the first week of summer...

I tearfully and successfully packed up room 30....big thank you to partner teacher who at multiple times kept saying "you have to keep going."  I waited to do most of the work until after the students left on Thursday.  I didn't want an empty bare room for my last few days with them.  I made multiple trips to my car packing all my beloved teaching stuff in it.  I fell up the stairs once :-D always a good way to start the last day of in-service.

During Friday's in-service meeting, the superintendent said "I can't believe the school year is over! It feels like we were just in the library having our first in-service of the year."  It struck me as a blessing.....I was there for that first day also.  I spent most of my school year in this building working along side this fantastic staff.  Thankfully I didn't start to cry at this point!

And then, the elementary principal said something about "You don't know where you are going to be a year from now."  Boy is she right.  Boy I had no idea how right she was going to be...

Partner teacher helped me with the last load, shut my car door and and told me not to cry too much on the way home....hahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA how about the whole ride?!

That was Friday.  Saturday was a mopying day, Sunday was a "get ready for new job" day.

Monday........three days after I said goodbye to my fifth graders; goodbye to teaching every day for sure....I started a job as a day camp counselor.  I won't lie....I didn't really want a summer job.  That's a different blogging topic.  When Monday rolled around I was more positive about it.

I enjoyed the first day of camp...things went relatively well.  The summer kids do not enjoy structure.

I came home and my world stopped.  Husband man got a new job.  We're moving....we have less than 2 weeks now.  We'll be moving closer to my family, which will be nice, but farther from his.  It will be too far to teach at the school I spent almost every day at this past year.  It means I start all over.  Praying desperately for my own classroom and always knowing in the back of my mind I'll be subbing.

My first week of summer was spent working 40 hours at camp, crying both to and from camp, trying to be excited, dreading the last day we spend in our nut hut, and just wondering why now? This newbie teacher doesn't like change....and the last two weeks have been nothing but change.

We're in the process of finding a new home; we have a rental for when we go initially.  Baby pup is going to have to wear a barking collar while we're there so she doesn't disturb the neighbors.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a job this year.....

end of the year photos...

As promised well over a month ago, here are some photos from the end of my 5th grade school year :)

For Mother's Day, partner teacher and I helped our kids plant marigolds.
He had a box of circular paint swatches which he wanted to use up.
This was our solution for a "To: Mom From: Student" tag....

Floor to ceiling food groups :)
This was fully partner teacher's idea and execution!
His kids did an excellent job!! He doesn't blog (yet) but I thought the
idea was fantastic and wanted to share it for him.

Our culminating Social Studies project was a "State Report Box"
The kids did a great job on these as well!

Collecting and recording homework was something I never found an
excellent way to complete.  This was my middle attempt and I did like it.

We had a lot of things that were due each Friday; so
arranging our homework board like this worked well for my kids and I.

These three are so I don't forget what a fantastic
 room I had the blessing of teaching in.  This is the
arrangement the students went back to for the end of the year.

Each 9 weeks, the students are encouraged to read
4 Accelerated Reader books within their AR Level.
I used this pocket chart to help them track their progress!

My literature circles came and went, but I had an empty
bulletin board so I posted some strategies :)

Partner teacher and I agree....this was one of my saving graces.
I would become so discouraged some days.  He'd laugh and tell me to
look at the positive things that happen each day; not the negative.
That is not something I do naturally.  When I come to the end of a semi-rough day
and I'm tired...the last thing I'm capable of doing is finding the positive :)
So I had my kids find them for me!  I think I posted an initial picture of the
"Positives Door".....this is how we ended.  It was full of positive things.
When I felt unaccomplished, ineffective, or flat out like giving up....I'd read our door.
I saw our days through the eyes of my students.....they saw much more positive than negative!

*Pause*

This life is such a crazy concept, isn't it?  There are so many pointless "to do" items that I write on post its (partner teacher can verify my obsession with post its) hoping to accomplish throughout the week or day.  I am not a very good "stop and smell the roses" person...at least not naturally.  Once in a while it occurs to me that I should do so. It just did.  In the midst of finalizing my last two weeks of lesson plans, grading the mass amount of papers, cleaning an attic so I can bring my school room home, and entertaining a dog who is 2 days from removing the cone on her head......it occurred to me that three years ago I was in a very different place....

