Jasztalville: Where Inquiry and Creativity Rules

Photo Editing Websites

2012-03-10T14:10:00.002-08:00

I know this doesn't have much to do with teaching... unless you are a die-hard photographer like I am, always taking photos of your class and editing them to look beautiful for parents by the end of the year. My favorite photo website, Picnik.com, has been bought out by Google. I love the way it works... and the richness of the features... and everything.

Here are some school-related photos I have edited with Picnik (since I discovered it in spring 2010; some are enhanced even more with other sites). They are from last year's class.

So this afternoon, I have tried finding websites that can fill the shoes of Picnik... somewhat.

BeFunky: This website seems like it can be as nice as Picnik, but it is lot slower in respects (in the "Artsy" section in particular, and does not have some of the features I am going to really miss). Unique features: Holgaart, Grunge, Charcoal, and Patriotic as well as a variety of excellent frames for your photos. Not so impressed with the graphics, though, compared to Picnik's.
Jasztal's Grade: A

iPiccy: Some unique features: the WANTED poster, old photo with ragged edge, fiery image, retro comic, shine, and rainbow. I am impressed with iPiccy, and it may turn out being a great replacement. In respects, it works just like Picnik, even with a similar way to manipulate the filter effects, and with more features that Picnik offers now, it can be sensational. There just isn't as much offered... for now.
Jasztal's Grade: A-

BigHugeLabs: This is not a "photo editor"... this is more for unique photo opportunities. You can make badges, vintage photo booth strips, movie posters, and magazine covers, for example. Can be a unique way to motivate and make your students laugh.
Jasztal's Grade: A-

FaceInHole: I loved these kinds of things as a kid. This can be fun for classroom photos as well. Not a photo editor, just a "bonus".
Jasztal's Grade: A-

Pixlr: Not bad. I have always enjoyed this site. One part functions a lot like a less enhanced Adobe Photoshop while another part has some neat retro effects. That part reminds me of some of the photo programs I have uploaded on my iPad and iPhone. This can be a fun editor at times.
Jasztal's Grade: B+

Of course, I will use the features in Google + from time to time (though it is not as nearly as incredible as Picnik), and I am also hoping the rumors of a Picnik alternative coming true. We shall see in the near future... for now, enjoy these alternatives.

Thank you to the Hernando County Education Foundation

2012-03-03T19:18:00.002-08:00

Some of you have known about the science grant our school's fourth grade students received right before Thanksgiving break. It took about three weeks to get everything (because Thanksgiving came and then the season was busy), so we got started as soon as we could. I showed our INCREDIBLE science materials to each class for about 15 minutes each (five microscopes, four digital gram scales, a Van de Graaff generator, and pH testers) and gave each student a quiz to see what they knew.

The experience has been amazing so far. The best part for my class was when I heard their reactions when they glanced into the microscopes! A few of my students had used microscopes before, but never as "impressive" as these. I had some slides from Lakeshore from a while ago, so my students got to analyze plant and animal specimens as well as various fibers.

Probably the most hilarious part was when I had some students place their hands on the Van de Graaff generator. I got some sensational photos of Scarlet, one of my students, who had her hair COMPLETELY stand on end!

I still have a great deal planned for all the students. I am now pondering the possibilities of having a really neat expo at our school! I am excited about what I can organize this year... and then I know with greater planning over the summer, I can do something even better this coming year. We shall see.

This all never would have possible if the Hernando County Foundation Education would not have given me a chance. It was the first grant I had ever written, so I questioned to myself over and over again if it was what they wanted. I am grateful they let me go through with a project that is hopefully teaching our fourth grade students some very important concepts.

I wanted to tell you I am well...

2012-02-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the friendship, the encouragement. Always. It is a challenge to maintain a blog, especially when you are a perfectionist who is always trying to outdo herself. I know, I know. I don't have to be this way, but I am. My mind stirs thinking of wonderful blog posts that never happen. However, I know when I write something next, I know it will be interesting and something you can perhaps draw inspiration from.

You know how it is. Go to work, teach your heart out, go home, plan, and grade papers. Our jobs can all-encompassing at times, and I happen to be the "I exert 110%" type.

I have looked back through January and early February photos in my classroom, and I have never taken all that many. This past month, we studied fractions, decimals, and percents, the remainder of our astronomy unit, and worked hard in preparing for the Florida Writes. This month, all of few days, we have been studying our geology unit and reviewing all math we have learned so far this year. I have been really stressing science. I am determined for my class to perform well on the more challenging FCAT 2.0 that is coming up in 2 1/2 months. Obviously, that has caused educators all over the state of Florida to re-evaluate how they address every standard and their general teaching methods.

Ahh... I promise, I will be back with something for you. For now, though, all I must provide are photographs.

Amazing websites for fractions, decimals and percents are online.

More of the incredible websites.

This is science lab, not our room. We did an absorbency experiment.

Same, in science lab.

Geology Power Point creation.

More geology Power Point creations.

From an informational poster I made just a few days ago about testing, classifying and identifying minerals.

Friendship... and awesome accessories.

I hope February is going well for you so far. See you soon.

"Envisioning Education" Weblog is Continuing to Grow... Now 6 Entries (and upcoming post here!)

2012-01-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have had a lot of fun posting to my second weblog, "Envisioning Education". I also had some fun putting together fraction kits for my fourth grade class. Tomorrow, I plan on taking a photo of my students exploring fractions. Therefore, a blog post called "Fractionality" is on its way. I know I haven't written much in the new year yet, but I have many charts and ideas to show you. Fractions are a challenging concept for intermediate elementary students, and I am trying to find ways to bring them more to life.

If you are a Florida teacher teaching 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade, you may very much appreciate the post on fractions because I found activities that match the SSS and Common Core.

Thanks for your support, and visit "Envisioning Education", also! See you soon!

I have a dream. A dream of starting my own school.

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

I don't necessarily believe this will happen right now, but it is a huge vision of mine. Because of this blog my friend told me about, I started my own blog about the visions I have for my own school so it can reach people across the nation and all over the world. I never thought I would sharing these thoughts with you, but individuals like Ron Clark chased after his own dream.

I love my job as a fourth grade teacher and have so many incredible things to say, yet I have had dreams of opening my own school for many, many years.

Read and follow "Envisioning Education" here. The first post is written.

Of course, continue to learn about my wonderful class here. A post about fractions is coming in the near future.

Just a Few Recent Photos (We Still Have Until Friday!)

2011-12-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

This week has been amazing so far, considering we are going to teach right through December 23rd. I have had to be very creative, but we have learned a lot (just in unconventional, unique ways).

This photo cracks me up. A mom (of one of these boys) and I had a joint group of SIX at EPCOT yesterday (these four boys and two girls!). Of course, one was an Angry Bird. In the near future, I plan on showing you photos of our interesting, hilarious group wearing all kinds of hats and posing in ridiculous ways (with berets, Mexican hats, Uncle Sam hats, stuffed in a telephone booth in "Great Britain", etc.). The best part of the day was dragging them on Test Track and at first, hearing them proclaim how frightened they were.

Later in the ride, though, I heard "THIS. IS. THE. BEST. RIDE. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I recorded a few snippets. The group asked again and again, "Can we go on again?", yet we never made it a second time. Anyway, it was a phenomenal experience. Innoventions, the boat ride in The Land, walking through The Seas, and Mexico were also some other good memories. I just wish we would have made it on Soarin' as well... that is an incredible ride!

Then today, we went outside and read on sheets for 20 minutes, which was incredibly... relaxing. Many people from the class said how sore they were, and I could not have felt more exhausted from walking around a massive theme park.

I may share very soon, so be on the lookout!

More Pre-Christmas Excitement: Polar Express for Older Students and... Art

2011-12-13T21:49:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot going on lately, particularly FAIR and ThinkLink testing, which can be grueling (but is obviously essential). Numerous events are approaching in Jasztalville, and the class is ecstatic. Of course we have an upcoming celebration and field trip to EPCOT, but prior to that, we are doing some neat activities across the curriculum that are quite noteworthy!

Our team is studying The Polar Express, which is not just for K-2 students. What is interesting is that I learned quite a bit about the book and movie while studying it in-depth recently. Chris Van Allsburg's usage of figurative language is impressive. Then by studying the movie's dialogue, there are quirky vocabulary words as well as even more intriguing uses of figurative language.

Polar Express Mini-Unit:

Day 1: We read the story. I told them that they have likely read the book and heard the story read to them numerous times, yet we will be looking at the story through a "new set of eyes". We then focused on these questions (which I wrote, though I am sure similar questions have been asked before):

On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. What does the word rustle mean?
“There is no Santa,” my friend had insisted, but I knew he was wrong. When someone speaks in an insisting tone, how does that person speak?
From outside came the sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal. What image does the author “paint” of the train’s arrival with this word choice?
It was wrapped in an apron of steam. What image does the author “paint” of the train with this word choice?
We sang Christmas carols and ate candies with nougat centers as white as snow. We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars. Here, the author used two similes. What do you believe the mood of the children riding the train is while they are devouring these treats? Why?
We traveled through cold, dark forests, where lean wolves roamed and white-tailed rabbits hid from our train as it thundered through the quiet wilderness. Do you believe the animals are used to trains making their way through their habitat? Why?
We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we would scrape the moon. In my opinion, this sentence with this simile provides a hint that this is a fantasy story. Why?
What image does the author “paint” of the North Pole with his word choice? Describe the scenery.
A clock struck midnight as the elves roared their approval. What do you believe this sentence means? Explain.

Day 2: We read the story again because we focused on plot development. We plotted the beginning, three events leading up to the climax, the climax, falling action, and resolution.

Yet even better, we watched three excerpts from the movie (which took about 12 minutes in all) during writing class. The first was "Hot Chocolate"and the second was the "roller coaster ride" after the Polar Express approached Glacier Gulch (which turned out to be more interesting than the "Hot Chocolate" examples, though most were written on the front bottom and back of the paper, which would have caused me to edit the photo more!). Here is the video clip from "Hot Chocolate" (we turned on the closed captioning with the video):

We focused on retelling information from visuals using first-person narration, which turned out to be interesting. Some examples were better than others, of course, and below, only some are included. I told them to write no more than one page of description (preferably half because we focused on two parts of the movie in approximately 35 minutes):

After the writing, we concluded with "Movie Craft" (like Author's Craft).

47:04: Entering the North Pole: The Northern Lights (coming up with a simile: “They look like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea.”
Stop at 47:53 for an onomatopoeia example: “Whoo, whoo, the whistle blows, that’s the sound of her singing.” What are some other examples on onomatopoeia in the Polar Express song?
Look at the detail of the North Pole buildings as the “Polar Express” song plays.

What was interesting after this discussion was when Destiny stated, "I have never looked at that movie like that before." She also told me how neat it was to have the chance to do that. Turning on closed-captioning really made the experience better because the kids focused on the words like the movie was a storybook coming to life.

I will likely focus on the story for two more days. Day 3 will be a lesson about restating the figurative language from the story in a "dull language" way and then taking literal language from the story to turn it into figurative language. This idea comes from this website.

We are going to do a neat art activity later in the day, too, which will have nothing to do with The Polar Express, but plenty to do with the holiday season. Each student will take a piece of Reynolds Wrap and six index cards to make a "tray" (as realistic as possible, with handles, etc.) and at least 12 (but no more than 20) "cookies" of different kinds. For example, they will have 4 snowmen, 8 Christmas trees, and 6 snowflake-shaped cookies on their "tray", totaling 18 cookies.They will write out a fraction at the bottom of their art creation. For this example, they can write "8/18, or 4/9, of my cookies are Christmas trees." It should take about a half hour. They will glue their cookies to their tray, which will likely be displayed in the hallway with other Christmas activities we have completed so far this holiday season.

Here are some recent photos before I post soon with more neat ideas:

Recent writing from "Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall" art activity.

Same. This description of Spring was neat.

A girl in my class with her kindergarten-aged sister at our school's Winter Wonderland event.

Catching "snowflakes"! Now you know with Floridians, that involves fake means! :)

Writing a card to a soldier at the Winter Wonderland event.

The decor was quite intriguing that night!

I'll write more soon! First, this Thursday is our school's Teacher of the Year event, and I am one of five finalists chosen from those who were nominated. I wish luck to the four other individuals who are finalists. I feel honored and humbled to be among the finalists this year... it is my third time. Then of course there is EPCOT approaching soon, so there are many events and ideas I can write about!

December Writing Variety: 10 Neat, Original Writing Topics

2011-12-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

Some topics have been lingering through my mind: holiday-related, of course. What do you think? They seem appropriate for grades 3 or 4 and higher (for possibly as high as 8th grade because some prompts, in my opinion, would even tickle my fancy in my adult life).

1. You have been asked to decorate the tree that is on display at the White House. How do you decorate the tree in a way that is elegant, unique, and commemorates our country in some way?
2. Write a story from the perspective of a soldier coming home from overseas for Christmas after not seeing his or her family for over a year.
3. Imagine that you are Santa Claus and that you are hijacked in the midst of delivering on Christmas Eve. Write a story about how you restore Christmas to the holiday everyone knows it to be!
4. Write a story about a lonesome person who finds friendship or possibly even a long-lost family member in time for Christmas.
5. Write a tall tale about how snowflakes came to be.
6. Write a story about helping a family who cannot afford to have Christmas at home and making their dreams come true.
7. Pretend you are Santa Claus. Write a report card rating the work of three of your (made-up) elves who work at your workshop at the North Pole.
8. Write about the biggest, most incredible display you can make outside your front yard/house with Christmas lights and decorations.
9. Write a story about working at Mr. Magorium's Toy Emporium during the Christmas season.
10. Pretend that you have constructed a snowman with a few people. You spent a lot of time decorating it and making it look spectacular. Now pretend even farther that this snowman comes to life and becomes a raging monster that cannot be stopped! What will happen in your story?

I hope you enjoy this short variety... I will try to come up with more.

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" Writing Packet

2011-12-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

Ever had a lot of fun making a resource? I had a WONDERFUL time compiling this 17-page packet for... YOU! Seeing I am raising money for our class' field trip fund, this is a Teachers Pay Teachers purchase. However, almost everything is original (besides fonts and a few clip art designs from Scrappin' Doodles, even the clipart I showed you a few weeks back).

I REALLY hope this enhances your holiday season! Teaching before Christmas is hard, but these activities are fun. I don't know what I am designing next, but this is certainly going to save some planning time for me this month (and will give me BONUS creativity points!).

Click here to see more.

Updates from Jasztalville: Read! All Kinds of Things!

2011-12-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Nothing overwhelming or spectacular, but nice. Jasztalville is doing well.

A remodel:

This entry starts with a much-needed remodel! This fabulous writing center was located right in front of my bookshelves, and it was quite cramped/somewhat disorganized. Also, I had not used the compartments underneath like I had desired, so I reorganized everything. The class was ecstatic when they noticed how much nicer their meeting area looked this morning! I moved some furniture on a different angle, too, so some room opened up. The best part is that I can see everyone even better when they come up to the meeting area.

I know this is off-topic, but how many of you in grades 3-5 have a meeting area of sorts? (For example, with comfortable seating and an easel.) I see the concept so often online, but it is not something done in my school in the intermediate grades that much at all. I am wondering, if you have an area, whom inspired you to have one. For me, it was Angela Bunyi, a former grades 3-5 teacher and current reading interventionist who works in Tennessee. Beth Newingham's classroom photos also guided me in the right direction. When I saw she had a couch in her classroom, I thought how much that would more inviting that would make a classroom library. Though I do not have a couch now, I have crate seating I have made into a couch.

Buddying Up:

My students met with their first-grade Book Buddies for the first time this year today. We have two classes we assist: one every week (this class) and one once a month (kindergarten, where my students head to the room in small groups. Do you have Book Buddies? If so, what is a favorite activity of yours you incorporate? The first-grade teacher and I plan on doing some sensational activities with our classes, from a Flat Stanley project where we are going to mail off "flat" versions of ourselves around the United States (and perhaps the world). I have students who have relatives in another country, so this can be quite exciting. Perhaps my two students who were not born in the United States will be interested in mailing their buddies' Flat Stanleys in that direction!

I am going to do my part in making the project as innovative as possible for my class, too. I honestly don't think it is too old to do this kind of project (even with upper elementary students). In college, one of my best friends photographed our friend's shoe in numerous locations for over a month. The album she compiled for him was amazing! I plan on giving my students a Florida and United States map (focusing on some early geography standards from this year... to make comparisons).

I am also planning on doing a few activities with penguins and eventually, maybe something where I incorporate gardening in a few lessons. As this year progresses, more will unfold, and I will keep you updated with neat ideas we carried out.

Art in the classroom:

December is a fun month. Perhaps not the most exciting as of yet, but I am very much looking forward to numerous hands-on opportunities. The trip to EPCOT is approaching, and the majority of our class is going. Currently, I am trying to think about how I will teach concepts (particularly in math and writing) this month, but in a kinesthetic, more engaging kind of way.

I have started with artwork called "Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall". Students will write EXTREMELY descriptive sentences after they apply watercolors (or oil pastels) to their sketches this coming week. First, they drew on the cardboard in pencil. I provided tree and snowman tutorials (some kids did phenomenal). Then each student traced over his or her artwork in permanent marker.

Here is what we have so far:

This next Thursday evening, we are having "Winter Wonderland" at our school, where each student in the school will have their writing posted. It is going to be a sensational time! I cannot wait for this artwork to be posted with phenomenal seasonal descriptions and to see the plethora of twinkling lights in our school's courtyard! My students also wrote haiku and magic carpet stories, so I will likely post those as well. Of course, I will be on the lookout for what our Book Buddies wrote as well. There will be hot chocolate with marshmallows, letter writing to Santa, card making for the soldiers, caroling, and some other old-fashioned fun.

The Monumental Reading Project:

Yes! THE project I posted about earlier this week is progressing well! I had to explain first that I made 109 folders for the class and that they needed to be careful with the resources they were provided. Partners have worked well together, though they will be changing out next Tuesday to start their second skill for four days. The first skill has been worked on four days so far as well. I am enjoying hearing my students using higher-order thinking skills and asking probing questions. They are enjoying the literature I provided them, too, which is a bonus. A few of you have been wondering what this looks like in action, so here are a few photos:

This is where the table used to be... it was crowded. The shelf by the window has been moved underneath our whiteboard as well (next to our other short bookcase). There is so much more room! That entire area is open. The two bean bags are there now as well as a few rugs for a more relaxing area.

