As I'm savoring the last few weeks of summer break, I'm looking ahead to year nine. Yikes, nine? Sigh!
Last year I had the most amazing year with thirty six fifth graders. We had some bumps in the road, but overall, I had amazingly supportive families and loved co-teaching with Ms. S for PBL (project based learning). We tried curriculum units with moderate success (the timing, planning, and copying was more intense than we anticipated). I had a lot of fun with my students, they learned a lot, and I'm proud of the work we did.
I've enjoyed my summer. I tackled some craft projects, crafted, napped, vacationed, saw friends, and read books.
But now it's time to look ahead to the 2017-2018 school year. I've got my bulletin board ideas mapped out (thank you Pinterest) and will ease into the school year by headed back early. (More information about my super short summer and decision to return early is found {here}.
In honor of year nine, I've decided on the following goals:
1) Have a clean desk on a more consistent basis. Read more about my struggle {here}.
2) Continue with my {teacher instagram} account.
I had great success with class dojo last year, but I want to step out a little more and use social media to create more of a classroom environment.
The idea was inspired by Your School Rocks, So Tell People! and approved by my administration. It wasn't approved so much as I texted my principal that I was going to do it and wanted to make sure they were in the loop. In my opinion, it's always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
I then recommended the book to her and let her borrow it, so she's able to see the rationale behind it. To be fair, I've got an amazing principal who encourages us to take risks and try new things. She doesn't micromanage (which is good, I need freedom and creative opportunities to be successful). As long as she is told the "why" or purpose behind the action, she tends to be on board.
So my purpose for a teacher Instagram account? To share the awesome things my students are doing with the outside world. I'll continue to use class dojo for close up face pictures of my students, but post the artistic (non FERPA violating) pictures on my teacher account. That way aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc can still see all the things my kiddos are up to.
I will also use this as a forum to post inspirational messages. I have friends that battle with depression, so seeing supportive messages may help.
Read my thoughts on the book {here}.
3. Provide more prompt feedback with writing tasks...maybe.
I'm not supposed to say it...but I hate grading writing. I'd rather do literally anything else. In fact this is how I feel about grading writing:
Hopefully it'll be better in third. There won't be as many essays to grade. They won't be as long. I can give smaller, more frequent assignments and focus more on the mechanics of writing instruction.
With smaller assignments, I can (theoretically) grade them faster and provide faster feedback. Fingers crossed!
On a side note, I totally bribe myself with Panera when I'm grading writing.
I am not ashamed.
4. I want to take a more active role with community involvement this year. I went to most of the social events last year, but only the girls' soccer games. I'd like to be more prevalent at school events. This will go hand in hand with our school's new house system, based on the Ron Clark Academy.
As a member of the Reveur house, I'll be bonding with not only my own students, but kiddos across the school.
(More on the RCA {here}. Fair warning, it's a long post and Ron Clark information is at the end.)
5. Provide my students with more computer time. One of the benefits of being in the pod is that computers are right outside our door. Third grade will also be the first time my students take standardized testing on the computers, so I want to give them ample opportunities to be familiar with computers.
6. This one is a little tricky for me. I want to collaborate with my grade level, but not do all the work. This balance is something I've struggled with my whole teaching career. I want things done right for the benefit of my students, but I don't want to do everyone's work. This commitment to excellence means sometimes I pull more than my fair share of the weight. I want to learn the new curriculum, continue to build my {TpT store}, collaborate with new team members but not be taken advantage of.
7. Along with goal six is setting limits. Last year, I sold all of my preps to be a Read by 3 strategist. I loved getting into classrooms and mentoring new teachers. It also meant I needed to juggle a lot and be flexible with when other teachers wanted to meet and discuss classroom events. While my contract time is 8:26-3:36, I unofficially made my work hours 7:10-4:45. Living close to school means I was home by five and left work at work (most of the time). I'd like to keep to that schedule this year, even though I'm still in limbo if we will have Read by 3 again. We're waiting on funding from the state to determine if I'll be a teacher/strategist again this year.
