5 For Friday

Today I'm linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching to share a little randomness from my week.

1.

Summer Reading!  My two littles and I earned free shirts from the library's summer reading program. I've read quite a bit this summer and it's been so nice!  Some of my reading has been for my classroom: Wonder, Riding Freedom, Dexter the Tough, and next up is The One and Only Ivan.  I'm planning to have my boys read Dexter the Tough while my girls read The Hundred Dresses. Both books are about bullying/friendship and I think we will have some great discussions!

2.

My littles and I have theme days this summer.  Thursdays are Thinking Thursdays so we can prevent summer slide and also learn new things!  Yesterday they worked on sewing projects (a new skill).  Lots of fun but very time consuming for mom.  

3.

I went to work in my classroom earlier this week. It's a work in progress for sure!  I'm trying a new room layout this year so putting things away is taking forever.  

4.

My new Ipsy bag arrived this week!  It's so cool getting a cute bag full of goodies each month.  I find makeup shopping very stressful, so getting to try new things that just "appear" in my mailbox is perfect for me. 

5.

Pound of Dice.  I already had a small collection of dice--6-sided, dice in dice, and 30-sided.  But when I saw The Brown Bag Teacher's post, I knew I had to add to my collection.  Our first math unit is place value and I have BIG plans for the 10- and 12-sided dice!!!

That's my week in a nutshell. Thanks for reading! 

Renee' J

Ditch That Textbook

I downloaded Ditch that Teacher last night and I'm already about halfway through.  It's a super fast read with lots of great reminders about changing the teaching mindset.  We have to make sure we are meeting the needs of today's students and preparing them for the future.  Think about the skills your students are going to need to survive in tomorrow's work force.  Are your lessons and strategies going teaching them to problem solve, communicate with others, and take on leadership roles?  A true A-HA moment was this quote from the book, "65% of today's schoolchildren eventually will be employed in jobs that have yet to be created."  Wow!  What a task we have in front of us!!

I also like that Miller stresses the importance of technology in today's classroom, but he also stresses that we have to be choosy with the technology we implement.  Is it purposeful?  Does it enrich the learning?  Or does it simply replace pencil and paper.  It's easy for me to become overwhelmed with all that is out there and try to take on too much at once.  When this happens I usually end up giving up on that technology.  Trends come and go.  I don't have to jump on every trend that someone else on FB or the blogosphere is trying out.  Instead, pick one and learn how to use it well.  I tried Twitter for the second time this last year and now I love it!  It's a great tool for sharing the great things we are doing in class and getting my message out to parents and others.  Feel free to follow me @mrsjohnson4th.  I also created a closed FB group for the parents in my class.  A fellow teacher did this and shared lots and lots of pics that she takes each day.  What a treat for parents to "see" their child learning and exploring and just having fun!  I sometimes take for granted being able to catch a glimpse of my daughter in the hallway at school.  :-)

A third point I want to make about this book is that Miller talks about finding balance and not "cheating" our families by being too involved in our work.  Balance is good!  I have found myself feeling guilty for spending Sunday afternoons at school while my two children are at home.  This year my younger child will be in Kindergarten, so both kids will be with me in my room before and after school.  I won't be able to get much done with a busy 5 year old boy!  I have to make the most of my time during the spare moments of the day.  I'm also trying to do some big time curriculum mapping this summer to make my planning faster during the school year.

Finally, Ditch That Textbook tells teachers that we are better together and not to "be a silo."  Get connected with fellow teachers both in your building and "out there" in the great beyond.  And SHARE your ideas with others.  I don't blog often because I convince myself that I don't have anything new or exciting to share.  I'm not creating things for TpT, although I am a VIP customer.  But I'm going to have to break that mentality.  I do have things to share, and while they may only help one person out there, isn't that worth it?

My goals this year:

1. Be more "present" in my life 

2. Become better connected with other teachers

3. Better utilize my free moments at school to free up more moments at home!

November Currently

I'm linking up with Farley for her November Currently.  I haven't done this in AGES.  I always see everyone's posts and plan what I'll write, but then I don't seem to make it to my computer.  :-(

But this month I did it!!!  Hooray!

Listening: My daughter has am impressive imagination and she is always making up stories and adventures for her and her little brother.  I just love that!

Loving: This year I'm teaching 3 classes of 4th grade reading and it's definitely my happy place!

