Happy Hanukkah

This past year I really made a conscious effort to teach my students about holidays and other cultures.  With Hanukkah being in December, it matched up perfectly with our elf on the shelf adventures.

We read about Jerusalem, 

 

Watched a hilariously engaging and informational {video} from Mayim Bialik,

Learned about dreidels, and taught the kindergartners about dreidels and Hanukkah.

Not only did my students proudly declare that they wanted to be Jewish, several also decided dreidels were better than fidget spinners. #teacherwin

Let's Taco About It

Yesterday was one of my favorite national holidays:

Okay, it's not really an official holiday but it's certainly one of my favorites.  

In honor of this awesome day, I decided to sneak in a mini math lesson on surveys, data analysis, and asking questions.

I posed three simple questions:

1) Where is your favorite place to get tacos?

2) What is your favorite filling?

3) Do you prefer hard or soft shells?

I had my students vote with a simple raise of their hands while I tallied the data on the smart board.  I modeled making predictions about what I thought would be the most popular answer and asking questions about the data.

Here are our results:

Afterwards, I asked them what the purpose of the lesson was.  Here's a sample of their responses:

-To let us practice having a voice
-To show us that it's okay to disagree
-To help us learn more about one another
-To practice asking questions
-To show that we don't all have to like the same things

Not bad for a fifteen minute mini-lesson.

Oh, and not to worry, I did participate:

Calendar Changes

Next year, our school district will be undergoing some major calendar changes.  Overall, I think it makes sense, which is a rare move on CCSD's behalf.

The Pros 

1. We will be done before Memorial Day.  In recent years, we've had a three day weekend for the holiday (obviously), then had the students return for a day and a half.  While we made it work, it's a tad silly.  Everything will be finalized, stamped, and sealed before the holiday weekend.

2.  The first semester will actually end at Winter Break.  Again, a wise choice.  In the past, the first semester went in through January, with the idea that students could study over the holiday break (or make up missing work).  In elementary school, this isn't really a big deal.  However, it was quite frustrating for middle and high school teachers (and students).  First semester trickling over into January wasn't the best idea. It also meant teachers got the joys of feeling pressure to grade make up work, essays, etc.  With everything wrapped up nicely before the two weeks off, it makes all involved players just a tad happier.  Plus, it's a fresh start (with fresh courses for some) in the new year.

3. Thanksgiving Break.  To be fair, we enjoyed a week off at Thanksgiving last year too and I'm glad they kept this in our new calendar schedule.  

For 28 weeks of the year, teachers report 64 minutes early on a chosen day.  We voted to keep our Wednesday morning start time at 7:22 (instead of 8:26).  Other schools have this contract time after school, or split it into two periods, but each school got the flexibility to decide when this SBCT (site based collaboration time) would occur.  

We used our time for professional development with Close Reads, Read by 3 materials, behavior interventions, training on students in trauma, planning for APTT (Academic  Parent Teacher Team meetings), and professional book studies.  (Most of these PD opportunities I assisted in planning and executing, so I was rather pleased to find that a vast majority of the time was spent in a useful manner and well received by most of the staff.)   

These extra 64 minutes, 28 times a year, add up to four contracted days for teachers.  Three of them are used to extend Thanksgiving Break to a full week (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are now off).  The fourth day is either used for Election Day (let's not mess up the next election everyone) or for Easter Monday.  This upcoming year we will be having Easter Monday, which means Spring Break gets an extra day off.  

4.  President's Day Weekend.

I don't know what scheduling gurus snuck this gem into the calendar, but I'll take it!  We have school through Valentine's Day (which is a Wednesday this upcoming year), but have off Thursday and Friday.  That's in addition to Monday being off for President's Day.

So basically we'll provide copious amounts of sugar in the form of red and pink frosting, then send the kiddos to their families for a five day weekend.  Sounds good to me!


The Cons 

1. School starts earlier.  Students start Monday, August 14th.  Teachers have a mandatory reporting date of the 9th, but schools open on the 1st.  I plan to go back in the 3rd because with a new curriculum to learn and a room to set up, I'll need extra time.  The decision to go back early is more fully explained {here}.  

Temperatures are still uncomfortably warm and some schools may not have adequate air conditioning.  Or the AC won't make it through the day.  Or we'll have heat advisories on the black top and host indoor recess.  None of these situations are exceptionally fun for students or teachers.

