'Twas The Teachers Night Before Christmas

Author Unknown

'Twas the days before Christmas,
And all through the school,
The teachers were trying
To just keep their cool.

The hallways were hung
With Christmas art
(Some made in November
to get a head start!)

The children were bouncing
Off ceilings and walls,
And seemed to forget
How to walk in the halls.

When out of the teacher's lounge
With "holiday shirts"
And "jingle bell jewels,"
The teachers looked festive
Enforcing the rules.

Suddenly, from down the hallway
There came such a chatter,
The principal went in
To see what was the matter.

The teachers were hiding
And trying to refuel,
On coffee and cookies
And treats from the Yule.

When what to their wondering
Ears do they hear,
But the ringing of school bells
- It's the children they fear!

More rapid than reindeer
The little ones came,
And the teachers all shouted
And called them by name;

Walk, Vincent! Walk, Tanner!
Walk, Tyler and Sammy!
Sit, Jamie! Sit, Laura!
Sit, Tara and Tammy!

To your desks in the room!
To your spots in the line!
Now walk to them! Walk to them!
No running this time!

So straight to their places
The children all went.
With fear of detention
Where they could be sent.

With manuals of lessons
Cradled in arms,
The teachers began
To use all their charms.

But the lessons presented
All fell on deaf ears.
The children were thinking
Of Santa's reindeer!

With a toss of their hands
They put manuals aside,
Went straight to the cupboards
Where videos hide.

And laying their finger
On the TV remote
They sat back to write
Their last Christmas note.

But you could hear them exclaim
At the end of the day -
Have a wonderful, happy and
L-O-O-O-O-O-NG HOLIDAY!!!

RACHEL'S CHALLENGE ELEMENTARY

Odopod

Very cool tool for creativity can be found at http://sketch.odopod.com/
My first drawing can be found at:
http://sketch.odopod.com/sketches/123782

LDMS Rachel's Challenge GOALS

RCR Photo Highlights

I put together two photo groups from the first two trips to Rockin'C Ranch.
Trip One
http://animoto.com/play/USXtXkNFj7hO4ok0WgNsQA
Trip Two
http://animoto.com/play/WBMDBuWTfVWblZ5eaBg21Q

ANIMOTO is a fantastic service!

Busy

The LDMS campus is like a busy buzzing beehive of activity! The 6th grade Falcon camp was very well attended and the kids seem eager to become middle schoolers. Plans for Rockin' C Ranch are rolling along. We are going to hit the ground running this year!

Hmmm

Isn't it interesting that these are the good ol' days we will long for in the future?

Student Impact!

Labor Day Weekend, a couple of years ago, (Sunday Morning) 4:30 AM

Monique hears a BOOM that she thinks is a gunshot.

So of course its my job to figure out who is shooting at us!

Then there is a knock on the door. A neighbor says to me, "Hurry they are trying to drive off." I look outside and my van has been pushed about 12 feet forward from where I parked it on the street, almost taking out my mailbox.

I know it’s not a good idea to park on the street. The same kind of thing happened to my neighbor’s car 6 years earlier. But, I got a warning for my "bumper" being over a part of the sidewalk. Never mind all my neighbors cars that I have to jog around at 5:30 in the morning when I am jogging because they are "completely" blocking the sidewalk. That's another story altogether (hey but I'm not bitter.)

I stumble out into the darkness and see two kids staggering around their mustang in the dark picking up pieces of their car. They are trying to gather the evidence and run off before the police come. I started to get angry of the idea that my van had been hit so hard it was pushed 12 feet forward and over the curb. One looks up and I realize he is one of my former studenst! My mood went from anger to concern as I saw blood running down his forehead.

He says "Oh man Mr. Cromis, its you! This isn't your van is it?"

I said, "Well it was, are you ok?"

I then called 911 and every Corinth Cop shows up to my house (that is three by the way at that time of the morning) and the EMTs. They did a field sobriety test on both the kids. I didn't teach the other kid but we knew each other.

Well the cops eventually left the kids on the curb and towed their car away (they did not want to go to the hospital, avoiding a blood test maybe?) I offered the kids a ride. They said they were staying less than a block from me and they really were not in a hurry to explain what happened. It turned out the car belonged to his girlfriend's (the mother of his baby I might add) sister. The next day the true owner of the car turned out to be the girl’s mom. Who had not claimed any of these 20 something aged kids as drivers. She came to our house to try to persuade us to file under our insurance because the driver was homeless and unemployed. I said poor choice letting him drive and filed it under their insurance.

The accident totaled both cars.

Two weeks later I am driving a used minivan compliments of my former student’s girlfriend's mother’s insurance company.

Now that's student impact!

My first day as a classroom teacher...

My first year of teaching was very interesting:

Before my first day of teaching I could not get any sleep (I still get a little excited the day before school starts.) It was so exciting, that I would finally get my own classes after working so long! I was also nervous because I did not have any class roll sheets yet. I got to the school early that morning eager to look in my box for my roll sheets. There was nothing in my box! So I asked around and the veteran teachers did not know where their roll sheets were either. Eventually, the front office did an all call. “Teachers please come to the library for a meeting, NOW!” Well it turns out that we had a first year counselor and an experienced counselor. The experienced counselor had some kind of break down and quit her job, with the schedules undone! The new counselor was lost and had been struggling to put the kids into the system and get schedules all weekend long. So what they decided to do was divide up the alphabet and have teacher what overt the kids until the schedules were finished, printed and delivered to the students.

