What Teachers Make

I first saw this video years ago, but I had forgotten about it. I love it! Especially the part about scaring parents with calls home! The best part of my week is when I can call home about something great that happened!

Classroom Management Secrets

What a busy, busy week in room 102!  Our first week back after Christmas break was packed full.  I have to admit I was worried that it would be the longest week in the history of school after not being there for two full weeks.  But the week flew by!  I love weeks like that; when Friday comes and I hate to see the momentum of the week end.  Does that ever happen to you!?  Definitely a week for my new Year of Blessings Jar (a la Pinterest, of course!).

I wanted to share one of my secrets to great classroom management.  It isn't fancy, and many of you probably already know about it:  Smart Classroom Management.  Each week I get an email with helpful hints, practical advice and real-life solutions to classroom issues.  I save every email, and whenever things are going badly in my classroom, I take the time to reread the applicable emails.  Turns out, it's almost always my fault that things are going wrong!  Let me explain:

Do you ever watch Supernanny or Dr. Phil?  If you do, you know it's usually the parents' fault that their kids are so out of control, right?  Well, just like parenting, how you communicate with your students affects the atmosphere in your classroom.  I guess we all know that already, but I find it very helpful to have a reminder when I need it.

If you are not already receiving these weekly reminders of what great teaching looks like, sounds like and feels like, sign up here.  I'd love to hear about your classroom management tips!

Christmas Break = Rejuvenation!

Well, it's Christmas break. I've had a great time off, and I'm still looking forward to another four days! (I totally just had to check to see what day it is; for some reason it feels like a Sunday!) I spent the entire first week of my break just relaxing - no school stuff, no surfing TpT or Pinterest, no creating new games and activities for school, nothing. It's been sooo nice! Please tell me I'm not alone in sometimes wishing I worked in a job where I could leave at the end of the day and not think about work until the next day... 

Anyway, now I'm back in school mode. I've had a ton of fun looking at all the great resources available for the new year and even Valentine's Day on Pinterest and TpT. (Note to self: Write a post about said resources after using them!) I've even had time to catch up a little on reading the posts by all of the amazing teacher bloggers I've been ignoring since school started. I am absolutely in awe that you all can do everything - teach, blog, raise a family, etc. Do you all sleep? One of the great blog posts I read and feel like I have somethng to add is from Courtney at Swimming Into Second. She is hosting a linky called and if there's one thing I love and can't resist, it's a LINKY!  So here goes:

My boys (and some of the girls!) love, love, love the I Survived... series.  The favorites of them so far this year are I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 and I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 (no surprises there, I suppose.).  A few of them have read the one about 9/11, but it seems too soon to me.  I can't read it yet.  I wonder how long it will be before I can relive that day with some detachment?

 

What are your boys reading?  Your turn to link up!  Click the graphic above or here to join in the fun!

I Quit!

I just read this article on another blog and felt like I had to share my thoughts.  The mere fact that I am posting this to my blog should be taken as an indicator of my strong feelings on the matter, as I haven't posted anything to this blog since I started the school year.  I have lots of reasons for not posting, but don't want  to go into that now. 

I apologize for getting firmly attached to my soapbox in the following post; I don't mean to offend anyone.  My main reason for commenting here is to serve as a personal reminder of my thoughts in the days, months and years to come.  I sincerely hope that I can live up to my own beliefs!

Please teacher friends; take the time to read this article.  I know I probably wouldn't read it as I was rushing through my Google Reader trying to keep somewhat caught up and on the lookout for new great ideas to try in my classroom.  But I am interested to know what you all think.  Is this the direction we are all headed?  Is it really this bad in NC?  Is it only this bad in NC?  I teach in a private school; are we headed down the same slope? 


My thoughts:

I don't know what to think... I guess I am grateful that I don't feel that way (yet), but I can see that I am headed that way...  I have taken on many extra (unpaid) duties in an attempt to prove myself necessary to the powers that be...

I was especially moved by the comments that follow regarding our need to teach and defy the lawmakers; we do what we do for the students, and we need to be cognizant of our roles in their lives and less worried about the repercussions of testing.  On the other hand, many teachers cannot take such a stance without fear for their jobs.

So what's the answer?  I don't know; but we teachers have to stay strong and committed to our students.

September!!

It's September.  The best time of the whole year!  The weather gets better, school settles into routine, aaannnd... it's my birthday month!  I have to admit, I am totally annoying about my birthday.  Every time someone mentions a date in September, I do the math and announce how many days that event is away from my birthday!  I'm trying to tone it down... but it's hard!

Click here to link up.  I'm really going to try hard to plan posts and be a better blogger!  Stay tuned!