8 Random Thoughts

Long time, no blogging!  I seem to hit these hiccups where life gets in the way of blogging as evidenced this past month.  So, in a random segue, here are some random thoughts on random things.

1.  Convention Anyone? I've been toying with the idea of going to the International Reading Convention in New Orleans.  First of all, New Orleans?  Yes!  I've never been but have always wanted to visit.  Second, I've also always wanted to go to an IRA convention.  There are some amazing workshops that I would love to attend.  Even better, there is a long list of AMAZING speakers such as;  Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Debbie Diller, Richard Allington, Gail Bushey, Joan Moser, Jeff Kinney, Dav Pilky, and more.  I also want to be around professionals that know literacy.  I want to learn more and bring it all back to my classroom.

So, what's the hesitation?  Well, the expense makes for a definite pause.  I figure it will cost me about 3 grand in all to do this between registration, air fare, hotel, meals, and more.  It is a lot of money for a working vacation.  And, it certainly isn't something my district will pay for.  While I can afford to do it, there is a big part of me that is a cheapskate and hesitates.  The other thing that makes me hesitate is that I would be going alone.  I don't have any colleagues that would take this trip and I would feel bad dragging a friend or family member when I would be leaving them alone all day long. I don't mind traveling alone, but I'm not sure what I would do with myself each night when I don't know anyone there. I guess I have until April 14, when the early bird registration ends, to decide what to do.  What would you do?  Any advice?

2.  I have a CRAZY teaching schedule.  We have 8 period days making a 40 period week.  Five periods are lunch, six periods are prep, and the other twenty-nine are teaching period.  Here is the breakdown of my twenty-nine teaching periods:

• 6 periods are teaching Scholastic's Read 180 intervention reading program.  
• 2 periods of small group, pull out remedial literacy
• 17 periods of push-in basic skills guided reading groups in five different classrooms
• 4 periods of small group, pull out enrichment literacy

In all, I have to keep track of sixteen different groups of children.  And, my schedule is not consistent across the week.  Every day follows a different schedule, often with days between seeing the same group again. As you may imagine, planning is everything!  You should see the hard copy of my lesson plans.  There are notes all over it!  If I don't annotate what we completed each period I would be lost.  I'm used to it now, but it took a while.  I do like seeing so many different children at different grade levels.  Still, CRAZY teaching schedule! :-)

3.  I'm reading some great books with my friends!  Between some of my classes, we are currently reading Stone Fox, The Sign of the Beaver, No Talking, and  Heroes for All Times.  All really great books!  I was very happily surprised by Heroes for All Times.  My friends reading it are loving it.  What got them hooked is that the first chapter is all about Florence Nightingale and talks all about her work in hospitals during the Crimean War of 1854.  Some of them immediately connected it to what is currently happening in Crimea, and I heard from a couple of parents that they were impressed with how the book connected to current events.  Totally not planned!  The book was in the plans for a while, but I have not control over when and where countries invade! My friends were also blown away at the lack of knowledge at the time regarding germs, hospitals, and sanitary procedures.  Easy way to hook a nine year old into a nonfiction book?  Start out with something a bit gross!

4.  Loving Read 180!  I posted a while back that mid-year my district implemented this new intervention program.  Three months in the kids love it, and I am seeing some real progress!  I actually hope my district will expand the program and offer it to more kids next year.  

5.  Looking forward to the new blog design!  I am next on the list to be done by A Bird in the Hand Designs.  I'm excited to see what Megan comes up with.  I love what I see her doing with other blogs.  Part of getting the new blog design involved some homework.  I had to complete a survey of likes, wants, and more.  It was much harder than I thought it would be.  I had to really put some thought into what I wanted.  Overall, I'm looking for a more modern-ish design. I think I might throw up a picture of myself, too.  I know I always like when I can see the blogger that writes the blog I'm reading.  I'm sorry to report I was really late in turning in my homework to Megan.  Sorry, Megan!!! If you need to push me back a bit because of that, I totally understand! Honestly, here I am a teacher turning in homework late!  Sheesh!

