bbbbecky

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
-Henry David Thoreau

Planning

I’m constantly thinking about what has worked and what hasn’t worked in my fifth grade class, so that the next year, I can modify things as necessary. There are a few things I’ve been tossing around in my mind that I want to write here so I don’t forget them.

  • Book boxes: I’ve thought about doing this time and time again, but I’ve never gotten around to buying or making the boxes. I think it would be helpful the kids to have numbered book boxes to keep books they’re currently reading, a writing journal, an extra pencil, or whatever else. They could be stored on the back shelf, or on a bookshelf, or even in a crate at each group.
  • Personal spelling dictionary: I want to redo the way I teach spelling. The way I do it now is boring for me and the kids, and it’s nothing but memorization and worksheets. I want to start taking their writing and finding about five misspelled words, and having the kids work on those words throughout the week. Then on Fridays, I can quiz each kid individually on those five works. The words they got right can go into their personal spelling dictionary, and the ones they’re still working on can be carried over to the next week.
  • Cubbies: In fifth grade, kids need to learn organization for sixth. I want to start making rules for what they can have in their desk. They tend to get so unorganized, then they lose their workbooks, and I end up running extra copies, and it all wastes time. I’d love for them to only have, say, their math and reading materials in their desks until lunchtime, then make one trip to their cubbies to switch out and get their science and social studies materials. Then, at the end of the day, they can go one more time to get what they need for homework, and set things up for the following morning.

They don’t seem like major things, but I’m really excited about them, especially the spelling procedures. It seems a lot more beneficial this way.

thepeoplesrecord:

Outraged against austerity, students & teachers in Philadelphia resist the machine of capitalism
May 17, 2013

Dozens to hundreds of Philadelphia students, teachers and school staff protested outside one of the city’s premiere high schools in an effort to fight proposed budget cuts to the district.

Wearing signs and handing out pamphlets to drivers, members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers lined the sidewalk outside the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts along South Broad Street Friday morning. The teachers are fighting a series of severe budget cuts proposed by the district to close a more than $300 million funding gap. The proposed cuts include ending arts and music programs, sports and cutting auxiliary staff like secretaries, librarians and counselors.

“With the austere budgets schools have received, schools will not be able to provide a high-quality education for Philadelphia’s children,” said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Jordan says the teacher’s union has been discussing labor concessions with the district. However, he says a concession that results teachers taking a pay cut is a non-starter.

“The school district is asking for salary cuts for all PFT members of anywhere between 5, 10 and 13-percent,” he said. “I don’t think that you’ll find employee in the school district and the PFT…who are going to tell you that they can afford to take that kind of pay cut.”

The teacher protest is just the first of many demonstrations planned Friday over the funding flap.

Students from Philadelphia public schools around the city have also walked out of class and are marching on the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia City Hall. Similar walkouts were organized last week by students, who also marched on the same spots.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard says staff will not stop students from walking out, but says officials have asked principals remind students that leaving early will results in being marked as cutting. “Schools will follow the district’s attendance policy and will take the appropriate action which triggers at least a phone call to parents to notify them of the student’s absence, a request for a parent conference at the school, or after school detention,” he said.

Students are using Twitter to organize and document their protests. The group Philly Student Union is promoting the hashtag #walkout215 as a digital rally point during the event.

Source

“The teacher’s union has been discussion labor concessions with the district.”

And that scares me, because what about those of us in right-to-work states, where teachers don’t have a union in the first place? What’s going to happen to us when things get that serious here?