Put on my moccasins, walk the sacred road, search for the keepers of wisdom and beauty and find peace in your soul.
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Hello Again!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Oh, The Cleverness of Me!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Welcome To My Classroom
Welcome sign magnet for my portable building classroom door. |
Word work is a supply shelf a bulletin board and a pocket chart. The supply shelf will have the activities on top each week that I want them to do during work time. There are supplies hidden behind the froggy pink and white fabric curtains so I can easily sit them out. The bulletin bard will have a boggle/word twist the kids can do, and the pocket chart is for our weekly spelling words.
Word work and listening centers are the two grey shelves on the left wall. |
Other areas of interest: My focus wall, and my made from scratch closet with word wall doors!
inside of my closet |
word wall hides the interior of my closet |
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Chapter 6+ My New Room!
Looking in from a door at the south east corer |
looking from the north east corner |
Classroom Storage |
One of the reasons I started off with my new classroom is how concerned I am about having a listening center.(I know last week’s chapter right) I am hoping I will get listening center items checked out to me as there was not one listening center activity or piece of equipment in the classroom. I am not going to have tons of money to sink into my classroom as my former district was on a year round schedule and my last pay check and first pay check is two months apart.. However, if there is no listening center things to be had it is an opportunity for me to seek out new and innovative listening center items for the students. One of the problems I had in kindergarten was that books were never long enough for me to get through the guided reading rotations we were doing and the kids would need something else to do. With older children they can listen to chapter books, hopefully we won’t have the same problem. I also reread Diller’s Spaces and Places this summer and she had a box of things she called the “instead” box. If technology is not functioning, if you are done early do something from the instead box! That would have solved my problems in kindergarten.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Finished a project!
Cafe Pensieve |
Lesson Plan Master Copies |
This will go with a file bag with daily copies. |
Monday, July 16, 2012
Chapter 5
Previously I posted using a door bell to signal time's up! Well, I found one. Check this out, 8 different rings, seasonal and one traditional wireless, and battery opperated. all for $16 at Lowe's! Can't wait to use it!
Monday, July 9, 2012
So I have started my pensieve...
Friday, July 6, 2012
D5: Chapter 4
This week hostesses of the blog hop is:
Launching D5
I have followed the sisters word for word in kindergarten and it worked! I recommend following the launching guide entirely! USE THE GUIDE IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK! Put that in your lesson plan binder for quick reference. I can't put in words how effective it was with my inner city children. This is a very thoughtful process. Use it or loose it!
Three Ways To Read A Book
Oh how I will miss my kindergarten song for the this lesson. For my kinders I had made up a little tune sounding like Frère Jacques that was an echo song it went like this: There are three ways (echo), To read a book (echo), Read the pictures (echo) Retell the story (echo) and sound out the words (echo). I liked echo songs in my kinder class because it helped my ELL's access the language in the song much easier. If I am to use this in my third grade class it will need some updating. First it doesn't really need to be an echo song for these English only kids, second sound out the words needs to be changed back to read the words. My kinders would go home on the first day of school knowing that they were already readers because they could read the pictures, and retell the story! I never had students who said "I can't read." That was amazing! I hope third graders will like my D5 songs!
Book Trader Time
One of my activities I added to my D5 kindergarten day was book trader day, also library day. Once a week I would have students join me at carpet with their book boxes. in a cup I had Popsicle sticks with areas of the room on some of the sticks (one might say semi circle) or if it was not a location it was a shoe! Each student would draw a stick. If they got a shoe they were considered traveling traders, if they got a location they were to set up shop in that location. I had students set up shop by spreading out the books they were finished with and were wanting to trade for a different book. Traveling traders would travel from shop to shop and swap books. Book trading time was a favorite time for many of my students. It gave us an opportunity to access our book boxes every week for an upgrade of selections and gave an opportunity to separate their school library selection from classroom library selections. I would never make a student trade. This was a great way to help my kinders with social issues too. Often I would have kids say "do this or I wont be your friend!" After book trading was in effect often the children would transfer the experience into their everyday dealings with other children. It was no longer "if you don't play on the big toy with me I won't be your friend" to a new way "I will play on the big toy with you if you play on the monkey bars with me." This is part of my D5 classroom that is rally invaluable! This also needs to be launched and I charted too!
I Charts
As a teacher I am almost embarrassed to admit the following statement, I have terrible handwriting. When I was in kindergarten my teacher and my 4th grade teacher mom made a terrible decision. They decided the world was made for right handed children and quit letting me be a lefty! I have to word process my I Charts to make them more accessible to my students. We do write them but, I want things to look neater to my students. Last year I had a smart board and it would turn my writing into type. This year I will not have that to help me.
Stamina At Home
I encourage my parents to add time to the kids at home reading time. I recommend 67 minutes a day minimum of reading. However, I also tell parents that is the goal, not the immediate reality. Time reading at home needs to be built up just like we do at school. We start out small and work our way up a minute at a time. Why 67? I read a research article in my masters program that said that we have statistical evidence that suggest those students who score highest on "the test" read a minimum of 67 minutes a day. Also, what I as a parent require from my own children, who both are exemplar students.
