New York Recap

Well we're back. No thanks to the snowy weather in Chicago but we made it home alive and in time for Christmas so thank you Southwest, you continue to amaze me with your wonderful service and funny anecdotes over the loud speaker.

New York was a great trip! We did a lot of walking and looked at many pretty things. There were a few moments where I felt a meltdown coming on such as the times when we realized we walked four blocks in the wrong direction and the wind was stinging my face. Once we figured out how to get around things went much smoother.

Some highlights of our trip.

1. We saw Katie Holmes while shopping in J.Crew. The girl is tall and very nice, she was kind to those who stopped to ask her if she was indeed the Katie Holmes of the beloved Dawson's Creek tv sensation. Chris strongly discouraged me from taking a picture with my camera, which I now feel was a wise piece of advice, she did have two bodyguards with her and somehow I thought my photo session might put a damper on her J.Crew outing.

2. Slightly less exciting, but also a celeb sighting, was when Ann Curry (NBC's Today show) walked past me like we were BFF or something.

3. We saw a Broadway show, Spring Awakening. It's about a sexual awakening in Germany during the 1980s. Must see but not with your parents. Yes folks, this is not your Grandmother's musical. Wonderful songs. Chris and I have been singing the four lines we know from each of the songs over and over. We hope to someday soon actually acquire the music so that we can break free from our repetitive chorus.

4. We ate pizza three different occasions over our three day trip (you do the math). Thank you Ray's for providing a budget friendly piece of pizza and not trying to rip us off with bottled water. Note to self, when in NYC, order "tap water" and avoid the $4 bottle charge for some stinking filtered water.

5. Boots are a way of life in New York. Women have the cutest riding boots and I was uber jealous. Chris and I looked all over Soho for a reasonable pair of boots but had no luck. The new thing seems to be these Hunter boots. I know they look like these ugly old boots you might wear to go fishing but these things were all over New York and certainly any fashionista in the city must own a pair.

NYC or bust

Chris and I head to New York early tomorrow morning for a three day vacay. We'll be seeing Spring Awakening on Broadway and doing lots of window shopping!

Merry Christmas faithful readers! New York pictures to come.

The Jaeger's Little Apartment of Horrors

We have mice.

Let that sink in a moment. I have small animals sharing a home with me. Disgusting!

We've set some traps and these mice are taking the bait. The first time I was lucky and Chris was the only one home when he heard the "whack" from the trap closing in on it's prey. The result, one messy, headless mouse. After disposing of the body, Chris thought, maybe he should look behind the refrigerator where the other trap was set. Sure enough, the trap had successfully massacred another little mouse. We're talking blood all over the floor.

So today, on my snow day ,I called the leasing office to see if they could set some more traps. While I was out someone came by and placed the traps in the two places we'd had them before. I was nervous to come home, thinking maybe the mice were on to our plan and would lead a revolt the second I walked through the door.

I came home to a house where nothing seemed different. The note from the maintenance man said they'd indeed been by and set two traps. I forced myself to peek in the furnace closet to make sure that a mouse was not already trapped. Nothing. I'd been home a total of 15 minutes when I head a loud sound from behind the refrigerator, followed by a whimper and some scratching... oh sick, I knew that some little mouse was fighting for his little life. I could not bring myself to look so I just ignored the sound. I've been sitting in my apartment with the dead mouse behind the fridge for a few hours. When I heard maintenance shoveling the walk, I thought, this might be my chance to dispose of the rodent body. The maintenance man was very kind, he came right in, didn't flinch once and pulled the trap out from behind the fridge and carried on conversation with me while the lifeless body dangled off the trap.

Now I sit, waiting for the second "whack" to come. I can't help but feel a little bit like a cruel person, like we have own little apartment of horrors.

Really Columbia Public Schools? Really?

It's icy, I mean my parking lot looks like an ice rink. I knew last night that today was going to be a snow day. So when the alarm went off this morning at 5:15, I eagerly turned on my TV to get the final word. Nope, no Columbia Public Schools. I drug my feet to get in the shower, thinking maybe they were still deliberating and that any minute they'd call off school. By 5:40, school was still on. Begrudgingly, I get in the shower, get myself completely ready. I sat down to enjoy my morning coffee and do a little reading before I have to thaw out my car from it's position under a thick sheet of ice. At 6:05, Columbia finally calls of school. While I am grateful to have an unexpected day off from work, I am irritated that I now am fully dressed, bundled, and make-uped. Really CPS? Did it look like the ice was going to melt itself between 5:00 am and 6:00? Really? And who waits until 6:00 am when some bus routes start picking kids up at 6:20 am? Really. I mean couldn't you make that decision last night when the anchor was reporting an inch of ice? Really!

