Why didn't I think of that before?

It's the start of the school year, so naturally I've got all of my meet the teacher information handy.  Instead of just filing it away (or recycling it), I decided to make four bags of "meet the teacher" information for potential new students.

Inside I included:

My "meet the teacher" flip book (created by Chalk and Apples, a fellow TpT seller.  Snag yours {here})

Parent survey

Student interest survey

Student information sheet

A cactus to color (for the bulletin board)

Social media policy

I sealed all of the information in a ziplock bag and it's ready to go for new students:

 

As an added bonus, I have all my back to school forms ready for next year in one place.

Why didn't I think of this before?

Field Trips & February

I didn't do so great with my whole finish a book a month goal...

To be fair, a lot of events {occurred in January}, so I can't be too upset.

I'm currently dealing with a sinus infection.  They've lessened with frequency post {surgery}, but are still quite unbearable.  I get another new student today (that makes 37 in case anyone was keeping track) and we have an outdoor field trip...with a wind advisory.  Clogged nasal passages meant I woke up at four having trouble breathing (despite medication and a humidifier), so it's been an incredibly productive day before seven am.  I scheduled our tax appointment, took out the trash, tweeted my senators about blocking DeVos's nomination for Secretary of Education, graded, and read two chapters of my novel (ya know, the one I was supposed to finish in January).

We also got our Donor's Choose project funded! We've got another one collecting funds on another one entitled {I am Not the Enemy}.  This one requests books on the Holocaust, Jewish and Muslim faith, non-violent resistance, and Native American Indians. Subtle, right?  I'm not ashamed of providing my students with information about the world. They shouldn't be scared of their neighbors. They shouldn't be ashamed of their backgrounds.

I've been asked if I fear a censorship letter from the government.  Quite frankly, it'd be an honor to receive such a letter.  To be viewed as a threat for spreading truth.  I'd be right up there with the scientists, the media, and the National Parks Service.  #goals

Looking ahead to February...

We've already celebrated a 30th birthday party, hosted a Super Bowl gathering, and enjoyed a Netflix marathon. I also attended a friend's bridal shower and went #blackout for a stand against DeVos.

Also up on the docket for this month:

1) We have three field trips.  Today's is the Springs Preserve, we're going to the middle school for a tour, and my class won a bonus trip to the Smith Center at the end of the month for a play.

2) We're celebrating our four year anniversary with buying a mattress and getting our taxes done. Hooray for romance and adulting.

3) Our bathroom cabinet remodel will be almost done. I'm staining our new built ins myself to save on cost (and because I want them to perfectly match the other cabinets).

4) Finalizing the details of a baby shower.  Unfortunately, the bridal shower I was planning is no longer happening because the couple split.  I don't know the details but I wish them both the best.  I don't have the receipts for the items purchased, but luckily another friend is hosting a baby girl baby shower in the upcoming months and is willing to buy some of the items off of me at cost.

5) Hosting a bridal shower for a co-worker (and his soon to be wife) on Friday.  I've got help for this one and hopefully enough supplies. I'll find out Thursday night when I set up!

6) Finishing The Hammer of Thor, creating the TpT products, and starting the next novel for Battle of the Books.

In the mean time, feel free to visit {my store} and enjoy some discounts with the flash sale!

Dozens

Lots of items come in sets of dozens.  

Roses. Eggs. Muffins. Donuts. Soda (and beer). Pencils.

As of tomorrow, my students will fall into this category.  

Number thirty six comes tomorrow. It's easiest to say I've got three dozen students.

It's getting a bit crowded in room 71.

How big are your class sizes?

Typical Thursday

My desire to go to bed at five o'clock this evening should be a pretty good indication of how things are going at work.  

(I know I've shared this image before...but it's still true.  It's also tomorrow's morning meme.)

I got a new student this week.  She's number thirty four (one already moved back to Mexico, so she replaces the empty desk).  She's from a neighboring school and it appears her family moved, so luckily for me, she's already familiar with our school's Reading Rangers program.

