Guess who's back....

For those of you who've noticed, I've been MIA the past few weeks...or should I say, the last two months. Once the long-awaited Spring Break came and went, the end of the school year just started coming faster and faster. LITERALLY - it feels very similar to the scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indiana /sigh/ {Harrison Ford back in the day} is running for his life as he is mere moments away from being flattened by a ginormous rock. THAT - is what the last 8 weeks have felt like.

Life hasn't been very pretty lately or very calm...of course, to my fellow teacher friends - no explanation is needed. Quite simply put - part of my frustration is the inability to explain the life of a teacher to non-teachers. I've come to decide that the majority (NOT all) of individuals who do not teach or have not taught CANNOT understand what it is like to be a teacher and how NOT easy the job is. Despite my best attempts, explaining tenure and the process behind attaining it is difficult. Explaining why SO much of our work comes home with us is difficult. Explaining why there is SO much more to do throughout the year (including the summer) is difficult. Explaining that having the summer off in no way justifies how much we are paid is difficult. But alas - until one of said individuals walks in our shoes, the point is moot. We are BUSY individuals and the quintessential multi-taskers of the world...but to those who are not 'one of us', they shall never know.

/SIGH/ Rant complete. Now - to apologize for my absence. I promised myself that this blog wasn't going to be another unfinished diary (believe me, I've got several attempts there...) but I had quite a bit going on and couldn't bring myself to factor blogging back in. However, I remained somewhat in touch -- mostly thanks to Pinterest and all of its goodies and very much missed putting in my own two cents. And so, I'm back.

Today marks the final two weeks (3 more days this week, 5 next week and 1.5 the following week = 9.5) of time with my kiddos. Last Friday, we toured the middle school my 5th graders will be transitioning to, Friday is our field day, next week brings a field trip and fun day...and soon thereafter, promotion and their Clap Out. Has it been a full school year already?! *sniff sniff* Either way...it's time to get busy and get everything I can in their little noggins before they're gone from me forever!

How are you preparing for the end of the year with your kiddos? I'm excited to see how our Memoir Project will turn out - I am having my kiddos create a Memoir Book about their 5th grade (or K-5th grade years) and present it on the next to last day of school...What fun things do you do with your students?

Thank you!!

I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you to the super awesome fantastic amazing <insert adjective of choice here> 9 who are following my blog. A few months ago, I was a long-term substitute teacher looking for additional resources to support a Chris Van Allsburg author study unit I was attempting...and I came across a plethora of ideas thanks to OneExtraDegree.

From there, I discovered TONS more amazing teacher blogs filled with more lesson plans, ideas and activities than I could've ever imagined. I think I was following at least 20+ blogs in my first few days!! They reignited a passion for teaching that I had long forgotten (due a bad experience in my previous teaching position) and I made it my New Year's resolution to join in...

...since then, I've managed to earn a few followers of my own and feel a little overwhelmed that anyone is reading this li'l blog much less listening to my squirrely thoughts. So, to those who are following me and those reading this for the first time, thank you. Additionally, in March, I officially became a full-time, permanent staff member - Go Cougars! With teaching jobs in the deaf/hard of hearing field few and far between...this has been the biggest blessing this year. =D

Spring Break has ended and the beginning of the fourth and final quarter has begun...report card comments, progress notes and grades are completed. The majority of testing is over (with two or three more smaller tests coming up in the next few weeks) and it's time to cram as much into my kiddos heads as possible before they leave me and the school forever! Cannot believe they will be going off to middle school in the fall and leaving! *SOB*

Whoever designed the 5th grade curriculum is a genius, however, and we're ending our ELA unit with memoirs...a perfect way to reflect on all that we've learned and experienced this year. I'm brainstorming how to best modify the unit for my kiddos and see what we come up with.

What's worked best for you? What have you enjoyed the most?

STAY TUNED!!!

Currently...

WELL...it's time to get back on the road and head on home...but before we do, here's a little Currently - for April.

S-P-R-I-N-G B-R-E-A-K...

is FINALLY here!!!!

