I didn't get into my new 4th grade classroom until 1 day prior to workshop week.  With a (still pretty new) baby and 3 year old, I didn't want to give up any of my summer time with them.  I DO NOT regret that decision!!  However, I was overwhelmed when I came in the Friday before workshop to start setting things up.

Luckily things came together.

The biggest task... organizing my books.  I was worried that I wouldn't have enough chapter books, so I did do some shopping and ordering over the summer.  Turns out I had more than enough... the below photo represents about 1/5 of my total # of chapter books & doesn't even include the thousands of picture books I have.  Crazy.  

Luckily, I have a wonderful friend/ colleague who was willing to come in on a Friday afternoon to help me organize.  People like her make a challenging profession possible.  So thankful. 

I'm pretty pleased with the end result.  Note... my room is not fancy or cutesy. This is not because I'm lazy.  It is purposefully a blank slate because I want the room to represent student learning NOT my fabulous decorating style (okay & I don't really have a lot of decorating know-how- so luckily, my philosophy supports my lack of decorating talent!).  

The results:

Like I said- not too fancy, but a perfectly functional blank slate, ready for students to learn.

I polished things up a bit during workshop week.  We had our Open House on Wednesday.  Open house went great... after years of doing 1st grade open house, it was really nice having 4th graders come in who "knew the ropes." They organized their materials & had a look around.  I enjoyed meeting all of them!  

On Thursday, we had our "district day."   All the employees squeezed into the high school auditorium.  The big surprise... US Senator Al Franken (& SNL alum) gave the opening address!  I met him in the cafeteria prior & he did his Stuart Smalley routine just for me.  Obviously, it's going to be an AMAZING year if that is how it was kicked off.  Happy 2014 school year everyone!

Here is a Stuart Smalley clip in case you don't know this sketch... it's a good one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DIETlxquzY

Summer Inspiration- Up North At the Cabin

Wow!  I cannot believe that it is Labor Day weekend.  Summer went by in a blink of an eye.  Seriously.

I thought I'd get more blogging done this summer- but I was too busy having fun with my family.

My summer highlight was my trip Up North to Three Lakes, Wisconsin.  My grandpa bought this cabin in the 70s, so I have literally been up there every summer since I was an infant.

I am LOVING bringing my boys up there now.  It's so fun to see them loving one of my favorite places on earth.

So while I was on vacation, I did have one inspiration for school.  I remembered one of my favorite picture books: Up North At the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall.  This book really nails the whole "up north" experience on the head.  There are also a TON of fun lesson ideas that this book can facilitate.

1.  If you use the Responsive Classroom approach- you know that early in the year you introduce the concept of "taking a break."  Take a break is not a punitive measure- rather, if set up properly, it empowers students to exercise self regulation before they lose control and cause disruptions.  Some teachers set up a break spot in the room.  In my break spot, I always had kids make paintings of their own special, calm place.  That way, while they were on a break, they could recall that calm place and how they felt there.  Then, when they regained control, they could rejoin the group.  Up North at the Cabin has such beautiful illustrations- you could definitely use the pictures to model paintings kids might want to produce.

2.  The story also has rich, descriptive language perfect for teaching the reading comprehension strategy of visualization.  

3.  Finally, this story is FULL of similes and metaphors.  It would be a great book to check out while teaching those concepts.  

I created a unit on my TpT store that may help you with these lessons.  Check them out!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Up-North-at-the-Cabin-1422207

Good luck with the start of school!

Back To School, Responsive Classroom, Hopes & Dreams

So... I have started to think about starting back to school.  This summer is going ridiculously FAST.  Anyone else feel the same?!?

So, one of my favorite aspects of Back to School has always been to dive into the year using the Responsive Classroom approach.  I have been trained in both Responsive Classroom I & II.  If you have the opportunity to take this training, HIGHLY recommend it!  If you don't think you can take the training session, you might want to check out this book...

I reread it just about every year & always find something new that I can apply to my teaching practice.  It is on my TO DO list to take a look at it again in the next few weeks.  I'm wondering how my RC practice will change as I make the 1st to 4th grade leap... 

Anyway, one of my favorite ways to open the year in the past has been to start with HOPES & DREAMS... this is a goal-setting activity where kids name what they really desire to work on during the course of the year.  One of my favorite books to do this with is called Surfer Chick by Kristy Dempsey...

I plan to use this book this year to kick off my HOPES & DREAMS discussion.  The themes of courage & perseverance are applicable for ALL ages I believe (I hope!).  I wrote up a little mini-unit freebie for my TpT page- so feel free to take a peak at it and see if it would work in your classroom.  The end product of the unit looks something like this:

I made this sample with my 3-year old- he's a pretty cute surfer dude, right?  I'm looking forward to doing a similar project in September with my new batch of 4th graders!  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

If you are interested in the unit- see my TpT page: 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Surfer-Chick-Hopes-and-Dreams-Mini-Unit-1333580

Let me know how you like it--- enjoy your summer!  

A bit about me...

I am entering my 8th year teaching at Sun Path Elementary- a school in Minnesota.  My entire career has been teaching primary grades, and now I have made a big leap to teaching intermediate- 4th grade!  I alternate between feeling super excited and very nervous.

In addition to being brand new in 4th grade, I'm also a rookie blogger.  So why would I start a blog AND a new job position?  A couple of reasons:

• To hold myself accountable- after doing first grade for SOOO long, I felt like I had a tendency to get stuck in a rut and continue with the status quo- hopefully by going public, I will be more accountable to stay innovative and fresh.
• To be reflective- it is scary leaving something familiar and moving towards something so different.  I hope to use this blog to reflect on both successes and missteps.  I hope that being more reflective in my practice will help me to grow as an educator.  
• I'm also going to try to link ideas I try to my brand new Teachers Pay Teacher store.  Hopefully things that work well for me could benefit others.  

We'll see how it all goes!

Personally, I have been married to Nate for 4.5 years.  We have two kids, John (3.5) & Ryan (4 months).  They are the best little boys ever.  Being a mom is my favorite thing- our family loves to swim, visit parks, go to Barnes & Noble and enjoy our cabin in Three Lakes, Wisconsin.  I feel incredibly blessed to have my family.  Enjoying my job at Sun Path is the icing on the cake.  Thanks for reading!