The area right in front of these students is where the table is now. The shelf you see on the right has been moved a few feet to the right, facing in the other direction, next to my easel. The area is so much more organized... and presentable.

Science Fair Project:

Now that judging is over (and we did not progress farther than the school level), I am going to talk about our science fair project. We did what I thought was not possible; we collapsed three kinds of truss roof models. We constructed three W-truss, dual pitch truss, and hip truss roof models and saw which would hold the greatest mass before collapsing. After averaging all, the three W-truss models supported the most weight!

We had a tremendous time heading outside after all were constructed. Tied at the end of the rope was a one-gallon bucket, where rocks were loaded in until the structures gave way.

It was challenging, but worth it. We still talked about it this week, though it was completed about three weeks ago. I don't think my students had learned more from a project before. I was impressed with the quality of their work and the models in itself. My students learned that things are not always as they seem (the truss models support a great deal of weight). We learned about Isaac Newton as well and his three properties of motion (when constructing the trusses). There was also a lot of support where two parents were able to supervise the class as they used hot glue guns.

This was taken when the students began making frames for their roofs. Each roof consisted of three frames. I know the project was not perfect, but it was very complex and different. Again, something I could not have imagined doing before, but this year's awesome class made it all possible!

The best part? Everyone really had fun, and they vocalized it numerous times. They also said, "I have never worked so hard on something at school!" That is what is the most important of all.

And Last...

I plan on making more resources for you (some winter-related, so you can purchase them on TPT for a while). I may make a few geared toward younger grades as well (such as a Book Buddies packet that has older and younger components; I do not know if I have seen that done before, but it can be neat). Topics I am considering: Winter and holiday writing, penguins, snowflakes, and how candy is made. I know, the last topic is very different, but you never know... it can become quite interesting.

Thanks for your support! I hope you have a good weekend.

A Question for my K-2 Teacher Friends

2011-11-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

Would any of you be willing to photograph your class with a Flat Stanley? This can even work for the older classes... we have a first grade class that we are going to begin working with this week (once a week through the end of the year), and they are going to begin their Flat Stanley project soon. We are going to have one, too, to send around the country (and to some other fun, exciting people I have connections with.).

I would love to have your help so we can get some AWESOME photos for our wonderful new first grade friends!

p.s. Isn't it amazing how there is such a neat variety? I cannot wait to get the app for the new iPad I am receiving this coming month, too.

Let me know, and I will gather your contact information soon. Thank you!

Staying On Top of Clutter

2011-11-30T18:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday is our school's annual Yard Sale, and I have rented three tables. A parent in my classroom has rented two; we plan on raising money for our class' field trip fund, particularly for the upcoming trip to EPCOT. This gives me an opportunity to declutter.

I have realized that over the past eight years, I have acquired so many... things. My life was not always conglomerated with random clutter. It happened when I moved into my larger classroom my second year of teaching (2005-2006) and I began acquiring a great deal of things because I had a MUCH more spacious room. (If you saw my first room, you'd understand how ecstatic I was when I moved... I moved into a room TWICE the size of the former room with a closet and middle room. I guess I was a little overexcited.)

Now, I have grown up. I do not stockpile students' work like when I was a "real rookie" (a woman in my younger twenties). However, I have acquired so much (in books and resources) through innocent shopping trips, much of which I do not use.

Here is some advice I am trying my best to internalize. I am writing this for myself- and I am trying to make the advice as simple as possible to follow.

1. I have a closet of teaching resources in my garage. Yes, a closet where the doors open and there are about eight shelves. This evening, I went through and threw away as many paper resources as possible. Of course, I could not part with some old student work I cherish (like literature circles for Jin from three years ago that I still use as an example today) and some resources I have created (like a poster of the moon I sketched up my second year of teaching that looks pretty amazing, in my opinion). On the other hand, though, I have found it beneficial to go digital as much as possible, unless my resource is hand-drawn and must be stored in a place.

2. Think of a way to get over the "I might need this someday" syndrome. I have read that you can seal things in a box for a while (at least a few months)... and if you do not open the box, donate it without opening it. On the other hand, it may be wise to donate any teaching resources you have not used in at least three years (or ever). There are some professional books I am selling this Saturday that I have never used. Though I am not getting back what I originally invested, I am still getting some money back and I will feel better that someone is using the resource. Besides that, though I cleaned my closet quite a bit tonight, I may do it a few times again before this weekend. I am going to sort through each resource in there and categorize by how valuable I feel the resource is. Those that still make it into my third category will likely be donated as well. I will require myself to put at least another fourth to fifth of my books into that category.

Some of my books are highly cherished and will never leave my collection, but for those that are, someone else will hopefully find value in it. If not, then I will try to find another solution.

3. I am concerned about the board game collection I have going on in my closet. I have 10-12 games stacked up at home and several more at school. I don't use many of them at home, and then I use some of the ones at school, but most certainly not all. Since the Yard Sale will be held at an elementary school, it will be most wise to sell at least some of them for approximately $3-$5 each, depending on the quality of the game.

4. Here is a tip I am rewriting verbatim from this weblog: "Keep a list in your planner labeled “Don’t Need It – Don’t Want It.” When you’re out shopping and run across some kind of gadget or other item you crave, note it down on the list. This will slow you down long enough to reconsider. Also, seeing the other things on the list that you nearly bought on impulse really helps."

5. Jodi from the Clutter Free Classroom also has some wonderful tips for decluttering classrooms. I am not really looking forward to spending time in my classroom tomorrow afternoon, straightening items up, but I have to. I will be motivated to sell more items this Saturday and price them so my students can attend their field trips. My mind is on a shelf in my closet at work that I never touch... and some old workbooks/resource books that perhaps a parent can find beneficial at the sale. I also have some books geared toward younger students, some of which I am not going to keep.

I came across another weblog that said something that doesn't make me feel so bad: "Before I began working for Imagine Learning, I substitute taught at several elementary and middle schools. Each classroom I entered revealed an interesting—but logical—pattern: classrooms that were neat and tidy at the beginning of the school year became a cluttered chaos by the new year. And, generally, any semblance of organization diminished completely from that point until the end of the academic year."

I remember how wonderful the room looked when I set it up this year... and I want to accomplish that again, but with a great deal less clutter. I like how the aforementioned blogger mentioned that listening to music is a great idea- that is actually how I function at times, when I come up with my very best ideas.

Remember, you are most certainly not alone. It doesn't make us any less effective as a teacher. Though time does not normally not permit for me to clean much, I am setting aside some valuable time now. I know I can overcome this because it will bring some grand satisfaction.

I do not know if I am taking pictures of my three tables as a testimonial yet, but I may. I need to exert a lot of effort in the next few days... and I cannot let up. Working diligently certainly reaps huge benefits.

Oh, How I Love Writing!

2011-11-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

Writing is a fervent passion of mine. When I teach writing, I am energized. Writing opens up a plethora of opportunities for my fourth-grade students, helping them to express themselves like never before.

In that respect, I enjoy locating sensational resources for my students. Here are some that will be used in December and January in our classroom...

Personal Narrative Lesson: Roller Coaster:

It will be interesting discussing slowed-down, step-by-step replays with my students in the near future. I will focus a lot on theme park rides with one of my upcoming lessons, considering we are heading to EPCOT in less than a month. Also in searching the Internet, I have been able to locate some sensational examples of writing:

Sheikra narratives: #1 and #2: My students will compare these two narratives to see how each young author captured the action of being on this infamous roller coaster.
I will also write descriptions of two Disney rides, detail-by-detail. What makes this easy is that YouTube videos are available on demand. I do not need to recall each aspect of a ride because there is a video for every single theme park ride known to humanity. For example, I may choose "Pirates of thee Caribbean" and "Haunted Mansion". Eventually, my students will be required to write about "Test Track" and also focus on descriptive language by looking at detailed pictures (some of which will be from theme parks).
We will also do other slowed-down step-by-step replays. One is called "Dairy Queen" and is from Write from the Beginning. This is the PowerPoint I put together with their directions and have used since 2006. Two others I created are called "Field Trip" and "Christmas Morning".

Mentor Texts and Lessons Focusing Around Narratives:

WritingFix is one of my favorite websites- EVER. No exaggeration. Corbett Harrison and his wife are incredible individuals- incredibly friendly as well. The first thing I suggest for story writing is this page, a compilation of narrative ideas with several suggestions for mentor texts.
I also LOVE introducing humor like these Thanksgiving turkey protests. Yes, Thanksgiving is over, but it is fine to discuss turkeys for a while, seeing they are prepared for Christmas as well!
These "sketch notebook"-inspired lessons are extremely cool as well. Recently, when working on writer's skill notebooks for writing partnerships, I included "Embarrassing Moment Leads" and "Serendipitous Characters" as inspiration pages for them to look at when working on narratives. "Personify Vocabulary" is also a really neat page that compliments the story Miss Alaineus in numerous ways, which I may read this coming month as well for some added humor.

From Writingfix.com

Elaboration Video:

For a connection, I suggest "Showing Nice Things Without Ever Saying Nice". We are doing this lesson tomorrow; I will see how it goes. For a further connection, one of the teachers on our fourth grade team has done "Holiday Riddles" for many years.

Word Choice is also a major skill to focus on; the "No Repeat" challenge on this page seems interesting (and well, challenging).

Last, I encourage you to visit Melissa Forney's website. I have been using her resources since the beginning of my teaching career and have noticed students' excitement for writing increase! If you ever purchase any book from her as a grades 3-6 teacher, Writing Superstars is truly a sensational read. It focuses on all the important skills to prepare for state writing assessments (she is from Florida, so she addresses the Florida Writes in this book), includes wonderful examples of actual fourth grade student prompts, and includes some very interesting, humorous, and witty skits that focus on a plethora of narrative/expository skills.

Enjoy writing with your students! Remember, the holiday season is a wonderful time to make writing an exciting adventure. Some resources focusing on holiday and winter writing may be coming from me in the near future...

A Monumental Reading Project

2011-11-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

I decided to do something major this year for my professional development plan: devise an entire curriculum that revolves around reading skills and differentiated instruction.

Step 1: I analyzed my students' FCAT Explorer as well as SuccessMaker data. Additionally, I noted how my students did in each area of FCAT in third grade last year: Vocabulary, Application, Literary Analysis, and Informational Text/Text Features. At that point, I noted some correlations; those who did not perform as well in Application, for example, had a need in that area from my list. If you need to know the categories where I analyzed data, here they are:

Five areas of vocabulary (synonyms and antonyms, base words, affixes and suffixes, context clues, and multiple-meaning words), author's purpose, conclusions/inferences, comparing and contrasting, informational text, chronological order, cause and effect, problem and solution, plot development, main idea, and figurative language/word choice.

After pinpointing where the majority of my students needed the MOST assistance- with chronological order and main idea- I looked at this week's upcoming story, Snowflake Bentley, and thought about concepts that apply to this biography. I have decided to review plot development, discuss why it is important to remember when specific events took place in Wilson Bentley's life as well as discuss main ideas and supporting details.

Step 2: I chose at least 5 materials for each concept. In the long run, I printed off 109 different selections (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry). The places where I located the materials was quite varied.

I actually went through and printed more stories and articles without the questions and then developed the questions afterward to match the format of the FCAT. I chose what seemed to be high-interest and different from what the students would normally see in front of them:

Edinformatics testing website: This website includes a comprehensive list that links to testing resources from different states. In respect to testing, this is a sensational website. It has probably been one of the websites on the entire Internet I have visited in regards to my classroom. The best websites to visit from there are Massachusetts', Virginia's, New York's, Pennsylvania's, and Ohio's. It is interesting seeing their sample materials in comparison to Florida's. I believe they focus on a great deal of higher-order thinking skills. For my students, I have printed off some 5th and 6th grade selections as well. You are allowed to print the selections; they are not forbidden by law (Florida's is not as well).
Scholastic Storyworks and SuperScience magazines: Storyworks includes amazing fiction stories, poetry, plays, and non-fiction articles. I like how sometimes they focus on figurative language as well. Since I have subscribed to this magazine for two years, I have many of their articles and magazines in my classroom. I have used Storyworks' question and skill focus sheets, mostly, for this project.

The current issue.

SuperScience includes many high-quality articles. I know someone who subscribes to the magazines, so my students have used them before. I went through the magazines and articles I had- and wrote questions that focused on one skill for each sheet. I especially love this magazine because our students need a lot of wonderful exposures to science prior to the 5th grade FCAT. Here is an example of three articles (and how print-rich/interesting they look for students to focus on skills):

Readworks.org: This website was found during a random search this past summer- and WOW, I am FLOORED by it, to say the least. If you need to focus on a specific skill, grades 1-6, there are numerous printables and selections for each skill. You do have to register for the website, but it is free. I do not think there is a better free resource out there besides the FCRR centers.
FCRR Centers Website, Grades 4-5: While I am at it, I did include some printables from this website. It is most certainly one of the BEST out there for reading, period. The author's purpose section includes an excellent categorizing game I have already used with my students this year. There is so much for vocabulary and comprehension, in all.
TIME for Kids: Our class also has TIME for Kids magazines from our reading series. I rewrote the questions for many of the selections to reflect the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and include MORE higher-order thinking questions.
Break Away to Florida Reading Success: I purchased some of these booklets last year (so the students can just use them and obviously, I am not printing off anything because it is forbidden). I like these booklets because they review skills on different levels until students master them. They have easy-to-understand tutorials that are quite awesome, in my opinion. Best of all, they review each of the skills I noted above. Here is a preview of the book I use. (As you see again, you may not print it for your students to use.)

Of course I developed questions from some recipes, menus, and chapter books as well (where my students have to utilize the classroom library a bit). I am also a writer, so I sometimes give my students my own writing to respond to.

Step 3: I went back through my students' data and determined which skills I would focus on first, second, third, and fourth for each of them. I then created a calendar for who will work together each week, every day, on each skill. One skill will be focused on every week through the end of February (which will be in addition to centers). I decided that 20 minutes a day would be sufficient for working on the skill, and the students would use specific sheets that kind of tailored more to their interests (so that is another reason why I printed off such a variety... no student will complete all 109 assignments, but they will probably complete at least half of them). I paired off students who had the same needs and made a list of which resource they would use each day.

I created a calendar so I knew where each student would be weekly, and then I created a schedule for each partnership or individual for the week (sometimes, people work alone, as you see in the links below). It depends on how many students are assigned to the skill. I do not want any more than 2 students working together on a daily assignment:

Sample Calendar (Blank) : My real calendar has partners' and individuals' names typed in the blank squares. Some squares are left blank certain weeks, too- it depends on the students' greatest needs. Sometimes, only one or two students are assigned to work on a specific skill, too.
Sample Schedule (this will really be handed out tomorrow)

You may notice where the main idea schedule includes files such as MI1, MI2, and MI3. After printing out each assignment, I coded them so students could access them quickly. The five students working on main idea will receive a folder with all the Main Idea-related assignments in them, and then they will get out the one they are working on for the day.

Hopefully this will be successful, and I will see progress with my class' data.

I am also taking some new pictures of them tomorrow (it will be the beginning of our holiday season feast... I know, after Thanksgiving, but I have been doing this for 8 years and it has stuck), but I am going to include some slightly older, excellent ones of them for now that I know I have never uploaded. I believe they are from very early October.

I love the rolling hills at our school (which you see in the last two photos above)... it is a beautiful place to learn. I should teach the kids outside when it cools down a bit (it is still quite warm for nearly being December).

Well... we are reading chapter books on sheets this week, which is oddly one of my favorite things I do all year. I think it is because our somewhat rural campus IS so beautiful. So the "rolling hills" may be featured again.

p.s. I also have a LOT to write about Writing and Social Studies! Perhaps I will get to that soon... but first, let me enjoy my last day of my long Thanksgiving weekend!

Sunshine Award!

2011-11-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

I received the Sunshine Award from this fantastic blogger, Jena. I realized I had not joined her blog yet, either, and I would love for you to stop by her blog as well to say "Hello"!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:
1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. And pass the award to 10-12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.

My answers to the questions:

Favorite color? Royal purple, turquoise, bright blue, kelly/emerald green
Favorite animal? Rabbits, giraffes, and dogs
Favorite number? Honestly, I don't have a favorite number... perhaps 24, seeing I was born the 24th.
Favorite drink? Sweet tea, Sprite, orange juice, and cranberry juice
Facebook or Twitter? Both serve their purposes. Social networking is major... and there are many teachers who network with sensational ideas online.
Your passion? Teaching, writing children's literature, traveling whenever I can, art, and photography.
Giving or getting presents? Both.
Favorite day? Christmas, the day my students go to St. Augustine, the day my students head to EPCOT, and my birthday (particularly with my 30th approaching) are my favorite days of the year, followed by Thanksgiving and Halloween. I don't particularly like the last day of school.

I am rewarding this award to...

Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits (SENSATIONAL blogger... great resources!)
Guided Math weblog (Anything to promote math!)
Venspired (I know you were rewarded by the same person as me, Krissy, but I ADORE you too, but of course. We met in Orlando, Florida in May and are self-proclaimed photography addicts together!)
The Classic Crafter: I LOVE Jennifer. We met last December near her hometown in Georgia! She's so creative and fun... we both have had a very difficult 2011 with family-related tribulations, but our friendship has endured.
Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library: I don't know much about you yet, but you seem very cool! I very much like your weblog!
Joy in 6th Grade: A new blogging friend of mine. I ALWAYS support my middle school teacher friends. Not many have weblogs, either, so I am excited to see her blog!
Literacy Minute: Yes, the fabulous Sandra! She seems like a great literacy coach!
The Creative Apple: I LOVE Terri's math-related posts. She has some wonderful ideas.
Life in 4B: Leanne is SO inspiring. Her posts are FULL of incredible photos and detail. She is inspiring me to write some great posts and take out the camera to document learning this year.
Katie Lately: Katie's been a good friend this school year (and may help me with some fundraising as well). She hasn't blogged for a while, but VERY much deserves this award!
And last, Create-Teach-Share, Rebecca's weblog. She's probably had a busy year, too! I love her printables and resources. Her ideas are DIVINE! She is an inspiration.

Smart Readers FREEBIE!

2011-11-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

I forgot to share the "Skills Smart Readers Use" freebie with you. Hopefully you will find that valuable as well! I have been working on a very important project for my reading instruction that focuses on 1-2 week mini-units for partners. This informative little packet will go along with it, and the entire two-month focus will be called "Reading Lawyer Academy".

