Looping

The first day os school is filled with excitement and terror. Both for the students and the teachers. I usually use 'The First Six Weeks Of School' by Mike Anderson as a responsive classroom guide to establishing routines. This year though, I decided to scrap that. My first six weeks of school had been done in 180 days last year. You may say, 'But some of the students are new to the class.' That is a valid point, so I figured since we were starting school on a Wednesday, that I would use the first day or two as a refresher...then jump in. The excitement in the class was palatable. My students rolled up to the new classroom. Once they saw me, it wasn't fist bumbs or high fives (like normal), they dove in for hugs. The smiles on their face were huge and it was clear that our 'family' was back together. I was intentional about seating arrangements, as I made sure my groups were filled with learners of varying abilities (to assist each other) and I integrated th...

If you've ever spent time around a school, you know that rumors have a tendency of just flying around. Towards the end of the year, everyone takes a look at the job postings for the district to see who is on their way out. I had a teacher come up to me after a faculty meeting once and said, 'Oh, I thought it was you.' Confused, I replied, 'What?' She explained that she saw a posting for a fourth grade position and assumed it was me as she thought I would be going into the Leadership Academy to become an Assistant Principal. There was not even going to be a Leadership Academy that year and while I have thought about the idea of administration, I have always wanted to wait until my own children were done with college (for more Summer flexibility). Started hinting to students... Needless to say, rumors fly around the school. I wanted to keep the looping move to fifth grade quiet as I know how things can change, and I didn't want to disappoint my students. That said...

Being into sports, I always felt as though putting together classes every spring is very much like a draft. Normally the fourth grade teachers will convene in a room during planning time and write out cards for each of the students. The cards contain information about a student's ELA and math proficiency, whether they are a multilingual learner (MLL), receive extra support (IEP) or have potential behavioral issues.  Then we begin to split up the cards, usually beginning with gender, then with English Language Proficiency. We then begin to look at the 'other cards', those are the students with IEPs and emotional or behavioral issues and distribute those students evenly throughout the grade level, taking special care to make sure that the students that don't do well together are separated. The same way that not all adults get along...the same is the case for students, so some students just can't be in the same class.  We then make little tweaks taking into account oth...

  I saw Courtney's name on the caller ID and was concerned. It was summer and if she was doing some sort of get together it was usually communicated via email. She rarely CALLED. Text sometimes, but never a phone call. 'Hey Courtney! How are you?' I spoke immediately upon answering the phone. Her tone was warm and friendly, 'I'm well. How are you?' We exchanged pleasantries, spoke about families and the summer...then came the ask. 'I've got an idea...' she continued. She spoke about the fifth grade team being a mess (retirement, movement, long term substitute, etc.) and asked if I would like to anchor the fifth grade team. There were many compliments and a lot of promises (choosing my own students, choosing my classroom, helping with fifth grade graduation, staying away from a certain grade of students an extra year, etc.) She left me to think about it and told me to get back to her in a few days to let her know. This was before year six of teaching ...

  I didn't know what imposter syndrome was until I spent some time teaching. My first job as a teacher was as a long term substitute with Providence Public School Department. I received a call just a day before orientation. 'Is Brian Colton there?' said the female voice on the other side of the phone. 'Yes, this is he.' I responded. 'This is...from Human Resources at PPSD. I was calling because we have a job for you. We know you aren't qualified, but we need a body.' WTH does that mean?! 'We need you at Martin Luther King Elementary in a Third through Fifth Grade Autism room.' she explained. Autism? New school? Students? Teaching assistants? This was all completely new to me. I had no idea how I was going to do any of this. That said, all I could do was put one foot in front of the other and go into the school the next day for orientation. Long term substitutes do not 'own' a teaching position. They are paid directly by the district, but ...

My mom, Barbara Colton was an Elementary School Teacher. She taught for a number of years before she started having children (I am the first of three). Since it was the 80's, when my youngest sibling (Jason) was old enough to take care of himself after school (let himself into the house, lock the door behind him, find snacks, find the remote), my mom decided to go back to teaching. We would hear daily teaching stories at the dinner table and never once did I think...'That's what I want to do!' The high school I attended, The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, NY , had a special program for social sciences and English. It was called SWS (School Within A School) and gave students the opportunity to choose their learning path AND potentially teach other students. There was a process to teach a 'module' (what the classes were called) and all approvals came from a group of advisor teachers and students. The program was innovative (for the 1980's) and gave me an op...