July Currently

Okay, I alluded (ha! "Stressed about"may be more appropriate) to several of the things on this currently, but I finally looked up and found directions on how to actually DO a currently in this blog post, so here it is!!

Listening - Jake Bugg is an indie guy that is played on our local radio station, and his album is $5 on Amazon this month! Matt Nathanson is a hottie tottie whom I've loved for years, and is promoting this album in Columbus in November, so I'm learning the new stuff :) 

Loving - Today was one of those days. It stormed and poured all morning, but the afternoon was beautiful! After last summer's drought, I swore I would never complain about the rain again (I like green grass too much!). 

Thinking - see previous post for the list. I love the first week of school, so I always strive to make it the most productive time. I know a lot of other teachers use it just to get to know the kids and sort of ease into the school year; I don't believe that this is the best approach. I love to get to know the kids, but we have to start off the way that we want every day to go. Hence my preparations :)

Wanting - Let's be honest. This one probably isn't going to happen. I've just got too many other things going on, hahaha. But don't we all like to come home to a clean house?

Needing - I'm going to have to scheme in order to get into my classroom. But I can get some things laminated and set up beforehand. 

Tips, hints, or tricks - I've realized that I am extremely ADD when it comes to work things. I'll start one project, see something on Pinterest that sparks my memory, and I'll be onto something new without finishing the first thing. Yikes. Get that mess under control, Gab. 

Now it's your turn! Download the currently and head over to Chickadee Jubliee's blog for instructions!

As always, thanks for giving my little blog some of your attention today :)

The ever-growing To-Do list

Seriously. It just keeps getting longer. 

What you're seeing is actually Page 3. Page 3. In July. And really, this is only the outline for my first week of school. You oughta see the list of things to accomplish before the kiddos come. 

Typically, my to-do list really gets hammered out during the first week of August, so why am I working on it NOW? 

Well that's because I'll be going on a little thing called VACATION next week :D After vacation, I will have exactly one week before the first day of school, so this is officially the shortest amount of time I've had to prep for the school year. I'm feeling stressed in a new way, since my classroom is being used for summer school. Oy vey. 

I always love finding new teacher blogs. Teachers have so much knowledge and experience to share; it is such a blessing to find one or a few who mirror your teaching style and personality. Thanks to the world of Pinterest (my summer PD), I came across Mrs. Ripp's blog, a 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin. She posted a similar list of first week activities, which mine resembles quite a bit! She has some phenomenal ideas in this post. 

What does your to-do list look like? Is anyone else feeling the crunch? 

Whole-Brain Teaching

Also known as "Power Teaching."

Last year, visiting a friend who teaches first grade, I saw the cutest little sign on her door. It talked about how they're a "whole brain" class, which means they'll be loud and repeat their teacher - A LOT! I was interested in this, but didn't give it a whole lot of thought (simply because once school starts I feel like I don't have enough time to think about anything new!!).

But here it is summertime; oh sweet, sweet summertime. With a hearty internet connection and a few hours to spare, I dove right into this Whole Brain Teaching phenomenon. Whole brain teaching, the brainchild of Chris Biffle of www.wholebrainteaching.com, focuses on engaging students in their learning throughout the entire lesson. It requires active participation, repetition, speed, and enthusiasm. As we all know, during a lecture, students drift off, doze off, daydream, and who knows what else. In order to combat this, the teacher employs certain techniques to grab the class' attention, involve them in the lesson, and to reinforce learning through peer teaching/review.

I feel that I could not possibly share all of the benefits of whole-brain and power teaching here, in my own words. I encourage you to see it in action. Click here for a link to Chris Biffle's YouTube channel. He shares 8 video lessons on whole-brain teaching and how to implement it, as well as countless examples of whole-brain teaching in action.

If you employ whole-brain teaching in your classroom, I would love to hear about your experiences!!! Comment below to share successes, struggles, how you implemented it, etc.

I'm beyond excited to implement this in the fall. Stay tuned :)

How ever will I manage?

Dream Class, by Michael Linsin 

Somehow, through the blogosphere, I discovered Michael Linsin, author of Dream Class. I signed up for his weekly emails about classroom management. Since management was an area of struggle for me in the beginning of my career, I was especially interested. In my opinion, some years I have a great class, other years, I have good classes with challenging students. As a result, I'm always interested in ways in which I can benefit even my most challenging students through better management techniques and strategies. AAAAAND if those students are better managed, then the other students get the benefit of uninterrupted learning. And lets' be honest, that's what every teacher wants, and ultimately, what our students want, as well. 

