Round of Applause

I left school today receiving a round of applause from my colleagues. Almost all teachers I know carry some version of a tote bag to and from school with their work inside. I did this during student teaching but soon realized that my bags didn't last long and my shoulders soon wore tired and strained. Enter the incredible rolling cart I received from my mother as one of my graduation presents!! This thing has saved me from the neck and shoulder pain I had all too often last year. It also gives me the space to carry an insanely large amount of work home.

I roll my beloved cart home from school everyday with way more work than I will ever get done. I do this mostly because I feel better knowing that I lugged it all home than I would if I didn't bring it but then realized that I needed it. Needless to say, my cart has become my accessory at school.

During Spring Break, I made a promise to myself that I would work harder to set better boundaries between work and home. In order to do that, I know that I must use my time more efficiently at school. That is exactly what I did today! At the end of the day, I gathered a small folder of papers to grade and a couple of things on my to-do list.

As I was walking out, I said bye to the group of teachers and my principal chatting in the hallway. Then, my principal says "OMG, where is your tag-along??!!" Immediately after her comment, the hallway burst in to applause and whistles. I smiled and felt so proud of my small yet pivotal feat. I know there will be days in which I need my to bring my beloved cart, but it most certainly won't be everyday!!

Stats

For the first time, I decided to take a look at my blog statistics. I was elated to see how many pageviews I have had over time and recently. Sometimes I get down on myself for making the time to post more. I also get down when I make a post but I don't get any comments. So, to see that people (all over the world, might I add!!) are stopping by my blog really makes me feel great!! I am going to try to do better at posting more frequently, but thanks to all of those out there who offer your vocal and/or silent support of me and my journey through teaching!

Loving Spring Break

I am enjoying the last few days left of my Spring Break. For the first time (even including college life) I took a trip during Spring Break. While in college I worked during every single Spring Break (and all of the other breaks for that matter)!! It was incredible to be able to get away and just live. I went with some friends to Memphis for a nice long weekend. We spent time on Beale Street (actually a lot of time), visited the National Civil Rights Museum, had a mini-shopping spree at the mall, and enjoyed some good ol' barbeque and other down-home comfort foods! I definitely wanted to bring some work down with me because I couldn't think of how I would spend so much time without looking at anything from school. But let me tell you, I was sooooo glad I didin't!!! I wasn't Ms. Eagertoteach....I was just a woman enjoying herself on a much needed break! I have truly been loving Spring Break!!

Now, however, I feel the need to transition myself back into the swing of things. I did not submit my lesson plans before break so I need to get prepared for the upcoming week. I have my to-do list all made up...now the task is getting to it.

Is the transition back after Spring Break tough for you? What do you do to ease yourself back into the swing of things??

Looking Ahead...Kinder Awaits!!

It is official....I will be teaching kindergarten next school year!!! The school at which I am currently teaching is going to be a magnet school next year. As a bilingual teacher, I would be transferred next year to another shcool in the district that will be housing the bilingual program. Since my bilingual certificate if provisional, in 5 more years I would have to go back to school and take 15 hours for my standard certificate. I have loved every minute in bilingual education, but it is not my passion and not where I see myself teaching years down the road.

This opportunity to transition out of bilingual presented itself, but with a caviot...teaching kindergarten! I had sworn for years that I would probably teach just about any grade other than kinder. I was faced with what felt like a true dilemma. However, knowing that I wanted to leave bilingual, I interviewed for the position and was offered the job. On a side note: the interview was one of the most awkward experiences ever...the entire interview team was made up of my colleagues. All of the examples I gave about how I collaborate and other questions regarding instructional practices either directly or indirectly involved every single person on the team!!! I was more nervous about this interview than the one for my current position...I just felt like they would critique me more.

To make a long story a little shorter,I really had to do a lot of thinking on this offer, but I accepted and I am more excited than ever!! I have already made plans for spending tons of time this summer gearing up for the little kiddos I will have next year. I still have some jitters about the entire mental shift that I will have to make in regards to instruction in kinder but I am really looking forward to what lies ahead for next year. My first step to getting to that point is making it through this year!!!

**I would love for you to share your experiences teaching kindergarten and/or any must-have resources/books. I have many blogger friends who are kinder teachers so I will definitely be stalking your blogs for more tips, activities, etc!

Let it snow....and sleet, blow, and freeze!!

I enjoyed my SNOW DAY today and gearing up for SNOW DAY #2 tomorrow!! Conditions are HORRIBLE in central Illinois so I'm very happy just about the entire region has decided to put safety first.

This makes 4 snow days so far this winter...I know we'll be spending some extra time in school in June. Oh well, at least it'll be about 70 degrees warmer by then!

Press ock!!!!!

I have been dying to share this incredibly cute/funny story with all of you! Our district uses the Everyday Math curriculum. For those of you not familiar with EDM, the curriculum incorporates tons of Math games to support student learning. I have a SMARTboard in my room so I make sure that whenever I am introducing an new online game, I use the SMARTboard so that all students can watch and participate instead of working with two students at a time to teach it to them on the computer.

So, the class was divided into two groups. We were playing basketball addition and students had to add up the three numbers appearing on the dice and enter in the sum and press 'ok'. So my kiddos were getting acquainted with touching the numbers and hitting 'ok' many of them would enter the number and wait awkwardly for about 3 seconds before the audience will tell him/her what to press next. One of my students with a severe visual impairment was up at the board and could not find the button to push after entering in the number. After a few seconds everyone else was yelling what sounded like "press ock, press ock". Baffled, I looked at my TA trying to see if he knew what they were talking about. Then I looked back at the board and realized my students were looking at 'ok' and sounding it out...which is why what they said sounded like 'ock'!!!!

I smiled form ear to ear and even chuckled outloud. I then explained to the class that what it actually says is 'ok' but they were not buying it. It also did not help my case much that it was not written like 'okay' or 'o.k.', as I feel it should have been.

When I told this to my non-teacher friends, they did not really see what the big deal was. However, seeing as though my bilingual students are going into their first 4 weeks ever of reading instruction in English, I am sooooo PROUD to see my kiddos applying the appropriate letter sounds to what they are reading!!!

If we had known....

This has been a dilemma with my kiddos for quite a while, but I cannot seem to figure out how to change it. The problem is that my kids get math homework every night and they are to read for at least 2 minutes and fill out their reading log. About 98% of my students do their Math homework every night, but each morning, I have maybe 4 out 15 kids turn in their Reading log. 14 out 15 of my students are a year below grade level in Reading, so I really push for students to read at home. We have had many a conversation about the fact that reading at home is not optional, just the same as Math homework. I have contacted parents, conferenced with the repeat offenders, but nothing seems to do the trick. I know that the students who do not turn in their Reading Log are generally not reading at home.

This week, I decided to use an incentive to entice the other kiddos to do their Reading homework. On Friday, I looked over my homework check-in list and the students who turned in their homework (both Math and Reading) all week got 2 "No Homework" passes to be used any time within the third quarter. I had only ONE student who was eligible to receive the prize. Might I add that the students were outraged b/c "If we knew we would get a homework pass, we would have done our homeowrk"!! The nerve!!!

Are there any other ideas that you have used with your students to motivate them to do their homework??