Do Something Wonderful Today

Round 2 of state assessments  went pretty smoothly. Today was the first part of the math section that our 3rd graders take. They mentioned to me that it was a great idea to review the last couple of weeks so that they would be prepared. I thought to myself "Hooray" and hopefully their scores reflect all of our hard work. One great thing is that no one said that they saw anything that they have never seen before or had any content that was just "too hard to figure out". So, maybe (fingers crossed) we will have all at meeting standards and above. As long as they work hard and do their very best, then I will be a happy teacher!

One thing that I love doing is reading about other teachers doing awesome activities that I can use within my own classroom. One of my favorite websites that I love visiting with from the teacher Beth Newingham. (just google her)I know of lots of teachers that use her website as a resource to improve their classroom instruction. She is a 3rd grade teacher in Michigan who is also a scholastic teaching matters contributor.  She has wonderful ways to engage students and incorporate creativity in each lesson. I found a really cool idea that I am excited to implement in my own classroom. For part of her social studies curriculum, she has created a unit called the United States Region Tour. It takes the different regions of the US and breaks each one down and the students have "traveling" experiences with food, monuments, letters, historical facts and so much more. She states that, "pr oviding students with authentic learning experiences is something I work hard to do in my

This weekend I haven't done anything too structured or extremely stressful. I find that if I take time to recharge my batteries, I tend to be a little more effective when I teach during the week. Last night, I watched the movie "Julie and Julia" about a woman named Julie who cooked and blogged her way through Julia Child's book in a year. I absolutely loved it! It's great to watch something that I can relate to my own life but at the same time I'm able find some sort of inspiration as well as motivation.  I have learned through this slice of life challenge that it's a great way for me to express myself but also to take time to learn from others experiences. I love reading other people's posts, whether they be teachers or not, and listening to their wit and lessons learned through daily events. I have also found that taking time to reflect upon my own experiences as well as actions can help me to not become stagnant but to continue to grow.  My someth

So, I love to read and I like to spend some time every weekend devoted to reading. I just finished the 9th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (what HBO's True Blood series is based on) and I am sort of stuck on what to read next. I also just finished my teacher's book club book "Same Kind of Different As Me", which is the complete opposite of vampire books. I love reading chick-lit but I also try to balance genres. As a result, I'm looking for an array of titles or series to get into next and expand my reading horizons.  Any ideas?

Sometimes I don't realize how much I can learn from my students. 1 month ago I had a new student from Haiti join my classroom. He spoke almost no English and was pretty confused about what we did and how we did things here in America. But, as soon as I sat down with him I was amazed with what he knew! He is a whiz at math and as of today he already has all his letters and sounds down pat. Since he has the foundation of the French language, acquiring English isn't as difficult as one might think. I'm feeling confident that he is on his way to success! And so comes today. I now have a new student from China. My principal told me yesterday that she would be starting today and she knows little to no English. But, I was prepared since I just had this experience with my other new student. So, I did a little homework and checked out some Dr. Seuss books that are in Chinese and English and translated a couple of phrases that she (and I) should know. I must say that reading charact

Every once in a while there is a small moment of giggles that seems to spread like wildfire with my students. This week our reading class is learning about astronauts in space, the space shuttle and gathering data from different planets. I gathered some books to read aloud so that I could extend my students learning. I was reading the book "G is for Galaxy" and we were reviewing different parts of the galaxy and making connections to our reading. As I was discussing Pluto and how it wasn't a planet anymore, I accidentally said Plunet when I was trying to say Pluto and planet. You would have thought that I pumped my students full of laughing gas because they were practically rolling on the ground giggling. So, I finished the book (with the background giggles) and mentioned that sometimes it just the little things that get us laughing. Of course, I had to giggle too.