One More Semester Down, One More To Go!

As this semester comes to an end, I keep telling myself that I can do it! Like April said in her post, I've learned many applicable things, but I will be so relieved once graduate school is over. I'll miss seeing everyone, but I'll feel like I have a life again! Being a teacher consumes so much time anyway and grad school makes things even more difficult.  I'm always thinking about what I need to do and once I think I have one thing finished, there's always something else that needs to be completed.  I am going to enjoy this summer vacation more than any other I believe!!! :)

Thoughts of Randomness

I'm very glad I have finally come up with a 21st century lesson idea! :) It took a lot of thinking but I've got most of it figured out.  Now I just need to type up the lesson plan and teach it next week, but I think once the lesson plan part is finished, it'll all fall into place then.

Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow at 1:00-I cannot wait! The break is much needed and is going to be very much appreciated.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Catching Up

I haven't posted in quite some time! It's so hard trying to keep up with everything between grad school and work.  I give props to you ladies who are managing grad school with kids. I couldn't imagine!

A few random thoughts:

I think I've finished my multimedia project or at least almost finished. I was having some trouble with Voicethread tonight but I think everything ended up working out.

I'm starting to get the hang of third grade. SOLs still make me really nervous though! I'd rather be back in second grade due to the stress that SOLs bring, but I do like how the kids change classes.  It makes the day go by faster since I'm dealing with different groups of kids.  I also enjoy teaching only two subjects, Reading (to my homeroom) and Math (to all three classes).

I am looking very forward to this Friday's 1:00 dismissal for Veteran's Day and then Thanksgiving break in a few weeks....and then Christmas break! :) Hopefully Thanksgiving break and Christmas break will be filled with a lot of relaxation. I'm looking forward to not having any schoolwork to do, or is that even possible???

Contractions

Today in class, I gave each student an index card that had a contraction or the two words that make up a contraction.  The students had to quietly walk around the room and find their partner.  When they found their partner, they had to do a little hand clap that I showed them.  The students really enjoyed moving around the room, finding their partners, and performing the hand clap.   Does anyone have any other ideas for quick and easy contraction review activities? (or antonym/synonym ones)

Benchmark Tests

Testing, testing, testing! Oh, the testing! I feel that too much pressure is put on teachers and students in education today.  I have to give my students their Reading benchmark tomorrow morning, and I pray that they will do well.  We did a practice this week and some kids really struggled. I hope they will use the testing strategies we discussed and apply them to their test tomorrow. I can only hope...

Technology

Technology is so important in today's world! Teachers have so many opportunities to use technology in their classrooms...it's just a matter of us taking the time to research and discover things.  With that being said, if anyone has any ideas for third grade activities for incorporating technology into reading or math, please feel free to share! :)

Search Engines

In David Warlick's Redefining Literacy 2.0, he discusses the use of search engines.  I often use search engines but have never really thought about the process that goes on.  I just type in what I'm looking for and then look through the various links that it brings up.  There's a quote on page 35 that says, "The true intelligence of the World Wide Web is between your ears."  This quote is absolutely true.  If you take the time to use the internet, you can find so many resources that can be used in your classroom.  All you have to do is look for them!