Yeah...we're going to lose.

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.

Engagement Strategy

I usually type my lessons for the day into a smart notebook.  While this takes a good twenty minutes each morning, I think it helps our day flow smoothly.  I like to start my morning with everything fully prepared and loaded, leaving my prep free to conquer any numerous tasks or handle unforeseen emergencies without panic.

However, sometimes when I have a lot of instructions typed on the board, my students zone out.  They're ten, I get it.  I still go over the purpose for each activity and imbed some spiral review to remind them what they're learning and why.

So I switched up my strategy:

I read what's in black font and they read what is in another color.  This way they're actively engaged in the directions and if they forget what to do, the key parts of the instructions or directions practically jump out at them.

Plus, by only giving them a few words or a phrase to read, they aren't shouting over each other and they are able to read together (most of the time).

Reading Rangers

As I've blogged about before, our school is pretty adament about Reading Rangers and the WIPR block.  It's my first year, but I like it.  My kids have great reading stamina coming into fifth grade and are self-motivated to read.

Last week, I had to convert a bulletin board from this:

To this:

To make space for their badges.

I also wanted to make a count down to graduation board to indicate how many books they needed to read (and pass an AR quiz on).  I looked at my other grade level members' ideas, but I wanted to put my own spin on it.  I wanted something that was portable that we could take with us to assemblies or to the pod.

So armed with a folding poster board, tape, and velcro dots, I set out to make our boards.  I color coded the count down cards and laminated them so hopefully they'll last a few years.  I can handle remaking the board each year, just not the cards.

Here is the end result:

I'm excited how it turned out. I conferenced with all my kiddos (that were here) to see how many books they had left.  Most of them were bumped up to a higher reading level after our beginning of the year conferences, so they started over.  I am fine with it (and they are fine with it) because it means more of a challenge.

I'm really pleased with how this year is going!

(But now it's time to plan math. Yes, it's six am on a Saturday. My team teacher and I are focused and too stubborn to give up our other weekend plans)

Happy Saturday!

Today's (Work) Challenge

My school follows WIPR and is part of the Reading Rangers program.  This is my first year teaching with it, so I don't have enough evidence to make a sound judgment either way.

I do know that my kids have awesome reading stamina from years of following this program. I know they want to read. That in itself makes me very happy.

Today I had to do some classroom revisions.  Since I don't have any more bulletin boards, I shrunk the size of my "vibrant vocabulary" board.  Instead of an outdated word wall, this is where students take ownership over the interesting words, phrases, and vocabulary that they're encountering in their reading.

I dedicated the other portion of the board to Reading Rangers.  

(On a side note, I'm highly irritated that I'm short blue border! Off to Target I must go!)

I gave them paper plates to decorate as their badges.  Every time they pass a quiz (with 90 or 100%), they get a neon star to add to their plates.

I'm also in the process of making a count down to graduation board, which will be up soon!

Craft time!

The beginning of the year is always an expensive time for teachers. I've stocked up on supplies for six table teams, including new buckets for them.  I bought some new border and letters for bulletin boards, got burlap to make border, and various other items at the craft store(s) for new cute things in my classroom.

One of the projects I just completed is my "good effort beads":

I saw on pinterest a fellow teacher made "smart beads" for her students to wear.  I modified the idea to more mesh with my growth based teaching mindset. 

By switching from "being smart" to "great effort", this shows my students that I'm focused on them. Our goal is progress.  Our academic journey focuses on improvement.  My students are in competition with themselves.  They aren't all coming in at the same place academically, nor will they all end the same place.  I have high expectations and will continue to push each of them to do their best. I believe in praising growth and progress, not "smartness".  

In a TFA (Teach for America) flashback, I vividly recall one of our many Saturday sessions ending with this idea:

Smart is not something that you are.

Smart is something that you become.

How powerful for students to realize that being smart comes from effort, perseverance, and continued hard work.  It doesn't happen overnight.

I can't wait to encourage my students to keep trying their best.

Continuing with empowering students, I picked up some lanyards:

Which I turned into:

I'm very excited for my new brag necklaces.  Again, this emphasizes a student's progress over time rather than a numerical score.  

