Keep Your Chin Up!

During a really hard period of my teenage years, one of my best friends told me to, "keep my chin up." Such a simple phrase that has helped me through ups and downs. I was blog-stalking and found this AWESOME little anecdote about teachers that gave me goose bumps and reminded me WHY I chose TEACHING over Petroleum Engineering. Have you ever been told that people become teachers because they are not capable of doing anything else? Or that the people who are intellectually incapable of doing different fields of work, such as engineering or business, teach? Does it make anybody else angry too??  Looking around at all the cuts and hardships the education system is going through, I noticed how high some friends' salaries were for them. And I became slightly jealous. The majority of the working world leaves their jobs at 5 o'clock and that's it. They leave. When teaching, we take home papers to grade, go to EXTRA meetings and trainings outside of our work day, prepare for lessons, call parents and lend an empathetic, listening ear. And we get paid....well I get paid enough to live :) This anecdote helped warm my heart!

What do Teachers Make?

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: 'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.'

To emphasize his point he said to another guest; 'You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest, what do you make?'

(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an IPod, Game Cube, or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each person at the table.)

"I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write... Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.

I make them understand that if they use the gives they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."

(Bonnie paused one last time, then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

What do you make Mr. CEO?"

His jaw dropped, and he went silent.

Morning Message

Every morning, I start my morning meeting by writing a morning message. Normally I'll let the kids know what we're doing that day or week. I'll start it with a greeting in a foreign language, normally followed by a cute name for the students using alliteration. At the very end I'll write a yes or no question. I read it to the students to model and go over any tricky words, then have the kids read it by themselves with LOTS of expression! For every capital letter, they do firework flashes with their hands, every comma they click their tongue and make a hooking motion with a finger, every period is one clap, exclamation point is two claps, and for a question mark, the students raise their shoulders and hands as if saying, "I don't know." A chosen student will ask the rest of the class the question, take a poll, and write the numbers by practicing writing tally marks. Another student will correct any misspelled words, another uses editing marks to underline capital letters and punctuation marks.

Normally I write on chart paper, and once I've used all the pages I'll put it in the Brain Bags Center so the kids can read it. However, I've run out of chart paper. But, the kids love using the dry erase markers on my teacher board because they feel special like the teacher!

Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday Celebration

We celebrated Pancake Day by reading a wordless picture book by Tomie dePaulo and Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle. We compared both books and I modeled on the board how to write a recipe. The students recalled the ingredients from the books as I wrote them on the board. Then I called on different students to tell me the steps of how to make pancakes. I wrote these on the board. Then the students read each step to me as I acted them out (Unfortunately I'm allergic to milk so I had to nix the butter and milk and use water!). The kids were AMAZED! Especially when the pancakes started bubbling. We had a delicious snack while we did our morning seatwork!

Cat in the Hat Game

I know it's late! But, I made this Cat in the Hat "Hat" out of an oatmeal container and paper plate so we can play a "beanbag throw" game. We had practice spelling tests, math facts tests, sight word practice, etc. When a student answered a question correctly, he/she received one point and a chance to throw the beanbag in the hat. If he made it, then he earned an extra 5 points for his team. The kids had a lot of fun! I got this idea from an old Mailbox :) gosh I love those magazines!

It's Spring, So Let's Go Outside!!

It was too much of a beautiful day to pass up not spending it outside! So, we took the afternoon to FINGERPAINT! Woohoo! Everyone loves getting they're hands slimy and painting on 15 foot sheets of paper! I used clothes pins to hang the paper on the chain-link fence around or playground. The kids LOVED it! Unfortunately it was a bit breezy so the kids got a bit of paint on them (sorry parents!) but that's precisely why I got Washable Paint! TGI Spring!

Happy Mardi Gras/Fasternacht/Carnival/Shrove Tuesday!!!

Happy Mardi Gras! I greeted my students with a mask on, throwing beads at them, and loud Zydeco Music! They were SHOCKED. Haha, they had no idea what was going on. Sad that so many kids aren't as cultured as they used to be! But, in my class we WILL celebrate holidays and my students WILL be cultured! Even if I have to act silly and dress up in funny clothes!

We made masks and, as an art project, we used tissue paper and liquid starch to decorate a fleur de lis (I'll cut them out when they dry!).

Have a great Fat Tuesday!

Oh, the Joys of Teaching First Grade!

As a first grade teacher, you start creating a ridiculous collection of......JUNK! Kids bring in the most RIDICULOUS stuff! Today, for example, I see one of my lovely students with "claws" on his fingers. Then I took a double-take and told him to, "Come here right now!"

Surprise! BWAHAHAHAHA! Does anybody else think that this is as funny as I do? He was even pulling them in and out to make the claws "extend." He found them in the bathroom at his house (note to self: When I have kids, hide the TAMPONS!).

There's a Wocket in my Pocket!

There's a wocket in my pocket and this is the school we live for! We LOVE this book! I had to read it 3 times they loved to hear the silly names of the animals. The kids did a great job thinking of silly words and items found around the classroom. Once they stepped away, everything was forgotten! Someone let the plug out of the bathtub because all their good thoughts left them :( So I decided to go to each student and help them proofread their sentences, and as a reward I gave them googley eyes. Some turned out really cute!

President's Day Activities and Sticker Stories

One of my teaching teammates did a drawing lesson with the kids on Abe Lincoln and George Washington and had them fill out a Graphic Organizer to help the kids remember facts! Some turned out really cute!

Also, We like to write sticker stories! I use them for my brain bags. These are Ms. Piatt's students' stories, however, I have the students use the stickers to replace some words in their stories.