Third Grade Meeting
November 6, 2012
Names of Team Members Present
Kelly Raley
Stephanie Howard
Donna Flowers
Jamie Tyre
Terri Pfister
All comments, concerns, and information discussed during the grade chair meeting Tuesday morning was discussed and relayed to each teacher. We then discussed the answer to the question posed by Ms. Sawchuk.
Academic Concerns
Behavioral Concerns / PBS / Social Skills
Questions or Recommendations from Team
See below
Posed question: One of the issues that has been on my mind, for various reasons, is the whole idea that because of the disruption of one or two students there may be lost teaching time for the other students. I have always been of the opinion that it is not right that anyone deprive another student of the opportunity to learn.
So, what I need from you is to answer this question:
How can Mrs. Henry and I help you with this challenge? I never want students to lose instructional time being downstairs but, how do we make sure that the other students get what they need as well?
Please give me some feedback as we genuinely want to help with this.
Several suggestions were made. Instead of voting on which we would like to bring to you as a team, each teacher that gave a suggestion felt that they would like what they brought to the table be heard.
-a computer downstairs would be very nice and convenient. If the student is going to be downstairs, they could be given the opportunity to work of the math lessons, centers assigned, FCAT Explorer, etc. on the computers. This way they would not miss out on the lessons by being out of the classroom.
-the amount of time that some teachers are out of their classrooms during instruction time is a cause for some behavior problems. The loss of stability and routine in a child’s day that is already struggling with a behavior problem only compounds the issue. RTI is obviously a necessity, however, it would be nice for the teacher if they felt like they were included in the planning process of the best time available for them, and the person sent to cover their class did not allow complete chaos during the teacher’s leave.
-The behavior problem needs to be dealt with strongly. While we feel that Mrs. Henry is doing a fantastic job, we feel that some time spent in our classrooms when we can call without the student knowing would show just how horrific the behavior problem is sometimes. The truth is, many teachers are not worried about an administrator in the classroom; as a matter of fact, would love it so that they would see what a nightmare we are dealing with. We also feel that the students would react to an administrator being in the classroom positively.
Please understand that we are all very thankful to have our jobs. There was not ONE SINGLE one of us that did not feel GREAT concern for answering the questions. We did not want you to feel that we were mad, angry, or even being nasty. We simply answered the question posed. We all discussed that this has been the toughest year that each of us has ever felt teaching. The stress is beyond what we feel is reasonable. We do not feel that the administration is doing anything wrong; we feel that it is several things that have all added up. We all agreed to just keep doing the best that we can, always do what we are asked, feel pride in the job that we are doing, and always keep a good attitude.
Sincerely submitted,
Kelly Raley
Grade Chair
Third Grade