Cute Back to School Idea
Friday, August 1, 2008
Check out my sister-in-law's blog for a cute back to school idea for kids. It's a great way to get your children excited about school...and load them up with their school supplies!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Yes, Russ is one step closer to being an official "doctor." He started his fourth year July 1, and he will be interviewing for a residency all during November and December. So, lately, Russ has been working with Dr. Douglas on his dean's letter. He has also been working on his resume. One thing he has to do is have a portrait of himself to attach to the resume, and to attach to the online applications. So, today is the day! Russ just left to have his picture made. I made him pose for me before he left. I just thought he looked too cute!! :) He wouldn't exactly cooperate - as you can see below! I guess it is the school teacher in me (like the way I "embarrass" my students on picture day - I know they really do like it when I get excited) that made me so excited.
Russ was giving me a hard time about taking his picture! I hope he doesn't use that face with the photographer. Ha!
Russ was giving me a hard time about taking his picture! I hope he doesn't use that face with the photographer. Ha!Wednesday, July 30, 2008
That's right, I'll report back to school Friday morning at 8:00! Can you believe it?! The best thing about August is seeing everyone after a whole summer! We have some catching up to do! One of our former teachers is in town from Colorado this week, so we all met up at Keifer's for supper.
We had a good, fun group of teachers with us tonight! I'll "call roll" teacher style: Kirk, Shepherd, Johnson (that's me!), Sassy (actually Sasser), Pemberton, White, Strum, and Parker. All teachers know that we call each other by our last names...kinda like a sports team! Ha!! Oh yeah, Emily Kay joined us too (Kirk's baby). She was SO happy all night!
We had so much fun! In fact, we continued the get-together at Kirk's house until 11:15! That's approximately 5 hours of catch-up time!! I love these ladies, and I am so glad to be a part of the Van Winkle family!!
We had a good, fun group of teachers with us tonight! I'll "call roll" teacher style: Kirk, Shepherd, Johnson (that's me!), Sassy (actually Sasser), Pemberton, White, Strum, and Parker. All teachers know that we call each other by our last names...kinda like a sports team! Ha!! Oh yeah, Emily Kay joined us too (Kirk's baby). She was SO happy all night!
We had so much fun! In fact, we continued the get-together at Kirk's house until 11:15! That's approximately 5 hours of catch-up time!! I love these ladies, and I am so glad to be a part of the Van Winkle family!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Well, she did it!! Jamie had a successful Grand Opening for her new gift shop! I am so happy for her and Charlie. They have worked SO hard for this day! I can't wait to shop it up! My family can definitely expect Christmas gifts from there! Ha! If you're interested in seeing what all The Square Cupboard offers, click on this link for lots of pictures from the Grand Opening.
Next time you are near Hernando...stop by and give her some love!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5
never will I forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5
Merideth Andrews is a newer Christian artist who I have fallen in love with. Her voice is amazing, and her songs touch your heart. I love the lyrics to "You're Not Alone" because it speaks to us all during hard, stressful, and desperate times. No matter what we are going through or how lonely we feel. We are not alone! God has told us that He will never leave us. "You're Not Alone" is a beautiful interpretation of God's love song to us. Listen and let it speak to your heart.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I went back up to the school today. Our new third grade teacher was there setting up her room too. So I was able to talk to her for a while. I finished by AR bulletin board and got another one done too.
Accelerated Reader board - The students have little frogs with their names on them attached to clothespins. I clip them on the appropriate record as they reach their points.
Character Board - All our Core Traits are listed here. We focus on one each month.
Just a sign on the inside of our door. The students check to see that all the rules for lining up are followed. We cannot leave the room until everyone has accomplished them.
I worked a while longer...until Miss Strum came to visit!! When we visit - you can just forget about getting work done! Ha!! It's always good to see everyone after summer break!
7 days and counting...
Accelerated Reader board - The students have little frogs with their names on them attached to clothespins. I clip them on the appropriate record as they reach their points.
Character Board - All our Core Traits are listed here. We focus on one each month.
