Kim Caise's Blog

I changed hosts and website names so please visit the new site at https://thecaisefiles.com. You can sign up for new posts to be sent to your email very soon. Students, be sure to bookmark the new website address as much more student, parent and educator information will be added as resources to help students be successful in the classroom.


You can also purchase a copy of my new children’s holiday book called, “A December to Remember”. For now, you can reach me by email, Facebook, Instagram, and here if you would like to purchase a copy of the book. Check out this Facebook for more information: https://www.facebook.com/kcaise/posts...

Join me on a holiday adventure!

In my opinion, first year teachers for the 2020-2021 school year deserve an award for perseverance and flexibility. Teachers have taught virtually, in-person, back to virtual and back to in-person teaching. This doesn’t create a strong sense of community because of a lack of stability for some students. Many students look to school for stability due to issues at home. This will be a long blog post but please read it all. Reading it all will be worthwhile.

My first year of teaching was not a normal one either. I graduated December 8, 1989 and December 11, 1989 I was teaching by myself in my own classroom. The previous week while I was in the workroom I overheard one of the teachers say, “There goes that room 10 again!”. I was taking over room 10. I responded that I was taking over that class and the conversation quickly ended. I knew then that I was in for a tough year especially coming in mid school year.

My first day came to a halting and frightening end when a parent had been watching from the window in the door and opened the door abruptly to yell at her child because he was ‘not paying attention’ to what I was trying to teach. When I graduated, I was 5’2” and weighed about 95 pounds. The parent was at least 6’2” and 250 pounds. I was no match to stand up to her and panicked when she flung open the door. I did my best to direct the parent to the office and regained control of the class. We had one week together and then went off to winter break for two weeks. Any ground I gained I lost as I had to start all over with rules, expectations and gaining control after the holidays.

About a month into teaching on my own, the same parent had been watching outside the door and again yanked it open and started yelling at her son. She proceeded to take him to the front of the class and announced she was going to ‘whoop him’ in front of us because he was not paying attention. She repeatedly hit him with her thick, long belt over and over. She was yelling, he was yelling and crying, my second grade students were crying and I had to send a student to the office to explain what was happening as we didn’t have a PA system to communicate to the office. Unfortunately, my principal was in a meeting so I was on my own. I kept telling the parent that this was not the place to do that and that she needed to go to the office. I don’t remember how but eventually the situation diffused itself and later I find myself face to face in the principal’s office with the counselor and parent. Definitely not where I wanted to be and they practically had to drag me in to meet with the principal, counselor and parent.

We pursued testing for the parent’s student for ED and when the nurse was examining him for hearing, temperature, vision, etc. she was attempting to take his blood pressure and noticed that the student had rubber bands around his wrists to keep his sweater sleeves in place. Underneath the sweater sleeves, were severe bruises that were slowly healing. On his torso, and I will and have never forgotten what I saw, were more bruises including a newer bruise of a belt that was about 2 inches wide with several holes for the buckle part to lock the belt in place. You could clearly see the outline of the belt and holes on the student’s dark African American skin. His legs had outlines of extension cords folded and several round circles of healed over skin that looked like a cigarette had been put out on the student’s arms and shoulders. It was horrifying, terrifying and something that has been unforgettable knowing what that 8 year old student must have repeatedly suffered.

We reported the parent for child abuse and the city social worker in to make a home visit. She called to set up an appointment to talk to the parent. The parent said she was doing her best and the house was neat, clean and tidy when the social worker visited. Because we had taken pictures, we had visible proof that the child abuse had occurred. When the parent was informed that the school was pursing things legally, I was told to keep my door locked all day and not to stay in the room when the dismissal bell rang. We did not have a PA system and knew the parent would be up there trying to confront me. She popped into the room the minute the bell rang and students were dismissed. I didn’t have a chance. I finally got her out of the room and headed straight for the office. The parent followed me down the hallway, down the stairs and to the office saying I had no right to report her, etc. I told her I wasn’t the one that did the reporting as I couldn’t think of much to say to this woman that towered over me and wore an ankle bracelet for beating up a guy at the nearest convenience store.

The principal and counselor intervened and were ready to ‘meet’ with the parent after school. The parent turned on the water works, which the principal and counselor were used to but I certainly wasn’t. Time went on and I think the parent received a warning and received a slap on the wrist. The parent later put the student in a student psychiatric home. I went to visit the student and the parent hadn’t been there in several days to visit her son. It was a very sad predicament. My principal told me that if I could make it to the end of the year, the rest of my teaching career would be a breeze compared to that year.