2. We have off Friday, October 27th for Nevada Day.  But Halloween falling on a Tuesday practically guarantees a partial week of the following scenarios:

a) Students who have consumed way too much candy and are experiencing sugar crashes.

b) Students who are extremely tired from staying out too late on a school night and try to fall asleep in class.

c) Students who sneak candy into class.  While this is a tad irritating, it's also potentially dangerous for students with peanut allergies.

3. We've got a short summer.  Last year, we started August 29th and enjoyed a 12 week summer.  School ended June 8th.  We go back in the middle of August this upcoming year, leaving a 9 week summer.  That's a little rough.



Additional Changes

 I don't know if it's for all of CCSD or just my school site, but we've moved parent-teacher conferences from December to October.  The rationale behind this move is that in October, there's still time for students to catch up during the first semester.  Interventions can occur.  There is some teacher squawking about this being "too early", but honestly, it's seven weeks into the school year.  By seven weeks in, all initial benchmarks should be completed (for students who start on the first day) and teachers should have a pretty good grasp of what students are struggling with.   

December conferences were a little trickier.  By four months in, the honeymoon period is over and teachers are blessed with seeing the full range of these lively personalities.  We know our students pretty well.

Parents and families struggled to get time off, meaning I was super flexible with time and stayed long past my contract time.  My rationale was that if parents had the opportunity to take time off from work, they should spend it with their families during the holidays...not sitting in my classroom for a thirty minute meeting.  I am also fully aware this cut into my own family time, but I have an incredibly supportive husband who made dinner each night I worked late. Granted, smaller class sizes in third grade will mean I'll have a dozen less conferences to hold.  Plus, by December, for the most part, first semester grades are set.  There's not a lot of magical work that can be done in two weeks to make up for the first four months of the school year. 

While I'm not thrilled I have about a month of summer break left, I am excited about the upcoming school year. 

Sssshhhh....

Fourth of July Sale! 

20% off my entire {TpT store} from 07/02-07/05. 

 

Secret Sale!

(No puppies were harmed during the filming of this image.  A puppy treat was most definitely involved!)

Weekend flash sale at {my store}.  20% off all my products, hoppy shopping!

Happy Holidays

I'll be spending the next few days disconnecting from the internet and reconnecting with family and friends.  It's time to unplug for a bit and rest, so I can tackle next year fully charged.  

May your holiday season be filled with memories and time with loved ones.

 

Unplug

The holidays can be a rough time for many, myself included.  Balancing two families and their desires can be tricky, but luckily I'm blessed with understanding relatives (for the most part).  I decorated our house (because that makes me happy), but we didn't really have any friends or family over to enjoy it, so here's our happy holiday home:

At some point, we'll upgrade to a taller tree and make this one a kids tree.  However, this is very low on the priorities totem pole.  Perhaps I'll snag one if it's super on sale!

Chloe does love her sparkling lights! She was investigating before I could put on ornaments or get out the tree skirt.

 These are supposed to be ornaments, but I like them so much better clustered in a decorative bowl.

This decorating was intentional.  There's enough space on either side of the glittery candle for one of the cats to comfortably enjoy the safety of the ledge.

Yes, we have two trees.  We may have the same last name at this point next year, but that doesn't mean I have to take his team too!

The heart on the wall is a present from my mom from her Europe trip last summer.  She has a coordinating heart in her home. 

Not only are these pretty (and plastic, so they won't break), but they are a favorite of the cats.  Apparently they're great for rubbing one's face on...I'll take their meows for it!

I love decorating our table.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but there is subtle shimmer in both the table cloth and the napkins.  The ornaments, of course, are glittery.  The lantern is changed seasonally.

We've been blessed with lots of new friends this year.  I love that we'll need more clips to hang cards.  

(And yes, I've already started thinking about our card we'll send out next year.  This year I went with the handwritten option, but I think next year will be something along the lines of "Eat, Drink, and Be Married" and we'll show off our wedding pictures.)

Yes, I did the pinterest hack of putting a paper towel roll inside to take up space so the ornaments would go farther.  Works like a charm!

Close up of our tree with some of my favorite ornaments.  The chalk board ones were on clearance at Joann's for less than a dollar each, so I added the lettering myself.

One of several Christmas quilts from my mom.  Blankets and pillows are some of my favorite things, period.  (Added bonus? I snagged these pillows at Target last year for half-off.  I love sales!)

I packed our stockings for our road trip, but we display our stockings in front of the television.  This C one is for the cats (Chloe & Crookshanks) and I'm super disappointed Target doesn't make a red one with a W to match.  They've got 19/26 letters, W isn't one of them.  Get with it Target!

