Just A Tip...And It Might Help Your Evaluations,Too!!!!

This is white paper cut into a triangle. Six words are written on it. It's been sectioned off with a ruler and colored. Yep, it's been laminated, too. *cue ooohs and aaaahs* LOL! 

We all know that differentiation is a must, as well as higher-order thinking questions that address all of the areas of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy.  Why not make one of these and post it on the corner of your whiteboard? I place a dot on each section to assure I've addressed all of the areas during my lessons.  Even the kids will get in on it: I remember them saying "Ms. C., we haven't reached the top yet!" HAHAHAHAAA! 

Just a thought...and psssssst..... This looks great to evaluators, too; shows an effort has been put into differentiation. ;-)

Until next time,

Ms. Jenn

First Day Jitters

Random thoughts......no rhyme or reason to them, just writing:

The first day of school is next week.

I'm afraid.

I get like this every year: The jitters, the cold sweats, the lack of sleep, the tears that quickly turn into sudden bursts of energy to get things done, the laughter at myself for being so silly, the nervousness for the babies that I had last year to do well in middle school.........

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a wreck.

Yes, I'm an awesome teacher.  Yes, I get like this every year.  Yes, this begins my tenth year teaching.  And YES, I'm STILL a wreck.

Sigh.

Tears are falling NOW! I've got butterflies in my stomach.  My migraine is threatening to come back. I don't care HOW old I am, HOW many degrees I get, or HOW many times I hear "Good job", I'm still gonna wonder if I'm good enough for THIS bunch of kids.

No sympathy needed....just me blabbing.
But, I came across this quote:
“Successful teachers are effective in spite of the psychological theories they suffer under.”

Well, darn.  Sucked my tears right up.  Regardless of what I'm feeling, if I'm gonna be successful, I've got to shake any hindrances off.  And I'm GOING to be successful at teaching this new bunch; best believe that!

I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!

Those salty reminders of humanness will probably come back at least thrice until I actually see the batch of babies that I'm getting. I'm not quite ready for 'em, but it's ok.  Put me in, Coach. :)

Lemme go throw these Kleenex tissues away,

Jenn

FREE Resources (For Parents AND Teachers!!!)

Hey, guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope your summer has been great.  I just wanted to share a couple of FREE resources ("Free?  Did she say 'free'?"  Why yes, yes I did!) for both parents and teachers alike.  I know "worksheets" are frowned upon, BUT there IS some good ol'-fashioned educational greatness in these sites.

First site:   http://www.math-drills.com/

This site is GREAT for a couple of reasons: 
1.) Review:  If you truly teach math the way it is to be taught, there's some "spiraling" that's involved.  For those who may not be familiar with the term, spiraling is basically dipping back into previously taught/learned skills so that they stay fresh in the kids' minds.

 2.) Differentiation: Yes, I said it....the "d" word. LOL!!!! For each skill, there are several subsets that can be used to challenge students, strengthen skills and to pull back and reteach if need be. 

3.) Convenience:  Ya know when parents ask ya for extra work for their kids? BAM!!!!!!!! Not only are these easy to print (or you can just give 'em the website), but they come with answer keys!!!!!!!!!!!! SCORE!!!!  Parents....can we say ROAD TRIP ACTIVITIES???? Print off some, buy a dollar clipboard from Walmart or your local dollar store and.....you can thank me later. LOL!!!! Aaaaaand teachers, if you have one of those mounted projectors with a feed from your desktop in your classroom, pop a skill up there, let the kids work on it in their math journals, and allow for self-checking! *cue happy dance*

Second site: http://www.worksheetworks.com

Now, this site says "beta" on it, but PLEASE DON'T let that deter you from checking it out!  It has a hodge-podge of skills that can be used for extra practice. 

*For the little ones, there's a scissors skills section:  Just click the level of difficulty and print out different shapes to help your kids develop the fine motor skills needed for cutting. (Hey....get the kids some kid-friendly scissors.  Try the kind by Westcott, that fit both left and right-handed babies. They're at Walmart, they're reasonably-priced, and read carefully: There's a kind made out of nylon that'll only cut paper--no carpet, hair, electrical wiring, that new purse....nada. Solo papel!)

*There's a handwriting section for both manuscript and cursive.  You can even type in what you want kids to copy and practice writing.  Think about it....go with me, here: Choose any subject area and type in what you want the kids to write.  Not only does this reinforce skills in social studies, science, etc, BUT it buys you a bit of time.  Raise your hand if you've got enough time carved out of your day to practice handwriting with the babies........Y'all might; I don't. *chuckle*

*There's a math section.  It's ok, but I really like the calculator skills portion.  Even in 4th and 5th grade, I noticed that the babies had trouble with correctly entering in the information into their calculators. (I hear my Daddy in my head "It's not the calculator that's wrong, Jennifer, it's the one using the thing.  The calculator is just a tool!" LOL Yes, Daddy.) Check out the math portion...it's cool.

*The English Language section is pretty nifty.  There are skills with homophones (scene, seen...their, there, they're), vocabulary and alphabetizing.

*The Geography section has the coolest puzzle EVER!  It's a states and capitals grid puzzle.  Honestly, I wanna (and I just might) print one out and work on it mySELF!!!! (But, once again, I'm a dork. *shrug*)

*There are sections for both puzzles (brain teasers, Sudoku, Pentominoes, etc) and miscellaneous items.

Welp, I'm done......................for now. :-)  There's more to come--we've got ALL YEAR!!!!

Until next time,

Ms. Jenn