I just fired up my mobile device, clicked on the Notes section, and then open a note called My View. This is the location that I use to make notes on items to discuss in this blog. There are two notes that have been on my mobile device for a long period of time and I'm going to clear them out. When I'm finished we'll continue our discussion on reading intervention and our new scholar, Fruit.
My oldest note is called Academic Pacing. I recorded this note while sitting in a general education classroom during a math block with Grr!. The lesson for the day was multiplication by two digit numbers. Here is an example: 26 x 54. For all of you old school blog readers we used a process called standard algorithm when we sat in a math class. Today, there are two additional ways to solve this multiplication problem, the lattice method and the area method. During this particular math lesson the lattice method was being taught. At the start of the lesson the teacher announced to the scholars that they needed to pay attention as only on certain amount time (academic pacing) was allocated to multiplying using the lattice method. As the teacher worked through the lesson plan a number of the scholars were lost and that included Grr!. Fortunately for Grr!, I was sitting right next to him. If I wasn't sitting next to him his anger and anxiety issues would be escalating rapidly and he would just shut down and do nothing. As I was helping Grr! two other scholars joined us at the large table we occupied. "Mr. Schultz, can you help us?" As I was helping these three scholars I kept thinking that the teacher was going through the lesson to fast and if the teacher lost these three scholars I was sure there were that others were lost. As the lesson continue I'm certain the teacher realized that too many scholars were lost and she said to herself when she walked in front of me, "I hate academic pacing."
I meant to ask the teacher about academic pacing and who determines the pace but I never got around to it. I do know this much though. The time allocated for this math lesson was insufficient. I also know this, in the time it took to draw the lattice work needed to solve the multiplication problem 26 x 54 I could have solve the problem using the standard algorithm process. By the way, once I solve the multiplication problem 26 x 54 using both the lattice method and the area method I took a picture of the completed problem with the camera on my mobile device. Why? Because the process was confusing and if I ever had to help other scholars with this multiplication technique I mostly likely would have forgotten the process myself.
The next note on my mobile device read as follows, Overhead Visits. There aren't any. Well, there were two in the first half of the school year. As a reminder, Knewer (the teacher) and Low (the instructional assistant) are in their first year in this classroom. In know for certain that Knewer was assigned a mentor from the SpecEd overhead department because this person visited the classroom once, for less than five minutes. You read that right, Knewer, a new teacher, spent less that five minutes with her overhead mentor. That's insane and our school corporate level overhead personnel can't figure out why they can't either retain or hire teachers for classrooms with scholars that have an emotional handicap. Teaching in an EH classroom can be a brutal task and the overhead support is almost non-existent. I'm sorry but non-existent is unacceptable. These overhead personnel should show up in this classroom weekly. When they arrive they should coming bearing gifts. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. A simple gift, coffee, donut, or even just a handshake and a thank you for what you are doing would suffice. Sadly, that doesn't happen and that means, according to me, that the overhead personnel that support Knewer's classroom fall into a category I call worthless.
Just a brief comment on the instructional assistances in my school. I believe, spread out through the special education classrooms and the pre-school classrooms, that there eleven instructional assistants. Ok, how can I say this? I know, with both barrels firing. These eleven individuals are the most under appreciated, least recognized individuals in this school. What I would like to see, just once, is that they all stay home for one day and let their classroom teachers and school leadership fill in during their absence. Maybe then the instructional assistants will get the credit they deserve.
Ok, on to our newest scholar, Fruit. When he first arrived in the classroom I had a chance to read his Individual Education Plan (IEP). He has a label, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). When you combine the ADHD label with an anger issue we have a scholar that can get pretty wild in the classroom. I don't have any qualifications to say this but that is not the right label. Fruit is quiet. Real quiet and he moves at a snails pace. The space he occupies on a daily basis in about an arms length from me and when Fruit speaks I can't hear him. I have to lean over to within a foot of him to be able to hear what he said. In addition to not being about to hear him, it's very time consuming to get him to do any academics. Whenever Knewer hands him a worksheet his pulls his hood up over his head and then stares down at the floor. I've watched him stay in this position for up to fifteen minutes without moving. That, in my opinion is not a scholar with ADHD. That is a scholar with an Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and he has shown it every day in this classroom.