8. Continue to build up my PLN (professional learning network) with twitter chats (specifically #TLAP on Mondays), blogging, Instagram, book chats, and the DEN on facebook. My husband loves me, but he really doesn't want to sit around discussing teacher philosophies and classroom ideas. (To be fair, I don't want to engage in an in-depth analysis of his fantasy baseball stats or how his latest round of video games went. We stick to the highlights.) I've got a stack of books to read, 4 of them being related to teaching (and one being for our honeymoon plane ride):
I'm excited to implement Ron Clark Academy principles in the classroom. I'm excited to learn more about Google Classroom. I'm excited to try to create video updates (another idea from Your School Rocks) instead of (boring) paper newsletters.
9. Be open to change.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Out of no where, March appeared. It's gearing up to be a busy month. It's the fifth and I've already crammed a lot in.
First, we conquered {Reading Week}. 5 spirit days, 2 assemblies, 1 guest reader, 1 field trip, 3 lunches outside, and lots of reading time. As a school, we also hosted a book drive to collect books for Spread the Word Nevada, a nonprofit. We collected almost 2,500 gently used books in a week. (100 of them are from my class!)
We also received our first box of new books from our {Donors Choose} project. We made thank you cards for our donors and dived into reading. Look how cute they are!
Second, fifth grade was in charge of First Friday treats. Each grade level has an assigned month and we bring in treats for the rest of the teachers.
I went to Costco for several dozen pastries, but picked up fruit and juice as well. We put down butcher paper (it makes for easy clean up) and I raided Sunshine's closet for some decor. (One of the perks of being co-chair is that I can borrow decorations whenever I need as long as I bring them back in a timely manner!)
I bought a little too much food (I went to Costco hungry), but still came out pretty close to our budget. We split the cost between the five fifth grade teachers, so it was only $12 each. Considering all the teachers (plus some substitutes) had happy tummies, I call this a win. We're also off the hook for 11 months.
Third, I'm sick of this being my weekend:
So I made a change. I've stopped working from home and on the weekends. Yes, I'll continue to work on materials for Teachers Pay Teachers (because it doesn't feel like work). But unless it's a special occasion (report card comments), this work stays at work.
I'm reclaiming my nights and weekends. If I'm at work from 7-5 each day, that's enough. That's 3 hours unpaid work every day. It's still not enough time to get everything accomplished, which is beyond frustrating (but also the life of a teacher). Nights and weekends are for things that fuel my soul: couple time, pet time, friend time, family time, and/or nap time. A week in, it's going fairly well.
Fourth, I'm making slow and steady progress through Love and Logic. My goal of a book a month isn't quite on track, but January's book was nearly 500 pages (and this one is 300), and I'm taking copious amounts of notes, so it's okay.
Up next? A book for Battle of the Books, then perhaps another teacher book. I've had a few recommended during trainings, so my Amazon cart keeps getting new additions. (I'm saving receipts because it's tax deductable.)
This month also brings an in home party for Lularoe and Lipstains (co-hosted with our school's librarian), a quasi-bachelorette party, traveling to Anaheim for a conference, a GATE training, and preparing for two showers at work in April (a wedding shower and a baby shower). We also have the SBAC (standardized testing) starting soon, and with that means a pep assembly...and assembling 200 green troll headbands.
We'll also be having our new cabinets dropped off. We had custom built ins assembled, but I'll be staining them myself (so not only will they match the other cabinets I stained, we'll save a little in the process). Our next home improvement project is replacing the flooring in the bathroom and doing the backyard. We hope to have both completed by December.
Yesterday I {shared all about Reading Week}. I was exhausted. I still am exhausted.
Let's examine why:
1) The students have spring fever, big time. This need for a break manifests itself in lots of interesting ways. This week I dealt with theft (including the school police), citations, suspensions, bullying issues, depressed students, parents, vomiting, and more. Some days, I taught from the doorway of my classroom, privately solving behavior problems in the pod while simultaneously trying to teach multiplying fractions. I'm the queen of multi-tasking y'all.
