tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42429292711765073972024-03-12T23:26:52.332-07:00Not Just Any TeacherWhere teacher meets realityAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-32813218620563670542016-07-28T18:27:00.000-07:002016-07-28T18:27:34.508-07:00I'm Back!It's been way to long since I've been on here. For those of you that have stuck around, thank you! To my new visitors, WELCOME!<br />
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Since I was last here I have switched schools and grade levels. I am now teaching at the same elementary school that I attended as a student and teaching Kindergarten. I never thought I would love teaching kindergarten as much as I do. <br />
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Friends...I have found my LOVE of teaching again! Kindergarten is the best. They are so cute and eager to learn. Not to mention the growth that they show by the end of the year. <br />
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Last year was my first year teaching Kinder at my school and it was stressful. I had just begun my graduate classes, had to switch schools, grades and curriculum. I spent most of the year leaning on my team for support and they got me through the year with flying colors. I really can't thank them all enough!<br />
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This year, I am nearing the end of my graduate program and I can't wait to get started this school year and really help my team.<br />
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I hope to share some of my ideas as I do them all year. Many of which are tips and ideas I learned at the iTeachK conference this past month in Vegas!<br />
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Have an amazing start of the school year!<br />
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I'll be back...Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-10717112100885795832013-08-11T18:39:00.004-07:002013-08-11T18:39:36.078-07:00Lost my MOJOThe start to the school year has been the worst one I've had in the past 7 years. Here are just a few of the reasons why...<br />
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First, my grandmother in law passed away on Monday. It made it hard to focus on getting ready for school to start. The funeral was on Friday so that meant taking off on day 3. Ugh! It's hard enough writing sub plans when you know the kids, but when you've only had 2 (very hectic) days with them, it was next to impossible.<br />
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I found out I was getting identical twins on the first morning of school. Nothing like a last minute add 30 minutes before school starts.<br />
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Then on Thursday my friend who had been hired to teach at my grade level with me got word that her position had been cut. We all absorbed her kiddos so I went from 24 to 28. <br />
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As I'm typing this post, I got word that I'm now getting another student which will put me at 29.<br />
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I have just went from 5 round tables of 4 and 1 rectangle table of 5 to 7 tables of 4. Where do I put number 29?!?<br />
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Any advice from teachers that teach large classes? I had 24 last year and I thought that was a lot. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-56967605875570207812013-07-23T22:14:00.001-07:002013-07-23T22:14:20.455-07:00My room....so farI have been in my room 4 times as of today. Twice with my mom and twice on my own. Here is a look at a few part of my class. Please keep in mind that this is all still a work in progress, and my 2 1/2 year old was with me today, so as I was organizing, she was un-organizing!<br />
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This is my Pencil Pouch/Golden Tickets. Last year I saw somewhere on Pinterest an idea to have a pocket chart for each student where they would keep 3 pencils. it worked wonderful, but fell apart constantly! So this year I bought a show organizer at Wal-Mart and numbered the pockets with a paint pen.<br />
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It will also house my kiddo's Golden Tickets. I used to do a behavior clip chart, but didn't like that there was little to no accountability with it. I wasn't so great about sending the notes home when on Red and didn't like handing out trivial prizes for my Outstanding kiddos. While reading through my friend Mandy's blog <a href="http://tickledpinkmandy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tickled Pink Mandy</a> I stumbled upon this gem from <a href="http://www.ateenytinyteacher.com/2012/07/i-dont-use-clip-chart-please-dont-throw.html" target="_blank">A Teeny Tiny Teacher</a> and I'm going to give it a try. I have always done Fun Friday, but I love how the behavior ties directly to fun friday this way. <br />
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My Fun Friday chart still needs the clothespins on them and my 2 1/2 year old was testing out the Golden Tickets for me :)<br />
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Here is an up close look at my Fun Friday options...<br />
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Here is my Calendar area. I have it on the door to best utilize the space. We start every day with our student of the week adding to our calendar (I will take off the numbers before the year starts, I just wanted to make sure I had them all), changing how many days's we've been in school and adjusting the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow signs. Then as a class we sing our days of the week song, months of the year song and count money for how many days in school we've had.</div>
