Hero vs Celebrity and Some Picture Books

I am currently working on putting together a new unit for my 4th grade literacy class.  I've basically been given free reign to do what I want as long as I can align it with common core.  It is almost a hindrance to have such free reign because I have been having so much difficulty coming up with a theme that would work with the materials I have available. 

Then, while on hall duty last week, I listened to two fifth graders have a conversation about Justin Beiber.  The girl has a huge picture of him in her locker.  The two were talking about his recent misdeeds.  The conversation was a full-on recap of the drunk driving, resisting arrest, the foul language he used, his use of marijuana, and now being out on bail. It was a conversation I would hope two ten year olds would never have to have.  The part of the conversation that was most disturbing to me was towards the end when one of the students said she didn't care what he did.  He was still cute and will always be her hero.  Hero.  Yes, she said hero.  Now, I know this is ten year old thinking, but it is still disturbing to know that this is her thinking and probably the thinking of many preteens. 

It was then and there that I decided my literacy unit was going to center on the theme of heroes.  And, an important part of the unit was going to be a lesson on the difference between a hero and a celebrity.  In looking for some resources, I came across this quote:

"A sign of a celebrity is that his name

is often worth more than his services."

by Daniel Boorstin, Historian

 

 

Such a true statement.  If you think about it, the deeds of a hero are greater and longer lasting than their name while the name of a celebrity is usually greater than their deeds.  A hero's deeds will usually transcend time and spark a change in thinking, innovation, or behavior for the greater good of many in society. 

 

This is not to diminish the contributions of a celebrity, but I believe there needs to be a distinction between what makes someone hero as opposed to being a celebrity.  Another quote I came across that I feel explains that distinction well says, "A hero creates himself.  A celebrity is created by the media."  Hmmm, tell me that doesn't make you think of the Kardashians!

I would like anther part the unit to focus on the idea of children that are heroes.  I've ordered the book The Barefoot Book of Heroic Children by Rebecca Hazell.  I don't know much about the book, but it looks promising.  Here's the blurb on it from Scholastic:  "This collection of stories focuses on the heroic lives of twelve exceptional young people throughout the course of history. Each story has a positive outlook, even when the situations are negative, and shows how even a child can change the world." 

 

I think seeing how children can be considered heroes will be of great interest to my 4th graders.  Once I get the book, I will do a full review for you.  For now, I'm still pulling it all together.

 

Speaking of picture books, here's a true contrast in what is out there.  I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and was stopped in my tracks by this book:

 



 

I honestly couldn't believe they made a book based on the YouTube viral video.  I thought, no.  There must be more to the book.  Nope.  It's just the song lyrics.  The illustrations are okay, but I really couldn't find anything that would make me buy this book.  It might have to do with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the song! But, if you have a child that loves the song or are looking for just a silly book, this is it!

 

So, let's flip the coin.  

 

What would be the exact opposite of a silly, fun picture book? 

How about Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting. 

 

 

Can I tell you that I cry every single time I read this book.  It is about a boy, around 4 years old as best I can tell, and his father who are homeless and live in an airport.  It tells the story about how they live day to day.  The father is working, but simply can't make enough money to afford an apartment.  The title comes from a bird that is trapped in airport and catches the attention of the boy.  The bird is trapped for days and eventually finds his way out, a symbol of hope for the boy and his father.  Honestly, I'm teary just typing this.  For some reason, this book just gets me every time.  Published in 1991, it isn't a new book.   However, if you aren't familiar with it, I've linked below to a reading of it from YouTube.

 

   

 

Your reaction will probably not be as emotional as mine always is, but you can't help but feel something when reading this book.  Fly Away Home is a great book to introduce important topics such as homelessness and types of families.  It's not What Does the Fox Say? but you  might want to read that after this for a smile!

Prefixes! Roots! Suffixes! Oh My!

Guess what we've been studying? 

Pretty much what it seems everyone else has been studying! 



 

As I finished my Greek Mythology unit with my 4th grade enrichment friends, we closed by studying Greek word parts. The picture above shows the standards we met and a quick view of the big letters.  Take a look at the finished display below, and I'll explain just what we did.  Ignore my pocketbook and mess on the table!