2) I overheard a horrific car accident while at the gas station Tuesday morning. Six cars were involved, I think a pedestrian was hit, and crunching metal is a sound I never want to hear again. I called the police and waited for ambulances to arrive. I got to work thirty minutes later than I planned to and just in time for a meeting I'd forgotten about. I had fifteen minutes between the meeting and crosswalk duty to turn on my computer and set up for the day. Tuesday morning was rough.
3) The pets were naughty. Last week went amazing with Waffles. She didn't get into anything when we let her roam during the day. This week was a different story.
Monday she helped herself to some files:
Including her adoption paperwork. I guess she's ours forever.
Tuesday included altering a dining room table chair:
At least it's an old chair?
She's just one this month, so she's not quite ready for all that freedom. She didn't do it to be mean. She did it because she missed us, was lonely, and I'm sure the cats were playing without her. We'll try again in a few months.
Crooksie snuck into the pantry, ripped open a bag of dog food, and helped herself to extra food. She's not enjoying the kitty diet very much.
4) Grad School. I'm taking a one credit course right now and assignments are due every few days. Between now and May, I'm finishing up course work to be at masters +32 (yay) and earn a pay raise (maybe? That's still being negotiated.)
Wednesday night I spent writing a four page analysis of the text complexity of the chosen article. I had to watch videos, read thirty something pages, and address all sorts of questions regarding the validity of the article and if it would be appropriate for close reads and thoughtful discussion by students. Long story short, it was appropriate.
The topic? Dino poop. Snag it {here} fellow teachers! It comes from the 4-5 tool kit and is free for classroom use.
5) In addition to all the prep for reading week, we had Harney Middle School registration. This meant we lost our prep on Thursday, but were given prep during the assembly later that day.
6) I was observed for math. Not only was it the fourth time rescheduling (our principal is a very busy woman!), but it was after an assembly, at the end of the day (we normally do math first thing), on a Thursday, during reading week. Naturally, as soon as my principal left, they got the concept. Those glorious brain fireworks and light bulbs started going off...ninety seconds after she left.
7) It was also fifth grade's turn for First Friday treats. Each month a specific grade level does treats for the school. I came up with the "March Munchie Madness" theme. Ms. C took the lead on shopping (thank you teamwork), Mrs. J helped me decorate, and Mrs. H took care of clean up. I made fake snack brackets to give everyone something fun and different to do. We used popcorn bags that we found in our supply closet (score!) and picked up different flavors of chex mix, popcorn, m & ms, marshmellows, and cheese-its. Perfect snack foods to munch on. Last year we did St. Patrick's day, but since we're having a potluck on the 16th (because we have monthly potlucks), we went with something different. I sent out an email asking for college shirts to use as decoration and we used black butcher paper to define the space:
It must have went over really well because there were no left overs!
8) Both {Jamberry} and {Younique} launched new products, so I did my best to share this info with my Facebook groups. There's a lot of (unfair) pressure to hit certain quotas at times, especially with the launch of new goodies. I didn't meet these goals. But, I am excited for what came out!
I mean, how cute are these new nail wraps?
Dinosaurs? Yes please! I can match the Dino Poop article that I'll read with my students next week.
On the make up side...tinted flavored lip balms? New foundation brush? Yes please!
But...I'm in a sales rut. I've accepted that I won't be one of those direct sales people that makes thousands of extra dollars each month, quits her real job, and wins cruises around the world. I'm not able to devote that much time to these hobbies, but more importantly... I don't want to. I don't want to be that pushy sales woman that tells people they need this new make up product because really the underlying message is that they aren't pretty enough and need help. I'm not that person. I'm much more laid back about the products. Right or wrong (probably wrong in the marketing world), here's my philosophy: I like them, I use them, and if you have questions, I'm here. Want to try something? Sure, why not? I like to try before I buy too! No judgment. I may not make a lot of money with this attitude, but I also won't lose friends and will still be me. That matters.