Besides that, Happy Thanksgiving! I've had a lot of fun making things for all of you. More to come...

p.s. This includes "The Write Stuff" graphics set.

Christmas Clip Art FREEBIES: Introducing "Jasztalville Clip Art"!

2011-11-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you like these freebies from me! I haven't spent a few hours sketching clip art in quite some time, and I am excited to share a Christmas-themed set with 10 seamless .png graphics. (My apologies... some look more seamless than others, but they all look excellent on a white or light background.)

Here is each file for you:

Please give me credit where it is due! If you use anything for TPT files, please give me credit because it would not be fair otherwise. Thank you!

Dying to Tell You: A 27-Page Holiday Packet (Fulfilling Requests!)

2011-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my students and I finished Dying to Meet You! As I stated, it is a fantastic book, and it is inspiring me to create some word play/figurative language lessons. Now for the real excitement... and I am really stoked, to say the least...

I designed a Christmas packet to fulfill many (math and writing) needs. It is fairly inexpensive for 27 pages, too, priced at only $3.00. Click here to view this product at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Now that I am starting to get the hang of things, I hope to have a store that knocks your socks off by the end of the school year!!! Read the very long description I wrote at TPT...

Chapter Book Read-Alouds... the nitty-gritty of it all, with a recommendation!

2011-11-21T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is not going to be my most intriguing post, but I am extremely excited about the book I am reading this short week: Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise. It is on the 2011-2012 SSYRA (Sunshine State Young Readers Association) list. The wordplay is PHENOMENAL, along the lines of The Phantom Tollbooth in parts... with a witty and interesting plot. This book teaches the kids that there are many unique author skills out there beyond the norm. The format of the book is different from most as well. If you have not heard of it, you could very well be missing out.

The best part is that it has taken about an hour out of a few school days combined to read it orally to my class. Short reads are an amazing change of pace every once in a while! I have displayed it on the Ladibug (similar to an Elmo document camera) as I have read it, which has captured their interest more than a usual read-aloud.

Also now being introduced to Kate and Sarah Klise, I feel interested in checking out their other books.

Word play-a-plenty! Characters I.B. Grumply... Seymour Hope (See More Hope), and Olive C. Spence (All Of Suspense).

This leads to a short post about chapter book read-alouds. I have read three this year: Rules by Cynthia Lord, The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret, and this book. I think when choosing read-alouds, it is good to touch on a variety of genres. As this year progresses, I plan on reading Number the Stars (SENSATIONAL historical fiction), Out Of My Mind (a realistic fiction book also on the SSYRA list, see a teacher's guide here), and The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff (historical fiction/fantasy/time travel) as well as a few others. The Phantom Tollbooth may finally make it on the official list of books! I know I will read some excepts, also, like a tiny bit of Mr. Popper's Penguins to connect with our first grade book buddies mini-unit. (We have both K and 1 buddies this year.)

While reading your read-alouds, focus on reading test-prep skills as well. Here are a few of the most important questions to ask: What is the tone of the story at this moment? How are the characters ___ and ___ different? Which character trait is ___ showing right now? What text evidence is showing that ___ is showing that specific character trait? Which words is the author using to describe ____? Which words in this excerpt prove that the tone is ____? What do you believe is the climax in the story? Why did the author choose to include ____ (specific character) in the story? Remember, there is so much that can be discussed that teachers, at times, don't discuss.

So to wrap things up, which books do you enjoy reading with your class every year? Any recommendations you have for our fourth grade class for the remainder of this year?

I am Thankful...

2011-11-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for a plethora of things. This is for a Linky Party.

Which people am I most thankful for?

This is not difficult to answer... my parents. Even if I was married with my own children, my parents would still be incredibly important. In light of such a challenging year, my mother has been devoted, selfless, and advocating. My father has been brave and strong with his immense physical limitations. I am also grateful for 9 1/2 years of friendship with my best friend Heather and more than 10 years of friendship with my friends Allyson, Mary, and Yvette. With Mary, one of my first friends I met at Flagler College, I have known her almost 11 years, 3 months.

Allyson and I the day I graduated from Flagler College in April 2004

Heather (right) and I at Stone Mountain in July 2009.

What am I thankful for in my classroom?

First, my students, of course. They work hard and are immensely creative young people. Additionally, they all have unique personalities. Even their third grade teacher pointed that out to me... they are all extremely different, but compliment one another well. As for possessions in the classroom, I am thankful for my classroom library and the fourth grade science materials the education foundation recently made possible when presenting me with nearly $1,400 at the board meeting.

The kids... the good old kids.

What three blogs am I most thankful for?

I love visiting "Classroom Solutions/Top Teaching" whenever I have the chance because of the people who post there. Angela Bunyi is someone I admire quite a bit! Beth Newingham may not be posting there this year, but she is sensational and has helped me in many ways to become a better teacher. Brent Vasicek and Alycia Zimmerman, the teachers who have been the grades 3-5 advisors after me, have also been incredible. I am grateful for Scholastic, in itself.
Then here on Blogspot, I enjoy reading Amanda's blog, "One Extra Degree". She is wonderful at creating top-notch educational materials- and we enjoy having creative discussions every once in a while. We have been friends for a few years, since before I worked for Scholastic. I don't know how she found me, but I am grateful she did!
Also on Blogspot are Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, who write the "A Year of Reading" weblog.
I am cheating... Krissy Venosdale of Venspired.com can NEVER be forgotten in anything I ever mention. She is quite the education heroine... and such an amazing friend.

What guilty pleasure am I most thankful for?

I love listening to music from my childhood, like Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and old-school hip hop like "Can't Touch This", "Apache", "Jump", and "Tootsie Roll". I am grateful for iTunes, where I can listen to these songs on demand and I don't have to sit in front of the radio anymore to wait for music to come on with my cassette tape. With my 90s hip-hop music, I mourn my lost childhood when I could have been like Stephanie Tanner dancing to "Motownphilly". (Just kidding on that last part... I couldn't dance then, and I cannot dance now!)

I also have guilty pleasures for Dancing with the Stars. I imagine myself doing incredible lifts, which will never happen as long as we shall live. This week, I am rooting for J.R. and Karina to win, but who knows?

What am I most thankful for?

I am thankful for my parents' strength, my grandfathers, a strong eight-year career as a fourth-grade teacher, the fact I may be traveling somewhere awesome this next summer, having Teachingvision.org for over six years, and for so many dedicated friends. I am thankful for my own health, innovative spirit, adventurous personality, driven mind, and creativity. I am unique.

Thanksgiving Packet Freebie!

2011-11-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

In a crunch regarding what to do with your students this week before Thanksgiving... or looking for more Thanksgiving-related resources? Check out this FREEBIE from me! Happy Turkey Day!

Click here for the .pdf file! Let me know what you think! Also, do you have any requests for Christmas resources? I am willing to make a few later this week... and perhaps finally spruce up my Teachers Pay Teachers page!

Perimeter and Area: Hands-On Excitement!

2011-11-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

I did NOT design these...

I recently started a unit I traditionally begin in the spring. The reason is because students are required to do some pretty intense area problems on the FCAT 2.0 practice test (which leads to doing some intense problems on the FCAT, I bet). Last year, students began measuring irregular figures and figuring out their areas. It is a skill that at times takes months to grasp. I wanted a head start... five months early... so this skill will come naturally for them when the FCAT is administered. Hopefully, any apprehension will be relieved.

First, there are four websites I highly recommend. I have not used any of them yet, but some will become partner laptop lessons while others will be whole-group demonstrations with me using the projector. I believe "Math 5 Live" and "Area and Perimeter Differentiation" will work best for the whole-group demonstrations while the last two will work best for partners. I plan on using a few of these the first day when students come back from Thanksgiving break, and then the rest throughout that week.

Math 5 Live: Area and Perimeter of Irregular Shapes: Finding area and perimeter when building a putting green.
Area and Perimeter Differentiation (EXCELLENT TUTORIAL; gets challenging to the L- and irregular-shaped figures in Level 3 of Area)
Area and Perimeter Interactive Measuring Lesson
Baseball Geometry Area Game

Real-Life Applications

VIDEO from The Futures Channel: The Set Director: Area relates to set design. In this video that runs a little less than three minutes, students find out how.
VIDEO: Landscape Architects
Students also use larger sheets of graphic paper to design their dream homes. We use 11" x 17" graph paper from Bienfang to complete this activity. Students have to find the area of each room. I did this activity two years ago, and it worked well. The idea was inspired by student architectural plans Stacey Burt (former grades 6-8 Scholastic Teacher Advisor and current Top Teaching blogger) brought to the Scholastic headquarters when we met in May 2009.
Last year, we also planned out parks, which turned out to be excellent. We did this activity on regular-sized graph paper. We may complete this activity closer to the state tests (and complete the dream home plans now).
Here are some sample math problems I may have my students solve in the coming weeks.
On the floor last year, I taped down L-shaped figures, which small groups found the area of by measuring with a centimeter ruler. I may try something similar again.
Of course, this will lead to volume, where we will use pop cubes to find the length, width, and height of figures we will construct. I have heard that video game console boxes can be acquired somehow, which can be incredibly fun for studying volume. Students can then visit an interactive volume website like this one.
Students will also learn how to find surface area, which will be simple after learning about different kinds of area. I will explain how boxes that products come in must be large enough to hold that product (and not be either too snug or too large, as that can damage the product either way). What is the right-size box to hold a cheeseburger? What is the right-size box to hold a video game console and its components?

In December, most of these activities will be completed (and our class will be focusing on multiplication/division as well). We will also start the very first part of fractions, decimals, and percents, which will be a coming entry in the next few months.

p.s. Off-topic, way off-topic, but... this will be offered for my students in the near future as well...

Tetris Link, needless to say, looks FUN. It will come out when my students study rotations in January. It sort of reviews area as well (in a roundabout way). Whenever I see a good strategy game, I let myself get quite excited. I am most certainly a 10-year old at heart sometimes...

Book Buddies: Intriguing Insight and Ideas for Working with the Younger Kids!

2011-11-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

At times, thinking about doing something above and beyond the ordinary curriculum can be a daunting thought, particularly when there are many mandatory obligations on your agenda. However, when I think about "Book Buddies", I feel a great deal of excitement. Book Buddies is a program where older students pair up with younger students to complete various cross-curricular activities.

Thinking back to when I was in fifth grade, I realized how much I enjoyed visiting Mrs. Hopkins' kindergarten class. There was a time called "Clubs" on Friday afternoons, and I clearly remember choosing to help the younger students. What made the time even better was that my mother was the teacher assistant assigned to the kindergarten classes. I enjoyed it when I saw her- and when the kindergartners greeted me. They appreciated me a great deal, which was not something I always got from my fellow classmates.

Book Buddies programs have been researched extensively. The premise is that at times, the older students choose books and read them to the younger students. They practice prosody and intonation to capture the younger student's interest. The older students' teacher assists the older students in understanding various comprehension strategies (mind movies/imagery, predicting, character comparisons, plot development, etc.). Eventually, the younger students can be aided by the older students in choosing books that are "Just Right" for them. When "buddy reading" is combined with writing activities, too, reading retention increases (Block, 2000).

This article from Abacon.com states:
"...Tutors quickly develop dramatic modulations and inflections in their oral read abilities. They also learn to use other vocal qualities to sustain their young readers' interest, such as pronouncing individual words with wide-ranging pitches, using variant paces, and creating distinct voices to depict each character in a story. In addition, by choosing a book to share, tutors gain a sense of accomplishment. They realize that their own reading ability has progressed when they examine the book they chose for their buddy and recognize how much easier it is for them to read it was in their recent past. This value of realizing "how far they have come" as a reader disperses positive affect and leads to growth in other subject areas as has been documented through testimonials of more than 100 book buddies with which we have worked."

At other times, either teacher chooses literature that connects to the curriculum and plans an exciting connecting lesson, which can be exciting for the classes. I am going to review a little of both today... and share some awesome ideas I have had for a while. It may work well for one of you!

Penguin Mini-Unit (3 Sessions):

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Leister is a wonderful read. Tacky is a "non-conformist penguin" who lives alongside proper, formal penguins. Tacky drives the plot development of the story in a major way because he saves the lives of the penguins from hunters. Ultimately, the themes of this book are acceptance/tolerance and being an individual. There is a connecting mini-unit related to this book here.
Have students compare their heights to an emperor penguin. When I interned in second grade, this wonderful penguin or something quite similar to it stood in my mentor's classroom.
There is also a phenomenal Rockhopper song I recall from when I worked with the second graders. They enjoyed singing it a great deal.
If you have laptops, your students can carry them to the book buddies classroom to share videos of penguins with interesting facts. There is also the Penguin Fact Book older students can visit first to make a book of facts for the younger students.
The older students can also prepare for a Reader's Theater performance.
Depending on the students, you can also read a short humorous excerpt from the book Mr. Popper's Penguins.
Scholastic's penguin theme resources website is awesome, too.

Writing Stories Together:

The older and younger students can also work on an All About ____ book for the younger class. I was introduced to Studentreasures Publishing when I was in college, which creates a nice hardcover book that can be purchased. Of course, the collaborative book can be about numerous topics (something science-related, a season, a different animal on each page, one-page autobiographies, etc.). The neatest thing about the publishing is that NOW, books can be published for free on the Internet! Here is a wonderful example.

Flat Stanley:

Flat Stanley is awesome for K-2 students. First, there is a free app for the iPad, which excites me, seeing I am getting one in the near future. Then there are numerous templates on the official website. Of course, you can have students look at a globe (and point out your state). Explain to the younger students that America has fifty states, but then there are other countries and continents as well.

The Possibilities Are Endless...

Of course, you can also do activities with green screen technology, cooking, and gardening, too, which I have always wanted to try. In the future, we shall see.

To finish out, visit Scholastic's new Teaching Themes: Everything You Need section. They may help you to come up with a great lesson or few lessons for your two classes. A few that look interesting for the second half of the year are St. Patrick's Day (where great books like The Last Snake in Ireland can be read) and Earth Day, though are there are so many themes above and beyond you may love.

Even if you haven't started a Book Buddies program this year, it is not too late. There is so much to look forward to in December and the remainder of the school year.

Making Theme Park Field Trips Relevant...

2011-11-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

A month from today, my class as well as two fifth-grade classes are heading to EPCOT in Orlando, Florida. When a field trip is planned in our district, we have to explain how our field trip is going to be relevant to our curriculum. I am writing this post for you to see how a field trip to a theme park can be quite the intriguing educational experience.

Pertaining to EPCOT, let's begin with an action-packed, popular ride like Test Track. When students returned from the trip last year, most stated this was their favorite ride. Understandably so! It is adventurous and fast-paced. When thinking about the main idea of the ride, I developed a sheet called "The Life of a Crash Test Dummy", included in the packet at the end of this post. This ride brings Florida Sunshine State standards SC.4.P.10.1 (There are numerous kinds of energy), SC.4.P.10.2 (Energy causes motion, creating change), and SC.4.P.12.2 (Speed is determined by distance traveled). Aside from this, students can look at a packet I designed last year about designing theme park rides (not included with this post). A great deal of planning goes into designing a ride, more than even an adult may realize.

With this trip, I can focus on writing as well. Chronological order and transition words are important skills fourth graders learn. Students will watch an example like the one below and plot parts from the ride into a graphic organizer. They can then use their paragraph-writing skills to come up with a sensational retelling of the ride, one that engages the reader through vivid language and imagery. Since the ride cannot be literally replayed on paper, the student has to create a mind movie with word choice and how each part of the ride is described.

Watch the video below...

Of course, EPCOT is known for its countries as well. Yet when I wrote the packet, I could only focus on so much. Visiting the countries at EPCOT go above and beyond the curriculum, teaching the students an incredible array of information that helps them to become more interested in Social Studies/travel. Ultimately, students may pick up books about a specific country or want to write an account about "visiting" one (after a bit of research, which is not challenging because of the Internet).

Obviously, I will encourage my students to take photographs and capture video footage, if that is possible with their digital camera. They should also purchase a unique souvenir they cannot purchase during an ordinary outing (in EPCOT's case, one from the World Showcase).

So before you move onward, please check out my EPCOT curriculum guide. If you ever use this, you can use any of it for your students. However, you must give me credit. If you have to show curriculum connections to your principal or district, please be considerate it took me about 3 hours to get everything together.

Besides that, here is another blog post about EPCOT that impresses me quite a bit. I may use some of those ideas in the next month, too! And... this is a forum topic I just located as well about EPCOT's possibilities!

I do not want you to think that planning field trips just extends to a place like EPCOT, however. Quite some time ago, our fourth grade classes traveled to Busch Gardens Tampa, where numerous physics connections can be made. A field trip to a theme park can also lend to literature connections as well as the theme park ride planning and engineering process, as I stated before.

Remember, any real-world, hands-on experience your students will have will (ultimately) make them more enthusiastic learners. If you are considering a field trip to a theme park, look over your state standards and determine how you can connect your visit to math, science, history, reading, and "specials" topics such as art and music.

The Connection Between Reading... and Test Scores

2011-11-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

I reiterate this from the first time I tell my students how important reading chapter books is daily: I do not teach you menial reading strategies to pass the FCAT. Instead, you immerse yourself in the world of reading so you can have a stronger vocabulary, apply the reading strategies I teach you in a personal context, and expand your schema about a variety of topics. Sometimes my students need a reminder, but... they generally "get the gist" early on.

As a natural result of reading, test scores DO improve a great deal, and parents should know that so they understand just how important reading is. The best part is that not just reading scores improve: math, writing, and science scores improve as well.

Part I: Reiterate the Importance of Reading to Your Classroom Parents:

I find this chart to be incredibly powerful. Parents may not realize that there is something called the "fourth grade slump", yet it most certainly exists. In fourth grade, the focus shifts from "learning to read" to "reading to learn", and students' interest in literature begins to dwindle. Technology becomes even more prevalent than before. Video games are so realistic in the twenty-first century that players feel as if they are directly in the middle of the action. The high-definition graphics and surround sound speakers are enticing. Many families have massive televisions that were not found in homes thirty years ago, and now even some televisions have three-dimensional capabilities. Also around 4th-6th grade, approximately, students begin registering for social media accounts, which can entice a child for several hours (from chat features to posting photos to playing online games). Reading tends to take a back seat, which is devastating, but understandable because of the "right here, right now" mentality that has swept our nation.

