My students are loving the bellringers that we are doing on Tuesdays that are centered around the question stem, "Would you rather..." It truly shows that students are more engaged and excited when the curriculum is meaningful and fun. Our district recently adopted a new curriculum so we cannot change much of it. The prompts … Continue reading Self-Study: Update #2
Teaching
Self-Study: Update #1
My students are pretty engaged when I'm modeling and explicitly teaching. When it comes to them generating their own ideas though it can be like pulling teeth. I am making sure to use prompts and am giving them "think" time but I'm only having a couple of students participate. I wonder if it's because they … Continue reading Self-Study: Update #1
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
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…
Inclusion in the Classroom
So, on Monday I had my first Professional Development of the year. I found out that I will have all of the third grade special education students in my room and I will be co-teaching. This PD focused on the various co-teaching approaches. I didn’t get a chance to meet my co-teacher, but I … Continue reading Inclusion in the Classroom
Third Grade Team Leader
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
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
Passionately Curious about Literacy Education 