I'm juggling planning social studies units with reading plans.  I'm making some major tweaks to last year's region works, but I will happily share (on TpT) once they're done!  I'm almost done with my beginning of the year tasks (setting up Class Dojo, getting everyone benchmarked, establishing procedures, setting up progress monitoring schedules, and so on and so forth).  I'm hoping this weekend, when I'm not doing exciting wedding planning things, will provide a lot of time to catch up and get a little bit ahead (crazy concept, I know!).  B is on call (extra money for the wedding), so I'll do my part in finishing up products.

I'm all caught up on my grading (for now), sent some positive emails to parents to try to build up that community, and tried to catch my breath.  

Our year is off to a rocky start.  One of my students had her iPhone stolen from her desk.  Granted, it wasn't supposed to be in her desk and she was showing it off to her peers.  It's unclear when the phone went missing because she claims to have noticed it gone right after lunch, but didn't tell me until the end of the day...on a Friday.  I took witness statements and handed those over to administration (who in turn handed them over to school police), we advised them to file additional reports.  Not the best way to start the school year.  I feel so frustrated and violated because it happened in my classroom.  It also brings back unpleasant memories of some of the issues we dealt with last year.  

We also had another bombshell dropped on us today.  It's not a secret the district is having money woes.  The funds are there, they are just being extremely mismanaged.  (Yes, still irritated that I got a pay cut, but new teachers got a $4,000 hiring bonus because the school district's focus is on "recruiting new talent" apparently with no regard to retaining the talent they already have.)  Apparently, sometime before mid December, I have to attend an evening or Saturday clinic put on by the Teacher's Health Trust in order to keep my insurance for next year.  The insurance that's included in my contract as part of my benefits plan.  I don't know how they can mandate that we give up additional time outside of contract hours for what will clearly be a less than helpful training, but we shall see.

For the past few days, we've been in a school wide reading competition.  Our students have been reading up a frenzy and the teachers were evenly split between the red reading team and the blue rangers team.

I take spirit days very, very seriously.  Scarves, a red Gryffindor shirt, hair bows, a belt, and an Arizona Cardinals snuggie were all part of my attire at some point today.  Twenty four of my students participated in today's red challenge.

After reading all morning (and practicing our grade level chant), we headed outside for the kick off.  We had a dozen or so cheerleaders from UNLV, district employees, an author, and all of first through fifth grade outside.  

Naturally, we seized the opportunity to snap some selfies!  Kyla is one of my bridesmaids and I'm so glad she left our previous school and joined me at school two.  We took a big leap of faith together!

They announced winners of the reading competitions and all the teachers were strongly encouraged to do the Nae Nae.  Yup, I danced the nae nae in front of about a thousand people today.  You know, just your typical Thursday as an elementary school teacher. 

Luckily, tomorrow is Friday. I don't intend for there to be any dancing...but you never know with fifth grade.

Bracing for Day One

Wednesday and Thursday were filled with such hope and optimism.

Then Friday hit.

My morning started off rough and involved vomit, pee, cat poop, sexual harassment from creepy men at the gas station, and Waffles trying to bring a bird that she'd caught into the house...all before seven am. A rather rough training followed, then I hid in a colleague's classroom during what I'd like to call the invasion of the kinders.  My classroom is near two different kindergarten classrooms and all the parents came in to meet the teachers and tour the school.  

I went as far away as possible on the off chance I share a sibling with one of those teachers.  See, the kinder teachers dressed up that day.  I was in a tee shirt and yoga pants, not the ideal first impression.  

Lunch was provided, which means having to bring my own lunch on Monday will be a strange adjustment!  We got a little spoiled after food for three days.

I found time to tackle a few small tasks, some laminating, and prepping the first Sunshine treat of the school year.
 
Rather heavy trainings on bullying regulations followed in the afternoon, followed by committee updates.  

Then the bombshell dropped.

I knew that fourth grade's numbers were high.  My roster on Monday had 31 names, but Thursday's had 33.  I'd already alphabetized their files, made labels for markers and data folders, set up desks, entered names in class dojo, and printed welcome letters.

I redid everything for Thursday's new additions.

But the list wasn't done.  I got more.