Some children do balance reading with other interests quite well, which is impressive because they are learning without realizing it. Of course, video games can expand your schema in phenomenal ways, but reading reaps even more benefits because the words are right in front of you. Your mind is forced to play "mind movies" as you read. Authors possess skills that make them stand out from other authors. The words authors write have a certain "musicality" of sorts, promoting imagery.

Another devastating thing is that across our nation, "passing a test" has become the priority for many teachers, and science/social studies gets slighted from the overall equation. Referencing "The New Fourth Grade Slump" from the Scholastic website, they mentioned how there is an initiative to "cover the standards". Often, "reading" gets equated with responding to multiple choice questions and logging into websites like FCAT Explorer. My students log on to FCAT Explorer weekly and Pearson SuccessNet daily, achieving quite well, yet they know there is so much more to reading than knowing whether the answer is A, B, C, or D.

Putting all that aside, generate interest for reading by having a vast, interesting classroom library (and telling your students how important it is to visit the school and county libraries as well as bookstores and book fairs). Our classroom library boasts over 1,200 books separated into nearly 50 categories (by topics of interest and specific books in a series like A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Chronicles of Narnia). My Principles of Elementary Reading professor at Flagler College, Dr. Frances Farrell, always reiterated how important is is to have a library that offers a great variety- and now I understand why. As for our school library, my students are able to read any book that is on their level or above because some series books they adore are at a lower middle school reading level. Then with the county library, I inform why it is important to have a library card (something Dr. Farrell reiterated more than once as well).

So once kids have something to read and they know what is "just right" for them, they should read 20+ minutes daily. It is preferable to read as much as an hour, in my opinion, which is why I make my students read during morning work time often as well.

Greaney (1980) found that fifth-grade students spent only 5.4 percent of their out-of-school free time engaged in reading, and 23 percent of them chose not to read at all. Though that research was conducted 31 years ago, the facts have not really changed much. In fact, it has worsened.

This is what ALL parents should see:

Day to Month:

20 minutes a day x 30 days a month= 600 minutes a month (equivalent to 10 hours).
40 minutes a day x 30 days a month= 1,200 minutes a month (equivalent to 20 hours).
60 minutes a day x 30 days a month= 1,800 minutes a month (equivalent to 30 hours).
Now think: let's say you only require 10 minutes daily or don't stress reading at all... that may only equate up to 5 hours of reading a month, possibly not even enough to get one whole chapter book read.

Month to Year:

(Reading 20 minutes daily) 10 hours x 12 months= 120 hours
(Reading 40 minutes daily) 20 hours x 12 months= 240 hours
(Reading 60 minutes daily) 30 hours x 12 months= 360 hours
(Reading 10 or less minutes daily) 5 hours x 12 months= 60 hours

Percentile Performances for State Tests:

Anderson, Wilson and Fielding conducted field study tests with fifth-grade students in 1986 and 1988. Approximately 160 students were involved between the two studies. The number of minutes spent in out-of-school reading, even if it was a small amount, correlated positively with reading achievement. It is interesting that students who scored at the 90th percentile spent five times as many minutes as children at the 50th percentile and more than 200 times as many minutes as children performing at the 10th percentile. Jacobs went afterward and looked at studies from the past sixty years to find a statistically significant relation between academic achievement and independent reading.

Part 2: Driving Childrens' Interest in Science and Social Studies:

Another thing that parents need to realize is that teaching their children about science and social studies is INCREDIBLY important. That is why my students take such "awesome" field trips during their fourth grade year. (I bring them to the oldest city in our entire nation, to a fantastic science museum, and to a theme park that offers a great deal of educational value: EPCOT.) I want them to know just how diverse and incredible our world truly is... and why things are as they are. Everything pretty much in science and social studies is a cause-and-effect relationship. I talk a lot about Social Studies, within the Florida history curriculum and beyond, because then interest for reading an excellent non-fiction book can be fueled. Students can develop inquiry questions and research precisely what sparks their curiosity.

Additionally, the vocabulary that comes from exposing students to science and social studies is MAJOR! I recently found a fantastic article called "What Reading Does for the Mind":

Selected Statistics for Major Sources of Spoken and Written Language: Rare Words per 1,000:

Newspapers: 68.3
Popular Magazines: 65.7
Children's Books: 30.9
Popular Prime-Time Shows: 30.8 (Cartoon Shows), 22.7 (Adult Prime Time Shows), 20.2 (Children's Prime Time Shows)

This is one reason my students complete current events every week. Literacy and democracy are quite interconnected. When presented with an appropriate article, kids are exposed to an impressive array of vocabulary. Newspapers are primarily written for adults, though there are articles that are certainly readable for their age bracket. Students should locate articles that have to do with science or social studies at least once every few weeks, aside from the occasional sports or high-interest articles.

Research has been conducted about Newspapers in Education programs as well; Stone (1988) reported that students who participate in such programs have less trouble reading informational text, enjoy reading them, and are likely to be current newspaper readers. Their interest in hard news increases, and they become interested in public affairs.

Hopefully you are now more informed to inform your students' parents about why reading is something to set aside some time for in the classroom and at home. This article is likely one of the most informative. Additionally, this PowerPoint is phenomenal and very organized. The research that is out there is astounding.

Part 3: Aside from Parents, You as Teacher Motivates...

I am providing a handful suggestions as we close out here...

Have a space in your classroom where students can write book recommendations for one another.
Connect celebrations to reading. Present reading for pleasure in a variety of contexts. This coming week, my students will head outside and read on sheets for the first time this year. It is relaxing and different from the norm, promoting reading out in a natural setting.
If you have written any short stories, poetry, or books for children, share them with your students because they will likely be quite invested.
Have your students act out scenes from books.
Have a time where you promote a handful of books, reading excerpts from them. I am going to do this in a "talk show" context this week.
Ask MANY higher-order thinking questions, particularly for required literature (ie. MacMillan Treasures). Here are some excellent question stems...

Last, I shall say... READ, read, read!

iPads in the Classroom: App Recommendations Galore! Good, extensive list...

2011-11-12T23:58:00.000-08:00

Next month, I am receiving an iPad 2 for Christmas. It has been on the top of my want list for over a year, and now I am finally going to be able to have this incredible tool for A) generating my own excitement, and B) to enhance my teaching when I work with small groups of students in the classroom.

For a while, I have been looking at which apps that may benefit my students the very most. Here are several I think will be beneficial (in addition to GarageBand and iMovie, of course...)...

BrainPop Featured Movie:
I have been a fan of BrainPop for at least five years. Knowing they have an excellent app like this excites me. I am grateful the featured movies are free- and I hope they correlate from time to time with what I have taught so I can bring a small group of students aside to explore. Check out this app here.

Ansel and Clair's Adventures in Africa:
I love virtual vacations, and this is no exception! The interface is vibrant, sparking your adventurous spirit. Here is an entire blog post dedicated to this app.

My Bird World:
Kids test their knowledge to "win" up to 24 different kinds of exotic birds, place them in one of six habitats, and play four fun games to keep them well-nourished. You can learn about birds like the American avocet, hummingbird, and yellow warbler.

Motion Math:
This $1.99 app is appropriate for ages 7-8+ and is WONDERFUL for reviewing number sense. It reviews concepts like number lines, fractions, percentages, pie graphs, and decimals, which are important for any 3rd-5th grade student to learn. There are wonderful encouraging sounds to keep kids engaged while they play this game as well.

Slice It!
Divide various shapes into equal parts. This colorful $1.99 app is great for all elementary-aged children, giving their brains a geometry-related workout!

MathBoard:
The images below impress me in itself! Any app that practices longer multiplication and division is worthwhile, in my book.

MadMath Lite Multiplication:

This will be a nice application for students practicing basic multiplication facts to use. There are either options to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, without or with decimals, so you can go quite advanced, apparently. It is a free application; check it out here.

K12 Timed Reading Practice:

This $1.99 purchase can track 1-minute fluency readings for you. I believe the photos below explain all...

National Park Maps HD from National Geographic:

These maps seem great for reviewing text features with your students. Click here to learn more about this $1.99 app.

Multiplication and Division Flash Action:

This is an awesome $4.99 app that reviews multiplication and division, recommended for ages 8+, though younger students can use it as well. Very colorful.

Britannica Kids: Volcanoes:

Not only do I love geology, this app is fascinating and can interest anyone who is studying volcanoes!

Middle School Math:

This $3.99 app from Interactive Elementary has some elements that are quite appropriate for the upper elementary audience. See below for a few neat screen shots.

Candy Factory:

Who doesn't like solving real-world math problems? Honestly, problems should have real-world applications. Here is Candy Factory, a fractions game. The best part is that it is FREE.

How to Make Origami:

It is important to review chronological order and the author's purpose of explaining, so this free app can be a great resource to brighten your reading curriculum a tad. The folding for each animal is explained step-by-step.

English Idioms, Illustrated:

English Idioms, Illustrated seems like an AMAZING free app that works well for reading and writing classes. We must all cover figurative language in our reading curriculums, so this seems like a worthy download as well.

Great Migrations HD:

This free National Geographic app seems VERY impressive and can be a great tool to teach science.

Strip Designer:

Digital Storytelling is amazing, so Strip Designer is worth $2.99, in my opinion. You choose a layout, upload photos, and then insert captions.

Toontastic:

I can hardly believe this app is free, but it is. It seems easy to navigate as well.

NASA App HD:

IMPRESSIVE is all I can say. This free app is worth the download! Engage your future astronomers.

Apps that will be on my iPad not for my classroom, but as a tool for younger students:

Sometimes I come in contact with younger students, and I know some of my readers here, too, teach grades K-2.

Splash Math:

This has over 200 questions for students in grades 1-3. There is an app for each grade level. Though I obviously do not teach those grades, I know this will come in handy sometime. The interface is colorful and impressive. It enables students to respond to questions at their own pace. The questions include wonderful graphics as well. I will probably purchase the third grade application. Here is the official website.

Last, I am leaving you with a set of articles from the iPad Classroom and a list of Publishing/Storytelling/Photography apps.

Kidscoop's Thanksgiving .pdf Booklet for Kids/Thanksgiving Math Lesson!

2011-11-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

Not a big deal! Kid-oriented Thanksgiving activity pages from Kidscoop. You may enjoy using them those last few days before letting out for Thanksgiving break. Here is the link.

Additionally, my students plan a Thanksgiving dinner every year using Publix's online website. If you want to have your students look at an online Thanksgiving-related circular from Publix, type in the zip code "34601" (our zip code). I give my students a $50.00 budget, and they use laptop computers during the lesson. Or if you have a Publix nearby, you can gather a printout for each student. That is what I have done the past few years. The most important thing is that my students have to include traditional Thanksgiving dinner and dessert choices on their menus.

Besides that, nobody can resist Snoopy! I love any graphics with the Peanuts gang...

Holiday Season Resources: Printables, Hands-On Excitement, and More!

2011-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

Deck the classroom with boughs of amazing ideas...fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Ladies and gentlemen, here are (approximately) 20-25 excellent ideas that can brighten your classroom during the holiday season.

Holiday Season/Winter Printables:

Penguin Parade: Algebraic Reasoning
Penguin Puzzler: Taking algebraic reasoning one step farther...
Natural Resources and Your Christmas Tree: As someone who seeks science in everything, this is an interesting read for older elementary and middle school students.
How Christmas Lights Work: More scientific explanations for the holiday season.
Christmas Cookie Mystery: A math mystery that involves measurement to solve the puzzle. (Here are the instructions for teachers.)
Fifth Grade Holiday Math Word Problems: Appropriate for 4th and 6th graders as well.
Fourth Grade Holiday Math Word Problems

Math Ideas:

Provide students with circulars from stores and set four different budgets for them to purchase for family members, friends, a "fictitious family in need" I am going to write a description about, and themselves for Christmas.
Making Chocolate Chip Muffins: Can be an extremely fun activity for older students (or younger, with parent supervision).
Cookies in a Jar: I had students do this a few years back; I may try it again, though it takes a while. It requires a lot of adult assistance. Mason jars, fabric, and all the ingredients are needed to prepare.
Whole Group Game: Icy Slides, Flips and Turns

Experimenting:

Making Fake Snow: Can be a great activity to do with younger book buddies.
Christmas Chromatography: An art and science activity.

Crafting:

Making a Borax Crystal Snowflake: Crystals can be used to make Christmas ornaments! This lesson combines science and art. (You can also make this a glow-in-the-dark science/art activity.)
Here is a really nice .pdf file for the activity above.
Painting Candles: Every year, my students paint candles (short white candles, either unscented or vanilla scented, from a store like Michael's. Some don't choose to burn their candles, so those students put jewels and special designs on them.
Painting and Decorating Wooden Picture Frames: We use the $1.00 wooden picture frames at Michael's. They fit a 4 x 6" picture and have rounded edges. In the past, too, we have used wooden plaques and glued photographs on. This is one of my very favorite activities during the holiday season with my students.
Swirl ornaments are the last craft my students have done (since 2006). The instructions are fairly simple, though you should certainly advise your students to not put too much paint in the ornament. We use the various colors of acrylic paint that can be found together at Michael's or Wal-Mart.

Food:

We will be making sugar cone Christmas trees the day of our celebration. Green frosting will be provided as well as different kinds of candies and sprinkles (that I have desired to use for a while now). Plastic wrap will be provided for each student to bring theirs home, if they desire.

Helping Others:

Holiday Hope Chests: I have used this idea from Beth Newingham the past three school years. We have donated our hope chests to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Cultural Awareness:

Celebrate Winter Holidays Around the World/Scholastic: A complete, wonderful resource.

Celebrations:

Feed and Read night with hot chocolate, candy canes, and eggnog: Our classroom will host a Feed and Read night in this next month where students (and their siblings) will relax around the room in their pajamas. They will listen to holiday stories, and our Christmas tree will go up that evening as well with each attendee making an ornament that will go on the tree.
Our class celebration right before school lets out will include an Italian feast and boys with boys/girls with girls gift exchange. We play two very fun games: decorating a human Christmas tree and putting the beard on Santa (using shaving cream and cotton balls). (We might even make calzones this year!)

Making Science REAL in the Classroom!

2011-11-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

Science has been one of the topics foremost on my mind lately. It has been a whirlwind time focusing on our class science fair project, preparing for a field trip to the Springs Coast Environmental Center, preparing once again to work with animals in the classroom (something we did last year), and receiving a grant for nearly $1,400.00 to purchase science materials for the fourth grade. Of course, my mind has been thinking about experiments in general as well.

Let's start with the science fair project. It was sort of an arduous task. My class built truss roof models that consisted of three truss frames each. They constructed (3) W-truss roof models, (3) dual-pitch roof models, and (3) hip truss roof models. Just a few days ago, we balanced the models between two pieces of wood on the monkey bars to see which could hold the highest mass. The W-truss models had the highest mean with the dual-pitch not too far behind. It took hours for us to focus on this wonderful project, though it was beneficial in the long run because we were staring at the trusses supporting the roof of the Springs Coast Environmental Center yesterday.

The field trip to the Springs Coast Environmental Center was an exciting adventure for the class. We explored the scrub habitat near the Weeki Wachee River, which has sandy ground and short trees. The person in charge of the center, Ms. Cheryl, chanted some memorable chants for us to recall some of the plants that are in this habitat. There was a nature hike that lasted about 45 minutes, and we played many games back at the classroom area. My favorite was where the kids receive sticks with questions and look around the room to locate the answers. The room is set up like a museum with all kinds of interactive displays. Students receive a token for every question they answer correctly. Time is then called, and tokens are counted up to determine the winner. Another game next door to that determines places "rain drops" travel through. Students pick up cards like "groundwater", "clouds", "groundwater", and "glaciers". The last part was a room set up with animals that had been through taxidermy. Students had to read descriptions about various animals while they were there. Here are some photos:

As for the animals, we will be taking care of African dwarf frogs for about a week.

And last... I applied for my very first grant, and every wish was GRANTED! The grant was for nearly $1,400.00 to purchase high-end microscopes, digital gram scales, soil testers, and a Van de Graaff generator. The Hernando County Education Foundation as well as the Suncoast Schools Credit Union made this possible. Besides that, Southwest Florida Water Management District sponsored the grant, so WONDERFUL adventures await us!

So, last, want to plan awesome science for your classroom? Here are some great sites for different areas.

For force and motion/physics: "Design Squad" from PBS Kids
For videos about all areas of science, to encourage critical thinking: "Dragonfly TV" from PBS Kids
For a great environmental ecience simulation: "The Dirt on Soil" from Discovery Kids
For an excellent simple machines lesson: "Edheads.org"
For information about endangered ecosystems: "Endangered Ecosystems" from Scholastic.com
For an amazing astronomy adventure through a virtual world: "Explore Mars Now"
For a great geology website: "Volcano Explorer: Build a Virtual Volcano"
For force and motion/physics: "Build a Roller Coaster Online from Discovery Kids"

Of course, there are so many other sites out there. Visit my Delicious.com database!

NEW TPT Item: $2.00 Christmas Math Packet (7 Pages, 3 Activities)

2011-11-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

I have revived my TPT files by combining three files that have to do with Christmas Math. Click here to see (and possibly order) this file for $2.00. It is appropriate for grades 3-5.

The 7-page packet includes: Christmas Tree Ordering, More Christmas Word Problems, and Fractional Sugar Cookies. I made the tree that is featured many times in the file (and to the left) myself in Adobe Photoshop. Hopefully, you will like it. I believe my fourth-graders will like these activities next month.

Now I have questions for my Teachers Pay Teachers friends. Please answer if you have a few moments. I need advice...

I have had very little luck on TPT so far, but I do offer only five items. I have had four sales in all in four months. I know I can get several more items up, but time doesn't exactly permit at times. I do not know how to promote a store, and it even seems like a challenge to promote this weblog so people know the store exists in the first place.

How have you built a strong following on TPT?
How do you encourage others that your items are credible and meaningful?
How was TPT for you when you first began establishing your store?

Thanks! Again, I hope people enjoy the new holiday file featured above!

How to Manage Your Time (11 Tips!)

2011-11-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Getting our complex science fair project underway in this past week, staying on top of probe scores for math/reading/science, and trying to explain what transition words are to my students... life has been pretty challenging recently. My 1,896,543 responsibilities, like any other teacher, has led me to discuss...