I shouldn't complain, I'm off and many of my friends will have to thaw out their vehicles and make their way down treacherous streets to get to work today. My plan for today, read a book, work out, read my book some more, send my students an e-mail about how they still need to work on their portfolios because they will still be due Thursday, no matter how many snow days we have. The life of a teacher has it's perks!

Prove it!

Christmas break is near.... two weeks and I've got to think, how can I engage my students and remind them that school work is important up to the last day before break. Note: I made this mistake last year. I had one week before break with with little plan on how we should spend that time. My students viewed my disconnected daily activities as optional and were instead, insanely hyper and difficult to manage for one week straight. Note to self, winter word search warm-up does not send the message that we mean business in class today!

So my plan this year, in order to avoid the before holiday high, is to create a project that will take them right up to that last day of break. We just finished a poetry study and I want them to reflect on all they've learned in the last month. There were four learning targets (or goals) and I am giving them a portfolio assignment on Monday. They must take each learning target, write an explanation of the target and their understanding as well as provide three artifacts from the unit that support their learning of the said target. Basically I am challenging them to prove to me what they've learned.

Now, I realize that is higher ordered thinking, the kind of thing that originally sends my concrete students into a tizzy but eventually, they'll begin to figure out how to communicate understanding. Projects are due the 18th, which gives me one day to bust out winter bingo or some other silly holiday activity. This time though, if you don't have your project turned in, you have to work on it while the other kids play and enjoy themselves. How's that for some natural consequence!? I can already hear some of them now, "That's not fair!" it will be an excellent opportunity for another real world, life lesson with Mrs. Jaeger. Choices have consequence, if you don't work, you don't get to play.

All in a Day's Work

As a reward for selling lots of magazines, we had a special performance at a school wide assembly. The Acrodunkers came all the way to Smithton to show off their impressive dunking skills as well as some hilarious dance moves. With the help of a small trampoline under the basket these three guys did some awesome stunts while dunking the ball. It was one of those moments where I wished someone could see how funny this job can be. The gym was steamy from all the bodies and there was music blaring and these players were dancing around the gym giving the kids intense looks.

The hilarious part was they forced several teachers to come out and compete in a dance off. In an effort to be overlooked, I pretended to be in conversation with another teacher, avoiding eye contact with the acrodunkers, hoping to fly under the radar. Sure enough though, my students were loud and persistent, "Mrs. Jaeger, put her in!" So I was one of four other teachers who were forced to humiliate ourselves for the sake of QSP orders. I will say that I won the dance off. My only regret: I did not bust out "hips on a string."

Check out my school website!

I am participating in EnTICE, this technology professional development program within my district. I've got a website that I've been working on.

Check out my class website with student work included:
service.columbia.k12.mo.us/sjaeger

On another note, November must be a hard month for educators. The tensions are high at school and people, myself included, seem stressed. The kids are ready for a break, I'm ready for a break. There are days were I dream about what it would be like to show up for work and just roll with the punches, deal with whatever comes across my desk as opposed to my role now as the director of my classroom. I prescribe almost every minute of my day. I never get to come to school and say, "you know, I've got nothing planned, lets just take it easy today."

I guess jobs like that might lack the creativity and mental engagement that my job demands. I would miss that, and I'd also miss the moments in your day where you just laugh because you're doing something absurd, or a kid is saying something ridiculous. Those moments are pretty priceless.

Birthoween

Chris and I celebrated my friend, Sarah's, birthday last night with a Birthoween party. Combining two great concepts, we had a blast and really loved some of the costumes our friends came up with!

From the Top:

Glenn- Oak Park is too irresistible, who wouldn't want to be an Oakie for Halloween?

Noelle as Juno, everyone's favorite pregnant teen.

Chris and I went as salt and pepper shakers.

Quinn, Katherine, Me, Amy, and Sarah

Katherine and Patrick- Another well done Juno reference.

Branden and Sarah- Christmas spirit

Homecoming... Belated

Chris and I scored some fantastic tickets to the Mizzou homecoming game last weekend. I had intentions of posting these several days ago but time has not been on my side lately!

Student Stress

I laughed out loud when I received this e-mail from a student. We have a BIG biography project due this Thursday and this student was having some issues getting his rough draft completed...


The subject line was: Oh no the biography project

Dear Mrs.Jaeger
Oh my god
this porject is too hard!
and I going to sleep late.
I think I cannot finish this.
Is that be good can i turns in to tuseday or somethig?
I means before Thursday.
Oh gees.
I am not gonna finish this.