Thinking: My family is going to Daytona for the Turkey Run (car show) this Thanksgiving.  The guys will be at the track all day and my sister and I will be chillin' with the kids at the beach.  I can't wait.

Wanting: We eat way too much junk around here and I'm the worst offender.  I really need to plan some simple but healthy meals to get us back on track.

Needing: I love everyone's riding boots, but I can't seem to find a pair to fit over my very large calves.  Boo!

Reading: Yesterday I ran in Target and People magazine was calling to me.  It was strange, because I never buy magazines at stores.  I do have a digital subscription to Better Homes and Gardens, but I'm a sporadic magazine reader at best.  I read it cover to cover and felt so indulgent!  Next on my reading list is Sophie Kinsella's newest shopaholic books.  I can't wait to dig in to that one!!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES

I've spent the last week debating my future.  Boy, that sounds dramatic, doesn't it? My school's Curriculum Coordinator is leaving and I've always thought I would be great at that job.  I have been teaching for 15 years and have gathered many experiences and knowledge that would make this transition a logical next step.  BUT, (there's always a but) am I READY to leave the classroom?  I love what I do and I've already spent bank at TpT this summer on new resources I want to try out.  I think the biggest drawback is that the Curriculum Coordinator position won't be filled until after the school year starts.  I hate the thought of starting the year with a group of students and then turning them over to someone new.  Any thoughts?

Renee

February? Really?

HOW can it be February?  We celebrated our 100th Day last week.  It still scares me all that is left to teach before May.  My feelings might have something to do with the fact we missed 5 days in January and we were out again today.  I made the decision two weeks ago to cover my lesson plans with small post-it notes.  I'm tired of crossing out and drawing arrows all over my plans!  At least this way I just move the post-it's. :-)

We have some HUGE events coming up at school. Friday is Cupid's Cafe--our culminating activity for our Economics unit and one of my favorite days of the year!  My class gets to operate a restaurant out of our classroom and serve customers from other classes.  The kids love it!!

Next week is our Reading Around the World week and we have a visiting author, visiting illustrator, book character parade, and family reading night!  I'm hosting the Intermediate author's cafe.  Shew!

This week we are starting our Matter unit in science.  I picked up a couple of resources at the TpT sale yesterday that will really boost my unit.  I'm also teaching Economics and activities to reinforce point of view and theme.  

I'll leave you with a pic of my zebra finches. The one without orange cheeks is my new bird. This one is female-- my class named her Mango!  Ha!  

January Currently

I'm excited to link up for Farley's January Currently.  I've missed these!!!  Here is yet another reason I need to be more faithful in my blogging during school.  :-)

*Listening--I was thrilled when I opened Seasons 1-3 of Downton Abbey for Christmas.  My husband did well this year!  I've been watching episodes here and there when the kids go to bed.  It's been wonderful!  I can't wait for season 4 to begin.  I was late joining the craze, but since I have a crush on all things British I had to check it out.  Of course, I was hooked after the first episode!

*Loving--Even though my kids won't let me sleep "late" it has been oh-so-nice to keep my alarm turned off for two weeks.  Usually one or both will snuggle with me in the mornings before we head into the kitchen to make breakfast.  I have also enjoyed no makeup and comfy clothes.  Whatever will I do on Monday?!?  I'm afraid it will be quite a rude awakening.

*Thinking--My students keep Leadership Notebooks, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at helping them record their data and using it to set their own learning goals.

That's why I'm excited about one of my most recent TpT purchases, Miss Nannini's Student Data pack.   only purchased the 4th grade set.  I thought it might be better for me to ease in rather than diving in head first.  :-)  We are currently in the middle of our fractions units so we can start there.  I'm anxious to get started with it since there's still half a year left.








*Wanting--All we ever seem to get is a dusting of snow, and my children (as well as all of my students) are itching to throw snowballs and make snow angels.  It seems like we live in a protective bubble that keeps REAL snow away.  I bought sleds, snow pants, and snow boots a couple of years ago in hopes of snow, but all we managed was to outgrow the boots and pants! They are predicting an active winter, so maybe, just maybe…

*Needing--

 At home and at school.  I dearly need to purge but I find it awfully hard.  My thought is always that I'll need it as soon as I get rid of it!  LOL!  I've tried to tackle a cabinet or drawer each day over the break.  I know it's tot much, but it is at least a start.







