1st Quarter Blues

Is it true?  It can't be?  1st quarter already nearing the end????  It seems like you spend so much of first quarter setting the path for the rest of the year...and you should too, BUT then it comes time for the first quarter grade reports and I am wondering how I am going to fill them in.  Grade cards have changed so much this year.  I feel like I will be winging it this time around.  Never mind that I feel like I am not ready to grade on much of my units, especially in Social Studies.  Writing and reading are so much easier to grade.  I spend most of my time on this and work samples are readily available.  Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do.

Now on to better thoughts!  I just went to a CPI conference on Enhancing Verbal Skills.  It was fantastic!  I learned so much and validated even more of what I know.  It's almost frightening how much power just our verbal skills have when dealing with students.  We have the power to de-escalate or escalate any given situation at any time.  It is going to be exciting sharing this new information with staff.  I just can't wait.  Some of my favorite phrases I heard this week were:

Be quick to listen and slow to speak when intervening in a crisis.
You think you know what I said.  But what you don't know is, what I said is not what I meant.
Crisis reveals character...ours!


Just some food for thought!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

The first weeks of school are always so busy.  Meetings, planning, meet the teacher night, curriculum night, professional development...the list goes on and on.  To top it off, I am out in the back this weekend.  Last training must of did me under.  Bummer.  So much to do today and so little done.  Guess it will have to wait.

So the best part of school so far--Daily 5 and departmentalizing our classes.  I absolutely love being able to focus on Reading, Writing, and Social Studies this year K-5.  I began using Daily 5 and love it! The kids seem to enjoy the opportunity to choose their own learning for that day.  Here are some links to my favorite resources:
        Daily 5 Rubric
        Daily 5 Posters--I use western theme but they have a huge selection of free themes available.
        Favorite back to school bulletin board.
        Pen Pals with my Joplin friends.
       
Hopefully I can get back to blogging every Sunday starting next weekend.  Have a super fun week, I know we will :)

Looking Good, Feeling Great!

The start of the year is always so exciting.  The transformation from blah to spectacular is amazing.  New carpet has been a blessing to help decrease sound.  Students are loving the new schedule of rotating teachers for specific subjects.  I am loving teaching reading, writing, and social studies only.  I enjoyed math and science, but it is sooooo nice being able to focus on fewer subjects and digging deeper in those areas.  I don't feel nearly as stretched.

For some reason I am unable to add photos of the before and after transformation, but trust me...quite a difference.

Best Pinterest idea I have used so far this year...new student packets.  I prepared two of them, just didn't expect to have to use them the second week of school.  Normally students aren't placed in a district program so soon, but we have had some transfers from other districts.  Glad I was prepared. Thanks for the idea!!

This year, I am looking forward to starting Pen Pals with some friends from Joplin.  I hope the kids enjoy this as much as I am going to.  I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Today's TPT find was daily behavior sheets hourly and by subject.   We have made some significant changes in our elementary classrooms this year.  I am hoping these help those teachers with our most needy kiddos.  They are completely editable and best of all...FREE!

Hope you all have a fantastic year.  So far it is starting of great for us :)

Back to School---Finally!

So every year I read a little from Harry Wong's The First Days of School.  When I read fictional books I always start at the last two pages and then back to the beginning.  Weird, right?  When I read informational texts I always start at the contents and beginning of the book.  I guess that's why I have never made it to the last chapter of this book.  This year I just happened to open it to page 290.  It classifies teachers into three categories...protective people, maintenance people, and enhancement people.  Long definition short:

       1.  Protective people:  form groups (that they deny) and sit in the back of    meetings complaining.
       2.  Maintenance people:  form cliques (that they do no recognize) and always seek sympathy for just making it through the day.
       3.  Enhancement people:  form groups (that they acknowledge and usually give a name to, support group, etc) who contribute to the quality of their own life and organization.

How fitting is this for the start of our new school year with all of the changes???  After reading this I am so glad to be able to say the I am an enhancement person...always trying to learn new things and make changes for the betterment of student success.

I hope if you have this book, you take it out and see how you are going to impact your school this year.  80% will be protective and maintenance while only 20% of staff will be enhancement.

Getting excited...only a few more days until back to school!

Don't get me wrong...I have really enjoyed my break.  BUT I am also very excited to get back to school.  Way too expensive to be off having this much fun!
                    Summer Bucket List:
                    Vacation with hubby--Lake Michigan, Chicago, and Red Bud
                    Branson with Emili--lots of shopping and of course, Dixie Stampede
                    Evening out on the pontoon at Blue Springs Lake
                    Pool party at a dear friends with lots of other friends
                    Cookout with awesome co-workers
                    Sleeping in...believe it or not!
                    Collaborating with my best friend
                    Collaborating with my teaching partner
                    Painting my daughter's room (finally!!)

Mardel's shopping was a blast with all my teacher friends.  For the first time ever I spent less than everyone else.  Whoo-hoo :)  Got a few wanted (not needed) items for my room.  It was nice just browsing and looking for wants instead of needs.

Got my Back to School Ideas board on Pinterest.  75 new ideas to incorporate for the new year.  I am really excited about focusing on reading, writing, and social studies.  Also excited for our Data Teams next year.  I see the opportunity for so much growth this coming year.  Lots of change, but change is good :)

Summer school is coming to an end (boo-hoo)

We have so much fun in summer school that it is hard to say what we liked best.  So I will mention the top 5.

1.  Departmentalizing and grouping of students--not only did we (teachers) like this but when we ask the kids what their favorite activity this summer was they said GROUPS!  Amazing.  Glad to hear that because this was trial and error for next year.  I think we are set now.

2.  Walking field trip to Mugs Up Rootbeer--the kids brought in loose change and used it as part of their math lesson (identifying coins for the younger kiddos and counting coins in the upper grades).  The students used the menu to decide what they would order for lunch and then had to count out their money to pay for it, adding tax and tip of course :)  We walked to Mugs Up, spread out our table clothes on the ground, and had a picnic.  It was a blast.

3.  Studying about the rainforest and creating a painted mural.  Just got them laminated so each student has a 4 foot long poster that they can hang in their room.

4.  Studying about the ocean.  Learn something new everyday :)

5.  Working with the best staff and students in the whole world.  Such a great team!!!

Looking forward to vacation at Branson, Michigan City, and Chicago.  Lots of work during the summer, but always time to play.

Never too early to start planning...for next school year :)

It's taken me a year, but I finally found the book bin labels that I think suit my needs the best.  Thank you to Super Teacher Tactics.  The easy part was printing and laminating.  Now to start sorting all of my books.  So far I have brought home most of my books to work on during summer break, but the more I look around my room at summer school the more I realize I have books in every corner, on every shelf, and in every drawer and bin!  It's going to be a job, but well worth it when I get done.

Departmentalizing this summer has been super!  I love switching kids and working on two major subject areas.  After working for hours on our schedule for next year (and realizing that we need to add 2 hours to the school day to get every subject in with time for recess, lunch, and specials) it is finally done and I am happy about our grouping.  Hope my partner is :)  We have also really liked linking all of our groups and core subjects to one common theme.  Next on the agenda is finalizing a calendar with themes for the year that tie in common core.

I have also made my wish list on Amazon...$400.00--not as bad as I thought it would be.

I am off to plan a layout for next year...custodians want a map to put furniture back after the floor is done.  Don't they know it takes me months to create that?!?!?!