Objective Wall

Today was my first day of the 2013-2014 school year. It was wonderful, as usual. My voice is very tired and my feet are very sore and I keep looking at the clock to see if it's acceptable to go to bed yet. But, I wouldn't trade these inconveniences for the world! I love my job wholeheartedly!

Over the summer I decided to create an objective wall to keep me accountable in creating meaningful lessons for my students and to keep track of how my students are progressing through the material. You can get a copy of it here in my TpT store.

I laminated them and hung them on my wall in the front of my classroom. The funny thing is, the 4th grade sister of one of my students suggested to me on Orientation Night that these were crooked. They are...slightly. But remember, I'm a lazy perfectionist...and this definitely falls into that category. :) My plan is to have the objectives up the night before...we'll see how it goes. So far I'm two for two!

I introduced this wall to my class today as we went through each subject. They did an excellent job with them. It was a great way for me to assess what they learned as we went along. The students seemed genuinely interested in what the plan was for the day. I have some students who struggle with motivation, so I'm hoping this helps them see the purpose in what I'm teaching them. We shall see.

September Currently

 

 

So I've been a little MIA lately. Last week was In-Service week, and it was brutal. I always get really stressed out when we go over rules and procedures because I'm an incurable rules-follower. I even had a great post ready about my classroom and what it looks like, but I freaked out about posting it because I was afraid I would get in trouble by the cops who are helping our school become safer in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. See? I'm an incurable rules-follower/worst case scenario imaginer. Then we had to take out another loan to buy a new car because my husband's mode of transportation shucked out on him last minute. Ugh! It was a rough week. But, tomorrow starts a new school year...and I'm pumped!

Back to the September Currently...

1. My husband found out recently that the seminary he is attending in hopes of one day becoming a pastor is closing down after this school year. He has about two years of coursework left before he graduates with his Master's of Divinity (sounds weird and spooky, I know). But, with the school closing in a year, they are working with him/piling on the work so he can graduate in May. This is huge for us because it means we can move back to the Midwest to be near family a year sooner. However, he has to eat, breathe, sleep school for the next 9 months. Ahhhhh! Hence, he's translating ancient Greek on Labor Day. I actually find it kind of fascinating because I love languages and linguistics. He always tries to point out interesting translations to me, which I love!

2. I've been wanting a new school bag for a while now. I saw on another teaching blog how you can take the 31 Gifts utility tote and combine it with a file box to make the perfect teaching bag. I don't have any friends nearby who sell 31, and I didn't want to pay $50 for a teaching bag. So, I decided to concoct my own. I scoured several stores for something that would work, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, and then I made it to Target. I found a nice leatherlike bag and a file pocket with a handle that fits perfectly. The best part of this bag is it has a section that perfectly fits my laptop, and a section that fits the file pocket. The two sections are separated by a GIANT zippered pocket where I can store all my other necessary supplies. It actually ended up costing $45 with tax, but I think I like it even better than the 31 bag!

3. Last night I left the grocery store so proud that I was all ready for school now that I had my meals planned and groceries purchased...and then I remembered I forgot toilet paper...and we were on our last roll...enough said. Sigh. Perfection is not within my grasp, I'm afraid.

4. I'm so excited for the first day of school, which is tomorrow. I.CAN'T.WAIT. This is the most prepared I've ever felt. Ahhhhh...(that's the contented sigh kind of "ahhh")

5. Well, I wrote this one before I came up with my brilliant idea of a pasta salad for this picnic. I always have the ingredients on hand for it. It's going to be fantastic. Here's the link to the recipe.

Love to Myself:

1. I really want to spend more of my free time reading quality books. I gravitate towards TV when I'm tired because reading requires effort on my part. I do love to read and want to inspire my students to read more. My "Mrs. Rhine is Currently Reading..." sign should help keep me accountable.

2. I really need to stop stress eating. I did a lot of this last week because it was an awful week. My husband does this too. We were doing really well on our diets, but need to get back on the wagon this week.

3. I tend to neglect the dishes when I'm tired and busy. I don't have a dishwasher, so I have to do them every day...but I don't always...gross I know. I started getting in better habits towards the end of last school year in this area, and have done an awesome job keeping up with the dishes this summer. I've already done two batches today. Yay me! I get really stressed when my house is messy, so if I keep it clean, I will be much happier!

Happy Labor Day!

A Peek at My Week (8-25)

 

I'm linking up with the new linky party at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for A Peek at My Week.

1.) I'm starting in-service tomorrow. It's going to be a looooong day with teacher meetings in the morning and insurance meetings in the afternoon. Let's just say it's a good thing I now have a smart phone and we get free lunch. ; )

2.) My husband and I may have to buy a new car this week. The scooter he bought to replace his car in order to save on gas, insurance, inspections, etc. shucked out on his way to work tonight. Perfect timing, eh? We really must have two cars because we both live too far from work to walk, and our schedules never mesh. Sigh. Maybe I should move to China where cars aren't generally needed in the big cities. It has been one car problem after another this year. Good news is, I might have to beg off the insurance meetings so I can take my husband to work or he can drop me at home. Fingers crossed!