Just a sign on the inside of our door. The students check to see that all the rules for lining up are followed. We cannot leave the room until everyone has accomplished them.7 days and counting...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I've had several people ask about the writing program I talked about in my earlier school post. I finally found some time and focus so that I can try to explain it. I have been working on my Writing Wall reminder signs today...so I will blog about the writing itself.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have started using IEW - Institute for Excellence in Writing as my writing program in my classroom. This program is a program that neither my school nor district uses. I found out about it through my sister-in-law. She homeschools her children, and they use this with great success. I really liked the logic behind it. It made perfect sense to me!
We are taught to teach grammar, and that will improve writing. If students know the basics, the rest will fall into place. Helpful as grammar may be, it does not by itself teach a student to write a sentence, paragraph, or short essay. I am teaching students practical methods that they will continue to use through college: taking notes and organize, outline, and write an essay or story. With this method, I am teaching language rules and skills as the need arises - as we write. IEW teaches 8 different structures for writing. With third graders, I only teach the first three: Note Making, Summarizing from Notes, and Story Summaries. Of course, I give the students time to "freewrite," but my focus is on teaching them HOW to write with this program. This learning method focuses on modeling!
How does it work? Unit One focuses on making an outline from a paragraph already written. Any short paragraph will do. The students choose 2-3 key words in each sentence to add to the outline. When finished, they will rewrite the paragraph in their own words using their key word outlines. They do this orally (maybe to a partner). I model this several times before I expect third graders to do it independently. When they have mastered the outline, we move to Unit Two - Summarizing from Notes. The students will begin writing their new paragraph from their outlines. During this unit, I begin to add "dress-ups." We add these one at a time, and don't move on until each is mastered. The students will learn and use -ly words (adverbs), strong verbs, quality adjective, who/which clause, etc. There is a checklist for them to follow to make sure their writing has at least one of each. The same idea continues in Unit Three for Story Summaries (the outline is slightly different...but you get the gist).
As the students write - since we are all working on the same paragraph - it is easier to focus on grammar where needed. I don't have to rewrite paragraphs that make no sense! The students know what a paragraph looks like (you'd be surprised at what they will come up with when freewriting), when to capitalize, how to punctuate, etc. We learn each of these as we write. Teaching grammar this way, we are able to get more accomplished - no wasted time on worksheets!
Of course, I have to make sure to relate this to that dreaded state test! You can teach anything! The test doesn't limit that! I learned that last year. No matter what you teach, you can come up with 3-5 questions (in test format), and show the students how this skill might be formatted on a test. Use it as closure after a lesson or homework. Again, not wasting time on drill...and teaching quality material. If the students "know that they know" the material, they will do fine on a test as long as they've seen the format before. Of course, this is simply my opinion. But, I have learned that they MUST see the format to do well - it won't just come from the activities, unfortunately! Every first year teacher has that ideal because we were taught that way.
I hope this helps those who have asked about it! If you have more questions, email me. I'll try to answer them - if I don't know, I'll ask my sister-in-law! Ha!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have started using IEW - Institute for Excellence in Writing as my writing program in my classroom. This program is a program that neither my school nor district uses. I found out about it through my sister-in-law. She homeschools her children, and they use this with great success. I really liked the logic behind it. It made perfect sense to me!
We are taught to teach grammar, and that will improve writing. If students know the basics, the rest will fall into place. Helpful as grammar may be, it does not by itself teach a student to write a sentence, paragraph, or short essay. I am teaching students practical methods that they will continue to use through college: taking notes and organize, outline, and write an essay or story. With this method, I am teaching language rules and skills as the need arises - as we write. IEW teaches 8 different structures for writing. With third graders, I only teach the first three: Note Making, Summarizing from Notes, and Story Summaries. Of course, I give the students time to "freewrite," but my focus is on teaching them HOW to write with this program. This learning method focuses on modeling!
