What Do You Want to Learn?
This was already a short week with Professional Development and end-of-semester grading scheduled for Friday, while students had the day off school. Throw in a snow day Monday, and three half-days for middle and high school and it’s a pretty charged atmosphere, especially considering the upcoming Student Faculty Basketball Game following their mini-schedule! So what […]
Artistic Interpretation
We’re well on our way through Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan as a class read aloud. Actually, it’s a class read aloud 2.0. Throughout our reading we are listening for stand out lines that represent excellent language, word choice, training our ears to hear the figurative language and the deeper meanings beyond lines […]
Adopt-a-Classroom Feature
Several years ago, I joined Adopt-a-Classroom as a way to streamline the way parents can support our efforts in the classroom. We’ve had a handful of donors support our classroom and we’ve been able to purchase new materials from time to time. This year, I have approached the school year and funding opportunities with a […]
Help Our Classroom – Vote!
Throughout this first month of school, I have mentioned to students that I am always seeking funding opportunities such as contests, crowdsourcing, and grants. This year alone, I have already submitted applications for at least three different grants. I have already heard that my Portland Area Education Fund grant has been approved, another grant from the […]
Building our Reading Community
In my opinion, successful communities begin with a sense of unity and a set of guidelines upon which they agree. As part of our classroom this year, we are a learning community – a group of readers and writers. One part of our learning is connecting with books. Rather than tell you all the rules […]
Happy New Year!
I’ve always loved the way the start of a new school year seems like a new beginning in life. Just like those January resolutions, I find myself being more mindful of healthy habits and taking on new challenges like resolving to stay more organized or carve out time for reflection and wonder. This summer, I […]
Hands-on Learning
We’ve been reading Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse. Set on a sheep farm in Vermont, I’ve always worked to build background knowledge for students. This year we’ve watched videos of border collies herding sheep and I’m hoping to bake bread with students within the coming weeks. However, just yesterday, we were honored to have Mrs. McNeil come […]
Name Our Class Pet!
I’d been thinking about getting a fish for our classroom, and this week our Fishbowl Activity to discuss reading conferences was the perfect opportunity to introduce our new little beta! Throughout the week, students submitted names they liked and I’ve narrowed it down to the final few here in this poll. Please cast your vote […]
Gearing up for this year’s SOLSC!
Every year I vow to make it the year that I write a Slice of Life entry each Tuesday. Sometimes I even go so far as to write up a post, but declare it unfinished and therefore never hit Publish. (You should see the stockpile of draft posts I’ve got going on!). Then, I vacillate between keeping […]
SOLSC ~ 2012 ~ 29/31
Everyone is tired and getting ready to enjoy a week of relaxation for spring break. Many are leaving early. Many are staying home. Add to the fact that our third marking period is coming to a close and we’re finding ourselves in crunch time to get everything in – and it’s a recipe for busy […]
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