Ah, Summer!

 

Summer vacation has arrived. It was a long haul this year, and as I told my students often, I wouldn't have been in the classroom without them this time around. This year was the year I had both of my former fourth grade classes as seventh and eighth grade students. Quite honestly, if it hadn't been the year I was supposed to teach both former fourth grade groups, I would have almost certainly taken a leave of absence.

I was stabbed in the neck two weeks before the school year started and underwent five hours of emergency surgery to ensure my life was not in danger. Thankfully it wasn't, but 10 months later, I am still in daily pain that intensifies when I overuse my left side by doing things like lifting heavy groceries, singing or talking loudly, or sleeping on it. I had to lean on my co-workers like never before this year just to get through each day when I returned in late September, and was still pulling the, "I was stabbed" card the last week of the year when I opted out of a seventh-grade ropes course field trip and field day.

But I genuinely loved both of my fourth-grade classes and couldn't pass up the opportunity to teach them both again, at the same time! I was not my usual self. Not even close to the kangaroo on steroids I used to be... but by the end of the year I was at least standing on tables again.

One new tactic that I started using this year was inserting pictures of my pets into my slideshows. Beginning in April, each morning the first slide my students saw was a meme I created from a photo I have of one of my (many) pets.

Although I was apparently much more fun as a fourth-grade teacher than I am as a seventh and eighth grade teacher, I still feel a special bond with these kiddos. It was really special taking the eighth graders to Boston and Washington DC with my principal on the cusp of his retirement. These kids were quite possibly the best-behaved students I've ever taken on a trip. When individual students asked what time we were leaving after a longish picnic lunch, we told them 1:00. Maybe five students asked. At 12:49 every student was assembled and ready to board the bus.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the school year came on the last day of school before graduation. The eighth graders have a retreat where they reflect on their eighth-grade year, the legacy they are leaving behind, and what they are taking with them as they move onto high school. First thing in the morning, one of my students came up to me, fishing something large out of his pocket. He said, "Mrs. Conrow, is it okay if I have pickles?" as he slid the jar from his pocket.

I laughed and asked to take a picture. He later shared the jar with his advisory group, and the pickles were gone in under five minutes. 

Of course, I can't help but look ahead to next year, when I hope to be more healed and closer to the kangaroo on steroids I once was. I was at a club world cup game this weekend, and the people in front of us came prepared, with laminated red and yellow cards. They were probably my favorite part of the game... especially since we didn't win.

I want to think of a way to implement this in my classroom next year. Perhaps a giant yellow card with the words, "Whoa, Warriors!" in large, friendly letters - Warriors being our school's mascot, and "Whoa, Warriors" being a phrase I say when I want the class to calm down. Somehow this also reminded me that I wanted to become a carrier of emergency confetti to celebrate wins in the classroom. Perhaps I'll remember to do both next year.

Engaging Students in May

 Teachers know this time of year is challenging. It's crazy with its own busyness closing out the year, but also includes the increased difficulty of capturing student attention as blue skies emerge and the calendar draws closer to the start of summer break.

In my current position I have the added challenge of an end date that is a week earlier than all other grades in the building - for some reason eighth graders in Catholic schools in my area graduate a week before the last day of school - and a host of eighth grade specific activities that stir excitement and decrease instructional time:

• Annual trip to the East Coast - this year we added Boston to the usual D.C. itinerary
• Community project (capstone project for eighth graders in an IB school) presentations
• Eighth grade retreat where we reflect on the year and elect the "torch bearers" (students from the current 7th grade who embody the school's mission and Catholic values who can be role models to the school) for the upcoming school year
• Graduation practices
• Graduation brunch

So how do I keep kids engaged? Well, I have to admit that what works one year might not work the next. But this year May has gotten off to a great start. First, my partner teacher and I planned a mock conclave in the wake of Pope Francis' death. Students began by brainstorming a job listing for the pope. They worked as a class to come up with a description of the Catholic church as a company and in small groups to decide on the pope's responsibilities and minimum qualifications. After researching the "front runners" in the papal election as defined by the College of Cardinals website and reporting their findings to their classmates they will vote for their top choice for the new pope before the real conclave convenes in the middle of next week.

Also, our study of Westward Expansion (defined for our purposes as the migration of different groups of people into the western portion of the United States during the 1800 and 1900s) has gone over quite well. We are looking at one event per day, taking a quick look at topics like Manifest Destiny, trails headed west, Indian removal, Texas Revolution, Mexican-American War, California Gold Rush, and slavery. Each topic includes some activity that allows students to move around the room, and generally there's a small group component as well. Today there was a Reader's Theatre script that engaged every student. Their dramatization of the Battle of Gonzalez was hilarious! And even better, they could explain to me what happened and why. Perhaps next week won't be as smooth, but perhaps it will.