Can I just say...you KNOW you're a teacher when you're constantly checking the clock and thinking aloud, "well, it's 10:45 now...I should be setting up my centers for reading..." when you should be kicking your feet up and enjoying the days of NOTHINGness.

But alas...that's what I have found myself doing. Wondering what day of the week it ACTUALLY is - I do believe I need the calendar routine more so than my students. Incidentally, we've about 4 more days for Spring Break and I'm working hard not to think about anything but S P R I N G    B R E A K!

So far...the Mister, Li'l Mister and myself have managed to have a bit of fun. We packed our bags and drove south to the Carolinas and have:

• visited with old friends
• visited with the Mister's family and had a great day at the local park - discovered the Li'l Mister REALLY enjoys the swings and burying himself in the sand...
• took the li'l Mister to Riverbanks Zoo - his first zoo visit. ABSOLUTELY loved his expression of shock and awe at all the animals
• been avoiding my impending work load (so far...)
• increasing my love for Pinterest and finding all sorts of scholastic and not-so scholastic goodies.
• am currently visiting with my grandparents - namely, my personal hero, mentor and best friend in all things, a fellow teacher, my grandmother.

I've also managed to survive the month of March which was filled with a not-so-tasty smorgasbord of IEP meetings and even yuckier state testings...BUT...it finally, mostly over and now it's time to geared up for the last two months of school!!

But for now...it's almost 4:00 and that means that my day is almost over. DOH! See?! There I go again...not allowing myself to forget my regular school day schedule.../sigh/ maybe some Pinterest-ing will cure me?

How are you all spending your Spring Breaks?

Week One in the books...

I don't know what I expected to happen...but there was no fanfare, fancy celebration or any feeling of "change". I woke up on Monday and much like it was for Molly Ringwald throughout 'Sixteen Candles', no one said a thing. Well, I take that back. My vice principal and the members of my small team congratulated me...but I still didn't feel any different.

 

 

This week was like any other week this year - crazy busy and even more so. The IEP/Re-eval sandwich of meetings was devoured on Thursday and the prep required beforehand left me exhausted and in bed by 9 that night.

 

 

The next two weeks are ones I am sad to say, dreading. Monday we begin administering state assessments to our kiddos and I, for one, am not looking forward to the amount of teaching time I will be losing since I'm being pulled for two separate grade levels and testing everyday. Thus, in addition to the crazy wonky schedules that have had to be developed, I am trying to create effective substitute lesson plans for the classes I will be missing in the morning. I am having to modify the lessons I would leave simply due the fact that I know my sub will not be able to effectively teach previously intended lessons.

 

 

Is it just me, or is it hard to trust a substitute to teach and assess a lesson the way that YOU would want it taught? And I don't say that against substitutes and their teaching ability - I'm speaking more towards when you know specifically who is going to cover your class and you know for a fact...it most likely won't get done. Either way - I am hoping that whatever I decide to leave with my sub for the mornings will be done and worst case scenario, I will be revisiting concepts in the afternoons when possible.

 

 

Now...a much needed and overdue cup of coffee is calling my name. Fingers crossed that a growing To Do list is dominated and I get all that I am setting out to accomplish today within a reasonable amount of time. Note to self: prioritize, prioritize, prioritize!

Currently....March!

Thank you Farley...if it wasn't time for the Currently of the month, I might not be posting at all...I apologize again for being MIA these couple of weeks...BUT... I promise it is only temporary.

I received some very very good news on Friday - for those of you who read last Monday's post...my prayers were answered much sooner than expected. My principal called me in the middle of Reading to offer me full-time employment. I am officially a Cougar! /grinning/

I look forward to blogging more as I "move-in" more permanently and make some much-needed adjustments to MY classroom, etc. More to come soon...I promise!

Almost there!!!

I haven't been on much lately in the past few days/week. Currently in the midst of an IEP/Re-eval sandwich. Literally. Two IEPs and a Re-eval. All meeting on the same day. Yay. Factor in the Mister being out of town this past weekend and next weekend...and forgive me if my attendance is spotty for a bit.

