him the second way of learning the nine facts by using his 10 fingers. He smiled on that one two.
Events like these make my day!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Seeing Students Around Town
It is always nice to see students that you have worked with around town. There have been a few times that I have seen the students outside of the school setting.
The first time was during Christmas break at Walmart. I was exiting the store, when I hear, "Miss Lisa!" I turned around to see one of my 3rd graders running to me with the biggest smile! He ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug! About 15 feet behind him was his mother with a puzzled look on her face. She was probably wondering who her young son was running to and hugging. I looked at her, told her my name, and asked if she remembered me from her son's school. She said that she did remember me. I got down on my knees and asked the young one if he had a nice Christmas. He said he had, but he was more concerned about where the other teachers from our class were. I told him they were at home with their families and that we would all see him at school when Christmas break was over. We both said goodbye and off we went to our cars.
The second time I saw a student was also during Christmas break. This boy, about 17 years old, had been to our house a couple of times. The first time he came over was when He, his brother, and cousin saw Mark in our garage and asked him if they could air up their bike tires with Mark's air compressor. The second time he came over was when he wanted any leftover spray paint that Mark might have setting in our garage. The third time was when he had wanted to show us his artwork of a paint job that he had done on his bike. He was really proud of his freshly painted bike and wanted to show us how nice the bike looked. He had painted the whole bike silver. When I say the whole bike, I mean the whole bike! The frame was painted, the handle bars and grips were painted, the sides of the tires and even the chain was painted! He was so proud of his accomplishment! Mark and I talked about how the boy did the best he knew, and how much better he could do with some advice from someone older.
After seeing him these different times, I worked at a local school for a week. He came into the resource room that I was in. I knew he looked familiar, but I couldn't place where from. Then I said, "You are my neighbor!" He grinned really big and was proud that I had remembered him.
During Christmas break, this same boy came to our front door and said that a lady down the street needed help. I followed him down the street and around the corner to find this older lady that needed assistance. As we three stood there together, she told us that she was so tired of walking and didn't have the strength to walk home, which was on the other side of town. I thanked the boy for coming to get me, and he turned and left me and the lady together. I then took the lady home with me to get our truck, and I then took her across town to her home.
It felt good to know that the boy knew to come to me for help. I think that working with him that one week in the classroom, caused him to know me better. It caused him to know where he could get help for the older lady.
Yesterday when I was driving my truck home from work, I see this same young boy riding his bike on the sidewalk about a mile from my house. He starts waving at me from a distance. He recognized my truck from quite a distance. I too waved and smiled.
I like it when I do see students, and they take the initiative to acknowledge me. I wonder who I will see next and where......
The first time was during Christmas break at Walmart. I was exiting the store, when I hear, "Miss Lisa!" I turned around to see one of my 3rd graders running to me with the biggest smile! He ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug! About 15 feet behind him was his mother with a puzzled look on her face. She was probably wondering who her young son was running to and hugging. I looked at her, told her my name, and asked if she remembered me from her son's school. She said that she did remember me. I got down on my knees and asked the young one if he had a nice Christmas. He said he had, but he was more concerned about where the other teachers from our class were. I told him they were at home with their families and that we would all see him at school when Christmas break was over. We both said goodbye and off we went to our cars.
The second time I saw a student was also during Christmas break. This boy, about 17 years old, had been to our house a couple of times. The first time he came over was when He, his brother, and cousin saw Mark in our garage and asked him if they could air up their bike tires with Mark's air compressor. The second time he came over was when he wanted any leftover spray paint that Mark might have setting in our garage. The third time was when he had wanted to show us his artwork of a paint job that he had done on his bike. He was really proud of his freshly painted bike and wanted to show us how nice the bike looked. He had painted the whole bike silver. When I say the whole bike, I mean the whole bike! The frame was painted, the handle bars and grips were painted, the sides of the tires and even the chain was painted! He was so proud of his accomplishment! Mark and I talked about how the boy did the best he knew, and how much better he could do with some advice from someone older.
After seeing him these different times, I worked at a local school for a week. He came into the resource room that I was in. I knew he looked familiar, but I couldn't place where from. Then I said, "You are my neighbor!" He grinned really big and was proud that I had remembered him.
During Christmas break, this same boy came to our front door and said that a lady down the street needed help. I followed him down the street and around the corner to find this older lady that needed assistance. As we three stood there together, she told us that she was so tired of walking and didn't have the strength to walk home, which was on the other side of town. I thanked the boy for coming to get me, and he turned and left me and the lady together. I then took the lady home with me to get our truck, and I then took her across town to her home.
It felt good to know that the boy knew to come to me for help. I think that working with him that one week in the classroom, caused him to know me better. It caused him to know where he could get help for the older lady.
