Continuing (finally – boy howdy, it’s been a bit nutty lately) Mr. Coward-isms #8: 8. KBAR(R) – When I started at my school (1993), they had an independent reading program they called Kick Back and Read (KBAR). Mostly, it was a chart with a picture of Snoopy on it. Actually there were two kinds of charts. One was simply four columns labeled: Date, Time Read, Pages Read, Parent Signature. The instructions at the top of the sheet talked about reading for 15-20 minutes and cooperation at home. The other sheet was arranged a bit differently, but asked for the same info. The difference was that this one made room for an area called “Material Read.” The space was room enough for about two sentences. Most teachers asked the kids to summarize what they’d read. Halfway through that first year here, I went to a CATE conference. This was back when the district actually paid for your hotel and such. I was pretty stoked. One thing I noticed was how all the veterans would run in to a presentation, grab the handouts offered, and bolt for the next one. I actually sat through most of them. One lady talked about having
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Library orientation day. No teaching, just riding herd, giving reminders, shushing, etc. We’re meeting tomorrow in the computer lab to have them take the STAR reading test, so I can get a general reading level on them, and know what I’m dealing with reading-wise. We have an older version than the one they tout on the web site, but still, using a 15 minute test (in front of a computer no less–beauty for 7th graders), I can get a quick and dirty reading level on all of them. It’s mostly cloze stylie vocabulary, but it seems to be fairly accurate. Then I can take them in at regular intervals to measure their (with any luck) improvement. I try to get in about every quarter, but most years I usually only get in three. Tomorrow’s Friday: That means Mental Floss, our weekly test, Trackwords (Scroll to the bottom), and our Friday doodle theme. Nigh nigh.
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(Friday Flashback – Last Year) “Mrs. G” has been teaching in our district for over 40 years. She’s been at our school since it opened in 1980. She’s taught English, art, social studies, music, and much more. She is literally an immovable object, and doesn’t need to rise from her chair to strike fear (well, not exactly fear any more, but…) into 8th graders’ hearts. She doesn’t care what people (parents, admins, other teachers) think of her, and speaks her mind whether it’s “appropriate” or not. She currently teaches 8th grade US history, and has been going toe to toe with a particularly pesky student I had last year. Now, this “Steve” sends me e-mails about how the posts he’s reading in the discussion forums on our Moodle don’t have enough thought behind them, and he has a real brain. But he’s a loud-mouthed pain in the rear, whose parents it seems, are wrapped around his finger. I was probably the only teacher he got along with…until Mrs. G. He’s still a pain, and though, like me she recognizes and likes the Steve underneath, she’s not afeared of giving what she gets. So… Food is not allowed in our classooms. [...]
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That reminds me of those great SNL skits about the Sofa King. You know, how the prices are "Sofa King" low, the deals are "Sofa King" great, etc. (You obviously have to say those phrases out loud to get the joke.)