Big Announcement

Recently I got the big news, I will be teaching second grade next year. So, my plans are to keep the blog in place with the 3-5 resources, but I will most definitely be shifting my focus to 2nd grade resources moving forward.

The Informational Text Revolution: CCSS and the Changes We All Face

This blog is already structured around subjects (the easiest way to reach those subjects is by clicking the name of the subject in the logo at the top of the page). These subjects are laid out by the way I teach them in my classroom... correction the way I taught them in my classroom. The incoming Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will surely have an impact on that.

Now, the CCSS doesn't change the fact that in 5th grade I teach American history and geography. CCSS doesn't change the fact that, here in New Mexico, Social Studies is still covered by the New Mexico Standards and Benchmarks (those standards for Social Studies are available HERE).

The CCSS, after all, cover English Language Arts and Mathematics. An article put out by the New York Times on December 13, 2012 titled Fiction of Non-Fiction? Considering the Common Core's Emphasis on Informational Text asked if the focus on informational texts within the CCSS is detrimental to student learning and love of reading. The article also has a great resource, a quick little questionnaire that can be given to students to see how much they read outside of fictional literature (the answer: probably not much). I know that I'm guilty of having certain books I like to read every year (The Castle in the Attic, The Giver, Holes, and The Lightning Thief to name a few). Well, "the CCSS deemphasizes reading as a personal act and emphasizes textual analysis" (Calkins 2012). And before I dig too deep here, I'm going to just say that the CCSS for literature and informational text are the same, so I'm going to leave it at that.

When it comes to all these informational texts, as I said previously in the post titled Informational Text Free Digital Resources: Gearing up for the Common Core, it's not a matter of many of us going in a direction with literacy that we've never gone before, it's just a more mindful approach to the usage of some strategically chosen texts, and for students to not only be exposed to various texts, but to know their interests and steer them towards informational texts that pique their interests. Also, we have to be mindful of the fact that there is a different between reading for a fact hunt and reading to gain understanding and comprehension of an idea.

BUT, this doesn't mean that informational text reading just becomes about student interest and leave it at that. The research shows that students need to be reading for 90 minutes per day optimally, and that is actual holding a book in their hands reading time (Allington 2005). That's a lot. I usually give my students 25-35 minutes per day of individual reading, and the vast VAST majority of that reading is fiction based literature.

In the coming weeks, I will be laying out how to get started in the reading and writing classrooms (or at least how I will start), including how to assess student readiness and reading levels quickly and efficiently, and how to teach thematically (using The Lightning Thief and teaching Greek Mythology simultaneously for example). I will also be revisiting my units for Social Studies and Science, and focusing them on informational text and writing based approaches. It should be a fun time, but in the end, I feel that it will better prepare me (and anyone who finds these resources and uses them) for what lies ahead.

So stick around, bookmark my page, and come back soon. I'm already getting everything lined up, I just don't like to post things until they're finished. Look for more tomorrow!


WORKS CITED:

Allington, Richard, 2005. What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research Based Programs, 2d ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Calkins, Lucy, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman, 2012. Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Common Core Changes

My early summer lay off isn't exactly over (it's been four weeks since my last post), but I do feel that I'm ready to start posting my Common Core (CCSS) units fairly soon. To provide a little background, here in New Mexico, at least here in Las Cruces, grades K-3 adopted the CCSS this past school year. Grades 4-12 will be adopting this upcoming school year. I know many states have already been there for a few years, but this is my first big experience with it all.

Before I jumped right in and started putting up lessons, ideas, units, assessments, etc. that are CCSS aligned, I wanted to make sure I sufficiently understood what the CCSS is all about. I've attended (and facilitated) a number of workshops and trainings this summer, and have also been reading Pathways to the Common Core, a great book that makes it easier to digest these changes in the literacy and writing classrooms.

Now that I've got a good idea of the direction I'll be going to one last math training today. I attended a few earlier this week about math pacing guides, and this one today is about CCSS and our new math series, Pearson enVision. There will be some changes to my page here. What I'll be doing is re-aligning my units for the CCSS. I will not take down my old units and lessons, but will be attempting to include CCSS resources in them, even the science and social studies one. I will be attempting to re-do those units to reflect both the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) standards that haven't been mandated in New Mexico, but are definitely coming, and the National Science Education Standards (NSES), which are also not mandated but help tie together my lessons to a broader focus.

I will begin posting these units this weekend, as well as some ideas on how to setup instruction in the various subjects according to the CCSS while addressing rigor, relevance, and a much greater depth of learning.

I'm excited about this shift to the CCSS, I think it will really force teachers to demand more of themselves and their students, and will pay off in the long run. Like anything else that is mandated in education, there are pitfalls and things to make you shake your head. But I've decided that, as it relates to the CCSS, there's not much value in complaining, we're all in this together (quite literally, all states with the exception of Texas, Virginia, and Alaska... and Minnesota in math, have adopted the CCSS, you can see that for yourself on this In the States graphic).