But..I do have one bit of good great awesome amazing super fantastic <insert adjective here> news! My long-term substitute position is ending....either before the end of this school year or prior to the beginning of the next school year. Why, you ask, am I so excited? Only because this means I shall be transitioning from my role as a substitute to a full-time permanent position. Yes - a full-time, teaching position with benefits! There are still some minor details to work out but as long as the paperwork is processed and there are no cuts made, I'm in!

This news has been the answer to our prayers. I finally have a 'home'. No more job searching. Now, I can settle in and begin planning the other aspects of the Mister and I's life. So, to borrow from last Wednesday's post...life is good. Really, really good.

Fonts galore!

Wednesday was wonderful. Thursday and Friday....not so much. BUT - the weekend has begun and it's already getting off to a good start. Caught a great episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured in Baltimore while snuggling with the Li'l Mister. Put him to bed and soon pulled out the laptop determined to blog. And yet....I find myself distracted and Seussing.

While my kiddos are in 5th grade and their grade level is not hosting any Seuss-specific activities, I'm determined to ncorporate the Doctor somehow....and in a non-related web search, I found this amazing website: fontspace. It has thousands upon thousands of fonts free to download to PC and Mac...and the best part - Dr. Soos (Seuss) fonts! /grinning/


I definitely plan on playing around on fontspace this weekend and collecting more fonts! And now...with the Mister away for a guys' weekend and li'l man in bed...this Momma is off to catch up on some Hell's Kitchen with my foodie love, Chef Ramsey. /sigh/



Good night!

Wacky, Wonky, Wonderful Wednesday....

Today was good. A really, really good day.

I didn't accomplish nearly as much I had planned to. I didn't know things that were considered "common knowledge" among my colleagues. I am not on track with our lesson plans. I have not tackled the majority of my growing To Do lists.

BUT - It doesn't matter. Today was a good day.

I had a number of questions answered. This marked the first consecutive five school days with no serious behavior concerns or outbursts from a typically non-productive math class. One of my lowest readers has progressed at least 3 Guided Reading levels and is doing amazingly well with her current leveled book. A kiddo in my math class with little-to-no word recognition and listening comprehension skills successfully matched his solid/plane figures with their corresponding words on 2 out of 3 review practices. My principal asked how my long-term substitute position was going and I replied that it was challenging but I loved it and would love to stay on permanently, he reciprocated the feeling. *fingers crossed* Come on Human Resources!!

So...while the inside of my head looks much like an overcrowded city highway....I'm blocking it all out. The weather was gorgeous today. The li'l Mister is trying to run...and signing more everyday. I'm learning so much everyday at work and falling deeper in love with my job and the kiddos.

AND...the Girl Scout cookies have arrived! YUM!

Samoas + Thin Mints = HAPPY Squirrel.

Life is good. Really, really good.

/SIGH/



the WIMP'd version of myself.

So...I love loathe *cough*, I mean LOVE three-day weekends. I got to sleep in at least one of the days followed by the Mister's homemade maple bacon and cheddar cheese omelette...I got a ton of much needed chores completed...and I got to have a much-needed and anticipated date night with the Mister.

Which, for all you movie buffs out there, go check out Safe House. Ryan Reynolds + Denzel Washington + non-stop action + genuine hotness + gripping storyline = GREAT film. Which was only solidified by the amazing sushi we had following. <insert sighs of bliss here> 

Unfortunately, I did not accomplish nearly as much as I had planned to do so on my ever-growing to do lists. Including posting several intended blogs prevented only by my lack of motivation + sick baby + deferring to new episodes of Hell's Kitchen on Hulu (sorry - but Chef Ramsey is intense!) Have you ever feel like you've organized yourself into such a box that you've forgotten you're actually in a circle? No? Not making any sense? <insert sigh of embarrassment  here> And...it's only Monday.  

Wait...what?! It's Tuesday? Oh man...I'm so confused. THIS has been my on-going mantra for the day. Needless to say....this explains why even this post is NOWHERE near making any point. But - instead, leaving a promise. A promise that tomorrow - I will include an in-depth, concise, and possibly even captivating post outlining all that has been going on in my classroom. But for now...I leave you...with a glimpse into my randomness and scatterbrained self (see wimp'd version of myself above and click  HERE  to make your own! ) and look forward to a more sane, determined and scholarly representation of myself.

