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Miss Hayes and her Grade 2's

Classroom stories about my little critters in Grade 2 in South Africa

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The worst parent meeting EVER!!

Yesterday was perhaps the worst parent meeting I have ever had in my short 3 years of teaching.

I'd like a complete outsiders look into this from you to let me know "Was I wrong?"

Last week after break/recess time, a little girl complained of a little boy kicking and pinching her at break time.  I took both children at seperate times to question the incidence.  The little girl gave me a long story of what happened.  The little boy said nothing, so I assumed he was the cause and the story was true.  Told both children if they can't play nice, then they should not play together at all.  A little while later 2 kids in the class complained of the same little boy teasing them and taking there stationery so I told him to stop and it's not a game if the other person doesn't like it.  Again, after the kids had had sport time, a little boy from another class complained about the same boy fighting.  I had heard this little boy's name now on 4 different occasions and felt a letter home would do the trick.  I wrote a letter home informing the parents briefly of the incidences and asked if they could have a little chat with him regarding his behaviour.  Thats it, no funny business, just a chat.

The next day the mom approached me and said I dealt with the issue wrongly and blamed her son without being fair and giving the other children a bad news letter.  I told her, each little incident was small, so it was not to give the other children a letter as none of the incidences were really that serious, but because it was more than one child who complained about her son, I gave him a letter home.  She told me he had bruises from when the little girl had actually kicked him and that I should have a look.  She said lets forget it, leave it and that I must ignore the rude letter that her husband had left for me in his homework book. 

When I had a look in the homework book, the letter was extremely rude telling me I am a very unfair teacher and that we need to discuss it face to face.  I left a very short response, because the mom had said to leave it, but I felt just to confirm a little bit that I was not unfair, I wrote: "I understand your son is not the only one involved and have spoken to all the children regarding the matter.  He is an instigator in most of the cases and it needs to be dealt with."

Boy oh boy will I never use the word instigate ever ever again.  The next day I received a letter back that had also been "forwarded" to his lawyer.  It stated that I am the most incompetent teacher he had ever known and I do not exercise fairness at all.  If it need be, he will take this further and sue me for calling his son an instigator.  I'm also a terrible person for not checking the bruise on his leg from where he was kicked.  He said we need to have a meeting where he can blow off steam and deal with the matter.  I agreed to the meeting.

I never checked the bruise because all boys have bruises on their legs and how can I just assume it came from the little girl who never gives any trouble in class.  He could have got the bruise anywhere.  Was I wrong in not looking at the bruise?  I really didn't think it necessary because it was not such a big deal and by the end of that day, the two were buddies again.

Anyway, so I'm deeply hurt by this letter and I take it first to my HOD (Head of Dept) and then the principal.  Both agreed I was not wrong in any of my wording in the letter.  The HOD agreed to sit in in the meeting and principal said if it's not resolved in the meeting, he will take the matter over.

Okay, so meeting day arrives and the father walks in with hardly a grunt of a greeting.  He says let the wife do all the talking otherwise he will blow his top.  The mother explained that i was wrong in replying back after she had said ignore it and that "instigator" was very harsh and rude to call her son that.  The dad couldn't hold it in any longer and blew his top.  He stood up, wagging his finger in my face, shouting the odds at me.  He said he had called the Education Dept and his lawyers and what I said was completely wrong and that he could take it further.  I'm not fit to be his son's teacher and I'm useless.  The mom was shouting for him to calm down.  He exclaimed that he is a very serious person and when it comes to his kids he will go to the highest places to resolve the matter when he knows he is right.  He even threatened to take it on to the radio to give the school a bad name.  My HOD stood up and said to him to please stop talking as she will not have him talk to a teacher like that and that she is goin to call the principal as it is evident we will not resolve it.  He calmed down and said it was not necessary.  By the end of the meeting he had calmed down a bit more and then said.  He will keep his son in my class if I can prove I am a fair person.  Frankly I would actually prefer his son to be moved so I don't have to deal with that father again.

Please tell me, was I wrong in replying a very short response and calling his son an instigator in situations after the mom said leave the letter? 

I have always dealt fairly in child conflict and many parents in the previous 2 years have commented on my fairness.  He made me feel like the worst teacher ever.  I just hope I don't have to deal with that ever again.  I'm never using the word "instigator" ever again.

Regards,

Jenna (the most unfair teacher ever) from South Africa.

Assembly idea on teaching respect for one's property?

Good day all,

I'm desperately looking for an idea for assembly to teach the respect for oneself and other's property.

I'm looking at a whole class activity to teach the rest of the prep school (6 - 12 year olds).  My class are Grade 2's and I want to involve them all in the assembly.

Please help me out to find something creative like a story, skit or poem.

Any ideas??

Regards,


Jenna.

Literacy Week

Last week our school had Literacy week.  For 20 min every day at exactly the same time each day for the week, each class had to read a story.  We also had the company "Hooked on Books" do a skit for our Foundation Phase learners.  They present skits of a couple of new books on the market to motivate children to read.  The only downfall of this, is that these books are very expensive and most of the children in my school can't afford it.  The school will have to order them.  They absolutely loved it.