I hope you'll come back and be able to utilize some of what I put up here. Thanks!

End of the School Year: A Time To Regain Teacher Sanity

The last day of school is now 9 school days away (May 24th). That's right, summer is almost here! This time of year is very relieving, and a little sad, for many in the teaching profession. If you've had a great year, it's melancholy  If you've had a terrible year, it's joyous, but either way, you're tired, and you're ready for a break.

But, whether you teach kindergarten or 5th grade or senior English, the end of the year can be a whirlwind. You'll undoubtedly have a checkout list to go through, depending upon your school site and district. If they're going to work on the floors or carpets in your room over the summer, you'll be moving out, or at least getting things ready. If you're like me, and you've been in the same room for awhile (I'm finishing up my third consecutive year in the same room, I've been in three different rooms total in my career, all of which I've taught at one school), you might be lucky and only have to put things away for safe keeping, and possibly just put everything up against the walls so that the floor can be cleaned.

Yes, I'm one of the lucky ones. But, I still have a lot to do, you will too. Take it from me new teachers, use your students, they love helping anyways. Have them help put away books, clean bulletin boards and walls, and help you box up things like your desk and closet. If you're changing assignments, you'll have a lot of work to do. Anytime I've been asked to change rooms, it's a TON of work. I can't imagine the work in changing buildings, but I don't plan on going anywhere else anytime soon, so I'm not too worried.

The end of the year is exciting, but there really is so much to accomplish in those final days. Just keep your head up, because a chance to regain your sanity is closing in quickly!

My Thoughts on the Tragic Events of Today

Like everyone else, I was completely shocked and saddened by the events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut this morning. Upon hearing of the events, I was in class with my 5th grade students. I immediately thought of the 500+ students that were attending class in my school, and how, as teachers and educational professionals, we are tasked with keeping these students safe (among the many other things we are responsible for).

But how do you keep things safe in the face of such evil actions? Are schools doing enough?

My school is what you might define as rural, but we're definitely not out in the middle of nowhere. We exist in the oldest area of a city with 100,000+ people living in it, but we are out in the quieter part of town. We've always taken our safety for granted, and have never had a major incident, like most schools in the country. The shootings that took place this morning are tragic, and shocking. Almost every person who comes to this blog is a teacher (or you're probably in the wrong place, I cater to and write directly for teachers), and one thing I know about teachers is that they love children, and would die for their students. Some of our own died today protecting their students, and are heroes for that.

The children who died today leave this earth never realizing their full potential, their little lives robbed from them.

Now, how do we proceed? Obviously students will be attending school on Monday all across the nation, and many of them will be in fear, fear that grows out of watching the news and hearing adults talk about the shootings at Sandy Hook. What is our job as teachers?

On Monday, I'll address school safety and our roles at schools on an "if it comes up" basis. If students enter the building scared, it will be addressed. You never can be too careful when your entire job revolves around the fact that you are a de facto guardian of other peoples children for 7 hours per day.

On a personal note, I feel so much pain for the parents, families, and surrounding community that felt the loss of those children and adults who died this morning. In the coming months, there will obviously be talks that center on the politics of gun control, school safety, and mental health services. I don't think the time for those talks is now. Now, it's time to mourn the loss. My two year old son is sitting next to me right now, and I can see my seven and ten year old sons sitting on the sofa in the next room, and I cannot fathom the pain that I would feel if they were taken from me.

My heart goes out to all affected.

My Oregon Trail Story of Survival and Daring on the Apple IIe

I sat down tonight to write a post with great materials for the unit we're currently doing in social studies. I got a few sentences in and realized it all seemed very familiar. So, I paused for a minute, and went digging into my blog archives, and found out fairly quickly why I was struck with this sudden sense of deja vu.

I already posted the entire unit, over three months ago. Yikes. I've officially reached the point where I can't remember what I've already done on this simple little blog of mine. I guess simple isn't the correct word. It's not exactly Wikipedia, but with over 110 posts, it's getting big for me.

In any case, what I wanted to share is a quick story, and a link to a great online game that kids love.


I grew up in the 80's and 90's. When I was in elementary school, we had a computer lab. We're specifically talking about 1989-1990 here, so it was a magical time before the internet, the era of the Apple IIe, the ones with the green only screens. The first computer game I had a chance to play, and master (or kill all of my friends through various ailments and injuries). Of course, I'm talking about the original Oregon Trail.

As a 3rd grader, I couldn't get enough, this game was fantastic. It was the right balance of strategy, trail riding, and friend bruising. We got graded based upon our performance. It was great, my first experience with digital learning.

Now, here we are, in 2012, in the middle of the golden age of the computer and internet. My students have access to the knowledge of the human race within the walls of my classroom, although they don't know that, all they care about is Youtube videos and Angry Birds... who am I kidding, that's all I care about as well. All joking aside, let's move this little story along.

