At this point, I can't tell if dress up days are intended more for the students or for the teachers.
I have absolutely enjoyed all of the themes that come along with Red Ribbon Week. We had days such as western day and pink day. Part of my enjoyment came from being able to wear jeans. There's just something about not being able to wear jeans any other day that really makes weeks like this special. My jeans are not especially unique or comfortable. In fact, I have even come to be quite settled into my slacks (or whatever the pants are called that you wear to work). I still just really enjoyed the t-shirt and jeans look this week.
My favorite theme was Disney Day. I decided to wear an Ariel shirt because that is one of my favorite Disney movies (and it was one of the few Disney shirts available at Target the night before). To some of my students, this decision was a bit perplexing. Why would a man wear a princess shirt? I eavesdropped on a number of their conversations about the merits of the shirt and whether I should or should not be wearing. My favorite line from one of my students was “he’s a grown man, he bought it and he can wear what he wants.” The overall decision from my students was that it was a nice shirt and it was “okay” that I wore it.
I have certainly found that my students are very concerned with the way I dress. With Halloween approaching, there has been much discussion about costumes. I have heard ideas ranging from Pennywise, the clown from It (why any of my students have seen this movie is beyond me), to various teachers. One of my students even went so far as to declare that he would be dressing up as me for Halloween, to which one of his peers responded with "that's impossible, Mr. Smith dresses like a Ken doll". It took quite a bit of self-control to not burst into laughter at this conversation. This completely dispelled any ideas I had about students not paying attention to the way we dress and present ourselves.
Later in the week, students began reciting their favorite lines from each of their teachers. The other fifth grade teachers and I were laughing so hard at our students nearly perfect renditions of the way we spoke in our classrooms. It also reminded me of just how perceptive students are. They see way more than I realized and certainly reminded me of the importance of my positive interactions with every student.
My students also worked on (and mostly completed) a project about animal adaptations this week. It is quite possible that I learned more about changes I need to make for projects in the future than my students did about adaptions. I certainly need to refine the process of forming groups, the assignment of roles within groups, and limiting the range of topics. By leaving the groups based on tables, the level of conflict was pretty high across classes. I think this also indicates that I will need to work on developing my students’ skillset as it relates to working in groups. I gave groups tasks, but did not tell them how to complete the tasks or who should complete them. This often left one or two students sitting around and eventually pushed out of the project. I also spent far too much time allowing students to think about their choice of animal when we could have cut down on that time with a shortlist of preselected organisms form which my students could choose from.
I have absolutely enjoyed all of the themes that come along with Red Ribbon Week. We had days such as western day and pink day. Part of my enjoyment came from being able to wear jeans. There's just something about not being able to wear jeans any other day that really makes weeks like this special. My jeans are not especially unique or comfortable. In fact, I have even come to be quite settled into my slacks (or whatever the pants are called that you wear to work). I still just really enjoyed the t-shirt and jeans look this week.
My favorite theme was Disney Day. I decided to wear an Ariel shirt because that is one of my favorite Disney movies (and it was one of the few Disney shirts available at Target the night before). To some of my students, this decision was a bit perplexing. Why would a man wear a princess shirt? I eavesdropped on a number of their conversations about the merits of the shirt and whether I should or should not be wearing. My favorite line from one of my students was “he’s a grown man, he bought it and he can wear what he wants.” The overall decision from my students was that it was a nice shirt and it was “okay” that I wore it.
I have certainly found that my students are very concerned with the way I dress. With Halloween approaching, there has been much discussion about costumes. I have heard ideas ranging from Pennywise, the clown from It (why any of my students have seen this movie is beyond me), to various teachers. One of my students even went so far as to declare that he would be dressing up as me for Halloween, to which one of his peers responded with "that's impossible, Mr. Smith dresses like a Ken doll". It took quite a bit of self-control to not burst into laughter at this conversation. This completely dispelled any ideas I had about students not paying attention to the way we dress and present ourselves.
Later in the week, students began reciting their favorite lines from each of their teachers. The other fifth grade teachers and I were laughing so hard at our students nearly perfect renditions of the way we spoke in our classrooms. It also reminded me of just how perceptive students are. They see way more than I realized and certainly reminded me of the importance of my positive interactions with every student.
My students also worked on (and mostly completed) a project about animal adaptations this week. It is quite possible that I learned more about changes I need to make for projects in the future than my students did about adaptions. I certainly need to refine the process of forming groups, the assignment of roles within groups, and limiting the range of topics. By leaving the groups based on tables, the level of conflict was pretty high across classes. I think this also indicates that I will need to work on developing my students’ skillset as it relates to working in groups. I gave groups tasks, but did not tell them how to complete the tasks or who should complete them. This often left one or two students sitting around and eventually pushed out of the project. I also spent far too much time allowing students to think about their choice of animal when we could have cut down on that time with a shortlist of preselected organisms form which my students could choose from.
I have learned a
lot in this short time teaching, but I know I still have many skills to develop. I have been making a conscious effort to not
raise my voice as often and this has required me to further refine the
procedures I have in place (especially classroom entry). It has certainly required some lost content time, but I am confident that the practiced procedures will save time (and energy) in the future.
In Fort Worth, teachers do not initially have Good Friday off in the spring. In order to get this day off, we have to attend trainings either in the summer or at some point during the year. I went to a training
this Saturday to get all the hours I needed to get that Friday off. I anticipated walking away with some new ideas to try out in the classroom but ended up leaving with a treasure chest. I met another fifth-grade teacher who shared with me all
of his resources from the past few years that he has taught fifth grade. I am
incredibly excited to explore and utilize these resources and I feel so lucky that I decided to attend this training!
This school year is truly flying by and it seems like Christmas and the New Year will be upon us soon. Thank you all for your support these past few weeks. It means a lot to hear from you! Whether they're words of encouragement, advice or strategies, questions, or just saying hello because we haven't spoke in a while, I truly enjoy hearing from you. It has certainly been quite the journey and I am looking forward to continuing to share my experiences!
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