College Readiness Week

 

As I mentioned previously, this summer I attended the No Excuses University seminar in Dallas, TX with a co-teacher and our administrative team. Our district brought a team from each elementary.The seminar was AWESOME and I recommend it to anyone who gets a chance to go!  

 

College readiness is the idea that students are prepared to go to college, if they choose to do so.

We have decided on our elementary campus that our students are COLLEGE BOUND!

 NO EXCUSES!

 

Each teacher adopted a 4 year university for their classroom to learn about. Every classroom in the building has a different university.

 

The teachers decorated their classroom doors to show their school spirit!

 

My classroom adopted Texas Christian University! Go Frogs!

 

 

 

Each day of the week we had a theme for our kids to participate:

Monday - We're kicking off College Readiness Week! Wear your boots!

Tuesday - Our future is so bright we have to wear shades!

Wednesday - Education is tied to our future! Wear tie-dye or a tie!

Thursday - Hats off to College!

Friday - School Spirit - Wear your favorite university gear!

 

Hook Em Horns and Gig Em Aggies! Coming together for the future of our students!

My co-teacher and I also created this bulletin board earlier in the year. It shows where each teacher attending college.

 

As a project for the week, every 3rd - 5th grader was expected to create a poster about a university they were interested in learning more about. Our hallways are now decorated with these fabulous posters! It was awesome to see universities represented that weren't in Texas.

 

 

More pictures to come of the awesome things happening on our campus!

Bring a Book to Life Night

Each year our campus does a read aloud night. Typically, teachers choose a book, dress up as a character and plans an activity to accompany the book.

I usually try to represent a redheaded character because I feel like redheads get a bad rep in movies (gotta do my part to set the record straight) lol

This year I was Freckleface Strawberry from Julianna Moore's book. Love it. The book is about embracing who you are. It's super cute.

Where Are You Going to College?

 

As part of our No Excuses campaign, my friend Trina and I created this bulletin board on campus. I requested that all teachers and staff fill out an index card telling us what college they attended, the city/state that the college is located in and the degree that they earned. I also requested a picture, preferably a graduation picture if they had one.

 

This is the outcome...notice the yarn practically covers Texas. lol

 

Some of the teachers have complained (jokingly) that our bulletin board has caused a traffic jam in the hallway because all the kids want to stop and look at it. :)

 

We originally wanted to do pins with the strings attached, but we do not have an actual bulletin board in the main hallway of the building. So we improvised using this display case.

Constitution Day

Here are pictures from the lesson I found on Pinterest for Constitution Day. We read the book "We the Kids" by David Caltrow about the Preamble to the Constitution. Then I partnered the kids up and had assigned them a part of the preamble to portray through a picture.

 

Here is a link to the pdf of the lesson plan I found on Pinterest/Teaching Blog.

 

I took pictures of some of my favorite pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

But You Get Summers Off...

 Disclaimer: Yup its going to be one of those posts. If you don't like my rambling, you might as well go to another page now. And it will be a lot of rambling!!

My blog post is not meant to be a rant or complaint against my life as a teacher or the hard work that comes with the territory. It is simply to remind you of the challenges teachers face each day.

Let's go ahead and talk about that little rumor that "teachers get the summer off".  Many teachers do not get the summer "off".  While technically we are not on campus teaching, it is not a true time of being "off" work. It is time for professional development, moving classrooms or campuses, preparing for the next year, teaching summer school or tutoring, and much more. We work year round as hard as we possibly can for the children that enter our class each day. While sometimes you might find a bad apple among us, let me assure you that is the exception to the rule. My co-workers are some amazing people. I grow as an educator every day just because I am in the same building.

I work hard enough each day to get my job done the way I feel it should be done. I put in enough effort to know that when I leave my classroom each day, I've given my students as much as I can in order to provide them with a good education. Even with that said, there will always be the thought in my mind "maybe I could've done more". This will forever drive me to become a better educator.

There are days that I absolutely love my job and there are days that I want to walk out the door in complete frustration. I think that most jobs have days like these. However, I don't think that you can ever appreciate the work of a teacher until you have spent a day in a classroom.

