Summer Reading

My brain rarely takes a break from learning and teaching.... even in the summer.  Obsessed?  Maybe.  More importantly, I have a strong desire to keep learning.  Some people like to bike or make model cars- I like to learn (and craft!).  If I were rich, I'd go to school forever and have a stack of degrees sitting on my shelf.
Summer is a time of reflection for me.  What can I do better or differently with the next group of sweeties.  The Common Core has given me PLENTY to contemplate.  Our district is switching over in chunks.  Next year is ELA, then Math the following year.  I mostly go with the flow with science and social studies :)

Looking at my wishlist on Amazon, I noticed that I have about 179 children's books listed.  I'm out of classroom money, so I'm not sure what will happen there (the mister is hoping our credit card is not my answer!).  I've been trolling some blogs looking for summer professional reading and am thinking about the following:

I'm on the RTi team at our school, so I thought this would help.  I actually bought it last month, but passed it off to a fourth grade teacher who was looking for ideas for her struggling readers.  I'll read it after school is done.

Amazon link

 
 As I said, our population is and their needs are changing.  Although I read Ruby Payne's book, I'm a huge fan of Jensen and brain-based teaching/ learning.

Amazon link

 I was given this book by our Literacy Coach, Kate, at one of our Readers Workshop labs.  We were able to choose a professional book (love that I didn't get a duplicate!).

Amazon link

I will also be spending some quality time with this:

Heinmann link

I'm still looking for others, so please feel free to comment with your own suggestions! :)

Manic Monday Freebie!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that some teachers and I have been feverishly working on a training for our district on Words Their Way.  If you are unfamiliar, it is a spelling, phonics, and vocabulary program all rolled into one.  The heart of the program is that new readers & writers look for patterns in words to read, make meaning, and later spell.  We had our presentation/ training last week and it was great.  The teachers in our district were very supportive (no heckling- yeah!) and asked some really great questions.

I have also been creating some making words activities (available on TPT) and games for my class, based on the program.  Here is a FREE game for you in celebration of Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies.  It uses the short u families.  Enjoy!

TPT LINK

You can find more freebies EVERY Monday!  Start here to get started:

P.S. I need a little bloggy love (rough times in our room lately), so if you like this- let me know.   Yes!  I am desperate for your affection :)  Sad, right?

Crunch. Time. People!

It hit me today.... as I was sitting in an IEP before school, I realized that we only have 22 days left of school.  I nearly had a panic attack!  I knew it was coming.  I did, it's just there is so much to do before the end of school.
I'm way ahead in reading and writing workshop.  I didn't realize that there weren't enough mini-lessons to last the year if I taught one every day.  I really did repeat MANY of them, but it happened.  Oh, well.  I'll know for next year.  For the last month, I haven't been teaching on Fridays- just a review and writing or reading time.  Last Friday, the kiddos read for almost 40 minutes while I conferred.  They are such big readers with some serious stamina :)

I should be fine in social studies... I'll just cut out a few project-y stuff and hit the basics of economics and get the produce/sell/donate stuff underway.  We will be producing a good, then selling it to earn money.  The money will support a public issue of the students' choosing.  Like how I blending the state standards together there?  Getting the class to pick an issue or charity has been tough so far.  We may just end up donating money to buy food for the animals inside the nature center next door.  At least they could watch the snake eat the mouse....  I picked this up during the TPT Mother's Day sale (I wasn't thinking that far in advance during the appreciation sale).  It's from a sweet teacher in our district.  Yes- I paid for it.  She worked hard on it and deserves the cash, even from someone knows :)

Science is a WHOLE OTHER situation.  Nature Girl (teacher next door) has science down to an art form.  It is her passion and she does a great job inspiring her students.  I tend to fake it (at least until I make it!).  We are doing life cycles for the bulk of the year.  I managed to get in insects, arachnids, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals done.  Birds and fish may just be a few read alouds at this point.  They all get the idea and will get it again in a few years (4th grade I think?).  Plants are a must and it needs to start next week.  Thank goodness for some awesome purchases on TPT!

      and       

Next week, we have AimsWeb testing (universal screener, like DIBELS).  I'm sort of in charge (mostly scheduling and getting people to help test all day), so there is an element of stress added.  I also don't want to be out of my classroom more.  Ugh!  Guest teachers are slim pickin' around here lately!

