Well, I had my formal observation from my principal today. Do kids just go nuts at the wrong time? I chose my second period class, they are my best and brightest, but sometimes my froggiest. they love to go off-topic, but it is because they are interested in the subject and are hungry for more. However, in the middle of my observation, I look down, and there is a child out of his seat with the wrong group. Another decides to carry on a conversation with a friend while I am giving instructions. Arrrrgh! I feel like Lucy is going to pull that football away from me everytime!
I tried my "found poems" today with my kids. Mistake. When do 6th grades start to use their brains? Ever? They are so stuck in concrete thinking. I told them that they had to use the words in the text, but to not lift sentences, phrases, etc. What did I get? Lifted sentences, phrases, and what amounted to bullet lists of facts about each country. I modeled for them, I showed them the found poem I wrote about Great Britain, and showed the text where I got it from. As fighter pilots of yore used to say when they returned to base with no claims against the enemy, "no joy". Even my principal laughed at second period and said, "boy, it's terrible when someone asks you to use your brains, huh?" :) Here's the kicker: my first period class, with 2/3rds of the kids with reading IEP's, etc. got it. They were all over it. I told some of the SPED teachers about it and they ROTFLTAO and said "well, it's no wonder, most of them can't write a complete sentence to save their lives, they saw this, and thought it was pay dirt!" If a plan can go wrong, mine will it seems. Oh well, I can always go back to subbing. ;)
Does anyone besides me find it so darned difficult to get kids up to higher order thinking? These kids are really great, I love them to pieces*, but good gosh they make me pull my hair out when it comes to getting them up where they belong!

* I had a dream about my kids last night. (Remember the end of the movie "Raising Arizona?) I dreamed I was helping them with something, but they were all rabbits! Their little faces were still there, but they were all rabbits! I told my wife, the psych major, and she said that at least on a subconscious level I view my children as something sweet and lovable. I guess so.