*Tradition--My family always has cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.  Growing up we ate after we opened gifts, but now that my sister and I have homes of our own, we meet for Christmas mid-morning and eat first.  It's a simple breakfast but I'm thankful for such a small but important tradition.  My mom passed away five years ago, but my dad kept it going.  He makes sure he has cinnamon rolls, milk, and juice for us.

I did visit my classroom yesterday.  Mostly I pulled materials to bring home for planning, but I did move my job board to a different bulletin board.  I am kicking off the new year with behavior beads, so I needed a place to display my students' accomplishments.

 I'm going go start off with the homework club beads and the reading goals beads.  Then I plan to add the 7 Habits and Bucket Filler beads.  I cannot wait to see my students' faces when I tell them about it!











I have much to do before Monday!

Preparing for the New Year

December sort of flew by for me and I didn't even get to everything I'd planned. Can anyone else relate?  I have set a goal to be more organized and intentional in my planning for the second semester.  I'm going to sit down with my Common Core tracking tools and create *NEW* maps for myself to make sure I fill in all the gaps and fully prepare my students for the next level.  Yes, I thought I'd done that with my original maps, and according to those maps I had.  But, let's face it, things happen that are out of our control and we get behind.

I'm actually excited about starting fresh with the new year.  I purchased a few sets of behavior beads in August but I didn't feel they were a good fit for my class at the time. I think now would be perfect for introducing them and get my class re-energized in the new year!

I'd also fallen off the math centers wagon in the last month.  Both my 3rd and 4th graders were studying fractions and I found myself teaching to both groups at times.  It worked well for their initial chapters in fractions because my fourth graders needed a little review and I could introduce a couple of concepts earlier to my third graders.  However, it's time to get back to centers!  My kids need them and I love spiraling the math through the center activities. This means I need to print out a couple of new ones and pulling out a couple I made last year. 

For Reading, I have so many ideas my head is spinning!  This is where I will spend the bulk of my mapping time. There are just too many wonderful books, activities, and choices out there!  Not to mention all of the fab TpT purchases I've made and still have in my wish list.  :-) I definitely need to work on my fables/folk tales/myths/fairy tales unit and I can't wait to use Nicole Shelby's Greek Mythology products. I love all of her things.  I also pinned a few things on Pinterest last night for this unit.  I think this will be mid-January because I really, really want to start off with Mr. Popper's Penguins!  I purchased a few things last year from TpT to use with my last group and they loved it!

  

And, of course, I hope to find time for blogging this year. I think about it a lot, but...well...you know...

What do all of you have up your sleeves for the New Year?

Renee'

Five for Friday

1. My Personal Mission Statement.  At our Leader in Me training this summer we were presented with the challenge of crafting our own personal mission statement.  I tried to think about how I want to live my life and the message I want to send to others through my actions.  I finally wrote my personal mission statement and I'm pretty excited about it!

2. Class Mission Statement.  This week my class brainstormed ideas for out class mission statement and we decided on this one.  Pretty great, huh?

3. Family Fun Friday!  My family has adopted a new tradition--pizza and a movie every Friday night.  I know it's a simple idea, but my little ones are so excited about it and it really gives us something to look forward to.  I have to admit, this week I was equally excited about Teen Beach Movie and Crazy Bread!!!

4. Ingredients for a Great Year.  I bought this beginning of the year activity on TpT.  It's by Fourth and Ten.  My kids have loved it and we've had some great discussions about the traits we want to embody in our classroom community.  My favorite is "Sharing" because I explained to my class it's also about sharing ideas and participating in lessons and discussions.  Monday we get to wrap it all up with our trail mix!!!

5.  No alarm clock tomorrow makes me happy, happy, happy!!!  Yes, my little ones will still get me up bright and early, but at least I get to lounge in my PJ's and drink a cup of coffee instead of rush, rush, rushing around trying to get everyone out the door!  :-)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I'm Back and a Freebie!

Bloggin' Buddies, ya'll are Rock Stars!  We started with students about a week and a half ago and I have been too worn out to even THINK about blogging!  Honestly, I collapse into bed every night just behind my two little ones.

I have a 3/4 split class again this year, which I love.  The biggest challenge this year is Trying to fit in two separate math classes.  Last year my 4th graders split up among the three 4th grade classes for Math.  (I have the only split; it was created due to numbers in third and fourth.)  This year, though, the fourth grade classes are at cap and it would make them way too big if my kiddos join.  Same goes for the third grade classes.  I know many of you run multiple math groups daily, so I appreciate any and all tips.  I have one hour in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon for math. I wish the blocks were together so I could do 45 and 45.  I plan to have one grade work in stations while I have whole group instruction/practice with the other grade level.  It's just a matter of time management, I guess.