In fifth grade, in an inclusion room (meaning I have students with IEPs, LEPs, and in tier 3 for RTI), I have thirty five students.  If I want to buy anything for my classroom, I need three dozen.

Other fifth grade classrooms are all upwards of thirty, with two sitting at 38.  Thirty eight students.  

We're hoping there's enough funding come federal count day to get another teacher, but that's a month away. We have no room for this new teacher, so that poses an additional challenge. School starts on Monday and the district is several hundred teachers short. 


So....how do I cope with the fear of having 35 students (if not more) on Monday?

One, I tried to frame this in a positive way.  We have such a great school that everyone wants to be there.  Lucky us!  

I stayed until after six on Friday, then had errands afterward.  I got home around ten pm, so that was a very long day.  Saturday brought a {Jamberry} and make overs party, followed by Chinese food and Arizona Cardinals football.  I'll carve some time out tonight to work on craft projects for the classroom.

Tomorrow,  the day before school starts, brings a few hours in the classroom (just to be totally ready) and a hair cut before getting to bed nice and early. 

Monday will be a long day, followed by a tough conversation with someone. I don't like confrontation, but there are some things that I'm not okay with just ignoring. 

I'm bracing for day 1.  Positive vibes, people!

Reading Week Recap

It's been a while dear readers, and for that I apologize.

Life got in the way.  

Since I last blogged, there's been a few nail parties, baby showers, and new students that have soaked up a majority of my free time.  I've begun spring tutoring and book club with my students, in addition to a teacher book study.  (I love learning and was given hot pink post-its and can write in the book, so why not?!)  Plus...it was reading week.

For those of you not in elementary school, reading week is a magical and exhausting time.  Our librarian did an amazing job of putting together various activities, including:

• daily DEAR time (drop everything and read)
• mystery readers
• book bingo (which we won, by the way!)
• assemblies
• guest readers, including members of the Air Force and from our local news stations
• door decorating contests
• a scavenger hunt
• lunch with a loved one

Oh, and the Scholastic book fair.  Oh, and every day was a spirit day.  Oh, and book club started that week, in addition to tutoring.  Oh, and the fifth graders took their panoramic picture for the year book.  Oh, and the fifth grade team was in charge of the First Friday breakfast for the teachers, so we decorated the lounge and had a plethora of yummy breakfast foods.

Oh, and we toured the local middle school, so add that field trip in there.  While on the field trip, I was confused for a middle school student, by a middle school student.  Not the best for my ego, but I'm glad I can blend in with teenagers...oh wait, no, I'm not glad.  At all!  College and high school are fine, but middle school?! 

I am exhausted.  This week, I wore crazy socks, was both Medusa and Batman, rocked Dr. Seuss stripes, and was a minion. 

My crown of snakes.

 I went to Fresh and Easy before school Friday (for last minute breakfast items) in not just a Batman tee shirt (because that would be socially acceptable), but full on boots, yellow tights, a cape, and a utility belt.  However, once I clarified with the cashier that it was reading week, she understood completely.  She has a first grader, so my ensemble made sense.  I must say, cross walk duty was interesting when dressed like this:

We did finish our novel The Lightning Thief, bringing us up to two completed novels this year.  I don't think I'll start another, but instead continue with "Teaser Tuesday" and start reading aloud novels...but stop at the intriguing parts.  Mean? Yes. But if it sparks their curiosity and makes them want to continue reading, then I've done my job.

I do have to make permission slips for them to watch the movie "adaptation" since it's PG.  The movie is so ridiculously different from the book, which prompted me to make this, which I'll be using with them.  I'm glad things have worked out timing wise, because I'll be showing the movie on the Friday morning before Field Day, which is the Friday before Spring Break.  I know they'll have extra short attention spans, so I might as well hook them with multimedia elements.  Plus it's directly related to the 400 page book I read to them, so it's academic.

I however, am in need of a nap.  It's barely ten am, but all my weekend grading is done (huzzah), chores are done (hoorah), and I've got a late night with friends planned.  

15 teaching days until spring break, hallelujah!

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?

