Surviving Back to School Night

I loved Amanda's post about Anticipating Back to School Night. We both participated in Back to School Night on Wednesday night and I completely agree with her... even after living through seven of these nights, my nerves still get the best of me. 

I truly look forward to meeting the parents of each and every one of my students. The meet and greet is my favorite part. I love noticing the same "isms" that that both parent and child share... shrugging of the shoulders, the excitement in their voice, the way they talk or laugh...these are just a few things that I notice right away. The warm smiles and handshakes go a long way and create the, "we're in this together" vibe.

The "we made it- I survived" feeling is the best feeling to have as we leave the building at night. The hardest part is coming home at 9pm, getting rid of the adrenaline rush, and feeling tired enough to go to bed. 

Anticipating Back to School Night

Ask any teacher, and the second most anticipated night after the first day of school, is the night you meet the parents!  It's only one hour in my school, and I've experienced 7 Back to School nights in my career, but tomorrow night is my 8th, and I still get a little nervous!

It's a lot of fun trying to guess which set of parents belong to which students.  I have had a chance to get to know the kids for a few weeks now.  We've learned a lot about one another.  Each class is so different year to year.  Each has strengths and weaknesses that make each class kind of like having children: you love each class for different reasons!  There aren't any classes who take the cake for being my favorite (well...besides my first class ever, but they were my favorite before I even knew them!). 

I always have high expectations of myself and my students.  I hope that the parents will support me as I educate their children.  It's the only way this year will be successful!  

Tears

A Small Moment in the Classroom

We had just sent our students off to work in small groups when one student approached me with red, glassy eyes, that were beginning to tear up. He started speaking, his voice shaky, and managed to get out that he need to "speak to {deep breath} both of his teachers about {deep breath} staying organized."

Sensing that the floodgates would open at any second, I whisked him outside and asked him what was wrong. As soon as I opened my classroom door, a rush of tears came streaming down his face. His nose was also running and he was trying to keep it together but couldn't. He stared at me with his big blue eyes and my heart. just. sank...  I wanted to cry with him. I hate seeing my students upset. I'm so sensitive that I feel like crying right alongside them.

"I'm having a problem staying organized. I keep forgetting my homework folder and my supplies. I'm at my mom's house a few nights and then I'm at my dad's house. I just don't know what to do and I need help. It's really hard." Poor W managed to get all of that out in bits and pieces as he fought back tears, wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and took a few deep breaths.

And now tears were really welling up in my eyes.

I wanted to hug him and tell him that "everything would be ok." I remember seeing his dad's "student information" sheet. Dad explained his recent divorce over the summer and how W was having a hard time with the transition.

We calmed W down right away and this is where we threw on the many hats that teachers wear. In that instant, we became moms, guidance counselors, friends, coaches, and shoulders to cry on.

I experience these breakdowns more than a few times a year with my students. For some reason, parents seem to get divorced as soon as their kid turns ten. Maybe they think their kids are old enough to handle it? Who knows. But it's heartbreaking and kids are far from being able to handle it... if anything, middle school makes the situation that. much. worse.

I don't consider days like this one bad, hard, or tough... they're absolutely heart wrenching. It's all I can think about for the rest of the day, on my drive home from work, cooking dinner, preparing for tomorrow, and the list goes on. It was the first thing I told my husband tonight.

Growing up is hard. Being a student is hard. Having a stable family means everything. I'm reminded of it every day. Every day for the past eight years, since having my own classroom, I've realized how LUCKY I am to have such amazing parents. They provided such a loving, caring, warm, stable home life for me and I only wish that all of my students could have the same thing.

Today was a heart wrenching day, but I can't wait to get back into the classroom tomorrow to help my students feel safe, loved, and cared for in our stable classroom environment.

Teacher Exhaustion.

