Sunday, June 30, 2013

Bloglovin' and Monkeys

So, I have to admit that I am not very technologically savvy when it comes to blogs and codes and all that stuff (I know...don't tell my teamies - they think I know it all, lol).  So when I started seeing all this stuff about Google Reader going away and Bloglovin' being the new thing, I jumped right over and set up a Bloglovin' account.  I was able to import all my blogs I follow (ummm, yeah - all 1171 of them!  I have a serious problem, I know...).  What I'm not sure about is how to make sure this blog is on Bloglovin'.  Do you have to do anything special?  I did find a little code on Bloglovin' so I'm putting this here (hopefully it'll work):

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Is that it?  Can somebody out there let me know?

On another note, I woke up today and checked my email and found out that I had won this:


Yep!  I won the whole pack.  It came at just the right time, too.  I hadn't picked a theme for my classroom yet, but now we know what it'll be.  Since I'm only teaching math/science next year, we'll do a "Monkeying Around with Math and Science" theme.  Yeah!!!  If you want to check this pack out for yourselves, visit Sharing Kindergarten

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Big Changes Are A'Comin'!

We have some BIG changes comin' next year! Of course, we will be doing the CCSS, but  our school will also be departmentalizing K-6th.  We each have 2 subjects (math/science or ELA/social studies) and we will team with the person teaching the opposite subject.  I will be a math/science teacher next year! 
   I wasn't so excited about this change at first - I really like keeping my own little group and really bonding with them.  But, after thinking about how much more in-depth I could get just focusing on 2 subjects, I changed my mind.  Now, we just have to figure out the logistics.  You know, the little stuff - how are we going to manage their supplies, backpacks, cubbies, folders, etc.  One of the things we had to figure out was our behavior charts.
   We use the colored behavior clip charts that many of you use.  Well, our dilemma was to figure out how to move the clip chart with the children so that the other teacher would know how their behavior was that morning.  I think we've come up with a solution.  We are going to take a file folder or plastic 2 pocket folder and clip every child's clip across the top with their name facing inside the folder.  This will be the "Ready to Learn" section.  If a student receives a warning, their clip will be turned backward (name facing out).  Along the left side of the folder will be the "Good Work" section, the left bottom side will be the "Great Work" section, the bottom right side will be the "Outstanding" section, and the right side will be the "Teacher's Choice" section.  It would look something like this:




I know, I know - yucky Iphone picture.  Just imagine it all pretty with some cute labels (just type in "behavior clip chart labels" on TpT and you'll get tons of cute ones!) and the clips across the top.  We also thought that if we really needed to let the other teacher know something specific, we could write it on a sticky note and put it inside the folder so we wouldn't have to have a whole conversation in the hallway. 

So, I'm curious - do any of you out there switch classes, and if you do, how do you manage the behavior issue?  I would love to hear from you!

Oh!  One more thing!!!  How many of you out there would love to get professional development credit for trying out ideas that you find on some of those awesome blogs out there?  My teaching buddy and I were at a district training today and the district people were asking how we would like to see professional development structured for the new year.  We said, we would love to get credit for trying out new ideas that we find online and then we would write up where we found the idea, how we implemented it, what worked and what didn't for us, and what we might change for next time.  We emphasized the fact that this would be easy for the teachers to do, it doesn't pull teachers out of their classrooms for workshops, it would really allow teachers to customize their professional development to their own teaching style, standards, etc, and it's free for the district.

We weren't sure how it would be received, but hey - you gotta try, right?  The awesome part was that they seemed REALLY interested in the idea!  HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE???!!!!  Seriously - PD for blog hopping... I would have so many PD points, I could re-certify forever!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Currently...I'm on summer break!

I finally made it!!! Summer break is here!  What better way to start off summer than with a Currently?  So, here goes:

Listening: I love the show Chopped.  I totally cannot cook, but I do collect cookbooks and love to watch cooking shows.  They take some of the weirdest foods on this show and make some things that look really good.  I would love just to be able to take some normal food and make something good...oh well!

Loving:  Yep, summer is here!  It totally snuck up on me!  But I definitely need some rest and relaxation.

Thinking:  So tomorrow is the first official day of my summer vacation, but do I get to sleep in?  Nope - I get to get up and go to school at 7 am for a safety patrol field trip.  Down to Orlando with a bunch of sixth graders I go...prayers would be appreciated.  Oh, and did I mention there's a tropical storm coming through as well?  Yeah...

Wanting:  This summer my hubby and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.  We have some really close friends that also have their anniversary the same month as ours, so we decided to just take a trip together and make it a family trip.  We'll be spending some time in the mountains in Tennessee (where we took our honeymoon).  I can't wait!

Needing: A nap!  We only have a day and a half to pack everything up at the end of the year.  Half day yesterday and a full day today.  How long do you guys have to pack things up?  I got it all done, but I am beat!

3 vacay essentials:  Summer is really the only time I get to read, so that's what I spend most of my time doing.  I did get a Kindle last year, so that should make things easier when I'm packing.  I also have to have internet access.  There are so many great blogs out there that I have to keep up with what's going on!

So how about you?  What are you doing Currently?