Not my babies!!

Tomorrow will be a first for me. I'm leaving my kiddos to a sub. Don't get me wrong, I've been a full-time substitute before and I know there are a lot of wonderful subs out there. It's not leaving my little gals and guys to a sub that's concerning me, but it's my first time this school year not being in the classroom with them....and I'm sad.

I guess part of me is also concerned because I want to make sure they have plenty of quality work to do that's meaningful. I don't want to leave them with busy work, so they're working on projects that they've already been working on and I have some stations (or centers if you will) for them to also work on if there's time left.

Another part of my fear is cutting the apron strings, if you will, and that their behavior will be a testament to how well I manage my classroom. I do have confidence that my little guys and gals will behave well, but still...there's always that fear lingering in the back of my mind that will probably rob some of my sleep tonight and distract me during my day tomorrow.

I'm definitely going to miss those smiles and chatty voices. The talkative little girls excited to tell me their latest news, and the shy boys with their baseball caps on their heads and their hands in their pockets. I've become so attached to them and will miss them tomorrow. Perhaps I'll "forget" something in my room and have to go back to get it....you know, something that just can't wait for when they're gone to recess. That's okay, I'll get through the day and have them to myself on Friday.

I feel better now.

Testing, testing, testing....

I float around the Facebook and Pinterest worlds probably too frequently.  One is to socialize with family, friends, former and current colleagues, and former students and the other is to get new ideas for practically everything under the sun.  Frequently I'll come across cartoon or ecards making fun of standardized tests.  Like this one...

...and these ecards that we see everywhere...

Right now my state, and I'm sure many of the states, are in the midst of standardized testing.  If not now, then  they will be later on in the spring.  I can't help but think the rigorous scheduling and the strict regulations imposed on our students can be stressful in itself, never mind the content. How on earth does one expect 8 and 9-year-olds to sit still for 45 to 90 minutes without walking around?  I  can't even stay in one spot that long.  I must add, however, that our guidance department has done a fantastic job of scheduling the test sessions in a realistic manner, but just the same.  Let's just say it's a good thing our kiddos get a recess.  I'm just hoping the weather stays nice, at least until the test sessions are finished so they can continue to go outside to play.

One thing that I've tried to do before and after the testing time is do some stress-relieving breathing exercises and stretches.  After the second day they actually started looking forward to it.  They were so cute, because they thought I was forgetting and asked to do the stretches. I've also tried to give them activities, related to the content they're learning, of course, that was more on the creative side that gave them a mental break, at least for the rest of the morning.  One of the activities they worked on this week had to do with their social studies unit on communities.

I found this cute idea on Pinterest where they focused on 5 specific communities: their house, their city/town, their country, their continent, and their planet.  I gave them card stock with 5 circles.  Two of the circles they had to draw, such as their house and their town.  For their country, continent, and planet, I provided them with a copy already printed out that they just had to color.  Here's a picture of what we did:

This isn't the best picture, but you see how the end result looked.  I hung them on pushpins on the edge of our windows to display them.  Like I said, it was an easy project that meant something, but gave them a chance to relax a bit.

Another activity they did was to color and put together their scarecrows.  They came out cute and are now hung in our hallway outside of our classroom....

Below the scarecrows is the pumpkin I put together with sheets of orange card stock that I taped together in the back, drew the pumpkin, then laminated it after I cut it out.  The leaves have the Haikus that my students wrote about fall.  I showed them a nice autumn picture of a path in the woods, and they drew from their experiences to focus on what they might have seen, heard, smelled, tasted (like hot chocolate), or felt while they were in the woods.  I also have pumpkins that they will write short writing pieces on about other autumn experiences.  

Everyone else was doing trees with leaves, so I decided to take a different approach.  I don't always like following the crowd.  I've always been the type of person to go my own direction, after having been inspired by others, of course.

I'm really enjoying being a 3rd grade teacher.  Not that I didn't at first, but I'm beginning to feel more comfortable and have been thinking more like a third grade teacher than in the beginning.  I'm still a work in progress, but I think I'll always be one.

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!

Reinvention...

Hey everyone!

Let me introduce myself.  I'm a 42 year old wife, step-mom, and teacher who has reinvented herself several times over.  I've been married once before, which I like to refer to my other life, and have worked at various jobs, including an 11-year stint as a legal secretary.  After my divorce from my ex, I decided to take advantage of my new-found independence and follow my dream of becoming a teacher.  I had been graduated for 10 years and hadn't had any college experiences at all, so the whole idea was very new to me.  But nevertheless, I tested the waters and proved to myself that it was the right move for me and jumped in with both feet.  Fortunately it was more like a well-planned Olympic dive than the belly-flop that I feared it would be.