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I don't really like the sign above the straws...I must find another way/place for that.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOomj8o5nA7uU68SFUEB38Au41NGo5p_xuH7XDSJ4RnsmnsHiRIaSgAwyVrTEpyLFUvqd9Y5ocXuFwrptXQrRrYWOm03Mz1Chxt50Lux6JtGrTjoF3bGryDKSuMOpDrFEF7pBu9Z8hgOgq/s640/blogger-image-2054692218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ffFRLQwabsRVkVmgjWQj7l2NRO9wT1FpfQAfneiIMLQPoDO_XsIvbLyrOlwACTaoydKWcWGk_aRiFrzw8KLXKe-zyjBWGTWI6xZtahC5Xq9FulJuK11TAMnqK7q6Zm-9jRVbpZAuA4sw/s640/blogger-image--2099482904.jpg" /></a></div>
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Thanks to <a href="http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/">Clutter Free Classroom</a> I will be trying out Math Workshop this year. I'm really excited how this board turned out and I can't wait to get it started!</div>
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This is my little helper today...she was such a trooper for over 3 hours! She found all sorts of ways to entertain herself while I got some work done. <br />
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I'd love to see how all of you set up your classroom....feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments so we can all check them out!</div>
Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-84736806294220489002013-07-01T09:27:00.000-07:002013-07-01T09:27:05.345-07:00You know school is starting soon when....Oh boy! It has begun....dreams about school! You know school is starting soon when you start dreaming about the upcoming year. <br />
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In last nights dream it was the first day of school and EVERYTHING was different! The school, the location, the rules. I went into the office to check my mail and there were people in there that had to do it for us. We weren't allowed to make copies, walk into the office, check our mail, nothing! Now, I'm all for some help but it was seriously insane. And, we hadn't had our retreat (I plan our staff retreat every year) yet and school was already starting. Not to mention our school was in a brand new location and you had to cross streets to get from one building to another. <br />
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Have any of you had strange "back to school" dreams yet? Or am I the only crazy one?!?!<br />
<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-35607794850078458522013-06-24T15:44:00.000-07:002013-06-24T15:44:00.099-07:00Summertime PlanningI'm sitting on my couch, baby sleeping, movie on (Rock of Ages) and I can't. stop. planning! I really just want to sit here and do nothing. I still have 5 weeks of summer fun ahead of me after all...one more vacation and lots of baby and me time to go but I can't help but scour social media for new ideas and start figuring out how I'm going to get it all together in time. <br />
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Proof, that teaching is way more then just a full time job!<br />
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To everyone out there on summer vacation....stop, relax and enjoy...because I say so!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-46167737490802583672012-08-07T20:27:00.003-07:002012-08-07T20:27:56.845-07:00First DayWe have a new building (beautiful!), a mostly new class (I'm multi grade) and an amazing staff but...I'm still freaking out! Why do I stress myself out so much before every 1st day of school. This is my 7th year teaching and I still worry about EVERYTHING! I'm sure it will all work out just fine, it always does. However, I can't help but wonder did I plan enough? Probably too much! Will I like my class? Of course, I will! Will the kids like me? I hope so! Will I have trouble makers? Of course I will (I met one today!!). First day jitters for sure...so I'm drinking my glass of wine, and printing off those last few things before I <strike>try to</strike> go to sleep. To everyone starting school tomorrow...good luck! And I can't wait to read all about it!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-43944156992815714322012-07-26T14:20:00.001-07:002012-07-26T14:20:49.513-07:00Postcard Exchange - Still Openings!<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey everyone! I'm super excited to be participating in a Postcard Exchange this year with Mechele over at Barrow's Hodgpodge. It's going to be a ton of fun and there are still some (12) openings! Click on the picture below to learn more!! Hope to exchange a postcard with you soon :)</div>
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<a href="http://barrowshodgepodge.blogspot.com/p/2012-2013-great-postcard-exchange.html" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvpxnSRWpDNSpWdK2HOZSgbdzQQOIaiLOk8qHeOKmOXlzuBwUqHYxl4YqWYSHUH3rLchkEtZLaOFCDCWbnl2hcULkvBogPCRymtOD5dxAtSgM30UmyUZ-JhwfVEigOoJU_sXYABaB7LCC/s320/Post%252520Card%252520Exchange%252520Promo.png" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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Alaska</div>
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Delaware</div>
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Idaho</div>
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Montana</div>
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North Dakota</div>
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Rhode Island</div>