Anyway, I had a colleague who was really struggling with classroom management on the whole this year. Since I can empathize greatly, I recommended that she sign up for the weekly emails from Michael Linsin. She ordered his book and felt that it could really transform her teaching. Upon her recommendation, I ordered the book and just finished it up yesterday. I now see what the fuss is all about :)

Linsin urges teachers to design their management system (and consequences) and to stick to it calmly and consistently. I find that this is my biggest struggle - consistency. I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with this, but I know that my students will only benefit if I improve.  

The first step is a verbal warning. Next, Linsin advocates time out as a consequence. When your classroom is an engaging place where learning happens, then time out is appropriate; students have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and will make smarter choices in order to be brought back into the group. If another infraction occurs, then students are given a letter to take home and get signed. If the letter is signed and returned the next day, the student earns their free time. However, each day that the letter does not get returned to school, the student misses out on their recess and must spend it with the teacher. They don't get to socialize with the teacher or help out in the classroom; it is spent missing out. 

I'm all about it. And with some fancy new tricks that I've learned hanging out up my sleeve (think: Whole Brain teaching, post to come), time out and FOMO will be a powerful management tool in my classroom. 

Stay tuned, friends :) 

Check out Michael Linsin's website: http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/ 

Let the shopping commence!

Do you remember that commercial? 

The one where the parents are skipping along happily down the aisles of the office supply store, while the kids are moping in the cart? It signified the start of back-to-school shopping. 

That was me, today. My colleague Beth and I started our supply shopping today. Since we don't have any classroom money with which to buy supplies this year, we decided to get a jump start and take advantage of the "penny deals." Obviously, we are deal hunters, so we stuck to the list and used all of the coupons. 

Even though the deals for teachers have changed in both stores,  Office Max still beats Staples hands down. Aside from phenomenal customer service, you can get double the limit at the advertised price. At Staples, you can only get the limit, but can pay full price for the penny items, getting the full price back in 

rewards. So yeah, there's a limit. 

Anyway, we walked out of Office Max with over $60 worth of supplies for $32:

-composition books

-pronged pocket folders 

-glue sticks  

-12 pack of Sharpies (for $1!!!!!!!)

-dry erase markers 

-2 dry erase boards 

-desk calendar 

I know that the kids hate school shopping in July, but if I can get boatloads of supplies for $32, I'll make a week to trip with zero complaint. Plus, when you have a mild addiction to office supplies, you look for a reason :) 

She gives and takes away

The Messenger, by Lois Lowry. 

The Messenger is a "companion novel" to everyone's favorite eighth grade read, The Giver. This is actually the third book, the second being Gathering Blue. The Giver centers on Jonas. Gathering Blue centers on Kira, but seems to be out of nowhere; the stories are related in that they have a few similar ideas. But it all comes together in The Messenger. 

There is never a direct reference to The Giver, but Lowry leaves the reader to connect the dots. I absolutely love this about this "series." I get tired of books that recap what happened in previous books, as so often it in done very poorly. 

(I always think of the Twilight series when I reference this; it really is just awful)

I finished this book last night, but couldn't write about it, as the ending was unexpected the way that it happened, and I was so wrought with sadness that I just went to bed. Despite my emotion, I highly recommend it. There is a fourth, Son, in this "quartet" series, so I'll have to get my hands on that pretty quickly. 

Girls... In baseball?

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, by Michelle Y. Green 

Okay, so reason number 796 why the Book-A-Day challenge is amazing: this book has been on my shelf for years in the "Sports" basket. Never did I realize that Mamie "Peanut" Johnson was a female baseball player in the Negro Leagues after World War II. 

This school year, I'm going to start Genius Hour with my classes. If you don't know about Genius Hour, it is essentially giving students 20% of the week (1 class period) to research and work on a project  of their choosing. Students employ incredible research and technology skills, and create high-quality projects and presentations. Anyway, if I were a child in my class, this is something that I would want to research during Genius Hour - the Negro Leagues. 

Peanut Johnson has such a cool story. Check it out. 

Classics.

The Witches, by Roald Dahl

When I look at the stack of books that I have set aside for the Book-A-Day challenge, I can't help but realize how very few classic children's books I've read in my life. An avid reader as a child, I found books and series' that I liked, and read every single one of them, never venturing far. For example, I've read nearly every one of Ann M. Martin's Baby-sitter's Club series, as well as The Boxcar Children. 

I vividly remember reading James and the Giant Peach as a child, so of course it was easy to fall right in love with The Witches. The only thing I could think of while reading this book is how great of a read-aloud it would be.  Now, since I'm probably last teacher on the planet to read The Witches, kids have probably already read or heard it. But it'll be worth a shot. I'll just have to figure out when in the year this is going to happen; Wonder and The One and Only Ivan are student read-aloud favorites. We'll make it happen :) 

ps-I haven't been very consistent with a daily book, but with one third of the summer completed, I am incredibly thrilled with the reading adventures that I've had this far. Thank you for reading and supporting right along with me!