Thankful catch ups!

Ah, the weekend.  It's time to catch up on blogging and class updates.  But first, time to pause and reflect upon the things that I'm thankful for:

-My students are so incredibly excited about everything we're doing.  Their immediate buy-in makes my job easier.  Their zest for learning is contagious.  Their desire for reading, especially anything by Rick Riordan, is insatiable.

-Many of my students are bilingual.  I have a new-to-country student who is just learning English. It's an incredibly tough struggle, but he's a sweetheart. He's from Mexico and about half my class speaks Spanish.  I've got him on English-learning programs, reading bilingual books, and he's very excited about math.  I'm so thankful he's got many partners who can translate and are so eager to help him acclimate to our classroom and feel successful.

-I'm thankful for the flexibility I'm allowed at my new school.  Math runs a few minutes over because I'm working with a small group? Ok. It happens. I'm not in trouble for it.  I decide to take my small groups outside to read because we are having gorgeous 80 degree weather in November? Sounds good, provided I let the office know.  It's great to be treated like a professional and not have every decision I make scrutinized. 

-I'm thankful for Rick Riordan.  In his latest books, he reveals one of the male characters has feelings for Percy and is struggling to admit these feelings to others.  The books are in no way sexualized because they're written for children, but I appreciate that Riordan made a gay hero for students to look up to.  Plus he's an amazing author anyway, so this just added one more reason to the why he's great list!

-I'm thankful my school cares about me as a person first and a teacher second.  I have yet to take a sick/personal day but am trying to coordinate schedules with B to see when we can sneak in a 3 day weekend.  I doubt I'll have to explain myself and I'm sure a mental health day will be encouraged, provided I leave sub plans.

-I'm thankful for the numerous potlucks at work!  Seriously, there are several each month and they are all themed. It's great!

-I'm thankful the post office had both Batman and Harry Potter stamps.  Mailing out Jamberry samples just got a whole lot more fun!

-I'm thankful for my (assuming) future parents in law for gifting Olive Garden gift cards.  We had a spontaneous mid-week dinner date and it was fabulous.


What are you thankful for on this fine Saturday morning?

Getting to Know My Munchkins

Since I'm starting at a new school, I'm coming in at a disadvantage.  I don't know these kids or their families.

So I pushed myself to try to learn as much as I could about my new bunch of munchkins.  I gave them several "about me" surveys and this year, actually took the time to read them.  I mean between all their beginning of the year forms, we're looking at five hundred pages or so...good thing it was a three day weekend!

It took a few hours, but I'm glad I did it.  I learned a lot about my new students (and their families).  I can easily name off ten fun facts about each kiddo, which is impressive considering I've known them for five days.  I also made notes about what I saw during their games of 20 wins and various first week sorts.

Here's a top ten list of things I've learned:

1) I've got some pretty eclectic kids.  Some told me they love Mean Girls, others are in Tae Kwon Do, some learned the difference between debit & credit cards this summer.

2) Almost every single one said they struggle with spelling and reading multisyllabic words, which only justifies my decision to spend 10 minutes a day doing phonics during whole group reading.

3) A few of them live around the block from me.  I've never had students live so close. I will probably see them out riding their bikes or have them visit on Halloween.

4) They are pretty vocal about their feelings on reading.  Some love Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, others hate the series with a passion...and weren't afraid to show it!

5) I've got supportive families.  Some filled me in on situations at home, some voiced their concerns about where their kids fall academically, but most want to be involved which is a welcome change.

6) Some already listed me as their favorite teacher, which is adorable. It also makes me worry about their previous teachers...but we'll have a great year.

7) Quite a few want to learn how to use the dictionary.  I don't know if their third grade teachers skipped that standard, but we'll be sure to cover both traditional and electronic dictionaries this year. (Ninjawords.com is my favorite!)

8) They're really good at coaching one another.  I don't know if I should give their previous teachers credit for this (or perhaps their parents), but during our math games they were helping one another.  Yes, there was friendly competition but they were genuinely wanting one another to grasp the concept at hand.