Anyway, my vent is over for today.  Deep breaths.

Summer Bucket List

I'm VERY opposed to a count-down to summer in my classroom.  In fact, I even put a plea in my newsletter to parents in an effort to squelch the uprising of first-grade fever.  I said something about "the limited moments available for learning opportunities".  On a personal note.... I"M SCREAMIN' IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS!  We have about 5 weeks left which has me in a bit of a panic, but also looking forward to regrouping and spending time with my own children.  I love a a good list (and love to check them items off even more!).  I'm joining in with a few of my favorite bloggers for some fun (and distraction from panic):

Here are some off the top of my head:

• I don't have to move my classroom this summer (first time in 4 years!), so I have a few projects in mind.  I REALLY want to fancy up the file cabinet in the back of the room.  Here is my inspiration:

link to info
I have an ugly potion of a brick wall that I need to do something with... maybe this will help.

link to directions

• We already have a vacation planned to Tawas, MI.  We go every year and stay in a sweet little cabin right on the bay.  My boys and I go for a week with my parents (gotta love when grandma and grandpa insist on taking care of the kids!).  The mister joins us on the weekends.  Here is where I plan to read a bunch of mind-candy books:

• We haven't been to the Detroit Institute of Arts in a few years, and I'd like to take the boys now that they are older and can appreciate more than the restaurant and gift shop.
• I need more space for books (even though I'm obsessed with my Kindle Fire, I still crave the smell of new books).  We are hoping to re-do our family room.  Here's the inspirartion:

I'm sure more will come up (like a getaway with the mister without the kids!), but it's a good start :)

Quest for Clutter-Free Walls

I like things to match and cannot handle a lot of visual clutter.  Seriously.  I even made agenda labels for a friend's wall because her handwritten/ computer combo labels did not match-- it was driving me nuts.  She didn't understand why it would bug me through a bathroom and cinder block walls.  I knew it was there!  Can I get an AMEN to my insanity?
One of my favorite blogs has provided a bunch of organization inspiration over the last year.  A girl after my own heart!

I am always on a quest to make my walls simple and student directed, however having a workshop format has loaded my room down with TONS of anchor charts and it's a constant battle.  I only want to keep up what is current and being used every day by my students.  Inspired by this week's Clutter-Free challenge, I took some photos of my current walls.  I'm trying not to cringe as I actually see what I live with every day!

This is my favorite wall- I finally got back to this side of the building and LOVE my view.  Cheesy, but it reminds me of the Pacific Northwest- very Twilight-ish when it rains :) 

So, I have a few thoughts for next year:

• I really like the blue paper on everything.  I think this will stay the same. 
• The word wall is too high on those cabinets.  I'll move that over to the big bulletin board at the back of the room (over the built-in cabinet/ counter.  That way, when they write the room or are using it in writers workshop, they will have a surface to write on.  Also- they won't hurt their little necks :)
• I don't know if I made good use out of our Bucket Filler board.  I'm wondering if I should put the pockets on their lockers instead of name tags to keep the concept in the forefront of their minds.
• I like my math/calendar area.  I think the rest of the board will be a permanent home for the current readers and writers workshop anchor charts for the unit.
• I REALLY want my windows bare, or at least to just have student seasonal artwork along the laundry line.  I'm conflicted, because my students do use those charts (as I put them up and rotate them) throughout the day. 

My door is a bit lame at the start of the year... I saw this an I really like it, as it goes with our class theme about being a "school family".

Link to blog for details...

I would change the colors to match my blue and green.  I take a photo of everyone on the first day, so I can have this prepped ahead of time and just add the photos after school.

Words Their Way inspired!

As I've been going through this journey of learning about WTW in first grade, I've been thinking that you don't have to throw out everything else when you adopt a new program.  Let me be clear- I am adding additional things to the program in the spirit of the theory, not taking away anything.  The heart of the program is sorting and looking for patterns in words.  However, I love the idea of making words out of specific letters.  This can be easily added into the WTW concept by making the rule that the designated pattern is to be followed.  This will expand the application beyond the words originally provided in the sort.

