Super Excited!

Today, I was just going to blog about the goings on in room 224. Then...

I received an email  from 2012 Fascination Awards to inform me that I have been nominated for The Most Fascinating Blog in 2012, Category: Elementary Teacher Blogs! WOW!  Needless to say...I'm SUPER EXCITED!!

Here is a snippet of information I copied from the link about this award:

"The Fascination Awards are an annual collection of the web’s most inspirational and thought-provoking blogs. All participants are nominated by our editorial team and voted on by our readers.

We know that all blogs are not created equal, so we want to recognize websites that go above and beyond, providing truly engaging content for their visitors."

Isn't that cool???  Per the email:

"Voting begins May 14th at 12:01 AM (EST).The blog with the most votes by May 21st at 11:59 PM (EST) will win the grand prize, a $100 restaurant gift card."

Waaayyyyy cool!!

I've noticed that a lot of my "blog roll" has been nominated as well!  I feel so privileged that someone thinks my blog is interesting and inspiring!  It's like having someone open my file cabinet in my classroom and commenting about how organized and neat it is!! (That is soooo not the case in my classroom file cabinet, by the way!)

I have posted the "voting" button on the left hand side of my homepage.  Keep those fingers ready and start voting on May 14th!

"To every person there comes that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to him. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared for the work that could be his finest hour." - Winston Churchill

Always,

The Day Before...

Well...today is the day before STAAR!  My quarters have had a lot of fun the last week getting ready for the test.  Yes...you read correctly...they have had FUN!  And so have I!!

I really enjoyed making surprises for them each day.  "The Writing Games" were awesome!  I know that, typically, we teachers tend to review and reteach the week before our state tests because...well..that's what we think we should do.  But, the truth is, if we've taught them to the best of our ability and done everything we can to meet their needs and have them grow, then we have done what we should do.  When we know better, we do better.  I realized that they can still review using games and fun ideas.  I have spent two months teaching how to take the test (bubble in, plan, final copy...).  If they don't know it by now...cramming them full of things on the day before the test is futile.

With that in mind, I had my quarters just write today.  No urgency, no pressure, no "if you don't do this, I will not be happy."  They practiced narrative and expository writing at their own speed.  I was available to conference with them throughout the day.  My team teacher was AWESOME.  She kept her class all day and allowed them to write as well.  I talked to them and gave them their assignments and she did the rest.  It was great!!  Don't misunderstand...I had a few who did very little to nothing...but most of them tried.

However, my kiddos were a little wild at the freedom of writing without pressure!  They were very loud in the hallway after lunch, so I turned them around to walk down the stairs and back up again. (Our building is two-stories!)  Anyway, as we were going down...I FELL!!!  My. greatest. fear.  As I was walking, I turned to make sure the rest of the class was following quietly and I skipped the bottom step.  Another teacher was standing there and I fell on my butt!!! I also twisted my ankle badly! I had to do everything I could not to cry in front of my quarters!! They had to get the nurse and everything!!!  It also seemed like every teacher in the building walked by, getting full view of my idiocy!!!!  A couple even mentioned how unfortunate it was that they didn't have their camera phones!  My kids were in shock, though!  I'm alive, in a little pain, but I will be there for the STAAR!

Now, I was super excited to give my quarters their final surprise to help them be confident during STAAR.  Since most of my students are ELLs, they sometimes lack confidence with what they can do with the English language.  But everyone received a "STAAR Survival Kit".  Here are some pics!!

 

Inside each kit, was a special note explaining what is in the kit.

Here is your STAAR Survival Kit!

1.  A pencil

to help you record your answers.

2.  A pencil top eraser

to help you correct your mistakes.

3.  A rubbing rock

to help you relieve some stress.

4.  Peppermints

to keep you awake and alert.

5.  A tracking card

to remind you to ask for one if you need it!

If this is of interest to you, you can download it from my "Free Printables" page.

I believe in my kids and their ability to succeed.  They will be fine!  So I leave you with a Potter quote that reminds me of what I want my students to believe...

“Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.” --JK Rowling, (Ravenclaw motto)

Indeed...

Always,

A Little Love and A Spin Class...

 I can't believe it's only Tuesday!  It really seems like a Thursday...in my mind, anyway.