A Typical Day of an Elementary Teacher
Our official duty time is from 7:35 - 3:45 each day. My average day is 7:20 - 4:30. As the year progresses the days grow longer.
30 minute lunch (pending needs of students/lunches/discipline, bathroom break, etc.)
55 minute conference (including but never limited to parent conferences, student conferences, intervention meetings, ARDs, 504s, planning, organizing, preparing materials)

Expectations regardless of when its completed (even if outside the 8 hour day):
Being prepared for an appraisal at any time (4 - 15 minute observations and at least 1 - 45 minute observation. This is where one of our administrators come in an write down EVERYTHING that you do and say within that time period, then review and compare it to state expectations)

Grade papers/assignment/projects
Enter grades in electronic gradebook for parent access
Make plans for lessons while following constantly changing state curriculum
Find ways to bring new technology into classroom
Differentiate for all students within my classroom
Progress Monitor for academic growth
Discipline children while showing empathy and staying focused learning
Reply to emails
Respond to phone calls
150 hours of CPE per 5 years

Other Expectations (that many outside of education field see as "optional"):
Student events such as Open House, Parent Night, etc. which typically extend our days to 10-12 hour days
Extracurricular Clubs and Activities
Tutoring

So if your teacher friends look tired, its because they work hard each and every day with a smile on their face. Not because they can't handle being "back at school".

PS - If you can read this, thank a teacher. :)

 

All my pretty pictures came from Pinterest. :)

Back to School!

Lots of teachers are putting the final touches on their rooms for the 1st Day of School. I'm not huge on different bulletin boards because I'm horrible about changing them throughout the year. Below are some pictures of my classroom.

 

 

I teach reading and social studies this year, but I wanted to support students learning in all areas. I found the digital times on Pinterest. Then I made the other clocks to show significant times throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

These are my Love and Logic Posters. I had to re-do them from last year as my originals got damaged over the summer. Boo. But I like this one better I think!

 

 

 

 

This is my Classroom Management Book. It's a binder with all my conduct management information. I got this idea from the Turn Around Schools: No Excuses University Institute I attended in Dallas this summer.

 

 

This is the Classroom Management Plan all of 3rd grade (and the campus) will be following this year.

 

 

Here is a picture of our Rethinking Letter

 

 

 

And of course the Love and Logic Classroom goes in the front of our notebook! I'm combining ideas from 2 of the best workshops I've been to thus far in my teaching career.

 

Goof Off

Goof Off has to be the best product ever when you need to remove last years decorations from your classroom

Do your desks have a film on them from name plates and packaging tape? Spray this on the desks. Let sit. Then wipe off.

The laminated poster you made las year have permanent marker or dry erase marker left on it? Spray and wipe! It's awesome. No more hairspray or nail polish remover.

Of course you wouldn't want to use this product with students in the room. Strictly for summer cleaning or at home use. You can buy it at Lowes or Home Depot for less than $10 (when I bought my bottle).

Readers Notebook

 

 

 

Today I learned how to make a CUTE readers notebook out of scrapbook paper and a composition book.

 

Prep: 12X12 scrapbook paper. Cut 3 inches off the side of the paper. This will leave you with a 3X12 strip and a 9X12 (almost letter) size piece of paper. You need 2 of the 9X12 pieces of paper and one contrasting color of the 3X12 piece of paper.

 

Materials:

 

Composition Book

Glue Stick

2 pieces of 9X12 pieces of scrapbook paper

1 piece of 3X12 piece of scrapbook paper

Packing tape

Scissors

 

Here is my notebook with my scrapbook paper



Use the 3X12 piece of paper to cover the spine of the book. Use the notebook to make a crease in the paper. Fold the paper under to create a piece of paper that will fit to the spine. Put glue on the both sides of the notebook and wrap the paper over to cover the spine.

This shows the back of the notebook with the paper wrapped around the spine.

Seal the line of paper to the notebook with a stip of packaging tape.





Now cover the entire front of the notebook with glue.

Cover the notebook with one of the pieces of the scrapbook paper.

This actually shows the back being covered. But its the same process for both sides.

Now wrap the scrapbook paper around the notebook like you are wrapping a gift. Use packaging tape to seal the edges.

 

Leave a small gap as you fold the corners so that the paper has a little give when opened.