Will you roll back a few years with me?  If you don't want to...just stop reading and wait for the next blog post.  This one will have very little to do with teaching....but a whole lot about loving.

May 10 - June 6, 2009
Location: Peitionville, Haiti (outside of Port Au, Prince)
God's Littlest Angels Haitian Baby Ministry

I loved eight babies.  For four weeks.  I held them.  I talked to them.  I changed them.  I took them on walks.  I cuddled with them.  I cried with them and for them.  I colored with them.  I watched them.  I saw them take their first steps.  I put lotion on their dry little feet.  Oh, did I love them.  

There we are.  Eight babies and I :)  Do you see why they captured my heart?  They still have it...and probably always will.  They were my first brown babies!  Nothing ever changes that.

My loving parents put their 19 year old white female on an airplane and left her follow a calling that God had placed on her heart a few years prior.  They were nervous, and rightly so, but they trusted in our amazing God....knowing He created me with a passion for babies. Four weeks later, I came home with a very broken heart.  One that still has a missing piece.  Or rather, eight little ones :)

Once in a while, this life gets so crazy....I forget about my time in Haiti.  Every once in a while, on my horrible days, when I don't understand this world, my mind drifts back and my heart remembers pieces of my time that are frozen in photo memories.  Do you want to see some of my favorite moments?

                            

 There is not a country more poor or beautiful.  There are not babies more precious than the ones I have held.  There are many many problems in Haiti...MANY.  But beyond the problems, there is a simplicity, a joyfullness, and kindness that does not exist in the United States.  You won't understand it until you go and experience it.

These moments...this experience...I know has made me a better teacher.  I learned how to love (freely and completely) children I would not be allowed to keep.  I was not allowed to bring these babies home with me; I am not allowed to keep my fifth grade ducklings (some of them laugh when I call them that; others roll their eyes!) who I have come to cherish just as much as I cherish my brown babies.

In the midst of this crazy busy, planning filled life I live....I am beyond thankful for the time I had in Haiti.  I am beyond thankful for the time I had in fifth grade.  I have 26 growing babies...scattered in eight different countries :)  What a lucky lady I am :)

2 weeks to go?

Really?! REALLY?!  That's all there is!  Two four day weeks and we're onto summer vacation...or for me...summer employment :)  So what I have come to realize in the last month is that...

...I am a horrid blogger when life gets busy!
...I still put sleep ahead of almost everything (blogging, laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc.)
...the last month of school is a full blown roller coaster ride of emotions
...the last month of school is the least "follow a schedule" month EVER
...the last month of school gets to be very warm in our non-AC building :)

I am a morning person through and through!  Passionate about seeing the sunrise :)  I used to be able to watch it come up from inside my classroom...those days are gone; not because I arrive later but because it keeps coming up earlier and earlier!  I now enjoy the rise during my commute!

I enjoy using the hour and a half I have before students arrive (and an hour+ before most other teachers arrive) to ready the room, organize my desk (which somehow, EVERY DAY faithfully ends up with massive piles and messes!), put yesterday away :)  Partner teacher comes in somewhere around my "I've been here for over an hour" mark and laughs because rarely are my desks in straight rows, my tables perfectly cleaned off, or my hair completely dry!  I should have pushed my students harder at the beginning to clean up their space and straighten their desks.  Like I said, I'm a morning person.  Come dismissal time....my fight is minimal and "straighten your desks" isn't on the top of my priority list!

Anyways, all of that to say....I have so cool photos coming...probably after 2 weeks :(  I'm staying afloat and I feel as though photo uploading would cause me to sink!

Photos will include Civil War Posters, Field Trip, Dance, Geo Scenes, and maybe a few of my favorites :) Also coming...how I set up my lit circles, why they didn't work, and how I fixed it half way through!

Until then....Happy Teaching!! Soak up every moment of your last two weeks...all too soon you'll send them on and you'll get a new bunch!! Enjoy the bunch you have right now!!!

...testing

No, not the state kind :) I recently got an iPad and wanted to try out the blogger app. Just seeing what this will look like on a computer tomorrow!

Happy Teaching!

