End of September Experience

My September Experience drew to a close today. I'll no longer be spending four days a week in "my" sixth grade classroom, at least not until spring. It was important to me that the kids knew my plans, so I spent a moment at the end of the day - just before Maniac - letting them know where I would be.

This afternoon brought back the rollercoaster-like experience of my days long ago teaching high school freshmen. Some days I would feel like a champion, others like an utter failure. Perhaps I would have gotten past this emotional swing had I stayed in teaching longer, but after four years I decided to stay home to raise my first of three children.

After lunch today I worked again with a small group of students who needed extra help with fractions. Although "Joe" didn't feel well and had his head on the table most of the time, the girls were engaged and even excited. One exclaimed at the end of an hour spent working on mixed numbers and improper fractions, "This is so much fun!"

After a short recess period, the class returned for half an hour of science. We're in the midst of an earth science unit, using a "kit" provided through the district. My MT has tried to be selective about which aspects of the unit must be covered, since there simply isn't time for all, but much of it is "dry" and paper and pencil based. Today's lesson was formulated around the idea that geologists can make inferences about the environment in which rocks were formed by studying characteristics of the rocks, and current geological/environmental conditions. My MT had asked if I wanted to lead it, and I felt quite comfortable at the prospect of doing so. I made up a plan, beginning with my objective for student learning. I had brought a couple of cool fossils from home, including a fish in limestone and a piece of petrified wood. The kids were with me for the first few minutes, but grew too talkative and inattentive as they passed around the fossils. I found myself saying, "It's my goal to finish by 3:10 so we have time to read Maniac, but I'm not going to try to talk over you..." Etc. My MT intervened with a suggestion that the fossils be put aside until community circle at the end of the day. I also picked up the pace, allowing just about a minute for "table talk" for each exercise. Then I had everybody show with their fingers (one, two or three) which environment they thought paired with each rock type. Based on the evidence of show of hands and a survey of table talk, I think the majority of the class got the main concepts.

We did get to Maniac Magee, and you could have literally heard pin drop. It was an especially thought-provoking part of the book, where Maniac, a white boy who is homeless until he is taken in by a black family in the black part of town, is told to "go back where he belongs" by a man in the neighborhood. That is where we left off...