9) I'm behind on grading. No, scratch that. I let a week's worth of assignments pile up because I was overwhelmed by student behaviors and now I'm paying the consequence. Eight different tests or quizzes to grade. That's 264 pieces of paper to look at, score, record on a spread sheet, and enter into the grade book before passing back to students. Not fun. Progress reports go home soon, so I should be all caught up so grades reflect all the work. That's fair to families, but it's a lot of work. In case you're a loyal reader (or new, welcome!) and aren't in education, know this: I tend to work an extra 15 hours a week, unpaid, grading and prepping lessons. Every single week. There's not enough time during the daily fifty minute prep (when it's not held up by SPED meetings, grade level meetings, surprise meetings, parent meetings, or any of the other events that happen often) to get everything done. So please stop blaming teachers for all sorts of problems. We're doing our best. I'm doing my best.
10) Meetings. There were meetings with admin. Meetings with special education (SPED) because a behavior plan needed to be tweaked. Three of my students are now on individual behavior incentive plans. Last month it was one. January? None. But..the plans are helping those students make strong behavior choices and that's ultimately the end goal. Meetings with parents. Meetings with the police. Meetings with the grade level. Meetings with other teachers that I'm mentoring. Meetings about being certified. Meeting with coaches. Meetings with students about cheating. Meetings about upcoming meetings.
All my meetings were important. I get that. They just all happened to at the same time.
11) Sinus infection. Because items 1-10 weren't enough of a struggle, my allergies became a full blown sinus infection. On the bright side, I used the new online telemedicine option. I called in, a doctor called me back within an hour, we had a nice chat about my mucus situation, and he confirmed I have a sinus infection. Considering I have several a year, for as long as I can remember, I'm pretty good at self-diagnosing this. Thirty minutes later, CVS called to let me know my antibiotics were ready for pick up. I didn't need to go to the doctor. I didn't need to take a sick day. Technology for the win!
Plus, Waffles brought me a toy to snuggle with:
To be fair, she tried to share with the cats first.
But...I'm trying to focus on the positives. We were pleased with our tax return. B enjoys gambling (he grew up in Vegas, what do I expect?) and did well this week. Because we're a team, we've talked about limits and what we're comfortable spending monthly. It's not my favorite activity, but he enjoys it. This week he hit a royal and came home with enough cash to buy a new water softener. Thanks babe! I've got two weddings this month, get to see my best friend, have found some cute things on Etsy, get to see my family soon, and have bridal appointments over spring break. There's a lot happening...and that's a good thing.
Nine days until field day. Ten days until spring break. I can do this.
In college, reading week was this glorious time before finals where I had no responsibilities (other than a few hours at a desk job) but to read and study for finals.
As a teacher, the concept of "reading week" is an entirely different beast.
To start with, we have a week of spirit days. Now don't misunderstand me, I love spirit days. I don't love the spirited attitudes that accompany these dress up days. Because of the surplus of extra fun activities, many students (not just my own rambunctious class) were extra off task and defiant. It made for a long and exhausting week.
Our school tends to take celebrations to the extreme, and that's okay. The kids need to have fun in elementary school. Our reading week activities include:
Book bingo (We get blank boards and a list of titles the week before reading week. I had students help me fill it out. Three books were called each morning during announcements.)
Mystery Readers (Students have to guess which staff member is reading the poem or short story aloud over the intercom. Students submit their guesses on blue colored slips of paper. One winner from each grade level with the correct guess wins a prize, which is usually a left over poster from the book fair.)
Spirit days (Not only did I give students points on class dojo for participating, but they got pink colored slips of paper to submit. Once again, one winner from each grade level was chosen for a prize.)
Assemblies (Each grade level got at least one. Ours featured a local published author who did an amazing job interacting with the kids.)
Lunch with someone you love (families are invited to bring students lunch and eat together in the courtyard.)
Guest readers (Everyone from high school students to the air force to news anchors to families came in to read picture books to the classes. We had our principal and a fellow teacher's husband (he's in the air force) come read to us Friday afternoon.)
Read around the pod (teachers switch classrooms and read to one another).
Book picnic (Students brought blankets or towels and we read outside on Friday afternoon. It was mid seventies and gorgeous.)
