The Reason I Jump

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida  

I recently finished this book. It is about a boy with autism sharing his thoughts and experiences by answering questions. 

The questions were mostly about why he and some people with autism act in a certain way (putting his hands on front of his face and moving it slowly). He answered that the reason behind this behavior may vary for each person, but for him, it's because when he does this, it makes him feel happy and comfortable. Since his eyes are sensitive to light, doing this lessens the amount of light entering his eyes and this gives a sense of comfort. 

There are a lot of answers to these kinds of questions and may really vary. It is very interesting to know and try to understand the behavior of some people with autism. As an educator, this is an eye opener. To always, always give students the opportunity to express themselves, to never stop caring and understanding them. It may be difficult and complicated to do this, but through communication, respect and compassion, students/ others will be able to get past difficulties. 

Month end

So it's the end of June and really the summer heat is kicking in! 

My husband and I had a blast of a weekend! Went over to the border of Nevada and California and went around the Fashion Outlet. Wow! That place had a lot of stuff on sale and pretty neat too. 

I'm really looking forward to going back there for more!

We also went to a park near our place and since it is my first time to be at that park, I felt really glad to have been there. We walked around for a while and took pictures of ducks and pigeons. Some kid gave the pigeons a whole slice of bread. Oh trust me, it was a feast for those pigeons! 

Also went near the airport to watch a few planes come and go. It was a relaxing and nice spot with the sunset going on and the wind just blowing in our car.

Well, got to get back to thinking more about what to prepare for the next months! I'll be posting more ideas... If and when they come available to my mind haha!

Preparing for the first day of school and so much more!

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So it's 58 days before school starts and I'm really excited!

I've been reading several teacher blogs and have tremendously learned a lot. Things such as, while it's summer break what should I be doing? What should I prepare for the first day? What procedures do I want practiced in class? Truly, there are 3,000 decisions a teacher has to do in a day (maybe more)!

First of all, I've been preparing the list of topics to be covered based on CCSS (Common Core State Standards). I'm fairly new to CCSS and so I've been doing a lot of reading about what it is and how teachers are applying it in the classroom.. At the same time, I've been also reading and researching about PBL (project based learning) as this is what the school I am in is practicing. This is very interesting because I too agree and believe that we learn by doing and not mere rotary memorization.

Next, I've been thinking about preparing for the first day of classes. There are a lot running in my mind. For instance, how will I introduce myself? What things do I share and not share with them? How do I get to know them (Getting to know activities)? How do we discuss procedures we want implemented in the class? Will the seating arrangement be done alphabetically on the first day up until a month? How many forms of assessment and what forms are these? Do I give out several worksheets and a quiz? How often will we have home works? How many projects will there be? And so on. Wow! This is just the first day. Overwhelming as it may seem, I'm trying to list all of them down, sort them and actually involve the class in deciding on certain points. But my definite plan is to try and implement some of Harry Wong's classroom management styles. It has been proven effective on myself since it was used in our school when I was still in middle school and high school.

As of now, I'm focusing on the first topics to be discussed in Math class, that is fractions. So I've been preparing and thinking of activities for my 5-6th graders and 7-8th graders separately. Also, thinking and researching about possible projects to be used for this topic. I've had thoughts of a different form of assessment of fractions where in there will be a cross word puzzle, but instead of questions in word, it will be of operations of fractions and the answers will be equivalent to a certain word which will then be filled in on the crossword. It sounds overwhelming now that I've typed it down. Another idea that popped into mind is using fractions for Sudoku, I really don't know how but I'm still thinking about it.

For a project on fractions, I'm thinking about asking the students to make a reviewer in the form of a brochure, covering all that we will have taken up on fractions (definition of a fraction, its parts, simplifying, equivalent fractions, operations on fractions, and others). Anyone else who has tried this approach? How did you implement it and what is the contents for the rubric? I hope that this will demonstrate strong understanding of fractions because this time, explanation and examples will come from students.

Middle School Teacher - First Time!

So, I have a new job. Hooray! :D

I used to be a high school Math teacher, teaching solely pre-Algebra and Algebra topics-to all girls high school students. This time around, I'll be working with coed middle school students. See how I used the word 'working' instead of teaching or some other word? It's because I believe that when we work with others, learning from it isn't a one way process, rather a two way process, where everyone is involved.

Anyway, going back to my new job.

I'm very excited but quite nervous too. So, in symbols I can say excitement>nervous Lol.

I'm excited with all the changes happening. The transition from working with older students to the younger ones. The topics that we will be discussing which are not topics I'm not very much familiar teaching (besides my tutoring experience with a younger kid). I've been reading about strategies on how to teach middle school students and what things to be considered. I'll be working at a charter school which again, is something very new to me. I might teach three subjects this year. Probably besides Math, I'll be doing Science and Social Studies which again, the latter two are totally new to me. So, I'm really eager to try and get my feet wet in these waters. Plus, I'll be teaching in a multi level classroom! I think it's awesome!There are pros and cons to teaching in a multi level classroom, but that's fine, everyone has to start somewhere and then eventually be better at it. Excited to meet new students and parents too!

On the other hand, I'm feeling nervous because it's a totally new school environment for me. I have studied and taught in a very structured school where everyone's a stickler for rules and there are specific rules for everything. Like how to behave in the classroom (no usage of mobile phones) or that of proper wearing of uniform. Well, I learned that in the new school I'll be in, there are rules but, isn't like what I have been used to. I'm afraid that I might still carry too much of this strictness in me and might scare off the students. So, I'm really trying and preparing to be less of the stickler for rules. I've actually decided to set classroom rules with the students. Let them suggest and decide on rules that we may use, then I can add more if necessary and then, approve and all of us can agree. Nervous too because I have been accustomed to learning and teaching in the traditional method of reading, memorizing, solving and just sticking with paper work. Whereas the school I'm in now is implementing project based learning, which I'm not very familiar with. So here I am, two weeks into reading about project based learning and how to best use it for learning. I love this idea! I mean, students use their hands and actually actively involve themselves in learning and not just simply sitting back just to memorize and solve/ answer questions. 

So, I'm loving the school, the teachers, the administration and the few students I've met. They are absolutely adorable and awesome. I love how kids here behave properly because they have the freedom to, but still keeping in mind that they are responsible of their actions. It feels less stressful for me to try and control them. I've been used to strictly implementing and pushing students to do stuff which limits them from being comfortable and at ease with their peers or with me. 

I'm excited to share new things I will learn such as strategies, project based activities and more!

Well, I'm looking forward to following and reading more teacher blogs because we all learn from each other. Cheers to this new chapter in my life!

If you are reading this blog and would like to suggest articles, strategies or any comment about teaching middle schoolers, please feel free to leave a comment. I would appreciate it so much!