Brave enough to admit it, strong enough to change it!

Happy New Year! It is officially 2015 and I woke up this morning with a new fire in my belly. This is the year for some changes, not sure why I have targeted now to make changes I mean I have said this year after year after year but for some reason 2015 feels like it will be different. First off I have now taken to talking about my changes with my family and posting it on Facebook, Instagram, and now my blog (although I have no followers at this point on here I know that one day if I build it you will come!).
I have signed up with AdvoCare to complete their 24-day Challenge which I am very excited. I am using this challenge as a jumpstart or actually a kick-in-the-ass that I need to get me going! #Advocare

So I am brave enough to admit a few things this morning:
I am 40 years old
I am a wife
I am a mother to two boys
I am a sinner
I am a believer in God but not the Bible
I am a teacher to 5th graders
I am opinionated
I am a supporter of equal rights to marry, adopt and love
I am an anxious person
I am a smoker
I am a little lazy when it comes to housework (I want to be outside)
I am determined when I set a goal
I will prove you wrong when challenged
I weighed 147.4 this morning
I am 5'3"
I am madly in love with my husband
I question if I am a good mom at least twice a day, if not more
I am socially awkward
I am shy around new people unless you are new to a group I am with then I will speak to you to make you feel welcome (and I wish people would do the same for me in those situations)


I am strong enough to change:
I will hold my tongue and not give my opinion on everything all the time
I will see myself through this goal I have set:

• To complete the Advocare 24-day Challenge www.advocare.com/140349780
• To gain energy by exercising
• To work on my cleaning schedule by using www.flylady.net
• To prove that I am get on a lifestyle program and stick to it regardless of what some in my family might think.
• To begin to put myself out there socially

This is a new year and this will be a new start!www.advocare.com/140349780

Changes in 2015

It is that time of year again that we all sit and set our new goals for the new year and we reflect on our past goals that we did or did not accomplish. As I look back in 2014 the only thing I see was my desire to get a teaching job, in a classroom and not in a computer lab. So for me I will look back at the year 2014 with a huge smile on my face and a sense of accomplishment that I set and met a goal!

Now to look at 2015. First thing I am planning on doing is to get my energy back. This first year teacher thing is harder than they tell you. I am running on empty most of the time and I just want to be able to look around and see something that needs to be done and have the energy to just do it. So for the last month I have been working in my planner and preparing for the day...January 1! Not because it is a new year resolution but more in the fact that I like to start things at the beginning (OCD a little). And to be completely honest with myself and you...I needed the time to get myself talked into it.

About a year ago my cousin, Jennifer, Facebook messaged me about a company that she had started with called Advocare. With a little resistance I purchased the 24 day challenge bundle and to be completely honest I FAILED! I started with good intentions but I failed. I did not set myself up with the tools I needed and I hadn't changed my mindset.

This time it will be different (nothing like failing around people to just piss you off enough to prove them wrong). I will be successful with this 2nd chance I am giving myself. I have prepared by talking about it with my family, friends, co-workers, I have prepared in that I have created a food journal that I am completely in love with, and I know that there are people out there that think I am stupid and won't complete it and a part of me wants no NEEDS to prove them wrong!

Another change for 2015 is that I will not just keep this blog for classroom teaching things but all things because as a teacher I love to share ideas and hopefully will be able to grow this blog so that others can share in this process with me. 

Survived the 1st quarter!

My first year of teaching a 5th grade classroom, before I had 550+ kids in a computer lab, has been a huge success! I survived my first round of getting to know kids, learning how my team works, how a new school system works, new administration, new policies, new ways of thinking, and parent teacher conferences!!!
This first quarter has taught me a lot. The first thing I learned is that they really do not teach you anything about the classroom while you are in college. It is common sense and street smarts that get you through day-to-day activities in a classroom not textbooks and these fancy methods.
Kids will eat you alive if you think you can come into a classroom and put into place what your professors told you that a classroom should a certain way. I now have 22 kids in my room with 22 completely different wants, needs, and struggles. Between the ADHD kids that are medicated to the ones that aren't, to the fetal alcohol student that brings all kinds of new challenges, to the ones that have parents that are going through divorces or who have already gone through a divorce, the ones that parent is dealing with addiction, are in prison or who are worried that one of their other kids will commit suicide because they have already attempted it twice this year.

You will not come out of 

college prepared

to handle

these

situations!

Common sense, compassion, patience, and a lot of love will prepare you for these situations. 

I love my job and there have been a few days that I have questioned if I should go back into the financial world because I wasn't sure if I was the right person to handle these situations but what I learned is I am! We made it through and all these kids need is someone to love them, be patient with them and share in their struggles and guide them along the way.

This is the best profession to get into and I am so happy that I have finally found my place in this world!

My Classroom Economy

My first career was in banking and I truly loved the fast-paced craziness that came along with the financial industry, however once I started having children my passion for that industry went away. That is one of the many ways I ventured over into the education world, my kids! 

