Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Friday, September 7, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Welcome to Room 210
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| View from the door to the classroom |
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| Reading Center |
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| Guided Reading/Small Group Area |
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| Calendar |
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| Interactive Word Wall |
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| Word Work Center |
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| Teacher Toolbox (Thank you Pinterest!) |
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| Planning for the week (Thank you Pinterest!) |
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| Writing Center |
Well, I have four days of the 2012-2013 school year under my belt, and I must say, they have been quite pleasant :-) I wanted to share some pictures of my new room, which has already evolved a little bit since I took most of these, but I will hopefully update you a bit throughout the year. Enjoy!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Jumping July!
July was another busy month for us. We were much more social than normal ;-) HAHA. Just kidding. Kind of.
Jamie's birthday was on the ninth and we went to The Melting Pot with a few friends to celebrate. It was my first time eating there, and I enjoyed it a good bit. Next time I want to go there for just dessert, because it was so delicious. Our friends Tara and Alison cooked us chicken wings later that week since they couldn't make it. We also went to parties for one of Jamie's work friends, and a going away party for a friend from church, as she moves away to get married.
Midway through July we went up to Virginia for my family's reunions. On Saturday, we get together with my grandpa's side of the family, and on Sunday, with my grandma's side. It's always fun to hang out with cousins that we don't get to see often enough. Here we are with my cousin Marshall and his wife Kimmie (she teaches first grade too!):
Our anniversary was on the 24th, and we celebrated the next weekend by going to our favorite Asian restaurant, Antai, and went to see The Dark Knight Rises. We don't go to the movies very often, so it was a rare treat! And VERY worth your time and money, if you haven't seen it yet.
The rest of my month was spent going to trainings and working in my classroom. I hope to have lots of pictures up soon of the finished product!
Jamie's birthday was on the ninth and we went to The Melting Pot with a few friends to celebrate. It was my first time eating there, and I enjoyed it a good bit. Next time I want to go there for just dessert, because it was so delicious. Our friends Tara and Alison cooked us chicken wings later that week since they couldn't make it. We also went to parties for one of Jamie's work friends, and a going away party for a friend from church, as she moves away to get married.
Midway through July we went up to Virginia for my family's reunions. On Saturday, we get together with my grandpa's side of the family, and on Sunday, with my grandma's side. It's always fun to hang out with cousins that we don't get to see often enough. Here we are with my cousin Marshall and his wife Kimmie (she teaches first grade too!):
Our anniversary was on the 24th, and we celebrated the next weekend by going to our favorite Asian restaurant, Antai, and went to see The Dark Knight Rises. We don't go to the movies very often, so it was a rare treat! And VERY worth your time and money, if you haven't seen it yet.
The rest of my month was spent going to trainings and working in my classroom. I hope to have lots of pictures up soon of the finished product!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Substituting: The Final Chapter
Unless you've been living under a rock, by now you've heard that I have a job for next year, which means... no more substituting! Yay!! However, one of the cool things has been getting to see lots of different classrooms and set ups, so the past couple of months, I made to sure to take pictures of things I liked and might potentially use one day. And I apologize ahead of time for some of the blurriness of photos. Here we go!
I also saw teachers using many ideas from Pinterest, including 'The Yellow Brick Road retelling' and Animal Decoding Strategies.
Enjoy!
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| CAFE: comprehension, accuracy fluency, expand vocabulary (from the same teachers who created "The Daily Five") |
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| Comprehension strategies posters with descriptions |
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| Management for the Daily 3: each child's name is beside the order they should complete the activities |
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| Hairy Money: I've used this strategy before, but I liked the silver pipe cleaners for the visual |
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| Inference anchor chart |
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| Spelling chart: I LOVE this for helping children figure out spellings. I want to do some more research to see how it's introduced and implemented. |
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| Nonfiction text features |
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| Reading Strategies Song: This is PERFECT for 1st & 2nd grade. I am absolutely going to use this! |
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| Classroom Schedule: I like how the times and subjects are separate and magnetized, so they can be moved around (because let's face it, your schedule will inevitably change from the beginning of the year!) |
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| Synonym Anchor Charts |
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| Where Do Writer's Get Ideas? |
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| The Writing Process |
I also saw teachers using many ideas from Pinterest, including 'The Yellow Brick Road retelling' and Animal Decoding Strategies.
Enjoy!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
The Meaning of Oviparous (and other Kindergarten tales)
This time last year I was questioning whether I even wanted to teach anymore. After being back in a classroom for the past seven and a half weeks, I can unequivocally say, "yes! I do want to teach!" I spent this time in a kindergarten classroom while their teacher was on maternity leave and got the opportunity to work with some really wonderful kids.