On one of the rare instances that Fruit actually completed his assignments Knewer gave him a reward. He earned iPad time. By the way, the three iPads that arrived in this classroom a few years ago, thanks to the generosity of a few readers of this blog, are still in the classroom. They are in excellent working order and have not sustained any damage. When Knewer told him he earned iPad time his facial expression lite up with excitement. Fruit took the iPad, walked over to an area rug that is in the classroom, sat down, and maneuvered around on that iPad like a pro. At one point, he stood up, still playing his game, and walked toward me. When he reached my desk he looked up from that iPad and said to me, "do you want to play?" I sat straight up, turned to look at him and thought to myself, "that is the first time he spoke in his normal voice and he has been in this room for days."
On to my reading intervention group. In case you forgot, I'm working with some of the lowest readers in the third grade. While at lunch a few days ago I was approached by the LittleBigB. "Mr. Schultz we are changing reading intervention groups. Starting today you will no longer have the lowest reading group." "Ok," I responded, "will I still be involved in the reading intervention?" "Yes, you will now be leading a reading intervention group with the six highest readers in the third grade." "Really, when do we make this change?" I asked. "You'll start with your new group at your normal time today." Note: this was a one hour and twenty minute notice before the change took place. With my brain working overtime thinking about this abrupt change in direction it pops into my head that I'll need a book to read so I ask the LittleBigB about a book. The LittleBigB hesitated for a moment and said to me, " I don't have one for you right now but I'll to find you a book."
About thirty minutes before my reading group was to meet the LittleBigB handed me the reading book. It was titled Orphan Train Ride and, with the scholars on task and I'm doing nothing at the time, I started to read the book. As I was reading the book, one of the first things I thought about was that the opening two chapters were depressing. The setting of the story was New York City at the time when entire families were crammed into tenement housing due to a lack of jobs and extreme poverty. As I continued to read I came across this commentary in Chapter 3. It involved decisions being made by parental units when a new addition (baby) enters into this world. As the author tells it, the parental unit was faced with a decision as they can't afford this new baby. As I read on I abruptly closed the book and thought to myself there is no way in hell I'm going to let my third grade scholars read this. Here is the decision that parental units had to make that the author discussed in Chapter 3. The parental unit had two choices, kick the oldest scholar out of the house and onto the streets or drop the baby off somewhere. As I reminder, I don't make this stuff up.
After reading this disturbing part of the book I texted the LittleBigB and asked that she contact me as I wanted to tell her what I just read. I never got a response so it's decision time. My decision time and if someone didn't like my decision, tough. We skipped chapter three as there is no way I was going to deal with questions from a third grade scholar about a parental unit abandoning a baby on a street corner.
I just scrolled up to the start of this blog and again it's too long so I'm making an adjustment to bring this to a quick end. Reading with the top readers in the third grade is absolutely enjoyable. Despite reading this depressing story that are engaged, they asked good questions, and they don't hesitate to make predictions on what is going to happen in the next chapter. From a teachers perspective it doesn't get any better than that.
That's it for today. Poof! I'm out.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Reading Intervention
Crap! Just when I was thinking it wouldn't happened it did. We have a new scholar so here is an updated listing of the scholars and the adults that support the scholars. I just realized that I haven't updated this list in a while so hopefully I'll get all the names right.
The Scholars
Grr!
Tourette
Huey
Whale
Cue
Hiss
Fruit
The Adults
TheBigB
LittleBigB
Knewer*
Low*
FBG
Me*
Gnu**
HillsGirl
MJ - sadly departed, as again, we loose another very good behavior therapist. Open position.
A note on the asterisk. The three names with the single asterisk are in the classroom with the scholars full time. The one name with the double asterisk was, at one time, in the classroom with most of the scholars full time.