Until then...aideu!

I Mustache You...

....to check out Farley's blog and her super cute giveaway! 

*fingers crossed* for a win!! but LOVE knowing where Farley found her awesome mustache stamp...just hoping they've got something squirrel-y for me!

Candy Hearts and Sugar Highs...

I have learned a lot and seen quite a bit since I started working solely at the elementary level for the first time this past year. I've seen a lot of C's - crazy, cute, cool, curious, captivated, challenging....and today, I saw a combination of all....all because of the holiday that boasts the most candy, chocolate, and conversation hearts: Valentine's Day!

I took a very laid back simplified approach towards the holiday with my students only incorporating a Valentine's read aloud activity (which did not happen), V Day bingo, V Day scrambled words and decorating their treat bags after they wrote one to two sentences on the back about their favorite thing about Valentine's Day. 

Today was a blur of math and language arts blocks...then shooing my kiddos off to art class, followed by their lunch/recess. My foursome split up into their math/language reinforcement blocks and we got in about 10 to 15 minutes worth of learning before it was time to usher them back to their homeroom class for THE party!

With a few instructions from the homeroom teacher and a smorgasbord of junk food, sweet treats and a few fruity friends...the 5th grade kiddos lost their ever-loving minds!! I didn't know what to do with myself beyond being a fly on the wall, telling kiddos to pick up their missed grapes (the hand mouth-eye coordination is still so bad) and throwing a dance move or two, I got to see my DHOH kiddos break out of their shells a little bit and interact with their homeroom peers. I even discovered one of my boys has mad break-dancing skills! Definitely worth standing among the chaos for!

How was your Valentine's madness?

Tired and Uninspired....

...and a completely random rant. I apologize in advance for the topic-hopping. This post is not my finest moment. :/

So since Phunxatawney Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of winter, we've had at least four days of snow... not to discount the credibility of a groundhog versus that of trained meterologists, but I've immensely enjoyed that a little ball of fur and his shadow have given us snow...and more winter-appropriate weather. Not that I've completely minded the random 60 degree days, but I'm an old-fashioned girl and to me, winter = snow, cold and NOT capris. Either way, Phil needs a raise.


I would like to say that I got out and enjoyed the snow this weekend...but alas, I did not. Instead, I completed a marathon of chores  followed by absolute sluggishness yesterday. My overproductiveness caught up with me.

I did accomplish one new feat, however:  assembling 30+ heart-shaped cake bites for the Mister's boss' daughter's Valentine's party. Despite the Mister's normal aversion to cake and cupcakes, he likes a cake pop...and thus, my newest baking project this year is making cake pops and trying a new design or flavor each time. I'm planning to attempt a chocolate-peanut butter batch next.



The finished Valentine's cake bites...

So far...I'm dealing with quite the case of the Mondays. Office Space lovers, you feel me? Between the mad behaviors displayed in math and the absence of a student doubled with two others being pulled for speech, I will be working 1:1 for the remainder of the afternoon. Here, I have mixed feelings. The student in question is an absolute joy to work with...but the frustration itself stems from having to decide: do I teach the next lesson/concept to my one student and then reteach it the next day to the remaining three? Or do I simply work on reviewing of various skills and wait to teach the next lesson on Wednesday (tomorrow afternoon is booked with Valentine's parties)?

Not to mention the impending staff meeting this afternoon all about *gasp* standardized testing...YAY! Be still my heart....

All sarcasm and crankiness aside, I'm determined to find a happy medium and focus on all the good stuff that happened and will be happening...so I am cutting myself off and as the Mister says, "Hip...Hip...Hooray!"

Currently...February!

Joining my first EVER Linky Party! Came across Farley and her Currently Linky Party and her even cooler mustache stamp (which will soon be added to my own wishlists) and wanted to party too! Head on over to link up!

Sunday! Sunday! Monday?!