No wonder I'm exhausted!
Our spirit days included:
Monday: Ties & tutus day. I borrowed an electric blue one from a friend and rocked it with jeans and an eagles shirt (our school mascot). I had twenty minutes of playground duty, so not only did I start my day with already hitting my 10,000 steps (thanks fitbit!) but I got lots of compliments. I should wear tutus more often!
Tuesday: Dr. Seuss day. I snagged a solid red shirt from Target, wore jeans and the electric blue tutu again. I didn't want to ruin my shirt, so I attached a paper plate from my classroom (a Christmas one no less!) to a lanyard. With the help of a black sharpie, I became Thing 1.
I also had crosswalk duty. I got a lot of questions asking if it was spirit day... I didn't really know how to respond to that one. Do I normally look ridiculous and wear tutus on normal Tuesdays?
Wednesday: Disney day. (Also, Marvel and Star Wars day!) This was the day Ms. C and I had our Disney themed lip sync battle for students who met their reading goals.
Can you guess which Disney princess I was?
Would it help if I said I carried around a dinglehopper (fork), yellow fish, and red lobster?
Thursday: Dress as your future self day. Not only did I rock a Hogwarts alum shirt that I snagged at Target, but I also completely dressed another teacher. She wanted to be Wonder Woman, so I lent her a cape, crown, shirt, and the blue tutu. (Yes, I do just have those things laying around.)
Friday: Pajama day. I rocked black yoga pants and an oversized pink shirt that said "I was made for taking naps." (Another stellar Target find!)
I really failed at taking pictures this year!
To make things fun for teachers, we were entered in a raffle for free books each time we participated. While I didn't win, I really like and respect the intermediate teacher who did.
Reading week was great, our librarian put a lot of hard work into every detail, but I'm really glad it's over. It's time to get back on track with learning.
Since it's October 31st, I should probably revisit my {October goals} that I set earlier this month.
1) For the love of all things holy, I need to finish this dang book:
Um....nope. I did read The Crossover for Battle of the Books though!
2) Purchase and start this highly anticipated book:
In the middle, must finish by Wednesday because of a {competition with a student}!
3) Work on our wedding website.
4) Buy a new computer. We just need to order a case for it.
5) Make the second {DEN ambassador meeting} even more awesome than the first! I've already got a few more teachers interested in attending, which is great. I have to upload some videos and complete homework by December, but I've got time!
6) Attend a cultural event. We're actually going to Greek Fest tonight, so this one will be easily accomplished! One of the great things about Vegas is that there are lots of fun things like this.
7) Visit the {Bellagio gardens}.
Nope.
8) Make something with apples. It might be an apple pie. It might be apple cinnamon sangria. Okay, it will probably be the sangria. A friend just sent me a video of a new recipe and it looks fairly easy.
Nope.
9) Have a girls day. We had a {Jamberry} and {Younique} make up party, so I'm counting it!
10) Catch up with old friends. Yes and no. I have some calls to make.
11) Start Battle of the Books! We've had our first few meetings, we got the kids notebooks, we've got our system structure set, we've got our first fun activity (Paper Slide videos) planned, and I've read my first book {The Crossover}. The goal is to read all 8 by April.
12) Catch up on grading (almost done), finish the next two regions for social studies (the West Region is part way done), and maybe even get ahead in terms of planning (a girl can dream).
I have 33 essays left to grade and enter. The West Region and Great Plains regions are done, I'm just working on the Midwest.
13) Continue to be extra patient with my students. Some of them have a lot going on at home and act out in school because they're having trouble coping. This is totally understandable, it's just taking some additional patience on my end. Patience that I quickly feel I'm running out of. It's hard with 34 students. It's hard when some of them are able to focus for thirty seconds at a time and constantly shout out. It's hard to continue to be patient when I have ten different private hallway conversations with a student on a daily basis about class norms. But...it's necessary.
Yes. I even added another, putting me at 35.
