It's a New Week...

Yikes, I have been such a terrible blogger. But in my defense, I had the worst week of my (small) teaching career last week. I had meetings every day after school and two before school. I was just physically and emotionally so exhausted and overworked, and I have never looked forward to the weekend more than this one. 

This weekend was so nice and needed. For starters, I was able to sleep in BOTH days! Normally I can only manage to sleep in on Sunday, but I was so wiped out that I snoozed until 7:00 both days. So wonderful. And Evan and I went to the Arizona Audubon Center last night for this adorable Halloween activity. Granted it was aimed at kids, but still fun nonetheless. And we went to Culver's too! Culver's is one of my favorite places to eat. Their food tastes so yummy and it's a little bit of home since it originated in Wisconsin. And I got to talk to a dear friend whom I haven't been able to call in a long time. It was wonderful to hear her voice and since she's a teacher too, we spent our whole conversation talking about school! And wedding planning too! 
But the most important part of the weekend is that I feel rested and rejuvenated for a new week. Which is a good thing since I'm having my first formal observation tomorrow. Yikes!! I'm a little nervous, but I think it will go well since I'll be teaching writing and writing is my all time favorite thing to teach.

Well, here's hoping this week is better than last week :)

October Currently

Yay!! It is now my favorite month: October. I love everything about October. The colorful leaves and how they crunch. The crisp weather - perfect for boots, chunky sweaters and scarves. The food - pumpkin everything, hot chocolate, apple everything. So yum. And Halloween. I love Halloween.

So what better way to start off October than with a Currently from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

So I am beyond pumped for Fall Break. I am going back to Wisconsin for some fall fun and wedding planning. Seriously can't wait!! Because even though October will always be my favorite month, it's not the same here. No colors, no crisp weather...so sad. So I need to go home to get my fall fix. And free Jimmy John's!?!?! Yes please.

So this week has been Galileo testing week. My kids have had to take two standardized tests, one in reading and one in math, and then complete a writing prompt. I'm actually pretty pumped about the writing since I'm anxious to see how they have grown as writers over the past two months (seriously been in school that long?!?! Scary!!!). But the reading and math tests are just crazy. Some of my kids' scores improved but others decreased so I don't know what to think. I know that I can't define myself as a teacher based on test scores, but now is one of those times where I can't help it. And I know that standardized tests aren't an authentic way of measuring a student's progress but I'm feeling a bit defeated about it. Especially since it counts for 50% of a child's overall grade and plays a big part in assessing me as a teacher. Wah.

And to top it off, I have had a persistent headache all week long. It always goes away overnight, but returns mid-day and sticks around until bed. Such a drag.

But Fall Break is just. around. the. corner!!!!!!! Yay!!!! And tomorrow and Friday are early release days. The kids go home at 11:15. Tomorrow I have to stick around until 7:00 for parent-teacher conferences, but on Friday, I can leave promptly at 11:15. We'll see if that actually happens though...

So Marlee and I are off to pick up Evan from ASU. Wednesdays are his late days since he has class until 7 so to avoid the long light rail ride back home, I always go get him.

If I saw Justin Bieber...

I always try to make work fun and relevant for students. It's part of my educational philosophy that children learn more deeply and authentically when something that they are familiar with is involved. That's why Justin Bieber frequently is a star in my CGI and homework problems. Some students (mostly girls) really like him and get so excited when they hear his name. For this week's homework, I asked my students to write about if they saw the Biebs on the street; what would next. As I was going through their homework, I ran across two super cute and funny writings that I HAD to share with you all! (Disclaimer: I wish they had written more as they write pages and pages during writing workshop!!).

The one above is Dylan's. His says "I said 'Ahhhhh!' He was in a taxi. I was running in the street. This was not cool."

I read this and burst out laughing. Such a funny story - a taxi? And why would Dylan be running in the street??!! Plus I love the Biebs' hair in his picture too. Dylan also often includes some form of sound in his writing, which I think is pretty cool; it gives his writing a bit of voice and excitement to it.

Carlos' is next. I'm showing you this one because of the pictures - mainly the hair. Carlos wears his hair in a faux hawk every day, hence, why he drew himself (the one in red) with triangle hair. Super cute!! Plus Justin Bieber's hair looks so him. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! I only have two weeks left until fall break! Yay!! Although I have no idea how it's already time for fall break; it seems that school just started. But for my break, I am going home to Milwaukee to do some wedding planning and get my small feel of fall weather since I miss it terribly! And hopefully go to a pumpkin patch too! :)

Something Good

So after going home sick today after lunch with a pounding headache and feeling like I was on the verge of throwing up all morning, this seems very appropriate: 

Something good at school:

I feel like my kiddos are finally becoming more independent at centers  - both reading and math. That's such a relief because there is nothing that annoys me more than being swarmed with children asking questions, asking me if they are doing x, x, and x right, telling me that they are done, asking for drinks, etc. So I'm glad that they are becoming more independent. Plus that means that maybe my hope of pulling small groups in a week is actually feasible...We shall see...

Something good at home:

Since Evan and I are both super busy now, we have decided to go on weekly dates. So starting last week, either Friday night or Saturday night is our date night. I'm really excited about it and it will be nice to spend some quality time with him instead of trying to talk to him in the early mornings when he is still sleepy or being bothered by him at night when I am sleepy. 

Your turn! Go link up with Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade!