How to Manage Your Time (Coming from Personal Experience)

Either you're interested or thinking, How boring could you possibly get?! But recently, I have felt like a waitress trying to balance a platter with 50 pieces of delicate china on it. I have been exhausted and trying to implement idea after idea. I have tried to get to everything on my to-do list daily, but then the list triples by the next day. The cycle never seems to end, though I can always say that I am following my dreams by being an elementary school teacher. I love my job.

#1: Organize the files on your computer. This saves time in many ways. This summer, I organized each folder in my Education Files by subject, and then each sub-folder by Sunshine State Standard. Never again do I have to reference a .pdf file when having to look up standards. I also wrote out each standard in kid-friendly terms like "LA.4.1.6.9- Multiple-Meaning Words" so I locate the files I need quickly.

#2: As sad as this sounds, don't always try to reinvent the wheel. And sadly, I always try. Use the resources your textbooks provide and then incorporate your own teaching style/creativity. I have enjoyed using the Macmillan Treasures reading series this year more than any other year. The series reviews some excellent higher-order thinking skills. I never realized that before because I am stubborn. You can create entire assignments from one suggestion your series gives. Also being an advocate of Reader's and Math Workshop (where my students sit in the meeting area and discuss with partners daily), you can turn one suggestion from your textbook series into an intriguing discussion. Not everything has to be an original, copyrighted idea from you.

#3: Incorporate journals in your classroom, and tell your students they MUST read chapter books. My students are quite interested in chapter books and pretty much enjoy writing in their journals. Making them read every night and maintaining a reading log takes care of reading homework, especially when you tell them to discuss author skills with their parents. My students also enjoy using Post-It notes, whether it is with the TIME for Kids magazine, reading textbook, or their chapter books. Journaling can be a center in your classroom that saves a lot of planning time. Especially when you tell your students what you expect early in the year, they do very well with that center. I then tell them I am grading right afterward. Most of the time, they receive at least an 80%.

#4: Incorporate technology in your classroom. We use FCAT Explorer, which takes care of itself. It is a very easy center to assign. The reports are generated for me in whatever way I desire (whether I want them for the year so far, grading period, or even the week or day). Then the class heads to use Pearson software daily (SuccessMaker), and those reports take care of themselves as well. We also use Reading Counts, which not everyone advocates, but the kids are motivated to read all kinds of literature. My students enjoy seeing their progress in comparison to others in the class. I also have downloaded video podcasts and shown them as introductions to lessons (in science) and enjoy sharing websites that are like "virtual field trips". There are wonderful game sites out there as well as Power Point templates for popular games (like JEOPARDY). Using technology can save a lot of time.

#5: Though I haven't done this yet, plug your parents' numbers in your cell phone for field trips. This is great so you don't have to dig out your folder with emergency information to call them, if needed. Of course you will need to have that on hand as well, but you can find the number in a much quicker way. Then if you are arriving home earlier or later from a field trip, it will save a LOT of time.

#6: Make time for yourself. Please. Enjoy your life. Add variations. Don't inundate your life with work 24/7. Been there, done that, doesn't work. Get in touch with friends you have not seen in a while and spend time with them in a way that you have not before. Be spontaneous. When I headed to Orlando a few weeks ago with another teacher friend, we had a great time shopping and conversing. We may not have had the most time in the world to do it, but we made time for it. The most important aspect of that day was that I scheduled my first one-hour massage... ever. I have felt a great deal better health-wise since that day.

Also, focus on hobbies. Mine are photography, writing, and visiting historical sites. So for me, visiting Sweetfields Farm in Masaryktown, Florida today was calming for me because I was able to play around with my Nikon photography equipment. My friends Gale and Heather enjoy baking, and then my internship teacher's (second grade, from spring 2004) is gardening.

#7: Oh... network and share your ideas. You may find many wonderful ideas through others. I have belonged to the A-Z Teacher Forums since 2005, maintained Teachingvision.org since August 2005, have worked for Scholastic for three school years, and have blogged since working with them in July 2009 as the grades 3-5 teacher advisor.

I have met some of the most sensational people (some literally, others just online). Don't be afraid to contact other teachers and ask them about where their ideas have come from. I have borrowed some great ideas that have made me a stronger teacher. I remember when I first contacted Heather Renz in 2006 or so and when Angela Bunyi contacted me in 2008. This is before she worked for Scholastic, and then I had the opportunity as well. We met in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009. Online networking also helped me to "meet" Amanda Nickerson, who maintains the weblog "One Extra Degree", and actually meet Jennifer Gibbons, who maintains the weblog "The Classic Crafter".

#8: Don't buy what you don't need. Because... then... you would be spending a lot of time organizing your unnecessary items. That is the story of my life. I am currently solving this problem by realizing I do not need droves of material possessions to be a better teacher. Perhaps this will come in another entry.

#9: You will NOT read every professional book you will ever purchase, especially if you have many of them. I have loads of books on hand if I need them, but remember... I don't read all of them. So I remember who are the authors I make the most time for: Stephanie Harvey, Lucy Calkins, Melissa Forney, Laura Robb, Tanny McGregor, the Sisters, and Marilyn Burns. Remember that you do not need everything to plan a tremendous lesson.

#10: You do not have to grade EVERYTHING. Umm, that explains itself. I have spent too many years coming home with stacks of papers and analyzing every word on every paper. That doesn't necessarily make you better at what you do, either.

#11: Last, make time for yourself by sleeping enough at night so you do not have to take naps as soon as you come home from school. Don't over-exhaust yourself.

To reduce stress, remember that sometimes, minimalism is important. You do not need to think constantly about school to be good at what you do. If you take care of yourself, you will value yourself more as a teacher... and so will your students.

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep this week, fellow teachers and friends! I will finish out with a few of my photos from Sweetfields Farm, unedited (I am in the process, but they still look good):

2011-11-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Lana from "4 the Love of Teaching" gave me a REALLY nice award this evening: The Blog on Fire award. Apparently, I am supposed to share seven facts about myself and then pass the award on to seven bloggers.

First, the facts (and I need to make them very interesting, I know...)

1. I listen to music constantly while writing lesson plans. My iPhone is loaded with many songs that I listen to on repeat. I do not listen to just one genre of music. One moment I may be listening to a country song, then classic rock, pop, hard rock, and Christian. Music is my saving grace sometimes and gets me thinking clearly.

2. When I was young, I was one of those kids who would go back and erase an entire paper if it did not sound "right" to me. I advise my students to steer clear of that now because I remember how much frustration it brought me. I am also obsessed with having pencils with perfect points and pens with the best flow of ink, even to this day.

3. I pray for my future husband daily because... I do not know who he is, obviously, and I hope he is an incredible, giving man with a zest for life. Someone who is genuine, honest, creative, and intelligent.

4. I was obsessed with architecture when I was a kid. I actually wanted to be an architect around fourth grade or so. Sketching floor plans FASCINATES me. Analyzing them fascinates me as well. I like to imagine in my mind what the plan looks like when fully constructed. Ideally, I would design and construct my own home, though that is not fully possible.

5. My father is disabled and has a prosthetic leg.His leg was amputated this past May (2011). He primarily uses a wheelchair and had to retire from his job of 28 years, 7 months as a carpenter with the school district where he worked. He is now going to receive the Service Related Personnel award for his ENTIRE district. He is a very strong man who has taught me to appreciate all I have.

6. I am fascinated with baking tools, particularly silicone and plastic candy molds. I am most certainly a person who enjoys celebrations (and cannot wait to have them with my own children). I like to purchase novelty holiday-related baking items. For Halloween, I purchased skull and crossbones sprinkles, a brain ice mold, a bat silicone mold, and two kinds of pumpkin silicone molds.

7. I was made fun of to no end growing up. To this day, I am not completely sure as of why. Well, I kind of understand, but no person should be tormented for being themselves. However, middle school, in particular, lends itself to that. I cried throughout most of my middle school years, and it affected my confidence tremendously at the time. When I have my own children, I will relay to them often to speak up for themselves, be an individual, and find people who treat them like gold.

Seven Incredible Teacher Bloggers (For the award):

Almost Unschoolers
One Extra Degree (Go, Amanda, go!!!)
The Creative Apple
Literacy Minute (You are still going to receive something mysterious from me, Sandra Maddox, mark my words... :) )
Shepherd's Shining Stars
Runde's Room
Reading is Thinking

Thank you for inspiring me.

Fantastic Metacognition in a Whole Group Lesson

2011-11-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

When my second grade teacher from my internship at W.D. Hartley Elementary School in St. Augustine told me in 2004 that Mosaic of Thought altered her methodologies in teaching reading, I didn't know what she meant. I remember thinking, All right, find who wrote it, and purchase it because you will probably need it later. I remember reading it a few years later and admiring it, but I did not implement Ellin Keene's philosophy until this school year. Does that sound right?

For this year's students, YES! I have adopted a new approach that generates a great deal more excitement, BUT... I feel like I could have done this earlier and benefited so much more.

It was over the summer when I thought about the things I despised the very most in my classroom, things that generated inward groans that I could see written all over my students' faces. It did not take me long to think about how much I despised assigning comprehension questions 1-5 at the end of the story every Tuesday. Some of the questions were repetitive, tedious, and exhausting for my students, especially when all presented in one sitting. So I thought of how I could make comprehension more tangible and make it seem less like work, though they would be working quite a bit harder because we would be focusing on higher-order questions.

Today, I presented a very interesting question to my class. Before they approached the meeting area, I told them to get six Post-It notes, their reading response journal, and their reading textbook. We opened to Dear Mr. Winston in our Macmillan Treasures textbook and reviewed a few of the skills near the end of the story (about base words, affixes, inferences, and plot development). In the midst of that, I showed the class this:

I then stated, "Using your six Post-It notes, be a reading lawyer. You know how lawyers must present a great deal of evidence? I want you to find six pieces of evidence that prove to Your Honor, me, that this story has a sarcastic tone." They understood exactly what I was asking of them and produced THIS...

The "evidence" they were presenting was AMAZING. I loved the tone of their Post-It notes, even. After school, I put this chart together so tomorrow, the class can see how divergent their thinking was during this lesson.

What evidence shows that Dear Mr. Winston was written using a sarcastic tone? The categories your Post-It notes fell into were...

The Blame Game!
Sarcastic Illustrations!
Suspicions!
Talking About What Mr. Winston Does NOT Like!
Rude Humor!
Repetition!

This one lesson incorporated a great deal of metacognition and most certainly got my students thinking on a higher level. These were the Florida Sunshine State standards addressed in this one sitting:

LA.4.1.7.1/LA.4.2.2.1/LA.4.6.1.1: Analyze text features.

LA.4.1.7.3: Make inferences.

LA.4.1.7.3: Formulate questions. (When the class shared their notes with one another, I certainly heard them asking questions to one another.)

LA.4.2.1.2: Analyze characters.

LA.4.2.1.3: Analyze the author's choice of language.

LA.4.2.2.3: Chart, map, and summarize.

Personal standards:

My students found details that supported a claim.
My students turned back to specific points in the story, marking page numbers on their Post-Its.
They looked back throughout the entire story to locate their details, not just part of the story.
My students were most certainly not bored.

I am grateful to be a stronger teacher than ever (I believe, anyway) who is ECSTATIC to teach reading for the 2011-2012 school year.

All My Scholastic Posts from the 2009-2010 School Year

2011-10-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Flashback... hard to believe they are in sixth grade now. My oldest students are eleventh graders, so if I turn into an emotional sap this next year, it's NOT my fault!

My year as the grades 3-5 Scholastic teacher advisor most certainly yields memories. It ignited my passion for blogging. Over the past few school years, a few people have asked me about my old posts, and I didn't know where to exactly direct them to where they were in one place, so here is the link.

Looking back, I know where I could have done so much better, but it was the first time I ever blogged. So I was kind of awe-struck because I was a semi-clueless novice. Of course, I maintained a website since 2005 and knew HTML coding. Also, I knew a great deal about social networking and building up strong networks with other individuals, but this was a challenge. What I can take from that experience is a passion for making videos (which finally manifested in this weblog this year) and documenting memories. I have realized that everything in teaching TRULY has a purpose and anything can be fair game for a great weblog post. Being a "teacher blogger" has inspired me to become more goal-oriented and focus on my goals of becoming a professor of education as well as children's author and public speaker. I hope I have inspired you... somewhat, at least.

Remember, nothing is impossible. Hopefully my heart and strong desire will drive me in the right direction. No matter what, though, I have become so much stronger in my teaching over time because I share a great deal of resources on the Internet.

Halloween 2011 in Jasztalville (Some incredible photos of the kids and our exciting events!)

2011-10-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 27, 2011 consisted of incredible events at school, from the annual Costume Parade (10:00 in the morning) and Fall Festival (5:30-9:00 p.m.) to our classroom events in-between (a delectable feast, Pumpkinology, the making of slime, and the annual "Pumpkin Roll", which consists of rolling pumpkins down our very steep hill that is not far from the recess field).

So here is a plethora of photos, edited by the fantastic Picnik.com.

8:50-9:30 a.m.: Working on a Halloween and fall-related wordsearch and a coloring page (I rarely give coloring pages, so it is a welcome surprise when I do! This was the first one they saw this year...)

10:00-10:40 a.m.: The Costume Parade:

Our school is quite rural, with rolling hills and trees galore. We have ample space to hold all kinds of wonderful events. The costume parade was started by our last principal during the 2006-2007 school year, and I have dressed up since the following year (first as a Medieval queen, then a pirate, an 80s teenager, masquerade ball woman, and then an 1800s zombie). I love seeing how the kids from our school dress up. I get photos of younger siblings, former students' younger siblings, current students, fifth-graders, administrators, and teachers every year.

The first girl is in kindergarten, and the other two are in first grade. They came for Feed and Read earlier in the week, too...

Awesome, fun costumes! It was great when the boy on the left put on sunglasses. Then the boy on the right adores Star Wars, so I was not surprised by his costume choice at all!

Star Wars again, a ninja, and a soldier. The soldier received eight votes from classmates to receive the prize for Best Boy's Costume.

Three beautiful costumes. The first is homemade, and she received a prize for Best Historical Costume.

I loved both of these costumes. The girl on the left received the Teacher's Choice costume award.

Some of the students in my wonderful class pose for Mrs. Reed, their amazing advanced third-grade teacher!

Above: Top left: One of our guidance counselors posing with her daughter (who is in my class)- a phenomenal, generous woman; Top right: A fifth-grader's younger sister in first grade (I have known her mother for many years); Bottom left: Our principal, dressed as the Tin Man; Bottom right: One of the best and most helpful volunteers I have ever had (she is the mom of the soldier).

Our lunch started right at noon, and everything was phenomenal. Five parents came in to assist (just right!). They are all wonderful. On the left, one mom is pouring "Spooky Punch", which was made by another mom. Both of them have done so much to make my classroom a better place this year. Then the mom on the right is the guidance counselor... her mom runs a sub shop, so they supplied wonderful food for our class out of the generosity of their hearts.

Here is a great picture of "Pumpkinology", or the exploration of pumpkins!

Here is more Pumpkinology. On the left is a photo of a girl being weighed to see how many of her group's pumpkins made up her weight. The girl on the right was sorting seeds, though you cannot see this here.

Then of course came... Slime Exploration! I told my students how there are special polymers in slime and how tonic water
makes slime glow in the dark. Quite interesting, hmm...?

Another photo mixing slime!

Now there aren't pictures from the pumpkin roll... just videos! Maybe I'll share those later. That happened around 2:30. Skipping three hours ahead, the fall festival began...

The haunted house... WOW. Very elaborate and unique this year. Wonderful, wonderful job. The art room transformed quite a bit!

I think they did an AMAZING job.

This is our Science Lab teacher who moved to another school this year- one of the nicest people I have ever met. I miss her a great deal.

Another friend of mine since Day 1: the music teacher. She wasn't always the music teacher; she taught 3rd grade for a really long time, so I used to get students from her. I had her younger daughter 3 years ago, too. She is always in the action!

This last set of photos elicited a "Say what?" from a few of the parents. "You took a photo of my kids... together? They are the BICKERSONS!!!" Yet I did it... and hopefully their parents will smile when they see this!

So all in all, Happy Halloween! The best part is that my favorite time of year isn't even here yet. I cannot wait to see what comes. This has been an amazing year so far.

The Power of Post-Its in Reading

2011-10-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have become more of a Post-It Queen this year than... ever. Why? Probably because I inundated some of my life this past summer with books from reading advocates. I remember thinking at the end of last year, I did well, but now I need to do better, so I will focus on inquiry and active reading strategies.

The thing is, I always thought that my students were actively reading. However, now I KNOW they are doing so because they use Post-Its while they are reading. I am also asking them to go beyond the reading books every week by writing entire journal entries about topics rather than writing answers to questions from the reading book.

So, I have prepared a video for you that is about two minutes long of my students writing Post-Its on their own and then sharing them with their chosen reading partners for the day. View it here! We meet in the front area featured in the video daily. This lesson focused on writing Post-It notes about two articles: Stealing Beauty and So Far from Home in the MacMillan Treasures textbook. Students were handed six Post-It notes, and thinking stems were written on the board:

This reminds me of...
Text-to-text connection
Text-to-self connection
This reminds me of the quote "___" because...
Question
Noting a vivid vocabulary word
Summary statement for a paragraph (stating the main idea)

A pretty good overview of the lesson.

Seeing I am sharing more videos this year than even when I was working for Scholastic, I know a few I am thinking of for the near future. I know I want to include a journaling post for you about Reader's Response Journals (the next step up from Post-Its) and lessons inspired by both Stephanie Harvey and Tanny McGregor. I have delved a little into The Reader's Toolkit, and am very fascinated with every idea mentioned in Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading. Although that book is quite short, shorter than any book I have spent $20.00 on, it truly is a "concrete gold mine", as a reviewer mentioned.

I plan on doing the "Reading Salad" tomorrow that focuses on metacognition, or the blend of thinking and reading text. This will make an excellent connection to the Post-It lessons I have been presenting! Here is an entry from another blogging teacher, written only a few weeks ago.

Besides that, I am also intrigued by this article about text coding. This can come in handy with Post-It thinking as well.

So... I can only summarize this in one possible sentence... I have adored teaching reading this year, more than ANY other subject, and that is a climactic statement on my behalf, considering how much I love teaching writing, science, and history.

Halloween and Fall-Related Activities for the Intermediate Classroom

2011-10-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

I know, ladies and gentlemen, it has been a while. It seems like a long while, actually, that I have been trapped in my classroomopolis and not paid much attention to this weblog. However, it is important to reconnect with you because it is almost Halloween.