I'm not quite sure how to frame this post, so it might not be as cohesive as some of my previous entries. I just wanted to share some things I learned, I taught, and experienced.
One of the most exciting draws for me (other than that it was kindergarten) was that I would finally get to see true Balanced Literacy in action. We read one big book a week for shared reading, had small groups for guided reading, worked in literacy stations (no more must dos and may dos!), and did word study that made sense for the group (as opposed to a certain order).
As part of Black History Month, each class decorated their door with relevant people. Our class had chosen Gamecock football players. Most of them were very excited, except the handful of Clemson/Georgia/Kentucky fans :-) Thanks to my lovely assistant Sue, she helped the kids make this awesome door:
During President's Day week, we learned lots of facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In one of my Guided Reading groups the next week, we were doing a storywalk through a book about hugs, and why different people need them. The child on the page looked sad and the student said that maybe he was sad because someone died. He then told me that "my brother died. He stopped breathing. Now he's with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln because they both died." Talk about a text to self connection! We sat there for a second, taking in what he had said, and then the girl next to him commented, "Maybe George Washington gave him a one dollar bill!" :-)
For St. Patrick's Day, one of the experiments we did was putting food coloring in water and then putting in a white carnation to see what happens. Unfortunately, as you can see, the green coloring did hardly anything! Maybe next time I need to put more in it...
As part of the Everyday Math series, we did lots of graphs, which I think is perfect for young ones, as they are generally very visual at that age. Here is the one we did for "Type of Pets." I had a graph for the Smartboard that I had previously made for other classes. This group had SO MANY pets, not to mention so many different kinds, that we had to change it constantly as we were going!
One of the science units I had to teach was Oviparous Animals. If you are like me, you have never heard the word "oviparous" in your life. Just for fun, as I was introducing the unit, I held up the word and asked if any of the kids could read it (not imagining any of them could, of course.) Immediately a hand shot up. He not only read the word, but could also tell me that it meant an animal that lays eggs. He told me he learned it in preschool-- I want to send my future kids to that preschool! This is the same student who wrote a book about amoebas, and told me that the elephant bird from "Horton Hatches an Egg" happened because it had elephant DNA and bird DNA.
Anyway, as part of that unit, we had to hatch eggs in our classroom. When I first found that out, I pretty much freaked out. I don't really do well with animals, unless it's a cat... and I enjoy looking at them on TV and at the zoo :-) Well, it didn't turn out to be too bad, and the kids were OBSESSED with them. All they wanted to do was go look at the chicks once they hatched. Who can blame them? Look how cute they are (the matted looking one hatched a day after the rest of them):
I'm not quite sure how to frame this post, so it might not be as cohesive as some of my previous entries. I just wanted to share some things I learned, I taught, and experienced.
One of the most exciting draws for me (other than that it was kindergarten) was that I would finally get to see true Balanced Literacy in action. We read one big book a week for shared reading, had small groups for guided reading, worked in literacy stations (no more must dos and may dos!), and did word study that made sense for the group (as opposed to a certain order).
As part of Black History Month, each class decorated their door with relevant people. Our class had chosen Gamecock football players. Most of them were very excited, except the handful of Clemson/Georgia/Kentucky fans :-) Thanks to my lovely assistant Sue, she helped the kids make this awesome door:
During President's Day week, we learned lots of facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In one of my Guided Reading groups the next week, we were doing a storywalk through a book about hugs, and why different people need them. The child on the page looked sad and the student said that maybe he was sad because someone died. He then told me that "my brother died. He stopped breathing. Now he's with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln because they both died." Talk about a text to self connection! We sat there for a second, taking in what he had said, and then the girl next to him commented, "Maybe George Washington gave him a one dollar bill!" :-)
For St. Patrick's Day, one of the experiments we did was putting food coloring in water and then putting in a white carnation to see what happens. Unfortunately, as you can see, the green coloring did hardly anything! Maybe next time I need to put more in it...
As part of the Everyday Math series, we did lots of graphs, which I think is perfect for young ones, as they are generally very visual at that age. Here is the one we did for "Type of Pets." I had a graph for the Smartboard that I had previously made for other classes. This group had SO MANY pets, not to mention so many different kinds, that we had to change it constantly as we were going!
