Life Long Learner

This site was recommended to me, and I decided to try it out, and it worked! "DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund. Proposals range from "Magical Math Centers" ($200) to "Big Book Bonanza" ($320), to "Cooking Across the Curriculum" ($1,100). Any individual can search such proposals by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the project(s) they find most compelling. In completing a project, donors receive student thank-you notes, classroom photos, and a teacher Impact Letter." I submitted my project, Under the Sea, on May 19 and the project was fully funded and will be sent to me at the start of nex...

Today was my IEP writing day at school. A sub was hired for the full day, and I was given the day to write my IEPS. I know, it's impossible to write 9 IEPS in 8 hours, but, hey at least I was granted 1 day! My sub arrived early, sat down at the front table, and didn't move until it was time to take the kids to special. I have to give credit to my aid, who did all the teaching in the morning. When my students went to special I'll admit I went down to the principal to complain about the substitute. My principal was proactive - she immediately went to chat with my sub. Of course, I was not in the room for the discussion, so when I returned the sub told me the principal paid her a visit. I acted surprised, then gently suggested to her that she move around and give 1:1 attention to the students. Sure enough she took me up on this advice and walked around to all the kids once they came back from special. Sometimes gentle reminders are all people need to get them moving in the rig...

My alarm went off at 4:15 yesterday morning. Yes, 4:15 A.M. on a Saturday morning. I jumped out of bed and quickly ran to the bathroom to take my shower and get ready for my exciting journey to NYC! I'll admit, I have never driven to NYC by myself before, and I was a little nervous. I was in the car by 4:50, and the only customer in the Wawa. I poured a gigantic, well needed 24 oz coffee, and picked up a 50 oz water bottle. I quickly exited the Wawa, turned on my GPS and was on the road to Teacher's College by 5:05 A.M. I didn't hit any traffic and was speeding through the toll of the George Wasington Bridge when I ran into a snag. Red brake lights, lots of them. I came to an abrupt stop and thought to myself...well it's 6:46, the GPS says I should be there at 6:57. This abrupt stop might mean I won't arrive until 7:30...no big deal I'll still be an hour and a half early for the keynote address. After holding my foot to the brake pedal for 15 minutes I realized ...

Thanks to Successful Teaching for this post. A great message...Since watching it I have been trying to validate others...pass it on!

For the past month my class has been practicing our play, Henry's Freedom Box. The kids worked so hard to make it a truly moving experience for the entire school. Last Friday was the assembly for Black History Month where we were going to perform our play. The kids were excited to put on their costumes, and were even more excited when they found out we were the last part of the assembly. It felt like we were sitting for hours at the assembly before it was finally our turn. Keep in mind, we had practiced every part of this...from getting up out of our seats to sitting back down. The music began "Swing low, sweet chariot..." and the kids did a fantastic job. We decided to add a song to the end of the play where the kids would do a dance. Celebrate America, by Barry Mann It was the perfect addition and brought many of the students and teachers in the audience to tears. I was so proud of my students. For once the special ed students were the stars of the show. These are the m...

As a teacher I find it extremely difficult to write sub plans, and find it is easier to "just come in" than write the plans. Yesterday I was scheduled to go to a full day meeting of third grade teachers, but instead of attending the meeting I took a sick day. I was grateful my plans were already written, but sad to miss a collaborative meeting with other teachers in my district. When I came in this morning I was greeted by a note from the sub and two pictures from my students. It is really nice to know my students miss me when I'm gone...

The end of the marking period is always hectic for teachers, and most especially for special education teachers. It's progress monitoring time! I stayed at school late yesterday to complete my progress monitoring on my students. Every marking period I think to myself...I really should create online tests for as many goals as I can, but never seem to get around to it. I constantly listen to my students read, but I feel some other goals could be measured through some customized quizzes. I wonder if anyone does this? I am going to look into it for the third quarter and see if it allows me more instructional time with my students.