December has been tough.  Conferences were unexpectedly difficult. I've felt anxious and overwhelmed.  Temperature changes and lack of sunlight haven't been helping my mood.  I'm more tired than normal and have irregular sleep patterns.  From all my reading on depression and SAD (Seasonal Affected Disorder), I wouldn't be surprised if that's a large part of why I'm struggling. Our water heater broke and that was an unexpected financial burden.  I had issues with my bank and extra fees that is still being resolved.  Our ice maker stopped working and there were a lot of hurdles to jump through in order to get it fixed.  It's fixed, finally, but it took three days and putting my life in limbo to be home for repairs.  B's been at work and on call, which means a lot more alone time, which isn't always a blessing. I appreciate the sacrifices he's making to make sure we are financially set. 

We've been puppy sitting, so the cats are extra elusive.  I seek them out to give them love and attention, but that attracts the puppies.  Both pups want to sit on my lap at the same time, which is wonderful...except ours is a good fifty pounds heavier than the visiting pup.  Waffles has been extra excited and rambunctious because her friend is here, which is draining. I love her, but she's a little too lively this week.

We also lost a loved one this week.  My mom had to make the difficult, no, heart-breaking decision to put down her beloved dog to end her pain.  The loss of a loved one (because pets are family) makes everything harder.  I'm glad my brother is there and that we will be there tomorrow.  We're focusing on the years of happy memories we had with the food stealing scoundrel, but it's hard. My heart is aching.

I've been burning the candle at both ends for far too long.  I've been keeping things bottled up inside and that's not okay.  I'm struggling and I'm speaking up about it.  It's time to unplug.  It's time to practice some self-care and reconnect with family.  My soul needs some quality time with people, not with screens.  So, for the next week or so, that's what I'll be doing. 

I'm pausing work.  I'll look at lesson plans and prepping for next year on Sunday, Jan 3.  I'll be back with lots of new classroom ideas and finally publish some of the drafts I've been working on.  But until then, I'll be unplugged.

Wishing you and your family a joyous and happy holiday season! See you all (virtually) next year!

Trying new things

Despite being sick, it was a weekend of firsts for me.

It was my first Thanksgiving not with my mom.  It was my first one with B and his family.  It was a little strange, not being with my mom, but his parents and extended family are incredibly welcoming.  I realize this is part of growing up and that holidays are about compromise.  We just saw my mom a few weeks ago and will see her again right after the holidays, so it'll be okay.  Plus I talked with her a good half a dozen times this weekend (sorry mom!).

We arrived early and I helped in the kitchen (this is big for me people!).  We brought a variety of bread, wine, and flowers for the table.  His cousin made the whole duck-chicken-turkey situation which I was not brave enough to try.  

Food was delish and I felt a bit like this:

Afterward, my allergies got the best of me and I napped.  To be fair, I had a full stomach, a warm blanket, and my football team wasn't on television.

Friday was the first time that I did not go Black Friday shopping.  We ventured out of the house around one pm to visit the post office (bestie's birthday is next week), pick up Chinese food, and some medicine from the grocery store.  I know, I live an exciting life people!  The rest of the day revolved around trying to grade, napping, and decorating for the holidays.

Saturday we did a Small Business Saturday vendor event at my house.  I had {Jamberry}, Amy (my upline) had {Younique}, Lisa had {31} and Janel had {Origami Owl}.  We split the set up, which worked out way better for everyone's budgets.

We had a great time and started brainstorming our next big Saturday event.  We'd love to rent out our school's multipurpose room and have a Saturday shopping event...when things calm down.  So, March?

Our set up is getting better and better each time!

Sunday I tried a flash sale for Jamberry online with a VIP group.

It went okay, but I have ideas how to make it better for next time.  I'm thinking of doing a make up and Jamberry flash sale in the middle of December for those procrastinating gifters.

I did decorate and wrap gifts! (3 for my mom, 1 for his mom, 1 for my bestie, and 1 for Leah, my brother's girlfriend and one of my bridesmaids).  Obviously solid progress.

The rest of the weekend involved napping, attempting to finish up this grading pile, snuggling with fur babies, watching television, yelling during football, and doing the minimum amount of school work that's required for Monday.

This week brings extra paperwork (student withdrew and we've got to get ready for parent-teacher conferences, which means sending out conference notes.  I've learned my lesson, mine will be pink to clearly identify that they get returned to me.).  I've also got Battle of the Books tomorrow (we're trying paper slide videos), a Discovery Ed meeting, and the possibility of visitors just popping in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (no pressure there!).  I'm already ready for next weekend.

Shhh....