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South Dakota</div>
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West Virginia<br />
Wyoming</div>
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Please share this with your teacher friends, you never know who may want to participate, even if you don't want to!</div>
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</div>Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-9270495804089708572012-07-05T22:00:00.005-07:002012-07-05T22:02:08.540-07:00Postcard Exchange<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Hey everyone! I'm super excited to be participating in a Postcard Exchange this year with Mechele over at Barrow's Hodgpodge. It's going to be a ton of fun and there are still some openings! Click on the picture below to learn more!! Hope to exchange a postcard with you soon :)</span></div>
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<a href="http://barrowshodgepodge.blogspot.com/p/2012-2013-great-postcard-exchange.html" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvpxnSRWpDNSpWdK2HOZSgbdzQQOIaiLOk8qHeOKmOXlzuBwUqHYxl4YqWYSHUH3rLchkEtZLaOFCDCWbnl2hcULkvBogPCRymtOD5dxAtSgM30UmyUZ-JhwfVEigOoJU_sXYABaB7LCC/s320/Post%2520Card%2520Exchange%2520Promo.png" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-86925586407289649332012-05-22T20:58:00.000-07:002012-05-23T20:58:31.289-07:00Day 16 - 2 pops!<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Today was our last full day of the year. With our rooms being packed up and the kids being <strike>crazy</strike> excited for the end of the year, we decided to pop our last two balloons. First one was "Make a Collage." It was basically our way of getting rid of all of our magazines and extra construction paper that we didn't want to pack. <br />
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The second pop was "Fun Friday, no matter the day." This was very exciting! For the kids and for us ;) We busted out the games (which I left to pack until the very last bell rang). There was a lot of smiles going on. </div>
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This was the most fantastic idea that Jill and I have had. It was just as exciting for us to pop the balloons and see what the afternoon had in store as it was for the kiddo's. We will definitely be doing this or something similar every year. I hope that you've enjoyed reading about our final month of school and possibly even been able to adapt some of these ideas for your own classrooms.</div>
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Have a great last few days (if your not already done)!</div>
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<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-20840943578481189522012-05-21T20:42:00.000-07:002012-05-23T20:42:34.823-07:00Day 15 - Half Pencils<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Today was a half day. Don't ask me why our last three days are 1/2 day, full day, 1/2 day, but that's what it is and so we dealt with it. Half days don't leave much room for a whole lot so we thought it would be fun to make it 1/2 pencil day. Jill's husband works at a golf course, so the 1/2 pencils are free flowing. This kids had a blast and thought it was funny to have to use 1/2 pencils on a 1/2 day. <br />
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Sorry for the lack of a picture, I was out celebrating my 30th birthday!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-32850797689383843522012-05-18T13:31:00.000-07:002012-05-19T13:57:19.711-07:00Day 14 - Marshmallow Structure<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em>
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So today the kiddo's got to build Marshmallow Structures in teams of 5. Then we walked around and looked at everyone's masterpieces. Jill and I had close to 1,000 toothpicks and still is wasn't enough! The kids had a great time and got really creative. When we were done, they were able to share the structures with their teams so that everyone could take some of it home. <br />
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<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-87636795944491470432012-05-17T13:37:00.000-07:002012-05-19T13:57:13.492-07:00Day 13 - Extra Lunch Recess<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em>
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Today they got extra lunch recess. We usually give them a few extra minutes on Friday's, so they were super excited to have it today with it being a Thursday! No picture today...sorry!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-90965260938809824082012-05-15T22:00:00.001-07:002012-05-15T22:00:16.922-07:00Day 11 - Bubble Gum and Prizes<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Today the kiddo's popped "Pick a Prize", which is great, except we haven't been planning afternoons since we know we will be popping the balloon and getting an activity. We forgot about this one! Since we <strike>rigged</strike> added the Blow Bubbles Outside balloon when we had a sub, we had an extra balloon in the bunch. We let them pop 2 today! The second was Bubble Gum project. They each got some bubble gum and got to chew it, record descriptive words about it, "taste test" it every minute and then try to blow bubbles. It was a close call, but "YES, I can blow a bubble" won by just a hair. The kids thought it was great and so did we. Once I SAW them spit out their gum, they were able to pick a prize from our LARGE prize box. Usually that's reserved for 5 Off the Charts days. It was an exciting day to say the least.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Don't mind my impromptu chart!!!</span></div>