Here is a sample of what I'm talking about:

Using the WTW books, I created a page of these for each of the sorts in the Letter Name Alphabetic Spellers stage and I'm still working on the Within Word Pattern stage (give me another week or two!).  The words do not match exactly, just use the same spelling or phonics pattern.  I'm putting them up on Teachers Pay Teacher to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week with a 20% off sale.  You can get an additional 10% off from TPT too!

                                

Michele's TPT Store

I hope your class enjoys them as much as my class does!

       

                            

Lots of Love from DonorsChoose!

We all know that budgets are tight in public education (understatement of the decade!), but an amazing organization out of New York has provided millions of children with the resources that are so desperately needed for their education.  If you haven't heard about DonorsChoose.org or are new to teaching, I am here to testify!  DonorsChoose.org has afforded my students learning tools that my school couldn't afford and was certainly not in my family's budget!  Just today, I received my 11th grant for materials (in a 4 year span) totalling close to $4000 all together.  My kiddos will be getting 80 leveled books ($425 value) to add to our classroom library for readers workshop.

The process really is E-A-S-Y.  Teachers (public schools only) fill out a proposal and shop for items in a on-line catalog from retailers that we all probably shop from (Best Buy, Lakeshore Learning, School Specialty, etc.).  Before submitting my first proposal, I read many others to get a feel for what other teachers needed for their students and how they presented the request.  Once the DC staff approves it (for grammar, feasibility and other stuff), it is put on the DC site.  Not all of my proposals have been funded (I think 2-3 did not).  It's not a huge deal- I just resubmitted it and it was funded later.  It can take up to 5 months to get funded sometimes.  There are also many opportunities for funds to be matched by companies and other foundations.  DonorsChoose will email you when there is an offer so you can promote it to friends on Facebook or however you choose.  My parents love to take advantage to the matching offers in order to double their impact!

Donors are able to log on and donate to any project they like!  I've been funded by complete strangers the most- How awesome is that?!!  I have also opened it up to my family, friends and school families.  In lieu of Christmas gifts this past year, I requested that they make a tax-deductible donation to DC instead.  It's the gift that keeps on giving and goes right back to benefit their own child.

Now that teachers are not able to claim classroom expenses on their taxes anymore, I'll be donating to my classroom through DonorsChoose.org (which IS tax-deductible).  I urge you to check out the DonorsChoose.org site for more information.  This is an amazing opportunity for our children!

You can check out my page for some ideas.... Mrs. Smyth's First Grade on DonorsChoose.org

I want to give a shout to a favorite blog for continuing to inspire me for the last year- Charity at The Organized Classroom .  She put out a Five-Star Blogger Challenge a few weeks ago (and I got side-tracked!).  I hope it inspires you today like it did me!

Peer observation experience...

I stepped right out of my comfort zone yesterday and did something I haven’t done in a few years… agreed to be observed by a peer, while teaching readers workshop.  In an effort to improve our practice, my principal and literacy coach wanted us to take turns observing a peer and give them constructive feedback.  In turn, they would observe us, and do the same.  Aside from my principal and a few student teachers observing for a day, I really haven’t had anyone watch me teach since my fist year.  I’ve always been leery of having another teacher in the room that may judge me (I was burned in the past by a well-meaning teacher).  I was really optimistic for this opportunity because my friend was coming in to support me and help me grow (as I was there for her too in our journey).  I also appreciated the fact that our principal wanted our reflection of the experience and what we would still like to learn, not an evaluation of the other person.

I watched my sweet friend (we’ll call her Giggles), who teaches kindergarten.  She taught first grade a while back, so we understood the joy and challenges of each grade.  Her management of the workshop was FLAW-LESS!  She stated the teaching point 6 times in 8 minutes- seriously!  If those kiddos didn’t get it something was seriously wrong J  Side note- research says that if we state the main idea 3-5 times, the brain will hold on to it.  Kinders need a few more because they only pay attention ½ the time- ha!, ha!    Aside from the basic structure, Giggles did a few other cool teacher moves that I love and am stealing for my own.

