I Might Be Telling the Truth...

Hello My Bloggy Dears! I have missed you!

I'd like to say that I had sailed solo to Tahiti, or built a three story room addition or won the lottery, but, alas, no. I've just been overwhelmed by the craziness of being a sixth grade teacher when Spring Break and state testing are simply too close together!

Testing is only three weeks away, but all we can think about is S-P-R-I-N-G---B-R-E-A-K!

As a testimony to the state of mental exhaustion that has overtaken us, I misspelled "Spring Break" three times trying to type it in that last sentence. At least I caught my error before suggesting that I was waiting anxiously for Sping Break or Spring Beak.

In an effort to ease back into blogging, I am joining up with LaToya Reed at Flying into First Grade! I am already a week behind, so I have to jump in quickly before this link "expires," and then catch up on the new activity.

Week One's assignment {well THAT makes me chuckle} is to present the readers with two truths and a lie--and to leave you guessing (at least for a little while) which facts are true and which fact is untrue.

Ooooohhhh. I do like the sound of this! I've done this activity with my sixth graders in the past and we had a lot of fun. As I recall, they needed two sets of reminders. First reminder: There is a difference between "personal" meaning "about you" and "private" meaning "your parents won't be happy if they found out you shared this information with thirty-five of your closest friends." Sixth graders tend to blur those lines with some regularity.

Second reminder: The "lie" should be not be obvious. I remember students writing things like: "I won a million dollars yesterday" or "I stole three cheeseburgers and three hundred dollars at McDonald's last night" (So often, their world revolves around food, money, sports and video games!) Telling an almost-truth about themselves was not quite as easy for them to do! (Not to mention the importance of reminding them that this is a game and they are not supposed to be lying in the first place--especially if you are the one who stole my purple pen or broke that last roll of "boo boo tape"...) If you do try this activity with "bigger kids," these reminders might be helpful in the set-up of the game...

So, back to lying about myself...

Font from Hello Literacy... Chevron paper from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs (see button at the end of the post)

Can you guess which two statements are true and which one is completely-falsified-so-that-I-could-include-it-here-for-the-sake-of-this-game? So...

Statement 1: While working for the Hawaii Department of Education, I got lost in a sugar cane field with my co-presenter somewhere in the vicinity of the school where we were assigned to work. We drove through rows and rows of cane plants (which poked into our windows and nearly damaged the car) for over an hour and narrowly missed having the workshop canceled on our behalf... Or...

Statement 2: As a seventeen year old employed at a doughnut shop, I misread the directions while making raised dough (such as that used for glazed doughnuts). As a result, once I mixed the warm water and dry ingredients, the dough rose out of the mixer, filled first one large trash can, then two, and then nearly half of the dumpster in the parking lot behind the shop... Or...

Statement 3: During my first year of teaching, I was on duty as the recess supervisor when three large dogs from the house across the street broke free from their backyard and found their way onto the school playground. Hundreds of children watched amused and/or horrified as I ran back and forth across the playground, among four square, hopscotch and tether ball games, trying to catch and capture the furry friends with only the help of my whistle and a commandeered jump rope...

Hmmmmm. Are you left wondering? Which ones ARE true? And which is completely made-up?

Thanks for checking in today! I hope that you will stop by Flying Into First Grade and learn some fun facts about some of your other friends in the Blog-O-Sphere. Just click on the colorful button above. And if you're not in the mood for scrolling upward, I added another copy of the link below!

The next time I link up with LaToya, I'll tell you the answer to my challenge. But for a bit of fun, you could leave a comment and let me know which fact you think simply cannot be true.

And just to make it a little more exciting... I have a little treat for you if you guess correctly correctly. I'll let you know Wednesday night (3/27/13) if your sleuthing capabilities have led you to the truth!

If you are on break this week, I am wishing you a delightful mix of fun and relaxation. If you're still waiting (like me!), I am wishing you patience and perseverance. And if your break is a thing of the past, I am wishing you a chance to reflect on the best-of-the-best moments of your time away from school...

The sweet fonts in my graphics are from Jen Jones-Hello Literacy at TpT and at her blog and the nifty chevron digital paper and the oh-so-cool numbers are from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on TpT! (Click the buttons or the links to see great stuff!)

My First Five for (Last) Friday Link-Up (Such Fun!)

(And with a title like that, I am a little disappointed that I am not teaching alliteration!)

I am often reminding students to follow directions. I have seen this lovely graphic on many blogs and I have enviously viewed lots of posts linking up to these collections each week. Silly me. All along, I thought everything had to happen ON a Friday. Abut those directions, Kim...

This past week, I was so excited to have a number of activities that could add up to FIVE on a Friday. When I went to check on the details to prepare myself for the link up, I was thrilled to find out that Doodle Bugs actually allows you a whole week to come up with all of the excitement. Woo Hoo! Oh happy day... or... week! Delightedly, I am already planning to link up some other time with events that have happened throughout the week.

For the record, though, this time all of these happenings did occur ON a Friday.

First up, we spent some day cutting up flash cards for our Mesopotamia study. Students often make their own cards for different areas of study--but we were running short on time and I wanted to add a few to our study. This is a communal time... we play music and chat and study together. 