I have started Reading to Self and informally introduced Working on Writing today.  I really want to try a modified version of Daily 5 this year!  I think it will work great with the group I have.  We may try two days a week to start and then add another day later.

One of my favorite things to do with my classes is a weekly Family Meeting.  Every Friday during Social Studies time we gather for Family Meeting.  There is an agenda sheet each week and students can sign up if there is something they would like to address with the class.  Only 5 students can sign up to speak, and they are in charge of that agenda item.  I love it because it gives them a voice and shows that it is OUR classroom, not just mine.  After we discuss any items on the agenda (sometimes there aren't any, other times it's full) we have celebrations!  We share bucket slips for the week, draw book slips for prizes (from AR tests), and have a drawing for behavior prizes.  The kids love it and it's a great way to end our week.  This year I'm adding in time for accountability partners (AccountabiliBuddies) to meet and check in on their goals.

Students are in the process of applying for their Leadership Positions (class jobs).  I spent last week talking up the jobs and then handed out the application.  The top of the page is a list of the jobs and a brief description and the bottom is the application itself. My three most popular jobs this time were critter keeper (of course!), meteorologist, and blue slip spy (school PBIS incentives).  I filled as many jobs as possible, had the big unveiling ceremony this morning, and then handed out new applications for those that didn't get the jobs they applied for.  Last year I only switched jobs quarterly, but this year I'm going to aim for 4-6 weeks.

Now for the Freebie!  I will email my Leadership Application to you if you'll leave your email in the comments!  (I couldn't figure out how to link it and it's almost bedtime!)

My year is off to a great start!  Hopefully I won't fall back off the blogging wagon!!  I'll try to take some more classroom pics to share soon.  And, I have tons of TpT purchases to print, laminate, cut out, and put to good use in my class!  I spend a load and a half, but it will be so worth it!

Later Taters,

ReneeJ

Monday Made It

Tomorrow night is my Open House, and I'm so excited to meet my new students!  I've been working non-stop in my classroom trying to get it all together.  It's finished except for a few little things I can add later.  I have several Monday Made Its to share with you tonight!

This first one is one of my favorites.  I found the print at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $10 and I immediately thought it would be perfect for showcasing selected work (I'm thinking student writing pieces).  I hot glued sparkly clothes pins on the bottom of the sucker sticks.  All I need is a title.  What do you think of "Sweet Work"?

Here is a close up of the clothes pins.

Next up: Washi tape clothes pins!  These are for my hallway bulletin board.  I made little chalkboard name plates for them and then hot glued push pins on the back.  I didn't get a final picture, so maybe next week I can share the finished product!

I finally got around to making my copy/file/grade labels for my bins.  I love how this turned out!  Thanks to Elizabeth at Fun in Room 4B for the freebie!  The colors match my room theme.  :-)

These are another of my favorite summer projects!  I bought plain wooden frames from Michaels and painted them (I shared the empty frames in an earlier post).  Then I purchased these motivational chalkboard sayings from Miss Nelson and thought they were just perfect for the frames!  Everyone that comes in my room comments on these right away!  (Sorry about the picture quality.  I really need to take my camera to school to get some decent shots.  My phone camera just doesn't cut it.)

I found some colorful tie-dye packaging tape and thought that the colors would be cute in my room.  I decided to purchase a pack of 4 small cork boards and cover the edges.  I have a bulletin board over my desk for our big calendar.  I used to put notes for myself under the calendar, but last year I decided to use part of that board for my prefix/suffix of the week so I didn't really have room for my "stuff" anymore.  I think these will work nicely and I found a space just to the left of my desk for them.

I also made Tara's Showing My Understanding chart.  It's a freebie on her FB page, so be sure to follow 4th Grade Frolics on Face Book!  Love how it looks on my painted wall!!!

Please excuse the mess still on my back table and student desks, but this is the view of my painted wall.  My mother-in-law made new curtains for me (LOVE!).   Notice how the Sweet Work sucker print pops on that wall?  You can also see my tissue paper pom-poms.  I made those last year, and though they are starting to droop just a bit, I'm going to try to get one more year out of them since I didn't change my color scheme.

It's all starting to come together!  School starts this Thursday for students.  When do you go back?  Are you ready???