3.) My classroom is almost ready for Orientation Night on Tuesday. The main thing I have left is filling half of a bulletin board at the back of my room. I want it to be for Language Arts, but I really don't know what would be the most efficient use of the space. I was thinking of leaving space to hang anchor charts there because I don't have wall space for that, but that seems kind of boring. Any suggestions? I've been searching, but nothing has hit me over the head yet.

4.) I've also been trying to come up with a good back-to-school gift for my students. I did have an idea, but I was afraid this year's crop of students would misread the cutesy saying I was attaching to it. They tend to have less-than-innocent minds I'm afraid. :( Any suggestions?

Saturday Snapshots (8-24)

 

 

This is my last Saturday before forced responsibility sets in. Sigh. It's also the last Saturday where I wake up and don't feel like my day is evaporating before my very eyes. Sigh.

Here are a few glimpses into my week:

I made these little magnets for Orientation Night. I saw them on another blog, but can't remember which one. I didn't really follow a design or anything. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully they will help parents keep track of my contact info. I just know I will find at least one of them stuck to the side of a desk, though. Sigh.

My husband made these amazing sandwiches at like 11:30 last night. We were staying up late because he needs to finish this 25 page paper before Monday, and he must eat when he stays up late. I normally get incredibly sick when I eat that late, but miraculously I didn't! This sandwich consists of string cheese, cherry tomatoes from a friend's garden, and roast beef lunchmeat. He grilled them on the stove after he brushed them with olive oil mixed with Italian seasoning. They were to die for.

This morning I went through a massive pile of papers and threw away 90% of them. Why oh why do I save papers I don't need. If it weren't for my occasional "throw everything not nailed down away" binges, I would be a hoarder. Ugh. Anyways, I found my to-do list from the day of my wedding rehearsal on an unopened bank statement from over four years ago. I couldn't throw it away. It reminded me of how absolutely stressful that day was! Never again will I plan a wedding. Ugh! I am glad I married my husband, though. He's worth the stress. :)

My sweet mom mailed me this Little Bo Peep book this week. She found it at an antique store and remembered that I used to have a copy of this when I was a little girl. "Peep" is my dad's nickname for me, so it was extra special. I may or may not have gotten a little emotional when I opened it.

I love the illustrations and the rhyme scheme. I've already been thinking about whether or not this would work as a mentor text. :) Something tells me the boys in my class would be less than thrilled. I think I'll display it on my mantel until I put up my fall decor.

Speaking of fall decor, I already hung this on my wall at home. I had a fall craft night with some of my friends last night, and this is what I made. It's extremely simple-looking, but that's how I roll. (Hence "Simply Sixth Grade.") All I did was agonize over which scrapbook papers to choose and then cut out three ovals per pumpkin and affixed them to some tan scrapbook paper. I made little stems from scrapbook paper as well. I had another Pinstrosity in this frame already, so this project was FREE! I love free. Can I be considered thrifty if I just rarely spend money on decor? This might even be a good craft for my class...if I ever took time to do crafts with them. Most of my students have hated crafts and have art class every week, so I usually just don't do crafts with them.

Well, the laundry is done and the kitchen floor is probably dry now and the grocery store is calling my name. Better get going.

DIY Classroom Contact Information Magnets

As I mentioned earlier today, I have backtoschoolitis...aka I don't want summer to end.

So, instead of working on my reading curriculum binder, which is like top priority right now, I made some magnets I was planning to put on my students desks for Back to School Night. It has the school number (because I don't give out my cell phone number due some parents calling ALL the time about NOTHING) and the extension is actually the office extension because some parents call in the middle of my teaching time and expect me to tell them how Johnny is doing at that very moment, my school e-mail, and the class website/grading program we use and parents can access.

I can't remember where I saw this idea, but I thought it was great! I think the blog I found this idea on used the free magnets from Vista Print. I didn't want to use Vista Print because I already had magnet sheets at home leftover from a magnetic menu board I made last summer and blogged about here...and I didn't want a million magnets...and I'm stubborn and like to make things by myself.

So, I created a little box on Microsoft Word and messed around with fonts and colors and shadings until I liked it. Then I copied and pasted it about 19 times so I had a total of 20. Then I printed a sample copy to see how it turned out before I printed on my magnet sheets. Then I inserted the magnet sheet upside down in my printer because my printer flips the paper before it's done. Make sure you check out your printer carefully first. You better believe I printed backwards many, many times last year when I was making my menu board! Ugh.

