My First Month

Hello Friends,

Since my last blog post two months ago, I completed my long-term substitute job teaching fifth grade at a different school than the one I currently work at and signed a one-year contract to teach a kindergarten/first grade combo class for the rest of the year. If you read my previous post, then you know I had my doubts about having my own classroom this year, but as things tend to go for me, sure enough I was picked up and without a moment left to spare!

This Halloween marks the end of my first month at my new job working in a new district, at a new school, and with a primary combo class that had had 5 different subs over the course of the entire first quarter that I was not there. I have a couple of things to share from the past month and my new experiences.

1. Small tweaks can make the biggest differences. I can't quite pinpoint exactly where I picked it up but over the course of my attending a string of professional development opportunities and watching tons of videos of effective teachers teaching, I noticed that those teachers were calling their students 'scholars'. My go-tos last year were the tried and true: boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, class, kiddos, my dears, and my loves. "Scholars? That's awesome! I wonder if my kinders and first graders will get it," I thought, but I resolved to call my students that the very first day I met them.

Well, it's been a month and my kiddos, scholars have lived up to their sophisticated title. What has happened in the last month has been nothing short of MAGIC. We went over what it means to be a scholar when we created our classroom norms together at the beginning of the month. As a class we agreed that scholars listen and follow directions, do their personal best, respect themselves and each other, are kind, courterous, and polite, and finally, take pride in all they do. If these sound like every other classroom rules posted in most classrooms that's becasue they are, but as my scholars internalized these norms it was easy to add more and be more specific. Scholars are laser-focused, scholars don't cry, scholars never cheat their brains, etc. Bottom line, my students LOVE being called scholars and they totally own what it means to be one.

It's literally gotten to the point where they get offended when I call them boys and girls. "We're not boys and girls, we're scholars!" they'll tell me. If I catch them acting naughty I just remind them that they are acting like little boys and girls and immediately they show me scholarly behavior. It's incredible. I wish I would've done this my first year of teaching! (I'm also aware and thankful that I just have a really angelic group of children this year.)

2. I love teaching writing in K-1. I'm no Shakespeare but it's no secret that I get a deep sense of joy from writing. Although I find it's one of the hardest things to teach and teach well, man, oh man, I love teaching writing to kinders and first graders!! My school is using Lucy Calkins' Units of Study and I am a huge fan. Yes, I love Lucy. This is my first year implementing a writer's workshop and I am really pleased with the level of enthusiasm my students have for writing and equally as pleased with the caliber of work that they are producing. Right now we're working on informative writing via chapter books. The sample below followed a mini-lesson on how to write a "How To" chapter.

This is one of my kinders who wrote this and I thought it was hilarious.

Shark Pups

Mermaid drops a purse so the sharks have pups.

Pups turn to babies.

Shark pups turn to baby sharks with boosters.

And they grow up.

I toyed with the idea of letting him run with this, but then remembered we're working on informational text. His brain darn near exploded when I told him that sharks don't really have boosters. We shared a great moment.

I am counting down the days for our Publishing Party. I told my scholars I'd invite my friends and their families to come celebrate their chapter books once they are published. They are all working so hard and diligently to write the best chapter books anyone has ever read!

With that, have a grand evening and as always, thanks so much for reading.

Perspiration and Perseverance

Hi Everyone,

Gosh, it's been so long since I had some free time to type up some of my thoughts and general happenings in life, thank you Labor Day weekend. Thank you.

Being Pro-Active

Hey Friends,

I found out last Thursday that I wasn't going to be rehired by the district I taught for this past year. It was a really strange feeling because I had assured myself, after nailing my interview, that I would be returning for the upcoming school year. Oddly enough, I was on a phone interview with another district at the exact moment my old principal called to relay the unfortunate news (at least the greater universe knew it wasn't a good idea for me to put all my eggs in one basket).

Paint and Palate

Hi Friends,

My interview went really well today. I made the principals on my palette panel laugh and felt like I was able to give them a pretty good look at who I am as a teacher and how I teach. I have another interview for a different district tomorrow over the phone. We all know what happened the last time I had a phone interview. I'm very hopeful for another full-time position this coming school year and am getting less anxious and more excited about it as the days go by.

Stonewall Peak

Hey Friends,

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. It was my brother's birthday and he turned 21 so we had a great day with family and friends grilling up Korean BBQ short ribs and drinking adult beverages :). Here is a quick update before I go into sharing my latest hiking adventure. Yesterday I got called back from the district I worked for this last school year for an interview! I'm so excited for this opportunity to have my own classroom again. My interview is tomorrow afternoon so wish me luck!