See small gap!

 

 

 

This is another view of the wrapping of the cover.

 

 

 

 

Once the cover is wrapped you can seal the spine paper and the cover paper with packaging tape.

 

 

 

 

 

These are the tabs created for our Readers Notebook.

Tada! Here is the front and back of my Readers Notebook. Next step is to add stickers and photos. Then seal the whole notebook with packaging tape.

Back to School Shopping Trip #4

You've heard me talk about my Staples shopping trips in previous posts. They changed their Teacher Rewards Program this year which means teachers can no longer get the huge amount of instant savings at the register. Basically, teachers spend money on certain items and in return get 100% back in a rewards certificate to be spent in the store the following month. As shown in previous shopping trips I spent about $80 in July. I received $65 back in Staples Teachers Rewards.

While this change hasn't been my favorite, I'm still pretty happy that I was able to get some great deals on school supplies. Districts do the best they can with budget cuts. My district is awesome about taking care of its students and staff. However, teaching has rigourously changed over the years. In order to keep learning occuring at its best, teachers often purchase supplies for their classrooms and then purchase more for their own children.

 If any of you happened to catch Teachers Rock on CBS last night, you may have heard Walmart spokeswoman say that teachers spend approxiamtely $500 a year out of their own pockets on supplies for their classrooms. This is totally true! Honestly, if you're moving grade levels or new to the profession this can be amount can be even more. So getting rewards and deals on supplies is really important for a teacher's personal spending budget. You know since teachers are so overpaid!! I can't tell you how many times I've been out buying supplies when someone asks "Doesn't the school pay for that?" or "Don't you get money to spend at the beginning of the year for that?" The answer is no. A lot of people who are not an educator doesn't seem to understand how this is possible.  I've even heard that in other states, such as California, districts can no longer ask for school supplies from students. Everything must be provided by the teacher or the school. Now that's crazy!

This is my haul today. Doesn't look like much but school supplies are expensive!

                                                           Retail                Back to School Sale Price

Staples Stickies 12 pack                    $13.99               $5.00

Staples Stickies 12 pack                    $13.99               $5.00

Stickies Mini 12 pack                        $6.29

Sharpie Fine 12 count                        $9.99                $6.00

Record Book                                      $7.99

4 inch Glitter Letters                          $6.29                Free Teacher Promotion

Kodak Ink                                          $19.99             

Pencils 2 packs                                   $2.00                $0.50

(3) Composition Book Wide Rule     $3.00                $0.30

Post It Novelty                                   $2.99

Command Hanging Strips                  $9.99

                      Total Retail Value:    $96.52                  

                          Total at Register:  $64.05

         15% Off Back to School Pass: ($6.87)

                                                Total: $57.18

Amount Paid: NOTHING!!!  Due to Teacher Rewards Earned in July :) 

 I also have more rewards to spend.

The guy behind me at the register was like "How did you manage that?" Kinda made me feel like I was on Extreme Coupoining or something HAHAHA.

I did buy a Post It 5 Pack for $7.79 on accident. I didn't include this in the total. I'm gonna exchange it this afternoon for a 12pk Stickies for $5. That's what happens when you don't pay attention to how things ring up at the register.

Like I said, in the picture it doesn't look like $100 worth of stuff, but school stuff is expensive. I go through post it notes and sharpies like crazy. I'm super excited about being able to get this using my Teacher Rewards, especially after having to throw away a lot of my supplies this year for reasons beyond my control.

If you have children and want to make a teacher happy, ask what supplies the teacher needs. Classrooms are always in need of something such as pencils, crayons, markers, glue sticks, colored paper, etc. It really varies on the teacher and the needs of the classroom. If you see something on sale, grab an extra and donate it to your child's classroom!

Happy Shopping!

Back to 3rd Grade

Guess what?! It's back to 3rd grade for me! Now that my classroom has literally moved from one corner of the building to the other, I am working on getting ready for next year. Below are some pictures of Pinterest ideas for classroom organization. My friend and co-worker, Trina, had these in her room too.

I am teaching reading and social studies this year. These are my objective boards. I decided these were the 3 content areas that my class would have the same objective. While independent reading will be on the indvidual student's level, I want them working on a grade level objective that will be modeled through read alouds and mini lessons.

