KATE Conference Reflection

This year's KATE Conference was not at all what I expected...I really enjoyed it! Although I was only able to attend sporadically on both Thursday and Friday, I definitely wish I had been available to attend more of it. Everyone was very nice and, after discovering I was a WSU pre-student teacher, very supportive!

My favorite session on Thursday was really informative on how to implement graphic novels in the classroom.  The presenter was extremely thorough, which was great because I have a very limited knowledge when it comes to this genre.  However, after this session, I now have several different ways and resources to teach units that students typically find dry and boring.

The session that was the most helpful to me was the one about using children's books in the classrooms as a tool for learning literary terms. Complete with assignment sheets and examples, this session clearly detailed how to have students write children's books that included examples of literary terms. When the books were complete, the students would go read them to 2nd graders, which I think is a great way of insuring that students put a great deal of effort into their books! I am definitely planning to use this in my future classroom, especially since my students had just finished taking a test over these terms last week and the results were a bit disheartening. After attending this session, though, I feel like I have a new and very exciting way for them to not only learn, but also invest themselves in their work.

The Difference (Genre Reflection #1)

Clean, crisp hallways filled with bright colors; empty classrooms with perfectly straight desks, echoing silence. I breathe in the clean air and know that I belong here; in this place…I will make a difference.

Suddenly, the bell rings for passing period.  Chaos fills the hallways; laughing, screaming, chattering students from all walks of life. I plaster my back to the cold brick wall so I don’t get trampled while attempting to keep a welcoming smile on my face. It takes only a few seconds for boys and girls to begin trickling past me and through the door of my classroom.  They barely spare me a glance as they pass, caught up in the drama of the day. Following the last student in, I discover that the chaos of the hallway has consumed my once pristine classroom…

“Please quiet down and find your seats.”

Rambunctious and happy faces everywhere, shrinking the classroom’s available space and transforming the perfectly straight rows of desks to arches and angles…Ugh, math terms that make me shudder.  Football players practicing their dodging and weaving in the back of the room, groups of girls fixing each other’s hair, and someone’s brave falsetto was keening out a song that I thought I would recognize in a different key... 

“Sit down and be quiet, please.”

I wander through the room, breaking up the clusters of boys and girls and returning order to the aisles.  “Shhh…Have a seat, have a seat…Hush…” I murmur as I go until the crowd settles down.With a second ring of the bell, the lesson begins and a deceptively calm class turns its attention to the day’s tasks.  The bellwork and clearly written instructions on the board bring a limitless parade of questions and repeated answers that pull my attention away from the class as a whole.  The din begins to rise again…

“Quiet down, please…hush now and face the front.”

I read several chapters out of our novel next, performing to the best of my abilities and hoping that my voice is animated enough to keep their attention.  Even so, I must slowly walk the aisles to tap the sleepers, texters, and avid gossipers on the shoulders.  I count fewer taps than the day before and hope that means I am making progress.  At a critical point in the story, I pause to check their understanding.  An answer is given, which inspires a comment from another, and another and another…the contagion of the conversation, now completely off topic, quickly spreads throughout the room, accompanied by a clamor of giggles.

“Hey, quiet down, quiet down…we’re almost through…”

This snaps the class back to attention until a study guide is handed out to a chorus of moans and complaints.  Frustrated, some students throw their hands in the air; others jump up and storm the length of the room only to return to their desks once more.

“Stay in your seats…you may work quietly with your neighbor. Don’t just copy each other’s answers.”

With great reluctance, the class settles into their busy work as I patrol the room, issuing warnings with a press of my finger to my lips.  The students become aware of my pattern of movements and are sure to lower their voices as I draw near…All except a pair in the back. They are oblivious as I advance on them.  I can feel the words beginning to bubble up…If I’ve told them once, I’ve told them a million times…

“No,” the student’s voice is sharp, hands protectively grasping the study guide.  “Do your own! Miss B. said I can do this. She doesn’t want me to fail!”

The words disintegrate before they have a chance to burst from my mouth.  I feel my heart swell.   There is my difference in the world.  Even if it is just one student in the chaotic mob that floods from my classroom out into the once crisp, clean hallways. It is that one difference that makes this whole day worthwhile…and I cannot wait for tomorrow.