adventures in student teaching

I am getting ready to start my third week of student teaching. It sure is different than having your own classroom. I have to follow the lead of my master teacher and follow the procedures and discipline plan that she has set up, even though I would not necessarily use them for my own classroom. 

My master teacher is very nice, and I have learned a lot of interesting concepts that she uses in her classroom. I am excited to take them back to my own classroom. I really like the way she does writers workshop. She has the kids edit their own papers and then with a partner before they turn it into her. I will be taking that back to my class. I think it is great that they have learned how to edit their own papers. It is such a great skill for them to master, and I had never thought to have my students do that. I have also learned a lot about centers. My master teacher uses them a lot. I am not sure I would do it exactly the same way as her, but I will be trying them back in my classroom when I return. 

I have also had the opportunity to try my hand at creating some materials for the class. I am not great at it yet, but it was really fun trying everything out! Last week we read the story, "Officer Buckle and Gloria." We had tons of fun with it. I had the kids come up with their own safety tip, and here is the worksheet that I created. Just click on the picture and enjoy this fun freebie. I hope that you enjoy! 

New Adventures

On Friday, I was told by the principal at my school that the school board was not sure they wanted to rehire me for next year. I took this as God speaking to me. I have been thinking for the last year that it might be time to move on. I have a very long commute every day. It takes me close to an hour to get to school in the morning, and about another two and even sometimes three hours to get home at night. It is time to find something closer to my house. 

Of course I will miss everyone at the school, but I will not miss the long commute and the loads of paperwork that I have to do everyday. It will also be nice to have a contained classroom again. These last five years, I feel like I have really lost some of my creativity. 

The classes at the school I am at now are just so short that there is no time to be creative. By the time I get the kids from their classroom, it is almost time to take them back to class. There is so much time spent traveling back and forth.  At least when you have the kids all day, you are able to adjust things throughout the day so you can fit in some of the fun things as well. 

So I am hitting the ground running. At least I found out about next year pretty early so I will hopefully be able to find a job. I am already putting together my resume, talking to other teacher friends, and looking through job postings. I know that God has the perfect job out there for me. 

As you all probably know, I am finishing up my credential right now which means that I will be starting my student teaching next week. This is another new adventure. I am so nervous about it. I know it will be great once I get into it, and I am looking forward to seeing how another teacher does things and learning from her. I really do love learning new things. Do you feel that way as well? Until next time, I hope everyone has a great day. 

A New Year

Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks! I went back to school this last week not feeling well. While my husband and I were in Paris, I got sick and then got even worse when we got home. At least we had a really great time. We saw so many wonderful things and even got an extra day in Zurich, Switzerland at the loss of the airline! 

 This is us inside the beautiful Paris Opera House. It was gorgeous!

And of course we had to take some pictures with the Eiffel Tower. 

So this last week I was sick, and got even more sick as the week went on. By Friday, I was feeling really bad so I stayed home to try and get better. I lounged around and slept most of the day. Today I'm feeling better, but still not great. It is really hard to work when you don't feel well. 

At least now I am starting to feel better so I can get some blogging done and check out some of my other favorite blogs to see what everyone is doing. 

Well, on to other things! This last quarter, we started a new program for our upper grade math. My 5th grade math program is now done independently. They take no work home and it is all done in class. This allows me to see what the students are really understanding and what they still need help with. This new program also allows the students to work at their own pace. If a student needs a little more time on a lesson, they can take that time. Next year, when they move up to the next grade they will start math where they left off. If they finish through lesson 100 in the 5th grade book, they have to finish the rest of the lessons before they can move on to the next book. 

So here is how I organize the program. Organization is key with this because the students are all on different lessons. 

 I use this box to keep all the work the kids do. It also has all the tests copied so when a student is ready for a test, it is ready for them. I don't have to worry about remembering to get things copied for them.

Here is the inside of the box. Each student has a folder where I keep their work. At the end of ten lessons, they take a test and then all of their work gets handed back to them. I also have a folder for the graded work. This allows me to see what work needs to be recorded and placed into the students folders. 

What do you do for your math program? How do you organize the work?