Things went on but whenever the parent popped in I had a panic attack. I would have to go over to my desk or a student’s desk and get my mind and breathing in order. I had to slow my heart rate down so that I could breathe and speak without shaking. My students would start crying and chaos would break out each time she popped in. We didn’t have outside doors locked and the parent would go in the back way so she wasn’t noticed by the admins to stop her from disrupting class. Eventually we got a retraining order that prevented her from coming on to campus unless she was specifically called to pick up her son.

Later on when the students were in fifth grade, the teacher told the student his parent had been called and was going to come and pick him up. I don’t know why the parent told the students that but he did. Every time the door would open, the students would stop what they were doing and look towards the door. They didn’t forget what happened just as I hadn’t and wouldn’t.

Teachers this year are experiencing severe emotional situations having to teach virtually, in person and in hybrid situations. Many schools have gone back and forth between virtual and in-person settings. Having to wear masks knowing that exposed students to COVID could set off a dangerous situation for their students, themselves and their families. Many students and teachers have lost relatives or their lives from COVID. Every day, teachers bravely go to school, face their students, and fight a formidable opponent to ensure that students are prepared for extra-curricular activities, sports, and college. This year has been like no other year but I can relate to having a first year like no other. I can partially relate to what first year teachers are experiencing this year. The emotional ups and downs, trying to figure out what needs to be taught and what should be a priority to prepare for testing – an YES, Texas is preparing to test students this year. All while trying to create a ‘normal’ environment for students to learn and excel in preparation for the next grade level or graduation.

Please keep this first year teacher in your thoughts. Many will not return to teaching after this first year. Many will have lingering emotional stressors and doubts in future school year. It is difficult to support a first year teacher when you are putting out ‘fires’ in your own classroom.

Despite it all, we do our best for our students no matter what subject or grade level we teach. Our hearts are in the right place. Reaching a student and making a difference in at least one life of our students is what makes it all worthwhile. Seeing a student suddenly experience success for the first time makes it all worthwhile. Having a student score a touchdown in the that night’s football makes it all worthwhile. Hearing that a student was accepted into the college of their choice makes it all worthwhile. Watching a student overcome daily obstacles to attend and engage in school activities, virtually or in-person, makes it all worthwhile. Observing a student doing their best work makes it all worthwhile. Teaching as a first year teacher makes it all worthwhile.

I am happy to share some exciting news with you! But first a few announcements.

Thank you to those who have stuck with my blog and supported my writing endeavors on this blog and the educational technology books that I have published. I have neglected my blog as I have been teaching online with a virtual learning school located in Massachusetts. That commitment is coming to an end. I appreciate everyone sticking around and visiting my blog when I have written a new post or presented at a face to face or virtual conference. I plan to continue to write blog posts and share resources that I believe will be valuable to educators.

Additionally, I still have some books on hand of each of my books that I have written and published. If you would like to order either the “Kid Detectives Classroom Gamification Learning Activities Mystery Adventure Quests” or “Transform theTeaching through Technology”, you can use contact form to order a copy. Each book is $7.99 and I can send you a PayPal invoice if you are interested in purchasing one of my books.

Recently, I received a huge compliment on Facebook from Ron Clark, Disney’s Teacher of the Year and whose teaching career experiences were made into a movie. He has been a huge role model since I first met him at TCEA many years ago when we were both much younger! I have read his books and have enjoyed hearing about events and accomplishments at his school, The Ron Clark Academy (RCA). RCA started a Club RCA for teachers to join (monthly fee) and participate in weekly webinars, training sessions, and conferences hosted by RCA.

I posted in a thread to the Club RCA FB page how when he hosted webinars each month from his school many years ago that I shared several resources for creating fake text messages, fake textbook pages, newspaper clippings, etc. Back then the tools were rather new and I learned about them from Chris Beigenho at TCEA. He created a very unique project for his students that was similar to a scavenger hunt, mysterious adventure, field trip, – complete with clues along with way as to where the students were going to travel in chaperoned and chauffeured vans. This is what gave me the idea to write about ‘adventure mystery quests’ and publish my first book.

In a recent Club RCA webinar, he was sharing the use of gamification in the classroom and how to create clues using several web tools to increase student engagement and excitement throughout a unit or project. Teachers ‘competed’ in teams to solve the very difficult and challenging clues Ron Clark set up and since it was summer teachers were up at all hours of the night responding to clues sent out through Instagram or text messages, etc.

