Going BACK

Soooo I have accepted my newest teaching position for the 2019-2020 school year back in first grade!  To say I'me excited is an understatement.  Since blogging back in 2016 I have completed my Master's in Educational Leadership and taught third grade.  I can't wait to get back to my soul and teach the little people on our planet how to read and do basic math!  I am beyond excited to go back and also complete my tenth year of teaching!  More to come..

What happened to last year

So I had a year of firsts last year.  Mid way through the 2015-2016 school year I was asked by my friend and Principal to move to fifth grade and teach an ELA block fro ESE students in the morning and Gifted students in the afternoon.  It was undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges I have ever undertaken.  When I went in over Thanksgiving break to move my room to the other side of campus my Principal had a quote for her bathroom and it read "It always seems impossible until it's done."  I will never forget that quote because it proved to be so true.  It was so hard for me to leave my first graders and their families for this new mystery homeroom who was running adults out of their classroom left and right.  I had such a learning experience with them.  I had an amazing partner and that helped a lot.  FSA tests in Florida and the use of data in upper grades are just a few of the really stressful ideas I was introduced to this year.  It was a fun year for many reasons.  K-2 teachers don't really get to see the kids grow into young adults and struggle with pre teen problems like upper Elementary teachers do throughout the year.  I wish I would have had more time to really develop freebies and pay and take activities from Teachers pay Teachers as I had originally intended. I'm teaching fifth grade again this year so my blog should actually be renamed and I think I'm going to work on that.

A year of firsts

This has been a year of firsts for me.  I was so flattered that every student this year came to meet me at open house.  This is the first time that ever happened!   "Kid" as I recently started to referring to all of my students are making out of this universe learning gains in both reading and math.  I have a complete cast of the cutest, sweetest students and their parents are really nice to me!  I'm so happy this year.  I still need to pass the FELE and any new FELE practice tests would be greatly appreciated.  My reading endorsement is coming along nicely and I'm anxious to start thinking about coaching.  I'm the math committee representative for my grade level this year and not the president of PTO which has given me more free time.  This year is absolutely fabulous and "kid" is doing really well!

Summertime Professional Development and the current buzz on next year

This summer I attended many workshops where we collaborated to write and design science labs, small group reading lessons, math STEM lessons and reading whole group lessons.  I'm really excited to use the new math and science resources we have available to us.  The activities are creative, group activities my students really enjoyed last year. We have decided to collaboratively use CPALMS to help close achievement gaps, make bigger learning gains and prepare our kiddos for the end of course exams the stat of Florida is using.  Our county has decided to use the gradual release model and I'm very excited to try teaching my new monsters the techniques encompassed by this model.  I am still studying for the FELE and am not as overwhelmed as I was during my spring break; fingers crossed that I pass this test over Labor Day and graduate in the Spring.  My Masters will be such a huge accomplishment. 

Fabulous In Transition and the rest of this year

This has been a year of many accomplishments for me professionally.  I finished my ESOL endorsement, started my reading endorsement, mentored a teacher and a student, was the PLC lead, finished my administrative leadership internship and organized a program to feed our schools families in transition students.  Needless to say I have been busy and in addition to that I have one test left until graduation at UCF!  I have had so many new experiences this year I have no idea what I am going to do as just a teacher next year!  I managed to score highly effective across all domains in my evaluations. Fabulous in transition started with one goal and that was to find food for all the FIT families from January to the end on the year.  The project was successful and I turned out to be more resourceful than I originally thought!  I have plenty of resources to compete the project!  This all started with a class at UCF run by Ms. Storey. A  cute and slightly intimidating British lady!  She has been such a huge inspiration to me the last few months. 

2015: A brand new year

This is my last semester in grad school so as I say goodbye to 2014 I welcome 2015 on the premise that I am close to graduation!  This year's class has been really easy compared to prior years.  With all the changes taking place year to year I wonder if the parents and students alike just sit down, shut up and hold on for dear life like the teachers do.  I am ready to see how setting goals as a reading coach will change the design and curriculum supplements that I use daily in the classroom.  While I completed my Internship in administration last semester I helped a few teachers work to design their Guided Reading to track student success measured by the students.  This year a huge focus is on data binders and the why's behind students writing their own goals and adding comments as to why they are at the level of academic success indicated by the rubric.  I'm sure 2015 will bring changes, challenges and chance to celebrate successes!  I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for moments!!

Remembering 911 and a brand new year!!

