I would just like to make an apology for complaining all last night and into this morning about the amount of time that I spent making substitute plans and setting up my class for my absence. (At least they are done for the future--I'll just have to fill in the blank!) Well, half apologize at least . . .
Today we had a math inservice today with math consultant Tom Schersten. It.Was.Awesome. (And made the hours spent preparing sub plans worth it.) Most of my college math classes were hands-on and inquiry-based, but today I was able to listen to a professional talk about all these things, but, more importantly, we got to see him put his theory into practice when we (the Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade classroom teachers) were able to observe Tom doing an hour and a half demonstration lesson with a 2nd grade class. Over the years, I have taken classes that have allowed me to play with manipulatives and see how they teach math, but seeing children use them made things make all the more sense. And the teachers got to "play" all afternoon as we tested out dozens of games that Tom has created to help kids with counting, adding, and subtracting. Kudos to Tom!
The other half of my apology that I'm not taking back quite yet is the fact that I walked into my classroom at the end of the day (after my kiddos were already on their way home) and it looked like World War III had broken out in my previously clean and organized room. Yes, chairs were stacked, and yes, tables had been wiped down, but there were so many things just hanging out on tables, counter tops, and shelves that were unoccupied and clutter-free at 8:45 this morning. I walked into my room, saw said chaos, turned off the electronics that needed to be shut down, and told the mess I would come back to it in the morning--we'll see how it goes when I get to school tomorrow! (And who knows what went on with the children. I guess we'll find that out tomorrow morning, too!)
Long day today, even without my kiddos, but we've made it over the hump of the week--congrats, my friends!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
BAM!
I swear the days just keep getting faster and faster! I think today was about the length of a blink, if that. The combination of a routine finally settling into place and really being able to get into the meat of the content that I am teaching--along with a 3:00 pm Fire Drill (our dismissal is at 3:30--whew! cutting it close!) in the rain--is all enough to make my days go quick as lightning.
Again, I left both my camera and flash drive at school, so no pictures to post this evening (for all your visual learners). Nothing huge to report on today: it was another rainy one with indoor recess (Magic School Bus Gets Swamped was our feature presentation in honor of Mother Nature's gift to us).
During our Language Arts block, we moved on to the "-am" family today, so after reading Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat for the "-at" family yesterday, I felt compelled to stay on that path and bring out another favorite today: Green Eggs and Ham. Another childhood classic :)
The cool thing--I think!--about this book is that it is from my family's personal collection. A couple of weeks ago my mom sent me a package with about a dozen Dr. Seuss books from the bookshelves at my family's house so that I could add them to my class collection. When I opened this book today to read it to my class, I discovered a "This Book Belongs To: _____" sticker, with my name written in the blank. The date below it? June 1991. I got a good chuckle out of this one as I told my kids that this was before they were born and before any of their brothers and sisters were born. My favorite comment: "was it before you were born, too, Ms. W??" Sometimes you just have to giggle and move on . . .
We brainstormed some "-am" words after the book and came up with things like am, Sam, ham, ma'am, jam, ram, and bam. When the student said this last one I must have stared at him quizzically because he said, "wait, is it a word?" And I said, "well sure it is. Like: 'BAM! Getcha some of that!'" (Any camp people reading this?? I had some flashbacks to about a dozen years ago--all from a word family! Oh, the memories that my kiddos can trigger . . . ) I heard one of my students repeat this later in the afternoon when he completed a story problem with a partner in math; I'm telling you, if you want a reason to smile all day long, this job is the one for you!
I also have realized that I am starting to bruise on my calves because my kiddos swing their legs when they sit in their chairs, and when we sit at my horse-shoe table for guided reading, all of their little shoes kick me! They don't really kick hard enough that I can feel it at the time, but later in the afternoon, I'll notice that my shins are tender. Hey--if the swinging helps 'em learn to read, then I'll take all the bruising I need to!
In lesson planning news, I just got done with typing a day's worth of substitute plans. Whew! They take foreverrrrr. You can bet I won't get getting sick anytime soon! The teacher at my school are lucky enough to have a math inservice tomorrow during the day, where we get to workshop with professionals, and substitutes come into our classrooms. I am excited for this opportunity, but trying to write for someone else how our 1st grade class runs from activity to activity and subject to subject is exhausting! Five pages later, and my sub will have some serious reading to do tomorrow morning before hopping into things with my kiddos! Fingers (and toes!) are crossed that all goes well while Ms. W is gone . . .
I'll report back tomorrow with what I know of the sub report!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Again, I left both my camera and flash drive at school, so no pictures to post this evening (for all your visual learners). Nothing huge to report on today: it was another rainy one with indoor recess (Magic School Bus Gets Swamped was our feature presentation in honor of Mother Nature's gift to us).
During our Language Arts block, we moved on to the "-am" family today, so after reading Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat for the "-at" family yesterday, I felt compelled to stay on that path and bring out another favorite today: Green Eggs and Ham. Another childhood classic :)
The cool thing--I think!--about this book is that it is from my family's personal collection. A couple of weeks ago my mom sent me a package with about a dozen Dr. Seuss books from the bookshelves at my family's house so that I could add them to my class collection. When I opened this book today to read it to my class, I discovered a "This Book Belongs To: _____" sticker, with my name written in the blank. The date below it? June 1991. I got a good chuckle out of this one as I told my kids that this was before they were born and before any of their brothers and sisters were born. My favorite comment: "was it before you were born, too, Ms. W??" Sometimes you just have to giggle and move on . . .
We brainstormed some "-am" words after the book and came up with things like am, Sam, ham, ma'am, jam, ram, and bam. When the student said this last one I must have stared at him quizzically because he said, "wait, is it a word?" And I said, "well sure it is. Like: 'BAM! Getcha some of that!'" (Any camp people reading this?? I had some flashbacks to about a dozen years ago--all from a word family! Oh, the memories that my kiddos can trigger . . . ) I heard one of my students repeat this later in the afternoon when he completed a story problem with a partner in math; I'm telling you, if you want a reason to smile all day long, this job is the one for you!
I also have realized that I am starting to bruise on my calves because my kiddos swing their legs when they sit in their chairs, and when we sit at my horse-shoe table for guided reading, all of their little shoes kick me! They don't really kick hard enough that I can feel it at the time, but later in the afternoon, I'll notice that my shins are tender. Hey--if the swinging helps 'em learn to read, then I'll take all the bruising I need to!
In lesson planning news, I just got done with typing a day's worth of substitute plans. Whew! They take foreverrrrr. You can bet I won't get getting sick anytime soon! The teacher at my school are lucky enough to have a math inservice tomorrow during the day, where we get to workshop with professionals, and substitutes come into our classrooms. I am excited for this opportunity, but trying to write for someone else how our 1st grade class runs from activity to activity and subject to subject is exhausting! Five pages later, and my sub will have some serious reading to do tomorrow morning before hopping into things with my kiddos! Fingers (and toes!) are crossed that all goes well while Ms. W is gone . . .
I'll report back tomorrow with what I know of the sub report!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Monday, September 26, 2011
A "taste" of my Monday
Wow--today flew by! I swear it feels like a couple hours ago that I was pulling into my school parking lot with a million things on my mind as I began my Monday. Well, there are still about a million things on my mind, but I made it through the day!
Today we kicked off guided reading groups in our Language Arts block, and ohmygoodness, I may have actually taught my little kiddos something in the past month. Were they a little chatty? Yes. Were all of them doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing the whole time? Of course not. But I looked up from one of my reading groups and, believe it or not, most of my students were doing one of the Daily 5s, and doing it right. I almost had a heart attack right there. Kids that had chosen to "read to self" were reading to themselves. Others that had chosen to "work on words" were practicing spelling their read-and-spell words. Some that chose to "read to someone" were buddy-reading in whispering voices, sitting knee-to-knee and focusing on their partners books. I wanted to add a million marbles into our class marble jar, but I restrained (and only added two).
Whew--thanks for letting me brag on the little guys for a bit :)
During our Language Arts block, I taught a mini-lesson on the -at word family--what better read-aloud is there than Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. You all remember the old favorite:
For those of you that haven't read a children's book aloud in a while, this one is near the top of the list for the most fun. The rhymes are fairly uncomplicated, so you can read it pretty fast without getting tongue-tied! As we read, we wrote down all of the -at words we came across: cat, hat, mat, that, at, etc. Then, when the book was done, we came up with even more words in this family: rat, fat, chat, splat (a funny one to act out).
