Mrs. Levine

Supplies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1 backpack with two side pockets for a water bottle (no wheels; large enough to hold a folder)
1 reusable water bottle (filled each morning with water)
1 pair of headphones (if you can; I have some)
1 set of extra clothes (shirt, shorts, underwear, socks)
1 container of disinfecting wipes (to wipe tables)
1 container of wipes (safe for sticky hands)
1 box of magic erasers (for our dry erase board and tables)
1 ream of copy paper (if you can)
2 reams of lined paper (we love to write)
1 box of tissues (for runny noses)
1 plain white T-shirt labeled with your child’s name (to decorate, for our October Character Parade)

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

My friends gave me these books. One, a conscientious parent, the other, a once-upon-a-time elementary school teacher. The books inspired an idea.

Each week, on my outside bulletin board, I will display a paragraph, sprinkled with a few missing letters, and ask the question, What do you think the title of the book could be?

The following week, I will display the answer (the title) and hang up a new paragraph.

How Safe Are Our Schools?

Sat, 04 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I grabbed these from a pile in my daughter’s closet.

On Thursday, I left work. The frustration of not being heard — over and over again.

I work 4.7 miles from Stoneman Douglas High School and yet….

We don’t have a perimeter fence. Anyone can park in the lot and walk by classroom windows until they get to the single point of entry.
As you pull into the school, there is a field to the right. I could jump that fence and have access to portables, the three-story building and the main building.
The three-story building is the same model as the three-story building that still sits on the campus of Stoneman Douglas High School, untouched until the end of the trial. He was able to get into that building because the three-story building was unlocked.
The front door of our three-story building has been unlocked all year, because our principal decided that teachers could not handle the responsibility of having keys, worrying they would lose them. And somehow, this policy, to keep doors unlocked, was, until the Texas shooting, at the principal’s discretion.
The backdoor of our main building was also unlocked so that teachers from the three-story building could get into the main building without a key.
And for some unknown reason, other than administration not feeling like making any more moves, I spent the year in a portable with just one neighbor, our P.E. Coach. All other teachers moved into the main building or the three-story-building at the start of the 2021–2022 school year because enrollment was down and there were lots of empty rooms.
There were empty rooms on the third floor of the three-story building but I could not go there because second graders are not allowed on the third floor. So for me to move, another teacher, who could be on the third floor, would have had to move and an administrator told me that they did not want to make anyone else move.
After the Texas shooting, some higher beings decided that all doors in all buildings needed to be locked.
Last week, when I was trying to leave work, I was trapped. I walked from my portable to the three-story-building and the door was locked. I need access to either the three-story building or the main building to get to the parking lot. I walked over to the main building, but as expected, that was locked too.
I called a friend, who is also a colleague, and took a deep breath. She came down from the second floor of the three-story building and let me in. When I got home, I emailed the principal. He assured me that this would not happen again.
It happened again. This time I was locked out of the main building with a student. This time I imagined seeing an armed person. There would have been nowhere to go.
A colleague came out of the main building, heading to the three-story building, and the student and I went inside; she headed to her class and I chose the office instead of my original destination. To say something. But the principal told me that he was busy and he could not talk to me.
According to his email to the higher beings, I misunderstood. He said that I was asked to wait a minute because he was busy working on safety issues. Of course I would have waited if I had been asked to wait.
He needed to protect himself. That’s how it works. That’s what happened four years ago too. I expected nothing different.
Later that day, I approached an assistant principal who was standing guard at the three-story building. He told me to be patient. Patient was part of the principal’s email too.
This assistant principal told me that that they were trying to put a Band-Aid on the situation until the end of the school year. He also asked me where the security guard was, the one who should have been there to let me into the building. A Band-Aid? Where the guard was?
Yet, I still felt it would be wrong to call downtown. We are conditioned to feel that way.
I began explaining my frustration. The assistant principal, wearing dark sunglasses, told me that my voice was too loud and that he felt that I was yelling at him — It was time for me to call downtown.
The next day. Lots of people. Lots of chaos. Unarmed people at every door letting me in and out. Not sure how that would work if there were a shooter. But okay.
Thursday. I just wanted calm. I just wanted to come into work and do my job.
I got to the end of the main building, to exit towards my portable, when I saw a group of teachers. One explained without me asking. They were locked out of the three-story building, waiting to be let in. Instead of waiting outside, they waited inside. I assume because it felt safer.
But then one teacher proceeded to say that it was all okay. That our principal was doing the best he could. That she had been locked out for thirty minutes the other day and she was fine with it.
I continued to my portable. A few minutes later, a colleague, a friend, came to my door. She made me smile. A birthday card, a slice of cake and a quart of mint chip ice cream. I headed over to the three-story building where a friend had a freezer. As I approached the building, an unarmed guard opened the door.
We had become friendly over the past days. He had arrived a few days earlier. To my right, I saw the principal and the assistant principal talking to people. The guard thought I would be happy. That they were talking about refitting the locks and giving teachers keys that would open their classrooms and buildings. I looked at him and started crying. He understood. He hugged me. Over four years. Over four years to lock the doors and get me a key?
I went upstairs, knocked on my friend’s door, went inside, and then I knew. I couldn’t stay. I was exhausted.
I walked to my portable, put in an absence for the rest of the day and drove home. I took off my contacts, got into sweatpants and a t-shirt, grabbed a notebook and wrote down my thoughts. I called downtown — again.
This time I was prepared. I was calm and articulate. I found two people. Their names are now in my phone. I never have to try to work things out at my job again. If I have a problem, I will call them. I took Friday off too.
I almost didn’t write this story because I don’t want to feel this way. I just want to write happy stories. Happy stories about teaching.
But I decided it was okay. And it is helping me. It does not mean that I am a negative unhappy person. And maybe sharing this story will motivate more change.
It has been really hard to be a teacher lately — for a while. And it’s absolutely not because I don’t love these kids.
I am going to press publish and then I am going to enjoy this rainy day. Hannah sent me a story of someone turning in their guns. That made me happy, and there will be a March again, on June 11, and that made me happy too.
I am excited that next school year I will have keys to the buildings, and I am moving into a great room on the first floor of the three-story building, where I will create a space for my ELA Special, a job I am so excited about.
I am hopeful that some of you out there can search for your connections and keep fighting too. Fight for gun reform. Fight for safer schools.
I just want to go to work on Monday and smile and laugh and enjoy my last week before I get a much needed eight week break to take care of me.
Thank you for listening.