Welcome back 2014-2015

To say that I have been gone from blogging is indeed an understatement.  The end of last year was a continuous cycle of activity and growth for me.  I am so excited to start this year with a brand new class.  My munchkins this year are absolutely adorable and I am going to have no problem growing with them for ten months.  I decorated my room with some bargains I found after taking the advice of another teacher.  I must say I am flattered she requested me to teach her son who is obsessed with Sharknado..not sure about the spelling.  He is adorable as are the rest of my children.  I am the ESE class this year and have one who functions at a very low level.  I have two that speak don't speak English yet...shocking I know.  I am super busy and always running.  This is the last year of my Master's in Educational Leadership and am doing my Internship with my inspiring Assistant Principal Libby.  We took a few minutes to celebrate 911 on Thursday.  Here are some pictures of my classroom this year and of my magical munchkins who love the US!  Welcome Back!

Totally Terrific Thanksgiving Traditions

Today was a whirlwind of activities!!  Our school hosted a Turkey Trot where all the grade levels run together and the first three winners from each sex win a turkey!  Two of the girls from my class won turkeys!!  We also made acorn cookies, fact family turkeys and read lots of exciting books about Thanksgiving!  My favorite was Fancy Nancy's Thanksgiving.....I was her for one year and I love her!!

Veteran's Day 2013

This year Veteran's Day was a whirl wind of activities!!  I've just found time to post the work my kiddos did for the Veterans!  They were really awed with the idea of Veterans and I am so proud of their work.  I downloaded so many good ideas from TpT to use I can't remember who's Veteran's Day Writing Day Packet our class used.... but if she recognizes it thank you because I loved it and so did my little monsters!!  Happy Veteran's Day!!

Holiday Happenings

The Holiday Season is here!!!!  I have been a multi tasking maniac for the past few weeks.  Between taking time to travel, writing papers and presentations for grad school and watching FSU football I am all worn out!  I have recently discovered a new app on my very old phone called Tinder that is so entertaining.  Who would have thought the world was full of so many successful gentleman!!  Our district gives us Veterans Day off so I have Monday off!  YES!!  After that I have two weeks to Thanksgiving Break and it will be time to think about turning 31 and Christmas (baby Jesus's birthday).  I have a very low class this year and LAZY doesn't even begin to describe some of my first grade boys!  The demographics of our school have shifted and the word migrant is being thrown around a lot.  This is also the first year I have a student with an incarcerated parent so I am full of new ideas on how to bridge the gap here!  If you have any I will gladly take them!  The Common Core is really challenging for my students but they are growing!  Whole brain teaching is an idea I have started using to motivate my students and they love it!!

The first nine weeks!!

The first nine weeks is almost over!  My class this year is challenging.  They are wonderful but not as special as last year's. I can't wait to finish decorating my room for Halloween and complete my Halloween centers.  Hopefully I will have time to post them this year!!  I'm happy it is so sunny in Florida but I miss Michigan and the atmosphere up north!  One of the things I'm doing this year in my room this year is portions of the daily five and it is working fabulously!  My munchkins are excited I pay such close attention to their writing.  They love to share their work with the class.  We just finished swimming and it was exceptional!  All of my munchkins this year swam!

 

Classroom pics 2013-14

My classroom is finally complete!  It took forever to put together this year because I had to move classrooms which meant I had to unpack and organize everything!  I'm so excited about the way it looks!  I was able to snag some really nifty things while I was up north in Michigan!  It's so nice to be back in Florida and in my classroom.  I was able to find and use the things I printed from other teacher's blogs to decorate my room.  I absolutely love the colorful pictures and signs I had laminated!  I still need to buy baskets and ribbon for my library but it will be a job for next weekend!  This year we can share lesson plans which means a lot more time for extra planning and awesome creative ideas during the school day!  I put tissue boxes on every desk just in case there are tears tomorrow.  I think I'm ready for the first day of school.  I am using a Monster Goes to School which I got free online at Teachers Pay Teachers and I'm really excited!

 

 

 

 

the daily 5

I just finished the daily 5, my first summer read so far and it is filled with fascinating, fun filled ideas for Language Arts.  I'm going to post a quick outline if anyone is interested in using it as a point of reference.  The daily 5 builds stamina through building deep muscle during read to self, read to someone, work on writing, listening to reading and word work.  The Anchor Charts are used as a resource created by both the students and the teacher.  The charts build on ideas daily and are used at the beginning of the lesson.  There is a breakdown of information for presentation purposes to the students. 

Work on Writing

For example, the teacher models independence during work on writing.  She models a short narrative story where she doesn't stop to ask the teacher for help with spelling words.  Instead she underlines the words and finishes her story independently. 

Read to Self

During Read to Self the teacher has the students practice reading for three minutes to build stamina.  This is my favorite part of the book. 

Read to Someone

There are really good bookmarks on TpT that have the three ways to read to someone written on them for what I used to call partner reading.

Listen to Reading

The part I found most interesting during this section was the way the teacher models and has the students practice the correct way to clean up.

Word Work

This part of Language Arts is for vocabulary and spelling.  The teacher gives her students plenty of time to play with their supplies before they begin making words.

