10% off ALL of my items in my Teacher's Notebook store, plus an additional 10% store wide with the code TG2014. The sale is in effect for today, Sunday, November 30 and runs through December 3rd! Go and shop, shop, shop!
Also, tomorrow items in my Teacher's Pay Teachers store will be on sale for Cyber Monday. Again, 10% off ALL items and Teacher's Pay Teachers will add an additional 10% off for even more savings! The sale will run through December 2. So, empty that wish list and give your students some really creative, practical, and easy to use products!
Don't forget, gift certificates make a fabulous gift! So pick them up and put a smile on a friend's face! :)
You know the one. Where your soul says, "FINALLY! I just need a drop or two of hope to continue forth..."
In today's climate of standardized testing and the rush to pass state and local tests, it is easy to get bogged down, to have our creativity and, yes, our SOULS stifled. To get, well...depressed. :(
Our school is currently in the category of 'failing.' We are in a mad dash to catch our tails and 'fix' the problem.
Problem???? Say, WHAT?????
I look around our school each day at the bright, smiling, happy faces.
I wander down the primary hallway and see displays of artwork and classwork that impresses me.
I look at the sophistication that comes with older student's work. The delight of 'oh, that's one of mine' feeling. I see greatness.
But, in today's educational climate, WHO AM I???
I might as well be someone plucked off the street. Shoved into a classroom and handed textbooks, worksheets, and computer programs and told, "TEACH!" Any idiot (I don't like to use words like this, but I feel it is necessary here.) can do it, right????
NO. THEY CAN'T.
When I went to college, yes- I have a degree, to learn how to teach, I studied child psychology, child behavior, child learning styles, child development, childhood illness, childhood disabilities, children's literature... Do you see the trend here?
I spent hours working, mentoring, and teaching children ever BEFORE they gave me a degree. Since then I've spent many hours in professional development learning tips and tricks that might help me grab that one student that seems out of reach.
It is my life's work. To foster, to spark, to IGNITE that love of learning that will drive a young one to doing what their soul is made to do. It is my life's work.
Are there bad schools? Bad teachers? I'm sure there are SOME.
But the trend to drive student learning and teacher evaluations in a way that is detrimental to our children is nothing short of disastrous!
I, as a fully licensed teacher, know what to do. Just let me do it. Just let me TEACH!!
Last night while looking for ways to help my students with geometry, I stumbled upon Doris Young's teacher blog, Third Grade Thinkers. She had posted the following video.
It gave me hope.
Maybe you need some of that, too.
Thank you, Doris Young. I greatly needed that.
So, let's change the 'climate of education'.
Let's let children, be CHILDREN.
They are curious, energetic, intelligent, bits of gooeyness wrapped in love.
I want to see their eyes widen, their breath start to quicken, their spark start to explode. I want to travel down the road less taken with them, for there, they will find a path that is truly made just for them. It will become their life's work.
So, here we are already in our second six weeks of the school year. I had to take a break today. My son has the stomach bug...ewww and yuck! Poor fellow.
Anyway,
I wanted to let you all see my new product that I am excited to show off (finally)...
Spin, Tally, and Graph the Fall Edition
Head on over to my TpT store and get your copy today! Only $3.00! :)
I DO NOT... I repeat... I DO NOT agree with high stakes testing.
But until the system changes I will do what I can to review and hope that my students perform to the best of their ability. (Yes, even if it means they make a 240 out of 600.)
So, we review.
I give out my study guides this time of the year again so that students can go back over the material for the year. (Here in Virginia it's for grades k, 1, and 2- so NOT fair to them!)
My BEST Study Guide has to be my Ultimate Reading Study Guide.
There's so much information packed into 4 pages that you won't believe your eyes!
I've also left it in word form so that you may edit and customize if needed. Now how's THAT?
Oh, and it's just $3.00!!!
Say, WHAT???
Head on over to my store and have a look. Study guides for various Science and Social Studies topics are available, too!
I LOVE hands-on learning! It often causes my wallet and/or bank account to drop considerably, but it is worth it when I see the kiddos enjoying an activity rather than just doing worksheets!
Here they are... (aren't they cute!)
I love that they were so into it that I could get pics without them really knowing!
In this activity students get a chocolate chip cookie. I try to get the ones that are a bit soft. They are easier to "mine." (I found this experiment on many different sites and I took a little from each one to make my experiment.)
Students are instructed to mine out the chocolate chips without harming the "land" around the chips (as best as possible). They weren't able to pick up the cookie in any way. Most were able to do this. It was a great activity to show how humans are altering our world for the resources that are in the ground. Students realized that the ones that did break up the "land" had more chips than those that were conservative.
We then used the price of gold and coal to see what the chips would be worth if they were real. Each child stuffed their chips into a straw. We then measured the amount in inches to see how many inches they had. We then multiplied that amount by the current price of gold. We then repeated the process with the price of coal.
I'm happy to report that they really did learn a lot about resources and protecting our environment with this lesson. Hands-on activities RULE!
