The Hoggatteer Experience - THE HOGGATTEER REVOLUTION

This Eagle Still Flies

5/31/2015

With all the "turmoil" at the top of the food chain in our school district of late, I'm kind of glad to be one of the foot soldiers on the battlefield. At times, it appears that the struggle could better be joined by the boots on the ground, rather than in chairs around a big table. Whatever happens with our school board and upper, among resignations and politics, the walls of our school still stand, the teachers are still committed to do our best, and our students still have the same needs today that they had yesterday.

Even if the head of the dragon is cut off (or temporarily in a state of convulsion), this dragon (this eagle) still flies. I know this is true.

I have withstood anguish of a terrorist bomb and an EF5 tornado. I have ridden the rollercoaster, and I know that as sure as the sun sets every evening, it always rises the next morning. Until the rules of the universe change, this statement is true. So, while the current political turmoil in our fair city sometimes looks like the latest reality TV show, this too will pass.

Eventually.

Word Tamer

5/30/2015

Keep on top of your writing with this fun site:

Last Day of School Speeches

5/29/2015

For the last four years, my class has upheld a tradition. Rather than giving a heartfelt speech of my own, I have invited students to deliver impromptu speeches of their own. They simply address their classmates...and the tears flow. Presentations come from the least likely sources, and their messages are sincere. This is the day when I finally get to see proof that my students have been listening to me!

On this last day, we had several students announce that they would be moving out of our area and would not return for fifth grade. For these, the announcement was hard and sad; for the others, it was shocked and sad. I loved hearing the mantra that We are family repeatedly, as tears flowed throughout the day, having started earlier during our slide show (It turns out I snapped 1,130 photos, this school year, most of which were posted on the website as they occurred.).

Wherever they go - whether they stay at Cecil Floyd for another year, move to another community, or transfer to a private school - my message was simple: take what you've learned to your new class. Look them in the eye, offer a hearty handshake, say Yes, ma'am and No, sir. Use mannerly language: Thank you, You're welcome, Excuse me, and I'm sorry, and never forget that Once a Hoggatteer, always a Hoggatteer.

A Former School Made of Bricks...and History

5/28/2015

It looks as if the first school I taught for may soon receive a makeover. I wrote about Page-Woodson before, how it was built in 1911 and was designated as a segregated Negro high school. The building has sat empty for the last few years, but a developer proposes turning the old structure into apartments.

In the recent Daily Oklahoman article, I learned some things about the abandoned school that I had never heard before. Most notable is that Duke Ellington actually performed on that beautiful stage. If only I had known such when I stood in the wings as I wandered the school. I might have been inclined to listen for some ghostly jazz riffs emitting from the floor boards. I might have taken a seat in the auditorium to imagine Ellington's orchestra warming up to play one of his original compositions. Who knew the impact of Ellington better than a black high school student in the inner city in the 1960s! I can only imagine the influence such a powerful entertainer might have had in the community.

Not only that, but Ralph Ellison and Russell Perry also left a bit of themselves at Page-Woodson. Ellison wrote a book called The Invisible Man (not to be confused with the H. G. Wells science fiction novel). His book was an editorial about the feelings of a black man living in a "white world". Apparently the book struck a chord with many at the time of its writing, perhaps even encouraging some to do something about their "invisibility". Russell Perry went on to publish his own black newspaper, again giving voice to a minority people.

Indeed black history is unique history. There is a story here that isn't told in generic history books. It may be ugly and dirty, contentious and angry, but there it is, sitting right there below our noses, waiting to be dug up and told, even though it might be a bit at a time. I would have liked to have know where I stood 25 years ago as I embarked upon my new career. Most of the students in my history classes there were minorities. I can imagine they might have wanted to know something about "their people" in that place. Heritage is important, as it lends to pride and importance. I wold have liked to have known that the building around me actually was a part of the history I needed to teach.

Since reading the article in the Daily Oklahoman, I have been contacted by a young lady who lives in central Texas. Coincidentally, this lady attended the fifth grade at Page-Woodson just four years prior to my arrival on the scene.

The young lady confessed that "Until the 6th grade, I was never in the same school for two consecutive years." In fact, a few years earlier, she had attended the second school at which I taught - Buchanan Elementary - in the very classroom I would call my own for four of the five years I was there. As one might predict, our correspondence since her initial message to me has been rife with "small world" references. Even connecting with a stranger about common ground has been interesting: even though we all know that buildings are not living entities, we can all still recognize that certain buildings exude certain personalities and quirky traits to the people who dwell inside their walls.

I remember what my classroom looked like, the way the hallways and staircases looked, the radiators, being in the auditorium and the gymnasium, seeing the pool, etc. I remember the school seeming so big back then! I remember that it seemed really old, but it also seemed clean to me back then. Of course, I was just a 5th grade kid....ha!