Anyway, to make a long story longer, I shared this in a post and he responded to my post that we were ‘two peas in a pod!” Just hearing that I was thinking alike and approaching teaching and education similar to my role model was such a joy! That really encouraged me and thrilled me to no end to see his comment online. I had been going through a difficult time and my self-esteem and confidence was really boosted. Then I got word of some additional good news!

Now for more EXCITING news! I just started a full time remote learning teaching position with Edgenuity! My students will be located in Arizona and I will be teaching fifth grade – all subjects. Edgenuity works with school districts to provide virtual instructors and curriculum as well as for parents who are homeschooling their children. I really like the offerings and development of the curriculum courses for each grade level. The instruction is rigorous and thorough with high expectations for teacher productivity and student achievement. So far, I am enjoying my new virtual teaching position and will be sharing posts about my students and projects when time permits.

Thank you for reading the whole post of my exciting news announcements! Stay tuned for more posts and updates!

Thank you for attending my presentation today, July 10, 2020, at 1pm CST. I enjoyed interacting with you during my session and hope you found the tools and ideas shared to be useful and valuable for your new school year. Below are the slides and resources that I shared during my presentation. Hope you enjoyed the free virtual conference and hope to see you next year!

Also be sure to check out the two books I have written about using technology in the classroom: “Kid Detectives Classroom Gamification Learning Activities: Mystery Adventure Quests” and my second book available at Amazon is “Transform Teaching through Technology“. My first can be purchased here at my website for $7.99. Please fill out the contact form and I will send you an invoice.

Tools for Using Digital Media in the Classroom – EdChange Global 2020 Conference from Kim Caise

I am so excited to share with you that I will be presenting in the EdChange Global Virtual Conference on July 10th at 1pm CST. The title of my session is, “Tools for Using Digital Media in the Classroom”. I will be sharing several tools for using digital media and tools to enrich instruction using videos in the classroom with students. My session will apply to all content areas and most grade levels when you are creating videos or digital media with students. I have heard of kindergarten students creating videos, especially with Flipgrid, so creating digital media projects with little ones can be especially easy with some of the tools I will be sharing.

During the presentation, I will share ways to connect globally or create a global awareness using the tools discussed. I have presented a similar presentation last year on this same theme and have updated the slides and resources that will be shared. Hopefully you can attend. Conference registration and attendance is free so join us on July 10-11, 2020 for a time of fun sessions and lots of learning. You can register at this link: http://bit.ly/ECG20register.

Please join me at 9:45am in room 309 for this TCCA 2019 presentation titled, “Connecting Classrooms through Global Technology Collaborative Projects. Hope to see you there!

Connecting Classrooms through Global Technology Collaborative Projects – TCCA 2019 from Kim Caise

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This Saturday, October 26, 2019, I will be presenting at the Technology & Curriculum Conference of Aldine conference in Aldine, Texas. If you are planning to attend the free technology conference, please join my first session at 8:45am in room 309 titled, “Be Fearless with Online Videos and Tools”.  Below are the resources shared during my presentation.

Be Fearless with Online Videos and Tools from Kim Caise

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I recently received an email from Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon, co-founders of the Global Education Conference for 2019. The following information is from the conference website and newsletter.

Join Our Celebration of Globally Connected Teaching & Learning

The Global Education Conference Network invites you to submit a proposal to present at the 9th annual Global Education Conference. This annual celebration of globally connected teaching and learning will take place around the clock and online November 18-20, 2019. Present in your time zone at a time that is convenient to you!The conference seeks to present ideas, examples, and projects related to connecting educators and classrooms with a strong emphasis on promoting global awareness, fostering global competency, and inspiring action towards solving real-world problems.

All proposal submissions must specifically relate to the mission of the conference. Our focus is globally connected teaching and learning rather than general education topics. All educators and non-profit organizations are welcome to submit a proposal; for-profit entities must be a sponsor of the conference in order to share their information. Companies should contact Steve Hargadon at steve@hargadon.com for further details on opportunities to connect with our network.

This year’s conference strands are:

Teachers
Students
Curriculum
Leadership
Languages
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Study Abroad and Exchange Programs
Higher Education

Currently proposals are being accepted to present for the free, online conference. To submit a proposal, visit this link: https://www.globaleducationconference.org/page/call-for-proposals.

You can register for the conference at the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-2019-global-education-conference-registration-67143382665.

See you there!

 

Viva las Matematicas Appy Hour – CAMT19 from Kim Caise

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App-etizing ways to use mobile devices from Kim Caise

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