Here's the final product:

So, I'm feeling a little less lethargic and a little more okay with school starting. Successful projects work well that way.

I Don't Want to Go Backtoschoolitis

Ugh! I was so motivated about the upcoming school year last week. I still have the last couple days of this week left and next week of teacher in-service. But......I'm starting to realize that my freedom is slipping away from me.

Yesterday I spent like eight hours in my classroom and was reminded that working that many hours at once is exhausting...and I almost never work just eight hours during the school year.

And there is this amazing thunderstorm raging right now and all I want to do is cuddle up in my bed with a book...but there is work to be done! Sigh.

Sometimes I forget that I'm a grown up and have been for a few years now and need to act like one. Sigh.

My lack of motivation may stem from looking through a friend's Europe pictures this morning. That may have caused me to...um...be a little dissatisfied with life. Sigh.

Must do work. Must do work. Must do work. Sigh.

Five For Friday

I'm linking up rather late for Five for Friday. I can definitely tell that school season is creeping up on me. I've had lots of commitments lately, which frankly makes me happy because I've been a little bored lately. I don't have kids, my husband works a crazy shift, and this was the first summer I haven't worked since I was like 15 or 16! So, I've been a little listless of late.

1. The highlight of my week was our Back-To-School picnic one of my co-workers hosted last night on her "farm." We had sooooo much fun. I'm constantly reminded of how blessed I am in my co-workers. We get along so well and have so much fun together. I really miss eating with them every day during the summer. Some teacher's lounges are filled with negativity and crass humor (I definitely experienced this during student teaching!). Ours is filled with recipe sharing, vacation recommendations, embarrassing moment sharing, idea swapping, and lots and lots of laughter! I'm looking forward to school starting just so I can eat with my fellow teachers again!

Here's a pic of the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens for the potato salad I brought to the picnic. It was a big hit!

2. I've been reading/reviewing books for my class library like crazy this week. This book, Plain Girl by Virginia Sorensen, was excellent! This will be very appropriate for my classroom because we live near Lancaster County, PA so we are all familiar with the Amish lifestyle. In our immediate area we have a lot of Mennonites as well, so the students will be able to have a frame of reference when reading this book. The book basically explores some of the questions and doubts going through the mind of a young Amish girl who was forced to attend a public school. Sorensen does an excellent job of presenting all sorts of scenarios that really causes the reader to dig deeply to figure out what he or she ought to believe in these particular situations. Another great book by the same author, which happened to win a Newbery medal is Miracles on Maple Hill. This explores what happens to men who come home from war and the effects PTSD has on their families. It also takes place in Pennsylvania. This time at a maple syrup farm in the Pocono mountains, which is also near where we live. I love when I can connect books to our current lives.

3. I decided to try a couple extremely simple sewing projects for my classroom Thursday evening after my husband left for work. My grandma taught me how to sew back in high school, but I've never been great at it. Every time I attempt a sewing project I get super frustrated with my poor sewing skills and sometimes even end up in a fit of rage. I got a great chuckle out of Kim's post the other day at Joy in 6th Grade. Her experience with Mod Podge sounds exactly like my experiences with sewing. This time wasn't too bad, though. I only spilled my entire container of pins once, and even though I burned my fingertips with the iron, it didn't leave a mark! Best of all, I only had to rip out one seam! Now I call that success! If the projects turn out okay when I install them in my classroom on Monday, I'll show you some more pictures of what I did.

4. My husband and I started re-watching the Lord of the Rings on extended Blu-Ray this week. Oh how I love LOTR! I've watched them a million bajillion times and pretty much have the first one memorized since it's my favorite! I cannot wait until the next installment of the Hobbit comes out!

5. This last one is kinda sad. On Wednesday of this week, my husband got an e-mail stating that the seminary he's been attending for the past four years is closing after this school year. He still had about two years left before he graduated, so we're not really sure what all is going to happen. On the positive side, it means we might get to move back to Illinois sooner than we anticipated. On the negative side, we now have to decide our future by December. Yikes! I was resting in the comfort of another year and a half before we had to make any big decisions. Also, several people we've grown to love as friends and mentors are now without jobs. It's a pretty big deal. If there's one thing I've learned in life, though, it's God works all things out for good. We may not see it at the time, but ultimately everything will work out for his glory. Looking forward to where God will lead us in the next year!

Introducing Writer's Workshop in the 6th Grade Classroom

Today I'm linking up with Jivey for Workshop Wednesday.

I started Writer's Workshop last year in my classroom. I work at a small private school that isn't under the mandates of the state, so we kind of do our own thing. I wish we had a little more accountability, but I do appreciate the freedom I have to try what works best for us rather than feeling pressure from the state. (This is not to say I'm against state guidance. I'm all for it as long as the lawmakers are making informed decisions.)