In our content block today, we started talking about seasonal changes (fall), but before we got too deep into this, we bounced back to American symbols when I showed my kiddos pictures I took of the Capitol building and Washington Monument while in Washington, D.C. this weekend. My favorite response: "you got that close to where they make the laws and you didn't even touch the building?!?!" Well, boys and girls, if I tried to get that close to the building just for the photo op, I think I would have had some pictures of guards escorting me out of the District. But, for you, 1st graders, I will try next time I am in the city :)
As far as fall learning goes, I had students running up to me with colored leaves and acorns at recess. Knowledge sinking in: success! More about fall as the week continues . . .
I'll leave you with a final "taste" of my Monday:
A triple-threat for a Monday--chocolate chip cookies on the bottom, Oreo cookies in the middle, and brownies (still gooey) on the top. This is what happens when good friends pass along recipes and I have extra time (and eggs that I need to use!) on a Sunday afternoon! Nothin' like a little chocolate to kick off the week!
Happy Monday, y'all!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Oh, and another smile added to my heart today:
(I am not actually this box-y, and believe it or not, I have a neck, but the hearts that were drawn on the back of this card--I thought three pictures might have been over the top, but I promise, they were there!--are another reminder of just why I do what I do.)
Today we kicked off guided reading groups in our Language Arts block, and ohmygoodness, I may have actually taught my little kiddos something in the past month. Were they a little chatty? Yes. Were all of them doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing the whole time? Of course not. But I looked up from one of my reading groups and, believe it or not, most of my students were doing one of the Daily 5s, and doing it right. I almost had a heart attack right there. Kids that had chosen to "read to self" were reading to themselves. Others that had chosen to "work on words" were practicing spelling their read-and-spell words. Some that chose to "read to someone" were buddy-reading in whispering voices, sitting knee-to-knee and focusing on their partners books. I wanted to add a million marbles into our class marble jar, but I restrained (and only added two).
Whew--thanks for letting me brag on the little guys for a bit :)
During our Language Arts block, I taught a mini-lesson on the -at word family--what better read-aloud is there than Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. You all remember the old favorite:
For those of you that haven't read a children's book aloud in a while, this one is near the top of the list for the most fun. The rhymes are fairly uncomplicated, so you can read it pretty fast without getting tongue-tied! As we read, we wrote down all of the -at words we came across: cat, hat, mat, that, at, etc. Then, when the book was done, we came up with even more words in this family: rat, fat, chat, splat (a funny one to act out).
In our content block today, we started talking about seasonal changes (fall), but before we got too deep into this, we bounced back to American symbols when I showed my kiddos pictures I took of the Capitol building and Washington Monument while in Washington, D.C. this weekend. My favorite response: "you got that close to where they make the laws and you didn't even touch the building?!?!" Well, boys and girls, if I tried to get that close to the building just for the photo op, I think I would have had some pictures of guards escorting me out of the District. But, for you, 1st graders, I will try next time I am in the city :)
As far as fall learning goes, I had students running up to me with colored leaves and acorns at recess. Knowledge sinking in: success! More about fall as the week continues . . .
I'll leave you with a final "taste" of my Monday:
Happy Monday, y'all!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Oh, and another smile added to my heart today:
(I am not actually this box-y, and believe it or not, I have a neck, but the hearts that were drawn on the back of this card--I thought three pictures might have been over the top, but I promise, they were there!--are another reminder of just why I do what I do.)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Back to School Night!
Back-to-School Night was actually on Wednesday night--my apologies for not posting then, but I was pooped! I came home yesterday night and fell right asleep! So, here come some things from the last two days :)
Back-to-School Night
. . . was a success! I had the unique opportunity to spend my very first back-to-school night with my grade level team; we held a meeting for parents and families in first grade in the library. This was awesome because we were able to cover everything as a group, and every first grade parent left with the same information. It was great to see some of my students there with their parents, and it was also good to see the parents that I had met right before the school year started at our Open House. Honestly, the only down-side that I could think of about doing our Back-to-School Night meeting as a grade level was that I didn't get to brag on how great our class is doing. (I hope you all know by now that I enjoy bragging about these guys quite a bit . . . )
Like how we are doing things like this:
And this:
And even this!
I guess the bragging about the kiddos will have to wait until November parent/teacher conferences :)
Apparently I look young for my age?
Today we were learning about the fourth and final "important American symbol" that we talk about in 1st grade: the Washington Monument. (We covered the American flag, Statue of Liberty, and bald eagle earlier this week.) As I pulled up some pictures on the SMARTBoard and read some of the facts from the websites we were looking at, one piece of information I read was that construction began on the Washington Monument in 1848, but the building wasn't finished and open to the public until 1888. As I read the second date, one of my students raised their hands and asked me, completely seriously, "Ms. W, is that when you were born?" Clearly, I have aged well for a 123-year-old. Young at heart, right?? ;)
Tender reading moment
Today, we continued to work on our Daily 5--literacy centers--and one option students had for a time period was "read to someone," or buddy-reading. There is a certain way we do this; we sit criss-cross-applesauce with one person's left knee touching the other person's right, we listen carefully while our partners read, and we either have the choice of sharing a book and taking turns reading or each choosing our own books out of our book baskets and taking turns reading an entire book to each other.
This morning, I watched two girls in my class pair up to read; an unlikely pair with very different academic levels. As I wondered if them reading together would actually work, I watched the stronger reader open the book, and point to each word as she read it, making sure the not-as-strong reader could follow along with the sounds. I had so wrongly assumed that because they were on two ends of the first grade reading spectrum, they could not read together, but boy, did they prove me wrong. Y'all, I was so proud. I think this just shows the innocence and kind-heartedness that resides in a six-year-old. I cannot take any credit for what I witnessed, but I was in awe, and my heart smiled the rest of the morning because of it.
Forgotten flash drives
Up until today, I have been so good at remembering to keep my flash drive on my ID badge, bringing it home with me and back to school--and vice versa--every day. Well, tonight marks a first, as I forgot it in the USB port in my classroom computer :( Even though I didn't have that much that I was planning on getting done at home tonight, this gave me a reason to enjoy another night of relaxation! Though my to-do list is always full and always growing, everyone needs a break . . . even if forgetting a flash drive is what makes you sit back and not do work for an evening!
Tomorrow is Friday--WOOHOOOOO!!!!! Love those kiddos, but whew! I would love to get some sleep for a couple of nights! I hope you all have had a wonderful week, and that you make the most of what's left of this week before the weekend begins!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Back-to-School Night
. . . was a success! I had the unique opportunity to spend my very first back-to-school night with my grade level team; we held a meeting for parents and families in first grade in the library. This was awesome because we were able to cover everything as a group, and every first grade parent left with the same information. It was great to see some of my students there with their parents, and it was also good to see the parents that I had met right before the school year started at our Open House. Honestly, the only down-side that I could think of about doing our Back-to-School Night meeting as a grade level was that I didn't get to brag on how great our class is doing. (I hope you all know by now that I enjoy bragging about these guys quite a bit . . . )
Like how we are doing things like this:
 | |
| We finally have classroom jobs! (My personal favorite is the "woodchuck"--as in "how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" This is our pencil sharpener of the day :) ) |
 |
| Some jobs only need one kiddo to do them, but for some, two students get the job for the day! |
And this:
 |
| We're learning lots of new words--I can't wait to watch this word board fill up quickly as we keep adding new words to it! |
And even this!
 |
| When we start something new, I explain what we are going to be learning, and then the class gets to put it in their own words. I like to think I've got a pretty smart class! (Science is blank because we switch back and forth between learning science and social studies.) |
I guess the bragging about the kiddos will have to wait until November parent/teacher conferences :)
Apparently I look young for my age?
Today we were learning about the fourth and final "important American symbol" that we talk about in 1st grade: the Washington Monument. (We covered the American flag, Statue of Liberty, and bald eagle earlier this week.) As I pulled up some pictures on the SMARTBoard and read some of the facts from the websites we were looking at, one piece of information I read was that construction began on the Washington Monument in 1848, but the building wasn't finished and open to the public until 1888. As I read the second date, one of my students raised their hands and asked me, completely seriously, "Ms. W, is that when you were born?" Clearly, I have aged well for a 123-year-old. Young at heart, right?? ;)
Tender reading moment
Today, we continued to work on our Daily 5--literacy centers--and one option students had for a time period was "read to someone," or buddy-reading. There is a certain way we do this; we sit criss-cross-applesauce with one person's left knee touching the other person's right, we listen carefully while our partners read, and we either have the choice of sharing a book and taking turns reading or each choosing our own books out of our book baskets and taking turns reading an entire book to each other.