An introduction to our new scholar, Fruit. Prior to arriving in our classroom this young scholar was in a homebound status. When I was informed about the homebound status I thought it seemed a bit unusual so I sent Gnu a text message asking her for an opinion. The response came back, "very unusual due to the scholars age." So you are familiar with the term homebound here is a definition I found doing a Google search, unstable, aggressive behavior, throws objects, threatening others with objects, verbal aggression, and physical aggression.
On Fruit's first day he arrived a little late. Knewer met him at the door and the transition from Fruit's parental unit to our classroom went quite quickly. Sadly, like so many others, Fruit's parental unit didn't even bother to enter the classroom. As soon as the introduction took place the parental unit left the school. Knewer made a couple attempts to get Fruit to enter the classroom but failed as he just stood outside the classroom door with the hood on his jacket pulled up over his head and stared down at the floor. Eventually Knewer, after a couple attempts to get Fruit to enter the classroom, walked into the classroom and said to me, "I can't wait for him," so I told her I'd keep an eye on him. As Knewer was walking over to her desk Tourette decided to try and get Fruit to come into the classroom. In case you don't recall, Tourette is the one scholar that I know can put forth one of the longest strings of obscenities as any one in the school but I was please to see that he was going to try to get Fruit in the classroom. While Tourette can get as angry and as foul mouthed as anyone in our classroom, he can also be the nicest, most cordial scholars in the classroom, and he is always the first one to greet a new scholar.
Despite Tourette's best effort, Fruit was not walking into the classroom so it was decided to just let him stand there in the hallway. We caught a break right away as one of the kindergarten teachers was walking her class to the restroom that is immediately across from our classroom. All these scholars walking in his direction must have made Fruit nervous enough that he thought his safest place would be to walk into our classroom. As he entered, Low saw him and convinced him to sit by her at her desk at the front of the classroom. Fruit sat next to Low for nearly an hour and not once did he raise his head, say a word, he didn't remove his gloves, he didn't take off his backpack, or lower the hood of his jacket from being over his head. He was in his little shell and he was not going to leave it.
One final comment on Fruit's arrival from his homebound situation to our classroom and then I'm going to move on. Ready? Fruit does not live with his original parental units but stays with a legal guardian, he was also a homebound scholar, and he is only six years old.
I was invited to a meeting with TheBigB and LittleBigB a few weeks ago and I was assigned to a reading intervention group for third grade scholars. Actually, there are two reading groups. The first group reads at an E, F, and G level and the second group reads at an H level. The first reading group is the lowest level readers in the third grade. The second reading group is one level up from the lowest reading level group. My instructions were to read daily with each reading group. When I asked The BigB how long should these groups read I was told fifteen minutes each. When I asked about my starting date I was told it was today at 1:25pm which was about three hours after being assigned this task.
After the meeting ended I returned to the classroom to inform Knewer that I was assigned these reading groups and that I would be out of her classroom each day from 1:25pm to 1:55pm give or take a couple minutes. Knewer didn't seem too concerned about my thirty minute absence so I took a seat where I have a view from the back of the classroom. As I sat there it popped into my head that I only had a couple hours to select reading books for my two groups and I had no idea what they should be reading. I got Knewer's attention and told her that I had to go to the front office for a minute and left the classroom. I was looking for TheBigB and when I found her I asked her where I was supposed to get the reading books for these scholars. She informed me that the LittleBigB was responsible for the third grade and I was to ask her. I tracked down the LittleBigB about the reading books and I was told to go to the school's reading resource room that was on the second floor for my books.
I'm now standing in the school's reading resource room and their are hundreds of book stored in plastic red containers on shelving units. Fortunately, the person responsible for the room was present and she helped my select my first two books and I was ready to go.