At the end of the week, the children got to dress up as their favourite character from their favourite book.  This was great excitement and fun.  They loved it.  I had Mulan, Liewe Heksie (an Afrikaans fairy-tale character about a good little witch), Spiderman (I guess it could pass as a comic book character), Captain Hook and many others.  We had lots of fun.

Hope you can use this one day.

Pyjama Day!!

On Friday, we had our annual pyjama day for our foundation phase children.  This is always a huge hit.  They love the idea of wearing their pj's and they are even more surprised of the fact that teachers also actually own pj's.  This is our Foundation Phase fundraiser.  The children pay a fee and get to watch dvd's, wear their pj's with a blanket and soft toy as well as get hot choc and marshmallows as dessert.  They were looking forward to this event for weeks. 

Here are some pics of our fun day...

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Kevin and Vanessa "sleeping"

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Shh, don't wake Erin.

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My critters and I

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I'm on the right.

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Watching a DVD in the hall.

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Blankets anyone?

I hope you enjoyed the photos of our stylish pyjama day!

Why God made moms

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

 

Since it's Mothers Day on Sunday, I found and old email about what grade 2's think of their moms.  I decided to give it to my class and this is what they came up with...

 

Why did God make mothers?

To have babies to grow up like Him – Warren

Because every baby needs a mom – Melusi

For birth – Kevin

 

How did God make mothers?

God is magic, he can make anything – Melusi

 

What ingredients are mothers made of ?

She is made of juice – Neve

First she is made of bones, then meat, then skin – Mila

 

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

Because another mom will be your step mom and other moms will yell all the time – Vanessa

Because my mom is the best mom – Neve

 

What kind of little girl was your mom?

I don’t know, I wasn’t alive – Kyle

 

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

Name, age, home, surname and birthday – Mncedisi

His secrets – Mikayla

If he doesn’t have a girlfriend and if he doesn’t swear – Danielle

She wanted to know if daddy was a good boy – Pulana

My mom needed to know if he went to church – Micaela

 

Why did your mom marry your dad?

Because they were engaged – Bongi

Because my dad’s sister told my mom that he was a nice guy – Saudique

Because she was proud of him – Pulana

Because he was handsome – Micaela

 

What's the difference between moms & dads?

Mom’s have hair and dad’s don’t – Mncedisi

The mom is not a dad and the dad is not a mom – Aneeqah

Mom’s are cute, dad’s are strong – Mumbi

 

 Since it's mothers day on Sunday, I found an old email about what grade 2's think of their moms and decided to ask my class the same questions.  This is what they came up with..

What does your mom do in her spare time?

Sleep – Mumbi

Nothing but cook – Saudique

 

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

Make-up, a nice dress, heels and earrings – Mncedisi

A long time – Neve

About ten hours – Mila

Nothing, she is already perfect – Micaela

 

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

I’d put make-up on her – Mncedisi

I would like to change her hair – Pulana

To never be angry at me – Micaela

To ask or not to ask...

After school today we had a presentation by an educational company of educational books.  The representative informed us that when teaching a new concept, we should never ask the children if they know anything about the topic before we have taught it.  She explained that this creates the children's thinking that their teachers don't really know what is going on and are asking the kids to inform the teachers.

BUT...

When I was studying, our lecturers always told us that even when it is a new concept or whenever, whatever, however we should always ask the children if they know anything about the topic, what they know about the topic etc. so as to find out where their level is and to create interest in the topic to be thought.

WHICH ONE IS CORRECT?

I am of the opinion that to ask questions constantly arouses creative thinking and generates interest, but now I'm not sure because of this opposing thought that the kids may think I know nothing and that is why I am asking them.

???

More of Kids can be cute...

I forgot to add another cute thing that happened today...

We are currently learning about 3D shapes in Grade Two.  I drew a triangular prism on the board and asked the children if they knew what that shape is called.  One of the answers that was returned was, "It's called a Toblerone."  The discussion was then suddenly diverted to chocolate shapes.

Kids can be so cute!

Just a quick little cutie that happened today...

Because I come from South Africa, obviously we have many black children in our class.  Some of the names can be very hard to pronounce for white people.

I have a little black girl in my class named Qaqamba (pronounced - Kwakwamba).  She was disturbing a little white boy named Kevin with her humming.  Kevin came to complain.  "Ma'am, please can you tell c...cwa...um...how do you say it...uh...cu...ca please can you tell Cucumber to stop humming."  It was hard to keep a straight face, but it was so darn cute.

The In's and Out's of Letterland if you please...

After school today, the foundation teachers had a workshop presented by Letterland.  It seems all very wonderful to work with.  In fact, I remember being taught with Letterland in Grade 1 and 2 and I will never forget Clever Cat and all his friends.  What I'd like to know is, do many schools out there work with Letterland as a way of teaching phonics?  I'm not sure whether it originates from America or the U.K.  What do you think of the programme and are there any negative opinons about the programme?  I have only heard positive things about them.  Our school is looking at introducing it from next year.  At the moment, we aren't following a particular programme which is rather quite sad, so I'll be happy to adopt that.  We have also looked at Jolly Phonics.