This year, my students will be reading...a lot.  We are utilizing AR with our "reading rangers" program that focuses on comprehension and stamina.  I'm excited that this is used consistently K-5 in every classroom, so there is a school wide support and buy-in from students.

I also am a realist and know I teach ten year-olds...

Which is why I created this:

I know I will have books get damaged. I understand small rips from wear and tear, but I think if a student completely destroys a book, the family should replace it.  I'll need to double check with my grade level and administration, but I'm thinking of putting that in the library contract I send home at the beginning of the year.  In five years of teaching, I've only had to collect from a handful of families.  One student left my copy of Hatchet on the bus.  One had a water bottle explode and flood her backpack.  A third left it out for the dog to find (comically yes, the dog ate it).  A fourth ripped the spine in half.  A few others lost the books in various places.  I think it's fair to hold families fiscally responsible.  After all, if they lose library books, they have to pay to replace the books...so why shouldn't the same be true for my classroom library?

I wanted to jazz up our information space, so I had a little fun with chalk board markers.  I bought a banner from the party supply aisle at Target:

I also borrowed a neighbor's cricut to make:

We are expected to post our calendar so it's obvious what the students are working on, so why not make it fun? 

I also want to to focus on small groups in math, which means I'll need an additional management strategy.

I decided on student math coaches, which would be designated by these:

I'm all about collaboration, so they'll soon say "math coaches".  Students will prove to me they can handle the concept, then I'll give them the lanyards and let them coach their peers while I work with a small group.

More pictures coming soon!

Classroom Library

This year is the first year I actually have to organize my classroom library.  I'm excited and a little terrified about this daunting task.

My expected end result is something like this:

But on a larger scale (and with a polka dot rug of course!)

I want to see what books are at my school and in my classroom before I begin hauling over boxes.  I want to meet my students and learn their book levels before stocking my shelves so I know what books to bring for which students. 

I did revise my checkout list:

Which you can snag for free here!  (Just please give feedback)

I will be organizing my library by AR level using this super helpful website.  To make my life easier, I am putting sticky labels on the inside cover with the AR quiz number, AR level, and a helpful return to Ms. Vice sticker (just in case).

I have some super cute striped bins that I'll be using to sort by AR level (and author).

Some other ideas for your classroom library:

1) Using plastic bins, color code for informational and literature.  

You can find bins at dollar stores, then use spray paint to make them match :)

2) You can also use these plastic bins to color code by AR, DRA, or lexile level.  That way students know which books are "just right" for them!

3) You can also organize thematically:

 

4) Use stickers on the spine labels to color code your books with your management system.  I'll be using AR levels but you can do DRA, lexile, author, etc.

Of course, you'll want to make your classroom library an interactive place where students want to be. 

One of my favorite ways to do this is with a quote wall:

Black butcher paper (or poster board), cute border, and metallic sharpies = perfect place for students to record their favorite quotes from their books.  In doing so, they're encouraging others to read that book as well!

I also want to make this print:

Because who doesn't love a Harry Potter reference?

Good luck!

 

Classroom Shopping

We report back the middle of August, so I was thoroughly disgusted when I discovered Target had set up it's back to school aisles.  This may deter me from shopping, which wouldn't be the worst thing since moving is expensive!  (Paying double rent and (shudder) utilities during a Las Vegas summer is even worse!).  I refuse to visit these aisles until August.  July is my month!

I did however take advantage of my mom's visit to determine my classroom colors.  My boyfriend, bless him, could care less about what colors I'm doing and how I'm organizing my classroom.  He's more than willing to help but looks at me strangely when I ask his opinion on color palates. 

I'm starting over at a new school and rejuvenated with excitement about decorating a new learning space.  These feelings of desire, nervousness, and passion mirror those I experienced right after Teach for America's summer institute five summers ago.  I have a new teaching space in a new positive environment and I'm so blessed to have this opportunity for change.

My mom and I drove by my new school, which was 7 minutes from the house with no traffic :)  She loved it and is so supportive of this change, which means the world to me.  We then, coupons in hand, trekked to Joann's to investigate their teaching aisles.