How does it work? Unit One focuses on making an outline from a paragraph already written. Any short paragraph will do. The students choose 2-3 key words in each sentence to add to the outline. When finished, they will rewrite the paragraph in their own words using their key word outlines. They do this orally (maybe to a partner). I model this several times before I expect third graders to do it independently. When they have mastered the outline, we move to Unit Two - Summarizing from Notes. The students will begin writing their new paragraph from their outlines. During this unit, I begin to add "dress-ups." We add these one at a time, and don't move on until each is mastered. The students will learn and use -ly words (adverbs), strong verbs, quality adjective, who/which clause, etc. There is a checklist for them to follow to make sure their writing has at least one of each. The same idea continues in Unit Three for Story Summaries (the outline is slightly different...but you get the gist).
As the students write - since we are all working on the same paragraph - it is easier to focus on grammar where needed. I don't have to rewrite paragraphs that make no sense! The students know what a paragraph looks like (you'd be surprised at what they will come up with when freewriting), when to capitalize, how to punctuate, etc. We learn each of these as we write. Teaching grammar this way, we are able to get more accomplished - no wasted time on worksheets!
Of course, I have to make sure to relate this to that dreaded state test! You can teach anything! The test doesn't limit that! I learned that last year. No matter what you teach, you can come up with 3-5 questions (in test format), and show the students how this skill might be formatted on a test. Use it as closure after a lesson or homework. Again, not wasting time on drill...and teaching quality material. If the students "know that they know" the material, they will do fine on a test as long as they've seen the format before. Of course, this is simply my opinion. But, I have learned that they MUST see the format to do well - it won't just come from the activities, unfortunately! Every first year teacher has that ideal because we were taught that way.
I hope this helps those who have asked about it! If you have more questions, email me. I'll try to answer them - if I don't know, I'll ask my sister-in-law! Ha!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Remember all the shopping I did for our beach pictures? We got some AWESOME pictures! I just wanted to post a few of the snapshots for you to see. Everyone looks nice, don't you think?
The photographer...
...and his wife
All the cousins
Aunt Megan and Uncle Russ
One of my favorites!
The Johnson siblings - Jenny, Jimmy, and Russ
Sisters-in-lawNew Blogger in the Family!
Summer's Almost Over!!
Okay...I've been realizing more and more lately that summer is almost over!!! Where did it all go? Maybe I've been on too many vacations to recuperate!
Today, I went up to the school to work on my classroom. When I arrived, all the desks and chairs were stacked, and all the furniture was in one big bundle in the middle of the room (just as I left it). We have to do that before we leave so they can wax the floors. Anyway, I began moving furniture around and unstacking desks. My back is sore, now, from all that lifting. I arranged most of the furniture. I was also able to put up my word wall and part of my Accelerated Reader bulletin board. I feel much better having just been there to work a little. Russ is going back with me this week to flip cubbies. For some reason, the cleaning people flipped those big wooden structures on their sides, and I (being weak as I am) couldn't lift them! Ha!
Another thing on my "Summer To-do List" is to finish my summer scrapbook. I just keep looking at the supplies...I have no idea where to start. But, today, I began. Summer is almost over, after all. I am starting with our Disney World vacation. Then, I'll move to the beach parts - Panama City Beach and Seaside. I can't wait to finish it! I have never really done an official scrapbook before, so any help will be greatly appreciated! Ha!!
Today, I went up to the school to work on my classroom. When I arrived, all the desks and chairs were stacked, and all the furniture was in one big bundle in the middle of the room (just as I left it). We have to do that before we leave so they can wax the floors. Anyway, I began moving furniture around and unstacking desks. My back is sore, now, from all that lifting. I arranged most of the furniture. I was also able to put up my word wall and part of my Accelerated Reader bulletin board. I feel much better having just been there to work a little. Russ is going back with me this week to flip cubbies. For some reason, the cleaning people flipped those big wooden structures on their sides, and I (being weak as I am) couldn't lift them! Ha!
Another thing on my "Summer To-do List" is to finish my summer scrapbook. I just keep looking at the supplies...I have no idea where to start. But, today, I began. Summer is almost over, after all. I am starting with our Disney World vacation. Then, I'll move to the beach parts - Panama City Beach and Seaside. I can't wait to finish it! I have never really done an official scrapbook before, so any help will be greatly appreciated! Ha!!