I have been blessed with a "One Lovely Blog Award" by an amazing new blogger, Jillian at Jillian's Just Tinkerin' Around .  (Isn't that a neat blog name??)

 

 I feel extremely honored and I have enjoyed the linky parties that have joined us bloggers together!  I'm approaching one month of blogging and I feel like I've been doing it for months!  It's so much fun!

As a recipient of this award, it is my duty to pass it on to my fellow bloggers.  Here are the rules:

1.  Link back to the blogger who awarded it....(check)
2.  Follow the blogger who sent it to you...(check, check)
3.  Pass the award on to 15 other lovely bloggers...(uhhhhh....here we go!)

I have found and followed so many awesome blogs, but I have several that I check daily.  I know that many of them have already received this award, but I feel like I can't skip over them...they have inspired me in both my teaching and blogging!  So here they are, in no particular order:

1.   Misty at Think, Wonder, Teach  (I absolutely love her book recommendations!)
2.  MiMi at 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules!  (Her games are fantastic!)
3.  Lindsay at My Life as a 5th Grade Teacher  (Her blog inspired me to start!)
4.  Kim at Finding JOY in 6th Grade (She went crazy for Pi!)
5.  Elizabeth at Fun in Room 4B (I totally get her "tip-toeing" into Balanced Literacy!)
6.  Heather at Beg, Borrow, and Teach (Her freebies have me hooked!)
7.  Miss Rowley at Peace, Love, and No. 2 Pencils (She's a newbie with promise!)
8.  Jessica at Dandelions and Dragonflies (I'm so waiting for a grading fairy at my house, too!)
9.  Heather at Heather's Heart (She helps me remember my first grade roots!)
10.  Rayann and Tiffany at The Lemonade Stand (Their ideas are inspirational!)
11.  Sally at     The Fearless 5th Grade Teacher  (The "Fearless" Declutterer!)
12.  Amy at The Resource(ful) Room  (Mad respect!)
13.  Kaitlin at Beyond Teaching  (Creativity is key here!)
14.  Terri at The Creative Apple  (Love, love, love the privilege jar!)
15.  Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher  (Excellent resources!)

So, there it is.  Check out these websites...you won't regret it!!

Ok...the spin class...

All of you "exercise junkies" can go ahead and log out.  It's not that kind of spin class! Ha ha!  Oh, and political experts can log out as well!  I'm talking about the infamous "Spinners" students create every year!

Before spring break, my students taught me how to make them.  I wanted to incorporate them into a game somehow.  I was trying to brainstorm ideas, when my son enlightened me on how spinners are played. (Obviously, at my age, I'm out of the loop...my 19 year old son, however, remembers well!  Guess I know what he did during elementary school...)

Here are the "regular" rules:  Two students spin their homemade spinners.  The one that lasts the longest wins.  It's that simple.  (That's why I have confiscated 8,000 spinners from one quarter. And  I owe my quarters from last year an apology....I always accused them of making ALL of them during class...)

Anywho, today I had all of my quarters make one spinner.  My partner teacher and I combined both classes for 30 minutes so I wouldn't have to waste time doing this!  Shout out to Morvessa!  On Friday, we are going to play "The Writing Games".  Spinners are the prize!  After they compete, the winner of the game at the time gets to challenge another quarter to a spin-off!  The top spinner collector wins a big prize! My quarters took their spinners home to decorate them and make them more "spinable".  If they lose them or get them taken up by another teacher...too bad.  They are out of "The Writing Games".   Here they are practicing:

They seem extremely excited!  I hope that tying in something they love to do with writing games
on Friday, may boost their attention levels and retention!  (Hey, at this point, I'll try just about anything!!)

Before I leave, I want to share our editing review chart we did today.  When the quarters write their expository or narrative essays, one of their jobs is to edit.  We use "CUPS"...capitalization, usage, punctuation, and spelling.  It's extremely important that they use their CUPS on their sloppy copy.

I was really happy to hear them give me instances of what they should look for in their writing!  Good day, my friends, good day indeed...

I leave you with another quote...(yes, yes, there are 7 books...I have lots to quote!)

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.” --JK Rowling

We just need to show the quarters how to use it!
Always,


[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]