After finishing reading various myths and completing projects related to them, we went on to finish the unit with a study of Greek roots.  I found a great resource for this on Teacher Pay Teachers.  It is a unit of Greek roots that comes with illustrated examples.  Below are just some of the cards that come with the unit.  My friends got the biggest thrill when they connected the fact that in the myth The 12 Labors of Heracles the water serpent he killed was named Hydra which related to the root hydr/hydra and means water.  It all sort of clicked like magic for them.  There's a lot that comes with this resource including the making of a tiny box which holds a tiny version of all the cards.  Each of my friends had their own box of cards and we wrote additional words we could brainstorm on the back of each card.

Once we had studied most of the cards included in the unit, we went on to look at more common prefixes, roots, and suffixes that fourth graders will run into that may or may not be of Greek etymology.  I created a packet which listed some of each, their meaning, a couple of examples, and a column for my friends to work with a partner to brainstorm more words they knew which fit.

 

I had drawn some of them freehand (which is why some of them look a little wonky!) on white oak tag and spread them out on the floor.  After we had reviewed and discussed our packets, the kids were given a Sharpie and a highlighter.  They wrote their words on the corresponding poster, underlining the prefix/root/suffix.  We then hung them in the room.

I got the inspiration for the big letters from a Pinterest picture posted by the blogger of Smitten with First.  She was doing a lesson on suffixes and made some big letters of the most common ones. 
When I saw her picture, I knew it would work perfectly with my friends.  Some lessons just span the grade levels!

This lesson turned out to be a lot of fun for us all.  Having the display in my room has encouraged all the kids to constantly try and think of new words that could be added.  I told them we would create a chart to add the words to.  There is not way I am climbing on top of those shelves again!  :-)  While I did the is lesson with enrichment students, it is very much a great way to teach word parts to children of all grades and ability levels. 

~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

On a different note, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! 

It is a day to remember a great man and the courage and grace he showed in the face of intolerance and discrimination.  Last year, my friends and I had school on this day in order to make up days lost to Hurricane Sandy.  It prompted me to write a post on some of the activities I was planning to do in remembrance.  This year, like many of you, we are off today.  I know it is a little late, but if you are looking for something to do tomorrow, you can click HERE to see the post I wrote.  It includes several links to videos, activities, and lessons.

Reading Tables: Horseshoe or Kidney?

Perhaps, you might remember a while back my excitement about getting a new guided reading table.  I wrote about it here and here.  I was delighted to get my new guided reading table.  It was bight yellow and kidney shaped.  It was close to perfect!  The only thing I wasn't loving was the color.  I started out loving the bright yellow, but as it turns out it shows every little pencil mark, finger print, and even ink from paper. But all in all, I did love it.

                       

Then, I taught summer school.

While teaching summer school, I had the opportunity to work at a horseshoe table.  It seems my love for the kidney table was sorely misplaced!  As it turns out, my true love is the horseshoe table! So much so, that I set out on a quest to get myself one.

Okay, obviously I'm being a little silly about it all with you, but I really did decide that the horseshoe table was a much better option for me. I approached my admin about getting a new table totally expecting to be told to forget it.  After all, it wasn't that long ago that I received the yellow, kidney table.  Instead, I was told if I could find another teacher in need of a guided reading table, I could order the horseshoe and pass on my kidney table when it came.  I was all over that offer! Thankfully, I found a teacher in need, and we were able to swap.  Here's my new table.

Notice it isn't yellow!  I learned that lesson.  Instead, I chose a bright blue that would hide marks.  

So, why the switch?  It wasn't for the color, but for the shape.  I found the horseshoe to be much more conducive to my guided reading groups than the kidney shape.  Here's a picture of the two tables from above.

Using both, here's what I found, the good and the bad of each:

• The kidney table is very wide at the center.  I found that the child sitting across from me was just too far away.  Now, I should mention that I'm short and that just made the span seem even larger.  I often had difficulty seeing what the child was writing without actually standing up and looming over.  In the horseshoe, every child was close to me.  I could unobtrusively monitor and/or assess all the students' work with no problem. 
• The width of the kidney table definitely makes it better for demonstrating something or showing a book.  There is room to lay it out in front of the teacher while still giving the students room for their materials.  With the horseshoe, I find that I hold demo things up if I want everyone to see them.  There is enough room to have a book or papers in front of you, it's not that small.  But, it definitely doesn't give the teacher as much room as the kidney table does.  
• In line with the last bullet point, I do still have plenty of room for materials at the horseshoe table.  Generally, I can fit more kids at the horseshoe than the kidney table.  I usually meet with five friends at the table.  At the kidney, that was the whole table.  With the horseshoe, we still have room.  In fact, the last seat to my right is never used.  That allows me to organize materials I need on that portion of the table. I used to have my table in an area where I had shelves behind me for materials, but when I had to reorganize my room in November for the new reading program, my guided reading table is now sort of free floating.  So, having that extra space at the end of the table works for me.
• If I have student working on completely different things, it works better at the horseshoe.  I can have a student complete missed work or finish an assignment in the seat over to my far left while I work with three other friends on the other side of the table.  At the kidney table, there wasn't enough space for that kind of separation.
• A minor con of the horseshoe is that the U shape where the teacher sits is deep and can put you in the way.  If I am working with a full table of students and want them to have a real conversation about something we are working on, I have to be sure to pull my chair back so that the child seated at the ends can see each other.

There are actually so many different shaped tables you can choose from.

A lot depends on the age of the children.  I know our lower elementary teachers generally have horseshoe tables and some flower tables, while our upper elementary teachers generally use kidney shaped tables. You also need to take into account how it works for the teacher.  For me, the kidney table just wasn't a favorite.  All of our classrooms also have an extra rectangular or trapezoid table in them. When I push-in to other classrooms for guided reading, those are the tables I generally use. However, when I am working in my classroom, I am happy to have my horseshoe table to work at!

Do you have a type of table you prefer?

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By the way, I am well aware that I posted on January 1st about posting more regularly and them promptly disappeared for 19 days.  I actually have posts ready to go but totally forgot to schedule their posting.  Blogging fail!  Sorry about that. The good news is that there are posts already written and ready to be published. 

2014 Blog Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

And, we all know a new year brings new goals!

I haven't been too happy with my blog lately and have even contemplated more than once on giving the whole thing up.  A big part of my unhappiness with the blog comes from having some trouble coming up with content. For many periods of the week, I am required to teach a scripted program. Also, traveling in and out of other teacher's classrooms all day long doesn't allow me to do as much as I would if I had my own homeroom.  In all, it really puts a damper on creativity.  I look around at other teacher blogs and am awed by all the creative and fun projects they come up with.

However, I like blogging!  I really enjoy posting and sharing ideas. I like the support and encouragement found in the blogging community.  I also like looking back to see what I've done in the past.  It's like having a digital scrapbook.  And, I do have lots of ideas that I would love to share even if I am not able to implement them all in my own classroom at this time.  So, I am going to keep blogging.  

Having made that decision, I have come up with some goals for 2014 to spark things up around here. 

1.  Finally finish the blog redesign I've been promising.  Yeah, kind of let go of that one as I was seriously considering closing down the blog.  However, being recommitted, I am on it! Before I gave up on the idea I found three blog designers I really liked.  I'm going to do a little more research and hope to have the new design up and running by the end of March.  Hopefully sooner!

2.  Make at least 6 literacy based printable resources/projects.  I've done a few printables for the blog in the past:  

• Math Workshop Stations Board
• Adding Dialog Sheets
• Simple Book Review Bookmarks
• Name It! Game
• Reading Response Form Letters for Upper Elementary
• Carpet Manners Sign

However, there are so many things I make for my own use that I don't blog about.  Deciding to do at least six this year is a very modest goal.  I wanted to focus on the quality rather than number.  It may be my first step in starting my own Teacher Pay Teachers store, but I'm not committing to that just yet! Baby steps!  For now anyway, anything I make will be posted on my blog for free download. 

3.  Blog at least twice a week.  For me, that seems about right, about what I can reasonably keep up with.  I tip my hat to those of you out there blogging daily.  I don't know how you get it done!

4.  Step up on the social media aspect of my blog.  This is part of the blog design.  I want to add all those buttons that allow you to connect to my blog through social media.  I also have to figure out how to separate my personal social media from the blogging social media.  For example, I have a Pinterest account for the blog, but I also have one for myself.  I find it a pain to have to log out of my account and then log into my blog account every time I want to pin something, so I usually don't.  I have to figure out a way to make it all a bit simpler.  I also don't want to do the Facebook page until the blog design is done so that I can keep it all similar in looks.

5.  Organize all previous post with better labels and possibly content specific pages.  My labels are all over the place!  I mean, I have reading workshop and reader's workshop as two different labels.  I really need to sit and clean up all the labels in a way that makes it easier to find what you are looking for.