9) They work well together.  Some of them said their best friends are in the class.  I've only had to move one child in the first week.  Very few needed a gentle nudge about participating with the group and I'm thinking it was because they already knew the answers and didn't want to give it away. I'm pleased they want to talk to one another.

10)  They are full of joy.  They're inquisitive.  They want to learn.  This is the best possible scenario I could ask for as a teacher.

It's going to be a great year. 

(mostly) Candy Free Valentines Ideas (Part 2)

So I previously blogged about a cute candy free valentine idea:

And shared what I'll be doing with my class:

But I stumbled upon some more cute ideas for elementary students, so I figured I'd share!

My neighboring teacher loves owls and it's the quasi-theme of her classroom this year, so I could see her making these:

All you'd need is some free time, cereal (or chex mix, trail mix, etc depending on students' allergies), bags and construction paper.  On the reverse side, you could write "You're a Hoot!".  How fun :)

This idea is very similar to what I've done at the beginning of the year to welcome students:

But I love using colorful tape to attach the smarties!  I don't know if that yellow would have been my first choice, but the idea is still great.  You can snag this cute, free printable here!

Although my Nevada students would have no idea what this means, I still think it's cute:

It may be tricky to find candy corn at this time of the year...

Next, this idea:

How fun!

These pinterest pictures have lots of ideas:

Not all of them are healthy or welcome in the classroom (no soda!).  But the ideas are still fun :)

For the more patient and crafty families, 

Pipe cleaner pencil toppers are a creative option!

While I made Valentine's gifts for my home room, this may be happening for all my small groups:

How fun! I'm sure a local craft store has a heart shaped punch and ribbon is always easy to find.  What a great way to encourage reading!

With three(ish) weeks until Valentine's day, it's time to start planning!

Friend Bench

This upcoming week is Peace Week at my elementary school in honor of Dr. King.  The counselor does an awesome job at preparing grade-level specific and appropriate lessons while still delivering the same anti-bullying message.

We are a Be Kind school and I think most of our students have done a wonderful job embracing the motto of "be kind".  I love "catching kids being kind" and acknowledging them for the simplest, selfless acts.

I saw another school was doing this:

If a student is lonely and in need of a friend, he or she heads to the bench.  Other students then go over and invite him or her to play with them.  What a great way to encourage friendship!

And I'd love to implement something at our school!  I know metal will get extremely hot during the summer months, so that is a concern.  It'd be great if student council could paint the bench.  Perhaps it could be a parting gift from this year's fifth graders?

I think it's definitely worth looking into :)

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

I had a rough day.  I'd go as far as saying it was a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day and like Alexander, I was ready to pout.  Nothing was going right.  As a teacher, it's kind of expected to always have a happy face but teaching is hard.  Some days, it's really, really hard.  

Granted, teacher problems were slightly more complex than not getting the right shoes, but I get Alexander's frustration too.  I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Scratch that, I had five of them in a row.  It was rough week.  There wasn't a day I worked less than 12 hours.  

As an educator, it happens. 

I'm just relieved it's over and I'm in the midst of a relaxing (and reflective) 3 day weekend.

 I got a new student at the last minute.  The stress of preparing for a new kiddo is rough.  Our district has the policy that a student sits the day he or she is enrolled.  In theory, that's wonderful for the student so they don't miss out on another day of learning.

But for a teacher, it's a tad stressful.  I didn't have much notice to find a desk, chair, notebooks, various other supplies and label the necessary classroom items (desk, behavior tracker, file, whiteboard marker, etc) for him.  I knew we had to quickly do a formative diagnostic assessment to figure out which reading room he'd be in, then the opposite period for math, find out if he was in the RTI process or already had an IEP because that also determined which room to place him in depending on the levels of instructional support.  I must say, it's lots of thinking for so early in the morning!  He wasn't the only new student we got this week either.  

I wanted him to feel welcome in my classroom the moment he sat, and that meant some scrambling on my behalf because there was about twenty minutes notice.  But he had a great first day, a great first week and was always smiling.  He's happy to be here, knew about number talks and phonics (score!) and I'm glad he's here.  Sometimes I wish I had a tiny bit more time to prepare for new students' arrival.

