Springing into Fun

Good morning, everyone. Despite the fact that it was a very busy week, and that I stayed up way too late last night, I still for some reason woke up around 7:30 this morning. My body seems to be a little confused. Hopefully after all the turkey I’m about to ingest this weekend, my body will desire nice long sleep ins and naps on the couch. But for now, I’ll use this quiet, alone time to fill you in on our week in Grade One.

Due to the PA Day on Friday, it was a short week at school. We also had a field trip (I’ll talk about that later), so there wasn’t a lot of time to get stuff done. Thankfully, my kiddies were great and worked really hard to do as much as possible.

This week was all about spring! We had a springtime poem for our shared reading every morning, and we learned more about how to visualize, and what sound the long o makes. One little guy took the initiative to circle the punctuation marks, so that we wouldn’t forget to read with expression :)

We only had time for one read aloud this week in our literacy block, so I read them Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms. It’s about how a little fox named Fletcher is frolicking through the apple orchard one spring day, when all of a sudden, he sees snow! He runs around to all his friends to warn them that winter isn’t over yet, and that they need to go back into hibernation. They all end up back at the orchard, only to find out that the snowflakes were actually beautiful, white blossoms.

That was an experienced grown up version of a retell. My kidlets are also working on retells, but my expectations are not as high. As promised, here is the success criteria we are using for this unit:

On Wednesday, my Grade Ones paired up with Mr. D’s Grade 7/8 class to give reading buddies a try. We had been planning this since September, and were both a little nervous because we weren’t sure all the kids would buy into it. He was afraid his kids would think it was dumb, and I thought my kids wouldn’t focus on the task. Boy, were we wrong. Every one of my kids sat still and read their books for the entire time. The 7 and 8s did an amazing job working with my kids, helping them with tricky words, and asking them questions that really help build critical thinking skills. I had given my colleague this document because they are the reading strategies that I use with my kids. 

The kid friendly language makes it a lot of fun for them to remember. I got these from Cara Caroll over at TheFirst Grade Parade. You can download the file from here. After reading buddies, we walked back to our class, and one boy said to me, “Can we do that every day? It’s such a nice way to make new friends”. My heart basically melted right to the floor.

On Thursday, we jumped on a bus (well, we actually walked and sat down quietly because that’s how you ride a bus safely :P) and headed to the Safety Village. It was SUCH a great field trip. The kids got a little lesson from Officer Greg, who taught them all about the traffic lights and crosswalk signals. Then, they went out to this little closed course village, and drove battery operated jeeps on the little roads, learning how to obey traffic signs. I was able to get a picture of all of them, but I can’t share them here. Just trust me-it was the cutest thing ever. When we got back to school, I had to wake a few of them up on the bus (more than one attempt was needed), and we discussed our favourite parts of the day. I laughed at how many of them loved taking a bus!

We said farewell and Happy Thanksgiving, and I headed to a PA Day the following day. I’ll keep this part short. It was a lot of PD in the morning, but in the afternoon we had time to plan with our grade partners. Philippa and I sat down and pretty much got November and December planned. We have two very rich and engaging units coming up, and we are so excited to get started. You’ll have to wait and see what’s in store, but trust me-it’s going to be lots of fun.

Here's a quick look at some other topics we covered this week

A great read aloud to teach kids about how we have to change and adapt to the different seasons

A cute story about what animals do during the winter time to adapt to the cold weather

This is new to our math wall. It shows what we are learning to do in our patterning unit

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! For some of you, a happy Eid!

Endings and Beginnings

    So much has happened in the past week and I feel it’s my duty to update you. I got a Grade One LTO! Full year! At the school where I was a student teacher for three months! And where I volunteered full time for a year! (Can you tell I’m really excited?) Anyways, I had a good feeling about it after my interview, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high. Then, just a few days later, as I was in the car with my boyfriend, I checked my email and began squealing and jumping when I saw the job offer. It probably wasn’t the best timing since he was half way through an intersection, but you’d do the same, right?

    Since then, I’ve become obsessed with getting my classroom ready for next year. I took advantage of the 20% off sale at Scholar’s Choice and made a few purchases. Melissa and Stacia were also wonderful by pawning off some of their Grade One resources. They won’t need them anymore because they’re both moving up to Grade 2/3. I’ve spent my spare time creating assessment pages, making lists, and going through old computer files that have some great Grade One content that I can reuse next year.

    

    I wanted to keep the news on the down low at first because nothing was in writing, but as I walked down the hall the next day, 99% of the staff seemed to know. I’m so lucky to have been able to volunteer alongside such a supportive group of colleagues. It was easy to get frustrated and discouraged this past year and they were always there to offer their words of support and encouragement. They’re all so happy for me and I’m blessed to work alongside them this coming year.

    Before I can start in September, I had to say goodbye to the kids for the summer. It was a pretty emotional day, but I know I’ll see their lovely faces next year. After the kids went home, we dove into the professional development. Maybe it’s because I’m still new and keen, but I love PA days. I think we learn so much when we get together and reflect on our teaching and help each other improve and move forward. Stacia also organized the day and made it Survivor/The Amazing Race themed so it was a lot of fun. Afterwards, I got my timetable, signed my papers, and began to move all my stuff into my new classroom. As of right now, I can’t set it up because it has to be cleaned and the floors have to be waxed over the summer. It’s kind of a huge mess right now, but that will all change when I return in August to set up. 

The Goodbye/Congratulations cards my kids made me. Some of them included words of advice. One student wrote: “Congratulations Ms. Lawrence. Don’t forget to pack a lunch!” What would I do without them?

Melissa asked the kids to write down their most memorable moment this past year. This boy wrote his answer down and left it out for us to see. “When you and Mrs. Lorins [Lawrence] teaching math”. That’s when you know you’ve made a lasting impact on a child’s learning.

    Sometimes I look back to where I was at this time last year and I can’t believe how much things have changed. I don’t think I had been able to get into the mindset to believe that I would be here in June of 2013. I was a new grad, entering a world where there were literally no job postings in my school board. I was discouraged in so many ways, but I’m so happy I made the choices I did. Not everyone is able to spend a year volunteering on a full time basis. The support of my family and the school staff made it possible for me to do this and I don’t think I’d be where I am today without them.

    Last year, I had no idea I’d be back at the school. I was hoping I’d get onto the supply list and work like everyone else. I remember the kids all made me the cutest cards and I just sobbed because I didn’t think I’d see them again. The circumstances this past year in 2012/2013 were certainly bitter sweet. I didn’t get in with the board right way, but I got to see the kids all year once again. I wasn’t getting paid for my time at the school, but I volunteered and learned so much from the experience. Everything happens for a reason, and I feel so blessed to be where I am now and to be sharing it with those special people in my life. 

    I leave you with some pictures I took today before I left for the summer. Keep in mind, these are the “beginning” photos. You’ll have to wait a few months for the “after” shots to come.

The "Before" shot. Stay tuned for the "After" shot.

An overly happy Ms. Lawrence