One of the science units I had to teach was Oviparous Animals. If you are like me, you have never heard the word "oviparous" in your life. Just for fun, as I was introducing the unit, I held up the word and asked if any of the kids could read it (not imagining any of them could, of course.) Immediately a hand shot up. He not only read the word, but could also tell me that it meant an animal that lays eggs. He told me he learned it in preschool-- I want to send my future kids to that preschool! This is the same student who wrote a book about amoebas, and told me that the elephant bird from "Horton Hatches an Egg" happened because it had elephant DNA and bird DNA.
Anyway, as part of that unit, we had to hatch eggs in our classroom. When I first found that out, I pretty much freaked out. I don't really do well with animals, unless it's a cat... and I enjoy looking at them on TV and at the zoo :-) Well, it didn't turn out to be too bad, and the kids were OBSESSED with them. All they wanted to do was go look at the chicks once they hatched. Who can blame them? Look how cute they are (the matted looking one hatched a day after the rest of them):
I could go on and on about how much fun I had and how many ideas I got for my future classroom, but I will just leave you with my parting gift from the class, by way of my assistant :-)
Thank you Ashley!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Tales of a Guest Teacher
I've officially finished my first semester of "guest teaching," and felt as though I should share some observations from these past few months.
My name is apparently difficult to pronounce. I always thought "Eddings" was a pretty simple name that people somehow managed to screw up fairly regularly. However, nothing prepared me for the umpteen different pronunciations I was about to hear of my married name (even though Jamie tried to warn me). I have had students ask me if they can call me "Mrs. C" (sure), "Ms. Cash" (no thank you), and even "Kesha" (absolutely not!). One secretary called me by the French pronunciation of the name (Ca-SHAY) and others just don't even bother to figure it out. As one assistant told me, "It kind of sounds like a sneeze." Yes, yes it does. And at the end of the day, the students undoubtedly have mastered it over the other adults.
Know-it-alls become rampant. I think this one is hard for me because I've actually been in the classroom, and know way more than the typical substitute. It is particularly prevalent in the upper grades, where they want to "help," but also just want to tell you what to do because they think they know more. This is why I will eternally love early childhood :-)
"Teaching Christmas" is not as big of a deal as people make you believe. I was actually quite surprised at this one. For these white majority schools, it appears they just assume that everyone celebrates Christmas. One school had a full Christmas tree in the middle of their school lobby, replete with presents. One teacher even had a three foot decorated tree in her classroom!
Teaching PE is basically a perpetual field day... and I don't like it. I have always been a hater of Field Day: grateful for the break of teaching, but dreading the eventual hunger, thirst, fatigue, and general whining that is sure to come. I also don't like facilitating and having to explain how to play games I don't know. I took my first PE assignment last week, and it will be my last. Yelling over a group of kids who are going haywire is not fun, nor is listening to "can I get some water" every five seconds? I was thankful that the teacher left the same activities for all grades, so I didn't have to spend tons of time learning and setting up for tons of games. I did have to dig through a thoroughly unorganized closet to find equipment, which was also frustrating and slightly disgusting.
Substitute mostly means "watch these kids while they do some worksheets." I've had more days coming home with my feet hurting than I'd like to count. Why? Because I basically just do laps around the classroom watching the students do individual work. This is not true of all classes, but it's the general rule. I rarely get to do any actual "teaching," which makes sense, but is still sad for me. I relish the teachers who leave small groups for me to work with, or Read Alouds and Shared Reading to lead.
There is nothing I haven't already seen. I have taught in every grade, including multiple special education classes, and no child has ever done something that I haven't already seen in my own classroom. Wow.
Administrators coming in to your class first thing in the morning is probably not good. The only times I've had them come into the classroom at the beginning of the day is to talk to a class about how they better behave for me... and they then proceed to be one of my worst classes.
1st grade teachers are never absent from school. Okay, this one is probably a lie, but I have covered EVERY elementary grade except this one... and if you don't remember, first grade is what I taught for four years! Isn't that weird?
Well, there you have it. Hopefully I will learn some more this semester, as I add a second district to my employment. No more two day workweeks for me! I also get to teach a kindergarten class when their teacher goes on maternity leave in March, which I am excited about. I'm sure that will give me many more stories to share :-)
My name is apparently difficult to pronounce. I always thought "Eddings" was a pretty simple name that people somehow managed to screw up fairly regularly. However, nothing prepared me for the umpteen different pronunciations I was about to hear of my married name (even though Jamie tried to warn me). I have had students ask me if they can call me "Mrs. C" (sure), "Ms. Cash" (no thank you), and even "Kesha" (absolutely not!). One secretary called me by the French pronunciation of the name (Ca-SHAY) and others just don't even bother to figure it out. As one assistant told me, "It kind of sounds like a sneeze." Yes, yes it does. And at the end of the day, the students undoubtedly have mastered it over the other adults.