·        Her student engagement piece was a turn and talk that only lasted about 20 seconds.  Enough time to share, but not enough to goof around.

·        She got right down with them during the turn and talk and had one of the pairs immediately share out.  She had a second question for them and she did the same thing- very effective.

·        She called them up individually to get their book bags and sent them back if they did not follow procedure.  She praised those who did as a great example of modeling.  She also encouraged some by saying, “Watch how Jimmy does it-I know he will walk safely and quietly”.  She does it individually to keep the management piece in place (it’s a struggle with this group).  First graders wouldn’t need this, but table groups could work.

Giggles knows her students and their needs!  She keeps awesome records of her conferring sessions.  A girl after my own heart!  We keep similar records.  As she conferred, she had the student restate the teaching point of their individual conference.  She also sends home this each time for the parents:

Can you see how fast I “liberated” this idea?  Less than 24 hours, friends!  Such a smart idea!  How many times do parents say “I just don’t know how to help him/her”? 

I also really appreciated the length of her conferences.  She only spent about 5-6 minutes on each student.  Seriously, we know they stop listening after 5 minutes!  Above all, she filled them with words of encouragement and a drive to succeed on their own.

When Giggles observed me, I tried to pretend she wasn’t there.  I love her- I do, but I was still nervous.  Why would I feel this way about a trusted friend and coworker?  Simple, we all want to do and be the best for our students.  I enjoyed the debriefing of the lesson the best.  I loved talking with her about the nuances of workshop and how much we were able to learn from each other.  Are we perfect?  Heck, no!  However, this exercise did open up more opportunities for conversations and broke the ice for authentic learning by watching another teacher.  That is more valuable than any book!

Thanks, Giggles! 

Words Their Way.... How did I get myself into this?

I'm going to put it out there right now.... it's confession time.  I'm a sucker for extra unpaid responsibilities.  If there is a pilot that needs to be done, I'm your girl.  Organizing standardized testing 3 times per year, me too.  Serving on any and all committees in which I'm asked- yep.  Developing and training other teachers on our districts next word study program... sure, why not.  I LOVE me a good Power Point and the feeling of more experienced teachers than me staring, wishing I was giving them Starbucks and pastries instead.  I REALLY need to close my mouth sometimes.  And definitely NOT get sucked in by my Literacy Coach (although I totally love her and her smart, manic, and crazy mind!).  Anyway....

Although I have been using Words Their Way for the last 5 years, I was never trained in it or formally told to use it.  It just made sense to me, being the hands-on kinda girl I am.  If you are not familiar, here is the book that can get you started:


Amazon LINK

The method combines spelling, phonics and word study into one, happy program.  This is NOT, however, for the teacher looking for a canned program.  There are assessments that must be done and the teaching/support/student work is all individualized to fit your students' needs.

How does it work?
An initial assessment/inventory is given to all students.  From there, the teacher uses a feature chart to grade and put together learning groups based on needs.  Once the students are in groups (I limit to no more than 4 in one class), they will sort pictures or words into sound and spelling patterns.  This will teach the students to find the patterns, manipulate word concepts and apply critical thinking skills.  Even irregular spelling patterns in our language!  There are separate books of sorts to support each spelling stage.  You can give spelling tests, but it's really not needed.  There are built in assessments at certain points throughout the program to readjust groups, based on growth. 

I'm in the middle of the Power Point right now, so I'll have more to share as I go on.  This was just a taste of what is to come.

Spring Break & Currently

I've been out of touch for a while..... I'm not one to rub it in, but I was on a spring break trip with my family in Arizona.  It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.  Including the births of my children (real talk- the process is gross, don't believe the hype!).


Seriously.  Can it BE more lovely on Earth?

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

More Grand Canyon

Sedona

Approaching Flagstaff

Phoenix

Phoenix

I was so proud of myself.  I stayed off the computer (except for Pinterest- which doesn't count!).  I sort of caught up today and just HAD to take the lazy option join in with Farley's Currently !