Something special for end of the year

As the end of the school year is quickly approaching, I have been trying to figure out what to do for my students that would be special and unique to them. We are going to have a class party, yearbook signing, play all kinds of games, but I really wanted to make something for them. I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. Here's what I am doing:

 I used this website  www.wordart.com  and created a shape with each student's name, 5 positive adjectives that describe him/her and fun colors. Then I printed each page. I am going to laminate each and write a personalized note on the back for each child. Then, I am going to bring these to school last week of school and will let students use sharpies to write short notes to each other. They can sign or write something. I am very excited about these and hope my students like them!

Mother's Day

With Mother's Day quickly approaching somewhere in between regular days standardized testing, I have been trying to figure out what would be fun and not too time consuming for my 4th graders to make for their moms.  I started thinking about what my own kids have brought from school for Mother's Day the past few years that I enjoyed and was able to keep in my memory box. I loved fingerprints, handprints, poems (it was the same poem printed by teacher for each student), but all of that felt a little too "babyish" for 4th grade. One year, my son brought me a playdough creation. Another, something out of clay. I've loved everything my  kids brought home, but what made it difficult is that being a military family we move so much. Often things break. Personally, what I love the most and what survives usually in our moves across the country is anything laminated. So with that in mind, this year for Mother's Day I am going to have my students make an article for the "Mom's Gazette". They are going to draw their moms and answer a few questions about their moms. Then they will decorate it using color paper, newspaper and magazine cut outs and I will laminate it for them before they take it home. Students will also have an opportunity to share their work and what makes their moms special with their classmates. This template was easy to come up with and keeping in mind that several of my students come from all kinds of home situations, if they would prefer I will make a few versions available... "Grandma's Gazette", "Aunt's Gazette", "Nanna's Gazette". However, instead of pre-making these I will wait to see what they want to do first and will edit it in google drive before printing . That way it is special to them, not something that is pushed by me, and is available only if they would like. Below is a screen shot of my template. Email me if you would like a copy of the actual template and I will be happy to share. Here's my e-mail address: swanmom86@gmail.com 

What are you doing for Mother's Day with your students? I would love to hear your ideas. 

Born to Teach-Reflection

Some people spend their entire lives looking for their "calling", that job that truly speaks to them. Others see work as something they have to do and that will never find enjoyable. I was fortunate to always know what I was meant to do. Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to be a teacher. Life experiences over time led me in different directions, yet somehow always brought me back to my true passion-teaching. I am that teacher whose brain never stops working. I am always reflecting, innovating, thinking about my class. This is so incredibly fun, satisfying, exciting for me. It truly makes me feel like I am finally able to do what I was put on this earth to do and no I am not perfect, I have a lot to learn, but I have all the time in the world to learn and become the best teacher I can possibly be. I love everything about it even if some days it comes with frustration, disappointment, and confusion. Knowing that I am making the difference, seeing those smiling faces, being their cheerlead makes it all worth it. 

People who know me react in two different ways. Some cheer me on and are supportive and just have accepted that this is a huge part of who I am. I am a teacher. Bottom line. It's what I was born to do. Others struggle to understand why I spend the time I do on work related tasks, get frustrated with me for how invested I come in my class, community, lesson planning , etc. They struggle to understand and no matter how many times I try to explain, I think the bottom line is work is different for everyone. For some it's what you do to make a living and for others it's a huge part of their life and not just something they have to do. 

One of the biggest realizations I've come to over the past year is that I have to be true to myself and not worry about pleasing everyone else. So when I hear, "you're going burn yourself out" or " why does this matter so much to you?" I have to be honest with myself first and then people making these comments and statements. Here's the thing, no one burns out on sleeping, eating, reading their favorite book, right? That's how I am with teaching; teaching is my drive to be a better person, role model, someone who makes a difference. 

Growing up, my teachers were the reason I made something of myself. They were the people I felt safe with. They were  my role models. I was lucky because I had them in my life. Over the past few years I've come across students who come from wonderful loving families and who are in my class to learn academics, but I've also come across so many who are in my class first to know they are cared about, safe, can say what's on their mind, and then academics. Those are students I often see the most progress in. They are the students who I know need me. Students from wonderful families are the ones who will succeed with any teacher because they are confident. They are ready to learn. They come to school to learn specifically. It's the other students that come to school to maybe feel safe or maybe to know they are cared about or whatever it may be before they are actually ready to learn.

So here I am , honest with myself and with you. I was born to be a teacher and I know it deep in my heart. I love every moment of it even on the most frustrating days. Seeing my students' progress and success is my drive. So no, I will not burn out. I will not get bored. I will not want to do something else. I may seem sometimes like I never stop , but I never stop because I love what I do. 

What drives you to teach? Why did you decide to enter this profession? 

Finding Motivation Before Standardized Testing

Last week before spring break was a struggle. I found myself frustrated more, students had a difficult time staying on task. They were not "bad" by any means, but just ready for a break. I knew I was too and I thought the break would help me get back into the swing of things, but as I started planning for review, thinking about testing and really focusing on test taking, I realized I was dreading coming back to work.

I love my job. Teaching is a calling for me. It's something I always knew I wanted to do and I can't imagine myself doing anything else. Yet, I found myself dreading going back and thinking about all other career options where I could still work with kids and not worry about standardized testing. Then I realized, I am dreading going back to work because I am not having fun in my classroom anymore. If I am not having fun, my students are not having fun. So I had to really reflect. 

Here is what I came up with. My students and I have been working hard all year long on curriculum closely aligned to NC standards. I teach to the standards. I make sure we cover everything, but we've been able to do daily hands on activities, laugh together, explore, integrate technology, and truly enjoy learning. We've done this together all year long so why would this be any different now that I only have less than two months with my students? The answer is simple, it will not be. 

This year my strategy to prepare for testing is teaching. It is not teaching to the test. It is teaching to the standards, to mastery, to understanding and when that's there, they will perform to their best ability on the test. These tests are boring enough. I shouldn't be making review boring on top of it.

So I will pull every tool out of my tool box for the next month to finish teaching the standards, continue with projects, and make review fun, leveled, truly student-centered. At the end of the day, the pressure is there, but I teach students not the test. So when they take the test, I want them to be proud of all the work they have done. I want them to know how smart they are regardless of how they do on this one measure of assessment and most importantly I want them to know that their hard work matters, learning matters,  and they are appreciated and cared about.

This school year I have been blessed with an amazing group of students. They are funny. They are witty. They love learning and just like they learn from me, I've learned from them every day. I am going to miss this group of kids so much when they get ready for 5th grade, but for now I have another month and a half and I will make the most of every day instead of letting the stress of testing effect them or me. 

For the next month and a half we will continue to learn, do projects, explore, and when it comes to review we will have fun. I am getting my scavenger hunts ready, pulling out math jeopardy, looking for hands on manipulatives and anything I can use that will continue to make learning authentic and will not make it tedious . So here's a question to you, what do you use to make this last month count? How do you review? How do you make memories? What's your plan? 

Sincerely,

A Motivated Teacher Who Just Found Her Second Wind