Know-it-alls become rampant. I think this one is hard for me because I've actually been in the classroom, and know way more than the typical substitute. It is particularly prevalent in the upper grades, where they want to "help," but also just want to tell you what to do because they think they know more. This is why I will eternally love early childhood :-)
"Teaching Christmas" is not as big of a deal as people make you believe. I was actually quite surprised at this one. For these white majority schools, it appears they just assume that everyone celebrates Christmas. One school had a full Christmas tree in the middle of their school lobby, replete with presents. One teacher even had a three foot decorated tree in her classroom!
Teaching PE is basically a perpetual field day... and I don't like it. I have always been a hater of Field Day: grateful for the break of teaching, but dreading the eventual hunger, thirst, fatigue, and general whining that is sure to come. I also don't like facilitating and having to explain how to play games I don't know. I took my first PE assignment last week, and it will be my last. Yelling over a group of kids who are going haywire is not fun, nor is listening to "can I get some water" every five seconds? I was thankful that the teacher left the same activities for all grades, so I didn't have to spend tons of time learning and setting up for tons of games. I did have to dig through a thoroughly unorganized closet to find equipment, which was also frustrating and slightly disgusting.
Substitute mostly means "watch these kids while they do some worksheets." I've had more days coming home with my feet hurting than I'd like to count. Why? Because I basically just do laps around the classroom watching the students do individual work. This is not true of all classes, but it's the general rule. I rarely get to do any actual "teaching," which makes sense, but is still sad for me. I relish the teachers who leave small groups for me to work with, or Read Alouds and Shared Reading to lead.
There is nothing I haven't already seen. I have taught in every grade, including multiple special education classes, and no child has ever done something that I haven't already seen in my own classroom. Wow.
Administrators coming in to your class first thing in the morning is probably not good. The only times I've had them come into the classroom at the beginning of the day is to talk to a class about how they better behave for me... and they then proceed to be one of my worst classes.
1st grade teachers are never absent from school. Okay, this one is probably a lie, but I have covered EVERY elementary grade except this one... and if you don't remember, first grade is what I taught for four years! Isn't that weird?
Well, there you have it. Hopefully I will learn some more this semester, as I add a second district to my employment. No more two day workweeks for me! I also get to teach a kindergarten class when their teacher goes on maternity leave in March, which I am excited about. I'm sure that will give me many more stories to share :-)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Looking Ahead: Twelve for '12
I've never really been big on New Year's resolutions. First of all, the word resolute is too final for my taste. This year though, I've decided to instate some goals for the new year. I've thought about these a lot and I think all of them are attainable. Putting them in writing, for all to see, will make me take them even more seriously! I'll use this blog to keep you updated on the progress of each one as well, so that'll give me more to write about. Without further ado...
SPIRITUAL
1.Finish reading the Bible all the way through- I read about four month's worth last year, and want to read the rest in 2012.
2. Complete "The Utmost for His Highest" devotional (with Jamie)
PROFESSIONAL
3. Obtain a full-time teaching position for the 2012-2013 school year
4. Create a teaching website- I'd like to use it to help other teachers find resources and share things I've created for use in my classroom
5. Read an hour's worth from professional material each week
HEALTH
6. Exercise at least 3 times a week
7. Use USDA's MyPlate feature to make healthier eating choices- I've already started this somewhat on my own, doing little things like switching out white bread and pasta, for wheat and whole grains
BLOG
8. Write at least two entries a week
9. Start regular features- some examples I've seen are "The Friday Five," "Five Song Friday," or "What I'm Loving Wednesday"
OTHER
10. Stick to a $50 weekly grocery budget
11. Rewatch the entire series of "Lost" (with Jamie)
12. Find a way to use my vocal talents- my current sights are set on our church's new choir for the modern worship service
Did you set any goals for 2012?
SPIRITUAL
1.Finish reading the Bible all the way through- I read about four month's worth last year, and want to read the rest in 2012.