I'm having a sale!

From November 10-12, everything will be ten percent off in my {store}.  Thank you Veterans!

Happy Birthday Nevada!

Upon moving to Nevada seven years ago, I immediately found it strange that the schools had a day off to celebrate the state's birthday.

Then I realized the state's birthday is Halloween and everything suddenly made a lot more sense from a teacher's perspective.

So, to celebrate my long weekend and Nevada's birthday, I'm having a flash sale on {TpT}!  From Friday, October 30th until Monday, November 1st, everything will be 20% off!

Happy birthday Nevada!

The Perfect Storm

After a thrilling weekend in Arizona, the harsh realities of Sunday night seem to be hitting harder than normal.

This week brings:

• An hour long Battle of the Books meeting after school
• An hour of tutoring after school (one of my students missed an entire week)
• An observation
• A parade
• Making a Halloween costume
• A four hour grad class on Thursday
• An upcoming FIVE day weekend for students (Friday is Nevada day, then next Monday and Tuesday are staff development days)

Then...this:

Perfect storm indeed.

A dash of professional reading

I'm in the midst of another graduate course, so I've been doing a lot of professional reading lately.  I'm a life-long learner (as I think educators should be) and wanted to take a minute to share two articles that have been rattling around in my brain this week.

Article {One}: Boo the Long October

Preach it, iTeach Fourth!

I feel like I could have written this article myself.  I liked it so much I took the time to comment, instead of just trolling through and remaining anonymous online.

Basically, October is a long, weird month.  Students are out of the beginning of the year behavior honeymoon, meetings seem to be multiplying, and first quarter grades are due soon.  I'm almost a fourth of the way through the year, how did that happen?!

Instead of griping about this, the article focuses on a cute Halloween tradition of "booing" your fellow teachers.

Images are all over TpT and pinterest, but one person starts by secretly leaving treats in another coworker's mailbox.  That coworker has a limited time (usually 2 days) to reciprocate by "booing" another colleague.  Ghost or pumpkin dicuts are usually put in mailboxes to indicate that one has been booed, and a witch or goblin could be posted if someone does not want to participate.

It's a fun little way to add some festive fun into the month of October.  Plus who doesn't love surprise treats?!

I'll be starting this round of boo-ing at work this week (ssh...don't tell my coworkers!)  I've got two black and white polka dotted tins (obviously) from the dollar section at Target (again, obviously).  I'll fill them with candy and print some boo instruction sheets. 

What fun fall traditions does your school have?




Article {Two}: Rip those behavior charts off the wall and burn them

While this was written with a tad too much angst in my humble opinion, I agree with the underlying message.  The traditional "clip" or "chart" system no longer serves a purpose in classrooms. 

 I will be the first to admit that yes, I used this system for way too long.  I started it my first year as a teacher because that's what I thought I was supposed to do.  I thought every elementary classroom needed some sort of (very public) way of displaying behavior.  I thought this truly kept kids accountable for their choices and was a motivating factor.

But then I realized how wrong I was.  This isn't really motivating, it's demoralizing.  {Last summer}, I decided to discontinue the use of this system and I haven't looked back.  I know there is some resistance, especially in lower grades, about getting rid of this trusty security blanket.

What good does this behavior tracker actually do?  Almost immediately, your eyes zoom to those kids on red.  We all know what red means.  Tsk tsk Max, Jared, and Brendan.  

How demoralizing.

Did they truly make poor choices all day long?  Or did they simply have one or two "oops" moments throughout the seven hour school day?  Chances are, it's the latter of the two scenarios.  To be fair, what human goes all day long without making an oops moment?  

If a child is truly struggling to make appropriate classroom choices, how does this reinforce doing the "right thing"? 

...It doesn't.

This article goes on to state that as educators, part of our job is preparing students for coping with future demands.  This includes helping them take responsibility for their actions and utilize techniques to cope with mistakes.

As a teacher, I wouldn't if a behavior chart was used to publicly broadcast my performance to the entire staff.  Oops, Ms. Vice left her copies on the machine in the lounge!  Uh oh, she forgot to take afternoon attendance and now she's on red.  (These are common situations for me.)

How humiliating to have one's behavior broadcast for the world to see.  

But instead of continuing to gripe upon problems, I propose a counter solution: Class Dojo.

It's by no means a new teacher tool since it's been available for several years at this point, but it's new to my classroom.  Seven weeks in, we're loving it.  (Bonus? It's free.  That's a must!)