<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-81823366807744607632012-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:002012-05-15T21:53:38.198-07:00Day 10 - Movie!<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Jill and I were sure that they would pop Watch a Movie on the very last day, but....THEY POPPED IT TODAY! On a Monday, none the less :D Super happy teachers and quiet kiddo's on the 2nd to last Monday of the year. Does it get any better?<br />
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P.S. We watched Disney's, "Meet the Robinson's"Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-90728099056213689292012-05-11T21:15:00.000-07:002012-05-13T21:15:31.453-07:00Day 9 - End of the Day Recess<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />So today they popped "End of the day recess." On any other day we would have been thrilled with this, but it was a Friday which already meant some extra time after lunch. Also, we have this cool event 4 times a year at our school called Exploration Friday where volunteers from the community come in and teach the kids about everything from gardening to cooking to pets. It's super awesome, but means that they get an extra recess thrown in after the two classes. So they spent a lot of time outside today. They didn't mind, we were just hoping to have had that one on a day that they really needed some extra play time. <br />
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Side note: We have been thinking about how we would do this next year, and we may color code balloons so that we can have a better idea of planning. More on that in another post...Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-63498062600503943392012-05-10T21:10:00.000-07:002012-05-13T21:11:35.831-07:00Day 8 - Sit Where You Want<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Remind us NEVER EVER EVER to put this in a balloon again! Seriously...<br />
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Today they popped, "sit wherever you want" which turned out to be a complete disaster. They chatted, fought, argued and questioned all day long. What we should have done was let them sit wherever they wanted for a small part of the day. All day was a big mistake! Please trust me when I say to never do this. Learn from my mistake!Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-45859988126822081912012-05-09T17:46:00.002-07:002012-05-09T17:46:38.126-07:00Day 7 - In the Garden<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em><br />
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Today we all got to spend the afternoon in the garden reading, drawing or writing. It was so nice to be able to spend time in our schools garden before it gets torn down for our new building. These two boys decided to draw. </div>
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<br /></div>Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-53082883190270540072012-05-09T17:00:00.000-07:002012-05-09T17:17:27.921-07:00Day 6 - Edible Jewelry<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em></div>
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What a fun and yummy "pop" today. They all got to make yummy Fruity O's necklaces, bracelets, there were even a few pairs of earrings. So easy, just strings and O shaped cereal...yummo!</div>
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</div>Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-54441373360238542942012-05-07T17:16:00.000-07:002012-05-09T17:17:10.646-07:00Day 5 - Bubbles<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></em></div>
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Jill and I had subs in our rooms today so that we could grade and input our Benchmark scores. We kinda rigged the balloon pop today so that we would know how to plan. It's one thing for us to not know what the afternoon/day will hold, but way to much to try and explain to even our most trusted subs (which we happened to have!). So they got to spend the afternoon blowing bubbles! So fun and we hear they really loved it. No picture today though since I wasn't there to get some shots.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</em></span></div>
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Today, all of the kiddo's got to start the day with their clips on "Great Job!" I had 7 kiddos off the charts, today! Woohoo :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5snoydsMz6JsckWmB7Z_gc4JuOROAQipeZHOy-9TveTgQ8OzqzmChXbJ2A2rL8j1voGFpSvnDftyiVuPYa-JT-21HlSakVCLpU5DBxtcstT8rCUNbkUuyUyg5kjMXw3ivKbuRm-Hu2QT/s1600/great+job.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5snoydsMz6JsckWmB7Z_gc4JuOROAQipeZHOy-9TveTgQ8OzqzmChXbJ2A2rL8j1voGFpSvnDftyiVuPYa-JT-21HlSakVCLpU5DBxtcstT8rCUNbkUuyUyg5kjMXw3ivKbuRm-Hu2QT/s400/great+job.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-61941342345807082652012-05-03T18:04:00.003-07:002012-05-09T17:07:12.545-07:00Day 3 - Magic School Bus<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our schools annual talent show is coming up soon. Our classes are singing the theme song to the Magic School Bus movies since our kids love them so much. So do Jill and I! There seems to be one for every topic. The kids were pretty excited to watch one just for fun. We chose "In the Dough" since the kids favorite line in the theme is "you might get baked into a pie!" Jill and I were thankful for 20 something minutes of quiet ;)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Don't mind the blurry iPad picture and the mess...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">we have to get our entire room packed in the next few weeks to move into our brand new buildings! </span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></i>Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-14602985401001236672012-05-02T17:57:00.000-07:002012-05-09T17:16:49.865-07:00Day 2 - Markers only<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></i><br />