A Filled Bucket

Mon, 30 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Back to the untethered soul.

This is your life — reclaim it.You stay open by never closing. It’s really that simple.

You can learn to stay open no matter what happens in the world.
Closing your heart does not really protect you from anything.

On Sunday, May 22, I sent an email to my team.

No more lack of empowerment

As you know, we are having a substitute shortage and I will need to be available over the next three weeks. There is a chance that I don’t get pulled but I won’t know until the mornings. Therefore, I am no longer having formal groups.

There’s a Hole in my Bucket,

Sat, 21 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Photo taken on Friday, May 20, at 10:55 am

Two students from my 10:30 reading group just adore this book. They sit together laughing as they sing aloud the words.

Watching them, sitting with them — absolutely fills my bucket. But, for some reason, right now, it just isn’t enough.

There is a hole in my bucket, and I am trying so hard to fix it.

I used this book for many years. I couldn’t find it today, but I did find this.

So much more

Sun, 08 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t remember how I first discovered BECAUSE, but once I did, I had to have it.

This past Tuesday, instead of leveled readers, BECAUSE sat alone on the Guided Reading table. Waiting.

So much to talk about.

A score is the music written by a composer. Mo Willems wrote the words for this book. He is like a composer.

A performance is when a group of musicians play their instruments on stage, in front of an audience. Amber Ren drew the pictures for this book. She created a performance for us, the readers.

Connections

Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

One of my most important responsibilities.

“….that students will see meaning, relevancy, or emotional connections to their own lives,” and that I “actively work at helping students make these connections.” (Whitman & Kelleher*,* p. 89)*
Neuro Teach: Brain Science and the Future of Education*

The Color Monster

My students and I needed a reboot. We needed a pause. The end of the school year is approaching. Lots of assessments. Lots of urgency. Lots of noise.

Money, Measurement & Number Lines

Sun, 24 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

“One thing we know from psychology about the learning process is that the act of reaching into your brain, grabbing some knowledge, pulling it out, chewing on it, talking about it, and putting it back helps you learn. Psychologists call this elaborative encoding…. We’re trying to get math teachers to help students engage in that process of elaborative encoding.”

Jon R. Star, a psychologist and professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. (“One way is the wrong way to do math. Here’s the right way,” The Harvard Gazette, 2021).

Quiet No More

Sat, 16 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Once a month, teachers at my school attend professional learning communities, otherwise known as PLCs.

“A PLC is a team of educators who share ideas to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential.”

Last week, administration asked for suggestions for next year’s PLCs. I emailed the principal. I heard back. I typed my thoughts and met with the assistant principal in charge.

the untethered teaching soul

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

When I finished reading this book I understood that the pain I felt in my chest every day before I left for work was fear. I was grateful to finally understand. I now know how to set myself free.

“You will realize that you not only have the ability to find yourself, you have the ability to free yourself.”

Right here. Right now.

I really cannot explain why those are the words that I heard after writing this quote. But as soon as I wrote them, I paused.

