Reflecting on my first 6 weeks...

What a busy first 6 weeks!  I've actually been on break for two weeks for our harvest, and we're going back tomorrow.  I've had to go through a metamorphosis of my own kind just to transition from a middle school teacher to a 3rd grade teacher, and at times I didn't handle it well.  I did at school, but didn't at home.  I became a stressed-out "B", losing my patience and even allowing myself to get into arguments with people other than my husband.  That's unlike me.  Needless to say that this two week break did me wonders.

It took me a few days to clear the cobwebs from my head, and when my thoughts were clear the creativity came out.  Since I discovered Pinterest this spring, I have been addicted to it.  At first I was pinning any food items that I might possibly attempt, but still haven't, then I started looking at the craft items, then when I found out that I'll be teaching 3rd grade, then I've been pinning anything that I thought I could use.

Some of the items I've pinned have had to do with centers, or stations.  How to organize the different activities and how to manage it.  Before school began, I had no idea what I could utilize centers in my class, then I talked with other teachers and learned about some of their strategies.  When our break began and I started to relax, then I began knowing exactly what I was looking for.  I found one center idea based on the Daily 5.  I'll admit, I haven't read up on it so I don't know exactly how it's supposed to be used.  But, I did love the anchor charts that I found and copied them.  I then began working on my activities.

I picked up a couple of stiff poster boards that fold in 3rds; the ones usually used for science fair projects, and decided to make them my help boards.  I probably don't have the terminology quite right, but my intention is for them to be helpful for my students.  One was set up for math and the other for language arts.

This one is my math help board.  The box in front of it has activities for them to do.  This will be for math practice and enrichment when they're finished working early, and during math Title 1 pull-out time.

This one is my language arts help board and in front if it are activities, which are also for practice and enrichment when they're finished working early or during language arts Title 1 pull-out.

I used to have the math one on a bulletin board in the front of the classroom, but felt I needed that one for other purposes, so using their portable bulletin boards allows me to place it where I need it most, when I need it.  Even though they're in one spot right now, I can move them to the front if I need to refer to them during a lesson.

One thing that I've been busy doing is writing projects to submit to Donorschoose.org.  I've already received a document camera and over break received a projector and some books, all that were funded by donors.  I haven't opened the boxes for the projector or books yet, because I want my students to enjoy that pleasure with me, but below is what my document camera looks like opened up and folded.  It's the coolest thing!!

This is the camera opened.  I can place anything under the lens and it will project on the screen without needing transparencies!

And here it is all closed up.  I can put it in my laptop case and use it to do a presentation elsewhere if needed.  Did I mention that I think it's the coolest thing ever?

One of my favorite activities that it's been used was when my students and I were examining an egg.  We were learning the parts of the egg and what their purposes were for.  I was able to place the cracked egg in a cup under the camera and it projected on the whiteboard.  We then labeled the egg right on the board before they continued with their experiment.  It was such a useful tool!

The picture isn't that clear, but you can see how the egg is displayed on the whiteboard and see how we labeled the parts.

I now have 2 new projects on Donorschoose.org that I'm looking to have funded.  One is for math centers, which are all aligned to the Common Core Standards, and another is for stability ball chairs for my students to sit on instead of the uncomfortable chairs they have right now. 

This is the link to my math centers: http://www.donorschoose.org/project/creating-independent-learners-in-math/858946/

This is the link to my stability ball chairs: http://www.donorschoose.org/project/stability-balls-to-help-us-stay-focused/887271/

There's so much more that I could write about, but there's plenty of time for me to bring those topics up in another blog post.  Have to go make some lunch!  Until next time!