Room by Emma Donoghue

Ever wonder why we don't hear much about Jaycee Dugard and her children?  I've often wondered how they are integrating into the real world after the kidnapping and abuse.  After reading Room, I have a better understanding of the hardships of acclimating to the real world after such an experience.

The book Room is about a 5 year old boy and his mother who are living in a "room" and have no contact with the outside world except through their captor. The room is an eleven by eleven foot space and the mother has created a life for her child out of these unusual circumstances.  Jack and his mother look forward to Sunday "treat" which is nothing more than necessities. Although the captor is aware that he has a son with the mother, he has little interaction with the little boy.  The mother hides him in the closet each night in case they get a visit from their captor.  Often the little boy is awake when the captor "visits" his mother.  They have a TV but the mom explains to Jack that everything on TV is make believe.  The world is simply their "room" which is actually a storage shed in the captor's backyard. When the room can no longer contain Jack's curiosity, the mother plans a daring escape and Jack becomes a hero.

What struck me the most was how hard it was for both Jack and his mom to adjust to life outside the room. That's when I thought of Jaycee and how hard it must be for her.  This is a great book and I highly recommend reading this book.  It will certainly stick with you for a while.

Leaving Gee's Bend

Have you read Irene Latham's first book Leaving Gee's Bend? This book is for adolescents but our book club enjoyed reading and discussing it.  It's about a little girl and her family who live in Gee's Bend and have many hardships.  The little girl has to leave Gee's Bend for the first time to get help for her mother who is ill.  She encounters an evil woman who is determined to destroy the residents of Gee's Bend.  Although the book is fiction, it has some elements of  real events.  It's a great book to read aloud to your 3rd graders and up.

Irene Latham is busy writing her next book about a son whose parents work at the zoo. The Birmingham Zoo was her model and inspiration.

The author does school visits if you are interested.  You can contact her at:
www.irenelatham.com

Happenings

I can hardly believe it is almost Spring Break!  Where has this year gone???  My Kindergartners have grown so much and have learned so much from their peers.  When I looked at their writing today, I noticed that some of them were writing better than my first graders.  I wonder if the first graders have noticed that.

One of the first grade teachers has challenged us to a Speed Challenge.  Speed is a card game that is played rapidly placing cards that are 1 more or 1 less than the previously played cards.  We've been working hard to get ready for the challenge.  My first graders are working with the K students to help them get faster when playing the game. We have done this in previous years but my kids don't seem to enjoy competition as much  as kids I've had before.  Maybe because we have worked so hard to have a peaceful classroom community while blending two grade levels.

Joy Cowley

I went to a workshop on Saturday with Joy Cowley as the featured speaker. She described how she began writing stories for children.  It really started with her son Edward.  He was a reluctant reader but he learned to read by reading the stories she wrote about him.  Joy Cowley herself was a late bloomer.  She didn't read until the age of 9! She gave some very good tips on finding books kids can connect to and are able to read.  Of course she read Mrs. Wishy-washy to us.  Nobody can read that book better than the author herself.  I also went to a breakout session hosted by Jennifer Summerlin.  She is soooo inspiring.  I got some new book ideas to use with my students.  It also made me reflect on my current teaching practices. My school system has provided us with some very good programs and materials but I feel stifled by those tools!  I know, crazy huh. This week I'm putting the reading program away and I'm just going to have fun with my students and read books that we love and that motivates students to read. I think students can tell when you aren't reading a book that you love.  I also know that every book in that reading program is not relevant to my students' lives.  I want to do a better job of hooking my students with books I love and that they will love too.

Reflections on "I Resign From Teaching" posted by Josh Stumpenhorst

This has been the best year of teaching I have ever had.  EVER!  It has been so much fun teaching a split class.  But...I’m already dreading next year because nothing could possibly top this one. I had a rough start with juggling schedules and not knowing how to group students because I didn’t really know them yet.Not to mention the PR I had to do with parents. They had the same question as some of the teachers did and that is, how can you teach two grade levels at the same time???  As time went by, it got so much easier and it’s hard to imagine ever having a full kindergarten class without older peers to help with teaching and guiding them. EVER! Teaching kindergarten is an exhausting job.  My hat is off to those teachers that do it every day and every year. Josh’s blog post http://stumpteacher.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-resign-from-teaching.html resonates with me as a first grade teacher.  I feel it is much easier to learn beside first graders than to learn beside  kindergarteners.  They are a whole different animal!  They need so much more guidance into “schooling.”  So the secret is out of the bag! I’ve tried to keep it quiet but...this has been the best year ever! Thank you Linda for your vision. Thank you Jeff for your encouragement. And thank you Kindergarten and First Grade Teams for being flexible with my crazy schedule and for being so supportive.  You are the best!

Field Trips

The first graders went on a field trip to see/hear the African Children's Choir while I stayed here with my kindergartners.  It's interesting how K's act when the first graders are not here.  For example, they couldn't decide where to sit at lunch.  Do you suppose the 1st graders tell them where to sit???  Center time was very quiet but they asked permission before they did anything which is not how I run my class.  They are allowed to make choices.  Maybe it was because it felt different without their first grade classmates.

Planning has gotten easier with the 2 grade levels.  I've gotten into the groove.  I think that next year I would like to do some things differently if I teach a split class again.  I think they should take all field trips together.  I also think we should have our own class traditions. ( Not K traditions/activities and 1st grade traditions/activities.)  It's been hard making sure each grade level gets to do what the other children in their grade level are doing. That's harder than lesson planning!

Staying Sane

I read on another blog about ways to stay sane during this crazy time of year with all the paperwork, parent conferences, projects, report cards, etc.  One of the tips was to take a day off...a mental health day.  So I started thinking what that would be like. First of all, the detailed plans you have to leave for a substitute would have to be done.  Copying, getting materials together, leaving a list of student needs and health concerns are just a few of the things you would have to do for a mental health day not to mention getting a substitute who would be willing to take a K/1 split class. I couldn't take a day on Monday because I would miss faculty meeting. Wednesday is out because of Kindergarten team meeting.  Thursday is out because of First Grade team meeting.  (Those team meetings are very important!) Friday is my favorite day of the week at school so who would want to miss that!  I stressed out over the thought of taking a mental health day.  No thank you.  It's less stressful being at school. I need to quit reading so many blogs!