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'm the only teacher at my school doing any sort of workshop format so I'm kind of winging it. :)

Last year I went through some online videos that really helped me get the whole Writer's Workshop thing figured out. I also read Aimee Buckner's Notebook Know-How and Ralph Fletcher's Writer's Notebook to help me get started.

Buckner suggests starting Writer's Workshop with a activity focusing on one's name. She suggested reading the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes since it's all about names. I didn't use it last year, because I was too cheap to buy it, and I ran out of time to go to the library. This summer I was able to find it for super cheap at a thrift store, so I intend to use it to introduce my Writer's Notebook this upcoming school year. Anyways, last year I shared my story about how I got my name. I had previously written it in my Writer's Notebook and read it directly to the class. I then had them briefly write about their names as their very first entry in their Writer's Notebook. Most of them did very well with this, but I had a few stubborn boys who didn't think they had anything to write about. I then had the few who wanted to share their story with the class. It was a lot of fun to hear their stories especially since we had several new students in our class last year.

After this activity, I explained to the class how Writer's Workshop would work and that they were expected to write a daily page every day first thing when they arrived at school. I shared some ideas with them about what they could write about. The daily pages were pretty rough towards the end of the year. They had sort of lost their steam. I think I will provide some more guidance to help them out this year. Some of them were just boring diary entries. For example: "Today I had basketball practice. Then I went to McDonald's. Then I watched Duck Dynasty. Then I did my homework. Then I went to bed." There was then some variation on this theme EVERY SINGLE DAY! ARGH!

One thing I did very poorly was not modelling my own writing enough for the class. Sure, I would write when I needed to give them a specific example for how to do something in Writer's Workshop, but I didn't model DAILY writing for them. I hope to improve upon that this coming year.

One thing I really think helps get students excited about Writer's Workshop is having lots of engaging activities for them from the get-go. They would always get excited when I would tell them to pull out their Writer's Notebooks or when I would pull out the easel to show them an anchor chart. I just need to keep the momentum all year. I slacked off in this regard as the year went on.

I'm planning to implement Reader's Workshop this year. I'm really revamping what I do for Reading instruction because it has been incredibly sub-par in the past. I'll have to share what I'm doing once I'm finished. It's a huge project!

The Best Teacher Planner

(I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are 100% mine.)

Last summer I was busy spending my hard-earned cash at Target on back to school supplies. I've heard other teachers say, and I'll have to agree, that there is nothing quite like browsing through the back to school supply section picking out new supplies for the upcoming year. I loved it growing up whenever my mom would pile us four kids in the van to go get some new supplies. My mom is extremely practical when it comes to school supplies, so we always got the cheapest and most functional supplies. I still loved every minute of looking at my supply list and trying to find the supplies on the shelves. Ah what bliss!

Anyways, last year I was almost ready to leave the store when I wandered near my favorite section...the planner section. I was reading another blog last night that mentioned she purchased 3 planners this summer! I don't quite love planners that much, but I do love being organized. Anyways, I found THE PERFECT planner for the busy teacher. I'm pretty picky when it comes to planners, and I had never found one that really fit my needs as a teacher. I was using a combination of lined sticky notes and a free blank calendar I printed off the Internet. This was extremely disorganized but it accomplished what I needed: a place to plan ahead for the month (calendar), and a lined space for to-do lists to increase my productivity during prep periods (lined sticky notes). So when I thumbed through this gem of a planner, I knew I HAD to have it.

This is what it looks like on the outside (with a regular paperback for sizing reference):

This is what the calendar block page looks like (I LOVE the lines!):

This page is opposite the calendar page. I rarely use it, but it could be helpful:

This next shot is of the to-do list section. Each page starts on Monday and goes through the following Sunday. I like this because it emphasizes the work week:

This shot shows the to-do list up close. This is probably my favorite feature of the entire planner. I have this weird fetish where I sometimes flip back through the planner to see all of my tasks crossed off in different colored pens. :)

This last picture is of the notes section at the back of the book. Somehow I missed this till the end of the year. It would be perfect for Teacher's In-Service...although I pretty much have that memorized by now because it barely changes from year to year. :)

So there you have it. The PERFECT teacher planner. My only complaint is that it's a bit annoying flipping back from the to-do list to the block calendar. I mostly fixed this by simply putting a paper clip on the week I'm on and then clipping up the subsequent weeks as I go through the month. There is something very satisfying about moving the paperclip on a Monday morning.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to find another one just like this for the 2013-2014 school year. I searched online before the end of the school year to find it but couldn't. Then when I was searching for some Command Strips at Wal-Mart for another project this summer, I found this planner again! I almost did a happy dance in the aisle...but refrained. I'm totally okay with have the exact same planner two years in a row as long as it is perfect in every way. This one fits the bill. In case you can't find one in your local Wal-Mart or Target planner section, here is a picture of the label on the back page:

Happy back to school shopping!