TeachersPayTeachers: Good news on this front - I have been hard at work creating several new products that hopefully will help someone out there with different aspects in their classrooms:
These little beauties were a lot of work! But totally worth it if you're like me and LOVE math journals. You can grab your own copy by clicking the link here!
I also have been busy with this little guy: he just came back from his JC Penney Pictures. Check out the Chucks!
He turned 2 years old on November 17 and he is growing up so fast. He has an attitude, a distinctive personality, and a temper. He also swaggers when he walk. A SWAGGER people! He STRUTS. S. T. R. U. T. S!!!
He runs away from me after a bath and I end up chasing his bare butt down the hall into the living room. He loves a bowl of Fruit Loops and his inner Southern diva makes an appearance whenever there is sweet tea around. I've got my hands full. I wouldn't want it any other way.
School is school. I've been informed that my new place of employment has an expectation that ALL of the teachers on a grade level MUST teach the same lesson, at the same time, and give the same assessment. I'm struggling with this, I must admit. These past few moths with this initiative have made me question my ability to teach and to teach well. I AM a good teacher. I am creative, innovative, and I think outside the box. Yet, with this new mandate, I feel that on one hand they crave for the kind of teacher that I am, yet they want all students to have the same opportunities (hence the same lesson/assessment/minutes) so they don't have to answer questions by parents asking "How come MY child didn't get...?" I get it. But I still struggle with the concept. For years they have harped on and on about how each child learns in different ways and they have paid large sums to train teachers in differentiation (that's the "key" term educational-people like to use) and now this school wants robots. Is it me or is there something amok here? Sorry - it's my rant for the time being. As I said - I'm struggling. If you can spare the time, please pray for me. I need strength.
And last but not least, I have fallen in love with CLOSE READING. The way that I understand it is that a student reads a passage written at least 1 to 2 grade levels above their current level at least 3-4 different times. Each time the student reads the passage, they are looking for something different. The teacher directly teaches the student how to FIND EVIDENCE (using highlighters, numbering paragraphs, etc. ) how to CITE EVIDENCE (Underlining, circling, or squaring off) and how to use sentence frames when DISCUSSING EVIDENCE with a partner ("On line 3, it says...."). What a difference this teaching method can make for students! Not only are they learning to look closely at a passage in order to ask and answer questions, they are working on reading fluency without even knowing it! Holy ABC's Batman! That's incredible! In honor of this newly found teaching directive, I am offering you, my loyal readers a freebie. All you need is a copy of the book "Pumpkin Fiesta" by Caryn Yacowitz which you can find in any public library or at Amazon.com. (Check out the cover above.)
If you want your copy of four days' worth of activities to go along with this wonderful book, just click the link below! I am currently working on more so if you like these activities, please shoot me a note and name a book that you are looking for and I'll try my best to create something for you.
Pumpkin Fiesta Close Read Activities
Until then,
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Shauna
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