Other Teacher Feature #2

     Lately, I've felt like a private eye snooping around looking for evidence of great teaching in my school to highlight as my Other Teacher Feature. I never have to go very far. Our school is divided into three distinct sections: the building, the "new" building and the portables (or cottages as a new little one from England referred to them). The "new" building is now about 6 years old, but I suspect it will always be the new building in the same way that I'm still the "baby" of my family at 25+15 years old. (Dang, no matter how I say it, it still equals 40!) But how can I be sad about it when apparently, I still look like a teenager. Sing it, sister!

Thanks Little A, that was the BEST card ever!

     I'm in the "new" building with 15 other teachers and I already have enough material to do an Other Teacher Feature weekly through the summer. Nice, right? If that doesn't give you confidence in your profession, what will? The best part of the Other Teacher Feature is always talking to the "other teacher".  This featured teacher and I have worked together for quite a while in many capacities. We've spent lots of time working with new National Board candidates and we've been on the same team in the past. We've had lots of conversations about lots of things, and the one thing that is always obvious is that she puts the kids first. She has just a few more years to go until retirement and still has envious enthusiasm. Here's what she was up to:

I hear ya, honey.

     Awesome, right? Everyone has been stopping by and taking note of these little gems. Ms. Ot2 explained that her 4th and 5th graders were exploring figurative language, specifically puns. It's amazing that even some of the brightest kids have wild misconceptions about figurative language, like idioms and puns. Having the kids visualize and illustrate the literal version is a great way to show them that they can't possibly mean what they say. Which is very good news for this guy:

Pretty good news for these two as well:

     Even if students don't grasp the concept of each pun, they'll at least get the idea that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to figurative language.

Five finger discounts...never a good idea.

      Ms. Ot2 (Other Teacher #2 <--Is that catching on yet?) was telling me that this whole lesson evolved from an email that our SLP sent to all of us quite a while ago. I vaguely remember the email and may have "accidentally" deleted it, thinking that it was kind of interesting, but really didn't need it clogging up my inbox. I felt a little wave of shame wash over me thinking about how I just flippantly disregarded something that held such promise for a great classroom activity. Doesn't that just prove how much teachers need time to collaborate? Here Ms. Ot2 came up with a fantastic activity from something I didn't even give a second look. One man's trash, I guess.  It's so unfortunate that teacher-to-teacher time nowadays is spent pouring over RtI packets and Data Notebooks...but no use wandering down that road again, right?  Thanks Ms. Ot2 for reminding me that a picture is worth a thousand words. Next time, I'll try to remember that haste makes waste when you have an itchy trigger finger near the delete key. Well, if it's not one thing, it's another. Take time to stop and smell the roses, my friends! Ok, I may be going overboard here, I'll pipe down. I've run of steam anyway. Ba dum dum!