Keeping in mind my goal of becoming a literacy coach within my school district, I have made a change in grades and schools for next year. Instead of teaching at the elementary level, I will now be moving up to middle school, teaching 6th grade language arts. I am sad to be leaving my Lowell … Continue reading Now a Hoover Hawk!
Classroom
Things are coming together…
I'm feeling a little relieved since I just finished my last graduate class for the summer. It was definitely a major feat! Now that I have a three week break before my next graduate class starts I'm focusing on getting ready for the upcoming school year. I am excited to say that I almost have … Continue reading Things are coming together…
Bye-Bye, Long Hair!
So... Last year, I had a homework system that worked pretty well. Students read and wrote about the book, practiced their word sort, and worked on a few math facts. They did this every night Monday through Thursday each week. Each day the adults in my room would look over their work and give them … Continue reading Bye-Bye, Long Hair!
More Progress Monitoring
My last post discussed the way I monitor the third grade standards overall. In this post I wanted to share with you the progress monitoring tool that I use to track the learning of my students day by day. I have a sheet for each of the three major subjects that I teach (math, … Continue reading More Progress Monitoring
Monitoring the Standards
Like any teacher, I do a lot of progress monitoring. One of the things that I track is the standards that we complete in third grade. In order to do this efficiently, I created excel sheets with all of the third grade standards based on the Common Core and the Iowa Core. I have the … Continue reading Monitoring the Standards
Homework
Last year, I got the idea of what I want my students' homework to look like from my son's kindergarten teacher. I created a homework system for my students. Each student receives a reading bag (numbered so I can reuse year after year), a folder, composition notebook, and homework log. My students do their homework … Continue reading Homework
Crazy Teacher Lady Update
It's been way too long since I've last posted, but I'm going to blame it on being busy teaching and parenting. Between co-teaching third grade, coaching Jr. Lego League, being a team leader, a mom, a wife, and expecting- life has not been dull. To top it off, I have put in my graduate application … Continue reading Crazy Teacher Lady Update
New Year, New and Improved Teacher… I hope!
As I have been prepping the room for the new school year I have been reflecting quite a bit on the last school year. My list of improvements is quite long (I will attach it to the bottom of this post). As a first year teacher I think I did the best that I could, … Continue reading New Year, New and Improved Teacher… I hope!
Before Tour of the Classroom
This is what my classroom started out looking like at the beginning of the year. I really like this set up, but I'm in the process of adjusting the room to better meet the needs of my students. Being a teacher requires a lot of flexibility. I feel like I'm constantly tweaking things, but it's … Continue reading Before Tour of the Classroom
Reading Workshop
As the year continues along I'm feeling more comfortable in my teaching. I feel like I'm getting a handle on all of the subjects, but I think reading workshop time could use a little work. I am struggling to find activities during workshop time that are meaningful and engaging for my … Continue reading Reading Workshop
Wow! I have no life…
Okay, so it's been awhile since I've blogged. I've been thinking about my teaching blog a lot. The problem is just finding the time. I'm really struggling with balancing out my teacher life and my home life. I feel like my teacher life often wins. Most days I am at school by 7 and there … Continue reading Wow! I have no life…
It’s coming together!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin Although I am not finished, I feel like the end is in sight when it comes to setting up my classroom. I will admit that I was a bit overwhelmed at first. When I first saw my room I had hardly anything. Although, some of my colleagues were kind enough … Continue reading It’s coming together!
Classroom Website
Okay, so I've been working on my classroom website for about two weeks now and I think I'm finally ready to show what I have so far. It's not finished, but I feel like I'm getting there. Right now I have it set as private so I can post pictures of my students for families … Continue reading Classroom Website
A Fun Teacher’s Chair
While looking on Pinterest I came across many fun chairs for teachers. Some were in the form of stools while others were rocking chairs, but all of them looked fun. I decided I would make my own and my grandparents were kind enough to give me a stool that they had purchased at a garage … Continue reading A Fun Teacher’s Chair
Decorate Plain Clipboards
So, I like to be frugal when decorating. I am planning my classroom for this upcoming year and decided I want to decorate my classroom in black and red. I bought plain, cheap clipboards from the dollar tree and picked up duct tape from Wal-Mart. It took about 5-10 minutes to tape the entire thing … Continue reading Decorate Plain Clipboards
Literature Circles
One thing I found that my sixth graders enjoyed were literature circles. I saw many different literature circle jobs online so I decided to create my own based on the jobs that I saw and liked. I stapled the jobs in file folders because it's cheap. Since each group had their own set they could … Continue reading Literature Circles
The Very Beginning
I graduated in December of 2012 with a BA in Elementary Education with a Literacy minor and reading endorsement. I started the first week in 2013 nervous. I would have to start off as a substitute and I was not finding any available jobs. I had a long term job lined up in March for … Continue reading The Very Beginning
