Class Awards

Class Awards were a success! 

Fall of 2015

Well, we are nearing the end of the 2014-2015 school year! Here in Mobile County students have till June 1st and teachers have till June 2nd to be finished. We have a lot of transfers happening so a lot of positions have been changing here and there. 

I'm happy to announce that in the fall I will once again be teaching 4th grade but, this time I will be teaching only Reading/Language Arts! Yahoo!! I'm excited and I can't wait to find resources and begin to really kick off this blog with student posts, teacher materials and other things. Here's to Summer 2015!

End of the Year Who's Who Award Ideas

I work in a low end poverty school and I wanted to something special for these students! I decided to do Who's Who Awards and let the class vote for their classmates. Here are some ideas we came up with:

1. Best Hair Award (Guy and Girl)
2. Funniest Student Award 
3. Best Dancer Award (Guy and Girl)
4. Nicest Student Award 
5. Class Clown Award 
6. Most Artistic Student
7. Coolest Student Award 
8. Friendliest Student Award 
9. Best Smile Award (Guy and Girl)
10. Biggest Helper Award 
11. Most Technologically Advanced Award
12. Best Student Award 
13. Pack Rat Award 
14. Most Athletic Award 
15. Best Behavior Award 
16. Most Handsome Award
17. Loudest Laugh Award 
18. Most Talkative Award 
19. Cleanest Desk Award
20. Most Dependable Award 
21. Quietest Student Award 
22. Cutest Award 
23. Brightest Student Award 
24. Top Reader Award 
25. Accerlerated Reader Achiever 
26. Early Worm Award 
27. Perfect Attendance
28. Best Conduct Award 
29. Late Worm Award 
30. Most Improved Behavior 
31. Most Improved Academics
32. Hardest Worker Award 

List anymore that you can think of! 

Teacher Talks: Classroom Jobs, a Headache Cured

Recently I have watched as classroom teachers tire of telling students what to do and try to honorably give students chances at doing things in the classroom. Kids sincerely just want to help. But, having five kids want to help do the same thing at the same time can get annoying. So what do we do? Most of the time we shut them all down and tell them to sit down and quit asking. Simple solution = Classroom Jobs. Start off at the beginning of the year with introducing that you have classroom jobs. Students will work extra hard to have these jobs! Then, at the end of each month, you can rotate jobs with students. I saw at one school the teacher allowed students at the beginning of the year to write down three jobs they would like to have and she would distribute jobs based off of their preferences. I thought that was neat giving students the opportunity to choose for themselves. This way, you don't have five hands go up to turn off the smartboard. Or in the afternoon, you don't have three students following you everywhere asking if they can sweep the floor. You have that assigned and those students know what responsibility they have. 

Headache Cured!!

Teacher Talks: Normal vs. Abnormal

This past Friday and Monday were two very abnormal days. One of the fourth grade teachers didn't have a sub for both days while she was out. I learned in that situation that, that can affect the entire grade level. Our only option was to split that class into all the rest of the classes. Needless to say, those two days were very hard for a learning environment. I also learned that students can pick up on when things are going to be normal and when things aren't going to be normal. Between state testing, visitors coming to a school, assemblies, data meetings, PST meetings, sometimes you question when do the teachers actually get to teach? I observed these two days that students know when their schedules are off. When schedules are off it throws them off just as much as the teacher. Students will work just as hard as the teacher to manage the day when things are abnormal. If the teacher isn't going to try, they aren't going to either. 

Students want normal days just as much as teachers.  

Summer Break To Do's

This week we have been having state testing and with state testing I have had a lot of time to ponder my summer break time while walking around monitoring students. 

I have made a list of some summer things to do. Please comment with more ideas! 

1. Get a Tan. 
2. Nap a lot. (Turn that alarm OFF!)
3. Travel (Idaho, Chicago, Panama City, Gulf Shores as of right now) 
4. Fix up the house.
5. Spend time with family and friends. 
6. Reflect on the past school year what worked and what didn't work. 
7. Copy and Create - So many times we'd rather copy ideas than create new ones. Spend time finding new ideas for the classroom as well as other successful ones. Bring new ideas to the table.  
8. Read the top children's books. (Know what your students like and use that as a tool for the classroom.)
9. Get into the school and get your classroom setup. (Around July)
10. RELAXXXXX. Stay outside in that beautiful sunlight! 

I'm sure there are more. Let me hear them! 

Teacher Talks: Parent Conferences

I sat in on one of my first official parent conferences this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between teacher and parent. It is so so crucial. Unfortunately, the conference I sat in on wasn't a well prepared conference. The teacher was late. The parent had been sitting in the office nearly ten to fifteen minutes before the teacher reached her. The progress report wasn't printed out so once the teacher had picked up the parent then the parent had to wait in the classroom while the progress report printed. As they sat down to discuss things they discussed her progress report as well as her behavior. This student is generically a good student but, on the last math test she failed it. The parent commended on of the teachers (this is a co-teaching classroom with two teachers) for texting her about her daughter's recent math grade because she had not been receiving any communication beforehand. The parent asked to see the test and the teacher stated that she could not find it. At this time, the parent looked at the other teacher rolled her eyes and said "See what I mean?" I could sense that this parent has been frustrated all year long with disconnected communication from the classroom to home. I watched as the other teacher tried make the parent feel assured that her daughter's grades would be monitored and they would stay in contact with her until the end of the year.

I learned MANY valuable things during this observation: Be prepared. Be punctual. Know your student's grades and where they are located. Have ideas for what the parent can do to help in preparation for the next test.

I don't ever want a parent to have to say to me to someone else "See what I mean?"

What are some experiences you have had during teacher/parent conferences? What are some useful tactics that made these conferences more successful?

Teacher Talks: Learning Without Teachers

Today I was observing a student take a writing test. The prompt read "Describe and Explain who your favorite teacher is and why." I walked by his desk to read his writing and he was explaining how much he liked his teacher and why. Then the next sentence read, "And without my teacher, I would never learn." Now, I completely understand what he was trying to get across but, that statement really made me ponder. Without my teacher, I can't learn. It's a crutch mentality. Please-feed-me-because-I-can't-feed-myself kind of statement. It really made me think on how we can show students and model to students that yes, a teacher is important and should be there to direct, assist, and present material (or else I wouldn't have a job) but, you don't NEED a teacher in order for you to learn. You don't NEED me to feed you when you are hungry you can feed yourself if I placed a plate in front of you. Case and point, adults are still learning but, we aren't in classrooms. Students need to understand that in all situations, not just in the classroom but, in every day life you can be learning something. His statement really made me reflect on what schooling is teaching students. To be a self-learner or to be a dependent-learner? I think I found a new philosophy that I am going to work towards as a teacher. Help students to learn and find learning in every area of their life independently.

What are some ways we can teach students to be independent self-learners?