He might be on to something for our upcoming poetry unit!

To my Wonderful Parents

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am sorry. I can only imagine how much self-control you must have had when I was a teenager not to reach across that table and shake me senseless. I'm sorry for every eye roll, sorry for every disrespectful word muttered under my breath. I'm sorry for the uncontrollable mood swings, and the fits of tears. I am sorry that I questioned your infinite wisdom and trusted my own that was so limited. I'm sorry for each time I talked to you like you were the stupidest people on the earth. Oh, the horror that must have been those teenage years! I am seeing the error of my ways as many of my students turn into teenagers before my very eyes. Bless you. Bless you, is all I have to say.

Love,
Sara

What is the World Coming to?

Now, I'm going to sound like my dad here, whom I love, I just never thought I would see this perspective.... I am worried about our future for America. Every great empire falls right? Well, I am wondering if our crash is not right around the corner! I don't mean to sound dramatic but I lost a lot of sleep last night thinking about all this. School has started off great, I think I mentioned that in an earlier post, but as time rolls on, I am worried about the attitudes and work ethic of my students.
They're writing editorials right now and I told them they could write about whatever suites their fancy, something they have deep passion for or really feel enraged about. Yesterday I went around to get their topics and probably half of my students were planning to write an editorial on shortening the school day, five months for summer, or banning homework. I know, I know, I'm not thirteen anymore and I'm sure at that age I would not be writing about how people should appreciate educators, or how privileged Americans are, or some other more noble and honest topic. I get that it's "uncool" to think school is a great and gracious privilege, paid for by they tax payers of America.
I wish my students could see a glimpse of what it's like for other thirteen year olds around the world. If they knew that school was not some inconvenience that "adults forced on children" in many other less developed countries. If they knew that kids in Africa couldn't afford to go to school because they had to make sure their family had water and their little siblings were looked after, or their parents couldn't scrounge up the money to buy them the supplies they needed, perhaps my students would view compulsory education as more of a gift.
For now though they groan when I assign them something to read as homework. Half will not even bother to do it so I'm not sure why they feel the need to put up a stink. Many tell me they want to play more games, have more rewards, take field trips. Perhaps these would be helpful solutions if I was trying to run a daycare, but I'm not, I'm attempting to prepare a reluctant group for the real world, to see themselves as empowered and to give a damn about something.
I looked online last night for articles, strategies, anything I could find to help me rid my room of the stink that is apathy. Not many solutions, just a few articles with teachers telling me what I already know, kids don't seem to care too much these days. One article did say that student apathy leads to teacher apathy and I refuse to let that happen. I will not rest until I can find a way to wake my students up from this dream I call entitlement and help them enter into the competitive and demanding world.
On a side note I did find some pretty hilarious posters about student apathy. They read:
"My gang will protect me."
"I won't need school when I'm a drug dealer."
"No worries, I'll just go on welfare."
Cynical I know, but funny to me at the time.
My current thought is that while my students draft their "anti-work, down with school" editorials I will draft an editorial of my own. Some topics I've been throwing around are: student entitlement, teachers have feelings too, and America, consistently outranked.

Love,
Disgruntled in Trailer B

An Important Reminder

So, I know I'm guilty of it, but I forget that my students have lives outside my classroom. Today was a great reminder that I am one small piece of their full and sometimes complicated lives. I sent a student out to the buddy room for shouting out and arguing with another student during class. She's secretly a favorite of mine, the kind who totally fights any kind of praise or recognition but later, privately shows you that she cares. Well, anyway, I send her out and she tells me she's glad to go and later I see her in ac lab. She mutters a "sorry I acted up, I didn't really want to leave class today," and throws a note on my desk. I open it and read:

"I got sent to the safe seat and then another student was laughing at me so I said shut up and was sent to the buddy room. I will just ignore that student next time. Also, I think I'm slipping because my dad and step mom are getting a divorce and I'm really upset about it. I'll try when I come to school to leave that behind and focus on my work. Sorry. I really am. "

Just wanted to hug her. One, for letting herself be vulnerable, and two, because divorce sucks and I can't imagine dealing with it while also balancing life when your hormones are off the charts. I guess my class is not always the biggest thing on my students' minds. It's good to remember that they have all kinds of baggage they bring in each day. Maybe some of them need a little slack every once in a while.

