Plans... Ah geez.

As I got to making my to-do list for the school year, I realized that I probably should have started my list a few weeks ago :-/

I spent a couple of hours on my
yearlong planning, and by the time I forced myself to take a break and go for a run, I had *sort of* finished planning through December. I was exhausted! I've never done specific and strategic planning like this, but there is so much I want to do this year, I felt as of I needed to give planning some very specific attention.

I've been reading The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller, and she has really shown me the power of the read aloud versus teaching a whole-class novel. Over the summer, I've made a list of books that I want to do as read-alouds this year:

- Wonder, by R.J Palacio. The narrator is Auggie, who has a severe facial deformity and is starting 5th grade in traditional school. The story shows his classmates' struggle with accepting him. This is the perfect book for the start of the school year, as bullying is a heavy issue in most schools. A book about kindness and acceptance could be just the background knowledge that my students need.

- Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. This is traditionally taught whole-class at our school, but I think we're just going to enjoy it for the sake of it being a fabulous book. The students always love this book, year after year, and it's a great book to read around the time that we go to Fifth Grade Camp.

- Skeleton Creek, by Patrick Carman. If you haven't read this, it is an absolute MUST! The book is written from one character's point of view, and there are videos every few chapters made by another character and are available online.

- Savvy, by Ingrid Law. The story centers around Mibs, whose family gains a supernatural power at the age of 13. It's great for teaching student that wet one has their own savvy, or special know-how.

For all of the ELA teachers out there, do you think it's reasonable to do one read-aloud each month? Or am I setting my sights too high?

Welcome!!!

Welcome! I want to thank you for stopping by! Here are five fun facts about me and my background in teaching:

1. SIX YEARS: 2012-2013 starts my sixth year in teaching. I graduated from Ohio University in 2007, and Marshall University in 2011. I've been fortunate enough to spend all of my career in the same lovely little school :)
2. CAFE: This is my second year implementing CAFE and The Daily Five. Things progressed slowly last year, but I feel that it always goes that way the first time around. We only have 90 minutes for ELA, so I can't implement it quite the way it's intended, but it works! I really like CAFE for the framework that it provides for me, a teacher without a textbook. Don't get me wrong - I'm incredibly thankful that we don't have a textbook, but it made my first few years of teaching very unorganized. I was clueless! (aren't we all???)
3. TECHNOPHILE: My classroom is thankfully equipped with a Smart Board. I've had several years to love on and become friends with it. I can't get enough of tech stuff, whether it's reading blogs or going to trainings for tech that we don't own yet; I love it. My principal bought an ELMO doc camera... I can't wait to get my hands on it
4. APPLE: I'll admit it, I'm a huge fanboy... er, fangirl? My iPad is my favorite, my iPhone is the best boyfriend. Hehehe. The blogging app for the iPhone means that you'll all get to see some great photos!
5. FITNESS: Okay, this last one has nothing to do with education, except for the fact that my addiction to fitness has saved me from some very stressful days. At the start of last school year, I set out to lose some weight & add some awesome, and was able to do that... 39 lbs later! I may post the occasional smart (smart=healthy) food find or workout routine. 

Thanks again for stopping by! Check in again for more posts!