Womp womp

I have majorly failed on the updating of my blog! Cheer has consumed my life for the past two weeks. I'll be back soon....

Oh, silly mascots.

Resolved.

I've dedicated a good chunk of the summer to professional development and generic pondering for next year. This is mostly due to the fact that I am determined to help make this year run smoother for my team (last year was a bit of a train wreck...but only sometimes). Anyways, I've been rounding up some new ideas to try, and in an effort to hold myself accountable I am making my intentions known to my blog. Once upon a time someone asked me to blog more teacher-y things, so here I go...

1. Conversation Calendars. The presenter of a training casually mentioned Cris Tovani's idea of conversation calendars to interact with students, and I'm pretty sure my eyes lit up. I found more info on it here and decided I must try this out. I love how you can steer a conversation if you want and differentiate for individual students as needed. My plan is to have half of my students on a Monday/Wednesday schedule and the other half on Tuesday/Thursday. We shall see how it goes!

2. Absent binder. For two years I have tried to keep up with an absent wall, but the wall real estate next to the door became too valuable. Students never checked it, so I am going to try out a binder this year instead (as seen here).

3. Ticket out poster (idea from pinterest via here). I am a fan of the "ticket out" and use it fairly regularly. Usually I have my kids put sticky notes on the back of the door or my front cabinet door, but it gets a little crazy sometimes. This way, each student has a number and I can quickly scan for content and "if they got it." This is going next to the door where my old absent board was.

4. To be determined...I will fill you in on the rest!

Quotable Quotes

Student: "Can I go to the bathroom?"
Me: "Nope."
Student: "That...is preposterous."
Me: "Nice word choice...still no."

I really do love working with junior high kids. :o)

I was looking through the pictures on my phone earlier and totally cracked up at this...there really are not very many good photos of Tyson and I. It's mostly just ridiculousness like this.

Quotable quotes

I was grading my students' first week of school mini-me-books this weekend, and was totally cracking up at this:

"I really don't like eating broccoli because I feel like I am eating a tree and harming the environment."

How funny is that? It's the small humorous exchanges and comments I want to remember. I mean, I will never forget my student last year who completed his homework of bringing in a newspaper by picking a neighbor's up on the way to his bus stop.

I'm really lame.

I totally bought this shirt (that matches my file folders and border in my classroom). Wearing it the first Friday of school for SURE. 

San Diego

First sight at the airport. The weather was gorgeous (60s-70s with low humidity) and palm trees were plentiful.

We were there for the International Society for Technology in Education. It was insane. So many inspiring people and new tools I want to try out further. I definitely will be kept busy for the rest of the summer! The highlight for me was the keynote speaker, Yong Zhao:

Mayim Bialik was there too!!

In between sessions, I could walk out onto the balcony at the convention center for this view that taunted me. So beautiful!

On the exhibit floor. With Curious George.

Owl power.

Teacher gift. My students know how much I love owls! And delicious baked goods.

I have one-half of one day remaining in my first year of teaching. That is what I call insane in the membrane. And technically, I have my conference period for the first final tomorrow, so I have 115 minutes of instruction time left in this year. Wow. Aside from actual school, I've got a luncheon tomorrow, grades due in the afternoon, a room to pack up by Friday, and a morning meeting to set the school calendar for next year. I'm still in shock that the year has gone by so quickly.

I suppose I should ready myself for tomorrow--quizzes to grade and end of the year gifts to make! :o)

Randomness.

Sometimes I cannot help what comes out of my mouth. I might be questioning in my head if I should be saying it, but usually it is .5 seconds too late. For example....

Me: "Can you please talk more quietly? I have sensitive bunny ears and they can't handle the loudness."

Sadly, my students aren't phased by it anymore. Because one of their responses? "I thought you had owl ears."

Quotable Quotes

Me: "So what is the mood in this story? Is it happy? Is it sad? Tell me about it."
Student A: "Happy?"
Student B: "What are you talking about? The girl should be sitting on the couch with tissues and ice cream!"

-----

Me: "Good news for you! Your test has been pushed back to Thursday, so let's update our planners..."
Student: "Anorexic!" [laughter ensues]
Me: "Excuse me?"
Student: "Oh, it means awesome."

Overheard.