Yesterday when I was driving my truck home from work, I see this same young boy riding his bike on the sidewalk about a mile from my house. He starts waving at me from a distance. He recognized my truck from quite a distance. I too waved and smiled.
I like it when I do see students, and they take the initiative to acknowledge me. I wonder who I will see next and where......
Students "Catching On"
Today during 4th period, I worked with a young student. This was my first time working with him. We worked on his Algebra. We were working on factoring expressions:) and he was doing good at learning how to do it properly. Then, I mentioned about prime factoring, and his eyes lit up. He said that the teacher had gone over that lesson yesterday, but he didn't understand what she was trying to say. I told him that I knew how to teach prime factorization really easily. So, I explained to him about prime numbers and how to factor each number. His face lit up when he caught on to what I was teaching. I taught that concept to 4 students today. It made me feel good when they all "Caught On".
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Students Missed Me
One day this past week, I was pulled off of my regular schedule and placed on a different one. Toward the end of the day, I was able to go to my regular last period math class. As I entered, about 30 minutes late, many of the students yelled out, "We missed you. Where have you been?" Then they said, "We need help with our math." So, I smiled and asked who needed help first, and I then went to one of the girls in the back of the room to work on some Algebra. I didn't realize that they would even know that I hadn't shown up, and it made me feel good that they missed me! Sad thing is, that as a substitute, I am not guaranteed to be there for very much longer. Then they will need to get used to another para-educator in their classroom.
What My Job Consists Of
Just a background of what my job is... I am a substitute para-educator for the local school district here in my home town. As a para-educator, I work in the classrooms helping the teacher and assisting the students with their work. Being a substitute means that I am not a permanent employee. I am on an automated list that calls me with an automated person's voice. This system is called Subfinder. The automated system tells me where there is a job available for me. I can accept the job offer or decline it. The Subfinder system can call me anywhere from 5am to 11am and then also from 4pm to 9pm. It can offer me a job for an hour or for 2 months. Currently, I am working at the local highschool. This job started in the middle of January and will continue until the end of February.
I really like the job of working in the classrooms with the children. My desire is to love each child individually as best as I can. I try to show each child enthusiasm, patience, and love. When I am working with a child, I try to teach them with personalized stories of myself. I also try and personalize the lesson for them, by using something they can relate to, to teach them what needs to be taught. God has bless my days at the many schools and classrooms with peace, laughter and contentment. I pray each day that I can make a difference in the lives of the people that I work with!
I really like the job of working in the classrooms with the children. My desire is to love each child individually as best as I can. I try to show each child enthusiasm, patience, and love. When I am working with a child, I try to teach them with personalized stories of myself. I also try and personalize the lesson for them, by using something they can relate to, to teach them what needs to be taught. God has bless my days at the many schools and classrooms with peace, laughter and contentment. I pray each day that I can make a difference in the lives of the people that I work with!
Different Schedules
This past week, the highschool that I am working at had the high school exit testing taking place. Therefore, the students were on different schedules each day.
The original schedule, to me, is quite confusing. But, this past week the schedule was different every single day! Monday and Tuesday was testing, so therefore, only the students testing came to the school first thing in the morning. The rest of the students came in at 11:35 one day, and then 12:05 the next. Then all the students started classes then. Then Wednesday, we had a six-period day, with no tutorial. Thursday we had the Monday, Thursday schedule with a different tutorial than normal, and then Friday we had the Tuesday, Friday schedule. And to end the not so normal week with a BAM, I found out that Monday is a holiday and Tuesday and Thursday will have the Monday, Thursday schedule. And also, Wednesday's schedule will be eliminated because of the holiday, so therefore, Wednesday and Friday will be on the Tuesday, Friday schedule. Wow, and I thought my block schedule in high school was confusing! I will need to write my schedule down for this week for sure! And after 3 weeks at being at the school, I thought I finally had the schedule in order in my mind!
The original schedule, to me, is quite confusing. But, this past week the schedule was different every single day! Monday and Tuesday was testing, so therefore, only the students testing came to the school first thing in the morning. The rest of the students came in at 11:35 one day, and then 12:05 the next. Then all the students started classes then. Then Wednesday, we had a six-period day, with no tutorial. Thursday we had the Monday, Thursday schedule with a different tutorial than normal, and then Friday we had the Tuesday, Friday schedule. And to end the not so normal week with a BAM, I found out that Monday is a holiday and Tuesday and Thursday will have the Monday, Thursday schedule. And also, Wednesday's schedule will be eliminated because of the holiday, so therefore, Wednesday and Friday will be on the Tuesday, Friday schedule. Wow, and I thought my block schedule in high school was confusing! I will need to write my schedule down for this week for sure! And after 3 weeks at being at the school, I thought I finally had the schedule in order in my mind!
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