I teach a unit on Westward Expansion each year around this time (you can find that unit HERE). We watch a great documentary about the Donner Party (check it out in that unit if you're interested), and they do a research project on some of the major trails that were used to make the journey west, as well as the Homestead Act, the California Gold Rush, and a few other major events/laws.

One thing seems to stick with them more than anything else every year I teach this unit. You see, on day two of the unit, I fire up the laptop and projector, and we play a game together. We play the original Oregon Trail. For the first ten minutes or so, the kids look at each other and giggle at how completely and totally honky tonk this game is. The graphics are ancient, the sound effects are ridiculous, in short, this is exactly the kind of game that students of today picture their parents playing when they were kids. But they sit and watch.  They see me enjoying the game, and laugh as I make a ridiculous epitaph on the gravestone of the first member of my party to die.

Finally, they get their own crack at this gem of a game. And without fail, they play this game during their free time for the rest of the school year. Right now, my students are literally begging me to play Oregon Trail.

So, how can you play Oregon Trail? The first way is to go buy an Apple IIe, hook it up, and go find a floppy disk (remember those?). If you don't want to do that, and trust me, YOU DON'T, there's an easier way.

Head to Virtual Apple, make sure your Java is updated, and enjoy the game right there in your browser.

You know you want to. Go ahead.

Bullying: My Perspective (As A Teacher)

I'm not sure if bullying is worse today than it was when I was a kid, or if it's just the flavor of the month in the media. What I do know is that the technologies that many students have access today (mainly social media) make bullying much easier and in your face. 

I try hard to teach my students respect and empathy. It's not always easy, and I can honestly say that over the last four years, I've seen a troubling trend of students coming into 5th grade increasingly unable to interact with their peers in a socially acceptable manner. I spend a lot of time talking about how they need to stop tattling on one another, stop whining at one another, and learn to work productively and cooperatively, and it's time consuming. It's October 13th as I write this, and yesterday we completed the 38th day of this school year, and I've just recently started to see improvements in how they relate to one another.

Yes, it's tough work, but that's not really what I'm writing about here. I wanted to talk about bullying. Bullying has always been a problem in schools. I remember being both bully (one time for about a month when I was a 4th grader), and bullied (on and off for years). I was one of the lucky ones, because I was always big for my age. I was a nerdier type of kid, so I took a lot of flak for that, but I also could stand up for myself.

These days, I see bullying as being much more personal, vicious, and non-relenting. 

I want to make one thing very clear. In my opinion, no child should have a Facebook account. I think this serves almost no good purpose in 90% of the cases. Yes, there are those rare cases where the child might use the account to send photos and things like that to relatives that are far away, but that's a pretty lame excuse, they can always just use a parents account.

I've personally turned in at least ten children with underage accounts and have seen Facebook promptly delete those accounts. I didn't do this because I'm a mean old man, I did this because, in each of those cases, there was bullying happening online, or cyber bullying.

Next, I believe that a lot of the bullying starts in the home environment. I definitely don't play the blame game, I am disgusted when parents point their fingers at teachers and schools when their children are the perpetrators. Don't get me wrong, I believe that it's the schools job to keep its students safe, but in almost all the cases I've seen of bullying, the bully usually has a home life where the proper boundaries aren't set, punishments aren't being utilized effectively (or at all), and discussions about proper behavior aren't happening. Sadly, these are the same parents who, all too often, point their fingers at society, and it makes me sick.

This doesn't allow schools to wipe their hands of the issue and just say "oh well, bad parenting." No, we're stuck with the problem. When parents don't do their jobs, it makes the job of a teacher much MUCH more difficult, but it doesn't absolve them of their responsibility to children, all children, even the bully. 

Bullying is a societal problem, and it's gotten worse over the years. Not a week goes by anymore where you don't read about a teenager who was bullied to the point of suicide. No matter what your personal thoughts and beliefs are about this, you can't argue that this isn't tragic. Teens being bullied for looking different, being different, or even just "because." It's one of the major problems that plagues society today. People don't know how to treat people anymore.

Even when I go out into public, I see these behaviors. People at Wal Mart pushing through one another, yelling at one another, fighting with one another. People in their cars acting aggressively towards one another. I don't want to blame society or the media, although they do play their part. It all comes down to parenting, or the lack thereof. 

I can tell you with 100% certainty that any time I've had a student come into my classroom unprepared to learn or interact with their peers, I can eventually trace these behaviors back to parenting. I do feel that the schools can do more, but if parents are not stepping up, it's a losing battle. 