Then it's time for a quick clean up. I know it's strange to blog about a trash receptacle, but these make me smile. I bought them baskets at Dollar Tree last summer (to match my room, of course). In my room, table leaders are responsible for getting everything into the recycling bin which limits the number of kids up and walking around. This system keeps everything manageable and I'm always impressed that they their work spaces are always tidy after projects. {Happy sigh!}

As we near the end of our study of Mesopotamia, we tried out a little cuneiform of our own on some miniature clay tablets. Pictured below are bird, ox, fish, grain and bowl. I’d like to tell you that I know which symbol is which… but I can tell you that the students DO know! And, yes, they are wearing plastic gloves… but that is a topic for another blog post!

 

Like most teachers, I have students who have a range of skills and struggles. Sometimes, students need to go back and add some math skills from previous years in order to use them as a foundation for new sixth grade learnings. This year I seem to have a lot of kids who do not have a real understanding of decimals… and they use the word “point” without knowing what they are saying. They can do operations with decimals, but they don't know what decimal amounts look like--or what those amounts mean.

I use manipulatives to illustrate mathematical concepts whenever I can. For decimals, we use money, rulers, stopwatches, base ten blocks--whatever we can find in order to demonstrate those big ideas that help students understand mathematics. After doing activities similar to the one below numerous times, I heard what is considered music to a teacher’s ears: “OOOOOoooooh, I get it now…” And I’m pretty sure that she does!

Part of our behavior program centers around the accruing of “free time” points which a special time that we call “social studies{wink wink}” using giant air quotes and big winks. After all, it is a time to work on getting along and being SOCIAL! Students earn points through acts of kindness, above-and-beyond-wonderfulness and compliments from other staff members. They need to accrue at least 15 points to cash in, but they can bank the points and carry them over to the next week if they agree as a group to do so. We keep track of the points on the white board, and it is a student's job to add on points as they are earned throughout the week.

Strange as it sounds, kids have actually improved their social skills because there are three rules for this time: 1) You can’t say you can’t play, 2) You must involve yourself in an activity with at least one other person, and 3) No inappropriate conversations or activities are allowed. Students can choose from a variety of games I have collected over the years. I find this is also a chance for me to learn a little about my students through simple observations as well! And on this day, they even helped me clean up the cupboard!

I don't know about you, but almost every child in my room is sick! We are going through boxes and boxes of tissues each day. It seems that we are filling the recycling bin... with tissue boxes! I am so thankful that I have not yet gotten "it," and I am determined to outlast the variety of bugs that have been circulated through my classroom. So far, so good! (Personally, I think that Starbucks has curative powers!)

So that's my first contribution to Five for Friday. Click HERE (or on the graphic above) to see how the week went in other places around the blog-o-sphere. It truly is a wonderful link-up and I just know you are going to love peeking in on some other classrooms!

And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

PS I love my Stitched Flags from Ashley Hughes. You can find them HERE on TpT!

Currently... March (Early this time!)

Well, this is a first! Two posts in a row... both Currently! And the fact that they are both titled "Currently" makes me giggle again! That's always a gift from Farley, you know; that girl's sense of humor is amazing!

Even though it is only nine in the morning on March 2nd, my buddy Farley already has over a hundred link-ups. So, I didn't meet my goal of posting in the first hundred, but I did post within the first week of the month. Baby steps, Kim...

I don't know why I am feeling so... light-hearted today. (At first, I typed chipper... does anyone even use the word any more? A just-right word doesn't work if no one else knows what it means!) I think I am feeling chipper because I have a whole Saturday ahead of me, and I have nothing specific planned. I DO have to finish (errr... ummm... start?) my report cards this weekend, but there is always tomorrow!

Things ARE better than they were in September. There are even days when I go home without a headache! I can't say they are all ready for middle school yet, but progress is being made.

In March, I am always torn between wanting the days to go faster because Spring Break (and summer!) are within reach...and wanting the days to slow down because I think we have arrived at a point where learning seems to happen more quickly and easily. That's when it is just easier to take each day as it comes and enjoy each other before the hysteria of testing sets in...

Now for using words that start with K in that last box... WOW. A Currently challenge!

I know I cheated on the Casi Cielo coffee. I hope a can get a waiver for K-sounds and alliteration! I'm pretty sure my love is Starbucks is well-documented. So here's a suggestion: If you make coffee at home, you should try out Casi Cielo. It is as bold as Verona, but with different flavor notes. YUM! A perfect morning wake-up brew! But it's a limited edition offering in February, and disappears before March gets too far underway. Sigh.

I have never been a fan of grading. And report cards make me crazy because it is so hard for me to really narrow down progress to a letter. Our district uses standards-based report cards, so we grade with Proficient, Advanced, Basic, and Below Basic marks. Performance can vary (greatly) from day to day, and I am always so hopeful that "Proficient" is just around the corner!

And kind Bloggy Buddies. What more can I say? Farley's Currently is always a chance to make new friends and keep up with those already in your heart!

With that thought, I think I will go refill my cup and wish you a happy Saturday--and a March filled with real rainbows and other good things.

Don't forget to stop by Farley's at Oh Boy Fourth Grade and share some thoughts about March--and leave some bloggy love to those who link up on either side of you. Just one more way to share some bloggy love...