6.  Connect with other bloggers.  There are some blogs I read all the time and I'm terrible about commenting.  And, we know bloggers love comments! :-)  In fact, for me seeing that commenting dropped off on my blog was tangible proof that I was slacking!  I am going to try and comment more on the blogs I read and support other bloggers.  There is so much great stuff out there deserving of a good comment!  Another idea I've been tossing around is organizing a blogger meet-up over the summer.  Maybe!  I live in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, Conn.) with PA not far away.  I know there are lots of teacher bloggers in the area and thought it might be fun to actually meet up in person this summer.  Just an idea at this point, but one I'm seriously thinking about!

So, those are the blog goals for this year. 

What do you think?  Any advice?

What are your school and/or blogging goals for 2014?

Day 11-15 Fail!

In case you didn't notice, it is well past days 11-15 of the December School Day Photo Challenge.  And, I was doing so well the first two weeks!  Sort of disappointed that I couldn't/didn't follow through with the last week.  I'll give you a day by day rundown of how things went afoul!

My last post was on Friday, December 13th.  It was Day 10 of the challenge.  I usually write my Monday post on the Sunday before, so I will start there.

Sunday, December 15th - Spent the day prepping for the coming week as that night I went out to dinner and then to see The Nutcracker ballet.  Every year around Christmas I try to get to at least one holiday show.  I wish I could say it was a fun night, but the dinner (at a pretty expensive restaurant) was awful and the show wasn't much better.  I would have been better off staying home and writing my post! I was really disappointed because I have always wanted to see The Nutcracker ballet.  I'm not going to let this sour me, though.  Next year, I'm going to get tickets to see it at Lincoln Center.  They have it there every year, and it can't help but be better than what we endured.

Monday, December 16th (Day 11 of the Challenge)- Start of the last week of school before winter recess!  To say the kids were a little nuts this week would be an understatement! Had planned to catch up on my missed post when I got a phone call asking if I would please come over and watch The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2 with my little cousins.  How can I say no to that?! Especially when the kid asking doesn't say please but pleathes! Missing teeth make pronunciation hard! :-)  My cousin's kids were totally into ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas programming this year.  So, no post written on Monday.

Tuesday, December 17th (Day 12 of the Challenge) - Nothing fun.  First of two dentist appointments after work and grocery shopping for cookie baking supplies.  After that?  Just totally forgot about blogging!  I had dinner and went to bed.  Womp! Womp!

 

Wednesday, December 18th (Day 13 of the Challenge) - This year, we had two Christmas shows planned.  As The Nutcracker was a bust, I had high hopes for this night.  We went to Madison Square Garden Theater to see A Christmas Story the Musical.  It was AMAZING!!!

If you are ever in New York and get a chance to see anything at the MSG Theater, go!  The theater is fairly small so there is not a bad seat in the house.  As for the musical, it was great.  It followed the movie pretty closely.  The leg lamp song and dance was really good, and there were lots of laugh out loud moments.  We didn't get home until around 1 AM, and I had school in a few hours so no blog writing that night!  Now, can we just have a moment of silence to admire how well little Ralphie grew up in real life?!! ;-)

Thursday, December 19th (Day 14 of the Challenge)- A very tired school day.  I was much more tired than I thought I would be.  I was so tired I actually had a headache all day. But, somehow I managed to make it to our school's staff holiday party that night.  Yeah, I'm a trooper like that!  Does your school do a holiday party?  We have ours in a local restaurant and have an gift swap that is always a lot of fun.  However, I was exhausted and crawled right into bed when I got home.  No blog post.

Friday, December 20th (Day 15 of the Challenge)- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BEFORE VACATION!!!  You know what craziness this day brings.  Lots of class parties, gift giving, happy teachers, and giddy children. We had a half day, which was a wonderful thing because I was still crazy tired.  It was like I just couldn't catch up from a few late nights.  After school, I did a little Christmas shopping and then just went home.  Way to tired to even think about blogging.  At this point, I knew it just wasn't going to happen.

Saturday, December 21st - Holiday Shopping and Lunch with Friends!  Fun Day! But, still so tired and a headache that wouldn't go away. No blogging.

