God is Faithful!

As of 2-14-12 I am officially engaged! My boyfriend Javaid (pronounced David with a J) asked me to marry him. He made reservations at a local seafood restaurant for Valentine's Day. We ate dinner. After dinner he pulls out a poem "J is for the Joy you bring me, E is for the excitement..." By this time I'm cracking up laughing at the thought of him writing an acrostic poem using my name and it reminded me of when I was 13 and my friends did the same thing when I was moving away. After he got through the poem he handed me a BuildaBear that had a Tuxedo on it and the hand said "press here." So I pressed the hand and he had recorded his voice asking me to marry him. Then he pulled out the ring and of course I said yes! Javaid and I had been dating 15 months to the day and let's just say that's a long time when you're "doing it the right way, God's way." So we haven't set a date yet but I was thinking about a December wedding. God has answered my prayers once again and I look forward to worshipping him through my marriage.

10 Commandments to Working in a Hostile Environment

I absolutly love this book! It is written by T.D. Jakes. Every Christian should read it!  Unfortunately I've worked in many "hostile" environments and the stress that comes along with that coupled with the stress of teaching period, sent me over the edge. A friend of mine in another school recommended I read this book. I read it a couple of years ago and it changed my life.The commandments are as follows...

1- Know that you are anointed for the job position that you hold.
This is one that I struggled with for a long time. God has truly blessed me with creativity and talent. But since I am a minority I've heard too many times "she only got the job because she's black". In the four schools I've taught in, I've heard it at at least three of them. After reading this book I realized that God had blessed me with what it takes to teach children and those qualities had gotten me the job... not my skin color.

2- Don't expect to be appreciated.
Teachers are already underappreciated as it is... this allowed me to refocus my energy into what my calling was and stopped dwelling on the fact that I live in a society where teachers are undervalued.

3- Embrace opportunties for change.
This was huge for me... I thought I would DIE a second grade teacher... but here I am in the fourth school of my career teaching third grade.

4- Do the job well while remembering the vision.

5- Don;t let the environment get inside of you.
I have to remember that "greater is he that is in me, then he that is in the world." 1John4:4

6- Increase your capacity to work with difficult personalities.
Lord knows I've had plently of opportunities to do this! And I must say, the more tolerance I have for people like this, the better I feel inside.

7- Where you are is not where you're going.

8- Achieve optimal results with minimal confusion.

9- Do not pledge alligence to cliques and groups.
This is huge! With my newest teaching assignment I have chosen to seperate myself from the negativity that can come with cliques. This is why I do NOT eat in the teacher's lounge at school and try to keep socializing about nonwork related items to a minimum.

10- Always keep your song near you.
I took this literally... I have a collection of inspirational and gospel music in my classroom. Before school, during lunch and resource and after school I love to listen to my music.

Don't get me wrong... I'm cordial with everyone and I can laugh and joke with the best of them. But at the end of the day I have to remember my purpose and my purpose is to teach those children to the best of my ability and I don't have for anything that is going to interfere with that.

Valentine's Day Scrapbook

I got this idea online a couple of years ago and finally was able to do it with my class last year. I took five pieces of construction paper (white, purple, pink, red, white) one stack for each child and bound them together on the binding machine. First I had each child decorate their scrapbook cover anyway they wanted. Then I gave each child a sheet of valentine headers copied on green construction paper. The students cut apart the headers and glued one header on each page. Then the students read through their cards and taped/glued them on the page where they thought they belonged. At the end they had a nice cute scrapbook to go home and show their parents!

cover of scrapbook

inside of scrapbook

inside of scrapbook

students working

students working

What do your students do with their Valentine Cards?

Reading Marathon

This is another idea taken from a 4th grade teacher at my previous school and I love it! It's called a "Reading Marathon" and the students love it!

Materials: (for each child)
-white paper, folded into 6 sections- plain printer paper or white construction paper will do
-leveled text
-crayons, colored pencils, pencil

Time: about 90 minutes

Pass out a book(should be the child's independent level) and a sheet of folded paper to each child. Students may use books that they are currently reading. Explain that they will be participating in a Reading Marathon. Students should  complete each section in the time alloted.

10 minutes: Section 1- Make a new cover for you book. Color the cover, be sure to include the title and author.

10 minutes: students reading silently.

10 minutes: Section 2- Write three important details about your favorite character. Draw and color a picture of the character.

10 minutes: students reading silently

10 minutes: Section 3- Write a quick summary of the book part you just read.

10 minutes: Section 4- Draw a visualization from the book. Write a sentence explaining your visualization.

10 minutes: students reading silently

10 minutes: Section 5- Write 3 questions you've had about the book so far.

10 minutes: Section 6- Draw a picture and write a sentence about your book's setting.

I've done this a couple of times and I've been impressed with the results. I will try and figure out a "nonfiction reading marathon."

Classroom Tour

Reading Strategies and Skills Posters- Hollywood Themed

Front of the room (student book boxes)

Birthday Poster and Bucket Filler reminders

Writing Materials

Reading Mini Lesson Area

F.A.C.E.S. of a Reader Strategy Board

Classroom Library

Pop Into a Good Book!

More books...

Books, bulletin boards and workstation storage.

Guided Reading and Strategy Group Materials

Christmas Ornaments

Have you ever made these acrylic paint glass ornaments? They are truly adorable!

Materials:

1 glass ball per child

assortment of acrylic paint (Plaid from Walmart)

assortment of matching ribbon

ornament hooks

Tilt ball and pour paint into top allowing it to run to the bottom of the ball.

I have the students choose two colors and then I always add white.

So for the ornament pictured I poured in pink, white, purple, pink, white, purple, white.

Then the student covers up the opening with a paper towel and shakes it until it is completely covered in the inside. 

I turn it upside down in the tray (writing their class # next to it).

I let it drain and dry for 2-3 days.

Affix topper, tie on coordinating ribbon, wrap in tissue paper and send home!

I hope you understood all that!

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun

I LOVE this book! I read this book during the first three weeks of school while I was using childrens books to build character. Best of all, the author, Maria Dismondy http://www.mariadismondy.com/ , has an activity packet full of ideas to go along with this book http://www.mariadismondy.com/uploads/docs/Spaghetti-Readers-Guide.pdf.
It's about having the courage to be who you are, and children nowadays need all the encouragment they need in this area. It would also be the perfect Christmas gift for the child in your life how has or needs the confidence to be themselves!

Now for the awesome giveaway... I'm giving away a SIGNED COPY(from the author) of this book. All you have to do is follow my blog, and leave a comment including your email address, telling me how you would use it in your classroom. I will be choosing a winner on Saturday.