Have you ever had one of those weekends where despite no matter how many different ways you outlined your To Do list you didn't come close to accomplishing more than a fraction of it? Well, I definitely had several of those...and it JUST happened. While we were able to get several important things done (or almost done), I still didn't feel like I did nearly enough on Friday/Saturday. Sunday was reserved for the most important game of games...the Superbowl and with no other choice,  the Mister and I chose to support the underdogs, the New York Giants over the Patriots. We instead chose to don our own teams' respective colors, the Mister in blue/gray with his Dallas Cowboys hat and myself in black/purple (Go Ravens!) and the li'l mister in his Ravens' Ray Rice jersey.

All football aside...I did get a little bit of prepwork done in outlining the upcoming unit in math that we're due to start this week. I have to say, I look forward to the day when I can trade in my long-term sub "hat" for a permanent teaching position. I think I spend more time tracking down grade level curriculum objectives and concepts and figuring out what's essential before I can even get my modified lesson plans started. This week we're in our transition from one unit to the next (modifying the curriculum = condensed and sometimes off schedule starts/finishes) in math and science.  And in the midst of that, we've got our 2nd practice session of the state tests this week for our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Makes for a bit of an easier morning (lesson-wise), but disrupts the order of things and definitely throws my kiddos off a bit.

Either way, I'm excited to start our new science unit on Astronomy -- espeically after having read Zathura last week with my kiddos, outer space isn't an entirely new...and one that seems to really excite a couple of them. Ironically enough, my li'l brother is studying astronomy now in his 8th grade science class...so it's fun to compare textbooks and infromation - especially that my kids' 5th grade textbook is a much more recent addition including the revelation that Pluto is no longer a planet...which we can now say, "You know...when I was your age...Pluto was still  a planet!"

Now, I leave you with some snapshots of this past weekend and what we've been doing in class so far....

our paper snowflakes and snowflake facts...created after reading Snowflake Bentley!

my completed Find It! shakers

laminated directions for my Find It! shakers

my Superbowl sugar cookies...iced in Ravens purple!! =D

our K-W-L chart for Astronomy...

our 2nd Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting Jumanji and Zathura

School's Out!

So...I went and jinxed myself Wednesday. All my bad thoughts about so many staff being out this week and being frustrated with the lack of good subsitutes...it was my turn to be out - an opportunity to check my emails during my student's library time and I was soon scooting out to pick up a sick li'l mister. All in a panic from him having a few rough tumbles this past week and fearing the worst I was relieved to find out it's only a virus (thank goodness for an amazing pediatrican who REALLY is always on call!) which seemed to work its way out of li'l mister's system through the night. He woke up this morning with smiles, no fever and less gross side effects.

While I enjoyed having the afternoon off...I never like having to be out. It always seems like a step backwards. But - I did get a little bit of work in...specifically, I finished two of my Find It! shakers I've been brainstorming up...a Grammar Find It! and a Jumanji-Zathura Find It! I also managed to dig up some of my old scrapbooking supplies in the process which I think I'll start putting to good use towards school craftiness.
The Mister is off work on Fridays so he's on li'l mister duty and I over-snoozed and slept in until 7:00. Thank you Tresemme and your dry shampoo - I made it to school on time and returned to find that I didn't miss too much but was definitely soon feeling a million miles behind in my plans. :/

As I've probably already said a million times over...this week was a rough one minus my regular para educator during my Language Arts block. I do a lot of my independent/1:1 centers with my 4 kiddos during that time and wasn't able to get very much done in the way of informal assessment, much less touch a formal one. It definitely gave me food for thought in re-evaluating some of my literacy centers and developing strategies to enable my kiddos to be more independent. HELP!!!! This is the first year some of my students are out in their mainstream classroom and for the rest, they remain self-contained for the entire day in a small group. Factor in the fact that my room is 10' x 20' and with no windows...and it's no wonder we go a little crazy and/or break down.

Either way - something has to change...starting with my classroom and how it's set up and how my lessons/activities are structured. My first step - creating more clear-cut and useful classroom visuals/organizational tools: Daily Schedule, Homework folders, a revamped word wall...and soon a new Homework chart (one of my little projects this weekend).

