faulker099

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break.   We had so much lovely family time filled with cooking, laughing, playing games, reminiscing, getting Christmas stuff up, shopping, and showing kindness in so many ways.  I am truly a little sad to see it winding down, the last of the feast gobbled up, and family going home. Over the week off I did have some time to think back to the teachers who have made the greatest impact on my life.  All the ones who came to mind are the ones who were kind. Showing kindness helps to establish trust and rapport, which in my case opened the door to learning. Even discipline was more effective when administered with kindness. I have tried to show that to my own children as they grew, and I strive to show that same kindness to my students.  Some days are harder than others.  Days when I'm not as organized as I should be, when the kids just aren't getting "it," or when the interruptions keeeeeeep coming (You kn...

Hello Everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend!! It has finally stopped raining here and we were able to get outside for a bit.  The sunshine felt so good!!  And the dogs....They were so ready to play, play, play!!  We finally wore them out, so it's now time to get some school stuff done!  We have parent/teacher conferences tomorrow all day, so my first big job was to get ready for that, organizing test scores, writing samples, math notebook samples, etc.  I really love meeting with parents and sharing what their little ones are working on. And getting to know my kids better by getting to know their parents is so incredibly helpful!!! I'm very thankful for a full day to meet with everyone! So, with that all organized, I now have time to share my new Matter unit with you.  It has a little bit of everything for our young scientists, but there is an emphasis this year on the properties of matter, and not so much the states of matter. Here are some quic...

Hello Everyone! I truly can't even believe that it has been so long since my last post!  I am sooooo sorry! It just seems as if I have been barely staying afloat this year.  We have had some huge events going on, both at school and on the home/personal front.   My goal for today is to fill you in on what we've been doing in writing and in word work. I writing we are working hard on expressing ourselves in small moments.  This year I wanted to use the well documented "Watermelon vs Seed" analogy for focusing on small moments.  In the past I've used "Catch a Small Moment" and a "Pea" idea.  But I know that the upper grades use the watermelon idea, so, alas!  Here I go as well!   I started off reading Watermelon Party which is a fun little example of small moments, and of course, it's about a watermelon!   Then we talked about the difference between a watermelon story and a seed story. We sorted some cards on an anchor chart. I showed ...

Hello Everyone! I certainly hope your summer has been one of family time, rejuvenation, and maybe a little learning! Mine has been all of those. We were able to take several trips to see family across this country to celebrate birthdays, babies, more birthdays, and just reconnections.   Having time off during the summer is so important to me as we have spread to every corner. Having time off in the summer is also important to me to rejuvenate as a teacher. I always try to take advantage of the book studies our district offers.   This year I was able to read three great choices. If I were to pick my top fav it would hands down be “ From Striving to Thriving” by Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward. If you teach reading to any age kiddo, or if you are a parent of a school age child, you have to read this book.   I am telling you, I literally almost cried when I finished it. It was almost like the authors were looking in on my teacher heart as they were writing this book. From th...