I could sit here and continue to type for awhile, but you surely understand my views on this by now. Yes, it takes a village to raise a child. Yes, we all have a responsibility to the future, especially those of us in education, it's the essence of our jobs. BUT, parents are the front lines, they spend the majority of time with these children. Behaviors are a by product of environment. If school really played a big part in this, then most students would sit at home everyday studying their spelling, doing math, lining up for the restroom, and saying the pledge each morning after breakfast. But instead, they come to school tired (for lack of sleep), without their homework (because nobody offered to even so much as help), hungry (because they didn't eat the night before), and starved for attention (because nobody gave it to them at home). Yes, we have a problem, and yes it's getting worse.

How do we fix the problem? It's not an easy one, because our society is breaking. I read articles everyday about parents who spend more time on their phones than with their kids, or playing video games than with their kids, or out partying than with their kids. These are the same parents who ask the schools and society to do more and more for them. Well this teacher is standing up and saying ENOUGH, GROW UP!

My 100th Post

This is my 100th post on this blog, a minor milestone. Aside from those 100 posts, I also have created 32 static pages, which now span two different blogs (I had to creatively work around the 25 static page limit per blog and create a second, nearly identical blog to continue these pages).

Over the first 100 posts, I am proud to say that I've had many teachers who have taken the materials posted and used them in their classrooms. My goal as a teacher is to reach my students and give them opportunities to love learning and take control of their own education. By sharing my ideas, and the great ideas of others, on these pages, it is my hope that other teachers can reach their students and see them learn independently, and challenge themselves.

My philosophy behind this blog is to offer free items to teachers in the upper elementary grades. All too often, these grades get ignored. Much of what comes into elementary schools is meant for the primary grades, and the intermediate (3-5 grades) teachers are asked to adapt  resources to their students. I don't accept that, it's a cop out and a reason not to go the extra mile. I work to hunt down (or make) resources that are intended for this age group.

And finally, it's all about free. Teachers Pay Teachers is a great site because it allows teachers to make a little extra money for their ideas, but I'm not about that. I believe that my ideas should be freely shared, education isn't about profit, it's about learning, and I'm glad to see that there are so many out there who agree with this. So, thanks for coming, thanks for reading, and here's to another 100 posts!

An Open Letter From A Teacher To All Parents of Students

**Note: This blog is no secret, and I openly sign my name to it. Many of my students and parents know about it and follow it, to keep up with classroom happenings. This letter is not personal in nature, and simply discusses what I see and believe in general towards parents of school children all over the nation. I love my job, I care deeply about my students, and I work hard to earn and keep the respect of their parents. For a child to be successful in school, it involves a partnership between the school system (mostly teachers and administrators) and parents. I've been wanting to write this letter for a long time, and these are thoughts and ideals I've held for my entire career, they're not related to a single student or parent, but an overall reaction to what I see in the media, what I hear on the national stage, and what I believe**


Dear Parents,

On the first day of school, I did some math with my new students. We took the amount of hours in a year (8760) and subtracted the amount of hours an average child sleeps during a year (we came up with 8 hours per night, for a total of 2920 hours). What we discovered is that the average child is awake for 5840 hours in a year. Of these 5840 hours, children at my school spend 1125 hours in school. I took these two numbers and did a mini-math lesson with the class. What we discovered is that children at my school spend 19% of their waking lives in school during a year.

19%, that's the time that a teacher has with children. Of course, we had to calculate in lunch and recess (40 minutes per day, which adds up to 115 hours per school year), the time that they spend at special classes like PE, Art, and Music (135 hours per school year), and time we spend doing non-classroom related things, like restroom breaks and cleaning up at the end of the day (we came up with 15 minutes per day, which is 43 hours). Take all of this together, and the time I actually have to instruct my students in a given school year is 832 hours.

832 hours. That's exactly 14% of their given waking hours.

Let's think a little more about this. If they're at school for 19% of their waking hours, that means they're with you for the majority of that remaining 81%.

Let's be honest with ourselves here. Your impact on your child far outweighs mine. If your child is a success in life, it's going to be because of you. If they fall short, and things don't go as planned, it's (trust me on this), also going to be on you.

My job as a teacher is to help you out. I want to do this job. I signed up for it knowing that it would be difficult. I went through years of preparation, knowing that this job is a thankless one, full of hard days and a stressful existence. And yes, I am smart enough that I could have majored in something else. I chose this job for a reason, just like the engineer and the doctor chose theirs.

We live in a day and age where more and more children are coming to school unprepared, unmotivated to learn, or have no idea how to act in a public place. These things make my job much more difficult, but I still come to work every day, to teach your child.

You need to know that I want your help. I need your help. If you look at school as just a place to send your child while you go to work, then alright, I'll still do my best, but if you aren't following through on your child's education, how is that my fault? I can't move mountains if you don't care. If you do care, and you do follow through, my job with your child is so easy that I don't really have to do much other than provide a challenge. Just for the record, teachers like the latter kind of parents a lot better (but don't tell anyone, it's kind of a secret).