Yay, back at school is great!

It was my first day back of the new term and what an excellent day it was.  It was so nice to see my class again and the day was an endless day of excitement and chatter about the holidays.  Going to the sea, jumping in the waves, being chased by a shark??? Okay, I'm glad I wasn't there...hehe, visiting granny and grandpa, seeing cousins, playing at friends, playstation was a highlight although all who played quickly informed me that they not only did this.  My class knows, that when weekend and holiday time comes, Miss Hayes always reminds them that it is far better to play outside than with playstation, xbox and computer games.  All in all most had a good holiday and enjoyed sharing their news with me.  Although, some of the poorer children felt almost ashamed to tell me they stayed home all holiday while mom and dad worked and bigger brother or sister looked after them.  When asked what did you do at home for the holiday, one little boy told me he drew pictures and pretended he was watching TV because he doesn't have one.  I informed him that to have such a creative imagination is better than any TV show.  He smiled at me, satisfied.

The morning started with our school assembly which happens every Monday.  We then went back to class and spoke about our holidays and then wrote what we did in the holidays.  The chlidren then went to computers which they enjoy so much.  They came back and continued with their news stories.  After break time, the children learnt their new spelling words and put them into sentences.  We are doing "ch" words this week.  After this they practised their bonds of 15 and played games on the mat once they were finished with all their work.  During this time I listened to their reading.  At the end of the day we had story time.  It's funny how much quicker the day goes now that I'm not on holiday anymore. 

After I had finished my admin, I joined another teacher for a run on the field.  Man oh man, the children thought it was hilarious to see teachers running.  It was quite embarrassing and I'm not sure if my face was red from heat and exhaustion or from embarrassment.  We even had some Grade 1's and 2's cheering for us each time we passed them with shouts like "You can do it Ma'm", "You look so cool running Ma'm"....hehe.  It was rather cute.

Getting Ready for Term 2.

I've got a few more days of holiday left and I'm savouring what I can of it.  Although I'm quite excited to get back, the thought of waking up early again, especially going into winter now, is not so great.  But, I guess we all have to do it. 

I have started to prepare myself and have planned my term.  I try to be organised so I know exactly what I'm doing each day of the whole term.  It's going to be quite an exciting term.  Our themes this term are Birds and Communication.  The Children have to design their own birdfeeder as a project which is always a lot of fun.  We then hang the feeders from the big oak tree outside my classroom and observe birds for a few weeks.  I can't wait for that. 

In Numeracy this term, the children are going to learn about 3D shapes and their characteristics, how to read time on a digital and analogue clock and addition & Subtraction in TU form.  We will also be doing bonds from 15 to 20 and every day counting in 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's.

In Literacy, the children will learn about rhyming words and will write their own rhymes.  We will also be looking at a number of poems.  The children will also have to identify verbs and nouns in poems, act out poems etc.  We will be discussing the simple punctuation marks (. , ! ?) and when to use them etc. They will be using these punctuation marks during comprehension tasks and creative tasks.  We will be talking bout different emotions, writing in dialogue form and creative writing about birds.  We will also introduce them to adjectives.

In Life Skills and Technology, we will be observing different birds, their feet, their beaks, their feathers, their food etc.  The children will also learn about how adult birds care for their young and will observe birds in their gardens as well as at school.  They then have to design their own birdfeeder.  They need to discuss ways of making it durable, what material to use, design the birdfeeder on paper in class and make it at home with their parents assistance.  In class, they will then explain how they made the birdfeeder, why it will work as a good feeder and what type of bird it is for (insect eater/fruit eater/seed eater).  They then evaluate themselves and the class evaluates the birdfeeder using a simple rubric.  The class then gets given a turn to ask questions.  (This usually takes a few days to get through).  It is amazing to see the creative thinking and analysing of the learners during question time.  We should never underestimate the power of the mind of a child.

Speak to you soon in a couple of days when I'm back at school (14 April)

My first post.

Hi all. 

It is my first post on my blog.  So I would just like to say hi to all who read my posts.  I will provide interesting stories that happen at my school as well as any interesting ideas to teach in the junior grades.  I hope you will enjoy reading my posts. 

At the moment, South African public schools are on holiday for 3 weeks.  It is our middle week off and go back on the 14th of April.  So far, in my holidays, I have purchased a new mat for my classroom so I can't wait to start school again without the raggy old one.  My kids are also going to be so excited.  I have also bought a cute height chart to put on the door to introduce the critters to measurement. 

I have 28 children in my class of mixed races.  The majority are black.  I have a few coloured children, 2 Indian, 1 Pakistany and 4 white children.  Regardless of the wide range of cultures and races, I have a wonderful class.  We all get on very well and I am so glad the personalities of the children are well matched with me.  I am having a fantastic year with this class.

I will try to keep up to date with my posts and I hope I will receive comments from some of you.

Later All

Big Smile