Does Teaching Make Me Happy?

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have been on Spring Break; I return to work on Monday.

I am supposed to return to work on Monday.

Monday is a planning day.

I woke up with that pain in my chest, the anxiety I have felt my whole life when it is time to return to school, the noise, the chaos…

I just logged into Employee Self Service to see how many personal days I have left.

My Grandma’s Lesson Plans

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This is my grandma. In the first photo, she is with my 6-year-old son, and in the second photo, she is with my newborn daughter. These are her handwritten kindergarten lesson plans from 1955, kept in a binder.

My grandma was proud to say she was a kindergarten teacher, and she loved sharing her stories about her years working for the New York Public School System.

One of her favorite things was when I came over and talked to her about my students — my classroom — my day.

Checking for Understanding

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On Monday morning, I sat at the kitchen counter — my usual spot. With my coffee and a book. Before heading out to work.

Three weeks ago, I read Nicholas Fair Nowak’s story , “Teachers on Medium Assemble,” where I learned about Neuro Teach.

A few days later, it arrived.

Monday morning.

I took something I read, something clearly meant for high schoolers, and went with it.

“We have found that there is a brief, fragile, fleeting moment of honesty and vulnerability immediately after an assessment (activity) that we can tap into — provided the earnest trust of the teacher is there — when many students will reflect on their learning with a remarkable level of insight and honesty. As teachers, we find that taking the time to read these (to talk with students) and reply back very promptly goes a long way to helping forge these important ongoing discussions between the student and teacher about his or her learning” (Whitman, Kelleher, 2016, p. 55).

Channeling Marie Kondo

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The minute I heard about Netflix’s Tidying Up, I knew I had to watch. Nobody loves to tidy up more than I do.

And the more I watched. The more I understood.

“Her effortless tidying and careful, considerate regard for her home inspired Marie to cherish what you own and to live with intention and care.”

And this led to my effortless tidying and careful, considerate regard for my classroom which inspired me to cherish what I have and teach with intention and care.

The KonMari Method™️.

“Designed to help you never revert to clutter again, Marie’s teachings are centered by the Method’s one-of-a-kind selection criterion — if something brings you joy, keep it!”

PS

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On Tuesday morning I got to see four of my five reading groups. 16 seven and eight-year-olds who are just finding learning to read more difficult than others. Maybe how Gracie felt trying to reach the top of the water bottle.

I wanted to take the time to share their joy with Mr. Spiers and all of those who clapped and commented for Gracie We Love You. I felt like I owed everyone a PS.

An Educational Overhaul

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Part 1: Making Our Schools Feel Smaller

I work at an elementary school with over one-thousand students. Prekindergarten, kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade classes are strewn throughout the main building. There is an office inside. Inside that office, you will find the principal, two assistant principals, a literacy coach, and two guidance counselors.

Exit the main building and walk down the covered pathway. Double doors welcome you to a three-story building, with second grade, third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade classrooms — and empty classrooms too.

Gracie

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On Monday, February 14, I took off work. It’s a day to remember. It’s a day to mourn.

Four years ago, I made a promise. To teach my students what kindness looks like. To show my students that kindness matters. To love them and listen to them and show them that they matter.

Thank you, John Spiers — for helping me keep this promise. Kindness looks like you.

I choose my Read Alouds very carefully. On Tuesday, February 15, I read aloud a picture book I had planned for weeks before Peep! arrived in the mail. Wednesday, I had an all-day RTI meeting so Thursday would be the day that I eagerly introduced my students to their new book, a small chapter book. We would read one chapter a day.

The Thoughtful Teacher

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I wake up with these thoughts
They just pop in my head
Tuesday’s math groups were bleh
So we’ll do this instead.

They’ll get three paper squares
Writing numbers on each
I’ll tape them together
After that I will teach.

I’ll cut long paper strips
Fold them into a stack
They will use them today
To count forward and back.

Drinking coffee with cream
Is my self-given perk
I jump into my car
Heading straight off to work.

Mundane to Meaningful

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I remember the first time I was told I was going to have an LLI group. I was an ELA Specials teacher, part of the rotation with Art, Music, PE, Media, and Science. My literacy coach called me into her office and told me that instead of meeting with pre-k at 8:30am, I would now be taking an LLI group.

I started crying.

Real tears. Not the crocodile kind.

LLI, Leveled Literacy Intervention is a purchased program that “provides daily, intensive, small-group instruction, which supplements classroom literacy teaching.”

Ten Keys to Happier Teaching

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Being a teacher these last two years has not been easy.

This year, I accepted a new position. Each morning, I am supposed to meet with five reading groups. Each week, I am supposed to go into eight classrooms to run a writing workshop. Each afternoon, I am supposed to provide an extra dose of number sense.

