Thursday, May 31, 2012

Obsessed Much?

Ace Ventura title. Anyone? No?

My students are working on finishing their research papers and projects, so pictures will hopefully come Friday or Monday. I want to wait til they are all finished so I can describe it from start to finish. Like I said in my last post, my project is based off of Life in 4B. Mine is just a little more simplistic.

I'm here to link up with Bonnie at Living a Wonderful Life for her part-ay!





Living a Wonderful Life


This is obv the short list of what I'm obsessed with. But off we go.

1. Reality TV. Examples? So You Think You Can Dance, Shark Tank, Real Housewives of OC.


2. This delicious beverage. It would be an Iced Chai Tea Latte with Soy. Except the one I get is larger. Much larger. I'd probably get one every day if money/weight weren't an object and if Starbucks weren't ten minutes out of my commute home.


3. Musicals. I love watching them, participating in them, and listening to their soundtracks. I'm so frustrated that I can't find a local summer theater program. I've been having such an itch to perform, but doing anything during the school year is just out of the question. 


4. Saying Pinterest is such a cliche. But I'm saying it. Pinterest. My future wedding, my future babies, my future classroom, my future house. So. Many. Ideas.


Nothing education related. Shocker. The closest thing to teaching I'm obsessed with right now is Summer. Yep. Summer. Go link up with Bonnie!


Saturday, May 26, 2012

It's the Final Countdown. Duh nuh nuh nuhhhh.

Hey, remember me? I hope you sung my post's title.

This last month has been insane.

I have a few friends who were major behavior problems in the beginning/middle of the year. We were finally getting to a place where they weren't an issue everyday. But, summer has gone to their brain. So now, I'm back to the 5-6 kids who make my day nearly impossible. I changed seats again because everyone is arguing. Ugh!

State testing is over. I'm very pleased with how my kids did. After the first round, I had a handful of kids who needed to be remediated in reading and another handful in math. I had a few who "needed" remediation pass the test the second time around. I saw that they "need" it because they were totally capable of passing the first time, but didn't take their time and really focus. So, with that being said, I am totally for testing a 4th time. Although, it really did frustrate the lower level kids when a 1 or 2 popped up again. Definitely pros and cons for each.

OH! And I got a "new" student. With only 10 days of school left. I say "new" because he's not really new. He was in my class for the first two weeks of school, then moved out of state. Well he's back. And he is so much lower that my other kids. I feel so awful about the situation. 10 days isn't enough to get him up to speed. I wish I could do more.

As if our plates aren't full enough in 3rd grade at my school, we are expected to put on a third grade musical. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE musicals. I love teaching kids a routine and all of that. I was in musicals/plays in high school and college. But we just don't have the time this year. With the 4th DCAS opportunity, we needed to be remediating up until yesterday.

[No time for musical funny business]

So, our team tried to make it easier on ourselves. We decided to do a broadway medley instead of purchased and performing a "Broadway Jr." show. Each of us picked a different broadway song. My class is doing "Its a Hard-Knocked Life". They are so stinkin' cute. The only thing is, they do it SO well when we're in the classroom, then kinda lose it when we're practicing on the stage. Hopefully we get it together by Friday.

On the same note, another class is doing Seasons of Love, and I kinda just wanna go up there and sing the solo. I'm obviously living vicariously through these kids haha.

Oh, so I should probably touch on at least something we're doing academically. Well research is one of my favorite things to teach! I've come up with my own ideas and weaved them together with Ms. Bongers from Life in 4B. If you teach literacy to 3-4-5 graders, you should really check out what she does. I adore how she uses mentor texts and journaling. I wish I were in her class! Go check her out!


Because its the end of the year, ya know I need a craft to go along with this. So I purchased this Animal Reseach packet from Buzzing about Second Grade. Click the link, couldn't find the button! It comes with a whole bunch of things that were a little two simple for my kiddos this year, but will work perfectly next year when I'm in an inclusion classroom. So for this year, we are just using the safari guide template! I will post pictures when we're finished!

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend, if you're still in school. 8 days left for me. 4 days this coming week and 4 days the next. Wish me luck! You probably won't hear from me until all my little chickens leave the coop. This farmer is burnt out!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Me. Me Me. More me.

I was going to apologize for my absence, but you all understand. End of the year craziness. I have 25 days left. I'm super jealous of those of you who have made it to the single digits. Jeallllll.

Linking up with Farley! Go link up, especially if you've never done it. It's fun. Peeeer pressure.


Like many of you, I was told where I'd be next year! I'm team teaching with my friend, still in 3rd grade. We are so excited. Probably too excited. Like, we're probably going to get on peoples' nerves because we're so excited. 

And we just can't hide it. 

We may or may not have embraced in the hallway. 

Out of curiosity, how does that work at your school? Do you have any say where you get moved? Does your administration talk to you/ask for your thoughts before you get your assignment on paper, or do people get surprised? I've read on other blogs that grade levels get asked for volunteers to move before they choose someone. [That doesn't happen here.] One of my good friends was shocked when she saw a completely different grade level on her paper. Just curious how other schools do it. 

I'm honestly just thankful I have a job. Six teachers are getting cut [among other things]. I'm only in my third year, so before they threw out that number, I was a little worried. And six doesn't seem like a lot compared to numbers in the hundreds that I see in the news. My school district is tiny.

Sorry for the all about me post. That shall be my title. ME. And I got nothing for ya at the moment. Don't hold it against me.