1:25pm rolls along and I'm sitting in my assigned empty classroom waiting for my first reading group. As I looked around the room I didn't like what I saw. All the chairs had wheels on them and that has the potential to be a disaster. One by one the scholars started to arrive and as expected they sat in the chairs and started either spinning in circles or rolling them around the classroom. When I finally got everyone to sit quietly at the table and I looked up at the clock and realized that I just lost ten minutes of the fifteen minutes I had to read with the first group.
Immediately after the second reading group left at 1:55pm I was heading to the LittleBigB's office. When I found her I told her that the chairs that are in my reading room had to go. I told her I lost over half of my reading time trying to get the scholars to stop spinning and rolling around in those chairs. The LittleBigB told me the chairs would be removed that evening.
It's now 1:25pm the next day and I walked into my reading room and the chairs on wheels are still sitting that the table as I had left them the previous day. That was not supposed to be the case. I did find replacement chairs stacked up in a corner of the room so I replaced the chairs on wheels with the standard classroom chairs. When the scholars arrived they immediately went to the chairs on wheels and starting rolling them around and spinning them in circles. Once again, reading time is lost.
Frustrated with the chairs on wheels I decided to solve the problem myself. I collected all the chairs on wheels, rolled them into a corner of the classroom, stacked some on top of the others, and then took a classroom desk that was in the room and rammed it into the chairs so that they would be wedged into that corner. Problem solved.
It's now the third day meeting with my reading group and when they arrive they can't get to the chairs on wheels. They tried but were not successful. Unfortunately, I still can't get the reading task started on time. Multiple times I had to tell the scholars to stay seated and stop talking. As my frustration level increased two of the scholars stepped over the line and I kicked them out of the classroom. Did I have the authority or right to kick them out of this reading group. I don't know but I didn't care. I figured if they didn't want to behave and read then get out. If school leadership didn't like my decision, so be it, go find someone else to lead this reading group.
I'm now twelve days into my reading intervention assignment and reality is setting in. There is not sufficient time to do the job correctly. The reading group has five scholars in the group. I only have fifteen minutes to read and daily I'm loosing five minutes trying to get the scholars settled down to read. That means five scholars only have two minutes each to read out loud. This process is not working. In addition to the time issue, at no time during the twelve days did anyone from the either the school leadership or any of the third grade classroom teachers step into the room to see what I was doing. With each passing day I found that troubling. I've been assigned the two lowest reading groups, I don't have a teaching degree, I don't have a teaching license, I'm probably the least qualified person to do what I'm doing and no one was showing any interest in what I was doing.
A one final comment on my reading intervention group and I'm going to call it a day. At one point I mentioned to the LittleBigB that the amount of time allocated for the reading group was not sufficient and little progress would be made with each scholar only reading about two minutes a day. I was informed that my concern would be taken to a committee for consideration. I never received a response from either the LittleBigB or the committee about my concern. Frustrating but you know what, I'm doing the best that I can do. If these scholars don't show any improvement in their reading ability during the state mandated IRead3 testing process that's not my problem. You want to know why? I'm not the teacher of record.
Before I call it a day, this popped into my head so I thought I'd bring it up. For the past five years, when I had my lunch break, I always sat in a room by myself as I enjoyed the quiet. This year, for some unknown reason, I decided to eat my lunch in the staff lounge. The table that I sit at is off to the side of the staff lounge and rarely does anyone use it so that is the spot I picked to eat my lunch. I'll tell you this, I like my corner spot and the stories I hear while occupying this out of the way place makes me wish I had chosen this spot years ago. Okay, one story from a room where I have a listening angle from off to the side of the room. Teacher #6.0 is speaking to Teacher #2.0 and SW #1.0. Teacher #6.0 makes the following comment. Paraphrasing, "when a puppy poops in the right place the puppy gets a treat. When a child poops in the right place the child gets a treat. Starting tomorrow, every time I poop in the right place I want someone to give me a treat." As a reminder, I don't make this stuff up. See you next week. Thanks again for following the musings of an old fart that has a view from the back of two rooms.
The Scholars
Grr!
