Day 31: Math and Orientation

We handed out a worksheet of multiplication problems to the 4th grade today. They were mostly double by double problems and quite a few multiplying by 10's. I was surprised at how many students didn't understand why or how it worked. Every single student got 14 x 15 wrong. They didn't even know how to get started on how to solve it. For me, it was very frustrating. Especially since this is a skill normally learned in 3rd grade in the United States.

I have also realized that in my classroom I want it to be as student oriented as possible. I want the students to be able to help themselves as much as possible. If that means getting their own counters to help with a problem or finding a pencil. My students need to know where everything is and know when they can use things. 

I realized today when a student sat with her hand raised for 5 minutes just to get some dice, that I needed my students to be independent. The teacher said she could have got the dice herself, but the girl didn't know that. Every time previously she had had dice given to her. I want my students to learn independence. 

Day 6: Dislike, Picasso, Classroom, and P.E.

I have found something I truly do not like in Norwegian schools. There is not enough books. There are no classroom libraries, the school library contains one bookshelf. Every other Tuesday the Book Bus comes and the students can check books out from there. But I have not seen a single 4th grader with a book. I understand that America puts too much emphasis on reading and math, but I feel like Norway is not putting enough. There needs to be a happy balance.

I created a lesson plan for the Picasso head activity that I did a while ago. The lesson plan spans over 2-3 days and I have already started teaching it in 4th grade. It addresses the Utah Core Standards for 3rd grade, standard one, objective one. While I was planning after school I found out that the 5th grade doesn't have an art lesson for Thursday. I volunteered this lesson and shared it with two other teachers here. I did not realize how helpful it could be to have lesson plans already written up and ready to use and share.

I have thought about teacher desks before. Do teachers actually need a desk to keep all of their stuff? To an extent, my opinion is yes. But it does not have to be the main focus of the classroom. Here in Norway all of the teacher desks are in a common room. All planning takes place there and then teaching is done in the classroom. Most teachers have a small table to set their teaching book, but no "Teacher Desk."

The 5th graders got to go to the Book Bus today so I noticed a lot of books in the classroom. I was surprised to find that most of them were Diary of a Wimpy kid, or similar books. That is the same kind of books the 5th graders were reading in 5th grade in America. I think it is good that they are reading, but I wish they would read better books!

I got a picture of the classroom so you can see how small it is!

View from the back, and you can see the cool chairs I was talking about! 

View front he front. Their chairs balance on their desks. 

That is a large classroom in Valen school. That is not very big! 

I also got to go to P.E. today! Man that was fun and I learned some really cool games! When we walked into the gym today it looked like this:

The ladders on the wall are permanent fixtures. Other permanent fixtures include: climbing ropes, basketball hoops, and net posts. 

The first game I call:

Obstacle Course Tag!

Object of the game: don't get tagged. 

Rules of the game: you can't touch the floor, only one step in each hulahoo (in the middle of the floor), no hurting others.

How it works: One person is it, everyone else runs away. If you get tagged you have to go into the corner (upper left hand side) and jump rope 5 times, then you can go back to the course. 

Every few minutes the teacher chooses a new person to be it. 

We played to music today with was brilliant because the kids knew to listen when it turned off. 

Second game:

Flag Tag!

Object of the game: get as many tails as you can! 

Rules of the game: no shoving, no pulling on tail/flag/ tag around someone's neck

How it works: Each person as a flag (which is a loop of fabric or rope) and they stick it in their waistband. Everyone commences to run around trying to grab someone else's flag. When another flag is won that person puts it on like a necklace. If their flag is taken, they can use the necklace as a replacement. If a person has no flag at all, they can still grab someone else's and use it. 

Third game:

Toilet Tag!

Object of the game: Don't get tagged!

Rules of the Game: pull gently, don't hit

How it works: Same rules as generic tag, but when a person is tagged they have to "go to the bathroom". This means they squat down with their hand up. Someone can grab their hand and pull them "off of the toilet" and then they can run again. 

Today the person who was "it" was the teacher, and the students loved that!

Fourth game: 

(Yes, I know. "Four games? How did they fit that into 45 minutes?!"They didn't. P.E. was 2 hours!!!!)