I'm a pretty good teacher. I know what I'm doing. I knew a lot about your child just a few days into the school year. I know about their reading level, math level, I know how they learn, how they don't learn, and how long they can sit still. By October, I know at what time they're going to ask me to go to the restroom, I know if they come to school when they're a little sick, or if they ask to stay home for any reason. I also know if you're the type of parent who asks your child to tough it out and go to school, or if you're the type of parent that allows your child to stay home for any reason (some teachers might call that parent a pushover, but not me, I'm a nice guy).

There's a few things I wish all parents would do, including:

• Be consistent, if you make a promise to your child, keep it. If you promise a punishment for wrong doing, follow through.
• Never let your child have control over you. You're the adult, they need you to be in control and to look out for their best interests.
• Take their education seriously. This is the primary tool for people who are successful in life. Education is the key to a better life, you can't argue this, it's simply the truth.
• Want more for your children than you have. Even if you're Bill Gates. Work hard to make sure they get it, but ultimately, demand that they work hard. 
• Never, EVER, accept anything but their absolute best. Parents who make excuses for their children are the ultimate reason that those children sometimes don't live up to expectations.

Just remember parents, I'm here to help you. I'm not in this job for a power trip, because trust me, there's not a lot of gratification that comes with having control over a classroom full of young people. I know that children make mistakes, they're still learning how to act. It's our job to make sure they grow up the right way. I'll do my best with my 14%, but what will you do with your 81%? 

Finally, don't blame me. If your child is failing, trust me here, it's not my fault. To blame me and my 14% while ignoring yourself and your 81% is ridiculous. So stop making excuses, get up, and let's get this thing right. No child is broken, if they're not living up to what you want for them, fix it now before it really is too late. If your child is a success and is doing great, don't pat me on the back. I didn't do this, you did. I'm just helping your child reach their fullest potential.

Parents, it's time for us to work together. You know where my office is. It's also your child's office. I hope to see you there soon. My door is always open.

Signed,

Mr. B

How To Stave off Burn Out and Stay An Effective Teacher

The turnover rate for new teachers is nearly 50% within the first five years. This is a big problem, because the field needs its teachers to stay around long enough to become masters and mentors. The biggest problems that effect this turnover include money and burnout (there are others obviously, but these stand out). Now, as a classroom teacher, I can't do much to help in the money aspect, but I can say that as a young, 31 year old professional who has been at it for 8 years, I can say that I feel good about my compensation, and that it's competitive with what it would be in a lot of other fields, granted that I won't have the lifetime earnings of a lot of other fields that require a college education, but nobody goes in to teaching to become rich.

OK, that aside, the issue is burn out. I see it every day. Teachers work with the students directly for the school hours (in my case, 8:00-2:30). We usually get about 40 minutes for lunch and an average of around 45 minutes of planning time built in there, plus the fact that our contract hours in my district are from 7:45-3:15, so we get 15 minutes before and 45 minutes after school. Yet, on top of this time, many teachers find it necessary to either work late, or take their work home.

This touches on my first point as to how to stave off burn out, something I've done a pretty good job so far, and I've beat the five year burn out and quit rate, so I feel like that's something (stop laughing at me those of you with 20+ years under your belts). Don't take it home. I consider myself a teacher between the hours of 7:30 and say 4:00. I usually do some phone calls or text messages to parents after school, and then when I arrive at home, I'm no longer a teacher, I'm me. I'm a normal guy who likes to watch cartoons with my kids, drink too much Mountain Dew, and sit down to nice quiet evenings of Breaking Bad, Hoarders, The Walking Dead, and any other mindless television entertainment once my kids are in bed. I don't want grading papers to get in the way.

BUT HOW DO YOU DO THIS you're asking??? It's simple. Don't grade everything. Think about this for a second. There's really no reason to grade every single assignment. In my math class, for example, I teach new content, and the kids practice it for awhile. Eventually I give an assessment, and we analyze what they learned. I try to be strategic in what I grade. I'll grade a few things here and there to make sure that they're picking up the material and doing it appropriately, but I don't beat myself over the head with grading. It's practice, let it stay practice. Plus, the kids will work just as hard, and will be more intrinsically motivated if they know that practice is just about getting better and learning, and the pressure of a grade isn't constantly over their head (until test time, then the pressure is ON).

Next up, there's the issue of feeling constantly under pressure from administration, other teachers, test scores, etc. Yes, we all want to perform well at our jobs, or at least well enough to keep our jobs (hopefully). I take my task as teacher very seriously, as most teachers do. BUT, remember, parents are the first teachers. 99% of the time, your successful students are successful because they have strong parents who follow through and are raising them right. Am I saying that sometimes you get that kid from a bad home that there's no saving? Of course I'm not going to come right out and say that, but you do what you can, and hope you had an impact. By obsessing over test scores or having "too much to do at work," you just cause more problems for yourself. I take each day as it is, if I have a meeting, then ok, I'll be there and be focused, but again, when it's over and I leave the school, I'm done, my day is over.

