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.

 

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!