This morning, I watched two girls in my class pair up to read; an unlikely pair with very different academic levels. As I wondered if them reading together would actually work, I watched the stronger reader open the book, and point to each word as she read it, making sure the not-as-strong reader could follow along with the sounds. I had so wrongly assumed that because they were on two ends of the first grade reading spectrum, they could not read together, but boy, did they prove me wrong. Y'all, I was so proud. I think this just shows the innocence and kind-heartedness that resides in a six-year-old. I cannot take any credit for what I witnessed, but I was in awe, and my heart smiled the rest of the morning because of it.
Forgotten flash drives
Up until today, I have been so good at remembering to keep my flash drive on my ID badge, bringing it home with me and back to school--and vice versa--every day. Well, tonight marks a first, as I forgot it in the USB port in my classroom computer :( Even though I didn't have that much that I was planning on getting done at home tonight, this gave me a reason to enjoy another night of relaxation! Though my to-do list is always full and always growing, everyone needs a break . . . even if forgetting a flash drive is what makes you sit back and not do work for an evening!
Tomorrow is Friday--WOOHOOOOO!!!!! Love those kiddos, but whew! I would love to get some sleep for a couple of nights! I hope you all have had a wonderful week, and that you make the most of what's left of this week before the weekend begins!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Whoa baby!
For those of you that have been following my journey so far this school year, you'll notice that, for the most part, my kiddos have been an easy-going, respectful, mild group, and I haven't really left school stressed yet. Well, let me tell you that today I experienced my first "whoa baby!" day. (This is my made-up way of nicely saying that I had a rough day . . . )
Man, something was just "off" about today. Maybe the rain, maybe the change in seasons, maybe just because it was Tuesday, but the kiddos were bouncing. I swear, bouncing. So much so that I shifted my writing lesson in the afternoon to read the class Harry Allard and James Marshall's Miss Nelson is Missing. In this story, Miss Nelson's class makes spit balls, throws paper airplanes, doesn't do assignments, and is rude to the teacher. So, Miss Nelson goes "missing" and Miss Viola Swamp takes her place teaching class--Miss Swamp is strict and mean and makes them do a ton of work. Then, when the kids finally "get" it, Miss Nelson comes back and the kids realize what they were missing.
When I was finished reading I asked the class why I might have chosen this book to read and one of my students replied, "we're being like that class and you're going to be mean if we keep it up. And we don't want you to be mean. So we should stop acting this way." Hopefully I got through to them a little?
Don't get me wrong, there were good things that happened today, too. Like teaching my kiddos how to read with someone as part of the Daily 5--they loved it! And how a student that, up until now, has only counted continuously to 12 got to 13 today--another accomplishment! But all in all, when our bell rang at 3:30 and all my kiddos were on their buses, walking home, or driving off with their parents, I packed up my things, got in my car, rolled the windows down, and drove home to go for a long run. After dinner, I was able to get a little work done, but we all need some mental health evenings, right? To put lesson plans aside, pick up a good book or turn on the television, and just "hang out"--no distractions. Well, tonight marks one of these evening for me :)
Back to the grind tomorrow, fingers crossed that my well-mannered, respectful, responsible, cooperative first graders come back to school instead of their impostors that invaded my classroom today!
Here's to taking a deep breath every once in a while :)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Man, something was just "off" about today. Maybe the rain, maybe the change in seasons, maybe just because it was Tuesday, but the kiddos were bouncing. I swear, bouncing. So much so that I shifted my writing lesson in the afternoon to read the class Harry Allard and James Marshall's Miss Nelson is Missing. In this story, Miss Nelson's class makes spit balls, throws paper airplanes, doesn't do assignments, and is rude to the teacher. So, Miss Nelson goes "missing" and Miss Viola Swamp takes her place teaching class--Miss Swamp is strict and mean and makes them do a ton of work. Then, when the kids finally "get" it, Miss Nelson comes back and the kids realize what they were missing.
When I was finished reading I asked the class why I might have chosen this book to read and one of my students replied, "we're being like that class and you're going to be mean if we keep it up. And we don't want you to be mean. So we should stop acting this way." Hopefully I got through to them a little?
Don't get me wrong, there were good things that happened today, too. Like teaching my kiddos how to read with someone as part of the Daily 5--they loved it! And how a student that, up until now, has only counted continuously to 12 got to 13 today--another accomplishment! But all in all, when our bell rang at 3:30 and all my kiddos were on their buses, walking home, or driving off with their parents, I packed up my things, got in my car, rolled the windows down, and drove home to go for a long run. After dinner, I was able to get a little work done, but we all need some mental health evenings, right? To put lesson plans aside, pick up a good book or turn on the television, and just "hang out"--no distractions. Well, tonight marks one of these evening for me :)
Back to the grind tomorrow, fingers crossed that my well-mannered, respectful, responsible, cooperative first graders come back to school instead of their impostors that invaded my classroom today!
Here's to taking a deep breath every once in a while :)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Monday, September 19, 2011
Teacher fonts
And another week has begun! Here's what happened on this eventful Monday:
I love fonts
During a student teaching placement, I was lucky enough to acquire not only a wealth of knowledge from the teachers that surrounded me, but I also gained about 40 new fonts to put on my computer--almost as valuable as all the lessons I took away about teaching! (Kidding . . . but only kind of.) One of the hands-down BEST fonts that I have on my computer is called "Scrap School," and is perfect for my first graders! This was the morning work that my students did this morning as they were getting settled into class--all in one, they got to practice the pledge of allegiance (something we learned at the end of last week), letter formation (another thing we're beginning to really start working on), and their patriotism. Though tracing letters may seem monotonous for us adults, the kiddos really enjoyed practicing their "perfect" handwriting! (I got one, "look, Ms. W! My handwriting looks just like a computer!" Well, yes...)
Surprise fire drill!
Well, we all know that fire drills are surprises to the kiddos, but teachers usually know when they are coming! Not the case today when the fire alarm was accidentally triggered--we were getting to really into math and comparing big and small numbers. When I say "really into math," I mean, I was literally sitting criss-cross-applesauce on my rug with my 21 little ones, barefoot because the wedges I wore to school were taking it's toll, when all of a sudden, the "walls started taking pictures!" (Which you may remember from an earlier post--this is what one of my student's thinks is happening when the bright lights start flashing!) Needless to say, it truly was a drill, but we made it out of the building quickly and efficiently :)
What teachers wish you knew
My dad passed along this website to me a little while ago, and just wanted to share! Other teachers: how true is this article?!?
Black attire
Today I was reminded of a student teaching experience another time when I looked down at what I was wearing somewhere around mid-morning and realized that I was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a gray sweater (spiced up with a fun necklace, don't worry!). Anyways, one colleague that I worked with in grad school once told me that she always wore black on Mondays because she was "mourning the loss of the weekend." I don't think I understood this concept until recently, and though this woman touched me deeply and taught me an incredible amount when I worked with her, she must have had an even deeper psychological impact than I thought, influencing my Monday wardrobe choices! Do you all find yourself wearing certain outfits/colors on certain days of the week?
The Monday hurdle has been jumped--bring on Tuesday!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
I love fonts
During a student teaching placement, I was lucky enough to acquire not only a wealth of knowledge from the teachers that surrounded me, but I also gained about 40 new fonts to put on my computer--almost as valuable as all the lessons I took away about teaching! (Kidding . . . but only kind of.) One of the hands-down BEST fonts that I have on my computer is called "Scrap School," and is perfect for my first graders! This was the morning work that my students did this morning as they were getting settled into class--all in one, they got to practice the pledge of allegiance (something we learned at the end of last week), letter formation (another thing we're beginning to really start working on), and their patriotism. Though tracing letters may seem monotonous for us adults, the kiddos really enjoyed practicing their "perfect" handwriting! (I got one, "look, Ms. W! My handwriting looks just like a computer!" Well, yes...)
Surprise fire drill!
Well, we all know that fire drills are surprises to the kiddos, but teachers usually know when they are coming! Not the case today when the fire alarm was accidentally triggered--we were getting to really into math and comparing big and small numbers. When I say "really into math," I mean, I was literally sitting criss-cross-applesauce on my rug with my 21 little ones, barefoot because the wedges I wore to school were taking it's toll, when all of a sudden, the "walls started taking pictures!" (Which you may remember from an earlier post--this is what one of my student's thinks is happening when the bright lights start flashing!) Needless to say, it truly was a drill, but we made it out of the building quickly and efficiently :)
What teachers wish you knew
My dad passed along this website to me a little while ago, and just wanted to share! Other teachers: how true is this article?!?