Craziness

Christmas has flown by and it sure was crazy! I am sitting in the airport right now posting from my phone. My husband and I are off to celebrate New Year's in Paris. This is our first time there and we are so excited!

Earlier this month, I participated in the Holly Bloggy Christmas exchange. I got to buy all my favorite things for Kelly Pate over at thirstiefirsties.blogspot.com. I hope she liked all the things I sent her. I am not able to figure out how to post pictures from my phone so I will have to show the pictures later.

Well, this is it for now but I will be back soon to tell you all about our trip to Paris, as well as what will be happening when school starts up again. What will you be doing with your class when school starts?

12 in 12

I am linking up with a teeny tiny teacher and miss kindergarten for their 12 in 12 link party. 

12. Favorite movie you watched.

My favorite movie is the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." I have a group of friends that are like the characters, and I love their relationship in the movie.

11. Favorite TV series

Boy, this is a hard one. I love so many shows. I love "Grey's Anatomy." A guilty pleasure of my husband and I is "Dance Moms." I know, so much drama, but we just love it!

10. Favorite Restaurant

This one's also really hard. My husband and I love to try new places. We really enjoy BJ's. Not so much because they have the absolute best food but because they have excellent service.

9. Favorite new thing you have tried

I love this new adventure of blogging. It has been great getting to know new people. 

8. Favorite gift you have received

Let's see... this one is hard too! I love all the little things that my husband does for me. We love to exchange cards and get each other little things all the time.

7. Favorite thing you pinned

This one is all about me. I just love this dress and the way that flows. 

6. Favorite blog post

I love my post on the structure quiz-quiz-trade.

5. Favorite accomplishment

My favorite accomplishment is finishing up my credential. I'm almost done and this will be the biggest thing that I've ever accomplished. 

4. Favorite Picture

So, I love both of these pictures. I snapped this first one of our dog Max and his girlfriend Molly while they were playing.

This next one was taken just a couple weeks ago while we were decorating the house for Christmas. It was such a cute picture of our family. 

3. Favorite Memory

My favorite memory was my family's couple of trips to Hawaii. My husband and I love Hawaii and we would love to one day retire there. 

We also loved our trip to Seattle and cruise to Alaska. We went with our really good friends from church and it was great spending time on this trip with them. 

2. Goal for 2013

My goal for 2013 is to finish my teaching credential. I am so close to finishing, and I just have to keep plugging away to accomplish it. 

1. One little word

Let's see, I think for me it is "faith." I have to have faith that everything will work out. God has everything under control and He knows everything and works everything out. He is in control of everything. 

A sneak into my life

Life has been so busy the last couple weeks! I am so sorry that I have not been on much the last week and a half to post. But I am here today. I stayed home with a terrible migraine. I've slept a lot and am finally doing a little better, so I thought it would be nice to get a post together. 

Here is why I have been a little busy... I have been teaching for nine years, but never finished my credential. I finished all of the classes right away, but I have really bad test anxiety and was afraid to take all the necessary tests. Last year I decided, with some pushing from my principal, that I should get it done. So I buckled down and studied really hard to finish up all of the terrible tests you have to take to become a credentialed teacher. The great news is that I passed them all, but then found out that my school was accredited with the National Lutheran Schools Association instead of WASC so I would still have to do student teaching. 

I have been spending the last month or so getting everything ready to submit for student teaching. The new battle I am facing is doing the full 80 days at a public school rather than doing part of the days at a public school, and then part of the days in my own classroom. I keep getting the run around on what to do. I am not able to do part of the days during the summer because all of the districts around me have gone back to traditional schedules. At least my school is really supportive. All of the teachers at the school are really excited for me. They all know this is what has to happen for my future, and they have all been talking to the principal making sure I get to do what is best for me. 

So it looks like this spring I will be taking a leave from my school and working on finishing up my credential. I am a little scared, but also excited about the opportunities that this will bring. Does anyone have any advice for me during student teaching? 

Currently

I am linking up with Farly at Oh Boy 4th Grade and taking part in her December Currently. 

Come and check out her blog

I am really wanting an iPad. I see all the great things that teachers are using them for and I want one too. I am hoping Santa might bring me one. 

I am also in desperate need of a hair cut. The split ends are starting to show. 

Come and join in on the fun!