Welcome to SY 2009-2010

My greeting is a month delayed---so you can imagine how busy we were on the first month! I'm in a 1st grade Collaborative Team Teaching class offering Integrated Co-teaching service. Here's how we are in Class 103...

Here's what I do first thing in the morning...

In our small group instruction...my 1st graders are lovable! Look at that! =)

Oppsss...not everyone is paying attention.=)

Now, I got your attention!=)

Partners for the 2nd time around. =)

Welcome to SY 2009-2010!

Family and a child's education

The happy bday celebrant.

It's a perfect timing. Emilio, one of the students that I have been working closely with, since last year is celebrating his 9th birthday on June 24th; just two days before the end of the school year. So it has turned into our year end party at the same time. Everybody is so excited about this.

With the teacher, me. =)

With his family.

On my part as the Special Ed. teacher I am very happy for Emilio. He has come a long way! I am so impressed with the progress he has made. From where he was last year, he made a huge leap to where he is right now. He is talking, reading and writing a lot and oh boy, how his handwriting has improved! I would say that this is all because of the love and support from his family, that effective Literacy program of Lehman College and the modified instruction we do in class. I will never forget how Emilio's face beams with pride whenever he showed his Lehman College I.D. to us. A third grader attending college? What a blast!

Emilio is a classic example of a student who can go beyond and succeed way past his actual capability because of the love and support he gets from his family. He has a very sweet mom who loves him unconditionally and who is convinced that Emilio will eventually bloom without all the unnecessary pressure. He has a father who challenges him and a brother who he looks up too. Family support is essential to a child's education. I hope NYC will start nurturing the families and will advocate family involvement in the children's education. NYC can do more than what it already has now.

PS. I can't help but feel a little sentimental about the fact that Emilio and Inri have told their parents that I am their favorite teacher. *Uhrrm.* All I can say is that I always made them feel that their ideas and feelings mattered to me. Just like what I have learned from teaching in the Philippines; children do not buy our ideas unless they buy us as a person. It is true that kids love to learn more from the teacher they like.

I feel bad parting from this group of 8 kids I have started working with last year, but for professional growth, I know I need to learn how to teach the 1st graders. I will definitely miss you, but still, see you around school!

Spring inside the school

A. Garcia, a student with a strong character. =)

My 5th grade afterschool class.

Art work at the 5th floor.

Does my student have a similarity with Ninoy Aquino? Coz his last name is Aquino!

Earth day student's work.

3rd grade poetry

Here's a poem composed by my class while I was doing guided reading with one group and they were with my partner teacher in the rug doing poetry:

Ms. Abarquez

Nice style
Black brown hair.
Very kind
good teacher.
Funny
to be with.
She's cool,
helpful,
she gives us sweet
treats
to eat!

Hhhhhmmm...

Here are the ones I composed and showed to them as models:

Allergy

I hate allergy
so very itchy!
Rash here, rash there
scratch, scratch.

Eyes are watery
burning hot.
Rash on my face,
bumps on my knees.

Sneezing, scratching, itching
so very bad,
coughing and not sleeping
I have to call my Dad
"Buy me allergy pills please
and ease this allergy fast!"

Weehoo! (Onomatopeia poem)

Weehoo! Weehoo!
My team has won,
we are number one.
Clap! clap!
cheer and tap
until you drop.

Richardson dunk the ball
after Alex dribble it near the wall.

Dribble, dribble
the whole day
all our efforts have come to pay.

Thump, thump
we climb the stage,
to get our trophy colored beige.

After school program

The Math Test prep group I teach the day before the statewide test.

Do my students look like they're serious about the test? =)

Did I hear this right?

Teacher: "Look at your test score. You told me that you already understood the lesson and yes, you were able to answer most of the questions I gave you when we were practicing. How come you only scored 8 out of 25?"

Student: "Ms. A, I had everything right, I am very sure of that! Then this paper comes in and see all these wrong answers! I dunno what happened! I'm sure I had it all right."

*********
Teacher: "We are on the last week of writing our Realistic fiction and you are still working on the draft. Can you please stop talking with your classmates now and finish your story?"
Student: "But I don't want to finish my story!"

*********
Student commenting on a unit test: "Ms. A, their questions were a lot easier than mine that's why they all got high scores and I got everything wrong."

*********
Teacher: "What is 5 erasers divided by 2 children?"
Student: "I don't know Ms. A."
Teacher: "I've been teaching you how to divide."
Student: "No Ms. A, you've been asking me all these questions since we started this lesson."

*********
Teacher: "If Johnny had 18 pencils and he shared it equally to 6 of his classmates, how many pencils does each of Johnny's classmate has?"
Student: "I dunno. Johnny always borrow pencils from me."

*********
I never thought I'd hear this, but taddddaaaaaaah!
Teacher: "Where's your homework?"
Student: "I don't have any coz my dog ate it!"

If you have some sense of humor, you'll survive teaching in NYC! =)