Sunday, December 22nd - Cookie Baking!  I had planned to do some more involved cookies on this day and bake all the drop cookies on Monday.  It was so nice to have a weekend off before Christmas. It gave me so much time to get things done.  This was the first year I had ever made some fancy cut-out cookies, so I needed that extra time!

 

Monday, December 23rd - Woke up knowing I was getting sick. I didn't feel awful but knew something was up.  I had a dentist appointment in the morning and went right to the doctor from there.  Turns out what I thought was just a sinus infection was a sinus infection and strep. By three that afternoon, I was down and out!  I didn't get off the couch until the next day.

Tuesday, December 24th and Wednesday, December 25th - It really stinks to be sick at Christmas.  Especially when you wake up on Christmas morning and find that you have been given the additional gift of pink eye in both eyes!  Like I needed one more illness! 

 

That would be a chalkboard mug I got from one of my students.  I can tell you I have been drinking a lot of tea from that mug the past few days!  I basically spent a couple of hours with family on the 24th and 25th to open gifts, but was asleep the rest of the time.  They just had to make merry without me this year!  And all those cookies I baked?  Yeah, all thrown out.  I didn't want to take the chance of getting my entire family sick. So instead of those pretty cut out cookies on the left, it was the bakery cookies on the right for all!

 

Thursday, December 26th - Back to the doctor for the pink eye and much more sleeping!

 

Friday, December 27th - Today.  This evening is the first time I have felt somewhat human, so here I am blogging!  Blogging and trying to figure out what to do with all these baking supplies I never used!

 

Hopefully, you can now see why the third week of my December School Day Photo Challenge turned out to be a fail.  BUT, I don't count it as a total fail.  The point of it all was to get me back to blogging, and it did. At least for the first two weeks!  I blogged for ten of the fifteen challenge days.  Not too bad! 

 

Having said that, I am signing off until after the New Year.  I feel like I've lost so  much of my vacation being sick, I want to take some time to enjoy these remaining days.  I hope your vacation has been a good one.  I will see you in 2014! 

 

Happy New Year!

 

Day 10 - Tis the Season!

It's Day 10 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

(I just realized that I keep changing up the name of my own photo challenge in all these posts!)

Day 10 - Tis the Season!

Today's post is going to be short for a couple of reasons I will explain at the end.

Tis the season for. . .

Decorating and Germs!

 

My room has a minor snowman theme this year.  The snow sculpture above I found in Goodwill for a dollar.  You can't tell in the picture, but it is huge!  And, I'm all about snow days which this always reminds me of.  The snowman in my door window is one of those jelly-sticky window clings.  I can't even touch it because the texture of it grosses me out so.  I had to have one of the kids put it up in the window!

 

Then there are germs.  It is cold and flu season, but our school has seen a lot of stomach bugs this year.  That is the very large bottle of hand sanitizer that is next to my bathroom sign-out sheet.  It has been there since September.  Notice the level of the sanitizer?  It's like new!!!  Those germy critters just won't use it! Ugh! I know they know it is there because they are fascinated by the Lego blocks in it.  Granted, I travel to a lot of different classrooms so it wouldn't get as much use as if I had a homeroom in there.  But, still!!  I have to be more diligent in telling them to use it.  My luck, I will catch some crazy bug the Friday before winter recess! :-)

 

So, why a short post tonight?  Two reasons:

 

1.  I have plans and need to get moving!  No time to write a long post tonight, especially since the time I did have was cut short by a comment in another post.  Which leads me to number two.

 

2.  A teacher-reader posted a comment tonight on a previous post I did about teacher observations.  The teacher was observed under a new evaluation model, and it didn't go as well as it could have.  The teacher explains the situation a bit and asks for some advice.  I spent some time offering my thoughts, but thought I would open it up to you.  Please stop by and read the comment.  It is down toward the end (around comment #44) and you will see my advice below it.  Perhaps you can help a fellow teacher and offer some ideas.  CLICK HERE or on the link above to go to the post.  Thanks!

 

Gotta go fa la la la la now! Bye!

Day 9 - Sweet Treats

It's Day 9 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

Day 9 - Sweet Treats

Sweet treats are a given this time of year.  Lots of class parties before the winter recess!  I know there are many restrictions in many schools these days regarding food due to allergies.  In my own school, most of what I'm posting below wouldn't be allowed.  All food brought into our school has to be packaged, labeled food so that it can be checked for allergens.  That means no home baked goods.  While I totally understand the reasons for this, it still makes me a little sad.  I enjoy baking and making treats for my students.

