Glitter will be the Death of Me!!

I love the idea of glitter.  It shimmers, it shines.

Yet,  I often have to remind myself that I need to bring it into my classroom once in a while.  You cannot even pathom the mess it can make.  A sprinkle of glitter can suddenly be in a child's nostrils, ears, hair and not to mention on the floors, walls and sinks. 

Scholastic

As an eager teacher who loves books I have signed on again as the Scholastic Rep for my school.  I think this program is brilliant and it offers affordable books, and other items for children and their families.  However, don't be fooled, there is a lot of work that goes into running this program.  First you get a stack of flyers that have to be separated by age groupings and handed out to each student, then you have to post the due date and prepare an envelope for each classroom.  When the due date comes around you can spend hours imputting the orders via telephone or online.  You calculate all the cheques and mail them off.  Then of course, two days after you have already sent the order someone comes and asks you to please please please put in their order.  They try to give you cash, which means you have to either say "heck no, give me the check" or you take the money, spend it on gas and have to write a check on their behalf.  Then finally the order comes in, it takes about 3 to 4 days.  You have to go through each order and ensure all the books are in.  You distribute them through the school and just as your finishing up the next batch of flyes has arrived and so it begins again!!! 

Oh and PS- I spend a fortune on books each month


Some of my Scholastic Picks this Order.. Flat Stanley, Geronimo Stilton, and Captain Underpants

 http://www.scholastic.ca/clubs/lucky/october/LU_N_09_2011.pdf

Peace in the Classroom

At our school we have a huge focus on Peace Education.  We have a peace table which features a peace maker of the month-  people we focus are Dali Lama, Black Elk or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We decorate the area with mandalas, singing bowls, lotus candles, and a zen garden etc. The students are free to use this area to just relax, to problem solve with a friend or if they have an interest in learning about various religions, symbols or our peace maker of the month.  I think this is often a concept that goes untouched in a public school system.  I believe that teaching the students in an age appropriate way about serious issues can instill a sense of empathy and compassion towards others from the past and future.  Just today a student asked me;  What did Anne Frank do to deserve to die? 

Homework

I'm not a huge fan of homework.  I never have been!  I only give the students in my class homework once a week and thats to keep the parents happy.  I personally feel my students work hard all day and do enough during the day-  I would rather them be outside playing than sitting at the table for an hour working on a math problem.  Every Monday at the end of the day we have some "Ketchup Time", where each child is assigned a task they havent yet finished.  This being said, I am always up for a challenge and usually have some homework of my own each night.  Whether I am researching an answer, printing off new worksheets, buying items needed for the classroom from ebay or heading to the library the hours are endless, but always worth it!  What are your thoughts on homework? 

Its almost Fall and I'm feeling Fresh and Ready to Go!

I feel so refreshed after the amazing Summer I had.  I find I can't wait to get back into the classroom each morning.  I love the themes of September; fall, leaves, trees, getting to know new students and setting up the routine.  I also feel full of new ideas and love the eagerness of each student to learn a new skill.  With just our fall theme we have made apple sauce, made leaf patterns, estimated how many acorns filled the jar, labelled tree parts, and drew tree rings for how old each student is. 

Back to the Grind

Well its back to school now!  I havent stopped photocopying, cleaning, labelling, or shopping in order to get my classroom all ready for my new munchkins!  This year I am teaching a multiaged grouping (6-9) and loving it.  I am very thankful that I have a small class size of 10- it enables me to do soooo much with them.  It always surprises me just how advanced my students are!!  We are currently working on latitude and longitude, biodiversity and naming and labelling all countries and capital cities in Europe!  I am so happy to be back in the classroom.  Every year I have new ideas and feel I improve as a teacher- whether is being better prepared, new resources or just through trial and error how to keep their attention and have fun! 

Question of the Day...

A three year old at our schools day camp asked me today; how worms are born?  Without google can you answer....