How did I lose October?

Well, October came and went, and I am still wondering what happened to October?  October was jam-packed with so many things to know and learn. At my school, we complete our first parent-teacher conferences this month.  During this time, I have the kids share there personal interest inventory with their parents, as well as, the student self-reflection on behavior and classroom skills.  It is a good talking point for what can be improved over the next quarter. My teammates and I fill out a very comprehensive conference planner so that each of us can give feedback for all students without being present at all 81 conferences.  This tool has been very helpful! Finally, I ask the parents for any of their burning questions or comments about third grade.  Asking them how they feel is also important.  This is not to say that I don't ever remind both student and parent which one of them attends third grade, but people like to feel validated and listened too.
Happy Conferencing!

NCCAT - yippee!

If you are a public school teacher in the state of North Carolina, you should check out NCCAT.  If you don't already know what NCCAT is, it stands for the North Carolina Center for Advancement in Teaching.  There are two campuses: Cullowhee and Ocracoke.  Their mission states: "From the mountains to the sea . . . advancing teaching as an art and a profession."
It is truly an amazing adventure at NCCAT.  The seminars offered not only help you develop and prepare materials/units for your classroom, but they allow you to renew yourself as an educator and remember why you got into teaching!  If that is not enough to get you to sign up, you make 20 new friends that you can now call on for teaching support and advice.  You have a wonderful vacation away from school, paperwork, and the hectic daily life as a teacher.  Then you get to experience wonderful cuisine at each mealtime!
It is time to sign up for an NCCAT seminar:

http://www.nccat.org/s/1099/start.aspx

Happy Teaching!

Points to Ponder

I just watched the following video: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=47293

It raises some interesting points.  This is what it made me think of:

This video is scary and enlightening.  It makes me think that I am not doing my best to provide my students with the skills to become 21^st century learners.  I have not used wikis, podcasts, or other multi-media materials in my classroom.  I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to technology.  I have recently outfitted my classroom with 7 Nooks for reading, 5 interactive whiteboard games, a mimio, 2 ipods, and an ipod listening center.  This is just the first step.  My students should be actively engaged with these and many more on a daily basis.  They need to be creating and developing technologic responses to classroom discussions.  They need to learn how to navigate the world wide web with ease by the end of third grade. 

What frustrates me most about this video is not that I am not currently providing these things to my students, because I could.  What frustrates me the most is that I feel that I have a lack of training in this area and I do not feel confident enough to communicate these skills to my students.  Without proper training, anyone can fail.  Unfortunately, with budget cuts, technology spending is lacking.  Not only is training not provided, but the supplies are not there either.  I am forced to either spend my own money on such things or to find alternate resources to fund my classroom.

Although I am frustrated, I still want to make a difference.  I will become proficient in new technology so that I can use them in my classroom.  I will provide technology resources within the classroom so that my students can learn by doing and not just seeing. This video motivates me to go to great lengths to better prepare my students for the future.

Student Germs and the Teacher

Yep, it is that time of the year when my immune system says "too much!!".  I have caught the kid crud, but I am not letting it stop me.  This time of the year always reminds me of several things:
1-Hand sanitizer is my friend!
2- Use the disinfectant spray daily (twice if you can) on all hard surfaces
3 - Take a multivitamin - it only helps in the long run
4- You can never have too much vitamin c
5-Don't forget to take time for yourself and relax!

Sometimes I seem to forget these simple things. Take this week for example.  I got run down with a whopper of a cold, half of my team was out at the middle school field trip, so there were no subs available.  I was asked to come and speak at the substitute training event at my school.  I attended testing training for the standardized testing that is next week.  I was writing my lesson plans for my substitute for the following wee because I am attending  an NCCAT (North Carolina Center for Advancement in Teaching) three day conference. And somehow, I thought signing up for an online class on the newly revised teacher evaluation process sounded like a great idea! 

It is so easy to overwhelm yourself with all of the little things that are required in teaching.  Remember one important thing, take time for yourself and your family.  If you don't, you will burn out and/or get sick!

My advise: drink some vitamin c and get some good rest - your students deserve it!

Parent Rush

I always feel like I am going through sorority rush this time every year.  I am smiling and putting my best foot forward.  I have found that I can please many parents with one quick and easy thing . . .
tell them what their child is great at doing in my classroom!  I know, it sounds too simple.  Parents love to hear great things about their kids.  Why not tell them this early on? This allows you the opportunity to give the "growth" comments down the road.  You have already begun to build a relationship with the parents.  They know you are "tuned in" to their children. It is also nice to tell the parents how your day was made better by their child or how you made their child smile today.  These simple acts of kindness will help make your school year go so much more smoothly!
Happy Teaching!

Week 1-2

Well, I am mid-way through my second week of school.  I am having so much fun with the Common Core Standards in third grade.  I have introduced the students to the works of Arnold Lobel.  I know that these are a little lower readability (400L), but I wanted to introduce the topics of making connections, comparing stories with story elements, and point of view.  I have discovered that these kids don't know words like "text" and "illustrate."
Last week, the highlight for me was teaching the Star Spangled Banner.  In all of my years of teaching, I have figured out that third graders do not know the national anthem.  They also have no idea where it came from.  The kids are always amazed that this song was originally a poem.  When I introduce "Poetry Friday," I have the kids complete several small tasks:
1. Read the poem out loud as a class
2. Copy the poem into their journals
3. Illustrate the poem (this helps to show if they understand the poem)
4. Memorize the poem
5. Recite the poem to an adult
The kids love this!  This is the only time that I put stickers on papers (for correctly memorized poems).  It is only Wednesday and the kids are asking for this week's poem.
I will try to upload my Arnold Lobel unit and PowerPoint soon!
Happy Teaching!

Back to School!

It has been an exhausting and exciting week!  I was so happy to return to work and see all of my friends.  I was not thrilled about the sound of my alarm clock! If you are like me, you are already planned through the end of the month and are looking ahead to the next month.  I only brought my plan book home so that I can write down everything that is on my post-it notes.
Tip #1: When planning ahead, always use post-it notes.  This will help you avoid erasing over and over.  Just remove and re-stick the post-its on the next day.
I love to use different colored post-its for each class. I am a visual learner, so the different colors help me "see" what I am teaching. For lessons using post-it notes, visit: www.post-it.com/teachers.

Where did the year go?

So my first attempt of a classroom blog was not so successful.  I have not devoted any time to it this year.  I am currently researching how to implement the Common Core State Standards into my classroom for next year. I feel that it is easier to look at the year while I am knee-deep in it, than trying to remember everything during the summer. My current thought for third grade reading comprehension is to have a genre study and an author study each month. What do you think?