Black attire
Today I was reminded of a student teaching experience another time when I looked down at what I was wearing somewhere around mid-morning and realized that I was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a gray sweater (spiced up with a fun necklace, don't worry!). Anyways, one colleague that I worked with in grad school once told me that she always wore black on Mondays because she was "mourning the loss of the weekend." I don't think I understood this concept until recently, and though this woman touched me deeply and taught me an incredible amount when I worked with her, she must have had an even deeper psychological impact than I thought, influencing my Monday wardrobe choices! Do you all find yourself wearing certain outfits/colors on certain days of the week?
The Monday hurdle has been jumped--bring on Tuesday!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Workin' for the weekend
Well, y'all, I've officially completed my first full week of teaching! What an exciting, but exhausting week it was . . . I came home Friday night and think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow at about eight o'clock! After a three-day first week of school, five days was quite a transition--for my students and for me :) (I bet some of you reading this may be thinking, "welcome to the real world, Allie, this is how it works!" I know, I know, working people go to their jobs five days a week, but I'm new at this, and need some adjustment to five 10-to-12-hour work days in a row!)
Some neat things from Friday and the week in general:
Fresh produce
The elementary school that I work at is part of a fresh produce initiative; we were awarded a grant this year to introduce our children to healthier lifestyles, not only through exercise, but through the food they eat. As part of this, two to three days a week, fresh produce is brought to our school and distributed to every child. You heard me--very child! It.Is.Awesome.
This past week was a national health awareness-type week, so as part of that, the kids got to try a new fresh fruit or vegetable every day! This program is awesome--check out what my kiddos got to entertain their palates with:
The tomatoes and ranch were the biggest surprise to me--I think I only had four children take a taste and decide they didn't want them! And as for figs on Friday, I'm at least a decade and half older than all my kiddos, and it was my first time trying a fig! Kind of tart, but tasty--and a really pretty fruit!
We also read the book "Yoko," by Rosemary Wells, as a class to understand that we should at least try this fresh produce, even if we don't think we're going to like it. The book is about a cat who brings in sushi for lunch and her classmates make fun of her and tell her it's gross; this leads the teacher to have an international food day with the class, so all the students can try food from one another's cultures. The class tries all different food, and most decide that the sushi is pretty delicious! We related this to making sure we all taste each fruit or vegetable, and then decide if it is something that we like or don't like.
I feel so lucky that my kiddos are part of this initiative, and can't wait to see all the fruits and veggies they are introduced to this year!
Braggin' on the 5th graders!
I was walking down the 5th grade hallway this week, and couldn't help smiling when I saw what one class had created! Check this out:
Hanging in the hallway are these 5th graders' "classbook" pages--the "social network of room 311." How creative and relevant is that?!? The students each wrote a little bit about themselves to "connect" to each other, and their teacher did an awesome job with the templates. I just felt like I needed to brag on what some other people were doing :)
I'm so excited for this coming week, where I will really have the opportunity to jump into things with my students--I've been completing all of my beginning-of-the-year assessments in literacy and math, and while it's been great to see where my students are starting the year, it's taken a lot of time. That being said, with all official beginning-of-the-year assessments out of the way, tomorrow will kind of be like another Day 1!
Whew--let me tell you, I don't think I've completely understood the words "sleep" and "weekend" until the past couple of weeks! The two words work hand-in-hand, and are both blissful states of relaxation. Here's to trying to enjoy the rest of the weekend before kicking off week three tomorrow!
Weekend love from Room 106,
Allie
Some neat things from Friday and the week in general:
Fresh produce
The elementary school that I work at is part of a fresh produce initiative; we were awarded a grant this year to introduce our children to healthier lifestyles, not only through exercise, but through the food they eat. As part of this, two to three days a week, fresh produce is brought to our school and distributed to every child. You heard me--very child! It.Is.Awesome.
This past week was a national health awareness-type week, so as part of that, the kids got to try a new fresh fruit or vegetable every day! This program is awesome--check out what my kiddos got to entertain their palates with:
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| Monday we tried blueberries . . . |
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| . . . peaches on Tuesday (they were really sweet!). |
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| On Wednesday we had cherry tomatoes and ranch dressing. |
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| Fresh strawberries on Thursday! |
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| And Friday was fig day! |
The tomatoes and ranch were the biggest surprise to me--I think I only had four children take a taste and decide they didn't want them! And as for figs on Friday, I'm at least a decade and half older than all my kiddos, and it was my first time trying a fig! Kind of tart, but tasty--and a really pretty fruit!
We also read the book "Yoko," by Rosemary Wells, as a class to understand that we should at least try this fresh produce, even if we don't think we're going to like it. The book is about a cat who brings in sushi for lunch and her classmates make fun of her and tell her it's gross; this leads the teacher to have an international food day with the class, so all the students can try food from one another's cultures. The class tries all different food, and most decide that the sushi is pretty delicious! We related this to making sure we all taste each fruit or vegetable, and then decide if it is something that we like or don't like.
I feel so lucky that my kiddos are part of this initiative, and can't wait to see all the fruits and veggies they are introduced to this year!
Braggin' on the 5th graders!
I was walking down the 5th grade hallway this week, and couldn't help smiling when I saw what one class had created! Check this out:
Hanging in the hallway are these 5th graders' "classbook" pages--the "social network of room 311." How creative and relevant is that?!? The students each wrote a little bit about themselves to "connect" to each other, and their teacher did an awesome job with the templates. I just felt like I needed to brag on what some other people were doing :)
I'm so excited for this coming week, where I will really have the opportunity to jump into things with my students--I've been completing all of my beginning-of-the-year assessments in literacy and math, and while it's been great to see where my students are starting the year, it's taken a lot of time. That being said, with all official beginning-of-the-year assessments out of the way, tomorrow will kind of be like another Day 1!
Whew--let me tell you, I don't think I've completely understood the words "sleep" and "weekend" until the past couple of weeks! The two words work hand-in-hand, and are both blissful states of relaxation. Here's to trying to enjoy the rest of the weekend before kicking off week three tomorrow!
Weekend love from Room 106,
Allie
Thursday, September 15, 2011
It's payday!
Not that I do this for the money, but it's kind of exciting that I got my first big-girl, real-world paycheck today! Happy Halfway-Through-September . . . time is flying!
An update from Room 106:
Three bows are better than two
Learn to tie shoe-laces in three bows, and you will become the most popular person in the world:
I'm going to have my kiddos start practicing tying shoelaces next week (almost all of my students can tie their shoes, but many of them can't get them into a tight enough knot to last through recess . . . ), but I can't help but smile when the I "impress" a six-year-old by getting their shoelace to go into three bows!
Borrowed ideas :)
Why re-invent the wheel if it's already spinning, right?? I just wanted to share some neat things that I've "borrowed" from other classrooms that I've been in!
Last week I hung up writing samples in the hallway on laminated construction paper with one kiddo's name on each piece, and taped their work to it. This was really convenient, but I also realized that every time I hung something up, I was still going to have to tape it up, and then take the tape off when it came down...kind of defeating the purpose of what I was going for by making the "created by" posters in the hallway outside my classroom. I heard a great tip to put clothespins on the construction paper, and oh, boy, does it make such a difference! Hanging work in the hallway has never been easier--just un-clip the old work, and re-clip the new projects! Check it out:
Also, these jars have saved hours of student pencil-sharpening (literally). I have one student (sometimes two, depending on how many pencils need sharpening at the end of the day) sharpen all of our "need to be sharpened" pencils during our pack-up/clean-up time, so that way, the next day, we've got a re-stocked supply of sharp pencils :) I call this helper my "woodchuck"--I'm not quite sure the kiddos get it, but I giggle at it every day. With this system, students can just go grab a new pencil if theirs breaks, and it holds students accountable for the pencils in the classroom, since we are all sharing!
Happy birthday to you...
What better way to introduce graphing, more or less, equal amounts, calendar months and so much more than having the students' birthdays displayed? Here is how we did it in my classroom--I was so impressed with how great my kiddos' work turned out!