I didn't live near the school back then. I was bused quite a ways to get there...

While I will likely never never meet this current attorney who never had the chance to settle for long enough to make friends or deep connections with teachers, she and I have felt the vibe that Page-Woodson puts off. I wonder, when the developer transforms those classrooms into affordable apartment spaces and the iconic auditorium into a refurbished theater, if he will also schedule performers, speakers, and activists to revive the message of men and women who perceive themselves as not having a voice. Effectively done, such a revival could return pride to an inner city neighborhood.

Multiplication Masters

5/27/2015

I tested and retested the class, this year, to try to improve our ability to multiply single-digit numbers, from 0x0 to 9x9. With this effort, every student improved, and 11 Hoggatteers earned Multiplication Master status. While I hope to have every student thoroughly fluent in this area, 11 is a record number. My biggest disappointment in this area is that some students are still performing below 60%. For me, this is unacceptable: parents, please work on this over the summer! As teachers, we tend to see the deficiencies, but let's take some time to celebrate the successes. Here is the list of our masters for the 2014/5 school year:

EMMA
NEVI
MAYCEE

DANIELLE
JAYLA
MICHAEL

MORGAN
BREYDON
ALEXIA

VICTORIA
KAYDEE

Pie in the Face

5/26/2015

Well, it finally happened. At our final assembly, this year, two young men were rewarded for their achievement at the regional Math League competition. MATTHEW and COLE took their mathematical abilities to the contest and earned spots at the state level of the competition. Because of this, they earned the opportunity to pie the coaches in the face - an opportunity that COLE in particular took quite seriously.

Mr. Culbertson and I are all too eager to allow such humiliation in our lives if it encourages our pupils to put a little extra effort into their success. Our world may some day thank them for trying a little bit harder.

100% Homework

5/25/2015

How about this list? Twelve students finished out the year with 100% Homework.
That's for the entire year. That's three more students than last year!

JAYLA
DANIELLE
ESMERALDA

NEVI
SARA
EMMA

MICHAEL
BREYDON
ELI

JACOB
WILLIAM
ETHAN

Music Appreciation: Fix You

5/24/2015

Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously
as a group.

Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency -
the speed, accuracy,
and inflection of oral reading.

Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song?

"Field" Day: Constantly Moving

5/23/2015

The final two rotations for our Field Day
were a dancing station and a series of weird relay races.
I'm pretty sure we wore the students out.

Class Dojo: End-of-Year Data

5/22/2015

This was the third year to use Class Dojo in my classroom. With the program, we were able to track positive and negative points based on behaviors and choices made by students. The donut graph below illustrates the results from the 2014/5 school year in Room 404. Green areas of the donut represent our positive points, and red areas indicate area in need of improvement.

All in all, our class earned 2,207 positive points (150 less than last year's class) and 354 negative points (40 less than a year ago).

When one does the math, we discovered that we were 87% positive.

The highest earning area was Accepting Responsibility with 1,291 points

The second highest earning area was Showing Respect with 575 points.

EMMA was clearly the highest earner, having taken a large early lead and never relinquishing it. She ended the year with 197 points, single-handedly earning almost 9% of the class's total positive points.

"Field" Day: Bouncing

5/21/2015

Our cafeteria hosted three "bounce houses" for our next rotation.

"Field" Day: Cool Treats and Cool Kids

5/20/2015

At our next station, students were treated with a frozen treat before some free play with hula hoops and jump ropes. Viewers, take note of the firm handshakes of appreciation.
The ice cream guy doesn't get that kind of reception every day!

Hoggatteers: The Next Class

5/19/2015

Welcome to the our newest (2015/6) Hoggatteers!

Girls

Boys

TAYLOR
KAIDA
KRISTA
KAHLYN

JOURNEY
KAITLYN
JASMINE
TARYN

SARRENITY
BROOKLYN
TRYNADI
PAYTON

CARSON
CONNER
CONNOR
THOMAS

JEREMY
CADIN
GUNNER
LUCAS

KAIN
DANIEL
TAYVIN
ZAYNE

We talk a lot about our class being a family, but our next class seems to make that truer than ever. Starting in August, I will teach the siblings of former students JACOB, NATHANAEL, ELLA, TOSHA, CORALEE, and FAITH and this year's Hoggatteers BREYDON and WENDELL, as well as the niece of former student CANDACE.

"Field" Day: Obstacle Course

5/18/2015

The second station for our Field Day was an obstacle course in the gym.

"Field" Day: Bowling

5/17/2015

The forecast called for a chance of rain for Friday, despite our scheduled Field Day.
As often happens in the spring, our forecast was wrong.
That didn't keep us from holding our Field Day indoors. The first station was bowling in the library.

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