6.  I just completed my second observation.  We get three twenty minute observations each year, two unannounced and one announced.  This second one was my announced.  It went well, but I have to say this new observation model we use (the Danielson Framework) is soooo involved!  There is a ton of pre-observation questioning and uploading of documents to be done and then more of the same after the observation.  Not sure I agree with all components of the evaluation as in some areas it seem to be impossible to achieve their highest rating when you work with particular populations.  However, my observation went well so no complaints! But seriously, if you don't know anything about the Danielson Framework, click on the link and take a look.  You will see just how involved it is, for better or worse.

7.  Common Core Gaps?  I have noticed lately that in doing my lesson plans, I see some gaps in the common core standards.  There are things I need to teach that are not addressed in the CCS for the particular grade level.  I then look across grade levels but don't see it anywhere else.  It then becomes a stretch to say, "Well, this could fit this standard. . . "  Nothing terrible, just wondering if anyone else has noticed some gaps in the CCS as you have been teaching.

8. Enough with Winter!  Spring starts tomorrow!  I could happy dance all over the place!!  I am so tired of winter.  We used five snow days this year, had a few delayed openings, and one early dismissal.  Thankfully, we had four snow days built into our schedule, so there was only one day to make up.  They took back the Monday after Easter.  I'm good with that as Easter is an early day holiday in my family.  Plenty of time to regroup and get ready for the work week.  I saw that some schools are having their staff come in on Saturdays to make up the missed days.  I would so not be happy with that!  At this point, I'm just really looking forward to Spring Break. We will have the whole week before Easter off.  Yipeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Were these thoughts random enough for you? :-)

Any thoughts or suggestions on the convention?  

Should I stay or should I go? 

Because, this indecision bugging me!

A Snowy State of the Blog Address

Before getting into the blog stuff, let's talk snow.  I don't know where you are, but where I am it has been snow, snow, snow, and how about a nice freezing hail-rain combo to top it all off. We had four snow days built in to our school calendar.  We have used those four snow days.  If we take anymore, they will start to make-up the days by taking back other days off, like Spring Break.  Not looking forward to that.  In addition to the snow days, we've had a few delayed openings and an early dismissal all due to weather. Thankfully, those days still count as a full school day so we don't have to make them up.  Here are some snowy, icy scenes from the past week or so:

my ride to school

ice encrusted cars

snow covered playgrounds



which mean indoor recess. . .

 

Is there anything more chaotic and loud than indoor recess?  I feel for the kids because they really do need to let out that pent up kid energy.  In our school, indoor recess happens in the gym and in our classrooms.  The kids alternate locations because the PE teachers also still need to use the gym.  Thankfully, teachers don't have to monitor indoor recess as it during our duty-free lunch period.  Instead, the lunch aides come to supervise the kids.  But, with all the snow and freezing temperatures we've had lately I'm beginning to think these poor kids will never get outside! Let's all think summer!



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So, onto the blog. I am a month in to my blog goals.  Some are going well, others not so much.
Let's check in with a little State of the Blog Address!

1.  Finish Blog Redesign - This one is going well!  I finally booked a blog designer to help me out.  I decided to go with A Bird in Hand Designs by Megan. She's pretty busy, so I couldn't get a start date with her until March 31st.  Not a problem because it seems I have some blog homework to do.  I feel like I'm building a house and have to decide on floors, counter tops, paint colors and such. :-) All fun, but still work.  But, I am excited to see what comes! I can happily promise that come April things will look a lot different around here.

2. Make at Least 6 Literacy Based Resources/Projects - Well, this can go either way.  I grabbed a bunch of Dr. Seuss books with the intent of creating a couple of upper elementary level activities in honor of Read Across America.  Then, I realized how quickly it would soon be here. March 2nd is right around the corner.  I am going to give it a shot, but no promises!  By the way, that link for Read Across America will take you to the NEA's page that has some printable resources for the day.

