Five for Friday

Linking up once again with the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching for this five for Friday! What a week it has been. Planing for our field trip to Busch Stadium and I was evaluated on Thursday.

On Tuesday I was super excited to get the brand new Kid President: Guide to Being Awesome.  It was such an incredible and inspiring read. I was bouncing into school on Wednesday ready to be Awesome!!!

We also began our Black History Month readings with Jackie Robinson. It is such an enjoyment when your kids actually like what you are teaching them,. They had so many questions about Jackie and what he did. They were so blown away when the tour guide started talking about Jackie Robinson today on our tour at Busch Stadium. John (our tour guide) was incredible, my kids were on edge of their seat listening to him.

As I mentioned above we went on a field trip today and it was so amazing. We learned about math, science and language arts, and how it is used in the game of baseball.

Here is my group getting their group picture taken in the same spot where Cardinals manager Mike Matheny does his post-game press conferences.

Finally, being at a baseball stadium on what was a beautiful February day in Missouri has me so in the mood for baseball. I am not a Cardinals fan, as I am a die hard Cubs fan. However, even I have to admit this is a pretty magnificent view from Busch.

As you can tell we had a wonderful time participating in the CAPS program at Busch Stadium today. My class was great and I survived my first filed trip as a teacher. Also got a big thumbs up on Thursday from the principal as he left my evaluation. Will sleep a little easier once I actually meet with him though.

Miss. B

Five For Friday

Linking up once again with the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching for this weeks five for Friday! What a week it has been, ups and downs everywhere you turn. However, I survived till Friday and am ready for the weekend.

My students participated in TeamQuest at the local college on Tuesday against 18 other teams from our area! We didn't qualify for regional, but the teams sure did work hard and put so much effort into the projects they were doing. 

We have really been working on writing this week as the PARCC test is approaching fast. It has blown me away just how hard some of my students are working in writing. They are pulling evidence from the story, adding their own opinion and putting so much hard work into what they are doing. This is just one example of the the effort that has me so excited!

Potluck day at school today!! Nothing makes teachers happier than getting free food and desserts on a Friday. The theme was soup and sandwiches and it was much appreciated with the cold weather we are having.

After a busy week my 4th graders got a nice little break Friday afternoon. They went and had an extra recess with the Pre-K students. They were exhausted when we got back to the room.

Was hired recently to be an Assistant softball coach at the local high school. Going to be nice to get back on the softball field even if I won't be playing.

Miss. B

Five For Friday!

Once again I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! I tell you for only teaching three days this week I am exhausted! I was sure the week was never going to end.

I never realized until this week just how hard it is to plan for a sub. I now understand why so many teachers always say it is easier to come to work sick than to mess with sub plans. I spent over 3 hours just planning for one day, and it was our early out day.

Went to a writing conference and we did a lot of work on PARCC. I can tell you that as a brand new teacher I truly feel that I am setting students up to fail this PARCC test. I know they say everyone is in the same boat, but I feel that I am not going to have them fully prepared to take on this test and that really bothers me. However, they did say at the conference that students will not be graded down on their lack of ability in building paragraphs and using correct spelling or punctuation. That is a weight off my shoulders. Are your students completing the PARCC test on computer or are they writing theirs out?

One of the Martin Luther King Jr. projects that I stole from Funky in Fourth and The Polka Dotted Desk, was this Martin Luther King Jr, silhouette collage. My students have never done a project like this before, and while it took them a bit to get going. Once they got going they LOVED IT. They have actually been adding things to them all week! Even asking me if we could do something like this again. 

I will was feeling very artsy this week and found this cute little fold-able on Classroom Creations-By-Melissa TPT store. I loved this, it was simple and the students loved it. It was defiantly my kind of art project. I have many in my class who love art and I am not an artsy person. So when I find something easy and the kids love it, it is defiantly a win-win!

Finally, on Thursday night I made some potato soup in the crock pot. It was the perfect end to what turned out to be a very chilly day. I finished up softball practice and was able to come home to a nice warm meal and all I had to do was clean the dishes. 

Miss. B

Five For Friday

Today for my first ever five for Friday I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Nicole Shelby has an amazing Greek Mythology unit and I will tell you my students are it up! They loved reading all about King Midas and "The Midas Touch:". Check her out at Nicole-Shelby.   

So excited when students love something you introduce and that it just what happened with my daily Did You Know! Every day the kids are begging me to give them more facts!

Another item I introduced right after we returned from break is my ticket out the door question. This allows me a chance to assess what they have learned and they get to write on sticky notes. (Which they love to do). 

With PARCC testing right around the corner I am becoming more and more terrified with everything. Fear of not having my students prepared is starting to sink in!

I live in Southern Illinois and it has been down right cold the past weeks! I know I know it is worse up North, but I am a baby when it comes to the cold! However, check out the temps for this upcoming 3 day weekend! Might just have to dust off the running shoes.