14) Figure out my school costume. We're doing a theme for fifth grade...and the theme is balls. We're not the most appropriate ones, I know. It's more of a joke for the adults. I'm thinking of being a disco ball or a bowling ball. Totally fine costume by itself, but then when the teachers realize that all of the fifth grade teachers have something to do with balls...hilarity will ensue. The kids won't get it. But it makes us giggle.
I was fantasy football. I wore UNLV grad robes and carried a wand and a football. Mrs. H wore a jersey, pink witch hat, and carried a wand. Together we made sense to some. Not everyone got it, but we're so punny.
The rest of the grade level was a magic 8 ball, an eye ball, and a gumball machine.
So apparently my "top ten" got a little over zealous and I now have 14 goals for the month. But...overplanning is how I live my life.
Then life changed, goals changed, and I got only part of what I needed to accomplish. Good thing November starts tomorrow!
What did you accomplish this October?
One of the amazing aspects of my school is the healthy sense of competition between classrooms. This past week, to keep our students motivated before a five day weekend (yes, five days), we had a school wide challenge. In each grade level, the classroom with the highest engage time got to participate in an activity in front of the entire school.
What is this glorious activity you may ask?
The teacher who has the highest engage time gets a pie...in the face...from the student who read the most.
The pie will be mostly whipped cream and trash bags and goggles are provided, but our students were so incredibly motivated to read. The idea of smashing a pie in my face is quite thrilling and I personally have never felt more loved by my students. The idea of public embarrassment is perhaps one of the best motivators for my students.
Unfortunately, a sudden downpour caused our celebration to be postponed. Over nine hundred students (and their families) were outside, in costumes, when a slight drizzle turned into a sudden rainstorm, drenching everyone.
The celebration will be in the afternoon on Wednesday, November 4th. For once, I really, really hope I come in second place.
As I previously {shared}, our school has a great tradition of decorating pumpkins about book characters. Each class gets a pumpkin (which are donated) and decorates it. You can't puncture or pierce the pumpkin in anyway, but the kids have lots of fun with it. The younger classes tend to have parent volunteers or the teacher make the whole thing...but that's not how we roll in fifth grade! This was entirely done by my students.
As a class, we voted on characters and brainstormed our options. I had student helpers stay after school (with permission) to help decorate.
We voted on Harry Potter and here is the (almost) finished result:
In the library, Harry has a scarf, wizard hat, and wand (aka a chopstick).
Voting starts next week!
One of the adorable traditions at my school is the fall decorating of pumpkins for the library.
We get a bunch of pumpkins donated and each class gets to decorate the pumpkin based on a book character. I tried to slap a post-it on our class pumpkin and say "this is a gourd, we read informational text" but was vetoed. The pumpkins have to be based on a book character (not a recent movie character).
The pumpkins also can't be punctured in any way because we want them on display in the library for a few weeks.
The primary classes usually produce the most adorable pumpkins because parent helpers or the teachers spend hours crafting very adorable and very complex designs.
Mine however, is completely student driven...and it shows.
Volunteers stay after school and armed with paint and big ideas, they navigate working together to create this work of art that will be on display for the rest of the school.
I'd love to do this:
However, we haven't read any books on mummies and my students are very excited about all their ideas. We have an online poll going, but then will turn that into a survey (embedding that technology folks!)
The current winning idea is...
The Minotaur.
From Greek Mythology.
Something tells me we're not going to win the cutest pumpkin contest, but if my students have fun making it, that's all that matters.
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.
I love new ideas!
Yesterday, while waiting to get LASIK (more on that later), I stumbled upon a great idea in a parenting magazine. My reading choices were limited but I'm glad I picked up that issue.
In it, a mom was discussing fundraising ideas for her child's school. Many of them we already do (collecting box tops, asking for classroom donations, hosting movie nights) but one of them was new:
I'm super excited to bring this idea up with my art teacher and Sunshine committee. The article suggested charging admission, but I think it should be free for families to come into our school. Families would walk around and see students' art displays. Choir could perform. Student council members could lead tours and act as ambassadors.
As a school, we could charge for "wine" (grape and apple juice) as well as cheese and crackers to make it more like an official art night.
