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Just another crafty Sunday...

…or really the first one since about high school.  I’ve decided to start making some of the things that I’ve pinned on Pinterest for my classroom.  The project I started with today was found on Miss Kindergarten’s blog spot.  I LOOOOOVE her DIY “Where are we?” board, and it is just what I need to save our secretaries from running all around the school to find me and my kiddos.  So here is my version…

Thanks to my dad for cutting a scrap piece of I don’t even know what kind of board for the sturdy base.  (Dad’s are the best aren’t they!)I used ribbon to smooth the not so smooth edges.  I will add my places cards when I can figure out how to share my googledocs folder.

Using the handy paper bag trick for painting the clothes pin, I went ahead and painted 10 more for my “All About Me” board.  Yet another amazing Pintrest trick (hot glueing a thumb tack to the back of the clothes pin) these will save me sooooo much time and annoyance with an at times noncompliant stapler.  I’m so excited to use my new crafty crafts.

Tomorrow will be my first day in the classroom.  I already feel behind.  Only 2 more stressless summer Sunday nights.  YIKES!!!!

 ~Adelle

Face Book Flipbook

Class lists are posted!  Viral texts begin between the teachers at our school.  We finally get a glimpse at who we will be spending this school year with.  As soon as I got home last night, I pulled up my county’s web portal to see just who was in my class this year.  (We all know those lists change even into the first weeks of school.) 

I am very excited about the bunch I will be getting this year.  I’m lucky enough to share a hallway with 2^nd grade, so I’ve seen the little munchkins in the hallways so many times already.  Even though I don’t know the names of the majority of them, I know their faces well.  Also lucky for me, their little pictures pop up next to their names.  This comes in quite handy especially since I will be having an intern this fall.  She will only be coming once a week so, if she’s anything like me, learning names might be a challenge. 

My roommate gave me a fantastic idea to help interns/subs/myself put names with faces.  When she was student teacher, her mentor teacher gave her a flip-book of names and faces.  Each child’s picture, first name, and last name were printed on an index card size page.  Attach a metal ring to the top and you’ve got a face flip-book.

This is the cover for my partner teacher's class.
Love my teaching partner!!!!

You can click HERE to download the template my roommate created.


Happy August!!!

Back to WHAT!?!?!

As I've been reading some of my favorite blogs I've learned that I'm one of the lucky ones who still has a few more weeks of summer left. Yesssss!!!

This is a very good thing because also, unlike others, I have not been motivated to create new materials. Or even look at any of my first week of school files.   I had lunch with my teacher friends today and one of them suggested meeting at school this week to start unpacking and decorating our classrooms.  All I could think is, "Ugh! Really!"  I would much more prefer to root on Team USA from my couch all day long.   (Not that I've done that or plan on doing that anytime soon. ::wink wink::  I can’t get enough of beach volleyball.)

The only time I begin thinking about my classroom is to escape thinking about packing.  When your apartment looks like this...

...all I want to do is procrastinate. This makes the perfect time for Pinning and the Olympics. Right!?!?

I did get a little back to school spark while at Target today when I found a million little things I just HAD to have from the dollar bins. One of my new additions this year will be my star student chair cap. Sooooo cute! I hope the kiddos are as pumped about them as I am. Unlikely, but it's the little things that bring a spark to the day.

Alright. I'm off to watch some more Olympics. I hope race walking is on.

Summer!!! 

I adore summer.  The ability to relax (I do know what that word means), read books that are of my choice and not kid choice, hang out with friends and family, and just have a life outside of the classroom.  Normally by this part of the summer I have read at least 2 professional books, previewed new read alouds, and thought through my first quarter projects.  NOT THIS SUMMER!  I have not even thought about school besides pinning a million and one things to my school boards.  It is so liberating to finally know, after 3 years in the same grade, that I do know what I'm doing!  YESSSS! FREEDOM!!!  Now the hope is that I will be able to continue to procrastinate school work till August.  That'd be lovely. :)

So, after spending my night catching up on some of my favorite teacher blogs I found this cute blog...

I LOVE the currently questions that you and your pal...

So here is my "Currently" for July.

Teacher Dork

I know those words don't go together right! When you think of your teacher you always think of this kind (hopefully) person who helped you to learn or tricked you into learning how to read, how to write, that Texas is not a country but a state just like Maryland, and that it is not always the best thing to just say whatever pops into your mind (especially when it's silent reading time).

This has been a hard year to be a teacher. A lot of eyes have been watching what we do and scrutinizing what we do without really knowing the heart that goes into doing what we do. We put a lot of effort into what we teach each day, always feeling like we could have done a better job. I know at the end of each lesson (and a lot of times even in the middle) I find myself thinking "Next year I'll do it this way or that way." Keeping current, I never do things the same way twice.

Where do I find the encouragement to go on? Not only to go back to school another day, but to challenge myself to make each day bigger and better. I read teacher blogs. I read them like they are a magazine. I subscribe to them. I implement their ideas into my classroom. I read them dreaming of being a master teacher, dreaming of the day when I really own my craft, getting kids to read and write and love every minute of it. As I read the faces of my kids come to my mind. I know that the squirmy one will love this lesson, she'll really be able to run with this idea. He will be able to get it if I follow that plan. Or what a great way to teach money, I'll be doing this Monday.

As I read through their blogs I'm always inspired to bigger and better lessons, projects, classroom management, teaching kids from where they are. I am always inspired, even when I have the feeling that my job does not matter because the government doesn't want to fund what I do. I am always inspire to take the minds in my classroom and mold them into thinkers, doers, helpers, compassionate, caring people. To challenge them to be bigger and better. I can't ask something of a student that I am not willing to ask of myself.

Who's been inspiring me lately?

Heather Renz, 4th Grade, Oregon http://www.mrsrenz.net/teacherzone.htm

Beth Newingham, 3rd grade, Troy, MI (LOOOOVE HER!!!) http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/indexregionscrapbooks.htm

Top Teaching from Scholastic http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/


Who's been inspiring you lately?

The word is toad Ms. King!

I heart teaching!

Yesterday we worked on one of my favorite subjects, writing. After taking an stellar writing class at McDaniel College this fall, I cannot teach enough writing. These 3rd graders have so much to say. Some of it everyday life (I love sledding). Some of it extremely funny (The Adventures of Pickle Boy and Chip). I usually let the children choose their own writing topics and encourage them to use the writing tools that we learn in class.

This week's writing tool: the power of similes. To introduce this poetic device I love to read Quick as a Cricket, by Audrey Wood. I begin reading the story (for the second time around, I've already finished this lesson with my morning ELA class). The kids are commenting on each page and the comparisons made. We get to a page I will never forget. I begin to read the simile, "I'm as cold as..." and I lose my place, my own ADD kicking in. I begin to look at the picture while I am reading, which reminds me of our class pet, Michelangelo, the painted turtle. With that thought in my mind I continue reading..."I'm as cold as a terd." What was supposed t be toad became terd. Yes. This teacher said terd and continued to laugh about it just as hard and loud as the kids. I couldn't even regain my composure enough to finish the book. I let the kids read it to me.

Luckily, this did not ruin our lesson. A majority of the kids were still able to create funny similes about themselves, their classmates, and me. Apparently I'm as nice as a bunny and kind as someone's mommy.

I LOVE my job!