If the Seuss projects don't pan out, I think I will still be working on this goal anyway because of some upcoming school projects.  I'm still working on the hero unit for my enrichment class.  One of the books I plan to read with them is the 2014 Newbery Medal winner Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo.  There doesn't seem to be a ton of resources out there, so I am going to have to make some myself.  However, the book title link will take you to a page with some teacher resources if you are interested.  The site also has "book resources" that are teacher friendly.

3. Blog at least Twice a Week - Ummmm, this one might not be going so well.  I think it boils down to a comment I saw on another blog.  I wish I could remember whose blog it was.  The blogger said their goal was not to post x number of posts a week, but to post more quality content.  I think that is a much better goal than my twice a week goal.  It just makes more sense.  Not saying every post will be a gem at all, but I like the idea of posting when I really feel I have something to say or want to share instead of because I have to meet a goal of two posts a week.

4. Step Up the Social Media Portion of the Blog - I think with the new blog design in progress this will kind of take care of itself.  At least for the first steps.  As part of the blog design I am going to be adding social media buttons and updating/creating certain social media sites.  After that, I just have to remember to post on the sites.  I don't see this really happening until after the blog design is done.

5.  Organize the Labels on Previous Posts - Yeah, they are still a hot mess.  I just need to sit in Starbucks one afternoon on a weekend and plow through them.  I have been looking at other blogs to see how they organize their posts, and it seems like everyone is all over the place.  Some bloggers have tons of different labels while others have just a few broad, generic labels.  I think I need to fall somewhere in the middle.  I do know I would like to have this done by March. 

6.  Connect with Other Bloggers - I'm still slacking on commenting at other blogs, but I have been trying to read more.  It all comes down to time.  It seems like there is always just so much to do.  But, I feel this is important so I need to make it more of a priority.

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In my last post, I mentioned not being thrilled about having to use a specific computer program for lesson plans.  Something my district is requiring next year.  It was one little thing I mentioned in a post of many topics.  In light of that, I thought it was interesting that all the post comments focused on lesson plans.  They are just so personal to each teacher! I wonder if admins ever realize how individual every teacher's lesson plans are.  They are definitely not a one size fits all document! Oh well, somehow I will have to make it work.  Isn't that what we teachers always do, though?  We make it work!

Out Sick. Got Sub Plans?

If my life were a book, this is the only

sticky note I could stop, think, and jot!

Yup, AGAIN! 

I was just sick in early December.

With the same thing! 

I actually left school sick midday on Tuesday.  I've never done that! 

I was able to fight my way through Wednesday, but today finds me at the doctor again and home today and tomorrow.  Hopefully, having this time off will put me back on my game by Monday.

It has to.

Why?

Because when you follow a reading and writing workshop model of instruction,

leaving sub plans is nearly impossible! 

At least for me it is. 

I find myself falling back to leaving plans for whole class reading of a book from our anthology and a generic writing assignment.  I find it really hard to leave plans that actually fit the plan I follow.  I think a sub's head would bug out if I left writing workshop plans, word work plans, reading workshop plans, and small group meeting plans for center time.  Plus, I would have to go in to some lengthy explanation as our sub pool ranges from a small handful who know how to do all that to the majority who haven't a clue.

So, after I post this, I am going to type up some more sub plans for tomorrow that anyone could do, mostly review with some easy to teach new stuff thrown in.  All of which means, come Monday, my friends have no idea of the game of catch-up we will be playing!

Here are my questions for you:

If you are using a workshop model, even if you aren't,

how do you plan for subs? 

Do you leave "real deal" lessons?

Honestly, between lesson plans for subs and all the work sitting on your desk when you get back,

it's more work for teachers to be out sick than to just go in!