I'm in the process of DRA'ing my students in small groups and well, it's time consuming and there's a lot of them.  I know it's useful information and I cut out phonics this week to make extra time for it, but I didn't finish and have to continue testing into next week.  Part of this is my fault because I was unwilling to go a week without meeting with my students to discuss their novels. More importantly, they were unwilling to go a week without meeting.  I'm not kidding when I say there would be lots of pouting, some tears and borderline rebellion (district 13 style) if I told them that sorry, we'll have to wait until next week to talk about The Miserable Mill, the Austere Academy, Hatchet, Harry Potter (1 and 2), Mockingjay, Brian's Winter, Number the Stars, Gossamer, Maniac Magee and Tiger Rising. They become slightly hostile if they aren't given the chance to talk about what happened in their books.  This is a wonderful problem to have and as an educator, I wasn't going to fully cut this opportunity for them to replace it with assessments.  I compromised and shortened our meetings, allowing them to finish without me in the hallway and DRA'd in between.  I didn't finish their assessments, but I also got to see that most of my groups could handle having their own lit circle...which was great.

Battle of the books also started this week and because it was so fun on Wednesday, I had about eight more kids sign up after the deadline.  Of course I accepted them with open arms because they want to read and well, that's awesome.  

I had to turn away one student because his frequent behavior problems are interfering with others' ability to learn. That wouldn't be fair to the students who are trying to work and read in our book club.  I've had several conferences with this student's family and this student is frequently off task and argumentative in my room, so the student didn't earn the privilege of book club.  I talked with my admin and fellow teachers, who were all in support of the decision.  However, it was a very heartbreaking conversation to have.  

We sat in the hallway and talked about all the choices that were made and how these choices took away from learning time.  We talked about all the second chances that had been given and how behavior hadn't changed.  In life, we don't always get unlimited second chances and there are consequences to our actions.  Sometimes, we don't like these consequences and that's a tough lesson to learn.  I also knew that he would have been a disruption every week and that's not fair to the forty students who are so excited to sit and read.  I also knew it wasn't fair for me, who is volunteering to run this club to deal with additional behavior issues with a student who has had several dozen second chances.  

There were tears and that's hard for a teacher.  I made him cry and I couldn't do anything to fix it.  There have to be consequences, even if it's unpleasant.

My mentee is having a rough time with some students and we had a nice long chat about strategies.  She feels better, which is great.  I just wish I could observe her more.  My prep falls during her whole group reading block so that's the only subject I've been able to see her teach.  I wish I could see more.

There's some inconsistencies at our school and it's very bothersome.  I'm not one to slack off and make things up, so it's very frustrating for me to see others doing so.  It's very irksome to see such blatant favoritism.

Take these factors, add in a four hour class, twelve more issues, a few parent teacher conferences, shouting in the hallway (not me, two students), lots of tears and a lot of sleepless nights...and there's my week.  I'm glad it's over.

But I also know I have the amazing opportunity to work with my grade level, which is filled with such dedicated teachers.  I learn from these women daily and know they're also making their decisions based on what's best for students.  Think of a pack of lion mamas and that's our fifth grade team :)

While collectively, they drive me slightly crazy with their talking (which is out of excitement), I do adore these fifth graders.  I love at the end of the day when we fist bump on their way out and they tell me their "click" of the day.  Their click is what is "staying with them" and made sense to them.  Naturally, I pretend frown when they tell me it's a subject I don't teach or recess, but it's great to have them reflect on their learning and share it with me.

I also am appreciative of the support I have from other educators.  My admin made the time out of her very busy schedule to talk through an issue I'd had.  Through our conversation, the missing pieces of information were filled in and now I understand why the decisions were made. lt was a difficult conversation for me to bring up, sharing that I was frustrated with an outcome but through discussion, we both filled in each other's gaps and now the situation makes sense.  

We also had one of our old academic coaches on campus this week and well, she's amazing.  We talked through my structure of small groups and looked at the questions I was asking of my students when they read their novels.  I'm doing everything right, which was nice to hear.  The same amazing coach sent me inspirational texts throughout the week because she knew I was having a rough time.  