Tourette
Huey
Whale
Cue
Hiss
Fruit
The Adults
TheBigB
LittleBigB
Knewer*
Low*
FBG
Me*
Gnu**
HillsGirl
MJ - sadly departed, as again, we loose another very good behavior therapist. Open position.
A note on the asterisk. The three names with the single asterisk are in the classroom with the scholars full time. The one name with the double asterisk was, at one time, in the classroom with most of the scholars full time.
An introduction to our new scholar, Fruit. Prior to arriving in our classroom this young scholar was in a homebound status. When I was informed about the homebound status I thought it seemed a bit unusual so I sent Gnu a text message asking her for an opinion. The response came back, "very unusual due to the scholars age." So you are familiar with the term homebound here is a definition I found doing a Google search, unstable, aggressive behavior, throws objects, threatening others with objects, verbal aggression, and physical aggression.
On Fruit's first day he arrived a little late. Knewer met him at the door and the transition from Fruit's parental unit to our classroom went quite quickly. Sadly, like so many others, Fruit's parental unit didn't even bother to enter the classroom. As soon as the introduction took place the parental unit left the school. Knewer made a couple attempts to get Fruit to enter the classroom but failed as he just stood outside the classroom door with the hood on his jacket pulled up over his head and stared down at the floor. Eventually Knewer, after a couple attempts to get Fruit to enter the classroom, walked into the classroom and said to me, "I can't wait for him," so I told her I'd keep an eye on him. As Knewer was walking over to her desk Tourette decided to try and get Fruit to come into the classroom. In case you don't recall, Tourette is the one scholar that I know can put forth one of the longest strings of obscenities as any one in the school but I was please to see that he was going to try to get Fruit in the classroom. While Tourette can get as angry and as foul mouthed as anyone in our classroom, he can also be the nicest, most cordial scholars in the classroom, and he is always the first one to greet a new scholar.
Despite Tourette's best effort, Fruit was not walking into the classroom so it was decided to just let him stand there in the hallway. We caught a break right away as one of the kindergarten teachers was walking her class to the restroom that is immediately across from our classroom. All these scholars walking in his direction must have made Fruit nervous enough that he thought his safest place would be to walk into our classroom. As he entered, Low saw him and convinced him to sit by her at her desk at the front of the classroom. Fruit sat next to Low for nearly an hour and not once did he raise his head, say a word, he didn't remove his gloves, he didn't take off his backpack, or lower the hood of his jacket from being over his head. He was in his little shell and he was not going to leave it.
One final comment on Fruit's arrival from his homebound situation to our classroom and then I'm going to move on. Ready? Fruit does not live with his original parental units but stays with a legal guardian, he was also a homebound scholar, and he is only six years old.
I was invited to a meeting with TheBigB and LittleBigB a few weeks ago and I was assigned to a reading intervention group for third grade scholars. Actually, there are two reading groups. The first group reads at an E, F, and G level and the second group reads at an H level. The first reading group is the lowest level readers in the third grade. The second reading group is one level up from the lowest reading level group. My instructions were to read daily with each reading group. When I asked The BigB how long should these groups read I was told fifteen minutes each. When I asked about my starting date I was told it was today at 1:25pm which was about three hours after being assigned this task.
After the meeting ended I returned to the classroom to inform Knewer that I was assigned these reading groups and that I would be out of her classroom each day from 1:25pm to 1:55pm give or take a couple minutes. Knewer didn't seem too concerned about my thirty minute absence so I took a seat where I have a view from the back of the classroom. As I sat there it popped into my head that I only had a couple hours to select reading books for my two groups and I had no idea what they should be reading. I got Knewer's attention and told her that I had to go to the front office for a minute and left the classroom. I was looking for TheBigB and when I found her I asked her where I was supposed to get the reading books for these scholars. She informed me that the LittleBigB was responsible for the third grade and I was to ask her. I tracked down the LittleBigB about the reading books and I was told to go to the school's reading resource room that was on the second floor for my books.
