Gettin' Muddy!

So I have the time/energy to post two times in one day, because we are out for flooding!  I always feel a little guilty for being happy about being out of school because I really do enjoy my job (and other people with normal jobs don't get out of work).  But, I see it as one of the perks of being a teacher...you maintain that kid-like excitement about lots of things.  I, at least, have been using some of my time off to look on pinterest, teacherspayteachers, and data from some of my recent assessments.

I am hoping to do data conferences with my students when we get back because I made each of them a little packet containing their important test scores in Reading and Language (an idea I got from our reading specialist).  It is just so hard for them to understand the importance of standardized testing.  I want them to care and try their best, but it's hard for them to see why it matters, because they are in third grade for goodness sake! But, I also don't want to make them feel like failures or freak them out.  Even my best students who try hard have trouble with all of the tests.  I mean I see why they're important but I wish they could be administered individually or something. Maybe all of this Common Core stuff will do some good eventually.

Anyway, back to the title of this post...I decided to use the rainy day (before the flood) to teach about compare and contrast!  I made a bowl of mud and a bowl of potting soil, and we simply compared them using a venn diagram.  Our story this week was about landforms so I thought it was at least a little thematic.  Then we used hula hoops to diagram their responses (another steal from pinterest).  It was a pretty fun lesson, but next time I will try to make it more challenging.  It think I'm going to have them compare character traits next time and use three hula hoops.  But, we did have fun!

2 unrelated photos...my students (and teacher buddies) have been bringing me lots of owl stuff because I'm obsessed...the mug is adorable!  Below is a pic of how I'm going to try to organize my library...I get so frustrated with them not knowing their book levels, but all of the CAFE stuff says to make books more appealing by organizing them by genre...blah, blah, blah.  I've organized my library at least 3 times a year for 5 years...so I'm just going to try to do it like the real library does it- by level and also make one of my kids the librarian!  I'll let you know how it turns out ;) Looks pretty ghetto now...

Would You Like a Spot of Tea?

I truly believe that some of the best experiences I've had in the classroom are when I embrace "teachable moments."  Whether it is examining a spider you find in the room or watching and discussing the weather outside...my favorite part of teaching is enjoying the excitement of those everyday moments with my kids. (I'm getting deja vu about blogging this...so forgive me if I've said this before!)

Last week, I took the teachable moment a step further.  It doesn't relate to any standards really, but I just couldn't help but discuss my winter vacation with my students.  First, I let them all tell me the favorite gift they received and the favorite place they went.  Though I heard a lot about video games, most of them enjoyed going to their grandmother's houses...which I thought was really sweet :)  My husband and I went to London (a trip we've been wanting to take for a while), and I decided to bring London to my kids.

With the help of some BrainPop videos and my poorly (kid friendly) worded definition of a monarchy and how old the British Empire is, they were able to enjoy a little trip!  We looked at photos, did some castle worksheets, and examined what exactly is in a tea bag.  I'll have to admit that I've never opened up a tea bag so I was pretty excited!  We also drank some yummy tea.  Most of them had tried cold sweet tea, a staple in the South, but few had had hot tea.  They actually like it...but they really liked the little sugar cubes I gave them!  Needless to say, we all had fun.  Here are a few pics...

 Some of my boys are really into Harry Potter so they loved seeing the Knight Bus!

 They also loved any picture of me making a fool of myself.

 I went through this picture quickly (as well as a couple of us at pubs drinking "different kinds of soda"), but their eeew's and giggles were pretty funny!

They also loved the site seeing photos...though one of my boys said he recognized this from Grand Theft Auto...a little scary that he plays that game; but, it was also clever that he made a connection ;)

Their all time favorite picture was this one of a mummy from the British Museum.  They couldn't believe it was an actual dead body in there!  I had trouble sugar-coating the fact that it really is a decaying body...oh well, hopefully they'll understand that the spirit isn't.  I just go with my old stand-by..."talk to your parents."

2012 Wrap Up!

It has been over a month since I have blogged, and a lot has happened!  Some good things and some bad things have happened in the busy holiday filled month of December.  Today is the last day of winter vacation, and a much needed time of reflection.

I would first like to express my greatest sympathies for the children lost in the recent school shootings in Connecticut.  When it happened, all I did was see my own students in those faces flashing across the screen.  I hope that I'm brave enough to protect them, but I pray they will never have to experience such a fearful, horrendous situation.  I also hope that I never have to use a gun to protect myself in a school building full of children.  I am not a police officer, therefore I feel no more trained than a secretary to use a weapon of such destruction.  If that day comes, I worry that I won't be able to do my job anymore. I just hope that laws and procedures can be put into place to keep our babies safe.  I feel blessed to work at a school that does go over the procedures regularly and tries to make the environment as safe as possible.  That being said, there are still those with mental disorders who want to hurt children and that keeps me up at night.  I see my students more than their own parents during the week, and even though I have to get on to them and I don't hug or hold them as much as their parents...I do love them and realize the talents and beauty in each of them.  They give me a purpose in life!  So, I hope things will change for the better because of the recent tragedies.

Now, onto lighter things...I had fun doing some holiday lessons with my kiddos before winter break.  Though I feel challenged with the new common core writing standards, www.teacherspayteachers.com has given me a lot of ideas of how to teach it!  We were able to do informative, persuasive, and narrative writing all about gingerbread men.  Then, we did narrative and informative writing about snowflakes!  The funniest thing was when I had my students try gingersnaps...I happened to be out that day and left the responsibility with my co-worker.  She texted me later with lots of lol's about how the kids freaked and tried to spit out the gingersnaps because they were too spicy.  Gotta love 'em!

We also celebrated our love of non-fiction with a volcano experiment.  At first, the volcano in a box I bought from the dollar store wasn't working so I had to improvise with a coke bottle which made a huge, but awesome mess, that we all (including me) enjoyed.  We also had a great winter party with lots and lots of goodies donated from parents! I can't wait to do more experiments and activities in 2013. I'm also hoping that 2013 will bring good health (we've been a sickly bunch), safety, and success (especially on those hard standardized & common core tests coming up) to my students.  2012 brought lots of fun and memorable lessons with my students as well as many opportunities to get to know their personalities, talents, and problem areas.  I've also been reflecting on my own problem areas and ways to improve my teaching strategies for this new generation.  There are always new challenges around the corner, but I feel that 2012 was fulling of blessings and I hope 2013 is as well.

Our countdown went more quickly than I thought!

The remains of our Christmasy volcano :)

Our gingerbread stories and my favorite gingerbread girl colored by the kids!

Our snow globe stories and a close up of one of the glittery globes...I actually let the kids use glitter which was  a big deal for me...haha! 

Our christmas tree cones complete with lots and lots of icing...as you can see, some resembled blobs but they sure did love that sugar!

This is an awesome gift I got from a student...owl mania!!