Rewards and Incentives Linky Party

I confess - I can't stand rewards Period. And especially not for behavior. Especially behavior that is expected. And I will fight tooth and nail to not give them out because I think it's so important for kids to be intrinsically motivated to do the right thing. So in my classroom, there isn't a prize box or stickers or pencils or anything. 
So you maybe be wondering how I manage behavior?? What I do have is my trusty clipchart. Now I'm sure everyone has seen the wonderful clip chart on Pinterest or uses one so no need to explain how it works. But honestly, right now, my kids get so pumped to get up to Role Model that that is a huge reward in itself. I always draw attention to kids who are role models, and then remind other students that if they're not sure what to do to look at our role models of the day. It works so well for me that there really isn't even a need to offer a prize for getting to the top. When just being up there seems to be getting old, I think I'll get some gems or google eyes for the students to stick on their clip when they reach role model. But hopefully I won't have to do that anytime soon :)

There is only one instance where I offer an incentive. And that is homework. At first, I was taking away Fun Friday for kids who didn't do their homework for the week. But I was thinking about it, and I decided to reward those who do bring their homework back every week. So the punch card was born! Whenever a student brings back homework, I punch his or her punch card. When the punch card is full, then they get to pick from a list of special activities like eating lunch with me in the classroom, taking off their shoes for the day, sitting by a friend, sitting at my desk, etc.

Just a little something to reward those who always do their homework! Plus, let's be honest. The LAST thing I want to do is deal with stocking a prize box. 


Your turn!! Go link up!

September Currently and School Related News

Wow, how is it already September?!!? No idea how that happened, especially since that means I have been in school for almost a month! Completely baffled by that. 

So I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade with her monthly Currently.

Yes you read that right - I got a new puppy! One of the girls on the first grade team found her wandering around on her way to school so she picked her up and brought her to school. She spent two days in the janitor's office before coming home with me! It's funny since Evan and I had decided to get a cat because they are a bit easier to care for than dogs since they are more self sufficient, Marlee kind of just fell into our laps. She's super sweet!

Look at her little face!

She's super sweet and pretty low key...except at bed time. For some reason, she's always super perky and wants to play at bedtime. Last night she was bounding around, trying to jump in bed and squeaking. Originally, we had her in the bathroom and she just barked and barked and barked. Then we tried tethering her with her leash but no gate in hopes that that would make her feel better, but instead, she thrashed around and barked some more. So we ultimately let her have free roam of our bedroom which worked ok. She was still a nuisance during the night, but way better than her barking for hours. So hopefully she gets used to our routine soon...especially since school resumes for me tomorrow and Evan has to go to ASU for class tomorrow too!

I'm really missing fall weather too, even though I feel like it's still pretty hot in Wisconsin. I think just the beginning of September, plus the fact that most schools are starting tomorrow is enough to make me want fall weather. The crunchy leaves, the slight chill in the air, the fall foods, wearing boots and scarves - I love it all! I'm really glad to be going home during my fall break in early October. That's when fall is in full swing! Maybe I can convince my family to go to a pumpkin farm!

In school-related news, our first publishing party is on Wednesday. My kiddos are pretty excited about it (I think mainly because of the prospect of juice and snack), but I think they are also excited to read their stories to their parents. I hope parents can come. If not, my backup plan is to ask kinder teachers or second grade teachers if they wouldn't mind having a few of my kids come in to read their stories. Tomorrow we are adding titles, finishing up the words, and coloring the pictures and on Wednesday, we will be putting the final touches on them. 

I have heard so much wonderful things about Daily 5 that I am determined to do it in my room. We have been Reading to Self for the past few weeks. We finally got to ten minutes on Friday! So exciting! And this week, I'm going to introduce Read to Someone. I hope my kids can handle it, but a lot of modeling and expectation laying out should help. I just wish I could skip ahead to where they are independent.

Math, I am trying to incorporate more number sense into the day. When multiple kids write something similar to 4+0=6, I know there is a problem. So I've been doing a number of the day during Morning Meeting, and on Friday, I started number cards and collection counting. Plus I've been using subitizing cards during five minute downtime to help them build their ability to look at a number of objects and know how many are there without having to count them.

So yeah, we are in for a busy week! Luckily, it's only a four day work week!!! :)

I Love Lucy

I am in such an amazing mood yesterday, a far cry from yesterday that ended with a headache and defeated feelings. To think that everything can be made better with little old Lucy Calkins. A bit of background - I love teaching literacy - both reading and writing. I especially love Lucy Calkins. I think she is amazing and I love how her books are written in narrative form. Granted it takes longer to get to the meat of what she is saying, but it makes for such an easy read that I actually end up understanding each bit more. Anyways, at my school, the first grade team creates lesson plans together, and dear Lucy wasn't included in the plan. I tried to teach with the plan on Monday, and it was a complete disaster. The kids were not engaged and I didn't get much writing from them. So on Tuesday, I decided to secretly do my own thing aka start a writing workshop the Lucy way. Let me tell you, I got way more writing when they had the freedom to write about something that they know - themselves! And today, when I said it was time for writing, I even got some cheers. Never thought I'd hear that. But a big part of me felt guilty for not following the lesson plans. However, today, the first grade team met with our principal and assistant principal to discuss writing rigor. And my assistant principal revealed that she loves Lucy Calkins and used her books when she was a teacher. And she went on to suggest that we use it in our rooms! Oh my, I can't even tell you how my face must have lit up. I was so excited. I went and got my very own set of writing books (which were stashed in a resource room), and got full permission to use them!

Happiness in the form of Lucy. 

So, needless to say, I am beyond pumped that I can not-so-secretly be a writing workshop lover, and I can't wait to have writing again tomorrow! And I'm starting Daily 5 tomorrow too. I'm bringing in a bag full of shoes to discuss finding Just Right books. I bet that will be a lot of fun and the kiddos will get a kick out of seeing me hobble around in my fiance's shoes!