Just something to chuckle about
I have one student who doesn't really like to sit still, so today I had him working at a table sitting riiiight next to me so that he could concentrate on his work. We were rainbow writing our read-and-spell words for the week, and he looked at me and said, "Ms. W, my arm is too tired. It can't go any further." To which I replied, "Oh, is it out of gas? Let me fill 'er back up so you can get back to work!" I pretended to "fill up" his arm with my imaginary gas tank, until "drip, drip, drip," I had no more gas for him. He got back to work with a smile on his face.
What brought a smile to mine, though, was later in the day when he was working back at his table and I looked over at him; he was sitting down, concentrating, with his right arm resting on the table and his left arm "pouring" into his right. I watched him mouth "drip, drip, drip" as he finished "fueling up," and got right back to work, all on his own :) Call me selfish, y'all, but I love moments like these.
Library additions
This morning, in our content block, we began working on the Pledge of Allegiance. I got to show my class all the books that I picked up at the public library this weekend, and now these are options for what the kids can choose from when they are reading silently. Even I am learning a ton about flags from these books, and my kids are (surprisingly) really excited by the pictures. Maybe I shouldn't say "surprisingly," but I just didn't think they'd take to the books like they did!
Yikes...wrong bus!
So, I kind of had a real-life nightmare happen this afternoon--shortly after my kiddos were on their buses heading home, I was sitting in my room and the phone rang; it was our wonderful registrar asking me if a particular student had gotten on the bus, because she hadn't gotten off the bus at home where her father was waiting for her. He was one the phone, so I headed up to the office to try to resolve matters. Let me tell you--SO.SCARY. The thought that a child left your sight, but then didn't wind up at home...uh oh.
Turns out that this student saw a friend get on another bus, and decided that she wanted to ride that bus, too. She also decided once she was on the new bus, that she didn't want to get off at the friend's house--makes sense, she didn't know where she was when she looked out the bus window. Dad ended up driving to school to see if things could be sorted out, and the second bus came back to school with my student still on it. Everyone was reunited and I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, but wow, did my heart stop for a quick second.
This week has flown by, and has also seemed to be crawling slowly as we reach Friday, but after tomorrow, I will be able to say that I've had my first full week of school as a teacher :) As of today, all of my beginning of the year assessments in math and reading are done (a HUGE check to place on my to-do list at school), so now I feel like I can really get into the year, and solidify the routines that we've been working hard to establish the past couple of weeks!
How are your weeks going? Are you looking to tomorrow and thinking TGIF? (I am!)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
An update from Room 106:
Three bows are better than two
Learn to tie shoe-laces in three bows, and you will become the most popular person in the world:
I'm going to have my kiddos start practicing tying shoelaces next week (almost all of my students can tie their shoes, but many of them can't get them into a tight enough knot to last through recess . . . ), but I can't help but smile when the I "impress" a six-year-old by getting their shoelace to go into three bows!
Borrowed ideas :)
Why re-invent the wheel if it's already spinning, right?? I just wanted to share some neat things that I've "borrowed" from other classrooms that I've been in!
Last week I hung up writing samples in the hallway on laminated construction paper with one kiddo's name on each piece, and taped their work to it. This was really convenient, but I also realized that every time I hung something up, I was still going to have to tape it up, and then take the tape off when it came down...kind of defeating the purpose of what I was going for by making the "created by" posters in the hallway outside my classroom. I heard a great tip to put clothespins on the construction paper, and oh, boy, does it make such a difference! Hanging work in the hallway has never been easier--just un-clip the old work, and re-clip the new projects! Check it out:
 |
| We talk about being "Quality Students" and "Quality Teachers" at my school . . . this student wrote, "I can be a Quality Student by making good choices." Atta boy! |
Also, these jars have saved hours of student pencil-sharpening (literally). I have one student (sometimes two, depending on how many pencils need sharpening at the end of the day) sharpen all of our "need to be sharpened" pencils during our pack-up/clean-up time, so that way, the next day, we've got a re-stocked supply of sharp pencils :) I call this helper my "woodchuck"--I'm not quite sure the kiddos get it, but I giggle at it every day. With this system, students can just go grab a new pencil if theirs breaks, and it holds students accountable for the pencils in the classroom, since we are all sharing!
Happy birthday to you...
What better way to introduce graphing, more or less, equal amounts, calendar months and so much more than having the students' birthdays displayed? Here is how we did it in my classroom--I was so impressed with how great my kiddos' work turned out!
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| On Monday, every student got to color a cupcake for Morning Work. At this point, they sort of thought of it as just a coloring activity, but little did they know . . . . |
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| The next day for Morning Work, their job was to cut out their cupcake, and glue it on the colored piece of paper that I had provided for them. This way, I knew the right cupcakes were going on the right colored months! After we glued and cut (which allowed me to assess their fine motor skills, too--double-whammy!), they had to get into groups with other students that had the same color construction paper under their cupcake. Then, they had to find out what the labels on their cupcakes (that I had written out ahead of time) had in common. |
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| Voila! I like to consider this "tasteful learning" :) |
Just something to chuckle about
I have one student who doesn't really like to sit still, so today I had him working at a table sitting riiiight next to me so that he could concentrate on his work. We were rainbow writing our read-and-spell words for the week, and he looked at me and said, "Ms. W, my arm is too tired. It can't go any further." To which I replied, "Oh, is it out of gas? Let me fill 'er back up so you can get back to work!" I pretended to "fill up" his arm with my imaginary gas tank, until "drip, drip, drip," I had no more gas for him. He got back to work with a smile on his face.
What brought a smile to mine, though, was later in the day when he was working back at his table and I looked over at him; he was sitting down, concentrating, with his right arm resting on the table and his left arm "pouring" into his right. I watched him mouth "drip, drip, drip" as he finished "fueling up," and got right back to work, all on his own :) Call me selfish, y'all, but I love moments like these.
Library additions
This morning, in our content block, we began working on the Pledge of Allegiance. I got to show my class all the books that I picked up at the public library this weekend, and now these are options for what the kids can choose from when they are reading silently. Even I am learning a ton about flags from these books, and my kids are (surprisingly) really excited by the pictures. Maybe I shouldn't say "surprisingly," but I just didn't think they'd take to the books like they did!
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| College text sets, anyone?? Just a few from the "flag" text set that I was able to gather from the library! |
Yikes...wrong bus!
So, I kind of had a real-life nightmare happen this afternoon--shortly after my kiddos were on their buses heading home, I was sitting in my room and the phone rang; it was our wonderful registrar asking me if a particular student had gotten on the bus, because she hadn't gotten off the bus at home where her father was waiting for her. He was one the phone, so I headed up to the office to try to resolve matters. Let me tell you--SO.SCARY. The thought that a child left your sight, but then didn't wind up at home...uh oh.
Turns out that this student saw a friend get on another bus, and decided that she wanted to ride that bus, too. She also decided once she was on the new bus, that she didn't want to get off at the friend's house--makes sense, she didn't know where she was when she looked out the bus window. Dad ended up driving to school to see if things could be sorted out, and the second bus came back to school with my student still on it. Everyone was reunited and I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, but wow, did my heart stop for a quick second.
This week has flown by, and has also seemed to be crawling slowly as we reach Friday, but after tomorrow, I will be able to say that I've had my first full week of school as a teacher :) As of today, all of my beginning of the year assessments in math and reading are done (a HUGE check to place on my to-do list at school), so now I feel like I can really get into the year, and solidify the routines that we've been working hard to establish the past couple of weeks!
How are your weeks going? Are you looking to tomorrow and thinking TGIF? (I am!)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Making Connections
Today flew by! Seriously, I feel like I got to school this morning, and before I knew it, I was taking the kiddos to lunch for hamburger sliders and cheese sticks! Another day in the books, and here were some of the highlights:
Camera died at school today, and then I managed to leave it on my desk at in my classroom, so no pictures this evening. Ger ready for some picture uploads tomorrow, though! Great things are going on in Ms. W's class, and I can't wait to share them :)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
- Our school operates on a color-card system for behavior management, I could pro and con this system forever, and I like that it shows individual progress or not-so-much-progress, but I wanted to make something that tied in my class's managment system with rewarding the whole class, and making sure that every student knew that they could contribute to the success of the class. So, the marble jar came into being. This jar (a Mason jar for now, but will also probably remain that way because I love Mason jars!) receives a marble--or two, or three, depending on how great a deed was done--every time the whole class does something commendable. Like today we had our first fire drill: my kiddos were SO. GREAT. Straight line, bubbles in mouths, ducktails with our hands behind our backs...I was floating on a cloud of joy I was so proud of them. A second grade teacher made the comment that her class should learn from the wonderful job the first graders were doing--well, in went 5 marbles for that compliment. Quiet line in the hall on the way back from recess--another marble. Manners in the lunch line--yet another. Perfect attendance--I gave 'em two for that one. Lots of classes have some sort of marble jar, but what I also decided to do was let every student who ended the day on "green" on our color chart put a marble in, too. This way, the students see that their individual successes lead to the success of the class; and though their not putting a marble in because of a yellow or red card does not harm the class accomplishment, it doesn't help the effort. When this jar fills up, the class will be able to pick a class reward (with my guidance). I can't wait for the little ones to work their way to the top of the marble jar! Anyone have any thoughts on classroom/behavior management?
