Tell Me Something Good {Linky}

Jennifer from Rowdy in First is hosting a "Tell Me Something Good" linky.

Something Good at School: I FINALLY started a fun unit with my students!  We have been buried in assessments and play practice and new teacher requirements dreamed up by the state, so it feels like we haven't done anything fun in ages!  I started a unit on China and the Chinese New Year this week.  We read (yes...read...as in shared reading with my class) Lon Po Po and Yeh Shen.  I put together and investigative inquiry center where students were engrossed in books about China and put their "I notices" and "I wonders" on sticky notes to share - quietest and most productive center in ages! I will shared pictures as soon as I can remember to bring my camera to school!

Something Good at Home: 1. I FINALLY have a dishwasher installed!  It has been two years and I finally decided, since I have gone back to school one night a week, that I can't stand the dishes anymore and it was worth it to buy a new dishwasher.  We have one of the 18" ones, so they are about twice as expensive. 2. I started my second doctoral class!  Oh, my!  I so love it, but am so out of my element.  I'm taking a Qualitative Methods course and I have to observe people and do interviews.  I guess I'll just have to come out of my shy shell!

I am excited about the upcoming 3 day weekend!  I am prepping for a workshop I am doing on integrating CORE into literacy centers.  I have the basics, but need to really work on fleshing it out.  I hope I can share something new with area colleagues!

Pet of the Day

I wanted to share a great activity that adds authentic reading and writing to the classroom and provides a bit of entertainment. I was finding that snack time was turning into more of a recess time and management issues were cropping, so I pulled out an old calendar activity from when I taught first grade.  It is a website called “Pet of the Day.”  I pull it up on our electronic whiteboard and we read it while the kids are eating snack.  Here are a few features:

• Introduces different animals.
• Animals are from all over the country and world – makes a great connection to social studies.
• Sometimes kids write about their pets and send it in.
• Students can get a sense of an author’s voice and other writing features.

This has been super motivating for my students and they love to read about the pets together.  Check it out!

 

Sunday Random

This post is just total life randomness and reflecting.

Is it just me or did the weekend to super fast?!? I planned ahead in spelling, but am not quite feeling ready to tackle the week. I can't say how many times I thought about how I should have stayed in first grade. I really like to teach new things and pull new units together, but I guess it feels harder this time. I was in first for 5 years, after six years of looping or changing jobs/roles. So, I think this change has thrown me for a loop. I am just not as happy to spend hours planning for the next week as I used to be and it is overwhelming when everything is completely different. i end up not making decisions because I'm not sure what to do next.

Anyway, what's a girl to do? Of course, go shopping! I know, I know, I was on a whole spending diet. I tried to use gift cards but could not find a leopard print scarf at Peebles, so I succumbed to TJMaxx - where one can find just about anything. I found a cute shift dress and a heavy red, black, and white plaid jacket. I may end up taking the jacket back. I found it in the children's section. Rachel Raye had a segment on how everyone can find items in the children's section and it is so much cheaper. However, this is not the first time I have perused the girls section. I, sadly, can wear large and XL items. It is just hard to find trendy things. Anyway, I got the jacket and think it might be too small. After bringing the first armful from the car, I just didn't want to go back out in the dark and snow.

I also found a filing cabinet at the thrift store for $5! I am rearranging my room and needed somewhere to put my phone, so I thought it would serve as a phone area and for storage. My thought right now is to start to reorganize my mentor books for reading and writing. Now that I can look back on the last four months, I can foresee how I want next year to go.

Maybe that's it! I know I'm a perfectionist. It is just killing me that I'm not doing things the way I want the first year in this grade. I'm just making it through the days and it is bringing me down. I think about how I cold have done it better and what I need to make better. I think it's a low to the confidence level when you second guess everything. We have a new math program and it is a huge undertaking. We also adopted a new spelling series and it doesn't have leveled lists or any word lists to send home. So, even though we have the book and workbooks, we are still typing everything.