I'm now standing in the school's reading resource room and their are hundreds of book stored in plastic red containers on shelving units. Fortunately, the person responsible for the room was present and she helped my select my first two books and I was ready to go.
1:25pm rolls along and I'm sitting in my assigned empty classroom waiting for my first reading group. As I looked around the room I didn't like what I saw. All the chairs had wheels on them and that has the potential to be a disaster. One by one the scholars started to arrive and as expected they sat in the chairs and started either spinning in circles or rolling them around the classroom. When I finally got everyone to sit quietly at the table and I looked up at the clock and realized that I just lost ten minutes of the fifteen minutes I had to read with the first group.
Immediately after the second reading group left at 1:55pm I was heading to the LittleBigB's office. When I found her I told her that the chairs that are in my reading room had to go. I told her I lost over half of my reading time trying to get the scholars to stop spinning and rolling around in those chairs. The LittleBigB told me the chairs would be removed that evening.
It's now 1:25pm the next day and I walked into my reading room and the chairs on wheels are still sitting that the table as I had left them the previous day. That was not supposed to be the case. I did find replacement chairs stacked up in a corner of the room so I replaced the chairs on wheels with the standard classroom chairs. When the scholars arrived they immediately went to the chairs on wheels and starting rolling them around and spinning them in circles. Once again, reading time is lost.
Frustrated with the chairs on wheels I decided to solve the problem myself. I collected all the chairs on wheels, rolled them into a corner of the classroom, stacked some on top of the others, and then took a classroom desk that was in the room and rammed it into the chairs so that they would be wedged into that corner. Problem solved.
It's now the third day meeting with my reading group and when they arrive they can't get to the chairs on wheels. They tried but were not successful. Unfortunately, I still can't get the reading task started on time. Multiple times I had to tell the scholars to stay seated and stop talking. As my frustration level increased two of the scholars stepped over the line and I kicked them out of the classroom. Did I have the authority or right to kick them out of this reading group. I don't know but I didn't care. I figured if they didn't want to behave and read then get out. If school leadership didn't like my decision, so be it, go find someone else to lead this reading group.
I'm now twelve days into my reading intervention assignment and reality is setting in. There is not sufficient time to do the job correctly. The reading group has five scholars in the group. I only have fifteen minutes to read and daily I'm loosing five minutes trying to get the scholars settled down to read. That means five scholars only have two minutes each to read out loud. This process is not working. In addition to the time issue, at no time during the twelve days did anyone from the either the school leadership or any of the third grade classroom teachers step into the room to see what I was doing. With each passing day I found that troubling. I've been assigned the two lowest reading groups, I don't have a teaching degree, I don't have a teaching license, I'm probably the least qualified person to do what I'm doing and no one was showing any interest in what I was doing.
A one final comment on my reading intervention group and I'm going to call it a day. At one point I mentioned to the LittleBigB that the amount of time allocated for the reading group was not sufficient and little progress would be made with each scholar only reading about two minutes a day. I was informed that my concern would be taken to a committee for consideration. I never received a response from either the LittleBigB or the committee about my concern. Frustrating but you know what, I'm doing the best that I can do. If these scholars don't show any improvement in their reading ability during the state mandated IRead3 testing process that's not my problem. You want to know why? I'm not the teacher of record.
Before I call it a day, this popped into my head so I thought I'd bring it up. For the past five years, when I had my lunch break, I always sat in a room by myself as I enjoyed the quiet. This year, for some unknown reason, I decided to eat my lunch in the staff lounge. The table that I sit at is off to the side of the staff lounge and rarely does anyone use it so that is the spot I picked to eat my lunch. I'll tell you this, I like my corner spot and the stories I hear while occupying this out of the way place makes me wish I had chosen this spot years ago. Okay, one story from a room where I have a listening angle from off to the side of the room. Teacher #6.0 is speaking to Teacher #2.0 and SW #1.0. Teacher #6.0 makes the following comment. Paraphrasing, "when a puppy poops in the right place the puppy gets a treat. When a child poops in the right place the child gets a treat. Starting tomorrow, every time I poop in the right place I want someone to give me a treat." As a reminder, I don't make this stuff up. See you next week. Thanks again for following the musings of an old fart that has a view from the back of two rooms.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Bag of Cheer - How They Did
Brrr! Tuesday, January 2, 2018, and I woke up to a temperature of -9 degrees Fahrenheit. That is -22.7 degrees Celsius for my friends in Europe. School was cancelled due to the cold weather so I have the day off. Although it was too cold for the scholars to attend school my school announced through the morning newspaper that our cafeteria would be open for any scholar that wanted a free meal. It's too cold to go to school to learn but it's not too cold to go to the school for a free meal. I find that interesting.
