Favorites For Friday: Fair is not always Equal

We hear it from kids all the time... "That's not FAIR!!"  At school, some kids will get different resources, experiences, or materials because they need something extra to help them be successful. At the beginning of the school year, I try to help students understand how I will work to be fair to everyone, but that doesn't always mean everything is equal. 

This week's Favorites For Friday post is a collection of ideas for teaching the "Fair is not Equal" lesson.  I teach many of these over the first month of school as students get used to differentiation, groupings, special education or ESL services, interventions, leveled library books, etc.  I hope that some of these might be helpful in your classroom, too.  I'd love to hear about other ideas you have!  Feel free to post in the comments any other suggestions or links to other ideas related to "Fair is not Equal."

Bandages or Sandwiches

 I start with a role play.  I choose two students in class who are willing to ham it up a bit.  We pretend two students have just arrived at school and are rushing because they are almost late to class.  The first student pretends that he trips and falls as he is rushing to get inside. In our make believe story, he has skinned his knee and is bleeding. The 2nd student is rushing because he woke up late and is very upset that he did not get to school in time for the breakfast program.  He's hungry and didn't have time to grab any food at home, either.  Both students come to class with a problem = one is hurt and one is hungry.  We talk about if I was going to be equal, I would have to give them each the same thing.  Does each student need a bandage?  Will that solve the 2nd student's problem?  Would it help the 2nd student at all or just be an unnecessary waste of resources?  What about the 1st student?  I'm sure that student would love an extra sandwich, but that's not really what he needs.  Just because he likes it doesn't mean he needs it.  If resources (and/or money) are limited, he may be taking away a resource from someone who really needs it. 

Equal          or           Fair?

  

 I display the left picture first.  I ask students if this is equal (yes - everyone got exactly the same thing). Then I ask if it is fair (no -- the shortest person can't see at all). I tell the students that there aren't any more crates, then ask if they can think of a way to use the resources in a way that would allow all 3 people to see over the fence. Then I show them the second picture. I ask them to think about whether the tallest person should use the crate he didn't need if there is someone who did need it.  We share some other examples of ways kids might need a resource that others don't need -- glasses, allergy-free snack alternative, leveled reading books, etc.

Do you have other ideas for this topic?  I'd love to hear about them!!

Thanks for visiting!  Happy Friday!

Motivation? Who's got time for that???

Some of you are already back at school.  I know, I know!  I'm one of the lucky ones who has until after Labor Day to prepare for the first day of school.

But those of you who are still setting up classrooms, are you getting tired?  Have you lost focus? interest? motivation?

Let's take a moment to remember some of those reasons we do this job.

I was scrolling through photos on my phone.  Yes, trying to delete move to more permanent storage the pics from last year's class so I have room for this year's class. This one stopped me:

It doesn't look like a huge "stop-you-in-your-tracks" type photo.  It's just a single rose in a little glass vase.  But, in this case it is definitely the thought that made all the difference.

You see, I was given this flower on the last day of school.  Not from one of my fifth graders.  Not even from one of last year's students.  Three years ago, I worked with a little girl in Kindergarten as her ESL teacher.  She spent the first half of the year in the (ESL term) silent period.  She's a shy girl to begin with, and not being able to speak English with students and teachers meant she didn't say much at all.  She and I worked together daily in a small group.  I slowly coaxed her into speaking if I set her up with support.  A very bright young lady, she was a joy to work with.  That was my last year as an ESL teacher as I moved back to a 5th grade classroom position.  I still see her sometimes in the hallway and make a point to wave or say hello, but I don't get to work with her regularly anymore.

Anyway, on the last day of school, this young lady and her mother came to my classroom door with this flower.  Mom had taken her to the store to purchase a flower for her classroom teacher.  She asked if she could get an extra one to bring to me.  How floored was I to receive a gift from a student I hadn't worked with in 2 years!

That flower was my bright spot for many days after school got out.  Now the photo I snapped is my reminder that you never know what "little thing" you do might actually affect a student in a big way and for a long time.  It's my little reminder that my efforts are appreciated and remembered.

So as I'm looking at the piles of pencils to sharpen and the feet of laminating to cut and the stack of copies to make and my still bare bulletin boards (ok, I'd better stop here 'cuz I'm freaking myself out again), I am reminded about the reasons I do this job.  I'm going to keep working a little bit more today.  I'm going to drink another cup of coffee and push on.  I'm going to stop thinking about "all the things I HAVE to do" and start thinking about all the ways I can prepare myself to be awesome this year.  I'm going to make a difference.

:) Heather

Favorites for Friday: School Supplies

Are you a school supply hoarder, too?  

Do you have piles of notebooks, 

boxes full of glue, 

or more pencil top erasers than you know what to do with?  

This week's Favorite for Friday is a link to the most awesome school supply price guide ever: 

http://www.passionforsavings.com/back-to-school-supplies-price-list/ 

For several years now I have used this resource to decide whether or not to purchase mass quantities of school supplies.  (I still have crayons from years ago when they were on sale for 5 cents!)  As office supply stores buy each other up or close, it's so important to have a guide to what's really a good deal. I forget how inexpensive some of these things will go.  "Notebooks for a quarter?  That's great!" But then I go look at this list and realize I should hold out for the 10 cent sale.  It may not ever get down to 10 cents in my area, but if I wait, I'll probably manage to find them cheaper than a quarter. If not, they'll probably still be available somewhere for a quarter in a week anyway.

Now, if I was only buying items for kids in my own family, it wouldn't matter so much. I'd pay the few extra cents to avoid driving all over the city. I mean, gas is expensive, too! But when I purchase supplies to be used by a classroom of 30 kids, it's worth it to shop around and get the good deals.