"So now we are going to brainstorm three ways that we can make our school No Place for Hate. Go ahead and write down your ideas in your composition book."
"Mrs. Hann, how do you spell tazer?"

Poor California all by itself...

Check out that awesome Texas! We decorated our doors at school to promote going to college. Please note the paper at the bottom of the door...a student added that today, intending it to be Montana. Also please ignore the fact that Indiana is bigger than California. I should have added a sign that said, "WARNING: Not to scale!"

When I'm not sure if I should laugh or roll my eyes...

source

"So we have our thesauri that you can use..."

"I think that's a type of dinosaur."

"...actually, it's the plural of thesaurus."

"Are you sure? It sounds more like a dinosaur."

Can I Pause this Moment?

Today, one of my classes applauded me. It was about half the class, but still. Made me smile.

Overheard.

So today was one of those whirlwind days. Which was kind of nice, because I got a migraine during my second block and felt absolutely horrible for most of the day. But it still went by quickly because so much was going on. We went to the library as a class for the first time, and when my academic class got back we had a little down time while papers got handed back. I overheard one of my girls saying that three of them had all gotten the same book. This initially irked me, because we have a book report due every month and I thought they were just going to work on it together to save time. But then she told another classmate that they were going to have a book club. And my heart melted just a tiny bit. They are also racing to see who can finish first, but it's still pretty cute. Apparently a boy in my class got it also (it's a Gossip Girl-esque type), so that should be interesting.

Also overheard in the library:
"I can't find any books on teen pregnancy!" --one of the guys in my class (seriously.)

I told him I could make sure he got teen pregnancy as his research topic when we do social issues next semester, but he seemed kind of horrified at that idea.

A little bit nerdy...

Hola! I've spent pretty much all day on the couch being productive for school. Our school loves technology, and encourages finding ways to incorporate it (even in strange different ways, as you will see). So I thought I'd share this little video that will kick off my introduction during Open House this week.



He's supposed to be Albert Einstein, if you couldn't tell...

Friday.

Oh praise Jesus, I made it through my first week! I guess I shouldn't say "made it through," because it actually went pretty well (I think...)! I realized Monday morning at about 7:37am that if I messed up, unlike subbing, if I was too mean or too nice for the day, I wouldn't just go into a new class the next day and start over. So I was really feeling the pressure.

My classes are two periods long, so I have three groups of students total. My first group of kids have a lot of personality, my second group is smaller and super quiet, and my third group loves to get off-task and act rambunctious. And my advisory is awesome--but I don't tell them that, because they actually work on homework and are quiet, and if they knew I liked it, they would probably change their ways.

I forgot my camera this week, but I thought I would document what my classroom looked like at the end of the week. I apologize for the iPhone graininess.

View from my desk.

I make sure the kids pick up after themselves, but my desk is a mess. I was in the middle of grading. Everything was clean again when I left for the weekend. :o)

I finally threw some pictures up on my homemade board. I would like to add some instagram pictures or something; it's a little sparse for my taste.

Super blurry. Still love it though.

I've got a to do list to tackle, full of trainings, grading, and a few more things to craft. Then I've got some cleaning and laundry. Hopefully a nap as well?

Brody's weekend to do list is a little less full.

I'm Alive...

Well I've almost made it through my first week of teaching! The only negative side effects have been a sore throat (I think from reading aloud almost all day) and possibly pink eye...but it might just be red eyes from allergies. Not entirely sure. Taking medicine either way. :o) Oh, and I wore heels/wedges the first three days so my feet hurt and then new flats today so my heels have blisters. You have to love being on your feet all day! But I'd rather do that than have my kiddoes going crazy because I stay seated. It's a trade off. 

I've already started my to do list for the weekend, and I'm really excited that my first week of morning duty will be over for a few weeks after tomorrow! I even got my ID today so I'm a real teacher! Now I can get discounts at Panera! And J.Crew if I'm ever allowed to buy clothes again (tee hee!).

A Peek in my Classroom...

I got to school a little early this morning and was able to take a few pictures...of course, I also worked in my room throughout the day and it looks a little different now. So I'll probably be taking a few more pictures next week...we shall see!

My door as you walk in. I wrote on Mr. Owl in dry erase marker so I can write messages as needed. :o)

View from the door. The front is kind of boring; I'll need to add student work or a few more posters soon!