Some teachers cannot celebrate Halloween in their classrooms because of school or district guidelines, and some who can do not because they cannot fathom the educational relevance. When my students celebrate every year, I make it a highly educational experience. Halloween in Jasztalville means spooktacular word problems, chemistry-related excitement, and "Pumpkinology", a.k.a. the mathematical and scientific study of... pumpkins. We also write spine-chilling mysteries using tremendous vocabulary.

Last year's school-wide costume parade was very successful.

Since we are now in the midst of this exciting season, this is what I plan to do in the coming week...

Writing a Spooktacular Mystery:
This will happen Tuesday and Wednesday in writing class this week. I am going to review these words:

Words for "ran": ambled, dashed, skedaddled
Words for "snuck around": tiptoed stealthily, groveled, gumshoed, wriggled
Words for "scared": frightened, terrified, spooked, panic-stricken, petrified, scared stiff, terror-stricken, alarmed
Words for "big": grandiose, immense, massive, colossal
Sound effect words: creaking, thumping, lurching, echoing
Words for "old": antiquated, ancient, outdated
Words to describe a haunted house: musty, abandoned, spine-tingling, mysterious, unapproachable

Similes, Metaphors, Idioms: (Some from here)

Like a monster ready to devour me (Simile)
Explosion attacking my eardrums (Idiom)
Hollering wind (Idiom)
Face as pale as wax (Simile)
A grim face like a carved mask (Simile)
A long slit of daylight like a pointing finger (Simile)
A swift whirlwind of activity (Metaphor)
Mighty wind plowing (Idiom)
A melancholy shadow (Idiom)
A soft and purple mist like a vaporous amethyst (Simile)
A tear like silver glistened in the corner of her eye (Simile)
Like a storm-tossed wreck (Simile)
Deep dark well of sorrow (Idiom)
A piercing stream of moonlight through the trees (Idiom)

Glow in the Dark Spooky Science (Chemistry):

For the past four years, I have ordered Atomic Slime from Steve Spangler Science, but no offense to him... I have found a much less expensive way to do it this year. Rather than using ordinary water in an experiment, use tonic water. Make sure you have purchased a black light or two from Wal-Mart as well, and your glow-in-the-dark experiment will be incredibly successful.

Atomic Slime for the 2011-2012 School Year:

I got this recipe from a website, but I don't remember which one. I apologize.

Preparing the Slime Solution: Slime is made by mixing together a Borax solution and a glue solution. Prepare a mass amount of the two and then use the amount you need for each student to make perfect "atomic slime".

PART 1: For the Borax solution, take about a half cup of hot tonic water and stir in Borax until it stops dissolving. Use a bowl. The solution may be a tad cloudy, though that will not affect the experiment at all.

PART 2: For the glue solution, remember the trick is to make translucent extra-slimy slime. The best glue to use is the glue gel that is pale blue in color, though you can turn it a brighter green with a little food coloring.

Take these steps to make the glue solution:

1. Take 4 ounces of glue and stir it in 1 cup of tonic water.

2. Add a few drops of green food coloring. If you want a greenish-yellow radioactive chemistry hue, then add 2 drops of yellow and 1 drop of green coloring.

PART 3: Making the Slime:

Have each student mix together 1/3 cup of the Borax solution with 1 cup of the glue solution. If you can get containers with covers from the dollar store to "shake" the solution for 60 seconds, that would be great, but you can just get your student to mix it with their hands for about the same amount of time. (Or if you want to do a whole group's slime at once, use one part Borax and three parts glue. Then to amaze them, turn off the main fluorescent lights of your classroom and turn on a few black lights.

Screaming Balloons: From Steve Spangler:

The magic of science can make balloons “scream”. Place a hex nut (from the hardware store like Lowe’s) in the balloon and make a swirling motion as you hold it with both hands. The law of inertia and centripetal motion makes the hex nut vibrate the walls of the balloon to spin around and in Mr. Spangler’s words, produce a “wonderfully annoying sound”!

“Lava Lamp”- From Steve Spangler" (I added the tonic water idea):

Materials:

One clean, plastic soda bottle (16 oz. size works well)
Soda bottle cap
Vegetable oil (the cheaper the better)
Food coloring
An Alka-Seltzer tablet
Tonic Water

1. Fill the bottle 3/4 full with vegetable oil.

2. Fill the rest of the bottle with tonic water (almost to the top but not overflowing).

3. Add about 10 drops of food coloring. Be sure to make the water fairly dark in color. Notice that the food coloring only colors the tonic water and not the oil. Hmmm?

4. Divide the Alka-Seltzer tablet into 8 pieces.

5. Drop one of the tiny pieces of Alka-Seltzer into the oil and water mixture. Watch what happens. When the bubbling stops, add another chunk of Alka-Seltzer. It’s just like a lava lamp!

6. When you have used up all of the Alka-Seltzer and the bubbling has completely stopped, screw on the soda bottle cap. Tip the bottle back and forth and watch the wave appear. The tiny droplets of liquid join together to make one big lava-like blob.

For more glow-in-the-dark science, click here...

Pumpkinology:

You need a pumpkin for every 3-4 students and a scale (from the clinic, home, etc.)

How tall is your pumpkin in: Inches? ______ Centimeters? ______
What is the circumference of (distance around) your pumpkin in inches? ______ inches
What is the weight of your pumpkin in pounds? _____ pounds
My weight is: _____ pounds
How many of your pumpkin make up your weight? _____ pumpkins
How many lines are on the outside of your pumpkin? ______
Predict the number of seeds in your pumpkin: ______ seeds
Actual number of seeds in your pumpkin: ______ seeds

The Feast:

For our spook-filled feast, we always have a delectable sub sandwich lunch with different kinds of salads. We also have people bring in creative Halloween-related desserts and drinks. This year, we will have brain cupcakes, bat brownies, and a misty punch with a brain (and gummy "body parts candy") floating throughout. In that time, we are casting votes for our class' costume contest. The class will also hopefully be amazed with my blinking strobe light, bats hanging from the ceiling, sound effects, and music selections (which are mostly soundtracks).

The thing about our celebration (and entire event) is that is not (and may I repeat NOT) scary, but more like a mad scientists' lab.

To finish out, here are some silicone molds that have caught my eye lately:

Happy Halloween (almost)!

Videos and Explanations of Recent Reading in Jasztalville (And an awesome reading craft for the little ones!)

2011-10-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

A photo taken earlier this year before we monitored with Post-It notes. This is here because it is so important to monitor reading and notice things that "stand out" in the first place.

We have been very fortunate in Jasztalville to focus on active reading strategies. Most recently, we have focused on monitoring reading with Post-It notes. The class is doing sensational because they are reading Just Right books (they know how to choose appropriate books and understand various reading strategies they should be utilizing while reading). I have discussed why it is SO IMPORTANT to have thoughts about your reading before, during, and after reading.

I have held numerous CAFÉ conferences so far this year. Believe it or not, it is the very first year I have implemented CAFÉ strategies in my classroom, so I feel like I have grown a lot as a teacher, too. Students must read their chapter books actively and then record their thoughts in their Reader’s Response Journals.

We have met in our learning groups at my back table to discuss what constitutes a strong journal entry. Everyone is on-track right now, writing very informative and interesting entries between 1-3 pages long. The class is learning how to go beyond summarizing in their journal entries.

I believe I have learned more from my students than I ever could have imagined. I have recorded a lot from my students this year, and their explanations for their Post-It notes are right on target. This past Thursday, a boy said that a character’s actions in The Girl Who Could Fly made him think of a saying his parents shared with him at home: “If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again.” (Click here to view his video.) Another girl stated that she made first-page predictions, a boy got excited that Lemony Snicket used the author’s skill of writing backwards, and a girl made so many fascinating connections with Dragon Rider. The class also located stunning “million-dollar words”, which I encouraged them to look at in context to determine the meanings.

We still have a long way to go, really implementing further higher-order thinking skills, but I think lessons like these (and discussions this impressive that parents can view later) will lend to higher achievement on the FCAT as well as develop a life-long passion for reading.

It is QUITE interesting when I look back at the reading surveys from the first week of school and noticing not many of my students described themselves as voracious readers. In fact, some did not like reading at all, but after being told they had to read 45 minutes daily between school and home, rain or shine, snow or sleet (whoops, we’re talking about Florida here), they have caught on to the fact that reading is amazing.

After spending two summer months reading professional literature cover-to-cover, scribbling incessant notes (a lot when a relative was in the hospital and I was there the entire day), I am proud to say I am implementing a plethora of great ideas.

I immersed myself in any literature I could find about CAFÉ, whether it was the book itself, Scholastic materials, online YouTube videos, or teacher write-ups about it online.
I studied what makes the Duke Tip program so strong.
I went back and read articles from mentor teachers (Beth Newingham and Angela Bunyi, in particular) to see where I could expand my instruction.
I read a lot about classroom management during reading, though we are still readjusting some procedures in our classroom. For example, students should have a whole stack of Post-Its next to them instead of having to get up after running out. They should also find their Book Nook and settle there the entire time. A few of my students are not settling as well as they could. It is a learning process. For the second month of school, we are doing well and will get even better.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have even developed some strategies of my own, striving for an inquiry-driven classroom in the next few months.

Why Things Changed: I realized that my students needed MORE. Looking back at data from the class of 2010-2011, everyone did well, yet I did not provide a reading log for students. It was not as consistent as I wished. We used Post-Its sporadically. My mini-lessons were sufficient at the time, focusing on some great literature, but we did not turn to our partners to discuss as much as this year's class. Students did not apply their thinking to their chapter books as much like they do this year. Centers went really well, but I don't think I gave them enough time to savor literature. Morning work was always given, and then reading came afterward.

My students have always done well in choosing literature by the end of the year, but they needed to enjoy it more. They needed to discuss what they were reading with their parents, so now I make it a requirement.

Chapter Book Rule of Thumb: (I tell the students this, pretty much): I let my students know how important reading is all the time.

Read a chapter book on your “Just Right” level. Sometimes you can read a few books that are not exactly on your level, but you are expected to get done with those faster.
When you go home EVERY DAY, read the book for at least 20 minutes. This is in addition to 15-30 minutes in the morning during Morning Work and 15 minutes during CAFÉ conferences in reading centers. You may be reading as much as an hour a day, but imagine all the incredible vocabulary you are learning!
Use Post-Its while reading, and place the Post-Its in your journal later. (We just recently learned this, as I wrote, but it is a great monitoring strategy.)
Write one Reader’s Response Journal a week. You cannot just summarize! You also have to do at least one other skill (text-to-self connections, text-to-text connections, character summaries and comparisons, note when you noticed mind movies, note when you notice “million dollar words”, cause and effect, inferring, predicting, and/or questioning).
Discuss at least one strategy with your parents at home every week.

Preparing for CAFÉ: Students must know what CAFE exactly is before we meet.

First, watch a sample excerpt from a CAFE conference here. A student discusses The Iron Giant. This was one of my first conferences this year, and it went extremely well.

When students have a conference, they come with their book and Reader's Response Journal. The video above was taken before we began monitoring reading with Post-Its.
Each conference is less than five minutes long (3-5 minutes, ideally). The kids tell me where they are in the book, summarize recent events, and discuss specific author skills with me. In the video above, the student summarized and read an excerpt. I shared some thoughts going through my mind as he read.
Behind me is the CAFE board. We have added to it a little so far (we have far more to add now).
Last, I often record conferences (unless parents did not sign a media release with me earlier this year). I want to remember what each student said while meeting with me. This is either through video or audio using Audacity.

Resources for Conferring, Post-Its, and CAFE: There are some sensational resources online.

CAFE Print Downloads from TheDailyCafe.com (Extensive resource)
Russgoerend.com's Take on CAFE Strategies (Using Evernote)
Choice Literacy (Videos and Articles Galore Dedicated to Gail and Joan)

A photo from last year's class. Students went outside a few times and read on sheets. It was wonderful starting in October or so when the weather cooled down.

This provided a fun and different way to read.

Let's depart with a post from Angela Bunyi about the importance of reading (and not assigning much other homework). A source from Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding, 1988 (Allington, Richard) states that students in the 90th percentile read approximately 40.4 minutes daily. On the other hand, students in the 50th percentile read approximately 12.9 minutes daily. The students in the 90th percentile read 2,357,000 words annually while the 50th percentile students read 601,000 words annually.

Part Two: The Awesome Reading Craft for Younger Students

My mind has been riddled thinking about what I need to do with the younger siblings who come to "Feed and Read" this year, particularly for the first one coming up later this month. After school, students come to read, participate in contests (taking Reading Counts tests), and devour delectable pizza. They wear pajamas as well and bring blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. I have done this since 2008 (when a former educator at our school informed me all about the concept).

Yet the younger siblings who have attended have gotten antsy after a while. Of course they read as well, but their stamina is not as strong as a fourth grade student's. So I have been thinking about what I could do to still ultimately focus on... reading.

This idea came to me IN A DREAM this morning. My current students had left our classroom (which looked totally different in the dream) and went to a first-grade teacher to make... are you ready... text feature wands... with them. (After I woke up, I Googled "text feature wands" and did not find them, so I grant credit to my subconscious.)

They used thick wooden dowels and decorated them. I remember materials like these being available:

On the dowels before they decorated, I guess, the "kids" glued on words like "photographs", "captions", "maps", "graphs", "titles", "subtitles", "bold words", "italic words", and "highlighted words". So at Feed and Read, I will have little slips of paper and glue sticks ready to adhere the words to the dowel before decorating. Then they can twist around star garland and ribbon like they had in the dream. They can also put some sort of topper on the wand. After the wands are made, the younger students will bring them home to their families to point to various text features found in books.

It seems like a pretty awesome idea; I will let you know how things turn out after the younger siblings make them.

Busy...

2011-09-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately, so I will respond to readers soon. I know some people want to see the Owl Pellet Packet, and I have also shot some excellent videos of the students working in centers (as well as having CAFE conferences with me). I am proud of the kids for their hard effort; it has been a good year.

NEW Starbucks Winner... Mrs. Smith from Mrs. Smith Teaches Fifth

2011-09-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

My original Starbucks winner never responded, so I was not able to get anything to her. Therefore, I put in the random number generator, and "Mrs. Smith" from "Mrs. Smith Teaches Fifth" is the new winner.

Please contact me at ilovetoteach4@hotmail.com with your address so I can send the gift certificate to you.

Dissecting Owl Pellets: Annual Inquiry Science Experiment

2011-09-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

Every year (for the past three years), my students have dissected owl pellets from Home Science Tools. The lesson reviews: observing, making inferences, classifying, and the importance of teamwork. If you have never done an owl pellet dissection, it is a tremendous way to end a scientist skills unit (like we have done this first month of school) or reinforce concepts covered during an environment unit.

Here are photographs of the dissections and discoveries. (I filmed my students, too, which will come at a later time.)

My absolute favorite shot of the dissections today. Yearbook-worthy!

Posting these photos reminded me that I do not have Internet rights permission from four students' parents yet, but hopefully that will be solved soon.

I also put together an owl pellet packet. If you want a copy, please contact me. I may eventually offer it for a very cheap rate ($1.00) on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Geographically Speaking: Salt Dough Maps for State Geography

2011-09-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

To introduce Social Studies and our Geography unit, I had my students make salt dough maps and then paint them two days later. These photos are from yesterday, September 16, 2011.

What do you need for this hands-on project?

Honestly, not much at all. Flour, salt, water, a cut piece of cardboard for each student, measuring cup, paintbrushes, bottles of blue paint, and bottles of green paint are all you need. Eventually, you will need a Q-Tip for each student as well.

To make the salt dough, mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1/2 cup of water. That mixture works well for 2-3 students.

Before handing out the pieces of cardboard, I sketch the state shape so I know Cape Canaveral, Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, and the Florida Keys are well-defined. The maps may not turn out looking absolutely perfect, but they are wonderful resources for the kids as we progress through the unit.

Why don't we read the book first?

We start by making salt dough maps because all that some students know of Florida is its unique shape. They also often know which bodies of water surround us (the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean).

What I ask them after their maps are complete is where our city (Brooksville, Florida) is as well as some of Florida's prominent cities. We then label the maps together (this year, students will receive little laminated squares with city names and a small photo on them). We discuss relative distances between cities in Florida. We sketch a compass rose on our map with N, S, E, W, NE, SE, NW, and SW on it. Also, we will be taking Q-Tips and blue paint this year to make bodies of water like the St. Johns River, Withlacoochee River, other small bodies of water, and Lake Okeechobee (if the students do not have it yet). We may also take a brownish-swampy greenish paint with Q-Tips to paint lines for the Everglades.

This coming week, students will be bringing sheets home to write a little bit about one city in Florida. They may use the Internet or their parents' knowledge of a city to help them out. The cities will be: Brooksville, Ocala, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Panama City, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville/Cape Canaveral, Orlando, Miami, Key West, Fort Myers, and Tampa. Since I have 15 cities and 21 students, more than one student will be assigned to some cities. It will be a simple one-night homework assignment where they have to write a short description of the city, attractions that can be found there, and a few historical tidbits (if they can find any). It should not take students any longer than 15 minutes to complete, and they can have parental guidance.

When my students will begin reading the book, they are going to use the first chapters as more of a reference. They are going to learn about questions geographers ask (though they will have asked some questions themselves before they read the book, especially when placing their cities and painting thin lines for rivers, etc.).

In the past, I have done this project to finish the Geography unit, but I am taking another approach this year. I believe the students' rate of learning for this unit is going to be better than ever.

p.s. We are starting our 15-minute inquiry discussions on Monday, so the first discussion will involve around the... Constitution! SS.4.C.1.1 is the Sunshine State Standard that states, "Students should learn why Florida's constitution protects us." I found this link at Fran Richardson's weblog that will guide our discussion.

Learning in Action: PHOTOS: Week of September 12, 2011

2011-09-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

I will write a post soon telling you about new resources I am offering. Here are some photos showing my students learning this week...

(Still, not everyone has handed in their permission to be photographed, so hopefully that will be resolved soon.)

This excitement is aside from FAIR testing, FCIM probes in reading/math/science, dining outside with Mrs. Reed's third grade class this afternoon (which we will do every once in a while this year), lots of time reading chapter books, and everyday, "typical" lessons.

