Category: Reflections

We love the month of February…We have so much to look forward to besides the stressors and rigors of curriculum and testing....

With my planning and organization, I do find creative ways to allow time for celebrating Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day through creative writing, reading ,and art… Might even utilize math activities, as well...

The children wrote a Valentine’s Day poem to their family, with illustrations; decorated Valentine’s bags, and brought in cards for their classmates that were to be done by themselves….We had a Valentine Social sharing our love and exchanging Valentines….

The children loved learning about our Presidents; George Washington and Abraham Lincoln…We learned about the history of our Flag….

We will celebrate this patriotic unit with a culminating activity for our parents; a patriotic program that will include songs that we learned in our music class….All our first graders will share in this exciting performance, and our wonderful music teacher directing…

Teaching should really be about making learning fun and interesting…. It really is so much more than tests and collecting data….

(more…)

February… a Busy Month…

Posted in Reflections

Celebrate…100 days!…

Posted on by Janis Sexton

Monday, February 3rd  will be our “100 days”  of the school year celebration… This is a milestone for us… On this special occasion, learning activities, especially in math will    commemorate this special milestone…

” What can we count using the magical number”100″?

“If you were given $100.00, how would you spend the money?”

At this time, first graders are realizing they can do  more learning becoming active in their learning; listening and following teacher directions; becoming more independent…I can read!

Now, we  are more than half way on the path to becoming a second grader!

Continue reading “Celebrate…100 days!…” →

Posted in Reflections

We Value Working Hard…

Posted on by Janis Sexton

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I have learned over the many years that I have taught, children who come from challenging homes, do have the same potential and capabilities as those of my students who are blessed with parents that have the time to support their child’s education…

Yet…this value of working hard must be taught and appreciated… As a teacher, I would have hoped to have all my children ready to learn and work hard….

However, many of today’s children living in these challenging homes, I have found, have a difficult time accepting and achieving this value…I believe it is because they have learned early in life from their role models, to give up when challenged or not even to try…

This is where my role as their advocate, teacher is there to love and understand their lives….The difference is, I will not enable their “learned helplessness”….I provide a safe, strong, hardworking classroom… I will be a strong role model….that values who they are…We will always try… “Never Giving Up”!

Posted in Reflections

Second Chances…

Posted on by Janis Sexton

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Many of my children come from homes without structure…Some may even come from neglect and chaos…I have always believed children are precious and innocent, hearts filled with love…

Yet, because of dire circumstance, some can exhibit instability and anger…
So much of my day is teaching my children how to operate safely, hoping to enable empowerment and inspiration….

What makes our teaching more challenging is the lack of funds in Public Education and Title I schools; our resources are fewer, however expectations are more demanding,

Now more than ever, funding is critical!!!

We must be able to teach with a smaller class size, to be able to provide more one to one help for our children from these unstructured home situations ….

And moreover, the benefit of having a well trained paraprofessional assigned to aid in those special demands of children who are in need of extra attention …

Our school does have a guidance counselor however, he or she is so tied up with RTI data and coordinating meetings….Because of this lack of funds, there is a need for more counselors who can give all those special children the benefit from a strong guidance counseling program…

However, they may fall through the cracks!…It is our hope to give each child their opportunity…to be a success…

Even as many teachers try with all their efforts, in spite of these challenges…

It is so heartbreaking that because of fewer resources and funding…We may not able to provide some of our children their chance… deserving that chance to become their best!!!

Posted in Reflections

Teaching Reading….

Posted on by Janis Sexton

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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...

Posted in Reflections

Our Classroom…

Posted on by Janis Sexton

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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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Posted in Reflections

Teaching and Technology

Posted on by Janis Sexton

Today teachers do need to be proficient in technology; demonstrating their expertise utilizing  all that is necessary to teach children… 

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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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