2. Complete "The Utmost for His Highest" devotional (with Jamie)
PROFESSIONAL
3. Obtain a full-time teaching position for the 2012-2013 school year
4. Create a teaching website- I'd like to use it to help other teachers find resources and share things I've created for use in my classroom
5. Read an hour's worth from professional material each week
HEALTH
6. Exercise at least 3 times a week
7. Use USDA's MyPlate feature to make healthier eating choices- I've already started this somewhat on my own, doing little things like switching out white bread and pasta, for wheat and whole grains
BLOG
8. Write at least two entries a week
9. Start regular features- some examples I've seen are "The Friday Five," "Five Song Friday," or "What I'm Loving Wednesday"
OTHER
10. Stick to a $50 weekly grocery budget
11. Rewatch the entire series of "Lost" (with Jamie)
12. Find a way to use my vocal talents- my current sights are set on our church's new choir for the modern worship service
Did you set any goals for 2012?
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Guest Teacher
Well, I am officially a substitute. I must say, it feels very strange to be on the other side of things. I've thought about how this job is actually quite counter to my personality. I am a total plan ahead, overachiever. With subbing though, I have no idea when I will teach. I don't know anything about the schools; I don't know where anything is and how to get there; I don't even know what grade I'll be teaching! When I signed up, I had no idea how competitive it would be. According to the district coordinator, there are NINE HUNDRED substitutes in their system.This has led to me only seeing two jobs even listed in the past nine days.
I had my first and only assignment thus far on Wednesday. It was a second grade class and the whole team had subs because the grade was having a "data day." Lucky for me, that meant I was able to talk to the teacher at the beginning of the day because they were on campus. It was also picture day, but she was there for that too. The day wasn't what I would call "fun," as Jamie asked me, but it was manageable. The sub plans said the class was supposed to go to the library for half an hour, but there was a mixup, so I had to fill in that time myself. Good thing I've actually taught before and brought along an emergency sub kit (containing books, games & post-its!) so I was able to fill that time. I was wondering, as the day went on, how non-certified subs make it through. Granted, I didn't do any actual "teaching"-- except one on one assistance-- but just knowing the little things that make a day run smoothly from my own experience was extremely helpful. The kids were sweet, but they were so noisy. I definitely had some deja vu, at times, from my own teaching days! Any class is manageable for a day though, at least after everything I've handled in my short four years.
I hope that my job volume picks up, or it's going to be a lonnnnng school year. If you know anyone that teaches in Lexington One, please let them know about me, so they can request me! That seems like it may be my only chance of really getting in there. I'm also looking maybe for tutoring/ babysitting/daycare opportunities, or anything else educational, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I don't like being unemployed, mostly from the money standpoint, but also from the being bored standpoint. Although, it is way too easy to get used to not working!
Continuing on the career subject, I took the Praxis a couple of weeks ago to get certified as a reading teacher. Those scored come back mid-month, so I really hope to add that certification to my certificate! I'm betting on that either allowing me another job path, or just putting my resume at the top of others who are just certified in EC. I also babysat a couple of times for the first time in years, which was fun.
There are just so many possibilities out there, I hope God leads me where he wants me to go soon!
I had my first and only assignment thus far on Wednesday. It was a second grade class and the whole team had subs because the grade was having a "data day." Lucky for me, that meant I was able to talk to the teacher at the beginning of the day because they were on campus. It was also picture day, but she was there for that too. The day wasn't what I would call "fun," as Jamie asked me, but it was manageable. The sub plans said the class was supposed to go to the library for half an hour, but there was a mixup, so I had to fill in that time myself. Good thing I've actually taught before and brought along an emergency sub kit (containing books, games & post-its!) so I was able to fill that time. I was wondering, as the day went on, how non-certified subs make it through. Granted, I didn't do any actual "teaching"-- except one on one assistance-- but just knowing the little things that make a day run smoothly from my own experience was extremely helpful. The kids were sweet, but they were so noisy. I definitely had some deja vu, at times, from my own teaching days! Any class is manageable for a day though, at least after everything I've handled in my short four years.
I hope that my job volume picks up, or it's going to be a lonnnnng school year. If you know anyone that teaches in Lexington One, please let them know about me, so they can request me! That seems like it may be my only chance of really getting in there. I'm also looking maybe for tutoring/ babysitting/daycare opportunities, or anything else educational, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I don't like being unemployed, mostly from the money standpoint, but also from the being bored standpoint. Although, it is way too easy to get used to not working!
Continuing on the career subject, I took the Praxis a couple of weeks ago to get certified as a reading teacher. Those scored come back mid-month, so I really hope to add that certification to my certificate! I'm betting on that either allowing me another job path, or just putting my resume at the top of others who are just certified in EC. I also babysat a couple of times for the first time in years, which was fun.
There are just so many possibilities out there, I hope God leads me where he wants me to go soon!
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