Pictures to come of all the little goodies I've made and/or are working on soon!!!

MaXed OuT!

There really is no substitute for the real thing. We've had several people from my team out this week and it's made quite a difference in things. Report cards went home today and I managed to get my comments and progress reports stuffed into those lovely yellow envelopes before the end of the day despite my kiddos' homeroom teacher being out again. My para educator has been out all week and let me just say, I miss her! I want her to get well but soon...and will definitely be smothering her with hugs when she returns.

In the meantime, it's been quite a hectic few days and I've been cramming as much as I can into my planning and lunch period modifying grade-level materials, making my own materials and brainstorming WAY too many other materials pushing my To Do lists to the max! Finally managing to sit down with a few minutes to myself before the Mister comes home from work...

My kiddos are starting to get into the Chris Van Allsburg author study and are really enjoying the read aloud activities. We struggled a bit with outlining the story elements  - they still have trouble identifying problem and solution as well as picking important events from the story rather than listing every little thing. We read Zathura today and 'discovered' the boys at the end of Jumanji are the main characters in this story. Tomorrow I plan to review the books with my students and attempt to compare and contrast the two books.

My Mister finished off the orange juice last night so I'm hoping to get labels and cards printed/laminated for my Jumanji-Zathura Find It! activity. I've also got an Allsburg timeline sort activity and am thinking of how to incorporate The Z Got Zapped into a center activity or project. I've only got 4 kiddos...so it'd be at least 6 alphabet letters apiece I'm thinking...

Speaking of alphabet letters...does anyone know where to find alphabet magnets for a good deal? I seem to live in an area where they no longer exist...

But for now, the bed is calling so I'll leave you with a favorite from yesterday. I borrowed this idea from One Extra Degree and her glossary skills activity as seen here. I had my kiddos look up new/higher level vocabulary from Jumanji and define it in writing and with a picture. I loved what one student came up with! Forgive the poor picture quality - all I had on me was my camera phone.

When asked to explain..."a gigantic shark that eats people and trains and destroys bridges...that's dangerous, right?"

Ju...Ju...Jumanji!!

Here I am...sitting in front of the computer when I should be tackling my always growing to-do list but instead of attempting to further modify a unit assessment...I'm much more motivated to play around in blog-land. I have a half-hour before the Mister comes home from work and we snuggle in to watch Paranormal Activity 3. Staying up late on a school night...bad form, I know.

Today was a test of teaching flexibility and adjustments. One of my regular paraeducators was out today and unfortunately, my favorite of the two since she supports me during my Reading block and is phenomenal with my kids. Since having started my Chris Van Allsburg author study, I've modified some of my literacy center activities to support this unit and unfortunately, without my regular para support...I had to tweak my centers and later ammend my afternoon lesson. 

Not being familiar with the book Jumanji, my supported-writing center soon revealed that my students were retelling and summarizing wrong/inaccurate events. I realized this was partly due in fault to my own lack of over-planning (in the event of an absence/substitute) and a indicator that my students were still struggling to comprehend the basic story elements of 'Jumanji' as well as being unable to retell the story accurately.

So...this afternoon, I quickly shuffled some things around and dived further into Jumanji and completed a Before/After Reading worksheet I created. We defined instructions and why this word is important in the context of Jumanji looking at the events that unfold when Peter and Judy play the game. I highlighted the importance of reading ALL of the directions, how the word 'and' is crucial in Judy's winning the game, and the use of all capital letters in the game isntructions indicating important details. We took this a step further and analyzed the last two paragraphs identifying what Mrs. Budwing (Danny and Walter's mother) was really saying and the implications of such. With some role-playing and overly dramatic gesturing on my behalf, we made predictions about the future of Danny and Walter. Perhaps they'll leave the jungle for outer space? ;)

I sent my kiddos home with a Story Map worksheet and encouraged them to complete it as best they could. They've been consittently struggling with identifying problem and solution and I'm hoping with repeated practice and more and more examples, they will finally be able to recognize this story element in their future reading.  I am eager to see what information they retained from today's immersion in Jumanji and what may need to be revisited before we dive into Zathura. *fingers crossed*

BuRnt RasPbeRRy Rice...