- One of my little boys found a headband on the playground today and was so insistent on it finding its way back to its owner, that he didn't even want me holding on to it at recess. It was so great to see him hang on to it the whole time we were outside, and then to allow him to take it to the office to put it in the lost and found was like he won the lottery. It was like the queen lost her crown, and he was making sure the royal jewels got back to their owner. What a good citizen :)
- Speaking of the fire drill earlier, funny story to tell. Preface to story: I take pictures in class all the time, partially for official documentation, and partially for documentation for the students so they can remember first grade. When the alarms went off in the school, the really bright lights on the fire alarms start blinking about three seconds before they start making noise (plus, we know light travels faster than sound), and in the split second between the light and the sound, one of my kiddos shouted, "Ms W! Now the walls are taking pictures!!!" Adorable.
- If I ever post something on this blog that says today "waz a grat da at skul!" please know that I am just taking hints from the inventive spelling of my kiddos. We're working on getting those letter sounds just right :)
- During a reading assessment today, I was reading with a young boy who was reading a book to me called "Allie's Wish" (coincidence that it was my name in the title!), about a girl named Allie who helps other people with their pets, and is finally surprised with a kitten of her own (her wish) at the end of the story. Part of the assessment we give has the teacher ask the student about any connections they can make to the text, and this kiddo responded with this: "Well, this book reminds me of being at home. At my house, I feel like I am the baby kitten [I honestly didn't know where he was going to go from here...]. And my mom is like the mommy cat, who takes care of her kittens because they are her wish and she loves them." It doesn't get much more real than that, y'all.
Camera died at school today, and then I managed to leave it on my desk at in my classroom, so no pictures this evening. Ger ready for some picture uploads tomorrow, though! Great things are going on in Ms. W's class, and I can't wait to share them :)
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Monday, September 12, 2011
Happy Monday!
Whew...I finally have my first Monday under my belt! It was a great start to the week, though it felt like there was a ton to do to make up for the "rain day" that we had on Friday. We started a couple new project's today in Ms. W's class, so more updates to come as the week progresses, but here are a few highlights from the day:
That's all for now...project updates to come!
Happy Monday from Room 106,
Allie
- We are working on what it means to have "Quality Students" and a "Quality Teacher" in our classroom, part of a school-wide philosophy. To review, we read Mrs. Toggle's Zipper, by Robin Pulver, and talked about all of the characteristics she possessed that made Mrs. Toggle a Quality Teacher, and all of the traits her children possessed to be Quality Students. There might be a couple dozen books that I thought of to read aloud to demonstrate this principle, but Robin was my neighbor growing up in upstate New York, and sharing a childhood book and memory with my kiddos this morning was a true joy.
- THE SUN WAS OUT!!!!! That meant recess outside today--ohmyword what a difference this made for my kiddos. Mother Nature, please do me a favor and cooperate for at least the next couple of weeks (preferably until mid-June of 2012, or really just, selfishly, for the rest of my teaching career) and I promise I will love you forever and always.
- For those of you other teachers out there that use the Daily 5 for your Language Arts blocks, I may have found a gem for you! Part of this Language-Arts-block-set-up is based around having students learn to "read to self." This may sound like a simple concept, but the way it is taught is to have students reading to themselves, completely uninterrupted and engaged, and to do this as a whole, entire class. Y'all, there are entire classes taught (to adults) on how to implement the Daily 5. It's big stuff! (And really great!!!) Anyways, the book I found and read to my kids was called The Best Place to Read, byDebie Bertram and Susan Bloom. Though the character in the book winds up reading on his mom's lap (not really an option at school, unfortunately!), it gives some great examples of places not to read, which is something that the Daily 5 focuses on, too!
- One more thing that I'm learning (well, have been learning for the past couple weeks) is that a classroom takes weeks and weeks to create. I find that every day I realize something more that I want to add and change, but I am heeding the advice of veteran teachers in making these changes gradually and not breaking myself to get them all done immediately. (For a Type-A like me, though, this takes some serious restraint!)
That's all for now...project updates to come!
Happy Monday from Room 106,
Allie
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Libraries
Hello, blogging world! Remember that post on Thursday night where I cursed the rain for a long commute home and was busy brainstorming ideas for indoor recess? Well, all that rain brought some flooding to the area, and we actually didn't have school on Friday. Initially, I was actually disappointed--I was ready for the day, and my kiddos were just starting to "get" being back in school. I know, I know, give me a couple months and I bet I'll be begging for snow days, but as for Friday, I was ready to go! Good news is that when I was planning for this week, Monday was already taken care of!
Because it was a day longer than planned, this three-day-weekend was pretty relaxing. One of my favorite parts: a trip to the library :) I.Love.Libraries. I love the smell. I love the sounds. I love watching people at libraries--people doing work, people searching for the next "perfect" book to read, parents with their children, filling their bags with books to read before bed. Everything about libraries, I love. And, as one might be able to tell by my choice of profession, I have a special affinity to the children's section of the library.
This week, we are beginning to study the Pledge of Allegiance and what it means to be a good citizen in Social Studies, and in math we are practicing counting to 20, so I was able to find some great books on both topics. I like to think that I have some great books in my classroom, but nothing makes me more excited than having even more, especially bringing in books pertaining exactly to what we are learning. A couple of these have some tough words in them, but we just talked in class about how you can "read the pictures" in a book if you don't know the words (part of the Daily 5--a post on that coming soon!), and I found some fabulous picture books--literally! I'm so excited to show these books to the kiddos this week!
Happy-Almost-Monday! Cheers to Week 2!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Because it was a day longer than planned, this three-day-weekend was pretty relaxing. One of my favorite parts: a trip to the library :) I.Love.Libraries. I love the smell. I love the sounds. I love watching people at libraries--people doing work, people searching for the next "perfect" book to read, parents with their children, filling their bags with books to read before bed. Everything about libraries, I love. And, as one might be able to tell by my choice of profession, I have a special affinity to the children's section of the library.
This week, we are beginning to study the Pledge of Allegiance and what it means to be a good citizen in Social Studies, and in math we are practicing counting to 20, so I was able to find some great books on both topics. I like to think that I have some great books in my classroom, but nothing makes me more excited than having even more, especially bringing in books pertaining exactly to what we are learning. A couple of these have some tough words in them, but we just talked in class about how you can "read the pictures" in a book if you don't know the words (part of the Daily 5--a post on that coming soon!), and I found some fabulous picture books--literally! I'm so excited to show these books to the kiddos this week!
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| Nothing makes me happier than a bag of books from the library! |
Happy-Almost-Monday! Cheers to Week 2!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Rain, rain, go away!
A lot of great things happened today, but this rain has put me in a little bit of a "mood" (my 27-minute commute home from school took me 54 minutes this evening), and I really just want to curl up on the couch and watch some cheesy television. Y'all, I don't know where you are reading from, but it has been raining here for the past 72 hours straight, and it's a little out of control.
I could go on about traffic, but what this rain really boils down to in terms of my life and this blog, is that my little kiddos have still not had outside recess, nor has our PE teacher had the option of taking our kiddos outside during their PE time. I was listening to the radio on the way to school this morning, and the deejay posed the question: "what do you dislike most about this rain?" A woman--a fellow teacher--called in with the response "indoor recess!!!" and I literally said "ahhhh yessssss!!!!" out loud in my car. I'm generally very fond of Momma N (Mother Nature), but right now, we are not on good terms.
Given that rain is in the forecast through the weekend, I did a little research when the kiddos left school today, in preparation for what looks like at least one more day of indoor recess. I found some great ideas for moving around the classroom here (there's also a part 2) and here...my little ones might not be excited about another day of indoor recess, but I for one, am really looking forward to some Freeze Dance tomorrow afternoon. Momma N, you've got nothin' on us!
