Wrapping Up 2007-2008 School Year May 29, 2008

Today I wrapped up all of the loose ends. I ended the school year by locking my door at 3:00. I checked out. The process of checking out is tedious, but worth it in August. I have to take everything down from the walls, wash the book cases & dry erase boards, take down bulletin boards, roll up the rugs, label everything, unhook computers, and cover the book cases with paper. I organized my desk by going through papers and files that I haven’t used. It’s so neat and clean–organized! It’s wierd seeing your room bare when you’re used to it being bright and colorful.

Even though I don’t like this process, it does have its benefits. The pros are you get to start with a clean slate for the next school year, you get to have a nice oorganized desk, and you don’t have as much purging in August.

I am not wrapped up with my teaching though. I have been thinking over in my mind of how I want next year to go. The third week in June I will be participating in our first advanced institute with teacher inquiry. I am eager to learn new things about my teaching and I expect a great outcome for my teaching too. In the school year 2008-2009 I plan on implementing my writer’s notebooks, but I am planning on tweaking them a lot. I did get input from my students on writer’s notebooks and can’t wait to look at that data.

An Odd Feeling May 28, 2008

Today I came home from organizing my classroom to an empty house. It was an odd feeling because no one was here to greet me as I walked in. Usually my two dogs, Belle and Mimi, are wagging their tails and smiling when I arrive. It’s going to be this way for a few days because they are visiting their grandma, Sophie. Tony and I are going out of town and my parents agreed to watch over them. I know that they will be happier with Sophie and not at the kennel. I will see my two girls next Wednesday when we go to pick them up in Kentucky.

The End for Now May 27, 2008

The 2007-2008 school year is over! Last Friday was the last day of school. It went by so fast this year, but I am glad it’s over. I am ready for some R & R. The only thing about the end of the year is the process of packing up everything. At my school we have to take everything off of the walls and store it. It’s a daunting task, but I guess it’s a good thing because you start the next year off fresh.

This summer I am looking forward to reading literature about writer’s notebooks and how to implement them better. I will be attending an advanced institute where I’ll be researching more of my inquiries. Right now I am thinking of the following questions:

How can I better implement a writer’s notebook into my writer’s workshop?

How can I use a writer’s notebook to model and teach revision and editing?

If you have any ideas, I would love to hear about them on either topic… 

Winding Down May 21, 2008

 

The school year is winding down. Today we had our field day and boy was it tiring. Our school does field day a little differently. They are divided into 24 teams where there are students from all grade levels. The goal for this was to be more family oriented. The teams compete against each other and they win by the best times. The past two years my team has placed 2nd, but unfortunately we didn’t place this year. It was a good day.

You can always tell when it’s the end of the year– students shut down 2 weeks before school is actually out. Tuesday I attempted to do this cool lesson on vivid verbs, but it bombed. I can’t blame the kids though–I’m ready for it to end too. This year was a good year over all–next year will be an even better year. I am already thinking of new ways to improve the year.

I was wondering what some of  you do at the end of the year to keep your students going. Please share your ideas.

 

Family History May 5, 2008

For the past 3 months my students have been working on their Family History projects. I can’t take any credit for the project because I am carrying on a 7th grade tradition. These students had to write an autobiography, create a family tree, create a pictorial history of themselves, and so much more. I think a lot of my students enjoyed the project. Thursday we will have a Family History Museum where their parents and the whole school come to visit. At the museum they will have their projects on display and have a family dish for people to sample. It’s a fun day!