Day 5: Filling in the Roles

Today, I taught another class of first-graders, reading Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink. They LOVE this story! Not only do the students respond to the moments of the story, but they also relate to the message of being kind to one another and the consequences of writing mean things. The biggest curve I will need to learn is timing. I did go a little over the teacher's allotted time which potentially sets his/her own plans back. From teaching for six years, I know that timing is something that comes with practice: practice with the student groups, with the materials, with the environment, with teachers' expectations. I have a few more times with this story with different classes, so will try to focus on appropriate timing and interaction.

I also had my first experience with adding books to the catalog. These books were ordered from Bound to Stay Bound, and Cindy pays for them to be prepped for shelving. They came already with call numbers and barcodes, though we added some information within the pages. We stamped the Ravenel ownership "watermark," wrote the AR reading level/points, and put the spare barcode on the first end page. Cindy also writes the vendor and the fiscal year on the inside spine to keep easy track of inventory sourcing. She then puts the packing list or invoice in a binder organized by date. This way, she says, if the bookkeeper requires any additional information for review, Cindy can pull up the form easily. Though much information is now digitized, Cindy says that this "ledger" has saved her spending lots of time searching for information. This way, it is tangible and brief to record and retrieve information for orders and inventory.

After the instructional day, today was a faculty meeting. Our first presenter was for additional insurance. He was goofy and adorable. All the while, the glaring ''CODE RED'' was staring at us all from the projection behind. This meant this presentation was not as well received. The second presentation felt terrifyingly tense for this collection of sensitive and caring elementary teachers. The Sheriff outlined so many scenarios and horrific potential realities that the ''training'' felt like a scare tactic rather than an educational system of protection. Even the officer and the district trainer both said the reality vs. the plan will change. One of the teachers also reflected that the students are often traumatized after their undercover intruder drills, including nightmares, tears, and general terror. Obviously safety training and drills are important, especially with recent events locally and nationally, but there must be a method that is both effective and empowering to the teachers. I don't know what the right answer is for this, but these are my observations from today's training. Two valuable points from the presentation were: (1) do not keep id with a key on it: if left, immediate access and knowledge from where the keys belong; and (2) prepare ''outs'' for each room including cafeteria, recess, etc