 I also found the book boxes really cute and creative!  I plan on using this in my classroom next year.  Everything the authors suggest you model is very important for classroom management.  The books a really good outline and is short!  It's definitely a suggested read!

The last day of school

The last day of school for everyone in Osceola County was last Thursday.  Our class had a ceremony to honor all the students (everyone passed including three Non English Speakers and an undiagnosed special needs student). Unfortunately as their parents arrived we had a tornado warning.  Tornado warnings are not as official in the south as they are in the north so I had some grumpy grandparents upset about the 15 minute delay before we could begin.  We were able to begin and it was a success.  My adorable munchkins retained a lot of information this year and it showed.  We started with a walk across the red carpet to honor each kiddo individually for the completion of first grade.  After the walk across the red carpet we got down to business and the kiddos were able to successfully act out standards from Math, Reading, Writing and Science!  I wrote a short going away speech and included a made up camping trip.  I was able to incorporate many of the fun facts I taught them all year.  Next, we sang Lean On Me by Bill Withers.  I taught them this song on Valentine's Day after I received so many gifts from them.  I think it has an important message inside especially after sensing the alienation felt by the Connecticut debacle.  They were able to sing it for their parents and it was FABULOUS!  I had nine parents show and take pictures with me and my adorable kiddos.  I'm officially up north in Michigan and ready to start reading the books inside my black garbage can.  Their is an Early Literacy book I am going to tackle first.  The authors last name is Cooter.  If anyone has read his publishings please drop me a line.

It's almost over!

Our last day of school in Florida is this Thursday!  This year I have had the best, most well rounded and involved parents so far!  I have had a very long blogging absence due to my hectic schedule.  I have been hosting after school make and take mini lessons every Wednesday for the parents and students in my classroom to join me in making and taking a lesson home with them.  I have to admit I used many ideas from Teachers Pay Teachers and they worked very well!  On Thursday my students are going to say goodbye to me and first grade with a going away song.  Pictures of the red carpet walk will follow!  I am changing classrooms so packing my room for the first time was a brand new experience.  This summer I will be hiding away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life at my families small cabin in Northwest Michigan!  I am hoping to learn more about blogging and making creative, crafty innovating activities for my first grade classroom!  If you have any suggestions I would love to use them!

Rubrics, Marzano Observations and me!!

I am more than just slightly excited to report that my long due absence from blogging is due to extreme pressure from my class.  However, I had an informal observation done last week or the week before..I really can't remember and I received all applying!!!  This has never happened to me and as a new teacher I am beyond excited!!  I am going to attach the rubric I use.  It's easy and my first graders understand it.  If they get it without the teacher's help they get to go to yellow which they say makes them feel happy but not joyful.  If they get the answer correct and all of question probes they go to green which they say is exiting!  The red at the bottom just mean we need some extra TLC!  I use clothespins with their names on it and I pick them by using "sticks".  These "sticks" are tongue depressors with their names on them and I draw them from a colorful basket.  My class was very excited because my mother bought them all Easter Baskets from the dollar store and I hid 150 eggs in our classroom for them to find!  They loved it and I have some students who really need me!  

 

Our team likes to write performance assessments and this performance assessment was about the central message or theme from Common Core.  Rainbow Fish is the perfect idea and is available at storyline online which makes it even more entertaining because my kids can watch and listen albeit the Smart board!  I included my take on Rainbow Fish because I usually never complete the Art project.

Last but not least at the beginning of the year I read Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun.  I have attached an additional rubric that goes along with Writing.  This one is good b

because I used the kids examples with there permission.  I teach in a Title One School so there is a rubric example for ESOL.  Let's see.......I am exhausted just thinking about the last nine weeks and my Master's which is almost done!!

100th day and Groundhog day

Today we celebrate the 100th day of school..call me carzy maybe I was early!!!  I used a lot of really good ideas from TpT!!  Last year was a lot about instruction so I haven't been able to throw parties since the first year I taught!!  I decorated today and it was ah maze ing!!  I'm also excited to say one of my old students is BACK from the first year I taught!!!  Here are some pics of my classroom!  I love YELLOW so my inspiration is rooted behind the yellow bulletin boards!!

 

My favorite teacher

Tonight I had grad class and I got to visit with my professor on our way out and I don't often use the word blessed but I do feel blessed to know her!  She is well spoken and a role model!

AR goals and crazy hair day

Today we had crazy hair day!  I don't know if you are familiar with Accelerated Reader but when we reach a new goal we get to celebrate success with a goal!!  I wore an electic blue curly wig and it was super special for my first grade students!! 

 

I can't wait for my grad classes to finish because I am frazzled and not excited about them!!  I am however excited about joining some of my family members overseas with the ISS program!  If any of you would like to travel I would recomend the non profit organization because the schools are privately funded by dignitaries and International businessmen's children!  The college graduation rate is 98%!