This is my class expectations board. I plan on using this to help remind students of the expectations throughout our 90 minute block.

The Teacher Clipboard System will be used when I am doing Guided Reading. Each student will be assigned a number that they will use in each of their class rotations. Each of the students will have their number written on a clothespin. If a student needs my assistance during a small group time they simply clip their clothespin to my clipboard and walk away. It's a silent way of them letting me know they need me without interrupting my group. I haven't used it before, so we'll see how it goes this year!

School Supply Shopping Trip # 3

Previously I mentioned how frustrated I was that Staples changed their policy on Extreme Deals Teacher Limits. Once again, I understand why Staples needed to change their policy. It's just a little frustrating as a teacher to have to pay all the upfront costs and get the money back in Staples Rewards. I still decided to participate in the deals, knowing that I could get a lot of products that I used for really cheap. The policy change just means I'm being selective on which Extended Limits deals I am participating in each week.For example, I entitled this Shopping Trip #3 because I did go to Staples last week but did not participate in the Extreme Deals Extended Limits for teachers.


 Staples still has great weekly deals on school supplies if you pay attention to their ads.

Here is the breakdown of my haul at Staples this week:

12 packages of Pencil Cap Erasers*

25 packages of index cards*

2 packages of Die Cut Post Its

4 packages of Neon Flag Stickies

4 packages of Sharpie 4ct Highlighters

*Indicates 2 regular limit, 25 Extended Teacher Limit with 100% back in Staples Rewards

Retail Value: $62.48

Used 15% Off "Back to School Savings Pass": ($5.75)

Paid In Store: $35.30

*Expected Rewards Estimate*: $30.00

The rewards will be issued at the end of the month for use in August at Staples. I'm still learning about the Staples Rewards program as I have not used it in the past.

I used the index cards all the time last year. The index cards played a huge role in my Guided Reading groups and small group teaching. We made index cards for sight words, building sentences, etc.

Disappointing Staples Teacher Deals

Now that we are in July, stores are beginning to have their "Back to School" deals and sales. Last year I was able to score on a bunch of school supplies at Staples. This was awesome because as a teacher, we usually have to get creative on ways to stock up on school supplies. Especially with budget cuts and the needs of the classroom changing. Not all families have the means to purchase the  amount of supplies needed each year for their child in the classroom.

In 2011, Staples allowed teachers to increase the limit to 25 on any Extreme Deals that were posted in their Weekly Ads. The savings were directly at the counter when making the purchase. This was awesome. Click here to see what I was able to score last year.

However, this year Staples Extreme Deals policy has changed for teachers. (Sad day!) Teachers are allowed to increase the Extreme Deals limit to 25 but with new rules in place:

**Note - the following is my understanding as a customer who is part of the Teacher Staples Rewards Program. Please check your local Ad and store for information**

1. You need to have a Staples Rewards card with your card being listed as a teacher (as opposed to personal or business).

2. Teachers can purchase 2 items under the Extreme Deals and 23 items at regular price.

3.The 23 items extended limits will be issued as Staples Rewards at the end of the month.

2011 = 75 items = 75 cents with minimum purchase of $5 = $5.75 at register

2012 = 2 items at 0.01 each + 23 items at 1.99 each = $45.79 at register
I purchased the $10 Savings Pass which takes off 15% of every purchase ($6.90) = $38.89 at register


This is the email I received in May from Staples.

Really Staples? This doesn't make going back to school a lot easier for teachers.

This means that I am having to front a lot of the cost to get back a certificate to spend even more money in the store.  According to Staples, I will get the rewards back 100% for the extended limit items. The rewards should come in email at the beginning of August.

I have to spend more money to get any future Staples Extreme Deals back in rewards, which will also come in an email at the beginning of August. Upon further reading it is also my understanding that the rewards will be issued for an entire month as one reward total. Once redeemed, you get a one time coupon for the remaining balance. You must spend the entire balance on the next redemption or the balance is forfeited.

Something else that is not clear to me is that it states up to 25 items. Does this mean 25 total items or 25 items per Extreme Deal?

