School and the City

I have a case of the Sunday night blues tonight, and it's not for the reason you'd think. The school year is over here, and tomorrow I have to drive to my school for the last time to get my room checked and to turn in my keys. Y'all. I'm SAD. I mean, let's be real. Teaching is definitely NOT always sunshine and bunnies and rainbows. (In the world of education, those things would be the equivalent of well-behaved kids, huge academic growth in all students, supportive and happy parents, plus simply the ability to impact young little lives in a positive way every day.) But sometimes, that's exactly what it is. Isn't it crazy how we count down the days to the end of the year, and then when the last day FINALLY gets here, it seems like it's arrived much too soon? I think as teachers, we often get caught up in the little stuff: a student with a behavior problem, poorly-designed curriculum, a snarky email from a parent, or only having 20 minutes t...

It's that time of the year again: Time for end-of-year gifts.  (Because YES, I am STILL IN SCHOOL over here in central North Carolina!!!!) Thanks Tara for hosting this fun linky party! GOODBYE GIFTS FOR THE KIDS Did you know that Scholastic has "Dollar Deals" every month? I bought dollar books for my kids for Christmas, and they loved that. I decided to buy a dollar book for each student for the end of year too! In April, one of the "Dollar Deals" was Sideways Stories from Wayside School. We have read all 3 Wayside books as a class this year and the kids absolutely go crazy for them! I figured they wouldn't mind having a copy of their own to re-read. I wrote an individualized note to each student inside the front cover about how great they are, how much I will miss them, blah blah blah....... (trying not to cry)...... We also made some bookmarks that will be stuck inside the Wayside book. I made a blank bookmark for each studen...

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Ron Clark Academy Educator Experience with my team. It certainly was an EXPERIENCE! It was an experience that I learned a ton from and will always treasure. Amy from My Bright Bunch I was the first one in the building, and it was CRAZY! I was guided through a room by a 5th grader with a line of dancing, singing kids on either side of me. It was a lot like sorority recruitment, actually! We had some kids stand around and make small talk with us (also like sorority recruitment) until everyone was inside the building. I say "small talk," but they actually had been trained to ask some pretty thought-provoking questions, such as "What is your lifelong dream?" Dang. Some of my team with the man himself! Ignore the no-coffee bags under my eyes.  Then Kim Bearden, the co-founder, asked the fifth grader I was speaking to if she wanted to jump on the trampoline. Except it turns out that Kim wasn't as...

I finally did it... "It" being the #IWishMyTeacherKnew writing project. I was not expecting my kids to take it as seriously as they did.  I cried. A lot. Big, fat, happy and sad and in-between tears. Here are some of my favorites: Cue tears.  I'd been calling him "Grandpa," too, which was a nickname he gave himself. More tears.  Totally unfair. #kidstruggles AWWWWWW. LOL - Sorry honey. I'm not planning on having any 9-year-old bridesmaids.  This last one made me ugly cry, Kim Kardashian style. It's from my major behavior problem child. He ruins my mood daily and is usually the reason I pour myself a little extra wine at night. He's the one the other teachers ask about at lunch everyday; "How's ___ doing today?" He's the one that causes me to breathe a sigh of relief when he is absent. He is the one that I ride all day long, having to give him a verbal or nonverbal cue every m...

Few things at school stress me out more than holidays that require students to make gifts for their parents. I want my parents to be impressed and flattered, I really do, but I also want them to know that I use classroom time effectively to teach their students as much as possible.  Some of the gifts that I have seen teachers have their students make for their parents are over-the-top extravagant and, worst of all, expensive! Frankly, as a beginning teacher, I can't afford to spend more on my classroom than I already do. I love my students' parents and am so thankful for them, and I wish I had an endless supply of cash, but I would rather invest in books for my classroom library.  Last year, I created a product that would meet my needs as a teacher. Not only is the project print-and-go with no prep required, it also showcases a student's academic talent, creativity, AND - most importantly - his or her LOVE for mom!  My moms from last year absolutely loved ...

Hi, all! Long time, no blog. This quarter has been a crazy one full of extra-curricular activities, illness, and big decisions. I'm back today though because I COULD NOT WAIT to share with you about our classroom poetry caf é! We've been planning this for weeks... CLICK the picture to check out my editable invitations! My students worked extremely hard all month creating poetry books using my templates and adding their own pages. They turned out to be great little poets! I gathered some materials including a karaoke machine, a lamp, and some snacks. We practiced at least 5 times. I showed the students some video clips of kids reciting poetry and we practiced using vocal and facial expressions. I encouraged them to dress in all black and wear glasses or hats if they wanted to. I even tried to teach them how to snap instead of clap! For the real thing, I had about 20 parents show up to be the audience.  It was SO MUCH FUN for both the ki...

Words Their Way: SO overwhelming, am I right? We just started using Words Their Way this year. Although I was trained on WTW in college, I had NO IDEA how to implement WTW effectively in my classroom while differentiating to meet students' individual needs. Over the summer, my team decided that I was going to be in charge of word study, so I threw myself head first into Words Their Way. I read the books, read blogs, attended workshops, and watched videos.  I finally figured out how to implement WTW in my room. Maybe it will work for you, too!  ORGANIZATION First, you have to give your students the PSI or ESI test and score them using the WTW scoresheets. I don't fill out the scoresheets completely because I find that to be a royal waste of time. Instead, I circle the patterns that a student MISSES. When a student misses three in one column, I stop grading and plan to start the student on that skill.  I have a spreadsheet on Google Docs tha...