Life in a Crowded Place

If I am completely honest with myself, I will admit that this past year was not my most successful year in terms of building a community of learners.  There were many things that I typically include in my classroom that seemed to disappear from my toolbox.  Blame it on switching schools, or switching grades, or moving across the country.  Whatever it was, I was not at my best.  I am determined to change that this year.

About three years ago, one of my mentors in Arizona gave me a book called Life in a Crowded Place by Ralph Peterson.  I read about half-way through, and then the year started and it was left on the book shelf (as so many books are).  I picked this book up again yesterday and began to read.  Many people would consider the ideas that he suggests as "fluff" or that it buys into that touchy-feely type of teaching (which typically caters more to elementary teachers).  My initial reaction was exactly this, and I was hesitant to take it seriously, especially for junior high.  However, my mentor was a junior high teacher and she recommended it, so I had to at least try.  Boy was I wrong.  I am a firm believer that good teaching practices can be applied universally, with a few modifications obviously.  Consequently, I truly believe this book is applicable regardless of the grade level.  The focus is on human survival in a community.  What kinds of things do we as human beings do in order to be successful in a community environment?  What types of things are unique to each culture, and yet strangely similar world-wide?  What makes us successful when trying to survive in a "crowded place?"  These are the things that he studies in depth, and then applies to a classroom environment.

My favorite part so far is his opening paragraph:
Life in classrooms is an intense social experience.  For six hours a day, week after week, month after month, one teacher and anywhere from twenty-two to thirty-four students (sometimes more) live together in a space the size of a large living room.  The older the students, the larger the furniture, the tighter the space. 

Ain't that the truth. 

In the first section of the book he focuses on creating a caring place within the classroom in order to create a successful intense social experience.  Some of the things he discusses are to include, ceremony, ritual, rite, celebrations, conversations, play, routines, jobs and residencies.  I have only made it through this section, but have already been reminded of so many things I did not include in my classroom.  For example, using ceremony in the classroom for small things such as opening the day.  These ceremonies can be anything from a read aloud to a class meeting to a song or dance.  Now, as a junior high teacher, I would find it nearly impossible to open  my day up with a dance if I wanted to be taken seriously at all (a kindergarten teacher on the other hand . . . ).  However, a short read aloud may be just enough to get them focused on the tasks at hand for the day.  I am also contemplating the idea of a 10 minute class meeting that includes some of the following:

• Outline for the day
• School or community announcements
• Acknowledging and appreciating someone at home or in the class
• Goal-setting

My only concern is time (per usual).  With two classes, should I incorporate this into both, along with an end of the day routine?  I feel that it would definitely increase the buy-in from my students, as well as build community.  But I've tried this before and I ALWAYS run out of time.  I am going to continue reading and developing some of these ideas before next week.  I hope the end of the book is as helpful as the beginning!

School supply shopping!

I have decided that a large percentage of the reason most of us became teachers is due to our obsession with school supplies.  For me, today was one of the few days that I let the animal out of the cage and just went shopping.  I sat down this morning and decided that if I only have one week left of summer vacation, and will be spending most of that time up north, I had better make the most of today and find the best deals.  So, I made a spreadsheet.  Yes friends, I made a spreadsheet.  I looked up the sales at Target, Office Max and Staples and compared all three with the things I needed to purchase.  (Just a quick side note, I have not found ANYTHING useful at Office Max in the past few years.  How Staples has a 15% of School Supplies card that cost me $7.00 and I can use it every time I go in from now until the middle of September! are they still open?)  Then, I went shopping.

As usual, I had to be careful at Target because I can easily walk out of there with $200 worth of stuff(as I'm sure most of us could), but I had a list, and I stuck to it.  The purchases included:

• $.99 for 6 glue sticks

• $.99 for packages of big markers

• $.99 for packages of 8 bic mechanical pencils (I sell them in class to those 8th graders that have forgotten their writing utensils.  Proceeds go to class parties.)
• $.99 for 12-pack of colored pencils
• $.49 for personal size pencil sharpeners

Now, I realize that if I waited I would be able to find better deals, however, I start back to school in 9 more days (Aaaahhhhh!  Where did my summer go???), and would like to get some of this taken care of now.

Then on to Staples where I found the greatest discovery yet!  Staples has a 15% of school supplies card that cost me $7.00 AND I can use it every time I go in from now until the middle of September!  Just my purchases today covered the price of the card.  Genius.  Simply Genius.  Somebody's finally thinking up there.  I didn't get as much of the little stuff at Staples, but they did have 5-packs of highlighters for $.50 (limit 4).  I may go back tomorrow and get four more packs.  I did however get some larger things that I am going to use to reorganize my room.

This morning I spent some time reading through Teaching in Room 6 and really liked some of her ideas for organizing.  Specifically having an Organization Center that has everything the kids need, all in one place.  I've noticed that when I try to designate different areas of the room for different things, they forget what goes where.  I'm going to try putting everything in one spot this year and see how things go.

Happy school supply shopping friends!