"U is for uh-uh-uh-umbrella" love from Room 106,
I could go on about traffic, but what this rain really boils down to in terms of my life and this blog, is that my little kiddos have still not had outside recess, nor has our PE teacher had the option of taking our kiddos outside during their PE time. I was listening to the radio on the way to school this morning, and the deejay posed the question: "what do you dislike most about this rain?" A woman--a fellow teacher--called in with the response "indoor recess!!!" and I literally said "ahhhh yessssss!!!!" out loud in my car. I'm generally very fond of Momma N (Mother Nature), but right now, we are not on good terms.
Given that rain is in the forecast through the weekend, I did a little research when the kiddos left school today, in preparation for what looks like at least one more day of indoor recess. I found some great ideas for moving around the classroom here (there's also a part 2) and here...my little ones might not be excited about another day of indoor recess, but I for one, am really looking forward to some Freeze Dance tomorrow afternoon. Momma N, you've got nothin' on us!
"U is for uh-uh-uh-umbrella" love from Room 106,
Allie
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
"I luve school it is the best!"
For those of you that are also visual people, we'll start with something to feast your eyes on :)
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| Check out the person in his picture--arms, legs and even ears! Pretty good for a six-year-old! |
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| We've got a lot of inventive spelling going on here, but I couldn't resist posting this one...check out the person with the curly hair under the window wearing a red dress. Coincidence that I was wearing a coral/red dress today? ;) |
Day #2, and let me tell you guys, this job was not made for wimps! I'm pooped! But I digress on that one... Today was not too much different from the first day of school; well, all the kids were a little more "used to" being there, but today was again a lot of procedure and routine. Luckily, my kiddos seem to be catching on a little bit, so hopefully we'll only be drilling these things for a little bit longer :) A couple highlights from my day:
- The pictures above, for obvious reason...I think that of all elementary school grades, 1st graders are at the most honest, unabashed age where they are not afraid to think, write, and draw what they want. If we could all be half as genuine as first graders! (Example: One of my students was next to me at my desk as I was writing something down, and my name badge was lying flat on the desk. She looked at the picture of me on the badge and looked at me and said, "Ms. W, you look different here." Curiously I asked her which one she liked better--because the picture on my badge was taken about a month ago and I didn't think I could look that different. Her response was simple; she pointed to the "real" me (not the picture) and said, "I like you better here because you're just, well, here." Precious honesty, y'all.)
- I gave my students an assessment of the alphabet today, an "ABC write," where I called out the letters--out of order--and they had to write the capital and lower case version of the letters (or the "big" and "small" one of each). Most students did an impressive job, but the letter that gave me the most giggles was "Q," because the little version of the letter is really tricky! I had a couple students write it like this: QQ. Hope you all got a chuckle out of that, too!
- Microphones. Yesterday, when my kiddos didn't want to use their big-kid voices at our morning meeting, I pretended that an Expo marker was a microphone, and the kids magically spoke up. Well, today, it was a spoon, and, like magic, spoons increase the volume of kids' voices, too! I'm telling y'all--if you are a teacher, try this with your little ones. And if you are not a teacher, please find a child to test this theory on. It's unbelieveable!
- Lunch time today was about 95% less chaotic than yesterday--relief! Or maybe pizza is just a better lunch for a kid and makes them cooperate more than chicken etouffee served over rice (basically a stew, which was what lunch was yesterday). I'll keep you posted on the effects of kid-friendly lunch menu items on child behavior and readiness in the lunch line :)
- Today I ran into a little something we like to refer to as karma. It comes in the form of one of my students who is a mirror version of the six-year-old me. She has the habit of answering questions and making comments as she raises her hand (exactly the same thing I did in elementary school)...I give her a lot of credit for remembering to raise her had, now we just need to work on timing! I'm trying to remember what my teachers used to do to help me control my urges to talk...or maybe I still just talk too much?
- A veteran teacher asked ME for something today, you guys. No joke. I have student work hanging in the hall that was done on a template I created. Nothing big, just a place for a student's name, a big rectangle for a drawing, and some lines for writing (the elementary-school-type, with the dotted line in the middle). But a second grade teacher walked into my classroom in the middle of my Language Arts block, begging for an apology that she was interrupting, but wondering if there was any way I possibly had an extra blank copy of the paper that was hanging in the hall. Y'all--I was speechless. I had to make sure she was asking the right person. Wow.
- I had to make my first parent phone call today to a kiddo's mom--she lost one of the lenses in her glasses. I think the munchkin was scared to death to tell me :( My fingers will be crossed until tomorrow to see if it turns up when my room is cleaned tonight (even though I had 21 little ones on their hands and knees searching this afternoon), and I'd appreciate any extra crossed fingers that y'all can contribute!
- Indoor recess...can we get a little sunshine?!? Even if it's just from like 10am to 1pm--enough to peek out from behind the clouds, dry off the equipment, and then allow my energy-filled kiddos to run off some steam for a little bit! Board games can only provide so much entertainment for little arms and legs that are dying to be stretched! (On that note, if anyone has any child-friendly board games--or games in general--that you or your family is getting rid of, I have a shelf in Room 106 that would love to adopt them!)
One last thought before I look at lesson plans and then crawl into bed. One (of many!) ideas that I took away from education classes at JMU was to offer students a "handshake, high five, or hug" as a greeting when they enter the classroom every day. Let me just tell you that when you get 18 hugs, two high-fives, and a handshake to start off your day, life is good.
Don't get me wrong, y'all, this job is tough. Two days in and I can attest that it is tiring for my brain, for my soul, for my jaw (all that talking!), and for my feet, but the ups outweigh the downs, so the highs are what I choose to dwell on. I hope you all have kiddos in your classes (or for those of you with desk jobs, coworkers who surround you) that bring smiles to your faces too, all day long, for all different reasons.
Love and crossed fingers (hoping to find my little one's glasses lens!) from Room 106,
Allie
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Y'all. I don't even know where to begin about how great a day today was. Here's a snapshot (feel free to skim!) of how it played out:
I got to school pretty darn early--a) it was Day 1, and I wanted to be ready when my kiddos arrived, and b) let's be real, I wasn't sleeping anyways, with those first day butterflies, and it made more sense to be at school where I could be productive. I finished setting up the classroom, hung up and set out some things that I had crafted over the weekend, and enjoyed my coffee. And then the kiddos arrived...
To begin the day, everyone in the class drew a self-portrait for our first grade time capsule, a wonderful idea that I borrowed from Mrs. Carroll and her First Grade Parade--the first of many ideas I think I will be taking from her :) We then wrote a little bit about ourselves and sealed those suckers closed to be read on the last day of school in June. The kiddos were so precious when putting their "first days of school" into the time capsule--when the first student put theirs in the box I said something like "say, 'See you in June!'" and each one of them said that to their papers when putting them in an old show box that is our time capsule. One of my little girls even kissed hers goodbye! Reason #5032 why I already can't get enough of 'em!
Here is the template we used:
And then we said goodbye to them until June...
We had a Morning Meeting where we got to know everyone's name--for the shy kids who didn't speak up, I let them talk into my "microphone" (which happened to be an Expo marker this morning because it was the first cylinder-like object my eyes found when I discovered I had some camera-shy kiddos). Seriously, y'all, try this with a kid sometime--I swear their voices rose 10 decibels with an Expo marker held under their chin as the microphone that would make their voices louder. Priceless.
We read a couple of books, my two first-day favorites:
(Thank you to Mrs. Sue Hutchinson in JMU's College of Education for reading Julie Dannenberg's First Day Jitters to our ECED 372 class three years ago; it's been a staple in my library ever since, and has been the first book I've read to every practicum and student teaching class I was in...and now was the first book I read to my first class!)
While I was collecting some data on the kiddos, I asked them to write for me what they were most excited about in first grade, and to please draw me a picture. Selfishly, this was a personal fave:
Melt.My.Heart. Does life get much better than this?
The day carried on with a tour of the cafeteria, some more get-to-know-you activities and routines, lunch, and Art. Honestly, lunch was kind of a disaster, as it was my first lunch at school (they don't exactly do a "mock lunch" during inservice week!), and the kids were a little bummed that we had indoor recess on the first day because of rain, but if that was the worst part of the day, I'll take it!