Currently August

I am so in "school mode" right now!  I spent the bigger part of last weekend trying to unpack boxes and organize my classroom.  Did I finish?  Not even close!  So I went back Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Midnight, determined to finish.  Did I?  Nope.  But I'm closer than I was.  I have my mess contained to a single table now, which is definite progress.  I just REALLY don't want to get to the point where I put what's left in a box to sort through later, because later never seems to come.  And then it stays in that box for the entire year and I fuss at myself in May when I start packing my room up again.  Anyone else guilty of that?  Please say yes.

I am loving my new wall color at school and my most recent made-its.  You'll have to check with me on Monday for the big reveal!

Today we had PD, a Leader in Me student empowerment training.  It was a great day!  My head is swimming with ideas for next year and how to better my kids' Leadership Notebooks, creating my personal mission statement, and how I can take the Leader in Me to the next level in my classroom.

For now though, I will share with you my August Currently...

If you haven't already, be sure to link up with Farley and share your Currently August.

Monday Made It!

I still have some crafty ideas floating around in my head, but this week I tried my hand at Vistaprint for my Monday Made it.  I was inspired by Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire in 5th and All Things Upper Elementary.  She had a great post showing some of her Vistaprint goodies and talking about the Groupon deal she scored.  I found my deal on Retail Me Not.  With $50 purchase I got free shipping and some of the prices were unreal.  My return address labels were less than $2 each!  I created a ton of those.  :-)  Without further ado, I present to you a sampling of my Monday Made It! (Believe me, you don't want to see ALL of it!)

I made Keep and Return labels for my students' folders.

 I thought these would would be fantastic for students to stick in their agenda books!

I also made labels for their journals (math, science, ELA, and writing.)

I also made cute homework passes using the business cards.  

Digital papers are from Lovin' Lit and Ashley Hughes.  Frames are MrsDsBorders and TRDoodleFrameSet. 

This was actually my first attempt at using digital papers and frames to create something.  It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I'm really pleased with how it all turned out.  What have you created on Vistaprint?  Any tips and/or ideas are welcome!!

10 Things I've Learned from Teaching

Tonight I'm linking up with Miss Kindergarten. I had a chance to do some reflecting with this post and I think it's helped me to get even more mentally prepared for school to start. The Hubs is an elementary administrator. After I shared my list with him, he was so impressed by the linky topic he may use it with his staff!!

1.  Expect the unexpected.  No matter how prepared you "think" you are, you just never know what will happen--good or bad!  Lol!

2.  Every August you get a chance to do it better.  I always teach like it's my first year because I'm always looking to be better than I was the year before. Hence, my blog name "Growing a Teacher."

3.  Negativity is poison and it spreads. I try to avoid "Negative Nellies" because I don't like how their attitude rubs off on me and brings down my day. 

4.  There is no one strategy that works for every child.  I once heard a young teacher say she knew what works and wanted her new teammate to do it her way. Wow!  Dangerous words for sure. 

5.  Laugh at yourself in front of your students.  It makes you human in their eyes and gives them freedom to make mistakes. Plus, it's a lot more fun!

6.  Building a classroom family atmosphere is essential. I try to emphasize this from the get go.

7.  Keep an open mind. About kids, parents, peers, new initiatives, etc. 

8.  Make your students feel important and let them know you care about them. 

9.  Ask for help. It's a sign of strength not weakness. 

10. The journey isn't always easy, but it's so worth it!

What have you learned from teaching?

Blue Wall and Cool Finds

Okay, so I've been frantically trying to put our house back together. Hardwood floors are finished and look ah-mazing!  (But there is dust everywhere!). I haven't had time to do anything else in my classroom besides paint, but I think painting is pretty major!  

Anywho, here is the before pic...Boring!

And here is the after!!!  (Please excuse the mess.)

I found these frames at Michael's on clearance for $1 each so I painted them the same color as my focus wall. Not sure what I'll put in them yet, but I'm going to use them on another wall to tie in with the focus wall.  

I love everyone's painted/papered READ letters and I definitely want to do that, but let's get real.  My wish list of to-do things is much longer than I can accomplish between now and the start of school!  I happened upon these felt letters (Michael's again) for $1 each and they go with my room colors. Score!  These will get me through this year no problem. 

These are my class pets. They are Zebra Finches.  I went in to check on them the other night and they were both sleeping in the same basket. How cute is that?  I had to take a picture and share. 

Hopefully next week the house will be "whole" again and I can focus on my room and get my craft on. :-)