Ok! For those of you that are bugging me about how Grr! and Huey did on the Bag of Cheer field trip here we go. First, a quick review. Huey went with the third grade scholars to the main branch of the Indianapolis Public Library. Grr! went to a Chick-fil-A and I was with him as approximately forty fourth grade scholars boarded the bus for that road trip. Grr! boarded the bus first and I figured he would be looking for an empty seat. As he started down the aisle one of the fourth grade scholars called his name and invited him to sit down by him. To my surprise Grr! did and that put a smile on my face. As I've said a number of times before, this is my fourth year with Grr! and during this time I was never certain if he had any friends outside our immediate classroom. So, when he sat down next to this scholar on the bus, I felt pretty good.
When we arrived at the Chick-fil-A we literally took over the majority of the seating in the restaurant. To my surprise again, Grr! sat down at a table with three other fourth grade scholars.
As I observed Grr! from a safe distance away I watched as he interacted with these scholars. Watching him again brought a smile to my face as he was having fun and laughing with his friends. Grr! glanced up at me a couple times to see what I was doing and I just smiled at him. When Grr!'s turned came to hand to a complete stranger his Bag of Cheer, he did it exactly as I expected. Perfectly, with a smile on his face and he even said, "Merry Christmas." Once all of the Bags of Cheer were distributed the manager of the Chick-fil-A announced that all of the scholars, plus adults, would be given a free meal. Fortunately, for the Chick-fil-A manager, the restaurant was pretty empty when the forty scholars erupted in excitement at the opportunity to have a free meal. With the meal consumed, and on Teacher #4's cue, the scholars all shouted out in unison, "thank you," to the restaurant manager and we boarded the bus for our return trip to school.
Grr! walked into the classroom first and immediately took a seat at his desk. After a slight delay, Knewer asked him about the field trip. His response was simple, "good." Knewer prodded him from across the classroom for a little more information about the field trip and he finally said, "we got a free lunch." Although Grr! didn't exhibit a lot of enthusiasm about this field trip I know what I saw. I saw a young scholar with anxiety issues, anger control issues, and someone who, when his hot button is pushed, wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch at someone, have a real good behavior day with his new fourth grade friends.
Huey was already in the classroom when Grr! and I returned. When the opportunity presented itself I asked Huey about the field trip. His face lit up immediately as he said to me, "Mr. Schultz, this was the best field trip ever. This was even better than the camp I went to last year." The look of excitement on Huey's face, as he gave me some of the details of his field trip, is something that I will remember for a long time because it's one I've never seen before. So you know, on the second floor of the main branch of the Indianapolis Central Library is a kids zone and it is huge. There are easily a thousand children's books to read, numerous games to play, toys everywhere to play with, puzzles to put together, video screens to watch and right there in the midst of all this stuff stood Huey. I'm pretty certain, in the thirty to forty-five minutes Huey got to spend in this kids zone, he saw more things to do there than in his entire home life. And just think, this is the young scholar who, about three hours earlier, was walking down the school corridor acting all grumpy and saying, "I don't want to go on this stupid field trip."
