Things have been going well. Suspiciously well. I’m the only one of the three deaf ed. teachers that has an AWESOME general ed team to work with. The first grade teacher that I work with is so nice and so easy to get along with. She’s in her sixties and she’s still a fantastic Read More
Author Archive
and then I choked down the giggles
August 30th, 2010 by Confessions
Today I was working with a student from the general ed first grade class. It was just me and him. He’s a struggling student and we were working on a phonemic awareness activity. “Cat,” I said. “What sound do you hear at the beginning of c-c-c-at?” He thought for a Read More
Posted in Auditory/Oral, Hearing Loss |
Lunch crunch
August 29th, 2010 by Confessions
This past week, all of the teachers had to eat with their classes in the cafeteria to ensure proper behavior. This was difficult for a number of reasons: 1) the unhealthy food the school was serving made me cringe (help us, Jaime Oliver!!), and 2) after spending all morning with the kiddos, I Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
a rude awakening
July 28th, 2010 by Confessions
Today I went to Day 2 of a three day training for reading workshop. It’s a statewide event, so there were TONS of teachers there. I managed to find two other teachers from my school and we met up for lunch. On our way back to our afternoon sessions, I asked “Paula” how she liked Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
caution! hard hat area — uncoordinated teacher at work
July 27th, 2010 by Confessions
For the last three weekdays, it’s been just me, the janitors, and the principal at school. I’ve been trying to get things set up so that I can leave on our last vacation of the summer without wigging out at all the stuff I have to do before the first day of school. Below are the Read More
Posted in Education, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss |
OMG! Homophones!
May 28th, 2010 by Confessions
I was going through a stack of student work this morning and almost fell off my chair laughing when I saw this: This was an assignment to illustrate sets of homophones and write a sentence for each one under their respective flap. One of my dear students wrote and drew this masterpiece for the Read More
Posted in Education, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss |
I’d like to come up for air, please
May 26th, 2010 by Confessions
In an ironic twist of fate, our principal has generously allowed all of the teaching staff to leave at 3:15 instead of at 3:45, which is normally the rule. I would normally be jumping up and down with excitement, but when I tried I tripped over the the piles of paperwork needing my attention. So Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Shiny new toy
May 21st, 2010 by Confessions
I was very excited to have won the Mini-Mountain from Zillio Games recently! It came in the mail a few days ago, and when I saw it in person and read through the gazillion math games you can play on it (from basic counting and sequencing to complicated multiplication and division), well… Read More
Posted in Education, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss |
Don’t look now, but… you’re being watched
May 18th, 2010 by Confessions
| Welcome to the May Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival, ‘Kids and Learning.’ The Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival hosted by Science@home is for anyone, because we are all teachers and learners. This month our bloggers have come up with some wonderful suggestions for fun things to do with Read More
Posted in Education, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss |
Barking up the RIGHT tree
May 10th, 2010 by Confessions
I've been throwing a tantrum for the last two hours or so. It's subtle, because I'm at school and I've got to keep it professional. But that doesn't mean I can't slam the paper tray on the printer or type really hard or stomp up the stairs. (I may be exaggerating Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A letter from a student
May 7th, 2010 by Confessions
(For Teacher Appreciation Week — written by a fifth grader moving on to another campus next year) Mrs. B, Thank you for being a Greatest teacher ever in my life. You always make me laugh when you do something wrong. Me and Deaf aid will miss you so Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
“Please, sir. More, sir”
April 23rd, 2010 by Confessions
I’ve worked at three schools, and this one is different from any other school I’ve worked at for one main reason: The teachers aren’t trusted. Just my imagination, you say? Case in point: All teachers are required to sign in and sign out on an electronic scanner that Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
There’ll always be space in my heart
April 16th, 2010 by Confessions
**Scroll down to the next post to find out who won the pocket chart! This morning I went on a field trip with my eight fifth graders to visit their new middle school (or: Big Kid Land). Most of them will be going to a regional deaf ed program on this general ed campus. They were all nervously Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Modern day miracles
April 12th, 2010 by Confessions
After nearly five years as a teacher, there aren’t very many “firsts” left for me. But recently I found myself in the midst of quite a “first”: the mother of one of my students claimed he had been miraculously cured of his deafness. “Sean” is a fourth Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Community
April 11th, 2010 by Confessions
Back in 2006 (!) when I first started this blogging thing, it was mainly a way to stay connected with my family members who were scattered across the globe. It was also therapy for me to write about what goes on in my classroom (and it still is!) But in the last year or two, I’ve discovered Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Vocab rehab
March 30th, 2010 by Confessions
Vocabulary is an ongoing struggle for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The funniest parts of my day usually end up having something to do with vocabulary! Like these two stories… 1) Yesterday I had to explain what the word "insulation" meant. I gave examples and Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Never mind that I thought the same thing
March 26th, 2010 by Confessions
Yesterday, “Jose” came in and announced to my classroom: “I go to different school Monday”. Immediately, “Michael” pumped both of his fists in the air and shouted “YAY!!”. And I, of course, had to strongly admonish him about being unkind and Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Excuse me while I gloat
March 23rd, 2010 by Confessions
**Note: to fully appreciate this post, make sure you’ve read the one below it first! Today, I felt fully supported (and triumphant!) as my principal and the head of the entire deaf education department sat behind closed doors to have a little chat with my two visitors from yesterday. After Read More
Posted in Education, Hearing Loss |
Number 5 has not been ruled out
March 22nd, 2010 by Confessions
What do you do when your behavior specialist and your special education compliance supervisor pay you an unexpected visit? What do you do when they pull you out of your classroom WHILE YOU’RE TEACHING and demand to meet right then and there? What do you do when they yell at you and Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
God still does miracles
March 9th, 2010 by Confessions
YOU GUYS! DO YOU HEAR THOSE SOUNDS? It’s the sound of a host of angels singing “Hallelujah”. It’s the sound of a million people applauding. It’s the sound of rainbows in my classroom and unicorns running free through the fields. It’s the sound of my feet Read More
Posted in Advocacy, Education, Hearing Loss |
Teachers are managers
February 22nd, 2010 by Confessions
**This post is inspired by a compilation of teachers Signs you may need to a) revamp your classroom management system, or b) get a classroom management system: You blame the kids for their behavior. You blame the administration for your kids’ behavior. The only management tool you use is Read More
Posted in Education, Hearing Loss |
In summary
February 19th, 2010 by Confessions
A lot is going on here at school. I'm dealing with bullies, parents screaming at each other, IEPs up the wazoo, the state's standardized writing test looming, and paperwork/materials/student work piled so high on my desk that I can barely see past it. It's like I've always Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
On the lighter side of things
February 10th, 2010 by Confessions
Our speech/language pathologist told me about an incident that happened to her just last week. She was helping out in the cafeteria, and “Ashley”, one our deaf ed second graders, asked her if she was wearing a wig. “No, this is my real hair!”, she insisted. So, being Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Forgive my technical rambling, and my civil disobedience
February 8th, 2010 by Confessions
When people ask me what I do for a living and I say that I teach students who are deaf/hearing-impaired, I almost always am asked: “Oh, so you sign?” But, no, I don’t sign. And there’s no quick way to explain the hundreds of years of history in deaf education and the Read More