I scored a banner in this color scheme:

For 70 percent off!  My entire purchase was under twelve dollars, which also included several other classroom goodies.  (For the record, I love coupons and sales!)

I picked up a plain yellow banner:

That I will repurpose into this:

Except have it say "writing" instead of write. 

I grabbed a classroom jobs premade kit with this color scheme:

Which will be the basis for my new classroom! 

I also snagged some self adhesive paper pockets:

That I will transform into some sort of goal-setting wall!  I like the idea of having students' goals displayed but in a more private manner.  (I also liked that I scored a 24 pack for under a dollar instead of their posted $4 price!)

I'm excited to decorate my new classroom!

Battle of the Books

On Friday afternoon, I took my enthusiastic team of four students to the district semi-finals.  Clad in our matching navy shirts, they were eager to win.

They participated in the first two rounds, but didn't earn enough combined points to advance.

I stayed with them for both rounds, one round acting as a time keeper and the other as the host.  Both our principal and librarian showed up, which was wonderful for my kiddos to feel supported.

My students lost gracefully and displayed wonderful sportsmen-like conduct, which was heartwarming to see.  I congratulated the winning team and had the audience clap for the effort of both teams.  There were some disrespectful parents, which was a tad frustrating.  Of course each school and family goes in wanting their child to be successful.  But not every team can win.  Every team, however, can conduct themselves with dignity and grace.

I wish those parents were more focused on the true purpose of the event: building enthusiasm for reading.  

My team did their best but most importantly, they had fun. They did the competition completely on their own but were supported the whole time.  They read some great books, strengthened friendships, and enjoyed quizzing each other about the novels.

One of the boys was inexplicably thrilled when I told him that there isn't just one sequel to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, but four.  I know what his summer plans will be--reading.  Lots of reading.

That's a wonderful thing.

Wrinkled Hearts

While this lesson is a tad juvenile for my fifth graders, our amazing counselor did a very similar one with kindergarten:

We are a be kind school and we are continually emphasizing be kind rather than glorifying bullying.  Obviously we have a firm anti-bullying policy but we are trying to spotlight the positive behavior choices of students rather than continually talking about bullies.  Many of our students crave adult attention, so we'd rather they act correctly than act up to capture our focus.

(To learn more about the Be Kind program, please visit their website)

The challenge is to be extra kind to others on the fifth of every month.  Go forth and spread good karma :)

Grading Fun

We had an assessment today on conjunctions and interjections.  I was pleased to see some awesome growth on their test but I was more pleased with their comments.

For my students who finish early, I have them write me a note on the back of their tests.  It could be about their clicks and clunks, it could be about the book they're reading, it could be about their spring break plans.  It's a simple way for them to communicate with me privately about their learning, share information and not disturb others who are still testing (a solid win-win).

While I was grading, I found these gems:

(Her task was to write a sentence with correlative conjunctions.  I'd say she nailed it!)

Yes, she wrote about shoes and shopping.  I think I'm proud?  Maybe I talk about my love of shoe shopping too often?

Second gem:

Yes, he gets it.  I understand that sometimes, you simply can't put a book down.  Our rule is not to spoil the reading for others.

Third:

Sometimes you can't pick a book to talk about...so you pick two.

Lastly:

I love that they love reading.  I love that their little notes to me are a glimpse for me to see what's going on inside their brains.  I love that reading is occupying most of their thoughts!

These are my students, round 3

Our awesome counselor started an after school peer support system with our fifth graders.  Her goal is to have some of the higher students help the struggling students with organizational skills and academics.  The program is a few weeks old but our counselor is receiving lots of positive feedback from the students.  Having a peer assist them privately after school is ideal because one, it's not a teacher so they feel they can connect better without feeling frustrated and two, it's a private support system where no one has to know.  As far as the rest of the grade level is concerned, it's a homework club...which is partially true.

One of my students from my small groups was assisting another student with his fluency.  He was giving him productive feedback as we've practiced, but then privately asked our counselor this:

"Should I model first, so he can hear what good fluency is like? I've been working on my phrasing."