Today I re-learned the importance of reading directions and following them to a T. I also discovered the dangers of multitasking when given the first mistake. Inspired by Sunny Days in Second Grade's word finder shakers - I had brainstormed several themes and categories that I could use with my students and wanted to make it a weekly activity during their daily literacy centers.

So...I got the necessary materials [see the Unplug Your Kids tutorial here] and made my first batch of colored rice last night.

Batch #1 - using Neon Blue, Green and Purple...

I quickly learned that: A) this was WAY easy and fun... and B) I needed more rice! I decided to whip up a new batch today (with double the amount of rice). Here's where it quickly went downhill - the directions say to put the rice in the oven at 200 degrees to burn off the alcohol and dry the food coloring. Well, we already had our pot roast i the oven and not one to waste any time, I decided to put the rice in anyways (at 350 degrees). For all you science nerds and/or pyromaniacs...I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

The victims of my mistake...burnt raspberry rice...

KABOOM! The higher temperature + increased alcohol content due to more rice = enough force and pressure to blow the oven door wide open, slamming it down and scaring everyone in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, I did not witness this event [further multitasking -- I was holed up in the basement laundry room putting in another load]. However, my husband was able to provide me with an award-winning dramatic reenactment triggering flashbacks to 'Rescue 911' starring William Shatner. Oh, how I miss that show. But - I digress.

Lesson to Self: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS read the directions carefully and FOLLOW THEM.

Lesson to Teacher Self: Incorporate this into Jumanji-Zathura discussion and the importance of following directions. Compare the cause-effect relationship of the children who did follow the instructions versus that of those who didn't.

Batch #2 - an even sweeter shade of purple...and turquoise

Batch #2 - Raspberry! minus the burn victims...

All things Allsburg...

This week I began a Chris Van Allsburg author study with my class. I recently discovered that the 5th grade highlights him as an author within their study of the science fiction genre. [Being a long-term sub + having just moved back to this state + no provided hands-on curriculum + modifications to meet my student's needs = lesson planning isn't as prepared as far ahead as I'd like...] Thanks to several online resources and OneExtra Degree and her awesome Allsburg author study for inspiring several activities/lessons! :)


Having a self-contained group of students allows me some liberties with my lessons and not having to adhere to the scheduling and deadlines that the 5th grade classes necessarily follow. And thus, my plans to drown *cough* immerse my students in all things Allsburg while incorporating as many of the other content areas as possible. We will be doing CVA-inspired reading, writing, science, social studies, and math...My students had some familiarity with Van Allsburg and two of his books: Two Bad Ants and the Garden of Abdul Gasazi during Read Aloud with the school librarian.

I had my students visit Chris Van Allsburg's website and complete an Author Study Info Sheet for their notes; I supplemented a completed copy of key events and books published (including publication year). Using this, they were provided an Author Study Timeline to complete -- which, much to my dismay...they struggled with. After a mini-lesson on time lines, dates and chronological order = smallest to biggest numbers, I tweaked my original Info Sheet and created a Timeline Sort which I will have my kiddos attempt during Literacy Centers.


This weekend I plan on revisiting my CVA Unit plans and making some much-needed revisions and modifications. I hope to put together some more worksheets and Allsburg-themed center activities. What's worked for you?? Suggestions???

You know....you know?

Have you ever found yourself telling a story or introducing a new concept to your students and found your respective audience returning with the blankest of stares???

You quickly realize you’re in uncharted territory and you try everything: rephrasing your original comment or example. You find yourself saying, “you know – it’s like <insert example here> and still…NOTHING. Soon you’re engaged in an impromptu game of Pictionary-Gestures mash-up attempting any and all way to illustrate your once simple concept. Still nothing?! Next you’re grabbing every item in sight and are soon surrounded by a makeshift fort of “examples”.