Happy Hopping!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Homeland Trip July 1, 2012
We went as a group and checked out 3 times here is what we got:
2 Nestle drum stick boxes
3 Pillsbury cake mix
3 Mt Olive relishes
1 Bar-S hot links (30)
2 Bar-S ham lunch meats
3 Johnsonville brats packages of 5
3 Hot Shot Ant Killers
6 boxes of Wheat Thins
6 boxes of fruit loops
1 Hormel Pork Loin
3 Pompeian Olive Oil bottles
3 KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce
3. KC Masterpiece marinades
6 Sumuckers ice cream toppings jars
3 Ekridge smoked sausages
3 bags of Imperial sugar
6 Best Choice shredded cheese (or sprinkle cheese as my kids call it)
3 bottles of A-1
1 Tyson country fried steak bags
3 jars of Tabasco sauce
1 Heinz Vinager
2-gallons of milk
3 Garnier hair conditioner bottles
3 Pepsi Next 12 packs
6- 2 liters of Dr. Pepper
6 cans of Vandi-camps pork and beans
4 loafs of bread
Check out 1: $29.77 saved: $52.61 %66 Total:$105.22 Check out 2: $42.32 saved: $61.00 %61 Total:103.32 Check out 3: $39.03 saved: $69.52 %66 Total:108.55
Total paid $111.12 saved:$183.13 %64
Total before coupons $294.35
Total # of items= 88 average price per item= $1.26 with tax included Thanks Coupon Closet for the great shopping list and Homeland for the great deals!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Chapter 3
- What "rings true for you" in this chapter?
- QUESTION 2 DOES NOT APPLY TO ME AS I AM MOVING TO A NEW GRADE!
- 3. What (if anything) could help improve the processes from this chapter in your classroom?
book boxes: I also need to make a list of what I want the kids to have in their book box (other than books). In the past they would have a letter sound key. With the older children I will have may have them make a file, I could see maybe the cafe menu in the box, as well as other tools. In the past I have ordered boxes from the post office and they are plenty big for several books and resources in this size 11 7/8″ x 3 3/8″ x 13 5/8″. I am sure that simular boxes are available at Fedex and UPS.
Practice, practice, and more practice!! I have done this with my kinders and it does work. Also my kinders seemed to know who was causing out practice time to end this added a bit of pressure to build stamina!
I am so glad I am reareading the book and reading other people's takes on the Daily 5, it has been something I really loved in kindergarten and I think it's even going to be better in 3rd grade!
20 days to an independantly working classroom, who wouldn't love that!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Teacher Workshop: AG In The Classroom
Here is a recap of my day..
First we started off with a few talkers including the runner up to Miss America and 2011 Miss Oklahoma, who grew up living on a dairy farm and shared many positive aspects about children and milk. Click here to get more information to share with students or just for yourself about the benefits of milk and excercise! She also spoke to the importance of FFA and 4H programs in schools and said that her success as a beauty pageant winner stemmed from her experiences with public speaking contests sponsored by these programs. My own children are involved in these programs at school. They are great organizations!
Wine?
Yes, in an elementary workshop....
I was shocked this was part of the tour. When I thought we were going to look at the plants in the vineyard we were actually learning about the associates degree program for becoming a certified winery/vineyard in Oklahoma. It was interesting to hear about the program and see the facilities an visit a wine tasting room (no tasting). I would have loved to have spent some time with the plants! So in Oklahoma it takes land and about $5,000 to start up a vineyard and people from all over the state are putting this together for their "what now" retirement package! I will probably not have a vineyard but I do have an area of my land I want vining fruit to grow!
Masters of living history
Don't call them reinactors, they don't like it. These are professors who do living history skits. Today was Annie Oakley! It was wonderful trick shooting and all. They may look familiar they have been on the history channel and have made many of the authentic looking costumes for hollywood. They gave an account of Annie Oakley's life according to research hey have conducted, no propaganda! This husband and wife team travel the nation doing skits they pretend to be other historical figures too I wish I could remember all the names they rattled off.
The herding dog surprised me, she was such a gentle dog with the sheep. What was really neat is we got a book and a signed card from the author of Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs: How they Guard Sheep by Cat Urbigkit. I am sure going to enjoy sharing that book along with my personally acquired signed addition of Grady Is In The Silo. At this point in the workshop it was so hot and we had been outside for a long time, even for lunch I think this was my nearing my max point heat wise!
Cow Tipping....Point!
Just getting a small demonstration about cows from showing them to their physical structure. BINGO, looking back this is the point in the tour I think heat was starting to win the battle, I had reached my tipping point. I hardly remember this presentation all I could think about was getting back on the bus and getting some cool air.
GREEN HOUSE!
Or.. at least we were suppose to see it. It was just too hot. We did look at the large garden at the Leonard Farm. This is an certified organic farm that sales now mostly to local restaurants. I enjoyed seeing another garden and taking in some new ideas! We could see the outside of the greenhouse, I really wanted to hear more about it but at 106 you can imagine why we didn't go in.
At this point the day was over unless you wanted to go to the farmer's market or do a wine tasting but I was done! I could take no more. This is when I got in my car and tried to start cooling off, but it was too late. I stopped at a gas station and got a Gatorade but I had started to get massive muscle cramps, I got back in the car and got down to road a little further and I was throwing up. I texted Marty told him I was in trouble to tell my mother I needed help and I got it she came and got me to the hospital by the time she reached me I was really out if it though. I probably should have called 911 from the Taco Bell I waited at. Thank you Mom, Aunt Linda, Taco Bell El Reno and El Reno hospital for helping me!