It's Not the Kids

One thing that I've heard, and I've found myself guilty of at times too, is saying something to the effect of "It's not my fault I can't get them there, they're just so low" or "they just don't want to learn" or "I'm throwing everything at them, but they're not catching onto anything".

I think that is one of the more short-sighted things we can say. Because truly, it's not the kids.

Jane Brewer wrote this in the book Stories From Webb....

It’s not the kids. You read that, and maybe you thought, “Nope, it’s the parents.” Or maybe,

“No, it’s the administration.” Maybe you didn’t think anything at all.  But stop a minute and

consider something. Maybe it’s you. Now you’re thinking, “What? Of all the books in

all the world, THIS is not one that would have ‘teacher blaming!’” But hear me out.

In my 20+ year career I have taught a lot of different subjects in a lot of different places.

For some people there are no destinations, only roads, and I seem to be one of them.

I have taught elementary Music, elementary Math, elementary self-contained, and been an

interventionist. I have taught secondary Reading, Social Studies, Science, ESL, and been an

instructional coach. I have taught in the suburbs, in the inner city, in the country, and in the

Middle East. My students have been poor, rich, middle-class, Christian, Muslim, black, white,

Hispanic, and Asian. They have ranged in age from 4 - 16. And I have made a discovery.

There are certain things my students do, no matter where I go or what I teach. There are ways

they react to me, regardless of economic level or culture. There are challenges I consistently

have in my classroom, regardless of content.  And what that tells me is, they are MY challenges.

Because the one constant in all those experiences is me.

My classroom is noisy. I pass it off as the sound of learning (and 85% of the time it is), but

my students talk. A silent classroom is not something I have ever achieved, and I always feel

sorry for the students that need to learn in silence because I have no idea how to give it to them.

My lines are never straight. I try, folks, I really do.  But I’ve never quite seen the point of

control for the sake of control. My lines are quiet when there is a reason to be quiet (others

are learning around us,) and I don’t let students take up an entire hallway, but a straight line

has never been a point of pride or contention for me. So I rarely get one.

Students take advantage of me. I’m a real believer in second chances, people changing,

(especially children) and all that stuff. A lot of the time I’m right. A lot of the time I’m wrong.

And someone usually says to me, “I would have never trusted (insert name of betrayer here.)”

But how can (name of betrayer) get a chance to show they have changed unless someone

trusts them? So I get betrayed. A lot.

But the point of this writing is not betrayal, or my failures as a teacher.  The point is that

this happens no matter what I am teaching, whom I am teaching, or where in the world

I am teaching. I say again, the one constant is ME. I am uniquely qualified to know that

whatever deficiencies there are in my teaching they are MY deficiencies. It is most

definitely NOT the kids.  And so I submit to you that maybe, just maybe, the challenges

you have are YOUR challenges. And thus the title.

Week at a Glance

Tuesday - PreK CLI Testing Begins

Nesloney Out from 9-12 for Principal's Meeting

Wednesday - Team Leader Meeting - 7am TP Room

Thursday - Staff Prayer Time - 7am - TP Room

Hot Dog Cookout - Laredo Heights - 5pm

Friday - End of Progress Report 2

Staff Prayer Time

At the request of a few staff members, this week we'll start our voluntary staff prayer time.  It'll be a quick, 15 minutes to get together and pray for our students, school, and staff.  If you'd like to join in, it'll be every Thursday morning at 7am in the Team Planning room.

COMING SOON: Parent/Teacher Conferences

October 23 - November 2 will be our 4th annual Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences.  This year you will have a two week period to meet with parents.

This is a part of our Targeted Improvement Plan, so here are the expectations this year.

1. You must meet with every parent.
2. The excuse of "I couldn't get ahold of them" will not be accepted.  If we need to make home visits, make home visits.
3. Admin can sit in on any meeting you need them to sit in on (as well as make home visits with you)
3. We understand this may seem like a big task (it is!) but this is one of the most important pieces to getting families involved in the process.
4. There must be a sign in sheet that needs to be turned into Cindy Puentes.
5. Our 3rd-5th graders especially need to begin to lead parts of the meetings because the SPRING Parent/Teacher Conferences will be led by students 1st-5th Grade.
6. Students need to be present at their family meeting.
7. Find something positive to celebrate about EVERY child with their families. Talk GROWTH.

Hot Dog Cookout

This event is a special one for us that happens every semester.  We hope you can come on out to Laredo Heights at 5pm on Thursday as we partner with Navasota Jr High to cook hot dogs and hang out with families.  Your family is welcomed to join as well!

Book Study

Please make sure that you are making time to read something 20 minutes every night. Schedule it if you have to. We want to be asking our kids to read, we must also. 

As far as our Book Study book, please make sure you have Chapters 4 and 5 read, with questions/discussion topics written down, to discuss at the next Faculty Meeting.  Please come to this meeting prepared.  You have several weeks advance notice, so the expectation is that you come with your written down questions/discussion points, and the chapters read.

Morning Duty

On your PLC day....PLEASE keep in mind that you are on duty until 7:40am. We need you to stay at your duty station until then. Your PLC starts at 7:45am.  Be on time to both your duty and PLC time. You should come prepared on your day.

Please also remember that 2nd-5th should be placing sticks in their cones either the morning of on the WAY to duty, or the afternoon before during Bus Duty.

Kinder - Car

1st - Cafeteria

2nd - Gym

3rd - Car

4th - Cafeteria

5th - Gym

House Points

This week we will be putting up some "House Points" signs around school so kids can continually keep up with house points.

Also, this year we want to give out House Points for academic reasons too!!  So, before any exam, meet with your students and have them set goals for themselves. The goals should be lofty, but not out of reach.

If a child reaches their goal, let's give their house some points!

Hopefully this will be another opportunity for students to take their exams seriously and provide a little competitiveness.

We'll also begin tying some house things into announcements as well.

Word Wall

I hope to completely get our Webb Word Wall up in the Gym for K-2nd Grade.  Lunch monitors will quiz the word wall before kids leave.

Teachers, as you enter the cafeteria you can also quickly quiz kids on different words!

T-TESS Goals

Make sure you are continually looking at your goals and what you need help with to achieve them.

Classrooms

This week we will continue to look for the following as we walk through and by classrooms...

1.  Classroom greeters
2.  Students standing to answer a question
3. Students answering in complete sentences
4. Teachers up and moving while doing whole group instruction
5. No cell phone use unless posting online your classroom activity or contacting a parent/administrator

Tell Your Story

This week I interviewed the amazing Michael Bonner.




Articles/Blog Posts

Working with Lawnmower Parents

Stories Connect Us

The Last Straw

In Closing...

Every day can feel like a battle we're losing. Every day we can wonder why the kids aren't getting it or what else we can do.  It's important to remember we weren't built to carry this load alone.  Not one of us have all the answers, but when we reach out and ask for help, it's not a sign of weakness but instead a sign that you're smart and brave enough to know that you need to walk alongside others.

As you struggle, as you question, as you get lost in what to do next, ask for help! Ask for guidance. We're in this together, and when we don't work together, we move nowhere.

We've got this!