My 5th Grade Teacher January 31, 2011

It’s amazing how you never forget your elementary teachers. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see my 5th grade teacher. My school was having an open house for the beginning of Catholic Schools Week and she was there with her granddaughter. I thought I recognized her. She looked almost the same – same haircut, same voice. She remembered me! She even introduced me to her granddaughter who might attend our school next year. I appreciate my teachers and I hope my students feel the same about me.

At Christmas time, one of my former students bumped into me at Target. He was excited to see me. It was great seeing him grown up and not as a sixth grader. I bet that’s how my 5th grade teacher felt. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies!

 

Intentions Revisited January 20, 2011

Yesterday, I had my students reread their 2011 intentions and evaluate their progress. It was amazing how honest they were with themselves. Some students even admitted to not doing well at all and some admitted that they were right on track. I will ask them to revisit their intentions again to see how it’s going. It’s good to evaluate yourself. I feel it’s also good to evaluate yourself as a writer. I plan on surveying my students soon to see how they see themselves as writers.

Another Snow Day ~ Three Word Phrases Poem

Stay up late

Watch  my shows

Piddle on computer

Watch it snow

Another snow day

What to do?

Sleep in late

Jammies all day

Snuggle with EB

Snowflakes flutter delicately

Frolicking with delight

Smiles on faces

Assemble a snowman

Wet cold fingers

Chattering of teeth

Sipping hot chocolate

Snuggle with EB

Another snow day

 

I love to use three word phrases in class. Compact thoughts in three words!

Little Things

Today reminded me to remember the little things about teaching. Sometimes you get so comfortable that you forget to actually “hook” your learners. My student teacher “hooked” her learners by starting class with a mini clip of “Who’s on First?” I felt it was an excellent way to hook them into interrogative pronouns. My students seemed to enjoy the skit too and were engaged with her. Last week she also did an excellent job of hooking her learners by reading them an excerpt from the novel Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden. She had them draw conclusions based on what she had read to them. Looking back at my teaching, I need to refresh myself and “HOOK” my students! I feel it’s always a good idea to reflect on your teaching that way you can better yourself for the benefits of your students.

NWP Make It January 9, 2011

This post is long overdue! You know how life is; it gets in the way sometimes. Anyways, I had the opportunity to attend the NWP annual conference last November in Orlando, FL. My writing project buddies and I had a great time attending sessions, but one session stood out the most to us. This session was on a Saturday and I know Saturdays aren’t a day that you want to go to a session. We decided to go anyways.

Upon entering the room, there were tables of all kinds of different projects to choose from. I chose the musical sock puppet project, one of my friends chose the brush bot project, and my other friend chose the mood light project. We really had no clue of what to expect. After introductions we were instructed to make our project with our leader teaching us a long the way. We were to create our project in one hour. After making our projects, we were to create an “on-line” version of how to make our project on paper. This was challenging in its self. As a group we had to design how we wanted our “on-line” project page to look and what were the essentials to add to our site. This also took an hour. Once we finished our “on-line” website, all of the groups posted their “sites” on the walls of the room. We then got to go around the room and make comments on sticky notes for each of the different websites. Even though we were there for 4 hours; it didn’t seem like it. I truly enjoyed this session. I got to make a sock puppet that sings along with incorporating writing and gaining a camaraderie with others.

I plan to incorporate this type of how-to-article with  my students. My plan is to teach my students how to make the sock puppets and then my students will teach one of the third grade classes at my school how to make the puppet. The 3rd grade teacher and I will come up with a way that the students can incorporate writing, whether we do the on-line site or create a script for a play.  I can’t wait to do this project with my kids!

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Student Teacher

I have been blessed with a student teacher. Last week went well. She basically observed and helped me with grades and copies of things. I’ve learned to be flexible and to just go with the flow and she is very flexible. This is what I need this year. I look forward to learning from my student teacher as well as just her learning from me.

Rereading Update January 6, 2011

Wednesday I had my students reread their writers’ notebooks. The students were eager to share their patterns of topics. My hope is that my students realize that there are golden nuggets buried in their notebooks. I will definitely have my students reread their notebooks more often so that they can evaluate themselves with their writing. Some students were amazed by how they wrote about the same thing. Some noticed that they wrote on completely random topics. It seemed that they really enjoyed reread their work. I  myself found ideas I had written about and had forgotten about.

 

Rereading January 4, 2011

Rereading is a strategy that I need to do more of. Just a few minutes ago I reread some of my posts from 2007. It’s good to know that I am still doing some of the things that I have posted and I also saw where I need to go back and post on things that haven’t worked or that I’ve improved. Rereading also helps me get my mind set and to see patterns of topics. I believe tomorrow’s writer’s notebook strategy will be rereading their notebook. I am going to set a timer for 5 minutes and have my students and myself reread. Before they start I will invite them to look for patterns or entries that they started, but never finished. After the 5 minutes are up, I will invite my students to write coming up with their own topic or territory. I hope that they will see an improvement with their writing and use this strategy more often. I myself need to reread more often.

Discombobulated January 3, 2011

Before Christmas break, I had planned my lessons and prepared my students’ assignments. I put together supplies for my new student that was to be coming in. I also knew I was to be a cooperating teacher for a student teacher. I left school and didn’t look back until this morning at 7:30. All day I felt out of place even though I had planned. I guess that’s what happens when your brain and body go into vacation mode. Below is an etheree of my feelings of today:

 

Discombobulated an etheree

The

Feeling

Teachers get

After a break

Nothing goes as planned

Children are not concerned

Lots of catching up to do

Smile, might as well be flexible

Once Monday has passed, you won’t feel

Discombobulated for a while

 

By Andi N.