In the Beginning

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday, even though it is a long weekend

In the Beginning —
I remember my first year as a teacher and it was crazy. I was finishing my student teaching at Woodward 6th Grade center and I got a call from Mr. Fawson, the principal at Santa Clara Elementary. He wanted me to take a position in Fourth Grade at his school because a teacher quit the day before. It was Friday. School started on Monday (we were on year-round tracks). He worked it out with HR and SUU to finish my student teaching with him for a week.

So I went to Santa Clara to start putting together my class and a plan for the next week. I spent Friday night, All Saturday, and part of Sunday night decorating and planning out my first week. I went to a couple of teachers to ask for help and they kinda brushed me off. One handed my some spelling words and told me where I could find the math books. Other than that, I had what I had put together in my student teaching in sixth grade and fifth grade. I read through the core I had from one of the classes I took and put together some get-to-know-you activities, some fun activities with social studies, I found a book I loved reading so I could read to the students, put together a few days worth of math lessons from the books I had, and planned a couple writing activities to start a little journaling. That would get me to Wednesday. 

The first day went well after Mr. Fawson explained what was happening with the retiring teacher and I taking his place. The week went well… until a teacher needed to take my spot because a school in town did not have the numbers and needed to go to another school. So by Friday I was finished with my student teaching, but I was out. That was tough on me and my students. I still see some of them and they remember our one week together. So I went home and on Monday started applying in other parts of the state.

On the Friday of the second week I got a call from Mr. Wilkey, principal at Dixie Downs. A fourth grade teacher decided after three weeks of teaching and three weeks off, that she did not want to come back and had found another job up north. So I met with Mr. Wilkey on Friday afternoon and school started on Monday (year-round tracks). So I started putting together my class and a plan for the next week. I spent Friday night, All Saturday, and part of Sunday night decorating and planning out my first week. I went to a couple of teachers to ask for help and they told me not to mess with the things in their room and showed me the cabinet I had to store everything I owned in. I was the roving teacher. So I read through the core again and put together some get-to-know-you activities, more fun activities with social studies, I found that book I loved reading so I could read to the students, put together a few days worth of math lessons, and planned a couple writing activities to start a little journaling. That would get me to Wednesday. Needless to say it went well. I must have broke the mold or was so terrible that Mr. Wilkey left to become the elementary superintendent before the year was over. I had the class that was a councilors bread and butter. 

It seemed every week Mr. Wilkey or Mr. Carr would come see me about someone else in my class that needed a little extra or had a special situation I needed to be aware of. This happened the whole year, or at least until Mr. Wilkey left. I have to say that I see some of those students now and I love talking with them. They remember me and we talk about some of the things we did. I felt I was making everything up on the fly. I had little help from my team, but I loved spending time with my class. We put together centers so I could meet with a small groups of students because their needs were so great. I found my calling. Teaching. It is the greatest feeling gin the world to know that we are helping and guiding amazing minds through this life. As I ponder my first year, I remember how hard it was for me and yet how wonder it was. What was your first year like? Some of you are in the middle of your first year, this too shall pass and I hope you love every moment of it. Cherish the times with your students. You are the one that they will be talking about for years.

Quote I’m pondering —
Another Calvin and Hobbes cartoon because it is Calvin and Hobbes. Do you need another reason?
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1990/06/10

What I’m watching —
Midieval Help Desk
This one show that we have always needed help with something. Enjoy.

Favorite Website This Week —
I have a couple fun science learning sites this week. I understand there is not a lot of time, and that Shelly does a great job, but some of these are interesting when you are discussing topics you are reading about in your informational text. hint.fm/wind Wind map is fun to see wind direction, speed, and where the storms might be. earthquake.usgs.gov USGS is always a fun one for earthquakes. It shows where, depth, and how big. Learning about sharks? ocearch.com This site tracks sharks and their swimming areas. I am a sucker for science websites. So interesting for any age.

A Big Thank You —
Thank you for all you do. I appreciate Elizabeth and Paul for sending classroom responsibility information from the video. I will be using it in our next video installment. I truly love working with all of you. I love coming to work everyday to see what is next and to see our wonderful students. I appreciate all of you. You make me want to come to work. Yes, I might come around and make a video about this. Have you done your video yet from last weeks 5-points?

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful four day weekend.

Technology

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday.”

Technology —
Technology in the classroom is an amazing tool to help in our teaching. It opens up the world to our students which can be amazing. As we use more technology in our classrooms it means more opportunity for teachers and students. It also means more management to see that students are doing what they are supposed to. Procedures need to be thought out. Students need to be trained. But what we can do with the Chrome books and Google Drive in the classroom is incredible. Using our Chrome books gives us opportunity to share devices and still track what each student is doing because their history and bookmarks follow the student, not the device. iPads will still be used in Kinder and First Grade to offer them apps that will help them learn but still gives us the ability to lock them into an app.

Wifi has been spotty lately and should get better soon. Have an alternative plan if it shuts down. have the students shut their Chrome books and read for a minute or work on something else. If you get them trained to do something like this you will know when there is a problem and if it is one student or the wifi. Have a wifi checker and when it is back up get them started again. Management. Plan for everything possible.

We will be having a optional tech trainings every couple weeks starting in October. We decided to wait until October to give you another month to settle in. The trainings will be short and will be about tech you use or will use everyday in your classrooms.

Quote from Calvin and Hobbes I’m pondering —
Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.
Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

What I’m watching —
The Power of Yet
When a student does not get a concept the first time, they get frustrated. We get frustrated. The power of yet is a mindset that they might not get it now, but they will. So the answer to a student that says, “I don’t understand this” is, “You don’t understand it yet, but you will”. Yet give students hope. It gives everyone hope.

Favorite App This Week —
Explain Everything $4.99
I don’t like paid apps, especially expensive ones, but this app is amazing. It is a whiteboard app that you can draw on, record video or take pictures on, and even record what you are doing on a web browser. So what you say? We have used it for tracking students for spelling, recorded students reading during one minute timings (adding notations during the reading), and had students cut out words for a word sort on the app. There are some amazing things to do. It is worth the price for me. If you don’t like the price, Doceri is a free app that is similar but not as powerful. There is a Chrome Book app (there is a cost here also) that is great for touch screen devices.

A Big Thank You —
Thank you Lisa Wright and her team. Scheduling the individual help for our LLI students is a nightmare. Lisa worked through the DRA scores and found the students that need the most help. Her team is amazing on how they work with each small group. With all the schedules they needed to work around and with as many students they needed to work with, it was a huge undertaking. Thank you Lisa and your team for all you do at our school for the students. Thank you.

I appreciate everything you do for the students. Have a wonderful weekend.