This week, I did none of these.

Instead, I was a substitute teacher — again.

A Day in the Life of an Elementary School ESSER Teacher

Sun, 23 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

“The purpose of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund) is to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.”

Our county used these funds to hire ESSER teachers, and at the end of the 2020–2021 school year, I, without hesitation, accepted the offer to be an ESSER teacher for the upcoming school year.

I provide academic support to second graders.

9 Things I Have Heard Elementary School Students Say That Truly Broke My Heart

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I CANNOT READ.

Of course you can read. You are reading right now…. Tell me what the story is about. I would love to listen…. Yes. That does say bear…. I can help you with other words you may not know. I know more words than you because I have been reading for a long time, but even though I read a lot, I don’t always know all the words…. Picture books are great. I wish I could draw like that…. I love graphic novels too…. That looks like a great choice. May I read with you?

How Being a Second Grade Teacher for a Week Changed How I Look at Education

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

With “more than 75% of school principals and district leaders having trouble finding enough substitutes to cover teacher absences this year,” I wasn’t surprised when ,on the first day back after Winter Break, I received an email stating that instead of meeting with my usual groups, I would be a second grade substitute teacher for the next five days.

By Friday, I was grateful.

It had been over five years since I had been a classroom teacher, and this is what I learned.

How I, a Jewish Mom and Teacher, Navigate the Season

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I woke up this morning to find a text from Hannah. A TikTok of a current trend. A girl her age lip-synching to, “I know something you don’t. I know something you will never know.”

The caption read, “My Jewish ass when the other kids in class would talk about Santa.”

Behind this girl was an elaborate Hanukkah display with lights, bears, and menorahs.

Right away, I knew the connection. I texted back, “I love this.”

A Book in the Hand Is Worth Two on the Shelf

Mon, 27 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Hannah decided on Colleen Hoover’s, It Ends with Us, for our two-person book club, and when she returned from college, home for Winter Break, a copy of the book was on her bedroom dresser, patiently awaiting her arrival.

A few nights later, Hannah was ready to read.

I quickly put on my go-to pajama bottoms, favorite t-shirt, and five-dollar Amazon Readers. I plopped down on her bed — right beside her.

An Extra Dose of Number Sense

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Every afternoon, I welcome two groups of second graders, at two different times.

They come with high expectations; when they leave, thirty minutes later, they assume that they will understand math more than they did the day before, and that is on me.

Lesson plans follow our math department’s Scope and Sequence, which is “an important step in the design of effective teaching and learning programs”.

Our county’s Scope and Sequence includes a timeline for me to follow so I know when to teach specific math standards.

So far, we have dived deeply into eleven standards. Fifteen more to go.

A Picture Book a Day Keeps the Doldrums Away

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Since reading the picture book Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham, I have wanted to sing its praises to the world. Now I am thinking that a Picture Book Club for grownups might just be the answer.

On Wednesday, while reading it aloud to my students for the very first time, my chest tightened and an unrequested silence filled the air.

LeUyen Pham’s book spoke a story that all of us understood. It not only connected me to my students; it connected me to the world.

A Planning Sheet to Inspire Our Youngest Writers

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Each week, I walk to the second-grade classrooms, with a pep in my step, eager to sit in my designated chair ready to welcome any young author wanting to talk with me about their writing.

On my first visits, I came with folded sheets of construction paper, each prewritten with a student’s name. Inside each folder was a twice-folded piece of notebook paper with pencil- traced folds that created four boxes. I had numbered each box: one, two, three, and four. Box 1 included WHO, and WHERE. Box 4, a heart. There was also a folder for me.

For the Love of Reading

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It was August 18 of 2021. I felt the hope and excitement of so many parents, children and educators. Our schools were opening their doors, without the option of remote learning, for the first time in over a year. As much as I hoped for the best, it took just a few weeks to see that Covid19 had wreaked academic havoc on our youngest students.

I had a new position, working with second graders, in an effort to help them recover from lost learning due to the pandemic, and to help close this achievement gap (that just grew wider), I knew that small group research-based reading instruction just wasn’t enough. If they were going to become readers, they needed to want to read, and I knew that if I wanted them to love books, I needed to become the role model they so desperately needed. I made a decision to stop watching television and I became a voracious reader who can tell her students that she absolutely loves to read and mean it.

The Purpose of the Passage in Teaching Writing

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Alison Levine teaches Creative Writing at a public elementary school in Coconut Creek, Florida. She has been a gifted resource teacher, an elementary school classroom teacher and a middle school language arts teacher. She is passionate about reading current research on education and implementing new strategies in her classroom. Alison loves taking long walks and spending time with family and friends. She especially loves being a mom to her two children, Charlie and Hannah.

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