Norwegian Base- Ball

Object of the game: get around the bases

Rules of the game: don't hurt anyone

How it works: There are four bases, home, first, second, third. All except for 6 people are line up to hit the ball. Five people are in the middle of the gym to catch the ball, and one to pitch the ball. When the batting team hits the ball they use their forearms, like in vollyball. If the ball is caught by the team in the middle, whoever caught the ball gets to switch places with whoever hit the ball. 

We did not play with a winner, but it could be changed that way if you wanted too. 

Seriously, Norwegian P.E. is the best! 

Day 2: Poco A Poco Se Anda Mucho

First faculty meeting of the year! The school police officer spoke to us about what we can call him for as well as when to report child abuse. (FYI: A teacher must report child abuse if their is physical evidence AND a statement from the child. If you have reasonable suspicion... that works too. DCFS for Logan, UT: 855-323-3237) That was very good information for me to have as well as all of the teachers there. 

The principal had us all meet with the different faculty which was very fun to meet so many different people! She also made us a little treat with the faculty theme for the year:

She also compared the school to mountain climbing. All mountain climbers have certain things to keep them safe. A harness, carabiners, shoes, and a belayer. Each one of these is similar to a person who helps the students learn and grow. The harness is like the specialists at the school who work with your students trying to make sure no one falls behind. The carabieners are the curriculum specialists who teach you how to use the different materials you are given so you can better give that information to your students. Climbing shoes are the resources available to the students like the library, other teachers, parents, friends. And last is the belayer who is the teacher. A belayer guides a climber up a rock face and holds their rope so they don't fall. The belayer can see paths that the rock climber cannot see and will shout it up to them. This is what a teacher does. 

What a wonderful analogy! I loved listening to that! On a sillier note, we were required to read through some updated district material, and we needed to read every slide. Each teacher took turns reading a slide. About half way through, and half the teachers were asleep, one decided to sing her entire slide to the tune of "Climb Every Mountain!" from the The Sound of Music. That woke everyone up pretty quickly. After that several other teachers either sang their parts or spoke with an accent. When it came to my turn, the accent I had wanted to do was already taken, so I spoke with a Russian accent. The entire room was rolling on the ground laughing. I was glad we had a way to make it interesting 

Religion in the Classroom

Everyone has some sort of religious belief, whether they are atheist, christian, muslin, Jewish, occult, or any other religion. There is some belief system for everything any one person does.
Yet in our classrooms we are supposed to keep our religious beliefs out of our teaching. We are taught to teach with a democratic approach.
On page 28 of this Kappan Magazine there is an article titled "When Missions Collide: Theological certainty and democratic education" I have an Introduction to Exceptional Learners course this semester and we read this article at the end of class.
I have always known that I want to try to integrate my religion into my teaching style, because I feel that my students will be able to learn from it. Though I have never wanted to dictate my students response to my feelings. I want them to take what I teach them, decide what will work for them, and then use it in their lives to make their own decisions.
In the beginning of the mentioned article Jackie wouldn't participate in a discussion because it challenged her belief. Ms Jennifer Hauver James commented "I was, however, disappointed. I saw her withdrawal as a missed opportunity for Jackie to share her opinion with others, to experience democratic  dialogue, and to develop respect and tolerance for diverse points of view."
There are 3 examples of students in this article who voice their opinions, but are not willing to see them challenged or to defend them against those challenges.
I have a friend who frequently challenges what I think I know to be true. But his simple comments spark my brain into action and require me to think of things I had not thought of before that can either change or set my belief deeper into my soul.
Ms James brings up the questions "What might we learn from exploring different understandings of an individual's responsibility and freedom to act in the world? How might history help shed light on the issue? how might exploring these different perspectives deepen our own?"
When we allow others to scrutinize the details of our belief and help us to broad our horizons and see more of the big picture, either our belief will be uprooted and we will know that it was a fragile one to begin with; or that belief will be pounded into our foundation even more than it already was.
Why should their be fear from speculation when it will help you in every way? To get rid of improper beliefs or to strengthen them.
So how can we keep our beliefs, strengthen them or toss them away, but also teach our students to gain opinions and testimonies of things they know to be true? How can we teach our students to question things until they find the truth, to talk things over and to help others figure things out?
We model for them.
Just like the fashion models of Paris, we must put on a new set of clothing and show our students how to really wear it.
Put on the t-shirt of democracy and show your students how to respect others opinions, defend your own and come to the knowledge that though "I dissaprove of what you say, [I] will defend to the death your right to say it."