Despite unpacking your adjectives, synonyms and role-playing…your students soon take on the appearance of confused puppies: heads tilted to the side, glances from you and the objects to their peers with slight grins forming. They’re thinking, “Okay…you’ve gone and lost your mind and I have NO IDEA what you’re talking about.” Finally, as a last resort, you turn to the great technological gift of the gods...Google. Five minutes...ten...a half hour passes and you've concluded an impromptu sidebar lesson on <insert previously unknown concept here>.

My teaching days often include the previously described scenario. I've planned and outlined a lesson with multiple activities, highlighted crucial talking points and identified real-life meaningful examples when possible. BUT - like much of the other aspects of my life, I forget to account for the ultimate in Murphy's Law in the land of teacher-dom: lack of prior knowledge. Call it a sign of getting older...but the things we experienced in our childhoods are becoming non-existent for today's students. Factor in a lack of personal experiences at home, a lack of communication (for families speaking in different languages, if at all), a lack of previously learned concepts....overall, these missing pieces combine to create a black hole in which information is sucked into with little chance of retaining or recalling.

Hence...my love for Google. Yes, there are several search engines on the Internet and pictures can be located almost anywhere...but Google has been my savior when attempting to communicate in the absence of word recognition, experience and/or comprehensions and familiarity. While my 'itinerary' has been thrown off schedule, I have learned to embrace these temporary derailments and the challenges to seek out a new route to our final destination...with the addition of a formerly unknown but now much-needed detour...

Thanks to Google for clarifying the following concepts/vocabulary for my students (and myself, when trying to decipher their comments):

1. Board Game -- we googled EVERY board game site and images...a student's concept of games was only that of Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. "You mean...those are real?"
2. The Twizzlers' height bar at Hershey's Park -- started out with a student stating...."Six Flags", "red", and "candy". He was trying to tell me that he had been to Hershey Park and could ride the rides with the Twizzlers' height.
3. Hotel -- several students did not recognize this word nor my descriptions of places where you sleep when you're not at home. "No, we sleep at home." "When you went to the beach...where did you sleep?" "I slept in a bed." "Whose house?" "I don't know..." "Did Mom and Dad pay money to sleep there?" "No, it was free. Wait, I don't know." and so on...

"Those Who Can't Do....Teach"

When I'm asked by non-teachers what "I do" for a living, the responses I get to "I teach" often fall into three general categories: A) those who exclaim, "oh! wow... good for you," and clearly have some concept of the amount of time, love and effort we put into our work; B) those who cry, "your job is so easy...and you get summers off, it's so unfair" to which I often respond, they give us the summers off so that we can retain our sanity; and C) those who smirk and retort with, "what did you do before? oh well, 'those who can't do, teach".


There are a lot of quotes or familiar sayings I enjoy and even endorse, but this is not one of them. Anyone with common sense should easily recognized how flawed this statement is.   Quite simply, how does one expect a job to be completed correctly if the individual is uneducated and/or unable to complete the task.  Even more so, how can one expect the individual teaching to earn any amount of respect if his/her skills or lack thereof are obvious to the naked eye.


For those who need further convincing, here are some prime examples of teaching jobs that quickly dispute this antiquated claim:

1. Driver's Ed - For starters, we drive on the right side of the road...and that sign is Interstate 95, NOT the speed limit.
2. Medical School Professors - Remember this one when you're lying in a bathtub filled with ice and less one kidney.
3. SWAT Team Instructor - Do you really want to be taught to dismantle a bomb by someone who may or may not have remembered which specific wire should be cut? I'll ask again in 30 seconds...
4. Scuba Diving Instructors - Overlook the small detail of oxygen to nitrogen ratio and pretty soon, you'll be "sleeping with the fishes".
5. Acting Coaches - Where would our Hollywood Hunks and Starlets be without the proper coaching and theatre instruction...actually, cancel that. Bad example.

All kidding aside, the reason I became a teacher has nothing to do with my inabilities but instead, my abilities paired with my passion for sharing my gifts and a love for learning. I have always felt that being a teacher is not something to be taken lightly or done on a whim. Despite the stress, the long hours, the low pay...there is a sense of satisfaction and pride when all is said and done. I only hope that years from now, when someone asks, "What do you do?" and I reply, "I teach," that they respond without pity and instead smile and say, "you rock".