I can sit here and discuss many different aspects, but it's simple. Keep work at work and home at home. This is especially true if you have a family, but is true for everyone, even single people. You need that time to decompress. Teaching may not be as physically demanding as working in construction or something like that, but it's emotionally and mentally draining, even on a good, issues free day. You're spending all day with other peoples children, trying to help them learn what they need to get along in life, and it's tough, important work. But have some levity, a good sense of humor, and truly care about your students.

Leave work at work (even if you don't want to or feel uncomfortable), and you'll be forced to make decisions about how to best use your time. The teachers that work during evenings or take things home are sometimes not making those decisions. If they're happy doing it, then great, but if they feel overwhelmed, then decide not to work outside of contract hours, and you'll be forced to decide what's important. I got this decision from someone years ago and have followed it ever since. I enter my classroom most days with a smile on my face and I leave with the smile mostly intact (most days). I don't take a bag home, never have, never will. I've learned to be more efficient about grading and the use of my planning time. I grade a lot while students work on projects (times they don't need me other than to facilitate), when they're at lunch, or special classes (PE, music, etc.). Find the time to get things done, if you don't, they'll still be there the next day.

I hope this advice is helpful. Remember, teaching is what you make it. Just because you watched your own teachers do this and that doesn't mean it's what you should be doing. Good luck out there, and don't burn out, it's only September!

No One Is Perfect

As I sat down this morning and reviewed some of my own postings about the beginning of the school year (like The First Day of School: How it Looks in my Fifth Grade Classroom and My First Day Schedule of Activities), I realized that I missed a few things, and have a few potential behavioral issues and issues with my procedures that I'll have to get on top of this week, the first full week of the school year.

Something I've learned to accept after almost a decade of teaching in the classroom is that nobody is perfect, we all forget, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we don't catch the little things until later (if at all). That's good advice for anyone. Be willing to know that you can make these mistakes, and be prepared to go back and fix them. With my current group, I've realized already that they can't use the same procedure as my last class to use the restroom during the day, so I'm going to have to make this change tomorrow. I've also realized that they don't have as much experience with working together cooperatively, they tend to antagonize one another a little more than I'm used to, so I'll have to make this change as well.

It's important for students to understand and adapt to their new teacher, because we're not all the same. But to the same degree, teachers can't expect each class of students to mirror one another, we all must adapt. That's what I'm trying to do right now.

Of course, it is the weekend, and I do try not to let my job become a major focus on my home life (another post for another time). So after I've posted this, it's off to my family and my home time. Then work will be waiting tomorrow.

The First Day

Today was an eventful and all around fantastic first day of school. I started the morning with 22 students and ended up at 24. When you consider that I've had as many as 33 in past years, 24 is a great number. They were well behaved, listened, and seemed genuinely excited to learn about factor trees and pre-Columbian history. Of course my well laid plans for the first day fell short, but like many of us, I believe it's better to over plan and have stuff spill over to another day than to under plan and be stuck with nothing to do (especially at the beginning, you don't want your new students to see this happen).

It's funny, for someone who is definitely into technology, I didn't even get to turn on a computer or projector today, but that's ok. It was a great day, and I'm definitely excited to be back. I hope everyone out there has a great beginning to the school year, whenever that day may come.

My First Day Schedule of Activities (I Hope)

School starts here on Wednesday. I've already been back at work for over a week, doing professional development and working in my classroom. I have one more day of PD and then the kids will show up.

That first day, I've given some thought to what I'm going to do within my given day. A few constants for me are the school day itself (from 8:00-2:30), lunch (12:00-12:40), and the rest of the schedule can vary somewhat. This first day of school, I have a lot on the to do list. We have introductions, going over procedures, taking questions, setting up expectations, then getting some things set up in the room. My focus with my activities will be getting to know my students a little better, and work on team building stuff. My first day will look more or less like this:

8:00-8:30: Introductions and basic information about the classroom
8:30-9:30: Rules, Procedures, and Procedural Practice
9:30-10:30: Make the PDSA board: I always have students make the letters of the PDSA board, here is the example from last year:

10:30-11:30: Social Studies introduction: How to research. Get in groups, introduce Maya, Inca, Aztec research project (more info on this project can be reached here on my blog at Unit 1: Pre-Columbian History, and you can find the student expectations and scoring rubric page HERE).

11:30-12:00: Science Inquiry: We have a variety of activities we do in the first days of school to get kids excited about inquiry.

12:00-12:40: Lunch

12:40-1:25: Math: Go over Drops in the Bucket worksheet #1 together (daily math practice for the year)

1:25-1:55: PE

1:55-2:20: Read aloud (I will begin the year with Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop

2:20-2:30: Get ready to go home, go over end of day expectations. Make sure all items have been passed out.