I love that it's ingrained in them to model a skill or strategy first so that students know what is expected.  Considering I model different skills daily, I'm glad the importance of this explicit instruction is sinking in with my students.

Another one of my girls not only made her peer mentee a homework folder to keep himself organized, but she also assigned him homework.  Yes, she found her old fluency practice passages and instructed him to read them nightly and keep track of his errors.  Furthermore, she created a survey for him about his strengths and weaknesses so she could better assist him.  She also wouldn't accept "reading" as his answer for what he was struggling with.  Oh no, she flat out told him to "be more specific". I'm not sure he appreciated it, but I sure did!

This must be what mothers feel like.  

My students are verbatim, echoing things I say on a nearly daily basis.  They are internalizing the need, as a teacher/mentor, to provide positive, concise feedback, model strategies, help with organizational structure and be reflective about one's own learning.

I've created little minions.  I couldn't be more proud that not only are they willing to help their peers, but they have productive strategies to do so.  I love that they're willing to help their peers succeed as well.  High fives for team work.

Silent Reviews

During the intervention portion of our day, we've been working on math and test review.  I decided to spend ten minutes reviewing idioms and figurative language, since many of my ELL (English Language Learners) students still struggle with these.

I display the question card on the smart board:

I give them think time (very necessary for mental processing of right and wrong answers), then ask for their responses.  Instead of shouting out, they hold up their responder cups!

All of them can respond at once without a word.  Plus it's a great formative assessment because they don't really have time to change their answers.  I then have them defend their answers to a neighbor, thus working in the justification piece where they must provide evidence.

It's a great, fun way to review concepts where they all participate without shouting.

Just between you and me...

I'm often conflicted about what to do when students finish a test early.  Most want to stand up, return their test, dividers, highlighters and grab a book to read.

In theory, this is wonderful!

However, when some of my fast finishers do this, it quickly motivates other students to rush through as well.  In their rushing, they often skip questions or make careless mistakes.  

So instead I've started having them reflect on their learning on the back of their tests.

I merely ask them to tell me their "clicks and clunks" or to write me a letter.  I clarify that the information stays between me and them.  Sometimes I let them tell me about the story they're reading, what's happening at home, etc.

Here were some responses I got after their comma test:

She's good.

She loves reading!

While another went in depth about each and every subject she has in school.

At least they're taking ownership of their learning!

Some other responses that aren't pictured included confusion about where to place apostrophies to show ownership.  So we had a quick mini-lesson to clear up that confusion!

Student Input

Since we are doing affixes and Greek & Latin roots during our whole group reading classes, I decided we needed to revise what we're doing in our small groups.

However, deciding what we need for word work isn't entirely up to me.  I'm not in their brains and I wanted to make sure our 5-10 minutes of phonics/word work was well spent in our small groups.

So I asked both periods a series of questions and had them respond with what they wanted and needed:

By allowing them to have input, they feel more of a sense of ownership in our small groups.

It's not my classroom, it's our classroom.

Book Club for Battle of the Books

Wednesday afternoons mean one thing for me: Book Club.

For one wonderful hour, me and my twenty-five (ish) readers trek to the library, sprawl out with pillows and enjoy reading.  They've also been working on writing questions about the books, so they break off into small groups and hold their own literature circles.

She made her own questions for the group!

I love that they knew to go back to the text to find answers!

I also made question stems for them to use to guide their discussions, which you can snag here.  Per Battle of the Books norms, I'm not supposed to guide their comprehension of the novels, only encourage them to read and provide strategies.

It's so rewarding to get to spend an hour with my fifth grade book worms.  I love that they're so into reading!

I'm also really appreciative that one of my students encouraged his cousin to join, even though reading is difficult for him.  They're reading the same book and helping each other out, which is great to see.

Today my principal popped in and read with some students:

It totally made their day!  I'm thankful she's supportive of this endeavor and I know she loves talking about reading with students.  

With about two months until their competition, they are going strong!  Many are finishing up their first book and beginning their second.  They have also taken our persuasive writing unit to heart and are encouraging one another to read certain books next, which is adorable.  All the books are wonderful and I love how they're supporting one another.

Happy reading!