So, in keeping with the theme of Sweet Treats, I went on a Pinterest hunt to compile some treat ideas.  Below show some sweet treats that fall in four categories: healthy, sweet, fun packaging and some misc., and what I have done in previous years.  So, not one picture for the school day photo challenge, but a few!  While I browsed Pinterest for these ideas, I did my best to link to the original posts the pictures and info on each come from.  A quick click will take you to some great blogs and sites!

Healthy Snacks

1. Baby Bell Santa Belt Cheese

2. Christmas Tree Snack Tree

3. Strawberry and Banana "Candy" Canes

4.  Cheese Stick Snowmen - This wasn't linked to anything, but it seems easy to do.  You could just use colored Sharpies to draw the hat, face, and scarf to make it even easier.

5.  Green Bagels - The link is just a picture source, but when I saw the picture I thought it would be great for the holidays.  I always get green bagels for my friends on St. Patrick's Day. How awesome would these be as Grinch bagels?  With some strawberry cream cheese you have a holiday color match.  I'm sure a bagel shop would be make them if asked.

6. Red and Green Peppers with Hummus!

7. Snowman Banana Pops

8. Grinch Poppers - Another one that only linked to a picture, but it looks simple enough.  Green grape, banana slice, strawberry, and I think a mini-marshmallow stacked on a toothpick.

9. Veggie Tray - No link, but a great idea.  There are so many holiday shaped trays you could fill with fruit and veggies and automatically have a festive and healthy snack tray.

Sweet Treats

1. Snowman Candy Bar Wrappers - I liked this one a lot because no special printing is needed.  All you need is some plain white paper and markers.  You can even draw on the scarf and jot a special message to each friend.

2. Snowman Doughnuts - So simple!

3. Marshmallow Snowmen on a Stick

4. Green Rice Krispy Treats - No link, but just add some green food coloring to your treats, stack the squares, and sprinkle on some M&M "ornaments!"

5.  Brownie Bites with marshmallow? frosting? and a strawberry Santa hat.

6.  Jolly Rancher Candy Message - Okay, I've linked to the blog the pic is from but I seriously couldn't find the post.  And, I looked!  This is a super simple gift for your friends!

7.  Rice Krispy Christmas Coal! - This totally made me laugh.  I think we all know some who may have earned a little coal!

8.  Reindeer Candy Canes - Yarn, googly eyes, red pom poms, and a couple of candy canes. 

Easy peasy!

Fun Packaging And. . .

1.  "Melted Snowman" Water Bottle Labels - No link given, but fun and easy to do.

2.  Snowman Cups - Again, no link but these are so cute.  You could put drinks ready to go in them or treats to take home.  Looks like the black and pink are magic marker and the nose is a glued on orange, felt triangle.

3.  Reindeer Bags - Another fun way to package treats or a take home surprise.

4.  Classroom Crock Pot Hot Chocolate - This is the "and" in this category!

5. Reindeer Food Popcorn Bags - This link will tell you how to make Christmas colored popcorn and provides a free download for the Reindeer Food label.

Previous Years

If you click  this link, it will take you to a post where I 

detail some treats I made for my students and teachers in the past: 

snowman and snowlady cupcakes, Snowman Soup packets, 

and cinnamon white chocolate pretzels.  

   

Hopefully, you found a sweet treat you like!

Day 8 - Kids

It's Day 8 of the December Photo A Day Challenge!

Day 8 - Kids

What follows is just my opinion!

Today's topic is kids.  Today's picture is a quote that I wish more teachers would take to heart.  

". . . when in doubt, choose the kids.  there will be plenty of time later to choose work. . . "

I should mention at the start of this post that I don't have any children.  However, most of the teachers I work with do.  Most have more than one child.  And, I see most all of them struggle to find the balance between school and work.  I think we all do, even people like me without children. But, I believe having children makes finding this balance a particularly difficult struggle. 

The field of education is always evolving, however it has undergone some significant changes in the past few years that has resulted in teachers being asked to do more and more in the school day. With the common core and new evaluation models, we are asked to revamp what we teach and how we teach it.  This doesn't just magically happen.  It takes hours and hours of time to revise instruction and create new activities, lesson plans, and materials.  We then are asked to find time to reflect on what we teach, correlate data, and revise instruction again.  I'm not making any statements that this is good or bad.  I am simply saying it is tremendously time consuming.  Time well spent? Usually, yes it is.  But, it is often time teachers are hard pressed to find.

