Back To School

This week in Miss Stetson’s Classroom

We are back! This week our classroom had a hard time waking up from our 2-week vacation.  I must say even I was super sleepy coming back. I even had a moment this week I walked to the office and stood wondering why I even went to the office. I figured it out finally. It was for an envelope. =)

This week the kiddos were introduced to the PARCC. Words cannot describe the look on their face (even mine for that fact). They huffed and puffed for a few minutes, but when we started talking about the strategies we use in reading class will help us. They felt better, but boy was it tough.

I realized quickly that we would be learning direction words. I had the students make some kid friend definitions of the direction words they saw. These words included two scary words: essay and excerpt. They came up with these definitions:

Excerpt – came out of a book

Essay - writing information about a topic

Our class motto about PARCC- “ It is going to be ok”

In math we continued to review fractions. We are working on fractions on the number line. We will continue to work on this next week. They were super excited that we also began our multiplication facts.  We only learned factors 1 & 0 this week. I must say I believe they are excited.

I was so fortunate to have some fantastic parent volunteers to make our multiplication center run smoothly. Last weekend I was over productive and got in over my head in flash cards. I had several parents help me cut out the task cards and return them. They are now stored away until we learn the factors.

My intention for the flash cards is to differentiate where each student is. The fast fact test will match what skill they are practicing. Each deck is color-coded. The colors match the fluency test. (I admit I am still making those.) They were so excited to use the cards.

In reading I went laminate crazy and zip tie crazy. Mid week I got the urge to make flash cards of the Fry Phrases. My classroom-reading group is working on fluency to help their reading comprehension. They were super excited to flip through these and compete with themselves. They were all smiles.

Next week, I hope to have a few fable activities completed to close this unit. I also hope to get caught up in math.  I also hope to be better with my resolution of grading papers. I completely failed this week getting things back early.  I introduced cursive this week and plan on making sure I keep up with this at least 2- 3 times a week.

I am so happy to be back to school.    It is nice to see their smiling faces everyday. They do bring much joy.

Love,

Miss Stetson

Back to Reality...

 

The vacation is coming to an end for many of us. It’s time to set our alarm, lay out our clothes, pack our lunches, grab our bags, and start working again. I know as teachers many of our friends have a million comments about our 2 week vacation ( or summer vacation at that) but  I know in my life I needed it.

Before the holiday I was beginning to have that burnt out feeling. We have all been there at some point, too many unfinished projects, too many things on the to do list for school and home, and not enough time in the day. I felt like I could go to bed as soon as I got home from work. I could not do that before the holiday because, well I had to many other things to do.

Fast forward 2 weeks later. I miss my class and am itching to get back into my routine of working. Granted this past week I have spent 8+ hours a day almost working on the computer. I have been updating, creating, and cleaning out so many things using technology. It has been so rewarding to finally have time to focus on my classroom in a way that I usually dream of focusing, but find there is not enough hours in my day.

Beau the Golden was so annoyed with me being home over the holiday. He groaned anytime I would move while he was sleeping. I am sure he will be very happy next week as his routine gets back to normal. He was such a fantastic helper however. He just sat patiently with his head on my lap while I worked. Occasionally he would however drop a toy in my lap to pay attention to him. I have some very funny photos to share with the students.

You see Beau is my dog. I have had Beau since he was 10 weeks old. In a previous blog I talked about how he brought much happiness to me when I moved across the United States away from my friends and family. I always share the silly antics of Beau because not every student has the privilege of having a dog. We often do writing prompts with his many expressions. The stories the kids come up with are great. I did it once just to see and well it snowballed from there. This Christmas I did not only receive gifts from my students, but so did Beau. None of my students have actually met him in person. They have seen him in the yard as the bus goes by, but he is a little hyper so I would not want him to accidently scratch anyone. We are working on manners right now. He is learning. =).

This school year is different than the 2 I have taught previously. This year I am in a new grade level and I am planning a wedding. Sounds stressful enough? Well, I have many of the same kiddos from when I taught 2^nd grade last year, so that means many of the holiday activities I have that are not grade specific ( like my fancy ornaments) are out the window because they already did the activity. This vacation I began following many new blogs and found some really great activities and ideas that I will be implementing into my classroom. I cannot wait to share with the teacher community and with my students.

Thanks you for your support as always,

Miss Stetson