Oh, we had an eventful afternoon! We put a tin roof on last year and the installers didn't include the snow guards. We have had about a foot of snow over the last two weeks and some of it has slid of the roof. Our dog has been so nervous because the roof makes noise all day. The snow on the back deck slid off in an avalanche sort of way. The sound was incredible! So now we have about three feet of snow blocking our back door!

This was totally a random brain dump! Have a great week!

Five for Friday

I am linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday linky. I know that I am posting twice (and that breaks the teacher bloggy rules ) but this is after all, a Friday linky!  

Let’s see…

1. I am on a no buying (except for groceries) spree! I cleaned out my closet and realized that I truly do not need any more clothes.  I haven’t even attempted to organize my craft room/office, but I really am set for oh, about 100 years with all types of crafty supplies.  AND I have way too many décor items – I don’t have space in my tiny little house for them!

2. I am anxiously awaiting my very last purchase before the new year!  I ordered some items from Maurices and a bunch of jewelry from Forever 21 and am dying to get the packages in the mail.  I hear about all these great things that people find there, but the store just drives me crazy.  I can never find anything and it always makes me dizzy when I walk in there.

 

3. I am in the middle of changing my classroom around for about the millionth time!  I am one of those teachers who just can’t feel comfortable in my classroom until I find the perfect arrangement. I have a long, narrow room and just find it hard to arrange everything. II am still loving the Dots on Turquoise scheme I went with this year.

 

4. I have yet to take down my Christmas tree. We always take a picture in front of the tree and it takes forever for us to get around to it.

 

 

5. I have resolved to use up things I have before buying more  I have lots of make-up, skincare products, and general household items that are half full and I haven’t/don’t use them or multiples of items.  I have so many bottles of scented lotion and don’t want to throw them out.  How many eyeliners does one person need?  How about blushes? Really?

 

Anyway, those are a few random things that popped into my mind!

2012 Bloggy Best and Brightest, and Books for Boys Linky

A little alliteration…
Bunting, Book, and Bainbridge is having a linky! It's one is a chance to share and brag about blogging in 2012. I'm trying to do this post in my iPad because I still did not get my computer fixed! Let's see...
  1. I wrote a lot of posts and posted more freebies last year.

2. I found more of a voice in 2012. I think I have mentioned before, but I am a very shy person when it comes to talking to adults. The blog world is no different for me. I can be a little more anonymous, but you are still putting yourself out there for people.

3. I learned so much about the actual creation of a blog! I learned how to modify and create templates, creat blog buttons, and customize my blog.

My goals for this year...

1. Make a connection with other third grade bloggers. I have been bridging the world between the first grade teachers I love to follow and third grade blogs that I need for the support.

2. I'd like to share more thins that I create. Yikes...such a risk!

3. Along the same lines,I would really like to get into TPT world. I really need to think about how to be ale to do the college thing and still pay the bills! I just hope I have something useful for others!

Swimming into Second is hosting a linky party all about the best books for boys.
 

I am lucky to have pretty voracious readers this year and I have been working to update my book collection, with a particular focus on books for boys. Maximum Boy has been a favorite in my room for a few years and I found is by accident at a thrift store a few years ago. Maximum boys is your average kid who is also a super hero!  Hank Zipper is a new discovery.  I was looking for books for boys and found these at Goodwill.  They are getting great reviews from my boys. The story lines remind me of Boy Meets World.  AND they are co-written by the Fonz – Henry Winkler if you don’t know who the Fonz is.

Anything Lego related has been hot this year.  It has really made me think of how to appeal to boys through their interests.  I find that they use many skills that non-fiction readers use.  The books can be written like encyclopedias or how to books.

Garfield comics have been so huge this year that the kids are sneaking them into their desks to read. They even take them to lunch.

Matt Christopher is also a popular author among the boys. He writes books with a sports theme. They really appeal to boys who love baseball or football stats.


These are a few popular books in my room this year.  Some years the dinosaur theme is hot or books about sharks or volcanoes.  These year, the kids seem to have very different tastes in books. I hope that you found a few new ideas for your kiddos.