We finished the day with one more writing prompt of "tell me a little bit about yourself." Some of the kiddos produced some really impressive work, which is already displayed out in the hallway :)
Another thank you for this one, to my dear friend Miss Hazlegrove, who had similar posters hanging outside her classroom when I visited her 1st grade class last year. Laminated construction paper with "created by ______" makes it easy to tape student work up quickly, and you never have to worry about taking paint off the wall in the hall!
At 3:30, the bell rang, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief that I did it--I not only got through the first day of school as a new teacher, but truly enjoyed it :) Turns out those "first day jitters" were for nothing!
After a day of horrible weather, I got home and put on my running shoes, and it was as if Mother Nature peeked into my life for a minute and said "Hey, Allie, since I forced your kiddos into indoor recess today, I'm going to give you an hour of perfect weather to go for a run." 65 degrees (shorts and a long sleeve tee, this runner's dream) and not a drizzle falling out of the sky for a half dozen miles of running = perfection.
Now I'm just rambling...here's to just as great of a second day as the first!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
I got to school pretty darn early--a) it was Day 1, and I wanted to be ready when my kiddos arrived, and b) let's be real, I wasn't sleeping anyways, with those first day butterflies, and it made more sense to be at school where I could be productive. I finished setting up the classroom, hung up and set out some things that I had crafted over the weekend, and enjoyed my coffee. And then the kiddos arrived...
To begin the day, everyone in the class drew a self-portrait for our first grade time capsule, a wonderful idea that I borrowed from Mrs. Carroll and her First Grade Parade--the first of many ideas I think I will be taking from her :) We then wrote a little bit about ourselves and sealed those suckers closed to be read on the last day of school in June. The kiddos were so precious when putting their "first days of school" into the time capsule--when the first student put theirs in the box I said something like "say, 'See you in June!'" and each one of them said that to their papers when putting them in an old show box that is our time capsule. One of my little girls even kissed hers goodbye! Reason #5032 why I already can't get enough of 'em!
Here is the template we used:
And then we said goodbye to them until June...
We had a Morning Meeting where we got to know everyone's name--for the shy kids who didn't speak up, I let them talk into my "microphone" (which happened to be an Expo marker this morning because it was the first cylinder-like object my eyes found when I discovered I had some camera-shy kiddos). Seriously, y'all, try this with a kid sometime--I swear their voices rose 10 decibels with an Expo marker held under their chin as the microphone that would make their voices louder. Priceless.
We read a couple of books, my two first-day favorites:
(Thank you to Mrs. Sue Hutchinson in JMU's College of Education for reading Julie Dannenberg's First Day Jitters to our ECED 372 class three years ago; it's been a staple in my library ever since, and has been the first book I've read to every practicum and student teaching class I was in...and now was the first book I read to my first class!)
While I was collecting some data on the kiddos, I asked them to write for me what they were most excited about in first grade, and to please draw me a picture. Selfishly, this was a personal fave:
 |
Melt.My.Heart. Does life get much better than this?
The day carried on with a tour of the cafeteria, some more get-to-know-you activities and routines, lunch, and Art. Honestly, lunch was kind of a disaster, as it was my first lunch at school (they don't exactly do a "mock lunch" during inservice week!), and the kids were a little bummed that we had indoor recess on the first day because of rain, but if that was the worst part of the day, I'll take it!
We finished the day with one more writing prompt of "tell me a little bit about yourself." Some of the kiddos produced some really impressive work, which is already displayed out in the hallway :)
Another thank you for this one, to my dear friend Miss Hazlegrove, who had similar posters hanging outside her classroom when I visited her 1st grade class last year. Laminated construction paper with "created by ______" makes it easy to tape student work up quickly, and you never have to worry about taking paint off the wall in the hall!
At 3:30, the bell rang, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief that I did it--I not only got through the first day of school as a new teacher, but truly enjoyed it :) Turns out those "first day jitters" were for nothing!
After a day of horrible weather, I got home and put on my running shoes, and it was as if Mother Nature peeked into my life for a minute and said "Hey, Allie, since I forced your kiddos into indoor recess today, I'm going to give you an hour of perfect weather to go for a run." 65 degrees (shorts and a long sleeve tee, this runner's dream) and not a drizzle falling out of the sky for a half dozen miles of running = perfection.
Now I'm just rambling...here's to just as great of a second day as the first!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Welcome to Room 106
An avid follower of many blogs myself, I figured that it was time to take a stab at the blogging world for myself! (I have to say--I think the hardest part about jumping into blogging was choosing a name! It probably took me almost an hour to think of one I liked, and then the name was taken, so it was back to the drawing board. After more pondering, and then deciding on a template--which will likely change multiple times--here I am!) A new teacher to a class of 21 first graders, I'm not sure of how regular my contributions to the blogosphere will be, but I'm going to try my hardest :)
This past week of inservices, trainings, meetings, and setting up my classroom was enough to keep me at school from about sun-up to sun-down, but heading into my first day, I feel pretty prepared! I have a wonderful team, and the other teachers that I share the downstairs hallway with are fabulous--the team of teachers and support staff that I will be working with this coming year have made me feel so at home and prepared. I've got a good feeling that the "at home" feeling isn't going anywhere, and my fingers are crossed that the "prepared" part will stick around for a while, too.
Last Thursday was our Open House, and I got to meet a dozen of my kiddos and their parents (and some siblings, too!). It was SUCH a great night, and after a week of agonizing whether my classroom would ever be put together in time for the visits, I left school breathing easy that everything came together.
As the first day of school approaches this coming Tuesday, I thought I'd give y'all a tour of my classroom. There are still finishing touches that need to be added--many of which are sitting on my living room floor ready to be brought to school and hung up/placed around the room before the kiddos arrive--but c'est la vie!
I've spent the last 18 August/Septembers of my life beginning the school year as a student--here's to starting my first as a teacher!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
This past week of inservices, trainings, meetings, and setting up my classroom was enough to keep me at school from about sun-up to sun-down, but heading into my first day, I feel pretty prepared! I have a wonderful team, and the other teachers that I share the downstairs hallway with are fabulous--the team of teachers and support staff that I will be working with this coming year have made me feel so at home and prepared. I've got a good feeling that the "at home" feeling isn't going anywhere, and my fingers are crossed that the "prepared" part will stick around for a while, too.
Last Thursday was our Open House, and I got to meet a dozen of my kiddos and their parents (and some siblings, too!). It was SUCH a great night, and after a week of agonizing whether my classroom would ever be put together in time for the visits, I left school breathing easy that everything came together.
As the first day of school approaches this coming Tuesday, I thought I'd give y'all a tour of my classroom. There are still finishing touches that need to be added--many of which are sitting on my living room floor ready to be brought to school and hung up/placed around the room before the kiddos arrive--but c'est la vie!
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| Welcome to Ms. W's class! |
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| Here's standing right inside the doorway looking toward the front of the room--those of you that have ever visited our apartment downtown at Urban will recognize my reading chair :) (Also, a tip I received: you'll notice that there's a pattern on the wall behind the chair and also above the white board. I covered all my bulletin boards with fabric (right now it's back-to-school themed), which was super-easy to hang and doesn't fade, so I can use it year after year! I personally think that patterned fabric is cuter than plain butcher paper from the copy room, but to each his own...) |
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| And if you step into the classroom a little bit more and turn to the left, you can see most of the classroom--I can't tell y'all how many times I reorganized the furniture, but after about half a dozen configurations, I think I finally found a lay out I can live with! |
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| My library...still aesthetically unpleasing to me, but I'm working on it! (This beautification project, I decided, was not as important as, say, figuring out my first week's lesson plans. I'll let you know how it shapes up as I work on it!) My desk begins at the left edge of this photo, but is still a war-zone, so it was [strategically] not photographed :) |
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| This photo is taken from about the middle of the room looking at the back left corner (opposite back corner of the computers/library). You'll see a little word wall action some sweet student mail boxes (on the right side of the picture) that I inherited from the teacher who lived in this room before me, and, in the back corner, a bathroom! Though I've received plenty of cautionary tips about children using the bathroom, I am selfishly realllly excited about this part of my classroom because of my love for coffee and water--now I have no reason to have to limit my intake of either! |
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| Here's a view from the library-area with a view of the doorway side of the classroom. I have TONS of cabinet and shelf space in my classroom--what.a.dream. There's lots of blank space right now, but those blank cabinet doors are just begging to be a display case for student work! I just need to collect some from the kiddos on Tuesday :) |
I've spent the last 18 August/Septembers of my life beginning the school year as a student--here's to starting my first as a teacher!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
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