I did not get as many Florida salt dough map photographs as usual... I was on my feet A LOT. However, the class still has to paint the maps this Friday or coming Monday. You will see more from Jasztalville soon!

What I wrote for the kids at their class weblog about September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

This entry about 9/11 is from my kid-oriented weblog (the very first post there, actually):

Today in class, we discussed how one day forever changed a nation. Here is the manuscript from our podcast that we recorded for just us to hear:

On September 11, 2001, a traumatic situation occurred in New York City as well as Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Two planes manned by terrorists struck the Twin Towers in New York City. The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. was crashed into as well. Last, another plane manned by terrorists crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, creating a crater in the ground from the impact.

There were no survivors from any of the four planes. 2,996 people died that day in the towers or on the ground. Another 125 people died from the attacks on the Pentagon.

Trauma overtook the hearts of many Americans, including those of our parents. One person from our class had just been born eight days before. Then there were three other classmates who would be born a matter of days later, also in September 2001. Their mothers were awaiting the birth of a beautiful baby girl or boy- at a time where a nation was in mourning and confused.

Pregnant mothers were affected in the attacks. So people just our age, not even born yet, were affected, too. Then there were those who were very young and died that day. There were two girls, Zoe and Dana Falkenberg, ages 8 and 3, who passed on when their plane crashed in Washington D.C. Bernard Brown, Asia Cotton, and Rodney Dickens were 11 years old. David Brandhorst and Christine Hanson were 3 years old. Juliana McCourt was 4 years old.

President George W. Bush had been visiting a second-grade classroom when this saddening event happened. He wanted to see them learn and read. When he first heard about the first plane, he thought it could have been the weather. Yet when a man came up and whispered in his ear that a second plane struck the towers, our president knew it had been terrorists.

The last person to be rescued from the World Trade Center’s twin towers, a little more than three hours after the attack, was a woman named Genelle Guzman-McMillan. She had worked on the 64th floor. People did actually escape the rubble, but not that many.

Last, 11 twins lost their siblings the day of 9/11/01. Thinking back to that day, it was one that changed American history forever.

I showed you some videos in class and shared a few articles with you, but these videos are from YouTube and could not be shown in class (YouTube is blocked, so this had to wait until home). It should not take long for you to view them. If possible, watch them with a family member. Ask your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, or grandparent what that day was like for him or her.

And shared here, not there for them to see, is a video that truly made me cry. This video is dedicated to the babies born at the time of September 11, 2001. You may need a tissue when you watch this, brought to you from ABC News.

I cried because the babies of 9/11 are... fourth graders now.

I wrote this for my kids at their post (right below the two State Farm videos):

Answer for me, if you have a few minutes (you can answer one or both):

How did September 11th change peoples' lives, especially the lives of adults you know? What were your family members doing the day of the attacks? This is, if they are comfortable sharing.
Even if you were not alive yet, how has this event in history change YOUR life?

We shall commemorate September 11, 2001 forever.

(See http://jasztalville.blogspot.com for the official post. If you respond, just say you are an adult answering to show a good example for our class in the responses.)

To respond here as an educator, just tell me what you think about all I just shared with you. What are you doing to commemorate September 11, 2001 with your students?

Neil deGrasse Tyson Greets Matt Parker's High School Science Students... and my students begin receiving NASA items...

2011-09-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

Matt Parker's video of Neil deGrasse Tyson addressing his class... his personal greeting to Jasztalville will come when I have edited some things together. I am so excited to see what kind of video I can put together for your excitement.

This was an unbelievable moment in my life. I cannot believe someone so epic, brilliant, and just downright phenomenal was so willing to create videos with the teachers and parents at the Tweetup. He took so much time with us and was one of the most charismatic and personable individuals whom I have met.

Neil as well as astronaut Charlie Duke opened my eyes to so many things by saying "Hello" to Jasztalville... and with the video above, I was standing right next to Matt when he shot this one. Goosebumps formed so fast, it wasn't even funny! This entire speech is incredible.

Go, GRAIL!

Last, I am including a few photos from my classroom of students receiving items from NASA. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again!

The items were a great surprise when my kids came in from recess at the very end of the day (heated up from the blistering Florida sunshine)!

More Than I Ever Bargained For...

2011-09-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

See me? I am on the right, towards the NASA logo, wearing bright pink.

A closer view...

When I signed up for Twitter in the summer of 2010, I did not understand what I was actually signing up for. I remember not being that interested and writing only thirty posts in a year until I decided this summer to see what it was truly about.

So I began Tweeting more teaching tips for elementary educators and gathering more followers who are in my field.

Yet the most PHENOMENAL change for me was that my good friend Krissy Venosdale from Missouri (owner of two teaching domains and weblogs online) had attended the Endeavour launch in May 2011, introducing me to NASA tweetups. In late July 2011, I (half reluctantly) applied for the NASA GRAIL tweetup, realizing it was during the school year (and feeling completely stressed about whether I would be chosen because I would need a substitute teacher only a few weeks into the school year). Thinking about how I had missed less than 10 days in eight years of teaching, I thought, I am sure I will not be chosen.

I was wrong.

Fortunately, I was chosen to be one of the 150 tweeps. Over 750 or 800, I believe, had applied. Though I had been chosen randomly, I was still appalled because "Lucky" is NOT my middle name. I do not win things nor get the chance to attend awesome things. Ever.

Again, I was mistaken.

The past two days, I have been in Titusville having the time of my life. Or the time of 2011, at least, meeting incredible individuals like Neil deGrasse Tyson (of Hayden Planetarium and most notably, "Pluto" fame), the president of NASA (whom I addressed on live TV about education), and Nichelle Nichols (of Star Trek). Of course, there were other phenomenal engineers from GRAIL who stimulated my mind in many ways. It made me think many times about how good it feels to have my mind challenged and how I need to challenge the kids' minds at school.

I met amazing, talented, and brilliant tweeps from around the world. Vanessa Hill came the farthest from Australia. Justine McKinnon came from England. Lauri, Budi, Susan, and James (as well as many others) came from the west coast of the United States. Many also came from the eastern coast and Florida. I was able to connect with so many people. Everyone was incredibly welcoming and kind. Though I didn't get to know everyone, I felt like I knew some of the attendees for QUITE some time.

Since I must get a few other important things ready before bed, which is lagging behind a bit, I need to share some photos with you of this awe-inspiring experience. More will come soon, especially of my students enjoying what NASA had to offer our class. I feel like I am bringing back golden bricks.

First morning at intro time. Wernher von Braun and I were enjoying one another's company.

von Braun, Atlas II style.

VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building)

Endeavour!

Up closer!

Lauri and I posing in front of Endeavour

Yes, the countdown clock, the one and only.

President of NASA.

Nichelle Nichols

NASAJim

Maria Zuber

My first glimpse of Neil Tyson.

Susan showing us her incredible iPad app. Heather on the left, Lauri on the right.

GRAIL is in the background.

Fascinated.

Neven asking Neil a question.

Lauri posing with Neil.

Justine and I at the causeway.

Awesome!

Karyn

Rochelle

Budi

Lisa, Mary, me, Kim

Karyn, Susan, Heather, Chris

Me, Laura

Susan photographing Heather

Neil and Hannah.

At Lunch with an Astronaut.

Charlie Duke was the astronaut.

Charlie and Rochelle

Charlie and Budi

Neil Tyson... and well, me.

Last bit of interest: I appeared on NASA TV inquiring Charlie Bolden, the president of NASA, about space education: (Honestly, I thought it wasn't going to sound decent, but I guess it turned out fine after all.)

Have an excellent Friday! I miss my fellow Tweeps. Perhaps I will make it to Saturday's launch. I shall see. For now, farewell and happy Friday!

On the Rim and Out the Door... Now in Titusville, Florida, Home of Kennedy Space Center!

2011-09-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Good evening, readers of Jasztalville! (Insert yawn)

The first picture is really nice and has nothing to do with my adventures... just everything I went through prior to leaving Brooksville to get to Titusville in time to meet the NASA tweeps at Dixie Crossroads. This has been a very, very long day... I feel like the Energizer Bunny:

Now, you may be wondering why I am posting a photo of a boy in my class with his younger sister posing with a gigantic leopard. Well, I needed someone in my class to pose with the school's P.R.I.D.E. leopard before it left my classroom for good. Our principal's leopard has been circulating around the school to "spread pride". When the kids' mother, one of my wonderful (and extremely dedicated, coming to me bi-weekly) classroom volunteers, helped me at the end of the day for an hour and a half, they were patient, knowing that I was trekking across the state to go to the tweetup. They seemed excited when I asked them to pose with the leopard.

I had an incredible day and loved being in the kids' company, but I had 17 things to do on my to-do list this morning. I had to turn in specific paperwork (like district writing prompt scores), prepare FCIM mini-lessons for next week, have students complete unfinished work, and finalize plans for my substitute the next two days (she is half my students' first grade teacher). By the time I stepped into Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant in Titusville this evening, I was so DRAINED. Yet I sat next to a friendly tweep named James and listened to Nathan across from him for a while. There were about half men and half women seated at our table of eight.

I was surprised that when I introduced myself, people knew I was the fourth grade teacher "seeking brochures". Even a lady named Justine handed me her brochure about the Isle of Wight! I love receiving anything foreign, so I felt like I was receiving a nugget of gold. Others even told me that they had gotten together all kinds of incredible brochures and postcards for my class- and I felt very, very fortunate. I feel like when I headed to the national FHA competition in eighth grade and received pins from all 50 states... that my students will have some SENSATIONAL treasures to sort through.

Now for the tweetup itself... I guess I will have to get a lot of sleep and just see what precisely awaits me in the morning. This is what I have done- thus far:

Signed the GRAIL poster to be sent to NASA. I hope I wasn't being too verbose.

I also received a wonderful patch and pin from Karyn Traphagen. She offered enough for everyone. The pin says, "I am a Scientific American".

Well, more coming tomorrow. Rest well. I most certainly hope I can share a lot of great experiences with you tomorrow from being at NASA... goosebumps!

Reading Center Ideas and Thoughts

2011-09-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Our school held a PLC this past week about reading centers. I still remember in my second year of teaching that I really did not know much about them and was not successful with them at all. However, that was the 2005-2006 school year... and now that is all history.

My five rotations are:

Reading Chapter Books and Responding in the Reader's Response Journal, Part 1
Reading Chapter Books and Responding in the Reader's Response Journal, Part 2
Technology
Fiction Skills
Non-Fiction Skills

Each Group...

Each group will consist of one girl partnership (or trio) and one boy partnership (or trio). (I will tell you more when centers officially begin because I have 13 girls and 8 boys, so I have a feeling I will be putting two boys in the first four groups and then have the last group as an all girls' group.) If my classroom reaches my capacity of 22 students, then I will have four groups of four and one group of five.

Students Need to Know...

The boys assigned to each group will work together while the girls will work together. Here are my pointers and procedures for centers:

Ask three before me: Please consult with your reading partner or other team members before seeing me.
While I work at the back table, there will not be any interruptions. You are not allowed to ask me any questions. When you come to a center each time, the instructions will be entirely written out for you and give you options for other activities to try if you get done early.
Instructions will always be given the same way- on a numbered list typed out by me.
You are expected to write two Reader's Response Journal entries a week, once in the first half of the week and then the second time in the second half of the week. (Many, many examples will be shown in the next few weeks so my students know EXACTLY how to write.) My volunteer will help read journal entries every week.
FICTION AND NON-FICTION SKILLS CENTERS: When you work together, you are expected to whisper or talk VERY softly because you have two groups of classmates silent reading and journaling in the meeting area. You also have classmates working on computers who are not expected to talk.
COMPUTERS AND SILENT READING: No talking at all.
If I call you to my meeting area, I will always tell you exactly what you need to bring, if anything at all. I may call you to my meeting area as individuals or in pairs or small skill focus groups. One skill focus group will meet with me a day, no matter what, and your visits to my table, whether you come alone or with others, will be tracked in my pensieve.

Finding the Reading Centers:

I am grateful three centers will always remain the same. Technology students will log onto FCATExplorer.com most of the year and work their best in there. One group of students will also log into a sensational new program that tracks their fluency, where they will wear headphones with talking pieces. Their two weekly scores will be averaged and totaled as a grade. Reading response journal writers will know that they will receive two grades out of 10 points a week as well, which adds up in the long run.

The two centers that will change bi-weekly will be Fiction Skills and Non-Fiction Skills. I will use leveled readers, literature from our classroom library, selections I have printed out or written on my own, and other resources I have purchased over the years.

Fiction Skills: Mood/Tone, Characterization, Comparing and Contrasting Characters/Settings/Events, (Order of and Details Regarding) Events, Vocabulary, Author's Style of Writing, Visualizing, Inferring, Making Predictions, Cause and Effect, Poetry Skills (and poetry terminology)

Non-Fiction Skills: Looking at text features, Main Idea, Supporting Details, Vocabulary, Visualizing, Inferring, Making Predictions, Comparing and Contrasting, Cause and Effect

Where You Can Get Centers for Fiction and Non-Fiction Skills:

A few pieces of white printer paper along with literature: Students can make various foldables and brochures to monitor their comprehension. This Dinah Zike file pretty much includes everything. My favorite foldable is the layered foldable book. You can have the foldables made in advance by a class parent or have the students make them quickly. Students should be instructed how to make various foldables and learn what the purpose of each one is, yet it may be good to make some in advance early in the year.
FCRR: I have printed a lot from here over the years. It is a tremendous website separated into various sections, so you know where to find more that focuses on fiction skills and more that may focus on non-fiction skills. There are many graphic organizers included on the website as well, which can be used with any kind of literature intended for the graphic organizer.
There is also the Mosaic Listserve. A few favorites of mine are the "Nonfiction Conventions Notebook" and "Text Feature Search", though there is SO much more.
We also have TIME for Kids, Storyworks, and National Geographic Explorer magazines in our classroom. I have mentioned Storyworks here before, and the resources included are top-notch. The printables included with each article guide students step-by-step.

Then there is Readworks.org, which is COMPLETELY free. It is a site I discovered this summer that would work perfectly to focus on different non-fiction and fiction skills (I believe mostly fiction, from what I have gathered).
Graphic Library books for non-fiction are the best as well. Amazon seems to be the best place to purchase them. Kids get engaged by the format QUICKLY, and I mean it wholeheartedly. They think these books are extremely cool, and I am shocked not many teachers seem to know about them. Here are a few titles:

Here is a page that showcases Social Studies titles, yet my favorites are the science titles. This series pretty much covers everything. I am so impressed with this series, and so are the kids. If you pair your students in partnerships, then you only have to purchase one copy as well of a title. Maybe two at the most if you use them in a center with four or five students. I believe it is worth it to get a few, at least.

Another favorite:

This is one of the best purchases I have made, though it was expensive. See here.

I also use non-fiction books from Scholastic:

Obviously, these are only a few, but these specific books came to mind.

A post in the near future will cover the Reader's Response Journals (with examples), so be on the lookout for that.

The Starbucks Winner is..... Sandra! And a surprise... check to see if the other winners are YOU for the second prize.

2011-09-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Sandra Maddox, you are the winner of my very first giveaway. Sandra, you have won the $10.00 Starbucks card, and you also get a free copy of the first chapter book I ever wrote for kids ages 8-12 called Second Chances. Sandra, send an e-mail to ilovetoteach4[at]hotmail.com when you have the chance with your snail mail address. Since we are all so busy, I will be patient. I am not diligent to check things daily and get tired. LOL. Thank you for following this weblog.

NOW FOR TWO MORE WINNERS:

I am going to release a free copy of Second Chances two more times. When putting in my random numbers at Random.org, I got numbers 19 and 35. So that means "Pennies for Luck" (Jennifer Gibbons) and Brenda from "Quilting Along Life's Way" get a .pdf copy of my full-length chapter book in e-mail. Jennifer, though you now teach kindergarten, maybe your two sweet darlings will like it when they are old enough, and Brenda, I read you are a mother of three! Congratulations on winning my secondary prize. I hope you enjoy having a copy of the novel.

The next contest will be announced soon because I will give away something really neat for 200 followers. I am going to make a CD of awesome printable resources for you that is tailored to your grade level!

2011-09-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Corner on Character and Shepherd's Shining Stars listed my weblog as one of their TOP TEN blogs. Thank you so much. Now is my time to "Pay it Forward" and name SOME of my favorite weblogs... because I will definitely not be able to name all here.

This is the post that started that all that includes the code for including the above image on your blog.

THE FIRST TWO, Technically, are:

I am going to start with two bonuses in addition to the ten I have chosen: Erica's blog (Shepherd's Shining Stars) and Barbara's blog (The Corner on Character). I will count them IN ADDITION to my "Top 10". This will be hard...

Erica is VERY technological and Barbara has a huge heart. They are both generous and altruistic. I feel honored to "know" them through here.

1. Krissy Venosdale: Teach Factory: This awesome teacher, whom I have had the honor of meeting in "real life", is one of my greatest inspirations in my career, along with Heather Renz, Beth Newingham, and Angela Bunyi. She introduced me to NASA Tweetups and got me excited about space exploration (which I have always "liked", but now LOVE). Her weblog makes me think, too, and SMILE.

2. Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee: A Year of Reading: Though they won't likely see this post, I am VERY inspired by their weblog.

3. Amanda: The Teaching Thief: She became an instant friend on Blogspot and is an extremely CREATIVE fifth-grade teacher.

4. Reagan Tunstall: Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits: Though she teaches a younger grade, I love her mini-lesson approaches. She has a very informative weblog.

5. Jess: Rambling About Reading: This first-grade teacher is so enthusiastic about her class! They seem like younger versions of my students!

6. Amanda Nickerson: One Extra Degree: Amanda KNOWS I cannot forget her. She wouldn't forgive me if I didn't mention her, either. :) (Just kidding.) We blogged together at my domain last year, and her creativity is insanely INCREDIBLE. One of the coolest inspirations I have, too, aside from those mentioned at #1. I would recommend her for anything where she can further share her talents.

7. Leanne Bongers: Life in 4B: Leanne is wonderful in her reader's workshop approaches. I would love to have a child in her classroom.

8. Katie: Katie Lately Weblog: Katie is another FANTASTIC person and seems to be an amazing teacher.

9. Rebecca Rojas: Create-Teach-Share: I would love to be a fly on the wall in Rebecca's classroom. Inspired by Pinterest, she shares sensational ideas to make classrooms more interesting!