For students to collect absent work. This is on the wall on the left as you enter. I still need to add class periods on the folders, but I don't want to cover my owls!

Calendar...next to the absent work section. A desk will probably be moved underneath for handouts...I have 33 desks and 29 students in my largest class so far. :o)

Class expectations. I made this in Photoshop and printed it. I kind of love the owls (freebie I found online!).

To the right of the door when you walk in. I have my podium in the back with tardy/advisory sign-out sheets and hopefully miscellaneous student supplies eventually. Once we write our social contracts, I will post them on posters on the chalkboard. I cannot stand the sound or texture of chalk so I covered my board up as soon as I got in my room!

Class library...I need to go through some more boxes of books in the garage to add to it. The bookshelf was a score from Walmart for $12.50! I made the pillows in college and am finally pulling them from obscurity in the attic. The chair was also from college, but I can't remember when I actually used it...

View from my desk. I had major issues with my SMARTBoard today and have cords everywhere now...but this morning it looked nice and neat. :o)

Board for assignments. Homework goes on the outside for the week, and date, objective, and agenda go in the middle for my different classes. I totally dig the symmetry.

Front of the room...the crates will probably hold graded work to be handed back and upcoming assignments (which would be moved to somewhere closer to my desk if that was the case!). Still need to figure that out.

My desk area. I need to print pictures this weekend to add to my boards!

That's all I've got for now! I finally unpacked my class sets of books today, and have started to organize my cabinet and figure out an organization system for all of my files. Thanks for checking out my room!

A little craftiness...

What a whirlwind the past few days have been! I've been busy reading the 7th grade summer reading novels (Tangerine, Esperanza Rising, and The Last Book in the Universe--all really great reads), getting my classroom ready, and trying to soak up the last bit of summer. I haven't taken my camera up to school yet, but I will share that my theme is super cute owls and my colors are aqua and a little purple. :o)

I've had to buy some items for my classroom, but I've tried to be as thrifty as possible and craft a bit too. It's been fun, and hopefully my kids will notice (and maybe even like?) that I put my own little touches here and there.

Months for my calendar! I got my trusty Cricut and scrapbook papers I've been stockpiling and got to town. I even had a free coupon for 5' of laminating at a teacher supply store, so I saved my school a little green as well.

I was planning on adding on some buttons, but now I'm kind of liking how it looks as is. Something to ponder.

These were formerly Crystal Light containers, but I am reusing them to pull popsicle sticks with my students' names on them during discussions and readings. It's funny how I hated it when a professor did that in college...and now I'm doing it.


Menu Planning Monday
monday :: baked potato night + leftover steak
tuesday :: chicken pierre
wednesday :: tostadas
thursday :: red beans and rice
friday :: slow cooker brisket

In other news, I am totally enthralled with Bachelor Pad. So much deception and craziness!

I'm still here + Best Sweet and Sour Chicken EVER

Where has the summer gone? Life has been moving in fast forward lately...but I kind of like it! I found out last week that I will be teaching this year, and I could not be more excited. :o) Not having to wake up at 5am to find out where I will be for the day and wondering if I will have work for the day will definitely not be missed. I spent last week reading The Essential 55 (great read--plus I got it secondhand for $3) and making mental lists of what I want to do this year whilst dog sitting and relaxing. I've spent the past three days in my classroom getting things ready, and I have new teacher training tomorrow and Friday, followed by my official new hire meeting and then inservice next week, followed by the first day of school the next Monday! Yowsa.

I did not do a very good job menu planning for the week, as we were counting on leftovers from the weekend (which were forgotten...story of my life). I had been planning to make Mel's Sweet and Sour Chicken last Tuesday, but that was the day I found out I had a job so Tyson insisted we go out to celebrate. So I've had the sauce (which I doubled to serve separately) in the fridge for the past week awaiting the awesomeness. This was so very tasty and easy, and Tyson announced that he was taking the leftovers for work tomorrow while he was still eating. Always a good sign. I will say that I was definitely happy I lined the pan with foil, as it was very messy. I think next time I make it (and there will be a next time), I will add steamed broccoli and mix in with the extra sauce.

That's all I've got for now...I will hopefully be sharing pictures of my classroom in the next few days. :o)

Brody missed his presence on the blog.