Seventh grade = so nice

Can I just tell you what a difference an extra year makes? You know as last year came to a close, I wondered if looping (the term for teaching the same set of students two years in a row) was all that great of an idea. I was at my wits end and the kids were bouncing off the walls in anticipation of summer. Then summer came and did what summers are supposed to do for the heart of a teacher, it healed me. It soothed the frustration, refreshed the vision, and gave me the energy and perspective I needed to keep going. I came back more alive than when I'd left.
My students, now seventh graders have grown up. They remember things from last year that I taught them. They can execute a seamless warm-up routine, they have progressed!!!
In addition to performing better, my students seem more interested in the curriculum, the world, me. I get student e-mails frequently with questions and comments and those chain mail forwards. When I told kids about the tap project they perked up with excitement. 50 kids signed up to be a part of this project. 50- that's half my students! I am excited to see what this year holds, I am eager to see the progression of the tap project at Smithton and hopefully Columbia. I am loving my seventh graders!

A Friday to Remember/ History in the Making

My students were using the wireless lab yesterday to research the presidential candidates to see if they could come up with the policies on four big issues of the election: Iraq, education, the energy crisis, and the economy. I sent them in pairs to the candidates' websites to see if they could find some clear cut plans and specifics about each man's stance. I realized that for many of them, they were unaware of many of the key issues of the election, some didn't even know we were still in Iraq. We had to explain the term "economy," and talk about what a free market meant. Overall though, I think they learned a great deal about the candidates. Many of them associate with a political party or a candidate but when asked why they'd vote that way, they can't give you many specific reasons. It sounds like a lot of American voters. That, or they pick based on one hot issue, like abortion, or Iraq, but really don't know much about the party's ideology.
So about halfway through the day, my students start asking about the presence of this Tina Fey looking woman on John McCain's website. I tell them I have no idea who she is and we keep moving forward. Well my fourth hour think she might be his new VP. At that point I hadn't heard that he's announced the VP so we went to MSNBC and watched the whole thing on a video feed. I can't explain how cool it was to be the one who first learns this knowledge with my students, to be able to get breaking news right there in the middle of class. We talked about what this meant for the campaign, why McCain might have chose a female running mate, and that this was definitely a historically significant event, and here we were in my wood paneled trailer, hearing the news together. Great teaching moment!
So in the middle of our great political discussion our school was placed on lock down. Lock down means someone is a physical threat either in the building or in the near vicinity. The protocol for lock down is to close the blinds, lock your doors and have the students huddled together in a corner, out of sight. I sort of shrugged it off as a drill and had the students move into place. As we sat there in the dark, waiting for the "all clear," I realized that this was not a scheduled drill. I didn' have it on my calendar and that's when I thought this might be for real. It truns out that a local bank had been robbed and the assailant had fled the scene somewhere near my school. We were taking precautions but this was a real lock down situation.
My students quickly grew restless since it was a two hour lock down period. They started talking and giggling and throwing paper. I asked them to quiet down and even made them silently read their books in an effort to keep them quiet. They seemed to take the whole situation as a joke, making comments like, "I'm too young to die!" After it was all said and done and we'd been given the okay to dismiss them to buses I held my class for a minute. In a stern yet calm voice I explained my disappointment about how they'd behaved and how they'd failed to follow my instructions. This is one of my favorite classes, it is packed with some of my favorite students but when you get them all together, I think the lines a blurred a little. I told them I felt greatly disrespected by them and that was hurtful. I also told them that if this had been a serious emergency, their behavior could have cost us our lives. I wasn't trying to be dramatic. I just wanted them to know that we're not just playing around. Sickos shoot up schools. Scary stuff happens, and if you can't listen to me when it's not a big deal, what happens when it really is? They left is total silence, a few apologized as the walked out the door. Good kids, that I love, but I still need them to treat me as the authority in the room.

A Great First Day and World Changin'

Well, I made it through the first day with flying colors. We made sure the kids had all the rules, handbooks, and pep talks they could take today. It was so good to see my students again from last year and to realize that all the hard work of relationships has already been done. I am excited for their seventh grade year and eager to see how they continue to grow. The boys voices deepened, they got taller and their shoulders broadened over the summer. The girls are all wearing make-up and curling their hair for school. It's fun to see the former tomboys turn into little women. I am also excited to work with a few of my students on the Tap Project, sponsored by Unicef. It was an idea one of my students had from an assignment I gave last year about how they might change the world. The Tap Project simply asks local restaurants to participate for a week in March by charging $1 for tap water in their restaurants. The money made for the water sold goes to the numerous countries that struggle to provide clean water. It's being done in about 15 cities and we want Columbia to join the ranks of generosity and advocacy. I'll let you know how things progress. I love that my students want to make a difference in this world.