The Miserable Mill

I really liked the idea of students being in charge of their own small groups, so I gave them large pieces of butcher paper, set guide lines and let them run with it.

We've worked a lot on keeping track of characters, so that was their first focus:

Since some groups were in the middle of novels, they didn't want to change the way they took notes until their next book switch (makes sense to me!).  We've spent a lot of time developing the "left side" of our brains by making lots of charts, changing colors each time and being systematically analytical.

However, just because I'm type A doesn't mean all my students are.  So I embraced the creative idea as well and modeled a less structured way of keeping track of the way a character changes over time.

They really liked this strategy so I think I'll keep allowing them the choice of how they want to organize their notes.  After all, my ultimate goals are to make them life-long avid readers and empower them to take ownership over their learning.  It truly doesn't matter how they take notes and respond to the literature, I just care that they're able to comprehend what they read, discuss the big ideas and be critical thinkers.

Ursula Update

Before winter break, I blogged about our new class motivator Ursula:

A few weeks went by and as a class, they didn't earn any pieces.  I could tell most of my class was getting frustrated because it was always 2 or 3 students who didn't do their work and ruined it for the whole class.

Their homework is a reading log, 30 minutes of reading a night and one double sided math sheet that reviews what they learned in class the week before.  They get their homework on Friday and it's due the following Friday, so there is truly no reason it shouldn't get done.

One particularly difficult student kept arguing how the homework simply couldn't get done because of outside commitments.  Now, I've talked with the family about this and the student isn't truthful about the work.  If there's time for video games, there's time for homework.  No excuses.

So we had a class discussion of who has extra curricular activities (sports, church, music, family time, etc.)  Every student raised his or her hand, so we talked about making time for what's important...and that includes homework.  I made the connection with sports and how homework is like practice.  If you don't practice, you won't do as well as you can on game days.  That seemed to resonate with many of my students.

We voted how we wanted to change Ursula.  I suggested a table team reward and that was vetoed by the tables where students aren't doing their work.  Thirty out of my thirty one students wanted Ursula to be on an individual basis so they were only accountable for themselves.

For the next ten weeks, they have to turn in their fully completed homework eighty percent of the time.  (8/10 seems fairly generous).  If they do this, they get to join our lunch party.  One student asked what would happen if she turned in all of her homework (as she's done the entire year), so I said those students would get an extra reward.

I love that they're so motivated now!  

We added our first piece:

Isn't she lovely?

I talked with them about how everyone was still invited, just some students already used one of their two "freebie" weeks.  I hope this really turns around the homework slide we've been noticing!  

Spin on Book Reviews

Obviously, I like books.  Okay, love them.  I'm lucky enough to spend about half of my instructional day talking about literacy with fifth graders, so that's pretty awesome.

I was reading a librarian's blog and she posted this fun idea:

I like the idea of using speech bubbles and having students write about the different books.  I think I'd tweak the idea a tad and have larger images of the books with smaller student faces with thumbs up signs, as if they approve of that text.  I have around seventy five kiddos in my small reading groups, so a bulletin board with all of their faces just won't work.

However, a bulletin board of the top twenty five books we're reading and why they like them is completely feasible!  I think I've figured out my final bulletin board of the year!

Weekly Strategies

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

We've got a lively bunch of fifth graders.  They're quite opinionated and talkative, which is great...except when it's my turn.  It's an uphill struggle and we have daily talks about not wasting our valuable learning time.

To be fair, as frustrating as it can be at times, I'd rather have too much participation from them as opposed to bumps and lumps.  

My neighboring teacher started doing a "weekly focus" with her class and since it was working,  I decided to give it a try myself!

I pose a challenge to my students and this social skill is what we work on for the week.

For the past two weeks, it was following instructions the first time they were given.  They did a fairly good job with this, so we were ready for a new challenge.

Next week's challenge:

I noticed that some of them were simply writing IDK (I don't know) on parts of their math homework and turning it in.  

Now, I'm not asking for 100% accuracy. I'm asking for effort.  After all, one of our class mottos is:

I'd rather they try and learn from their misconceptions than not try at all.  We'll have this chat again next week.  It's okay not to know. It's not okay not to try! 

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!)