...little seeds

Showcase night was a brand new experience for me.  All of the teachers (and students!) are crazy tape donut creators the afternoon prior.  Masking tape is ordered in bulk, and projects are hung throughout all the halls.  It looks SO cool to walk into the building and be surrounded by students' work!  This year partner teacher and I (though it was 99.9% partner teacher's idea) created a gigantic tree which we titled "Little seeds grow into mighty trees!".  Our kids brought in their baby picture (which by the way, I have the CUTEST group of babies growing up in my room!) and we used their fifth grade photo to show how they've grown.  We took the book "Oh, the Places You Will Go!" by Dr. Seuss and had each student write part of the story.  All of this was plastered on the large tree.....do you want to see a picture?  I knew you would! :) Enjoy!!!

And yes, the leaves do go up onto the ceiling! :)

Happy Teaching!

...review in photos

So for about the past month I have been taking and storing photos of my kids and classroom :)  I finally remembered to bring my camera home, download the photos and now I'm going to post them :-D  Lucky you, dear bloggy friends!!!!!  Enjoy the photos :)

Partner teacher had been telling me for about three weeks "Wait until
the trees outside your window bloom - they are fantastic"....Yippee I thought.
He was right :)  They were beautiful!!

We had a "showcase" night a few weeks back, and we cover
our hallways with the students work.  I decided to cover our door,
and had the students write what their favorite part of fifth grade was.
I now get to start my day by seeing this first....pretty positive eh?

Contraction Caterpillars!  The initial idea came from Pinterest.
I created my own template and requirements...and even my fifth
graders had a good time creating contractions!

This is another partner teacher idea - He has a bowl FULL
of miniature letter pasta.  I didn't realize letter pasta existed
outside of Spaghettios.  haha I found the bowl digging through
one of his various cupboards and pulled the activity out for spelling.
My kids LOVED it!!  Hands on, Kinestetic spelling practice!

I will be starting my literature circles in two weeks.  I knew before anything
else that I needed some way to be organized with it.  Thank goodness for Dollar
General and my Cricut :-D  I rearranged a few shelves in my room so that I could
clear this cart off.  Each basket will hold the book, folders, and comprehension
cards (I'll post photos soon!) for each group!  I'm excited and fully nervous about these!
Hopefully my early planning and OCD organization will pay off :-D

 Not bad for the last month huh??  There are more photos, but I must have downloaded them from partner teacher's camera...so they are still at school....hang tight for another review in photos!

Happy Teaching!

i'm NOT counting down...

*disclaimer: This is a venting post.  Probably will not have any educational value.  This is my current outlet; seeing as it is raining outside, it feels appropriate to post today.*

It started during student teaching.  Apparently it happens every year.  It was a part of teaching that I did not realize actually happened as much as it does.  There isn't a class that prepares you for it.  I have yet to come across a book that speaks to it's core.  It's something I'm not, and desperately pray that I will not be.

The counting down teacher.

I don't understand this concept.  Maybe it's because I'm a newbie.  Maybe it's because I'm not guaranteed anything next year.

Then again, maybe it's because I  absolutely LOVE teaching.  I LOVE leaving my crazy little nut hut (humble abode, home of husband man & baby pup, etc.) at 6:15am and driving my 15 minutes to school and spending the next hour with my iPod in ear prepping for the day ahead. I LOVE handing partner teacher copies of the reading test.  I LOVE saying "good morning" to each of my 18 darlings.

Pause.  I don't have great days.  I fail at least 850,000 times on any given day.  Partner teacher says I need to not worry so much about that; we all learn every day.  Something about his first year he went through the same things....I sort of believe him.  haha.  Watching him teach now, it's hard to imagine that being true.  I am better in many ways than I was on day 1....so maybe he is right.  My kids have their shinning moments and I do try to savor them.  Then we all have our less than stellar moments; days that are frustrating; days that I don't know what I could do to remedy it; days when I think "maybe I'm not good at this."

Unpause.  But I have never said "I want this to be over."  "I can't wait for this to end."  "I don't want to go to school today."  "I want to leave early."  "XX number of days left!"

In fact, I usually run from the conversation when someone throws out the "XX number of days left" comment because my response is currently tears.  It just doesn't make sense to me.  We are given a group of children for only 180 days.  Then we count down until they leave us?!  It doesn't add up!