I love school supplies.  My husband thinks its an addiction.  I'm pretty sure it's more of a justifiable hobby. He sure doesn't complain when he needs a pencil or a pack of index cards.  :)

How can it possibly be time for this already??

Back to school deals have started!!  I love back to school deals, but UGH! ALREADY???

It's worth it to run out for these deals, though.

Teachers -- in past years, Office Max has done "double the limit" for teachers.  Plus, with their teacher "Max Rewards" cards, you get points that add up to store credit later.  I'll be running to Office Max tomorrow!

Wondering about whether a school supply sale is really a good deal?  Check out this list at the Passion for Savings page: 

Every year I use this list to decide which stores are worth driving to and which ones are unnecessary.  I LOVE this list! The three prices are awesome.  I know when to wait, when to buy if I know I really need something, and when to buy out the store for something.  :)  I've been known to send politely ask my neighbors, friends, and family to shop at multiple stores and then invite them to make a nice donation to my classroom.  

Happy Shopping!

Attendance and Lunch Count Board

Here's a picture of that board I got earlier this summer.  I've got magnet clips with cute little smiley faces :) on them.  Each student will get a number at the beginning of the year.  In the mornings when they arrive, they'll take a card for the type of lunch they are having (blue = lunch from home, orange = school hot lunch, green = school salad) and hang it with their clip.  I can easily see who has arrived and their lunch choice so I can quickly enter it into the computer system right away.  One student will have the daily class job of removing the cards once attendance/lunch count are entered. 

Do you do something like this?  Do you use magnet boards in other ways?  I'd love to hear about it!  Comment here.  Share your blog address.  I'll come visit! 
HQ

Welcome sign ready to hang!

I'll be in my classroom a lot this week, since we have meetings all week the following week.  I need to get my room all set up and pretty ASAP! 

So, here come the posts of what I've been working on and what will be part of my decor as I get going.  Today's post is my new Welcome sign.  I painted it myself.  This was so much fun to do.  Years ago, a student gave this sign to me, but it had really old-fashioned teacher stuff like apples and a teacher's desk.  It was cute, but not my style these days.  Nothing a few scrapbooking supplies won't fix!  :)

What do you think?  Do you have a welcome sign in your classroom? I'd love to see a picture!

Back to School "Before" Pictures

I did it.  I went into my classroom to actually DO something in there.  I've stopped by a few times this summer for other reasons and poked my head inside to grab a manual or measure the window for curtains.  Today, though, I actually spent time in my room. 

It's been several years since I've had my own classroom.  I've been an ESL teacher with an office for the past few years, teaching my lessons at a table in a little hallway nook. Before that, I was a substitute teacher/grad student since I was new to the area and jobs were scarce.  Before that, I was a "Long Term Leave Replacement" teacher in a few different settings while my husband worked on a temporary grant at a major university in New Jersey.  I haven't actually had my own classroom (where I wasn't a temporary 1 year leave replacement in someone else's room) since the spring of 2004.  OMG!  That's a loonnnngggg time!

While I've had lots of experience keeping myself portable and using another teacher's space/materials/organizational systems, it's been years since I've had to organize myself for myself in my own space.  Know what I mean? 

So, today I went in.  It was a daunting task.  At least the previous teacher left it very empty for me.  And the custodial staff did an awesome job of cleaning it all for me.  But I had to just stand there and look at the space for a little bit.  I needed to see its potential.  Since I've been an ESL teacher at this school for a few years, I knew what the previous teacher in that space had done with the desks, the tables, the bookshelves.  I needed to figure out what's going to work for me. So I stood there.  And stood there.  Then I took a few pictures and stood there some more.

It's very clean, isn't it?  

Everything had been shoved to the front so the custodial staff could clean the carpeting.

 Well, bookshelves on the table make the floors easy to clean.

Plus, they're empty, so there are lots of opportunities for how to use them at this point.

And then I opened the...

 CLOSET of DOOM!!!

dun dun dun...

I had known it was there.  I was trying to forget about it all summer long.  Everything this teacher left behind is shoved in here.  There's no real organization.  The shelves are drooping.  The heaviest stuff is on the top.  The bottom has a lot of space only because our old curriculum had been boxed up for disposal and one of our administrators just came in this week and got it.  Otherwise, that part had been full the last time I looked at it.

Well, I couldn't do it today, either. I closed the closet doors and pretended it didn't exist.  Perhaps I'll look at it tomorrow. :)  Instead, I spent several hours arranging furniture, testing different options before I start filling up the bookshelves and desks.  I was sweaty and exhausted, but I think I know how it's going to be set up. 

 I still don't have all the furniture where I want it.  I just couldn't move a couple of things by themselves.  My husband has offered to help on Friday morning, so I'll save it for him then.  I didn't take any pictures yet because I'm not totally sure there's been an improvement yet.  

But don't worry!  I'm going back in tomorrow and the next day and will be working on some great projects over the weekend to turn this boring, plain, empty room into one that is vibrant, exciting, and fabulous.  Just wait - you'll see!  (Hey -- maybe you should follow me so you actually remember to come back and check?  Just a suggestion!)

One month left!

I enjoyed my summer, but now it's time to get down to business.  School starts for me in exactly one month.  I have only 31 days to get everything ready for the first day of school in a classroom that is new to me.  I'm trying not to freak out!

This year, I'm going to be prepared ahead of time, right?  It'll all be done 2 weeks early and I'll be able to relax during the professional development meetings and concentrate on all the new learning, right?

Taking another slow, calming breath...

Anybody else feeling this way?