Author: Janis Sexton
Retired elementary public school teacher; all thirty-eight years in Florida... Now spending my time advocating for our children, and their right to strong public school education...With an appreciation for the arts, and the magic in each day✨...
Our School Climate…
“We are a Team…Children…Parents”
How I appreciate my parents… Parent involvement is essential…
Teaching at a school with a diverse community…I do not always get the support and involvement of my parents…
Our school community works hard trying to get our parents involved….We have many school activities that include children and refreshments to encourage… This year especially, with all the new curriculum and expectations of our children, I must continue reaching for the support of our parents…..
Communication and involvement make the difference…
Our Fall Festival this month… will be a time to conference with parents…Any chance I can get is an opportunity…
Other opportunities help bridge our communication; Having lunch at school with your child… Volunteering at school…
We so appreciate our parents…We are a team…
Schedules… Demands, and Teaching…
What can I say…I have held a passion for teaching and children since 1972…Today with such unrelenting demands that sabotage teaching and the requirements teachers must follow…Knowing how it impacts my children…I do feel sad and frustrated…. I look at my precious children, with their willingness to do their best and do all that is asked…My love and passion, still holding dear not to disappoint…I do try to inspire, and make all this fun and rewarding…
My little first graders must sit all day…recess at the end of the day…Taking tests where they must have computer skills, and I will be evaluated how effective my teaching is….I can only hope that one day…We will once again do the right thing…
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A New Year…Love to Teach…
- Each year is unique…Teaching for many years, I still get those butterflies…When I meet my students for the first time, I feel hopeful; that I will be able to inspire… I look forward to working together with my parents…
- Even with all the challenges, I still feel hopeful, and very excited!
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Here we go 2013-2014
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Teaching Reading….
I have loved the joy of teaching young children to read…. It has been such a delight in seeing them for the first time realize they can read….There is such a look on their precious faces of surprise …
This year for me has been a quite challenging…Our school is a diverse school in a progressive district…We do have a majority of children from poverty…Our school does have a reputation, even with the challenges… Always striving to maintain the status quo… With all the demands of Common Core Curriculum, and the rigors of Testing…. These challenges, added to the many other teaching responsibilities…
We struggle with the problem our children face who live in such impoverished conditions…
I will always inspire my children to love to read, even with all these demands… I do feel though, no one is listening to our children…They are our future...
Feeding Hungry Children…
As a teacher of young children, I do find some of my students come to school hungry…They have a hard time concentrating and have even shared with me…they are hungry!…
Our school is prepared to handle this challenge…
We have a federal program called SNAP; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, in place providing the necessary funds that enable us to provide all our children a free breakfast; For those who qualify, a free lunch; And for those who may not qualify for free lunch, the necessary steps in place, that if for any child is without lunch money, our school will let it go for a while, reaching out to the home, and provide a mini meal; sandwich with milk…
We never want our children hungry for any reason…
In addition, our school, has a “Backpack Food Program” filled with food items from donations, from a caring church in our community… Those children who are in such need, take home their backpacks weekly to share with their families…In addition to all this support, it is not unusual for me, as well as many other teachers to do our part with food drives for our children…
I also provide a nutritional daily snack; in addition, keeping food items in our classroom …just in case…
Food is essential for our children to be able to learn….No child can be motivated and eager when they are deprived of food…
Our Classroom…
Teaching since 1972, I have taught first grade for over twenty of those years; learning from my vast experiences with children ; to which I have acquired such knowledge associated teaching grades ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade, in addition to teaching student teachers at the college level…
I have formed strong feelings about how important the first grade is, in a child’s education…
It is my opinion, first grade lays the foundation for learning…Especially when teaching children of diversity, I feel it does take a strong, nurturing, effective teacher…A first grade teacher begins the process of taking the child from kindergarten; which has the responsibility to socialize and begin the process; into being more formal and structured…
This process, not every child is ready nor willing to make…It is the teacher’s role to help facilitate this process…I feel it does take that strong, loving, structured approach…
The classroom is where this “magic” takes place… The process begins at the very beginning of the school year when you meet your students with parents during “Meet the Teacher”…This is a wonderful time to informally evaluate the children, and their interactions with parents, in the classroom…This is where I start assessing through my observations…
I can find out just in that brief interaction if they may be outgoing or a reserved child…Questions about their likes and dislikes get answered, as well…Will they be ready or apprehensive about their first grade experience…This first meeting with the child is just an indication…Not all children get to come, nor have a parent that comes to this event…And moreover, every child is different….A teacher must be flexible to “go with the flow”…
Teaching children from diversity, the preparation, and how I will provide the structure is essential…Room arrangement with displays with books, computers, literacy stations in writing, science, social studies, math, and ‘eye catching’ bulletin boards need to be part of this preparation to make the “room” a warm, fun “eye-catching”, safe place to learn…
Having a strong plan for behavior management that goes along with the school plan, must be flexible enough to meet the needs of the children, is essential for success…Every child is different, and how I would handle these particular issues in a positive and proactive plan needs to help facilitate the learning that may interfere with our learning and keep our classroom safe…
Successfully teaching first grade does take many hours to prepare..Much of this preparation is before the new year begins…My goal is to facilitate learning that will inspire my children to have a great year and a strong foundation in the curriculum…that will carry them on their journey; love school and learning….
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Teaching and Technology
Today teachers do need to be proficient in technology; demonstrating their expertise utilizing all that is necessary to teach children…
We have smartboards that have taken the place of the chalk board;white board…. We utilize the computer to communicate with teachers, administration, and even with parents through our webpages ..Lesson plans and grades are all required to be done on the computer where information can be shared….Children are required to learn math and reading skills on the many websites that are available on the computer…along with learning to access information for research on the computer …Keeping lists of websites and computer resources are a must for today’s teacher…
When I first began in 1972, all I had to be concerned with was a ditto machine and overhead projector…Even back then, I was not comfortable utilizing technology…And now, a teacher of today must be able to keep up with all the demands of technology…I have had to learn…
I was not a willing participant…I am a Baby Boomer, not savvy in this new technology…When I taught fifth grade, my students helped me boot the system up and access what was necessary back in the “nineties”…I was even known to take out a computer… destroy the Mother Board…My reputation on my faculty was that I needed to stay away from computers; I was quite dangerous…
I am proud to say with the turn of the century in this new millenium, I have learned how to become somewhat computer literate…I am not too proud to ask for help, and I have been determined to teach this “old dog a new trick”….As I have told my children many times: “Never Give Up”!
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Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 