It sounds horrible, and rude, but honestly, if you are a counting down teacher.....please look at your kids on Monday.  They're not counting down the days until they leave you.  Why are you doing that to them?  Look to the newest teacher in your building (even watch a student teacher if you can).....if they are a passionate, good, newbie teacher, it would be terribly hard for me to believe they are counting down the days until they have no guarantee of a permanent classroom.

I try to be thankful for each day that I get to unlock room 30 at 6:30am.  It may not end up being a great day; or even a day to remember, but I never ever EVER want to lock that door at 4:30pm (and yea, that's usually when I'm content enough to leave) and say "Only XX number to go..."  If I reach that day I truly hope someone will walk up to me and say "It's time for you to go.  You have lost the passion."

Apology - I do understand that there are some groups of students who are TERRIBLE.  No matter how hard the passionate teacher tries, it just may end up being a tough group to teach.  I am sorry if that is your group.  I truly am.  Savor those bad kids though.  They need you to come for XX number of days and continue to care about them.  I promise I'm with you on the bad days.  Partner teacher can vouch for the fact that I don't have much confidence by the end of the day.  He usually laughs at me and offers some words of encouragement.  I hope you have a partner teacher (same grade or not) that does that for you.

Coming soon (as in, when I remember to bring my camera home so I have the pictures) showcase tree, contraction caterpillars, and fraction/percent/decimal anchor charts....

....the end of the break...

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We're going back to school tomorrow :)

UH OH.....we're going on a field trip tomorrow :-D  haha  I continue to be very fickle, and "fence sitting" on how I feel about it.  It probably shouldn't be a big deal.  We're taking them twenty minutes away; we have enough chaperones; I have name tags ready and the kids are already grouped.  My camera is charged and empty so we should be good to go right?

I think I'm most nervous about their behavior.  What do I do if they don't behave?  I'm 99.9% sure they will...they're great kiddos....but what if?  Do you call them out right there or do you wait?  Do they get removed from activities and have to stand with me the rest of the day?

I figure it's practice for our bigger trip in May.  Surely I can put 19 of us on a bus and get us back safely right?!

In my other world....baby pup reached 30 lbs :-D WAHOOOOO!!!  Humble abode is pretty clean and (get this!) all the laundry is clean WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  This hasn't happened since......ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  January?!

I am looking forward to this week.  I don't have a great reason and I'm not positive why....maybe just making some realizations over this long break?  Who knows!!!!!!!  Even so, I've got a feeling it's going to be a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...breaks from school...

We were laughing (and sort of complaining!) on Wednesday because we are certain there have been almost no five day weeks since we have returned from Christmas break!  It is crazy!  I must admit, I have not been there for very many five day weeks!  This one was no different, in fact, it was only 3 days!  Two days in and we're already at "Thursday"! haha

I'm currently on a five day break from school.  Thursday - Monday.  Today was nice for husband man and I to get errands done, eat Chinese food (YUM!) and play with baby pup.  Tomorrow I leave to come home with my family for the weekend....which will be nice I'm certain.  I am laughing at myself (and sometimes out loud!) at my packing pile.  Baby pup is coming with me and currently I have my school stuff packed! haha Nothing for baby pup, nothing for myself. But all my school stuff is ready for the treck!  Will I do any of it?!  ER????  Maybe?!  But I have this anxiety about letting it all behind for four days!

I realized today, while husband man, baby pup, and I were walking to the park, that I don't know that I am capable of turning my brain off of school.  We'd be conversing and I'd mentally drift away.....

"Don't forget to finish name tags for Tuesday."  "80 leaves.  Shoot. I didn't bring home green paper!" "Grade the writing prompts"  "Find enjoyable health projects. Stop making them take notes."  "Venn Diagrams?  I could have used those more in Science. Why don't I think of those things?"  and on the tangent thoughts go!

"Babe" husband man says.
"Yeah?" comes my reply.
"What are you thinking about?"
 "Random school stuff."
"You're not in school today."
"I know, but I don't think it stops."
"That's weird."

haha Typical conversation about school!  Oh well :)  What is possibly the worst part?  I absolutely LoVe tangent thoughts about school.  I'm not looking forward to the day when I don't have a reason to have tangent thoughts haha!  Surely good lessons and great activities come from these tangent thoughts?

Coming sometime next week....Contraction Caterpillars (yeahup....we did an artsy grammar project in 5th grade!)

Happy Easter!  and Happy Teaching!