For the most part, prep periods haven't gotten any longer.  Also, we tend to do this thing with the rest of our day called interacting with children and teaching which makes it impossible to do all that revising, planning, and creating.  Oh, and then on that prep period we still need to grade the work the children are doing, return parent emails and phone calls, handle discipline issues, counsel that child you know is bothered by something but not talking, and try to get in all the miscellaneous paperwork required in general.  

How do we try to keep our heads above water as the demands continue to increase?  We take work home.  We take lots of work home. We spend weeknights grading papers and Sundays writing lesson plans.  But here's the thing.  We've always done that.  It's nothing new. Any new teacher coming into the profession learns during their student teaching that it's just part of the job. But, as the demands increase, when do we cry uncle?

Our students are important.  The work we do is important.  How we do it is important and deserves all the attention and effort we can give it.  But, sometimes you just have to take a step back and realize you can only do what you can do.  Teachers have families, too. Their families are important, too.  I see teachers who regularly work through their lunch every day so that they can try to keep up and maybe take one less assignment home that night.  I have seen teachers bleary-eyed because they stayed up until 1:00 in the morning to get grading done as they couldn't start until their own kids finished dance/sports practice, had dinner, took baths, went to bed, and lunches were made for the next day. I see teachers who arrive at school almost two hours early so they can get some work done and others who stay so late the parking lot is pitch black when they leave. 

Still we can't get it all done. And, that I believe is something we teachers need to accept.  We just can't do it all.  Don't get me wrong.  I love teaching.  I love working with my students.  I love creating new projects and lessons that will capture their interest, motivate them to work, and teach them what they need to learn.  And many a nights I have worked on lessons to do just that.  But, many nights I have thought that if I had children this would just have to wait.  I am in awe of the teachers I work with that try to get it all done and raise small children.  But, I also see them frustrated and upset that they must continually struggle to find time to get all the school work done. I have to say my advice to them would be. . . 

". . . when in doubt, choose the kids.  

there will be plenty of time later to choose work. . . "

It would be so much easier if we made those infamous widgets.  We could put it on a shelf and get back to it the next day.  You can't put students on a shelf.  We know that the new day brings new demands, and we have to be prepared.  But, sometimes you just need to choose your family.  I'm certainly not advocating any dereliction of your teaching responsibilities, but we need to realize it just may not be the end of the world to put your family first at times. Leave no child behind applies to your children, too!  And quite honestly, no matter what your profession, sometimes you just need to put your family first.  Hmmm, kind of feeling like Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol right now!  God bless us, everyone!  :-)

Day 7 - Stockings

It's Day 7 of the December Photo A Day Challenge!

Day 7 - Stockings

Well, today's post has been totally thwarted.  I am unable to take the picture I had planned because today turned out to be, much to my utter joy, an unexpected snow day!  

The snow here in my area of NJ is just insane right now.  

But if you know me, you know that I love, love, love every snow day we get!!

Since my planned post isn't happening, I'm improvising!  Today's challenge is stockings so I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of some teacher-themed stocking stuffers.  Stocking stuffers are as much fun as actual gifts in my family.  I think they can be harder to buy than actual gifts, but it is always fun to see what's in there.  Some of these might really qualify as gifts rather than stocking stuffers.  So, here is a list of some fun, assorted stocking stuffers/gifts for the teacher in your life or if you are the teacher, ideas for your wish list!  Or, if you are a parent, here are some suggestions!  All pictures are from the linked to sites.

• Let's begin with that picture above.  It's actually a t-shirt from Zazzle.com. They have a lot of fun teacher-themed shirts, but I kind of love this one!

An Apple for the Teacher!  I've written about my apple cozy before.  It' silly, unnecessary, and totally cute.  I saw these on Etsy and think they are great.  They're from the shop KnoodleKnits and just $6 each.  Apple not included. :-)

• I would definitely be a lesser teacher if I didn't have my coffee each morning!  However, being a teacher usually means I have a cup of cold coffee on my desk because we all know it is impossible to just sit for even a minute.  I would always joke that every day was an experiment to see how  many times I could reheat my coffee until I actually poisoned myself. :-)  Then, I finally found the perfect thermos!  This is the Thermos Stainless King 16 ounce leak-proof travel tumbler.  It keeps my coffee hot for hours.  Honestly, not just warm but hot well into the afternoon.  It also is totally no drip or spill.  Once it is closed, you could twirl it in the air and not a drop comes out.  That has saved me a few times because I tend to throw it in my school bag where it tumbles about.  I got it on Amazon for $19.99.  Well worth every penny!  I have no idea why it is listed now for $39.99.  Not sure I would have bought it at that price, but I do love mine. It comes in black too, but I got the raspberry color.