So that's pretty much what I'm hoping my first day will look like. Of course, as always, I have to be ready to change what I do depending on what is going on in the school, or changes in the overall schedule. So what does your first day look like, at least in your mind?

A Few Inspirational Teacher Videos: Welcome To Another Year of Doing Work

I've been conducting professional developments for some time. They're usually centered around technology and science instruction, which is funny, because I consider science to be my weakest subject, which is why I do those PD's, to strengthen my own skill as well as pass on what I've seen.

Anyhow, when I do these PD's, I like to show a few videos. I've had to change it up over the years because these videos are pretty widely known. BUT, I wanted to share them here for those that need a little inspiration going into this upcoming year.

Remember, teaching is a fantastic, important job, and your work will have an impact for years to come. Keep up the good work teachers!

Taylor Mali on What Teacher Make: This should be required viewing for every teacher in the world!

Sir Ken Robinson at the TED Conference: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

And finally, Dalton Sherman, a Dallas kid who spoke these great, hilarious, and inspirational words to Dallas ISD teachers.

Some Donors Choose Tips

I'm thinking more about Donors Choose on this Sunday before school begins (kids start this upcoming Wednesday here). I've had some friends and readers inquire about how to get going on Donors Choose, so I wanted to share some tips. Now I'm fairly new at the Donors Choose thing, but I've already had a little success and am already trying again. You can see my Donors Choose page here.

It can be hard to know exactly what you're going to ask for the first time you login to Donors Choose and begin a new grant request. The reason for this is that you will fill your shopping cart (your request list) from their vendor list. What I've tried to do is already know which subject area I'm targeting and what kinds of materials I'm going to be asking for (books, furniture, games, technology, a combination, etc.). You're asked to name your project before you head off to the vendors sites, but remember, you can always go back and make changes after you've compiled your list.

I highly recommend taking the time to head to each vendor and see what they have. My current project, for example, is based around social studies (history and geography). I knew going in that I was going to ask for some books, games, technology, and teacher resources. So when I went to each vendor site, I was targeting those items. Also be mindful of price, don't just start filling your shopping cart with anything that seems neat.

You'll enjoy looking around, finding items that you want, and refining your shopping cart until it's just right. I've heard that the biggest things that drive donors on this site can be geographical location (for regional donors, and there's really nothing you can do to control this), and how compelling your page is. Really show your passion for teaching and your students, be able to articulate how much of an effect the items you're asking for will have on your classroom, and be genuine. I think that if you follow those tips, and then keep on it by sharing your page on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, through email, word of mouth, etc, that you'll have a greater chance of getting funded.

Of course, I'm not exactly a pro, I'm just hoping that more teachers find this great site and give it a shot. The very worst thing that can happen is that your request won't get funded. And at best, you'll get items that can revolutionize your classroom and provide you and your students with great materials that can make the classroom a great place to be (not that it isn't now, but even greater).

A Final Day of Classroom Setup

Tomorrow I have a meeting, and on Friday, registration. It's always exciting to look at the room, set up and more clean and organized than it will ever look again this school year. The desks are ready, work for the first few days already run off, and now it's just a matter of time before the first day of school. My classroom set up was pretty straight forward this year. I didn't change anything really, other than getting a few computers out of the way (it was feeling a little cluttered).

My school district is using a new attendance and gradebook software called Synergy. I'm still not trained on it, but I got a good first impression. If you're out there looking for some gradebook software, there are a few options that I like.

First of all, there is the best in my opinion, TeacherEase. This great site offers full grade book software for something like $8 a month, but many schools will purchase a school license because it's great. If you want to make your life A LOT easier, I suggest this great teacher tool.

If you want grade book software, but you need something free, look at Engrade. It's not as intuitive or user friendly as TeacherEase, but it's a good free grade book.

Learnboost is another free grade book option. I like it, again, not as much as TeacherEase, but it works if you want to move to online grading.

If you haven't yet made the move to online grading, you should. It's great because you have complete control. In TeacherEase for example, you can set different categories within your subjects (e.g. tests, daily work, group work), and give each a weight as to how much of the final grade it is worth. The gradebook updates itself, you don't have to average grades. And, the best part is, parents get anytime access through a web browser. Many of these sites are putting out smartphone apps as well. TeacherEase doesn't have an app (although I hope they do), but their website still works great in my Android browser.

Real quickly, I wanted to add in some pictures of my classroom just to show off the hard work.

First is the back corner / sink area of the classroom. I have a science shelf there (my school is old and there isn't a lot of closet space, so we have to make do), along with the famous Aggie wall. GO AGGIES!

This photo is looking at my desk (behind the book cases), and what I refer to as "my office." 

My Donors Choose Request Got Funded

Last night, as my summer break was coming to a close, I prepared to shut down the computer after a last bit of web browsing (checking scores on the baseball games, stats on the blog, etc.). At about the exact same time that I closed the web browser, my phone buzzed. I had an email. That's no big deal, because 90% of the emails I get are garbage.