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Never in a million years did Jill and I think that the directions "Use only markers all day" would be so difficult! They were so confused...during math? Yes. During writing? Yes. In our doodle books? Yes. I guess that's what happens when you don't usually allow markers in the classroom...<br />
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<br />Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-39928133279296870852012-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:002012-05-03T17:58:23.217-07:00Day 1 - Shaving Cream<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">My teaching partner and I saw a super cute end of the year activity on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/223280093995700466/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. You fill balloons with fun activities for a length of time, we chose the month of May since we get out on the 23rd, and each day your class pops one and does the activity inside. I thought I would write each day about the activity that got "popped." We explained to them that if they were below Green (Ready to Learn) on the clip chart, then they wouldn't be able to participate. Once everyone understood the expectations we were ready to pop...</span></i><br />
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Day 1 - May 1st<br />
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Shaving Cream the tables!<br />
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Each friend started with their initial and then got more as the time went on...<br />
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It was messy, but fun, to say the least! They all helped clean up the mess and managed to keep it only on the tables (and a few shirts!).<br />
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1 down, 16 more to go...Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-75071483085263078102012-04-11T20:57:00.001-07:002012-04-11T20:57:21.607-07:00Spring is in the AirWOW! That's really all that I can say about the past few weeks in my room. This year I was <strike>blessed</strike> cursed with a group of very spirited children. I have 7 or so kid's out of 22 total that are just really hard to manage. Which means keeping them at separate tables is a no go. I've tried every technique known to man, from clip charts, to spending time in other rooms, to making them all work together, to try and correct the aggressive, snarky, disrespectful behaviors, to no avail. I had one of them tell me "summer is getting close and we are just excited!" Trust me kiddo, SO AM I! One of those students was suspended for the 4th (4TH!!!) time today in as many weeks...when is enough enough?!?<br />
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In a last ditch effort, I busted out our new carpet that I got through Donor's Choose. It has 30 colored squares and each student now has a place to call their own. I was trying to wait until our school moved into our new building in the fall, but if ever a class needed some structured space during whole group, this is it! So my question is this, how do you deal with your "spirited" children? How do you handle repeat offenders? Any advice is welcome...only one more month to go...Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4242929271176507397.post-31408217527361567842012-01-20T13:27:00.000-08:002012-01-20T13:27:47.898-08:002 weeks of being sick, a new student and a great neighborI've been sick for 2 weeks! Yes, 2 WEEKS! It started last Tuesday when I had what I thought was just a cold. I stayed home with my baby girl in hopes that I would be able to just relax and be better. Well I woke up Wednesday and attempted school. I only stayed for 1/2 of the day and slept that afternoon. I felt much better Wednesday night. But Thursday I woke up with a fever. I went to school, thinking that I'd be fine, but didn't even make it 10 minutes. The diagnosis...Strep Throat. The good think is that strep goes away within 24 hours on meds but I was still contagious on Friday, so a doctors note meant no school for me. Thank goodness the meds kicked in because I had a trip to Disneyland for my daughters first birthday that weekend. <br />
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Monday was a Holiday and Tuesday was my babies first birthday so I had already pre-planned to have that day off. Wednesday I had a district training on the CCS. I was pretty excited to get back to work on Thursday, but in the middle of the night I woke up with a nasty stomach virus and fever. So here I am, 2 weeks of not being at school! <br />
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Luckily I work with the best group of people! Especially my neighbor, Jill. I could not have dealt with all this without her. She has basically given the subs everything that they have needed from copies to instructions. The kids, I've heard, have started to get a little anxious and who can blame them! Oh yeah, I also got a new student last Friday that I haven't even met yet!!! I'm a little scared what to expect on Monday when I get there!<br />
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Please keep your fingers crossed for me...Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12071297190184687874noreply@blogger.com1