10. Jen Runde: Runde's Room: An awesome intermediate teacher's weblog. Wonderful displays and ideas.

I need just two more followers to do my Starbucks giveaway...

2011-09-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

I think I have gained one follower the whole week and have been waiting patiently for the two others to make it to 100. I would love to do my $10.00 Starbucks gift card giveaway!

Want to enter? Click here for the official contest post.

My Garage Sale Find for the Classroom... and Beginning of the Year Update

2011-09-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Our block has been having a garage sale this morning. We have set up four different "stores", and we have fared well. I slept through more than half of it because there is sickness spreading around and I do not want my resistance to lessen. I have been drinking Theraflu and trying to relax as much as possible. Luckily, it is a three-day weekend and I will be well by Tuesday, especially before driving across the state to Kennedy Space Center in Titusville for the NASA Tweetup.

I walked outside around 9:50 a.m. and realized my neighbor was selling an inflatable couch for $25.00. I stared at it for about two minutes and thought I would "flop off" when I sat on it, but it was actually extremely comfortable. I have been excited about the meeting area in my classroom this year because it has already encouraged my students to read more, and they enjoy all the comfortable seating.

So now... I shall introduce the newest asset of Jasztalville: the AWESOME inflatable couch (neighbor not included).

It is the perfect turquoise shade that matches the turquoise and black color scheme in the classroom, too. It is probably as old as my students, but it is in perfect shape. When my neighbor's daughter turned 13, she received it from her grandmother. Now she is about 22 or so, I believe, give or take a few years.

Besides that, I have been doing all right. Letting your resistance down can get the better of you, and it is sometimes a challenge to get back into the routines at the beginning of the year because schedules have shifted. When I hear the alarm clock, I must wake up, and then I must be energetic and enthusiastic for several hours on end. There are parts of the day where there is not much downtime, but my class is getting acclimated and they are doing an excellent job. I feel like I have been doing my best as well.

I think this class will appreciate anything I bring in this school year. When they enter the classroom in the morning, they settle down with their chapter books immediately and read for about 30 minutes. A few have the opportunity to read for 40 because they come in at the earliest time possible. They then read at least 20 minutes at home every night, so some students have had the opportunity to read at least an hour a day. I feel like I am promoting that reading is cool with the meeting area. During the day, the kids are affirming and pleasant, though establishing routines and procedures is always a challenge because new students are not exactly acclimated to your way of doing things until 3-4 weeks into the school year. I have to relay my expectations for writing and for center work, which will be beginning in the near future (at least by the third week in September). I also have to keep my students encouraged with my enthusiasm and help them to become the best "classroom family" possible this year.

So... our journey together continues with an amazing new find. I cannot wait until they see it.

Involving Families in the Classroom

2011-09-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

I think having parents assist in your classroom is spectacular. The man on the right is my father! All the kids love it when my parents come in, so I hope they do this year... eventually. He has come in to my classroom before to launch rockets with my students. The machine stopped working that day, but now he and I have a plan to make a new one together so we can continue the tradition. This picture was from February 2009.

This year, I want to come up with some new ideas to make my classroom even more inviting for families. I plan on trying some events after school/in the early evenings that bring in families and generate a new level of excitement for learning.

Parents promote a greater level of learning in the classroom, particularly during science experiments and other hands-on activities where small groups need to work cohesively. I always promote parent involvement for more in-depth science experiments, particularly earlier in the year, because fourth grade is when the focus on science begins to intensify. Students may have not done experiments in the pat, but not many complex ones. Having parents present to reinforce the importance of following directions and working collaboratively helps students to improve their work ethic later in the year. Students then feel more confident to tackle more complex tasks.

Our oil spill experiment in October 2010 was really successful BECAUSE of parent involvement.

Schools across the nation are in greater need of volunteers because of budget cuts, heightened expectations, and a more stringent focus on state and national standards.

This year, I am going to have a volunteer twice a week for the last hour of school and some who are willing to come in for the science experiments and more hands-on assignments that involve a lot of steps. Of course, the majority of my parents are willing to come in for our celebrations and field trips, which helps as well. Additionally, planning some after school events can keep the parents involved even more.

Ideas for During School Volunteering:

Here is an article from Scholastic including advice for parents for when they choose to volunteer in their child's classroom.

Here is an article promoting parent involvement in classrooms. The article has SEVERAL suggestions for how to engage parents.

Ideas for After-School Events:

I have incorporated "Feed and Read" events for three years now. Students pack their pajamas to wear after school and take Reading Counts tests. This lasts from approximately 4:00-6:30, and the class has pizza. Often, younger siblings join in the excitement, also. I promote new books to the class as well and have a large variety of fourth- and fifth-grade picture books out for "quicker reads" than their chapter books. I feel perhaps after a few evenings this year, I can take about 15 minutes and introduce a strategy to use at home like reviewing for tests or discussing literature. My students read fourth grade and higher chapter books at least 20 minutes EVERY evening and probably for another 30 minutes during morning work. Most of my students are getting excited that they are reading great literature for approximately an hour every day.

Beth Newingham's Poetry Cafe has inspired me to think of either trying something similar or having an Open Mic night, which would incorporate more of the students' narrative and expository writing. November seems like an appropriate time because by then, the class will have a stronger grasp on writing and begin generating incredible examples using various skills. On display would be a mini-portfolio of some of the students' best writing from the fall. The students would then present in an "Open Mic"-like setting with an audience around them, sharing excerpts from their writing. Students could also promote their stories using videos. We can serve tea that evening and kind of have a "coffeehouse" feel, though we wouldn't have coffee!

Amanda Nickerson (One Extra Degree) has also hosted a wonderful Open Mic-type event. She is AWESOME and I feel blessed to "know" her. Here are a few of her photos she posted while we maintained a weblog together during the 2010-2011 school year:

She is so mega-talented and generous for sharing such great pictures through our old weblog.

We are also going to have one other after-school event before the holiday season where students work on a community service project, putting together "Hope Chests" for children at the children's hospital (in our case, All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida). Perhaps families can then head out and watch the children sing holiday carols at a local retirement community. This is something I shall see about, but it seems like it can be a sensational plan because empathy and appreciation for all ages (and people) comes before anything my students will learn in this year's classroom. I did it in high school when I was in the chorus and still remember it fondly, even if it was only an hour of the school year. However, that hour REALLY STOOD OUT.

Celebrations:

My celebrations would not be possible without parent involvement. When we celebrate Halloween, we incorporate "Spooky Science" (using some ideas from Steve Spangler), Pumpkinology, and spooky story writing, which is more mystery-oriented than anything else. I plan a day for Halloween that is 80% academics, yet every activity is hands-on and engaging for the class. We even do "center activities" during our mandated reading block, but I develop really creative centers that focus on various spooky elements.

I also have the families prepare creative spooky treats for the class lunch. The main dish includes sub sandwiches, salads, and fruit, and then the side dishes CANNOT be missed. Last year, a parent got permission to make an incredible punch using dry ice for a fog element!

Thanksgiving is certainly a time where I focus on appreciation with my families. I love seeing what kinds of homemade recipes my families make. One parent I have had more than once in my classroom bakes delectable breads.

Christmas is where my students have an Italian feast, so parents have brought in all kinds of delightful dishes. Student have been served lasagna, stuffed shells, and baked ziti in past years. We also have a gift exchange, and I plan on sharing a slideshow of our class helping in the community during the holiday season this year because besides what we do to support people of all ages, we also decorate the Christmas tree at City Hall every single year with our kindergarten Book Buddies class. Our class feels honored to be able to help the city and meet the mayor as well as members of the City Council.

At the end of the year is "Camping Day", where we join together with the fifth grade class across the hall to do all kinds of water-related, science, and field day-type activities. Last year, we had a barrage of water balloons and set up tents for relaxation. I believe we were outside for 5 1/2 hours. It was SENSATIONAL fun. Our class parents prepared delicious hot dogs and aided in the exciting contests.

Parents have loved being a part of all these events every year, and our classroom becomes even more of a "family" through each experience together. Of course, there are field trips as well, particularly our St. Augustine field trip that has been a legend in Jasztalville the past seven years.

Ideas for Appreciation:

Since I have a few parents REALLY helping out this year, including one who does projects from home, I want my students to make a class-made scrapbook for them at the end of the year. It will be basic, maybe about five papers stapled together with some embellishments, but it will include some of the best photos from over the course of the year.

I also create a Mixbook scrapbook that I display in the last week of school or so. Last year's book has not been revealed yet, but it included a wonderful section with families who volunteered in our classroom over the course of the year. Of course, I respect the fact when a child cannot be pictured online, too, which is also important for projects like Mixbook.

There are also many craft ideas on Pinterest you can make for holiday or end-of-the-year gifts. I posted several photos from Pinterest in an earlier post here.

What do you do to promote parent involvement?

You. Undeniably you. Incredible you. Being modest, calm, and firm, creating a sensational classroom environment.

2011-08-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

This post will be short, but will communicate something that has been on my mind...

Why do teachers yell at students? What is the purpose? I bet every single one of us have stooped to that level at some point and time, and we didn't even realize it because we felt we were being firm in our expectations with our students. It worked initially, but there was not a true lasting result, and the kids may have looked kind of miserable in the process. Though no teacher is perfect in every action, this is something to take into consideration.

A few weeks ago, I was watching Dr. Phil. If you watch the show, have you seen the episode with the mother who screamed at her kids constantly? It had been recorded somehow; I forget how, and the audience watched the footage. She then put on headphones while on the show and listened to a continual recording of her screaming bouts for at least five minutes. By the end of the five minutes, she was bawling because she realized how ridiculous she was addressing her own children. Dr. Phil then pointed out that she contained herself when she was at work, maintaining an excellent reputation, so why did she act the complete opposite at home?

I remember every single one of my teachers, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I remember those who yelled and those who did not, those who were firm and those who were lax. I remember when I would be in class and have to hear the ramifications of other students' behaviors through the teachers' yelling voice. Thinking back, there was certainly a year I was not perfect in that respect, but I was still growing as a teacher.

I want to apologize to that class. It has been a while since I taught them, but the decisions I made that those moments were not the greatest I could have made.

However, since then I have "grown up", and I feel I have even "grown up" since last year. I despise the sound of my voice when I yell and even the look on my face. I remember I had a mother put together a really nice scrapbook of our class one year, and the facial expression I had in one Christmas-related photo was awful because I must have been yelling in the background.

What did I learn from my lesson? I was able to become more effective- and develop a strong, firm voice that is in wonderful range. It is still a very calm voice, but the tone within that calm is wiser. I think of strong, fortified leaders from chapter books, even, like Aslan the Lion, who was wise and revered. I try my best to maintain a positive outlook, and if something happens in my classroom, I write an action plan on my to-do list for the next day. So far, this has been a really good year because I feel like a wise, caring role model. I hope my students agree.

Here is an article from Michael Linsin to continue this message. Consider everything from both articles. Thank you.

Naivety, Coming to Terms with Change (This memorial post is about a week and a half early)

2011-08-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Every year, I write something in honor of my former student Kaitlyn. She passed away on September 9, 2008 when she was walking to a school bus stop, though it was not her own stop. She had crossed a field from her home to a road with moderate traffic in the mornings. When she attempted to cross the road, the 13-year old eighth-grade student was struck from behind. She was pronounced dead before the ambulance arrived.

For a moment, I sigh quietly... she would have graduated high school in June 2013. It will be so emotional when my first students graduate, let alone her in spirit. (I cannot believe my first students, born in late 1993, 1994, and early 1995, are old enough to drive and be quite independent. I cannot believe they are 16-, 17-, and 18-year-old juniors in high school, thinking about college and the rest of their lives.)

This is an article about Kaitlyn.

This is her obituary and guestbook where people still sign as well; her photos there still amaze me.

I remember how naive I was that morning, and I even remember what I wore. (Isn't it peculiar how you remember what you wear on days like those?) I have this all-cotton pale blue skirt with swirly patterns and dots all over it, and I had paired it with a black shirt. The lesson I prepared for writing class was the cookbook lesson I posted below where I write a riveting description of spaghetti and meatballs (and try to use vivid vocabulary to make the meal sound as delectable as possible). I was slightly exhausted that morning because I had to drive through overcast, foggy areas to get to my school, which is in a fairly rural, wooded area. I had left the house a little early that morning and remember around 7:45 passing a spectacle of flashing ambulance and police vehicle lights, saying a quick prayer for whomever was involved.

I just did not realize I was praying for a student whom I said goodbye to a few years earlier. Someone whom I thought, Oh, someday I will see her cross the stage at her high school graduation. I remember thinking, too, She will probably flourish to be an even more talented writer in middle school, and I never realized just how talented she was going to become. On the path she was heading with her writing and art, she could have pursued many phenomenal careers- author, journalist, photographer, or graphic designer- or anything else she had her eyes set upon.

Three years ago, when this tragedy struck, I never realized I would think about her at the most interesting of times. I think about her during writing class A LOT when I am doing something creative in class. Particularly when I teach narrative writing, her unique descriptions from seven years ago still come to mind. I also think about her when I feel exhausted in my career. We have so many mandates, and expectations are set upon us, sometimes very, very grueling. When I question in my mind what was my true motive to become a teacher, I think about Kaitlyn and the moments where my students triumphed.

The time I was graduating Kaitlyn's fourth grade class on stage and a boy named Avery stepped across with flowers from he, his grandmother, and his mother.
The time where my first students, including Kaitlyn, visited St. Augustine, and a boy named David sang "Ba-da-da-da-da... I'm loving it!" as we passed by every McDonald's on the way home. The whole bus then joined him and sang their own versions of "Ba-da-da-da-da." Everyone laughed really hard. I also remember their facial expressions when they reached the top of the lighthouse, though of course April 2005 was quite some time ago.
There was the time Kaitlyn made a writing instruction poster on cardboard. I still cherish that piece of cardboard today like it is worth millions of dollars.
There was also the time where two girls, Willow and Shelsea, came back from cleaning computers. Willow had written down a quote Shelsea thought was lame. A boy named Casey's grandmother was passing away, and Hospice had visited the school that morning. When Willow read "Love is in your heart, wasn't put there to stay, love isn't love until you give it away," our spirits lifted.
I still remember when a boy named Ben (I have three Bens to refer to now) was amazed he earned a 5.0 on the Florida Writes and the whole class was squealing with joy. Our class' average, in my second year of teaching, was a 4.4. I felt strange and amazed, too, because I had made such an incredible accomplishment with my class at only 23 years old.
That year, we put on the first OFFICIAL St. Augustine play like we do now. Ben was Ponce de Leon, Tori was the demanding Indian #1, and the whole class had to perform in front of the fourth grade students at our pen pal school, W.D. Hartley Elementary School in St. Augustine. We had on authentic costumes, and I had even written a song that started with "In 1565, founded was the Europeans' first settlement, that gave way to the development of native land..."
The following year, I had a girl whose mother saw me the other evening in the clothing store. The mother wanted to say "Thank you" four years later for doing an excellent job with her daughter, who is now a successful high school freshman. She is amazed that her daughter wants to take creative writing as her elective- and that one phone call about respect I gave her during math class changed her life forever because she never had that kind of time in school ever again.
The same year, 2006-2007, I had a boy named J.T. who won the county science fair for this very detailed project about the "ant's appetite". He was brilliant and developed a complex mathematical formula (with small bits of advice from me) that led him to the top prize. It was one of the most complex projects I have ever seen.
The following year, I remember when a girl named Allie told me, "I love writing and you love writing! Together, you and me, we make practical magic!"
A girl named Veronica cried the day before leaving my class. Her mother told me that she did not want to leave Jasztalville.
My fifth year then approached, which changed my teaching career to an extent because Scholastic.com contacted me, asking if I was willing to become their grades 3-5 national teacher advisor for the following year. I had never blogged before and was a little nervous, but I was also stoked. I headed to New York City and met some amazing people. I was honored to share my ideas I had posted on Teachingvision.org on a national platform.
I had amazing FCAT scores that year- and I was appalled at how much I had pushed my first advanced class to succeed.
My sixth year of teaching, the teacher across the hall and I became closer. Barb's and my classes headed to the University of Florida in Gainesville to take an epic picture at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. That was also the year that Dean Lorey, author of the Nightmare Academy series, sent something to a fantasy-minded reader in my class.
I also made Christmas more possible for a few students that year and the year before. I heard their jaws scraped the ground the morning they saw their living rooms loaded with presents. I remember contacting a local doctor's office, where they donated over $500.00 to one family. Of course, I had my own donations in there as well, and it was an incredible sight, I bet. I remember calling both those families on Christmas Day.
Last year, I became more interested in NASA, so now in less than two weeks, I am attending my first Tweetup, where I will go on a behind-the-scenes tour at the Vehicle Assembly Building. Sally Ride will also be there. Those two days may VERY well change my life.

I feel like Kaitlyn is there through everything, I really do. I still remember the evening of the day she passed and attending a small memorial service at the side of the road. Her funeral followed about four days later, where this massive rainbow spread from one end of the sky to the other. A few former students were in attendance, and I had never heard my name cried in such a way before. It was a heart-wrenching experience I would almost rather forget because I remember all her fantastic works of writing and art on display. And of course, seeing her. That was not the way I wanted to reunite with a former student, but now I still talk in hopes of communicating with her, letting her know that teaching now would not be the same without her.

Now I have been thinking about something different: heading to the middle and high schools to finally see some of my students after a number of years (as many as six). I have reunited with two students in 2011- Brittany and Garrett, from my second and first years, consecutively. They are so grown-up, and it broke my heart, though in a joyful and gratifying way, to see they cared to attend our class play.

Why I am posting this next song: This is not necessarily for just Kaitlyn; it is for everyone, the hope of maybe seeing more students and just taking a few moments for me to tell them how much I appreciate them. It shows how time passes by so fast and gives us hope for those "happy endings", especially for me, a somewhat "cockeyed optimist" at times.

I never fathomed I would enter teaching and receive all the GIFTS I have received. Yet something like working for Scholastic or attending a NASA tweetup, and even seeing Sally Ride does not compare to changing a student's life forever. It does not compare to the moment I hugged Kaitlyn's mother at her funeral or how my students' faces looked when I held it together for them and explained calmly (after a teacher told me a former MES student died that morning and I found out from the front office it was a student of mine) that indeed, someone who had once been a fourth grader in my room was not with us any longer.

I love my job, and I love the kids. If any of my former students happens to see this, I want to let them know that they are treasured in my heart and I hope they go farther than they ever imagine in this world.