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With school winding down...slowly...I'm already thinking ahead to next year, like most of you.
This may also have something to do with the fact that I am starting in a new room next year for the 5th time in 5 years. Yes. Gulp. That's another rant post.
In anticipation of next year, I've been going through my closet. My Pinterest closet that is. I pin so frequently and fervently that I totally forget what I pin. {This may be the reason I have pinned about 26 different recipes for baked zucchini, or the same writing activity 3 times}.
Here are some favorites {educational and not} from the back of my Pinterest closet {meaning I pinned them a long time ago}
Teacher Stuff:
1} I totally meant to do this to my boring, old, rocker last year, but we'll see if I can make it work this year. This teacher is super-crafty.
2} I love this magazine display. It's super-organized, and displays the magazines so that the students can easily find the one they want. It might be a cool way to show their writing portfolios as well.
3} This picture is just pure inspiration for how organized I'd like my classroom to be.
4} I love this as a bonus bulletin board {something I'll need moving to a smaller room}
These are just a few of sooooo many!
Recipes:
1} These just look delicious.
2} I pinned these corn cakes 3 times. Oops. I love Annie's Eats. Her recipes always turn out tasty.
3} I have a whole board dedicated to the sweet stuff, like this blueberry cake.
4} These "cookies" were one of my very first pins... forever ago. Haven't made them...yet.
I'll be back later this week with wedding, home, and style pins from the back of my Pinterest closet. In the meantime you can follow me on Pinterest if any of these pins tickled your fancy :)
Halle
Hello friends!
Happy Sunday, and for some of you happy summer break! Wow, that's weird. We're still looking at 17 more days. Theycantcomesoonenough. Anyways...
I give you the story of my iPad...
Sometime around November {I think}, Donor's Choose offered to match donations made to teacher projects, up to 250,000. The minute I got the email letting me know about their very *sweet* deal, I knew I had to spring into action, and bring out the big guns: I was going to request an iPad {I have ONE student computer in my room...needless to say we're lacking technology}! I had been lucky enough to have had 3 projects funded previously, including one that was funded like 3 days before I got the email announcing the matching funds. I had never asked friends and family for donations in the past, instead relying on the kindness of stangers. So this time around, I sent out an email asking for anything they could give, And my project was funded in about 2 hours. No lie. I am very fortunate to have some incredibly generous people in my life, with my dad winning "Most Generous"!!! {Thanks Dad!!!}
Soon enough an ipad had arrived in my room, and I realized that I had no idea how I was going to maximize its benefits as far as student use goes. Would I hand it out to the earliest finisher? {That seemed wrong on multiple levels}, would I pull a popsicle stick every time there was time to use it? {What if the same student was pulled more often? Would I keep a tally sheet?? How time consuming would that be}
I finally decided that I would pull popsicle sticks to determine an original order, and each student would get the iPad on their designated day. If they were absent, we would skip ahead, and then go back. If it was a half-day, it wouldn't count, and early finishers would be allowed to use it for a set amount of time, and then we would pass it on to the next student.
It has worked swimmingly. It is the fairest process I can think of, anyway.
We also made an iPad pledge, and they have done such an amazing job of following it. They were the ones who suggested washing and DRYING their hands before every use, and I hear them remind each other all the time. It's great! One of our rules is to carry the iPad like a newbord baby. And these kids cradle it like a preemie. I was so worried in anticipation of the iPad's arrival, and they have just blown my expectations out of the water!
Here is a picture of our iPad pledge. Students signed their name in the order their names were pulled, and we just refer to it to see whose turn is next.
Our principal's plan is to have student tablets in every classroom somewhere along the line, but I feel so fortunate to have our iPad until then!
Do you have an iPad or limited technology in your room? How do you manage it?
Halle
I'm linking up with Mrs. Stanford's class to share some of my favorite reads: profressional, personal, and children's books {of course!!!} I hope you'll find some new favorites among my suggestions...especially the children's books, I hope I'm including some you might not be too familiar with :)
First things first: Profressional
I have to be honest, I don't read many profressional books. I prefer a workshop, or online resources. But here are two that have changed the way I teach Language Arts forever. I know the first one is no surprise, but you might not've heard of the second one. If you haven't, and you struggle with how to teach writing in any way, I HIGHLY reccommend it! The mini-lessons and student resources included in the book are awesome!
Secondly: Personal
Again, no huge surprise. I'm reading what everyone's reading. I love to read, and love that this summer should hopefully afford me some time to do so. Besides the books picturesd here, my favorites include Confessions of a Shopaholic, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Secret Life of Bees, The Plain Truth (really any Jodi Piccoult book), Harlan Coben and James Patterson books {especially in the summer}, and so many more. I am a repeat reader. If I loved a book, I'll read it at least twice.
Last: Children's Books
Children's books really are some of my favorite books in the whole wide world. I eat them up. I sometimes believe they appeal more to me than some of my students. I have a few favorite authors, but at the same time, I have fallen in love with so many books, it's hard for me to pick. Miss Rumphius is hands down my favorite, and I want to frame the book's illustrations for my {future} baby's nursery. They're breath-taking.
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| YOU NEED THIS BOOK! |
I want to leave you with a quote I found when I was researching Barbara Cooney for my Miss Rumphius unit that I love, and find so inspiring:
On her receiving the Caldecott Medal in 1959: "I believe that children in this country need a more robust literary diet than they are getting.... It does not hurt them to read about good and evil, love and hate, life and death. Nor do I think they should read only about things that they understand.... a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. So should a child’s. For myself, I will never talk down to—or draw down to—children." {Source: Wikipedia}
-Halle
