A morning in February

     The first year I started teaching I was told that this time of the year is crazy.  I was also told that everyone starts to feel stressed, tired, and grumpy.  This saddened me because February has always been a great month for me because I love Valentines Day and it's my birthday on the 24th.  So, being a first year teacher, I stayed positive and hopeful.  I said, "No, this is a wonderful time of the year."

     Now, it's year three for me and I definitely feel stressed and tired.  I feel like the days are jammed pack more than ever and I don't have enough time!  So, I decided to blog more to keep my feelings in tact and just write about them.  I have been wanting to write at least three times a week (one of my resolutions) and I haven't even gotten close!  So, in this month of February, I will continue with my goal and keep on coming back!  To start off positive I mad my currently.  Thanks Farley!

The checklists are endless.  I have IEP's, high school staffing meetings, and getting my students prepared for the PARCC test.  This test is mighty difficult for all and my students are already struggling with the practice tests.  I have given strategies and even with those, they are still saying, "agh, this is so hard!"  

My new niece Addison is so tiny and precious.  I am her godmother (officially in April).  I can't wait to see her next weekend and bring her sweet little outfits.  I am so blessed to have wonderful nieces and nephews in my life.  Joy!  Love!  Thankful!

I can't wait until it starts to warm up!  Please, start soon!  A barista at Starbucks the other day said, "Eww it's snowing."  The another barista said, "Oh, come on, it's beautiful."  Then the first barista and I said at the same time, "I hate the snow."  hahahaha...I am glad someone is feeling the same way.  

As for my title, "Queen of Assessments," I just will simply state:  Fountas and Pinnel, WIAT, Discovery Ed, and standards based grading-  you are all keeping me up too late at night!

Great Day of Teaching

The other day I was reminded why I went into the teaching profession.  I even teared in the classroom!

In my co-taught ELA class, we had the students do speeches on genetic diseases.  We wanted to incorporate research, vocabulary, and presenting it all into a speech.  Students showed empathy and had so many questions during the process.  They reacted in ways that I have never seen before.  They were interested in the diseases they had been assigned to and wanted to know more.

Some specific students have been struggling this school year by keeping up with assignments and finishing them successfully.  These two specific students that I want to discuss have been falling behind a bit.  They are both real quiet and polite.  They don't ask too many questions but seem to "look" like they get it when they are working in class.

So, to help them, my team of teachers and I have been signing an assignment notebook at the end of class to keep them on track.  It has helped them make sure they know what to do and questions have been arising since then.  They have more smiles on their face and talking to teachers more often.

Then the day of presentations came and these two boys gave wonderful and informative speeches.  I was so happy!  I went up to them at the end of class and gave a great amount of praise to them.  I also said, "It seems that you enjoyed learning about your topic and really put in a lot of effort."  They smiled back and agreed.  They also added that they found themselves looking other topics up at night that their peers had shared in class.  They both have shown such great progress.  I love this feeling so much and know that teachers can make a difference.

I just loved how rewarded I felt and glad to see they were confident and happy about their performance.