It's decision time. To continue or stop now. Although I still haven't gotten to part two of my reading intervention group it will be a negative story so I'm going to stop now. The previous blog post brought a lot of smiles to peoples faces. I also know that for one reader in particular that blog post was like a message from God that helped lift her spirits during the holiday season. To go into something that I know will be negative is not the right thing to do right now. Instead, I going to leave you with this. Prior to the field trip both Grr! and Huey did a lot to avoid going. In the end, they went on the field trip and I'm certain that they had one of the best days of their young lives.
Happy New Year!
Ok! For those of you that are bugging me about how Grr! and Huey did on the Bag of Cheer field trip here we go. First, a quick review. Huey went with the third grade scholars to the main branch of the Indianapolis Public Library. Grr! went to a Chick-fil-A and I was with him as approximately forty fourth grade scholars boarded the bus for that road trip. Grr! boarded the bus first and I figured he would be looking for an empty seat. As he started down the aisle one of the fourth grade scholars called his name and invited him to sit down by him. To my surprise Grr! did and that put a smile on my face. As I've said a number of times before, this is my fourth year with Grr! and during this time I was never certain if he had any friends outside our immediate classroom. So, when he sat down next to this scholar on the bus, I felt pretty good.
When we arrived at the Chick-fil-A we literally took over the majority of the seating in the restaurant. To my surprise again, Grr! sat down at a table with three other fourth grade scholars.
As I observed Grr! from a safe distance away I watched as he interacted with these scholars. Watching him again brought a smile to my face as he was having fun and laughing with his friends. Grr! glanced up at me a couple times to see what I was doing and I just smiled at him. When Grr!'s turned came to hand to a complete stranger his Bag of Cheer, he did it exactly as I expected. Perfectly, with a smile on his face and he even said, "Merry Christmas." Once all of the Bags of Cheer were distributed the manager of the Chick-fil-A announced that all of the scholars, plus adults, would be given a free meal. Fortunately, for the Chick-fil-A manager, the restaurant was pretty empty when the forty scholars erupted in excitement at the opportunity to have a free meal. With the meal consumed, and on Teacher #4's cue, the scholars all shouted out in unison, "thank you," to the restaurant manager and we boarded the bus for our return trip to school.
Grr! walked into the classroom first and immediately took a seat at his desk. After a slight delay, Knewer asked him about the field trip. His response was simple, "good." Knewer prodded him from across the classroom for a little more information about the field trip and he finally said, "we got a free lunch." Although Grr! didn't exhibit a lot of enthusiasm about this field trip I know what I saw. I saw a young scholar with anxiety issues, anger control issues, and someone who, when his hot button is pushed, wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch at someone, have a real good behavior day with his new fourth grade friends.
Huey was already in the classroom when Grr! and I returned. When the opportunity presented itself I asked Huey about the field trip. His face lit up immediately as he said to me, "Mr. Schultz, this was the best field trip ever. This was even better than the camp I went to last year." The look of excitement on Huey's face, as he gave me some of the details of his field trip, is something that I will remember for a long time because it's one I've never seen before. So you know, on the second floor of the main branch of the Indianapolis Central Library is a kids zone and it is huge. There are easily a thousand children's books to read, numerous games to play, toys everywhere to play with, puzzles to put together, video screens to watch and right there in the midst of all this stuff stood Huey. I'm pretty certain, in the thirty to forty-five minutes Huey got to spend in this kids zone, he saw more things to do there than in his entire home life. And just think, this is the young scholar who, about three hours earlier, was walking down the school corridor acting all grumpy and saying, "I don't want to go on this stupid field trip."
It's decision time. To continue or stop now. Although I still haven't gotten to part two of my reading intervention group it will be a negative story so I'm going to stop now. The previous blog post brought a lot of smiles to peoples faces. I also know that for one reader in particular that blog post was like a message from God that helped lift her spirits during the holiday season. To go into something that I know will be negative is not the right thing to do right now. Instead, I going to leave you with this. Prior to the field trip both Grr! and Huey did a lot to avoid going. In the end, they went on the field trip and I'm certain that they had one of the best days of their young lives.
Happy New Year!
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