Perhaps works of art could be auctioned off to benefit our school. We could also sell ceramic tiles that families could paint to use in a new school mural.
I envision something like this:
I'm hoping I get the green light from admin and that others are on board!
What fundraisers does your school do?
Ah, the end of the school year. Today was our last Friday of the school year with students. It was an interesting day, complete with a dunk tank (but more on that later).
We are almost done with our alphabet count down to the end of the year, which you can read more about {here}. Our spirit days continue!
S: Tuesday brought stuffed animal day! Several of my students brought in their stuffed toys and read with them.
T: Twin day! My colleague Mrs. H and I rocked the twin look with gray school shirts and yoga pants. Any day with yoga pants is a great day!
U: Uniform Day. Many of my students wore sports jerseys. I wore one of my brother's old hockey jerseys (with our last name on the back) and once again, yoga pants.
V: Video day. We watched a Magic School Bus video on gravity between all of our Reading Ranger celebrations. I'm so glad we've got Discovery Education to stream videos!
Next week, our last week, brings letters W-Z!
W: Watermelon day. I'm not entirely sure what this day will bring, especially since I'm not a huge fan of watermelon...perhaps snacks in the lunch room?
X: X-tra recess day! We'll take it early in the morning before the weather is triple digits.
Y: Yellow day. Students are supposed to wear yellow, but it's also my students' dressy graduation day and well, yellow doesn't look good on everyone.
Z: Zero days left. This day will be a half-day, filled with a BBQ and a morning at the pool across the street.
The cuteness of my school continues.
As I previously shared, we are in the middle of an ABC themed count down until the end of the school year.
My students hare having a wonderful time with the spirit days.
Inside out day! We wore our clothes inside out.
Joke day! They shared all their silly jokes with one another.
Kickback day! Also known as the teachers get to wear yoga pants and it's amazing.
Lollipop day. They could bring in suckers and eat them during independent reading.
Mismatch day. I had an important meeting after school that day (more on that later), so I needed to look presentable. I did wear brown flats with a black sweater, which felt mismatched.
Neon day. Surprisingly this was mostly students participating. As an adult, I do not own a lot of neon items. I am also completely okay with this.
Octopus day. They read fun facts about octopi. That was really it.
Pajama day. This day was glorious.
Quiet day. Another glorious day that coincided with online standardized testing (Discovery Education, not SBAC.)
Red and read day. Wear red, read a lot,
The next two weeks will bring the remaining letters of S-Z.
What fun traditions does your school have for the end of the year?
Once again I find myself appreciating the cute, fun culture of my new school. With the school year winding down, we are doing an ABC count down until the end of the year. Each day is a different themed spirit day!
Here's a recap of what we've done and what's coming up next week!
A day: Art Day
To be fair, we started calling the day ancient day because none of the computers wanted to connect to the server!
I talked to my students about how book covers sometimes change over time. We looked at examples (Hatchet, the River) and non-examples (Number the Stars).
We talked about the different emotions that were evoked by the illustrations and which book cover would be the most appealing to read.
I then had them redesign the covers of their favorite novels. They had such a great time with our craft project and it was nice to be able to integrate reading and art!
B day: Beach Day
Students brought in beach towels and we enjoyed reading outside! Granted, it's close to 100 degrees outside, so our reading time didn't last too long.
My students were super excited about my towel choice:
C day: Crazy Hair Day
I babysat my nephew and niece the night before, so it was rough getting up this morning so I passed on the spirit day. I also had an IEP, so that was my excuse with my colleagues. A few of my students really went all out and it was great to see how excited they were!
Next week will bring...
Disney Day
Exercise Day
Fruit Day
Geography Day
Hat Day
I'm not sure what I'll do for Disney day yet. We'll be doing some brain breaks and stretching for exercise day. Fruit day may involve a potluck. Geography day will not only include learning about the Southern Region, but also Google Earth explorations as well! Hat day is self explanatory and perhaps the day my boys are most excited about!
What fun end of year activities does your school do?