I have the opportunity to recognize students for both positive and negative behavior.  It's easy for me to see if I'm reinforcing the 3:1 ratio (three positive interactions with every negative redirect) with every child...especially the ones that struggle with behavior.  Parents are able to see all the great choices their students make and it's a quick and easy way for me to communicate with families.

The behavior categories are editable, which means I can give more weight to behaviors that are desirable (like meeting a personal academic goal).  

My favorite part? I can send out messages to all the families at once and see who has viewed my message.  This has replaced the Remind app because it's already built in to what I'm using and parents don't have to download two different things to stay connected to our classroom events.

What are your thoughts on behavior charts? 

Flash Sale

In honor of President's day, I'm having a flash sale!  15% off my entire shop!

Shop here for deals.

Flash Sale!

Hurry on over!

Snow ball fights, Nevada style

Keeping students focused and on task on the Friday before winter break is quite frankly, near impossible.

I let them make holiday cards for friends and family and quickly realized we needed to do something loud and with a lot of movement.

So I grabbed scratch paper and told them to line up.  

We went outside to have a paper snowball fight (girls vs. boys).

It was adorable:

(To clarify, it was also pajama day.  My students don't normally dress like this!)

Challenges

Last week, I got two new students.

On the same day.

One boy was moved from another fifth grade classroom and the other was from a neighboring school.

The same day, I had four students who are normally well behaved decide to launch spit balls at one another.  This of course, is not okay, so we had to have a stern talk about classroom norms.

I did not scream, shout, or even raise my voice.  Instead, I shared how disappointed I was and gave them the opportunity to come forward, which they did.  We discussed consequences privately in the hallway and they determined what they thought was fair.  They then cleaned up their mess and apologized to the class.

We had a long talk about making choices and taking responsibility.  They made a mistake.  I told them that yes, they did and they will make more in their lifetimes.  It's what they do after the mistake that matters.  It's what they learn from the mistake that makes the difference.

Some of my students needed to hear this talk about forgiveness and making amends.  They weren't necessarily the ones involved in the mess, but it was a crucial moment for our class.  In six years, this was the second time spit balls have been an issue.

I don't know if it's the recent full moon, the two new students, the strange weather, or that winter break is a week away, but I'm having a difficult time with classroom management.   Anyone else in the same boat?

Thankfulness Continued

I'm thankful for my collegiate education. I'm thankful for the scholarships I earned that made six years of college possible (and already paid off).   I'm thankful I was able to balance academics with fun because life shouldn't be all work.

I'm thankful for the four years I spent at Arizona State, which allowed me to cultivate such an intense dislike for the University of Arizona, in Tuscon.  Perhaps I'm just still sad we lost the duel in the desert today and the territorial cup will go down to Tuscon.

I'm thankful my family is easily accessible by car.  I could have flown (I think it's an hour flight) but I have some stuff to bring back, so driving was easier.  I'm thankful my car has *amazing* gas mileage and that it's a fairly easy drive.  

I'm thankful I have such a solid relationship with B that we could spend a few days apart without issues.  He really likes his mom's cooking and I really like Black Friday shopping with my mom, so we did Thanksgiving separate this year.  No biggie!

I'm thankful I was able to find some good deals for gifts for others...but didn't have to deal with the crazy lines.  I refused to go out on Thanksgiving and do not want this "gray Thursday" thing to become a trend.  We slept in and ventured out around 9 am.  Most of the things we wanted were still there, but I got a good night's sleep.  Win win!

I'm thankful I'm mostly prepared for Monday, so I can relax Sunday night.  By relax, I mean decorate our tree and get out all my holiday things, making a huge mess in the process!  

I'm thankful I got a few days to escape responsibilities and just be a couch potato with family.

What are you thankful for?

Halloween Math Games

Halloween is a special day in elementary school.  Between lots of costumes, our school wide dance party to Thriller, and the looming five day (yes, 5 day) weekend for students, there wasn't a lot of focusing on work from my students.

Instead of fighting for their focus, I did math games.  They were aligned to the standards and students were working on math, but in a fun way.  

Game 1: Decimal Place Value Spooky Sort, created by Jennifer Findley

We have been working on rounding and decimals, so this was perfect for them to round to the specified place value!

Game 2: Adding and Subtracting Decimals, created by Jane Feener

This was perfect for my students!  I'd just explicitly taught adding and subtracting the week before so it was a great spiral review.

Game 3: Sweet Rounding Decimals, created by Fun in Fifth Grade

Again, another awesome center to review math concepts!

Oh, did I mention all these fabulous games were free?  Be sure to leave their creators some love on TpT!