She also works at her parents' restaurant which has amazing Italian food.  She suggested I come in on Friday night because in her words, I deserved garlic knots, pasta and cannolis.  It didn't take much arm twisting to convince my boyfriend that we needed date night since he had a rough week too and well, who doesn't love pasta?  We had a wonderful relaxing meal which almost made up for the rough week.  Then I found this note when I got home attached to our left overs:

It made me cry. She's the best.  My grade level is the best.  My students are such hard workers (most of the time) and my family and boyfriend are supportive through my tears and sometimes colorful language. One awesome friend stopped in to work to borrow something and ended up bringing me dinner since I didn't have time to run out and get food before my class.  I'm thankful to not be in this alone. I'm thankful to be an educator, even though it's not always an easy road.  There will be rough days.  There will be terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.  But some days are like that...

...even in Australia. 


(If you haven't read Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day stop what you're doing and go read it immediately.  This blog post and it's images will probably make a lot more sense after!)

Responder Cups

One of the things that drives me nuts as a teacher is hands raised to go to the bathroom.  Or when students just shout out an answer rather than raise their hands and wait to be called on. (That wait to be called on thing is rather tricky!)

So I use responder cups:

These are just plastic cups from any dollar store.  I purchased red, green, blue and yellow ones for my classroom.  They usually come in packs of a dozen but I could supply my whole class for under twenty bucks.  We have had to have many, many conversations about not poking holes in the cups or drawing on the cups, but it doesn't bother me enough to purchase more.  A set of cups will last a year or two (tops) but hopefully your students would be slightly more respectful of supplies.

We do have conversations about not playing with the cups during instruction and 99% of my students follow this norm.

The cups' primary use is for independent or group work.

Green: I'm good. I know what is expected of me and I am fine.

Yellow: I'm a little stuck and have some questions.

Red: I'm confused and need help immediately.

Blue: May I use the restroom?

We also use them to vote and respond in class.  Instead of shouting out answers, I can get a quick (and silent) response from the class.

We use them for A/B/C/D questions, true/false, agree/disagree, math operations and to vote on other class matters (lights on or off, choices for stations, etc).

To help my students, I have the color coded signs at the front of the room in case they forget:

My favorite function of the cups is the restroom issue, especially during independent writing or assessment time!  (Or when I'm conferencing with a student or progress monitoring)

I'll send one boy and one girl out at a time and when they come back, they pick another boy or girl to sign out and go to the restroom.  Students know to keep working until it's their turn and no one is wasting time with their (writing) hand up in the air asking to go.

I love how these responder cups help my classroom run smoothly :)  

(Well, as smooth as a fifth grade classroom can be!)

Days 3 and 4

Sigh...it's almost Friday.  That means I can wear jeans :)

Wednesday (yesterday) was my birthday and I got a new student.  (I got another new one as well today).

I was surprised by this lovely dessert and sign by my grade level:

One of my students brought me these beautiful flowers and Batman balloon :)

And most importantly, my kiddos were mostly on their best behavior so we got a lot of learning accomplished!

They worked on mystery bags in science and we talked about metacognition in reading:

I think they're starting to grasp the concept of thinking while reading :)

We've been doing a lot of read alouds to build class community, so we made this anchor chart together:

We've been adding to it as our discussions continue.  Today I added that another role for students was to listen for interesting vocabulary.

I'm exhausted and it's only week one!

At least I made my class poms to distinguish table teams:

For more on how to make these cute poms, see this post!

-Ms. Vice

Day 2 Down

Survived the second day.  We still need to work on being respectful listeners and not taking half a dozen bathroom breaks but it's a definite work in progress.

Yesterday (day 1): 

We read Ms. Nelson is missing and made these anchor charts in a gallery walk:

Today, I turned these into wordles:

Our class norms

Our individual goals

Small group norms

I prefer wordles for the class rules because they take up less space :)

Today we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and discussed how students should treat one another.

Here are the "I'm moving to Australia" cards for when students are having "one of those days".

On to day three!