New Reading Area

Every August, my classroom is a blank slate. 

In May, everything has to come off the walls and every little trinket has to be hidden in the closets. From the previous post, you can see there is nothing. I have the basic furniture layout that stays pretty much the same. There are "design elements" that I recycle into the garbage as I bring in new ideas from Pinterest. (Yes, I have made/copied some of the millions of ideas I have pinned!!) I always keep in mind that I want my students to feel welcomed and that I spend a lot of time here.

I'm at the end of our mod and I have this area outside my classroom that I decided was "prime real-estate" that needed to be used...a reading nook. I also needed more bookshelf space for all my wonderful novels.

I need to get another rug. The rug under the rocker is the one that the school has in front of the door.

I have these really ugly black filing cabinets that I need for storage. You know the ones??!!! I decided to use an idea I saw on Pinterest and I really like how it turned out. I used Mod Podge - matte finish, a foam brush and 12X12 scrapbook paper. First, I spread the Mod Podge on with the foam brush and then pressed the paper onto the filing cabinet. I used an old used gift card to make sure it was smooth. (Next time, I will take pictures as I am doing a project.) After all the paper was attached, I let it dry. Finally, I applied Mod Podge all over the side of the filing cabinet to seal it. It all drys clear and I can attach magnets.

What new project did you add to your classroom this year?

Small & Jumbo Paperclips

I worked in my classroom yesterday and yes, I separated small paperclips from the jumbo size! While listening to my country playlist rather loudly since I was the only one at that end of the building! There were little dust bunnies in my container so I was cleaning. It bugs me when I'm in a hurry and don't immediately grab a jumbo one! OK...enough about that! On to my classroom...

I want to show you before pictures. My room was suppose to be painted....hmmm, didn't happen! I really unloaded bookshelves last year so they could be moved. Next week I get to move all those tubs and books back.

 

I cleaned from top to bottom except for the carpet. Cleaning crew is suppose to do that next week. Got a couple of filing draws re-organized. Threw away files that had TAKS on them...nothing but STAAR!!! As I continue to organize, I'll share so stay tuned!!

 

 

Heart of a Writer???

Interesting title?! 

I've never considered myself a writer. You might be asking yourself....WHAT??? You're an ELA teacher??? I think of myself as a Reading teacher. When I taught Middle School, Reading & English were 2 separate teachers and classes. All I focused on for 9 years was reading skills. When I started teaching 5th grade, all of a sudden, I needed to teach Language. It has been my biggest challenge (besides the one year I HAD to teach math!)

Soooo.....to help my challenge, I attended a workshop "Persuasive & Analytical Writing". It was very interesting and the presenters were veteran intermediate English teachers. The attendees were an equal mix of Elem, Inter, and High School teachers. Lucky for me, at my table, were mostly Elem teachers with 3 us teaching 5th grade. We found ourselves sharing ideas about how we would adapt this challenging subject to our kids. Sometimes it was WAY over my head and I am glad I don't teach High School Seniors!

As the school year progresses, I will share some of the ideas I gleaned. I did learn that it is important for us to build a foundation for our upper grades and we can model these difficult concepts. In our district, we have a Persuasive Writing benchmark at the end of 5th grade and it is graded on the rubric of the 7th grade STAAR Writing. Soooo...a goal for me this year is to plan more writing activities with this in mind.

Here's my share for today:

Amazon

                                        

 Amazon description:
 "What would you do if the ant you were about to step on looked up and started talking? Would you stop and listen? What if your friends saw you hesitate? That’s what happens in this funny, thought-provoking book. Originally a song by a father-daughter team, this conversation between two creatures, large and small, is bound to inspire important discussions. It might even answer that classic childhood question: To squish or not to squish?"

 One of the 5th grade teachers at the table said this was a wonderful mentor text to model persuasive writing. She said she drew the body of an ant and the children help write their arguments in the 3 parts of the body. CUTE!! It is now in my Amazon cart along with this one she also uses.

Amazon

                                            

The Book Whisperer

Click Here

Every reading teacher and home-school parent should read this book! This book was assigned as our summer professional development. After we read each chapter, we will record our answers to some thought-provoking questions. My answers will be on my blog (save-a-tree!) Our principal gave us the first 2 questions and then each grade level will create 2 questions for each chapter. After tonight, I plan to share some of my highlights from the book and share the questions.

Tonight, I wanted to offer some over-all thoughts about the book. It was very easy to read so no excuses! The author, Donalyn Miller, is from Texas so I feel she understands the pressure we have for our state mandated tests. She offered alternative activities to replace the traditional activities found in classrooms. I wonder how she gets her grades from some of the activities? I plan to give my students the time to read books of their choice independently. AND I will read during this time so I can talk to them about the books...books that are their level! It gets me excited to think I can take time, in my busy day, to read a book!

Happy Reading,

Melanie

My Goal

I started this blog in 2008 when I took a Web 2.0 class. Over the past year, I have found a lot of wonderful ideas on Pinterest. Bloggers have shared their ideas, pictures and freebies. I was raised to pay-it-forward so I decided to revamp my "old blog". A lot has changed and I have spent most of today updating my skills. I feel my blog is a work in progress so continue to check back for updates. I plan to share my ideas and pictures.

There is a link to my Pinterest's boards and there is one, "Blogging", that I have added several links today. Some of the pins, I need to continue reading to learn more about blogging.

Time to figure out dinner,
Melanie

PS....note to self:  design a cute signature for my blog!

Habits

This summer, I am hoping to get in the habit of posting. I have tried over the years to start and restart this blog but have not been successful. If you ask Google (which I love to do!), it will tell you it takes 21-28 days for something to become a habit. I think in reality it is longer. So I will pursue this goal and see what happens. 

A lot has changed since I started this blog (2008 & I have deleted the old posts to give me a fresh start) so I need to do some research. Oh boy, learning some new skills!

One of my passions

I have several passions! 

I am a maroon-blooded Aggie!!!

I love to read and teach ELA. I believe in life-long learning so I am constantly looking for the missing pieces that will help my students succeed. I want them to become life-long readers......readers that read because they love it! I am not finished!

My fun and creative one is technology. I love the ever-changing nature of educational technology. My goal is the seamless integration of technology into my curriculum. I am the TL2 for my grade level so I get to share my love with my team mates.

I teach technology classes to teachers in the district and on my campus. I enjoy problem solving when a teacher wants to create a technology project for their class. 

Anything crafty is a passion...from scrapbooking to paper crafting to  card making to wood crafts to.....well, you get the idea. I am totally addicted to Pinterest! Realize that just because I want to do this in my spare time, doesn't mean that I actually get to do it.