Sunday, May 22, 2011

March...uh...I mean May Madness!

WELL....blogger friends, I must say that the month of May has been the busiest yet! I went on a three day camping trip with my class and the rest of first and fourth grade from my school to Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky! It was extremely tiring, playing Mommy to a cabin full of first grade girls, hiking, and helping with meal duties for our entire group. We all got on a couple of "those big busses with the TV's," as the kids call them (Grayline). Here are a few photos from our trip.
 We saw lots and lots of farmland. 
 And we went over a very, very narrow bridge. This is what we saw outside the window, Yikes! The lake was beautiful though.
 At the Nature Center we learned about different kinds of owls native to the area. 
At the Homeplace, a historic pioneer village, we watched some blacksmithing in action!
 That oxen was HUGE! A few kiddos didn't want to get too close!
 Our Nature Guide took us OFF THE TRAIL in search of a beaver dam.
 The 4th Graders got to go canoeing! There was a lot of flooding in our area (you may have heard about it on the news). The lake is usually MUCH further back, but since it flooded they actually canoed OVER the basketball courts and playground the children usually play at during down time...
Our Pond Life tour guide was FANTASTIC! He was so encouraging and helped the kids discover the little world inside the pond....even though one child found a leech! Ahhh! Ms. King got a little scared then, but don't tell anybody!
The children had a blast at the annual Pillow Fight after the Night Hike. Afterwards we had a late night snack of milk and homemade cookies! TIME FOR BED! Haha! After all that both the kids AND the teachers were worn out on the bus ride home!

This month has also brought a bit of uncertainty. I was displaced within my school district, so I'd been freshening up my resume and getting ready for interviews. As you all know the end of the year brings lots of TESTING and final REPORT CARDS! I'm shooting to finish grading today and finish report cards this week. I've also been trying to get a jump on signing up for summer professional development! WHEW! Only 7 days left 'til SUMMER :-)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Common Core Standards

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image from http://www.corestandards.org/



I saw this post about Common Core Standards over at Swamp Frog First Graders and thought I should link to it on my blog. My state is switching to the Common Core Standards for the first time next school year. I'm excited about the change! I'm going to check out the http://www.corestandards.org site too. Hopefully I can find some sort of training or professional development workshop to learn more about it.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

ADDICTED!

I've been a teaching blog addict since February 28th...oh how quickly things come together! I'm totally hooked to checking up on teacher blogs to get spectacular ideas for my first grade kiddos or to help get lil' ol' first year teacher me more organized! Teaching blogs have been a total life saver, LOVE them!

Good News! The teaching blog addict mecca has been created!

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Check it out and feed your habit :-)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

10 Things I've Learned About Teaching

Rowdy in First Grade is having a Linky Party to share all the different things teachers have learn over the years. Though I'd get back in on the fun! A year and a half of teaching has taught me lots, but there is still more to learn.

1. It takes a LOT of work, love, and effort to be a good teacher. Lots of people don't understand the FULL extent of this.

2. For some children you really are the sunshine in their life.

3. Organization is KEY!

4. Bulletin boards can be very time consuming, but end up looking very cute

5. No matter how much you clean, disinfect, take vitamins, use hand sanitizer, and wash your hands you will still end up being sick at least once.

6. Don't waiver on the things you say to the students.

7. Try to be AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE when giving directions! Showing examples of what their work should and should not look like is helpful too.

8. I can't wait to teach again next year and make some modifications. Reflecting on your practice helps you and the kiddos.

9. Going back to school for a Master's Degree would be a great thing to do sooner than later! I'm really leaning towards a degree in Special Education next.

10. LIVE LIFE, LAUGH, and LOVE TEACHING :-)

Playing Catch Up

It has been a while since I posted on my blog! I have been quite a busy bee here lately. Last week was Spring Break and I was busy relaxing and visiting family. BUT as you all know, the first week back from an extended break is usually a little ...off.  I have also been been up to my elbows completing report cards. Grades, gradebook, papers, comments, and attendance reports have been my whole existence this past week! Now that this wild week is over, I have a chance to post again.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Giveaway :-)


Mrs. Thiessen over at The First Grade Sweet Life is having a giveaway. It's her very first one ever! She's giving away a $20 giftcard to the cute clip art site www.scrappindoodles.com. If you wanna check it out too, here's the link to her giveaway post.

My Spring Break is almost over! Where did the time go???

Live Life, Love Teaching

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Day on THE Hill

My first "official" day of Spring Break was spent on Capitol Hill at TCCY's Children's Advocacy Day. I got a chance to do a little networking with the people who help advocate and make policies concerning children and education in the state. During a break in the meeting I found out that there were union protestors out in the plaza, so I had to go check it out for myself. We have some BIG things going on with the legislature and teacher's unions right now. This is what I saw...

I had never been to a political rally, or well any rally for that matter. I was only there for about 10 minutes as it was ending and kinda stood back from the real crowd, then went back in to the meeting. Later, I met up with one of my college buddies/teacher girlfriends for dinner and some chit chat. Spring Break: Day 1 = Success!

Monday, March 14, 2011

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Today was converted from a Spring Break Day to a Snow Day Make-up Day. SO I decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day all day since we will be on Spring Break the rest of this week.

A little leprechaun broke into our classroom during P.E. and did this...

Tissues, Glue, and Hand Sanitizer, OH MY! I threw in a few gold coins and shamrock confetti. The kiddos really liked that! "Ms. King, WHEN is the leprechaun coming back?" Hmmm....
Not sure if I will be making a mess like THIS next year! lol
We made WANTED posters from Erica Bohrer's First Grade Blog and hung them around the classroom in an attempt to catch the mischievous fella. Wish we would have had time to set a trap too. We also did the writing activity and leprechaun craft from The First Grade Parade

We also graphed lucky charm marshmallows and a few other odds and ends. Short week. My Monday is also my Friday. Spring Break is finally here!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Settling In

I think I've finally decided on a background theme for my blog. I've probably changed it about 50 times since I started my blog yesterday. Tinkering with computer programs and sites online is kinda one of my hobbies. So I'm sure I'll be tinkering with my blog page til I feel like I have it completely figured out.

I better not be playing around with my blog anymore tonight. Gotta finish a Unit Plan that's due to my principal tomorrow!

Oh, AND Shout Out to my first follower Ms. Patton :-)

Live Life, Love Teaching
Have a happy week y'all!!!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Blogger Love

My first blog entry...check! It all started Dr. Seuss week. I was looking for some craft ideas for my class to work on throughout the week to go along with a few Seuss books I planned to read.  Google popped up an idea from Fun in First Grade (did the craft with my students later that week) and I was hooked. There were so many fabulous ideas and links to other blogs that also had fab ideas! 

I'm SO glad I found this limitless world of teacher's blogs!  I have spent WAY more time than I would like to admit trying to come up with centers, lessons, activities, and ideas on ways to teach different skills to my little first graders. Blogging is kind of like having a whole bunch of mentor teachers helping me out whenever I need them :-) I know I won't have gobs of time to dedicate to my own blog since I AM a first year teacher, but I wanted to start one so I could comment on other blogs, share a few first year teacher moments, and share my class' version of the ideas I've found. Maybe NEXT school year I can get a little deeper into maintaining my own blog!

Live Life, Love Teaching