I hear people talk all the time about how teachers are not teaching kids "real world" situations and that kids are not prepared for the "real world" when they leave high school because teachers are not teaching them what they need to know to be a functioning adult in society. (Talk about a lot of pressure). So in my research of how to become the most effective teacher I can be I stumbled across a website...

https://www.myclassroomeconomy.org

Can I just squeal now with the excitement I have for this program?! Talk about a dream come true for me, this program not only combines my love for the financial industry but also my love of teaching into one program and... it is FREE!!!! Why are more teachers not using this in their classrooms? It is FREE and amazing and it ties in with the Learning Standards for our state and it is FREE and the learning possibilities are unlimited and it is FREE and it will give kids a sense of ownership to their actions and responsibilities in the classroom and it is FREE.

I am tickled pink that I have found this website, I am tickled pink that they also offer a FREE kit for those schools with limited resources (and mine does). I signed up for the free kit on a Wednesday and I had it on Friday, completely FREE (they even paid the shipping and handling). All of the copies are there to get us started. 

I am so impressed with this company that I have told everyone I know about it!!! If you are looking at or thinking about implementing an economy program in your classroom then My Classroom Economy program is the way to go. It is broken into grade levels so it does not matter if you teach kindergarten or 12th grade, they have a program in place. All you have to do is put the effort in to get it started and then sit back and watch those light bulbs come on when your students make the connections with their own money!!!!

The Giver by Lois Lowry

 I just finished reading 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry. This is the second time I have read this book, the first being several years ago during my Children's Literature Methods class. I remember the first time I read it that I ended the book and was a little shocked at the ending and a little confused. This time the ending made way more sense to me so I am not sure if I just skipped too many parts in the first read. I approached this reading through the eyes of a fifth grade student and at this point I can see that this book might be a little confusing for some students. I can also see with the concept of "release" which ends up being murder and in one situation suicide that this topic might bring up mixed feelings for some students, especially if you have a student who has experienced the loss of a family member.

I think I will hold off using this book as a read-aloud until I talk to the other 5th grade teachers about their feelings for the book. It is a really good book but with my inexperience with the emotions of 5th grade students I think it is best for me to wait to make a decision on this book.

This is a really good book but does touch on a very sensitive topic such as murder of children and older adults. They call it "release". In the book when they talk about release it is in a very positive tone, speaking about ceremonies and the reader gets the feeling that it is a joyous occasion. It isn't until the main character, Jonas, is allowed to watch the procedures his father goes through with the  release of a healthy twin male (who was chosen to be released based only on the fact that he was born a twin and that he weighted a few ounces less than his brother). The child is "released" by an injection of a mediation into the soft part of his head. It is then described that the child cries and then flaps his arms and then goes limp. The dead baby is then wrapped up, put in a box, and then put in a door that is described as a trash shoot that you find at a school. The person who "released" the child (Jonas' father) then waves bye to the child with a smile on his face and goes about his day.

I am not sure about you but that is a very hard image to have in your head as an adult let alone a 5th grade student that might not understand or have experienced death, or worse one that has experienced death and might feel that calling it "released" is making it sound like it is a good thing. 

I am slowly starting to think this book is a bad idea for 5th graders. I will post back as soon as I talk to the other teachers in my building. I was hoping this might be a good book since there is a movie coming out this fall but... we will see. www.loislowry.com

It feels like forever....

It really does feel like forever since I last posted. It has been a wild and crazy summer and I just got completely and totally overwhelmed with trying to get books labeled and things gathered up for my classroom and also baseball season and our oldest having weights and conditioning, football camp and a social life. WOWzer... I can finally start slowing down a tad bit and breath!

I actually sat down yesterday and read a book 'Rules' by Cynthia Lord. http://www.cynthialord.com/index.html

As I was reading this book I kept thinking to myself, "Why hasn't someone recommended this book to me before now?" This book is AMAZING!!! It gave me a different perspective that I really hadn't thought about and it is a must read!

This will be a must Read- Aloud to my 5th graders this year. 

Her website even has an option for teachers and when you click on it there is tons of information to help you with class discussions on her books...and it is FREE!!!!!!!!! 

The character lessons that this book will teach and the discussions we can have!!! I haven't read a book that has gotten me this excited in a really long time. I will be on the hunt for more of her books!

My next read is 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry. I read this book several years ago while going through my Children's Literature Methods class but thought I should revisit it since is being made into a movie this year and will also be a great Read-Aloud. 

Pondering questions...

So I have been reading a couple of Literacy books for the on-line book study over at www.thinkingofteaching.blogspot.com (100 Minutes) and I have been reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller to gear up for a book study on Reading in the Wild over at http://thebrownbagteacher.blogspot.com. At the same time I have ventured into another on-line book study with www.theprimarygal.blogspot.com for a book called Guided Math.

Holly cow...what have I gotten myself into?

So as I am reading these books I am finding that the literacy books seem to focus everything around literacy and the math books focus everything around math. So my question is... how do you determine what is the most important?

For me, I think Literacy but I am sure if you ask a "math-minded" teacher they would say math. My problem that I am having at this point is that one of the books is talking about morning work and that it needs to be independent reading time, another book is talking about morning work being math centered so do you base your morning work off of both?

My son's current 5th grade teacher does a morning work activity sheet that is double sided, one for literacy work and one for math work. Is this the "happy medium"?

I would love your thoughts!