Reader's Theatre:
It's too bad I didn't take a video.

What the Shakespeare?

I am slowly feeling myself come back. In addition to the knee injury I sustained when I slipped on ice two years ago, I was stabbed in August. I wrote about it this fall but haven't put the post out into the world because of the circumstances surrounding the incident. Maybe one day. Suffice it to say, it's been a hard year. Harder than my first two years teaching middle school at my current school - which was surprising given how much I loved teaching middle school at a previous school.

A current high school student, from my first eighth grade class in my current building, was leaving a funeral as I was walking back from dropping my class off in the gym this week. In addition to the pleasantries we exchanged, he told me his class had set me up to fail; that they had been "evil." While I denied the claim of them being evil, I said I had known they set me up to fail. They were upset that I was not my predecessor and made sure I knew it. Enough of them fell into this habitual way of interacting with me that forming relationship with the class as a whole proved impossible for me. They even made me cry during the last week of school by posting on a Jamboard (remember Jamboards?) that when they went on the Washington DC trip, they realized I hadn't taught them anything all year long in their U.S. History class. Even though I had always known the cause of their ire, it was cathartic to hear from the mouth of a student who had been there that they had set me up to fail.

This year I am teaching both of my former fourth grade classes. Of course there have been shifts in the rosters, with students leaving and new students joining the classes. But by and large, I've known these kids since they were nine. And I've started to bounce a bit again. Just a bit, as I am still in fairly constant pain from my two-year-old knee injury. (I had an MRI yesterday and am hoping for actionable results.) I also stand on a lunch table seat when I have lunch duty to get the kids' attention rather than raising my voice or blowing a whistle... even though the lunch lady whose daughter is in my class (for the second time) always tells me I shouldn't in case I fall and injure myself further.

Today I unlocked a pretty huge achievement. I wore a necklace all day long. It's the first time I even attempted to wear a necklace to school since I was stabbed. I tried a couple of weeks ago to wear one and could only tolerate it for a couple of hours. But I didn't even feel the necklace today, except when I was showing off to my co-workers that I was wearing it.

But the biggest sign that I am coming back to the teacher I used to be comes from my interactions with students. I overheard a group of girls whispering about someone's new boyfriend and stage whispered back, "Sally Sue has a boyfriend!?" The tea turned out to be about a celebrity rather than a classmate, but my stage whisper did get the trio to turn their attention back to their work.

Yesterday my Catholic school seventh graders were investigating Renaissance art and literature, looking for humanist characteristics. They were excited to see we would be examining two works by Petrarch, whose quote had been a major launching point of our Medieval Times unit. They were happy to learn Petrarch had been a priest until they also learned he wrote over 300 love sonnets to someone named Laura. There was an uproar. So, I said, "When you are having that reaction, say, 'What the Shakespeare?'" They repeated that phrase several times throughout class yesterday.

Today, we were in the middle of reading from a letter Petrarch had written to his brother, a monk, as Petrarch defended his love of secular poetry, worldly interests, and individualism even as he had an intense love for God when there was an unexpected fire drill. As we settled back into the classroom after coming back in out of the rain, a student commented, "What the Shakespeare!?" To which a classmate responded, "There is no more Sigma. Only Shakespeare." 

To those in the know - that is a massive achievement unlocked for a middle school teacher in 2025. I feel like I beat the boss battle and won the game. At least for today. Although it is unlikely I will hear "What the Shakespeare?" in the hallways next week, I will hold onto the memory of this exchange for some time to come.

Student Grievances

 I have an annual assignment in my eighth grade U.S. History class for students to write complaint letters following the structure of the Declaration of Independence. Most complaints are about the homework load, the school uniform policy, or sibling interactions. 

Every year one or two complaints need to be addressed by administration, which is one reason this assignment will stay in the rotation: some kids use it to open up about real problems in their lives.

But my favorite part about this assignment is when kids take the opportunity to really try to mimic the Declaration and make me laugh out loud. Here is an example from this year:

Another gem from this year is a student complaining about his dad's behaviors and his previous attempts to make change:

I always encourage students to discuss their complaints with whomever they address in their letter, and to let me know specifically, when I am infringing in their "rights" as the express in this assignment. It is rare that they actually do, but this year another eighth-grade teacher and I have started a Civic Spirit Club. We are just beginning the research phase in order to make action plans to be changemakers in our community. This affords me another avenue of helping my students understand that their opinions matter and there are ways to make their voices heard!