During my first marriage I was made to feel that I couldn't accomplish what I started, that going back to school would be a bad idea because I wouldn't be able to handle it and wasn't smart enough to finish.  Wasn't I proud each semester when my name would be posted in the local paper having made the Dean's list each time.  Then when I received a Presidential Award from my university for academic excellence, I couldn't have been more proud of myself.  A good part of me also felt like I was flipping the bird at those who used to tell me that I couldn't do it, and that I wasn't smart enough.  Just wait when they find out next spring that I've acquired my master's degree! HA!

Well, for the past 10 years I've paid my dues and eventually became a middle school language arts teacher, until this past year when my district decided to make cuts.  Yeah, I knew it was coming, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.  Fortunately I had the foresight to do what I had to do and started filling out applications and reconstructing my portfolio with proof of my ability to teach, use technology, and have some kind of knowledge of pedagogy.  Apparently I was convincing enough because I was hired in another district, the one I had worked in before as a full-time sub and had done my student teaching in.  In fact, I'll be working with the same two teachers I had worked with before while doing my student teaching.  The best thing is, I live between my old district and my new one so that means that my traveling won't change much, just the direction I'll be going.  Wonder how many times I'll turn toward my old district first before I finally turn the right way automatically? Anyhow, needless to say, I'm quite excited with my new position (grade 3), which starts in 3 weeks!

As for my family, I have a wonderfully supportive husband, who also decided to go back to school a few years ago and now works as a forester in the great outdoors.  I have two awesome stepsons, one who is a soccer player and has just received his learner's permit, and the other one who has just discovered that football is the sport for him.  I'll get into things more about them later.

I'm fortunate to have my parents, who have moved back to live in the house my mom was raised in, and I also have a beautiful sister who is nearly 12 years younger than me.  Yup...I was the built-in babysitter.  As much as I wanted to change that fact back when I was a teen, I look back now and wouldn't have had it any other way.

My hubby and I are doing the hobby farming thing.  We've done the chickens and cows before, but this year we've invested in more beef, chickens again, and this year we've added pigs.  So we, mostly my husband, keep busy with taking care of them all.  The chickens are my thing, but they won't be around for long.  My plan is for them to move from my back yard to my freezer this week.  It's not a pretty task, but it's one that I'll enjoy the rewards from all winter long.

So far I've reinvented myself by leaving an unhappy marriage, going back to school and making the grade, marrying my best friend and gaining 2 stepsons, changing from relying on others to provide my food for me to providing our own, changing careers a few times, and changing my view of myself as a couch-potato to an athlete, to a couch potato again, but that's a different story. To find out more, you'll have to stay tuned.  Until next time.....

Preparing my room....

Hey folks!

Well, today is the first time in several days I don't focus on my class.  I've either been planning here at home or working in my classroom getting it physically ready.  I have to change my frame of mind from middle school language arts to 3rd grade and teaching all subjects.  Not that I didn't have science, social studies, or math in mind from time to time when I was teaching middle school language arts, but I will now be teaching all of those subjects, and I need to start thinking that way.

My classroom was used as a storage/spare room last year, so there's a collection of a variety of things in there.  So you can imagine that it was quite bland and empty when I took out what I didn't need.

There were a lot of things on the shelf that I didn't need....

I was dealing with a blank slate...

There's a lot of sun that shines through those windows...

 

It was almost overwhelming.

 I've been working off and on for a few days, now that the floor is accessible.  Of course, I've made some progress, but there's still a lot of work to do.  School starts in less than 2 weeks and there's lots to do!!

I plan on using the Responsive Classroom approach, and the place I want to use for my morning meeting is here....

Granted it doesn't look like much of a spot right now, but trust me, it looks much better now.  I've purchased an area rug that I'll place there, there are a couple of bookshelves in the far right corner, blocking the back of the computer table that's now there.  My easel for the morning messages will be placed on that corner too.


Another thing I need to plan is where my centers will be.  My room looks much better now that I've done some work, but I haven't taken pictures yet.  I'll share them in my next post.  I think you'll see a pleasant difference.

Well, I began this post saying that I wasn't focusing on my classroom, but apparently that's all I've been doing.  Go figure!  Oh well, teaching is a large part of my life, so I should be more surprised if I don't think about my class, students, or the lessons I'm planning.  When that time comes, then it's probably time to consider another career. 

Guess I'll make myself a cup of coffee before we eat lunch and I head back to my class.  It's taking everything for me not to go right now.  I have to limit myself or I will literally spend the whole day there.  I have my rug to place, and I've prepared some bulletin board items to laminate and put up for my reading strategy board.  Things are coming together....