I was a little disappointed! This was really going to interfere with my wonderful lesson plans. And what exactly to you do with a group of strange kids that are not even going to be in your class? Well the plan was to go over general school rules and the student handbook. It sounded like a good plan.

The bell rang and the kids showed up in my room about 36 or so total strangers frustrated and angry (like the teachers) at the situation we were in. I took roll and began my discussion of the handbook and school rules.

That took about 20 minutes.

Then we sat.

We sat and sat some more.

Waiting for news on our schedules.

It seemed like it took all day to get those schedules done. But it really was not as bad as it seemed, it actually only took two and a half-hours.

I learned a great deal more than I ever wanted to know about the habits, customs and nocturnal activities of the students at that school. I also learned the importance of having emergency backup plans and activities because you never know when things are going to happen to mess up your day.

Our psychology teacher became the new second counselor on our campus. She was a big help once the year got going. I talked with both of them a few summers ago at a conference. They are still there trying to keep the lid on that crazy place.

Keep smiling

Helping a student get through school…

Many years ago the early 90's, I had this senior High School student; we will call him Chris that really loved to avoid work at school. He would try to come in tardy, not do class work and be a general disruption to the educational setting. He and I had regular chats about his behavior and eventually he would get to work. I made an attempt every time I saw Chris in the hall to say hello and get to know him better. He slowly began to arrive earlier and work more diligently for me. My classroom was not the only place that Chris had been less than successful. His other teachers asked me how I got him to work. I shared my plan. Over time he became a good student, not stellar student but not a classroom nightmare.

Well second semester Chris informed me that he was moving to the Colony. It was with mixed emotions that I said goodbye to Chris. A few weeks later Chris comes walking into my classroom in the middle of the day. I said, “Chris I am glad you moved back!” He said, “Oh I didn’t move back Mr. Cromis I’m skipping school. I really don’t like it in the Colony. You can skip, not turn in your work and sleep and nobody will say anything to you. They just don’t care about me over there!”

Chris and I had a long meeting out in the hall. I let him know that I cared and expected him to be much more successful than he was and to get his butt back to school. I told him to visit with me and let me know how he was doing. For years Chris would come visit and catch me up on his life even after graduating form the high school.


The funny thing is all he wanted was someone to care.
Does he remind you of one of your students?

Institutional vs. de-institutional

Creating a positive culture for the kids within the institutional structure of a school building is challenging at times. In an effort to "de-institutionalize" the building we are conducting some painting projects in the building. We started last summer with a falcon head added to the LMC.



This summer the obligatory "Falcon Pride" in several places along with some inspirational quotes aimed at the kids. So far added to the 8th grade wing:

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Losers have excuses. Winners have results.

Next I'll be moving to the 7th grade & 6th grade wings...

SUCCESS

"The road to success is always under construction."

Summer is a time to re-tool and prepare

for a new year and better achievements.

TIER II

TIER II thus far has given many students the opportunity to be successful. I could not be more pleased with the investment in kids!

"The road to success is always under construction."

For Educators: Something to Think About!

Summer is almost here so it is a busy time of year...

"Work patiently

for improvement

with an eye on your vision."

Think Again...

Everyone is unique and has value.

Think

"Man's mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions"

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Math Motivation Tied to Technology!

This is a great example of how to use technology to help motivate your kids to want to improve basic skills! BEST THING ITS FREE!
UNFORTUNATELY IT IS ALREADY CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR BUT LOOK FOR IT NEXT YEAR.
The link is: http://www.worldmathday.com/

Quote that got my attention today

"Everyone wants progress or change as long as no one has to do anything different."

From: For Educators: Something To Think About!

Spring Break & Choice

This time of year is always so much fun in a school.

It's kind of like watching your favorite TV show and all of the sudden a technical difficulty screen pops up, boom now what?

The kids are distracted by so much going on. We endevour to get them to do the right things but ultimately the kids have the choice to be successful or not. Tough reality. Sometimes we do all we can and kids continue to make one bad choice after another!
Our job as educators is to continue to present them with choices while guiding and encouraging them to make the better decision.
Rest up this week off!

How do I cut my time on the web?

So now you are becoming a "plugged in" teacher.

You are finding numerous websites and Blogs that challenge and build your skill set. But, you are spending too much time checking each site in your favorites list for the "latest" news.

• There is an easier way!
• Watch this video on RSS feeds and see if it doesn't change your life!
  
  

This four minute video will make you think about your role as an educator!

3 C'S Connection Competence and Control

A fine educator sent me this article and it helped me re-frame my thoughts.
Thanks Cheryl

The three Cs.

Students need connection, competence, and control to be successful?

Read the article linked below and see if you do not agree.

http://www.insidetheschool.com/motivating-unmotivated-students-why-your-students-aren%e2%80%99t-motivated-and-how-to-help-them-care

I believe that the three C's are critical to success with kids that are struggling.

What's a Blog? Here is a video embedded from Teacher Tube

CHANGE

"All meaningful and lasting change starts on the inside and works its way out."

For Educators: Something To Think About!

The Classic Learning Core started this week. I am pulling kids once a week and working with them in small groups. I am working with them using the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens to see if we can not work from the inside out!