The Extreme Deals for the week of 7/15 in my area are 1 cent Avery Dividers, 1 cent 8 1/2 X 11 Notepads, and $1 Avery 1" Binders.

Dividers are regularly $1.49 x 23 items = $34.27 up front with an expected $34 in rewards
Notepads are regularly $1.49 x 23 items = $34. 27 up front with an expected $34 in rewards
Binders are regularly $2.99 x 23 items = $68. 77 up front with an expected $45 in rewards

I really don't know many teachers that can pay that upfront with the possibility of getting the money back in rewards to spend at a later date in store.

Last year, Staples was my favorite school supply shopping destination. I was so excited to stock up my room and I can't even begin to tell you how much those supplies helped throughout the year. I understand their policy change probably had to do with the crazy amount of savings teachers were able to get in store and yada yada about cost. Now teachers have to spend more upfront, then come back to spend more in store to get the deals. If they don't use the deals within 3 months they expire.

This afternoon I started to google information about this new Extreme Deal Policy and here are some interesting links I found!

Change.org - Keep the 2011 Extreme Deals Policy

Staples, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

I know I should be grateful that a company is giving such awesome deals to teachers. Truly, it is awesome. However if you are going to offer deals for teachers, make it in a way that teachers can actually benefit from the deal. Most teachers I know aren't going to participate this year in the Extreme Deals due to the new policy. It's just not budget friendly.

Rather than this new policy, Staples should have changed the price or the limit for teachers to still provide a great deal. Even if the Extreme Deals were 10 cents orr 25 cents at the register or with a limit of 15, it would have been awesome!

I haven't decided if I will use the 25 extended limit on any other Extreme Deals this summer. I may just stick to the general customer limit of 2 items. There is no way I can spend $100 on supplies each week in hopes to receive a rewards to spend even more in August.

Looks like Walmart and Target may be getting more of my business this year for school supply shopping!

Reorganizing the Literacy Library

A project that Julie, Trina and I have taken on this summer is to reorganize the Literacy Library on our campus. This is the library that the teachers use to pull books for their guided reading groups.  It has become an absolute disaster zone. For someone who teaches reading every day, it became a huge frustration to try to find appropriate books and keep everything organized.

We have started the process by going section by section to make sure all the same titles are together and in sets for teachers to pull. Then we are using online resources to update the levels on the books. In previous years our campus used Reading Recovery as part of their reading interventions. However, that program is no longer used on our campus. We now determine student reading levels through DRA2 and teach through guided reading based on the DRA2 data.

This means that the books are currently still labeled with Reading Recovery levels. I didn't realize how off these levels can be from DRA2. So book by book we are checking the levels through publishers databases and other leveled library inventories that districts have posted online. Once this process is done we will also create an inventory of our library so that we can purchase new books based on the needs of the library.

We've been working on this for a few days now, but it doesn't feel like we've made a whole lot of progress (even though we have done a LOT!) This is definitely a time consuming process and we want it done the most effective way that will help us through the year.

One of my wonderful co-workers, Tracy, also thought of a new checkout system. We are going to put library pockets with labels on each of the boxes showing the DRA2 level, Guided Reading Level, AR level and number of copies of each title that is in the box. There will also be an index card for each title with the same information inside the library pocket.

When teachers pull the books for reading groups, they will pull the index card for that set and place it in a filing box by the door under their name. When they return the books, they will pull the index card out of the filing box then re-file the books and index cards, ensuring that they have the same number of copies as needed before returning the books. We're hoping that this method will help the library stay organized for a longer period of time.

I will continue to post on our progress of this summer project!

Teaching is Like a Party

Today I went to Day 1 of a two day workshop with Kim Sutton from Creative Mathematics. This past year I wrote a grant to purchase quite a bit from her catalog thanks to our district's wonderful Education Foundation.

As teachers, I feel that we get overwhelmed by "new and updated" curriculum, ever changing student expectations, and the newest standardized test that students have to pass. What I like about Creative Mathematics, is that it can fit into any curriculum. She takes basic math concepts and makes them fun for students. She finds ways to challenge a student and makes it easy to differentiate for students as well. I'm excited to teach math this year because I can start from the beginning with setting a better foundation of number sense with our students. Now before you go buying everything on her website, check with your co-workers. Chances are they probably have some of her books.