Back to School

I'm including some pictures of the old classroom so you can get an idea of what it looks like. If you didn't already know, I am out in the trailers but I think I've made it look pretty homey. The key is covering up as much as you can of the wood paneling. Notice the hoops and yoyo influences. School starts next Thursday. Right now it feels like school just let out. I am ready to go back but it's amazing how fast summer goes by!

An Ode to Kathleen

So my friend Kathleen is preparing to move to Washington D.C. next week. In order to properly

say farewell, we all went to Addison's for a well made martini and some quality conversation. Kathleen will be missed in Columbia but I am excited for her new experiences in D.C. Oh, and Noelle cut her hair, isn't it fabulous? For more of Kathleen's quirky flare, visit her tumblr site : http://neonorangekeds.tumblr.com/

Workin' the Polls

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to serve at the August Primaries. I worked from 4:30 AM to 8:00 PM taking voter IDs and making sure that civilians were cleared for voting. Out of the whole day, our precinct only processed 174 voters. This made for a long and slow day. I did begin and finish a 300 page novel, Life as we Knew It, a depressing book about the end of the world. There are many rules to being an election judge but one thing that stuck me was the constant system of checks and balances. A Democrat and a Republican judge had to initial everything and witness everything. No one person could ever complete a task without a member of the opposite political party present.

I will be working on November 4th, which I've been told is predicted to be a record breaking election for voters. I guess I won't be finishing any books that day. In the meantime I plan to learn all I can about the issues so that I can make a most informed decision come November 4th!

A Littly DIY Project

I just finished a DIY project that took me all of one hour and $12. Here's a before and after shot.

Great Weekend Had By All

Chris and I went home to celebrate both of our Dads' birthdays. Friday night we had some tasty Mexican with my parents and Saturday we went to McCormick and Schmick's for dinner with Chris' parents and David. We love seeing our family in Kansas City. We also saw The Dark Knight, which was great. I'm not your big action fan and even I thought it was well done and had great character development. It made me want to check out Batman Begins. We love our family!

Just call him Doogie Howser M.D.

I apologize if you miss this cultural reference but my husband is a lot like Doogie Howser M.D. Chris got his board scores back and I am so proud. He did wonderful and feels relieved to have a score finally. A celebration is in order for my stinkin' smart husband!

I've got Mono

So I went to he doctor last week and I have mono. I feel fine and have actually been more energized than I felt in a while. I like to remind my husband that I have mono at the convenient times, such as when it's time to cook dinner, take the trash out, or move over and make room on the couch.

I earned my Masters!

I've finished the Fellows program! What an accomplishment!

WallE as social commentary?

We went to see the Disney Pixar movie WallE with some friends last night. I was not excited to see it because I have a stigma about animated films, but I eventually got over it. The movie was cute, they really made me love WallE and his robotic love, Eva. There was one point when WallE short circuited and I choked back a tear in fear his lovable personality was gone with his circuit board.

What I was not prepared for was the commentary on American life. While I agree with the writers of this film, I was surprised that I hadn't heard anything about the strong statements this films makes about American consumerism and consumption. I think this would be a great example to use with my students to discuss author agenda and purpose.

If you haven't seen the movie it's worth the time.

Proud to be an American

Chris and I went to the lake this weekend to enjoy some delicious grilled food and some wonderful company. We "coved out," spent some glorious time in the hot tub during the colder hours of the morning, and listened to some up and coming karaoke stars!

An Update from Summer School

I know you've all been holding your breath wondering if my crack down methods were making a difference at summer school. Well, I can honestly say that I am learning a world about classroom management from these little learners this summer. I've been getting some good advice from a teacher who has seen first hand the disarray that occurs in my room on a day to day basis.
The first "trick" he taught me was to not be such an enabler. So, like any good teacher (or so I thought), I'd immediately approach a student with their hand in the air to promptly answer their question so their learning could continue. It didn't occur to me that not only was I teaching the lesson with the whole class, but then I was running myself ragged trying to reteach it to each individual student who'd failed to listen when I modeled the skill the first time. By the end of the day I was exhausted and frustrated because I felt that no one was listening to me. And they weren't. They'd quickly realized that I'd come to their rescue when they had a question, so why listen when I show you how to use the mortgage calculator on the big screen?
The SPED teacher told me to explain it once. Then refuse to repeat the instructions. Now this might sound harsh and cruel and certainly counter-intuitive to a teacher, but when I asked the students to check with their neighbor, read the directions, or stop and think about their questions- they always figured out what they needed to do. So many middle school kiddos want you to stand over them and do the work for them, they love that one on one attention.
I have resigned my enabling hat and will continue to think twice before answering the call, "teacher lady, I don't know what to do!"
My students will be problem solvers!