I was deciding on what to blog about tonight and I couldn't think of anything better than to admit that I'm exhausted. Teacher exhausted and run down... already. I'm embarrassed to say that on my ride home from work, I started daydreaming about a vacation on the beach. I know, I know! If you're not a teacher and reading this, you probably want to kill me! Please don't hate me! I was just day dreaming about a little siesta on the beach... the place where I feel most relaxed. I'm sure many of my teacher friends are experiencing the same exact thing. I know that being pregnant doesn't help the feeling of being exhausted. But, the truth is, I strive to be superwoman all day and by 8:30 pm, I'm ready for bed! 

If I could be the youngest person in the world...

Last week, I gave my students their "on demand writing assessment." This assessment requires them to respond to a writing prompt and write "on demand" for an entire period. It's amazing how much we can learn about our students (as writers and kids) through this one piece of writing. This year, we created a prompt that related to the World Cup. Soccer player, Julian Green, became the youngest player in U.S. history to score a goal in the World Cup. We asked students, "If you could be the youngest person in the country to accomplish something, what would it be?"

The responses that I received from my students were... typical for sixth graders. But some of them really blew my mind!

Here's one of my favorites that I wanted to share. It obviously touched my heart because of the photography part:

Ordering Books for My Classroom

I blogged about Two Reflective Teachers blog over the summer. It's an amazing literacy blog that's filled with really great resources for the classroom. Last night, I spent a lot of time going through their book recommendations for the classroom. Some books are for read aloud purposes, others are for independent reading books within specific genre units, and others I plan to order because I have students in mind that will probably really love them.

Here are a few books on my list:

A Million Ways Home by Dianna Dorisi: A moving middle-grade story about love, loss, and the unlikely places we find home.

Poppy's life has been turned upside down after her grandma (and guardian) had a stroke and ended up in the hospital. But Poppy is working on a plan to help Grandma Beth so their life together can go back to normal. But when she witnesses an armed robbery, "back to normal" slips even further out of her reach. To keep Poppy safe, the budget-strapped police devise an unusual "witness protection program," wherein Poppy will stay with Detective Brannigan's mother. Soon Poppy is feeling almost at home, even making sort-of friends with a girl named Lizzie and definitely friending Gunner, a beautiful dog with an uncertain fate. But it's still not home. So while she and Lizzie navigate a rocky friendship and plot to save Gunner's life, Poppy also tries to figure out a new plan to save Grandma Beth and their home, all while avoiding a dangerous robber who might be searching for her. But what if Grandma Beth can never come home and the robber is put behind bars? What will happen to Poppy then?

One for the Murphys by Linda Mullaly Hunt: A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love

Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future.

Prisoner B-3087 by Ruth Gruener : 

Survive. At any cost.

10 concentration camps.

10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.

It's something no one could imagine surviving.

But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.

As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087.

He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later.

Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?


Based on an astonishing true story.

Dash by Kirby Larson: New from Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson, the moving story of a Japanese-American girl who is separated from her dog upon being sent to an incarceration camp during WWII.

Although Mitsi Kashino and her family are swept up in the wave of anti-Japanese sentiment following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mitsi never expects to lose her home -- or her beloved dog, Dash. But, as World War II rages and people of Japanese descent are forced into incarceration camps, Mitsi is separated from Dash, her classmates, and life as she knows it. The camp is a crowded and unfamiliar place, whose dusty floors, seemingly endless lines, and barbed wire fences begin to unravel the strong Kashino family ties. With the help of a friendly neighbor back home, Mitsi remains connected to Dash in spite of the hard times, holding on to the hope that the war will end soon and life will return to normal. Though they've lost their home, will the Kashino family also lose their sense of family? And will Mitsi and Dash ever be reunited?

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff: Albie has never been the smartest kid in his class. He has never been the tallest. Or the best at gym. Or the greatest artist. Or the most musical. In fact, Albie has a long list of the things he's not very good at. But then Albie gets a new babysitter, Calista, who helps him figure out all of the things he is good at and how he can take pride in himself.

A perfect companion to Lisa Graff's National Book Award-nominated A Tangle of Knots, this novel explores a similar theme in a realistic contemporary world where kids will easily be able to relate their own struggles to Albie's. Great for fans of Rebecca Stead's Liar and Spy, RJ Palacio's Wonder and Cynthia Lord's Rules.