Those days that are actually fun

When I was in college I did what felt like a trillion internships.

My program was really good 

about getting us into as many classrooms as possible.

Sometimes we were required to teach a lesson or two.

Sometimes we were solely there to observe.

But each time we were gaining exposure, networking, 

and stealing learning new, great ideas. 

By Junior Year we were placed in a classroom part time 

and were able to begin forming a relationship with one teacher

and one set of students. 

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. 

During this time we were responsible for teaching one to two mini-lessons a semester

based on what we had been learning in one of our methods classes.

These lessons were observed by either our cooperating teacher

or our supervisor and then were turned in for a grade.

Therefore, I made sure these lesson always rocked. 

I made sure to involve each and every student in a new and different way

engaging every type of learner

going above and beyond with the innovativeness (if that's even a word)

and creativity of each and every lesson I was observed on.

It wasn't that hard, considering it was one lesson out of an entire day. 

When I became a real teacher, I realized that planning 

the most creative and innovative lesson imaginable

for each and every lesson is freaking hard.

And really just not possible. 

{Disclaimer - this does not mean that not every lesson 

should be meaningful and engaging.

Obviously, those two are a given. 

It just means, not every lesson is going to be Pinterest-worthy.}

In college it was easy to spend an hour planning one Math lesson.

It was the only lesson I had to plan.

Now that I've got to plan one Math lesson for each day of the week

every week of the year, 

along with Language Arts, Guided Reading, Science, Social Studies, and Writing

spending an hour plus on each one is just not feasible.

Fortunately that's where my FABULOUS team comes in. 

We all plan together which is great because we can all share ideas,

focus on rocking one subject out and then sharing it with each other.

And occasionally,

those amazingly creative lessons come up

where you just want to brag about what you've been doing in your classroom.

{Disclaimer #2: I am all about being cutesy and fun with lessons in the classroom.

It's part of why I teach First Grade. 

However, I am not all about arts and crafts just the sake of arts and crafting.

I like for things to be aligned with specific standards

and I believe in utilizing every minute of every day for teaching and learning something valuable.

I'll admit, some days I achieve this more than others.}

Without further adieu....

Look What Rigorous and Meaningful Things We've Been Doing

{1.}

We've been reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The real, seventh grade level, Wizard of Oz. 

Well, we've been reading it out loud.

And our kids can't get enough of it.

Our whole Language Arts unit this quarter 

is focused around it and The Winds of Change 

based on our Common Core Bible

Seriously, this book has been the hugest help in planning this year.

We don't study weather anymore in First Grade (boo) 

which obviously would have been perfect for the Winds of Change,

but we do study Rocks and Soil and how weathering and erosion affect them.

In the Wizard of Oz we're focusing on the change in characters

from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.

We're also focusing on the change in mood throughout the story

and how certain music and video clips can effect the mood.

We're also talking about change in vocabulary 

and how using different words can change the perception of things.

Earlier this week, Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch.

And left a huge mess in our hallway.

Fortunately Mrs. Ruby (our magnificent janitor) was there to help us clean it up.

Some other fun resources that I've used and combined 

for the Wizard of Oz study can be found here and here and here.

{2.}

Since it's Black History Month, we've been learning about famous Black Americans.

We've really tried to incorporate a variety of role models 

one. to show a variety of role models

and two. to kind of step away from the typical Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks thing.

Not that they're not important, but there are a lot of others too.

Like Lebron James.

Okay, actually, I'll admit he was a bit of a stretch. 

I mean I know he's a bomb basketball player and all

but he's not quite MLK JR. status.

However, the kids really enjoyed learning about someone they knew

and could relate to (and who was still alive).

They also loved seeing him in his 6'8" glory and measuring themselves

to see how tall we were in comparison, which is what we did above.

{3.}

I mentioned earlier that it was Read Across America week.

We lost the book competition. 

Darn you Mrs. Barnes.

But we had fun nonetheless.

And I had a blast dressing up like my most favorite animal for the day.

I had every intention of taking a picture all by myself,

but today was actually a no good, horrible, terrible day so that didn't quite happen.

Also, I'm aware my trunk looks inappropriate - that's all part of the fun! 

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. 

An elephant's faithful 100%."

Documenting classroom activities on le blog is tough

because I'm sure it puts half of you right to sleep

and it's hard to show you the real fun of it all

without showing you my sweet kiddos.

But every once in a while, a little taste of my teaching life won't hurt.

Plus also, Robbie's been super busy with school this week

and has not been the superior listener he typically is.

Usually, these crazy excited classroom recaps are given to him nightly.

Now, I'm off to enjoy my Friday night
as I'm sure every teacher does
in yoga pants with a glass bottle of wine.


Hugs,