O is for Open House

   We had our Open House today at our school. Whew! I'm exhausted. Open House is an interesting thing. For us, Open House is a time for parents to see their child's classwork, projects, and time to visit with the teacher in more of an informal way. I enjoy this interaction so much more than Back to School when I have to make a formal presentation and it might be the first time I am meeting the parents. My turnout wasn't bad- 17 out of 22 students came and my hubby stopped by to meet my students. My students were so cute about meeting him.
   I am not a parent, so I was curious about how parents feel about after school activities like Open House. Let me know you thoughts.

N is for Navajo Pottery

In third grade we study Native Americans of North America. The Navajo are one of the groups we study and our students are fascinated by how resourceful this tribe.They particularly enjoyed learning about the beautiful art work the tribe created.
Wendie and I tried to capture the beauty of the details and patterns the Navajo pottery by using a variety of beans. Check out how lovely they came turned out.

M is for Math Stretches

   During the summer I participated in a profession book study. A group of teachers interested in improving our teaching of math discussed, created, and collaborated together to gain further insight. I, by no means consider myself a math person, but I do consider myself a life-long learner and that is essential to being a teacher.
   One particular chapter in Building Mathematical Comprehension resonated with me. Chapter 3 dealt with helping students connect math to activities they do daily. I know, I have been guilty of saying or thinking, "When will I ever use math?" But in reflection- I use math all the time! It appears like a simple concept, but one that is not emphasized enough. My original post discusses the chapter in detail and there is a download for you to use. Check it out, click on our button below.

Here is a great video to compel you to open your heart :) to math.

L is for Line Plots

Graphs have become a big part of every day school life. Graphs help us share data and information using visual representations and by exposing students to various graphs they begin to develop "data literacy." Graphs seem like a pretty simple concept but creating a graph is the first step. True data literacy involves analyzing the data and creating meaning. That is the challenging part for my students.
For some fun try a line plot with your students or kiddos. Click on the cover to download- Happy graphing!

K is for Kids

     Martha and I are what you might call extreme animal lovers. We spend a ludicrous amount of our lunch break talking and laughed about the shenanigans our pets get into. Several years ago my neighbor bought a gorgeous ranch up in Oregon, and she had room for our two horses. So I sent them off to the cushiest retirement any two horses could wish for. But my empty barn looked sad and lonely without any creatures in it and since my own kids(the human ones) were grown, I decided I needed some new kids.

     I've had Janie the caramel colored African Pygmy  since she was two days old. She and her sister Emmie, the black doe, lived their first two months in a playpen in my laundry room. We all took turns filling baby bottles and feeding them.  They were nothing short of adorable and to see my six-foot-two twenty-one year old son asleep on the couch with a baby goat tucked beneath his chin was beyond awesome.

     There is a third doe too and her name is Trixie but because she is a third kid, there are considerably less pictures of her. I can relate. My parents snapped a picture of every breath, yawn and burp uttered by my oldest sister. My second oldest sister only had her picture taken when she was lucky enough to be sitting next to our big sister. I'm still not quite sure if I ever was an infant because there is no photographic proof of it and even though I promised not to do the same with my kids, poor little Trixie lacks a photo history. But she is just as adorable.

     Just like real kids, these kids play rough with their siblings, get cranky when they're tired and fight for Mom's attention. And they are quite noisy too. Emmie and Trixie make unique little sheep sounds but Janie screams when she's hungry. I'm not sure what a banshee sounds like but if they really did exist, they would sound just like Janie. They are a great bunch of kids and I love them.

 

J is for Jumbles

This past summer Wendie and I worked on creating instructional resources that would really impact our students learning. One are we focused on was mathematical problem solving. We created Math Jumbles that started out as math warm-ups but eventually developed into an opportunity for our students to demonstrate their mathematical thinking and understanding. Math Jumbles, in conjunction with our Critical Crumbs, activities has helped our students synthesize what they know and move towards becoming independent problem solvers. There is a great deal of satisfaction watching them enjoy math and be active in their learning process. For us, these activities do not replace our math directed instruction lesson but enrich our students growth.

Have a looksie and try them out with your students. The sample below is typically for third grade.
Click on the cover to download.

I is for Inspiration

It was a challenging day today (Wednesday). The kiddos are anxious for Spring Break and so are the teachers or at least I am. I find that student behavior changes as they sense a change in our routine, thus leading to poor decision making on their part.  One way I cope with stress is to talk about it and vent a little. Once I can do that I can move past it and realize that tomorrow will be a better day. I also look for things in my life that inspire me to be a better teacher, friend, doggie mom, and wife. Here are my daily inspirations...

My hubby and my three fur babies inspire me to be more patient, loving, and forgiving. What is your inspiration?