This is something that Kim said today regarding teaching math

 and how students come to understand math.

It just made me laugh because isn't that true?!?! We're so excited when it finally clicks for the student who has been struggling with a concept all year. Welcome to the party!!

(If you can't laugh and have a little bit of fun with your job, you're not going to last very long.)

Classroom Posters

Before I (well really my wonderful Mother who came to help) started taking posters off my walls, I decided to take some pictures of my "teacher made" ones just incase they got messed up over the summer, or I wanted to recreate them again next year with my students. It is my goal to have less "decorative posters" in the classroom and have more "anchor charts" that I can change out throughout the year. If a poster stays on the wall too long and isn't referred to as a resource by myself or the students, then it just becomes decoration regardless of what information is on it.

 This poster went with our "How to Fill a Bucket" lesson. I noticed that around Spring Break our students started being really short with each other. I found this idea on Pinterest to use the "How to Fill a Bucket" book and then a teaching blog that had the bucket templates on it. Each student made a bucket. Throughout the week, they would write notes to each other thanking a student for doing something nice or filling the bucket by writing a nice note. I would like to start this at the beginning of the year next year, but with more guided templates. Then we could work up to the blank template that we had at the end of this year.
The poster lists ways to "fill a bucket" such as being nice, smiling, giving compliments to others, etc.

This poster was also an idea from Pinterest. However, I changed it for our classroom. The teacher who originally posted this on Pinterest had a different phrase, that I can't quite remember at the moment, but it kinda had a negative twist to it. Part of the "Love and Logic" philosophy is having students solve their own problems. I quite ofter tell my students they are "allowed to do _______ as long as it doesn't cause a problem". To go along with that mindset, I created this poster. In order to be a successful student, they must learn how to solve problems. I felt like this was an appropriate guide or discussion starter to help students understand what being a "problem solver" would look like. I referred to this poster quite often through the year.

I also created a poster that showed the difference between "Problem Solving Independently" or "Need Help with Problem Solving". I don't like to use the word "tattling" and really try my hardest not to use it in my classroom. At some point in a student's life, they are going to need help from others to solve problems. I want to teach my students that there are times when they can problem solve on their own and sometimes they need help to problem solve. It is part of my job as a teacher to help them learn the difference. I forgot to take a picture of this one before I took it down, but I plan to remake it with my students next year as a beginning of the year activity.

This is my "Love and Logic Classroom" poster I created. I use these phrases quite often in my classroom. I also create a separate poster with the school rules and refer to our "Love and Logic Classroom" poster as well. All students sign the poster in agreement for the class expectations through the year. If you have not read "Teaching with Love and Logic" I highly recommend it. It completely changed the way I interacted with my students and significantly reduced my stress level throughout the year. Not to say that it wasn't a challenging year, but Love and Logic gave me some tools to help me through it!

These are my pocket charts for my stations. I had one set for the morning "Reading Group/Literacy Stations" and one set for the afternoon "Math Work Stations". Since our students change for the morning, I couldn't keep one set for both the morning and the afternoon. I haven't completely decided if I am going to do "Literacy Stations" next year. I am reading up on Lucy Caulkin's Reading and Writing Workshop. I may do a mixture of stations and workshop, but I haven't figured out how it would work yet.

Teacher Appreciation

This week was National Teacher Appreciation week. Our parents and PTO always do the sweetest things for the teachers and staff. Here are some of the goodies I got this week. (I love all my gifts but couldn't possibly post them all!)

Teachers are "Tea" riffic! I got this cup with lots of different flavor packets to use. Super cute!

I'm pretty sure this parent found this idea from Pinterest. It's a 2 liter bottle with part of the bottle cut open. Its filled with all kinds of goodies.

Below is the poem that was in the bottle! Too cute!!

See how its cut open?

These are all the goodies that were in the bottle.

These are the flowers my mom and dad got me for district service awards. I LOVE sunflowers!

The white rose was given to the Teachers of the Year throughout the district at service awards.

This is something I found on Pinterest and made for some of my co-workers and myself. Vanilla Coke is a staple of my classroom, though I try to enjoy it in moderation. :)

You can print your own sign from this blog.