                                                  

• Lanyards!  These days we all have to wear an ID, so lanyards are a given.  I like these Vera Bradley chain lanyards a lot.  They are breakaways, so if a friend happens to catch it, it will pull apart.  The best part is that they are now on sale for 50% off on the VB site.

• Every teacher needs a good bag to tote around the million plus papers we need to grade.  I couldn't not post about my Thirty-One Organizing Tote.  I won't go in to detail as I just posted about it in Day 5 of the December School Day Photo Challenge.  

• Okay, I had to add this one.  I so wish it were a sign, but it's actually a cross-stitch pattern.  The perfect gift for any teacher!  If it were a sign, I would hang this in my classroom in a heartbeat.  I can't begin to tell you  how many times I've had the, "A lot is not one word!" conversation.  If you cross stitch, please buy this pattern from nerdylittlestitcher on Etsy and make it for me!

• Flash Drives!  If you search for them on Amazon, you will find a million options.  I really like the bracelets.  There are all kinds of fancy ones available.  Amazon has some that look like real jewelry in gold and silver, with rhinestones and engravings.  They have fancy necklaces that are flash drives, too. 

 I opt for the cheap rubber bracelets like those below.  It is easy to throw it on your wrist and go.  I having to dig through my pocketbook to find it.  Also, if I'm on my way to the copy machine, it is one less thing to carry. Plus, they just are un-stylish enough that I remember to take it off before going home!

• Let's not forget the obvious teacher gifts, gift cards!  My favorites are Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks.  Truthfully, I like any gift card I get! I don't know about you, but I always save mine for the summer. In my district we are only paid ten months of the year, September to June, so no paychecks over the summer.  It makes it nice to have some gift cards to treat yourself with over the summer.

• Finally, if you're the teacher, here's a little something for your husband! A "Real Men Marry Teachers" t-shirt.  This link will take you to Zazzle.com again where they have a number of different variations on this shirt.

So, that's my improvised "stockings" post.  

Hope your stocking stuffers are all you want them to be this year!

Day 6 - On the Shelf (and Read 180)

It's Day 6 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

Day 6 - On the Shelf

This day made me think of Elf on the Shelf.  Are any of you doing it in your classrooms?  One of the teachers I work with has the sneaky, little guy in her classroom.  Every day when I come in the kids challenge me to find the Elf.  They really love it.  I always joke with them that if they don't pay attention in guided reading I am going to touch it!  :-)

For this post, on the shelf would be all the books for the new reading program I am teaching.  Last week, I began teaching Scholastic's Read 180 program.  My shelves are full of teacher's guides, student books, independent reading books, and audio books!

The program has four components: a whole group lesson, then three rotations of a small group lesson, interactive computer work, and independent reading.   Due to some scheduling constraints, we've had to modify how we implement the program, but so far I like what I see. The kids seem to really like it as well.  That's always a plus!  When we were first handed the student book, we thought it was the teacher's guide.  It's a full on spiral bound, full color, consumable book.  The kids were hesitant to write in it at first.  They even asked more than once if this was really their book and if I was really sure they could write in it.

I've only started week two today, so I need to give it more time and dive in a little deeper before I can really comment.  All I know is that right now, I have lots of learning to do!  Just take a look at that bottom picture!  All teacher materials. That shelf doesn't even encompass all the online components nor show the teacher's guide, which weighs 800 pounds.  Okay, not 800 but that thing is huge!

From our training, I remember also learning that we can generate something like over forty different data reports.  Don't hold me to that number, but I think it was about 40.  Not sure what I will do with 40 different data reports yet!  I've seen a few that seem really helpful, but 40 of them?

It's all very overwhelming when you are starting out a new program.  

If any of you out there are doing Read 180, PLEASE feel free to leave any tips, tricks, links, etc. in the comments.  I would love to hear from anyone who is actually working the program!