This one had the subject line: A new donation to your project: Donors Choose

Cool, I thought to myself, and reopened the browser, heading to my Donors Choose account. Much to my surprise, my first donation request had just been fully funded. And this was no minor request, all in all, it came out to $502. Two donors had completed my project.

I posted this donation grant request on July 23rd. A 14 day turn around on this blew me away. I had heard good things about Donor Choose, but wow, even this next morning, the first work morning of the year for me, I'm still pretty excited about it.

My project included math activities that I can keep set up for students in need of an enrichment challenge at any time. This isn't everything I need for the entire year, but it's a start. I asked for (and will now receive):

• Amazon Kindle Fire 8 GB Tablet
• 20 Write and Wipe Lapboards
• 1 Set of Fraction Circles
• 1 Set of Colored Dominoes
• A Large Assortment of Various Dice
• Gobblet, Math Strategy Game

I'm still pretty amazed that this project was funded in short time. I don't have expectations that this will happen every time, but it shows that Donors Choose does in fact work. Now that I have another point (you need points to post projects, you start with 3 I believe), I'll start working on another project once I receive this one. You really have nothing to lose here, sign up for a free account, and go for it.

That Time is Here

So here we are, at the final evening of what was a very restful, sometimes lazy summer vacation. That was my seventh summer vacation, and tomorrow I officially begin my eighth year of teaching with six days of professional development / classroom setup time.

I'm excited, this group of kids is already special to me, because it's my oldest son's grade. I remember when this group of kids started kindergarten, and I said then that I would stay at my current school until this group came along (although now I believe I'll be at my current school for many more years than that). I'm ready to get started, I have a lot in mind for this group, and I think they'll be one of my best classes ever (hopefully I don't end up eating those words in a few months).

So as I sit here watching the Olympics, and soon getting ready for bed, I just want to look back on the summer, and say that it was a productive one. I got this blog up off the ground, and it has become everything I wanted it to be by this point. I have many units and resources up, with more being posted every day. My goal was to have 50 posts and a good amount of page views by now, and I have over 60 page views and am averaging way over 100 views per day. I just hope this keeps growing, and I can keep the momentum as the year goes on. I have a vision for this blog, I want to post pictures of the activities my kids do, and discuss the daily classroom on here.

Thanks for reading, I hope you'll come back!

Two Weeks and Counting: Schools is Right Around the Corner: An Awesome Desk Name Tag Idea

I put my own children on notice today, they have exactly two weeks of summer vacation left. For many of us teachers out here in the American Southwest, we go back to school in mid to late August. I'm not sure why we go back earlier than most of the East and West coasts, but we do.

Two weeks, that's not a very long time. And since I have many many inservice days before that time, I go back to work in only six days. I can't believe it, I've squandered another summer!

So what now? For me, that means I continue trying to get my resources up on my blog, and try to get into my classroom a little bit here and there. Registration in the Las Cruces School District for elementary school students is Friday, August 10th from 9:00-11:00. I'd like to have my class presentable at that time since it will be playing host to parents and students alike. That first impression is a strong one, so I've been spending mornings in the classroom organizing and basically just sprucing things up.

For my students name tags, I'll be changing things up this year. I ran across a great idea at 24-7 Teacher called Desk Name Tags: Never Distracting and Always Clean. I'll be velcroing (or hot gluing, or taping) the plastic badge holders to the corner of the desk, and than I'll make each student a business card sized name tag using Logotype Maker. This will save money and I think will keep the desks looking cleaner. Name tags have a tendency to either get torn off within a few weeks, or drawn on.

Time to Start Another Year Again

My first contract day back at work is only 16 days away, and yes, I'm counting. Every summer seems to go by faster than the one before, and this one has been no exception. The excitement of starting another year is slightly dampened by the end of a lazy, carefree time, a much needed time.

As I re-enter my classroom, which I did this past week, I started to get a feel for the small changes I would make. There are two ways that, as a teacher, you'll start a year. You'll either be in a new room, or the same room. Staying in the same room is much preferred for me. I'm in the room that I love the most, it's off on the corner, it has carpet (not all the rooms in my school do), and I student taught in that very room eight years ago, so it has a sense of nostalgia and coming full circle to it. I've been in that room for going on three years, and have worked to make it my own space.

It's nice getting to be in the same room, because my walls and bulletin boards need less work. I already know where I want my furniture to go, and I've already set up my technology (including tossing some wires up in the false ceiling to extend the reach of the internet for my computers).

It looks like I'll have six computers this year, and have gained an extra group table space. I'm very excited for the changes that come with a new school year, but at the same time I mourn the end of summer, the extra time with my wife and kids, the extra time to do what I want, when I want. But, that's the job. You get your breaks, then you go back to work. It's almost time!