Trampoline on Me

Hey Friends,

Over the weekend, I got to try something I've never done before - jump on a trampoline! I know, I know, 22 and I've never jumped on a trampoline before? Ludicrous, just ludicrous. Well I'm glad I got to bounce back from my "deprived" childhood and give Sky High Sports Trampoline Park a go.

High Five

Hey Everyone,

#1 Viva Las Vegas

Source

Last week I left for Vegas with a group of friends and had a blast. The real kicker was seeing people's reactions when I told them why I was going to be in Vegas that weekend. Many of them had just assumed I was going for the Electric Daisy Carnival, but my favorite reaction came from one of my girlfriends who cracked up when I told her I was actually going for a card tournament. She of course was thinking along the lines of Poker or Blackjack (and rightfully so) so when I revealed that it was actually a Magic the Gathering tournament she darn near fell out of her chair in tears laughing. Anyway, one of my buddies placed 161 out of over 4000 people that participated. Way to go and a literal high five for him!

Galleta Meadows Estate

Hey Friends,

No callbacks or update on my job status yet. I'm starting to grow a little weary of all the waiting but have resolved to enjoy my summer vacation in the meantime. A couple of weeks ago I managed to convince two of my friends that walking in 100 degree heat in the desert would be a lot of fun - and it was!

Life is Not Unfair

Hey Friends,

Thanks to one of the two Teacher Appreciation Days offered by the San Diego County Fair last Friday (the other one is this Friday), I got to spend a lovely day wandering the fairgrounds at Del Mar, pigging out on greasy overpriced fair food.

Father's Day

Hi Everyone,

I drove up to LA with my boyfriend over the weekend to spend some quality time with my family for Father's Day. Last year I treated my dad to a baseball game at Dodgers Stadium, but being on a much tighter budget this year, I opted for a cheaper and equally as fun outing - hiking at Eaton Canyon.

Well Done

Hey Friends,

Long time no post! I so badly wanted to post some end-of-the-year updates in the last couple of weeks but time really escaped me during that home stretch. I'm pretty excited to announce however, that I finished my first year of teaching on Friday, June 7, 2013. That's right I'm no longer a "first year" teacher! Don't worry, if you're wondering, I don't intend on changing the name of this blog. Instead, it will serve as a little keepsake and reminder that every year of teaching is kind of like your first year as no two classes are ever the same. Besides, now that my employment status is up in the air, who knows what grade I'll actually be teaching this upcoming school year (if I'm even able to land a job that is). I'm sure it will feel like I'm a first year teacher all over again.

I initially planned to write a reflective piece about my first year of teaching, actually I did in fact write it. The essay I wrote deeply looked at my past year documenting the struggles and challenges I faced with my overflow population, but after going back and forth, I decided not to share it. I made it a point to focus on the positives early on in the school year, at least when it came to this blog - a project I started for fun in grad school but have really grown to love and cherish as an on-going hobby and collection of unforgettable memories. I love reading back on old posts and remembering the special moments I shared with my very first classroom. I also love seeing the evolution of balance that I attempted to achieve while juggling a new career and trying to maintain a happy personal life. In keeping true to this spirit of the blog, I will continue to share my stories through a positive lens. After all, attitude is everything.

So in California, new teachers generally hold a preliminary teaching credential that they have to clear within 5 years (extensions can be granted). Although there are a few options available out there, I decided to go down the most well-traveled route via a two-year program called Beginning Teacher Support Assessment (BTSA) Induction. Taken from their website, BTSA engages preliminary credentialed teachers in a job-embedded formative assessment system of support and professional growth to fulfill the requirement for the California Clear Multiple Subjects credential. BTSA Induction programs are locally designed and implemented in accordance with the Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Professional Teacher Induction Programs and aligned to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

Insectsy and We Know It II

Hey Friends,

If you're coming here straight from part one, you're awesome! And if you're not, don't worry, you're awesome too :). I am starting to think I might have a crush on Mr. Eric Carle. This past week we used yet another one of his children's books, The Grouchy Ladybug as our focus text. Our sight word last week was 'look' and with the abundance of dialogue in the story, I thought it was a good opportunity to review the word 'said', 'you' and 'are' as well. Here are some student samples:

Insectsy and We Know It I

Hello Everyone,

It has been such a strange and overwhelming past couple of weeks, and I think if I had to sum it all up in one word it would be - bizarre. As many of you know, I survived my first case of food poisoning last week, but apparently it was a mere link in a chain of unfortunate events surrounding my bubble of friends. The reading specialist at my school recently got bit by a rattlesnake (he's doing much better now), the school psychologist was out for a couple of weeks due to appendicitis, and last night, my boyfriend also caught a bad wave of food poisoning. Bizarre, am I wrong? I'm bracing myself for a plague of frogs to fall from the sky next weekend. I'm serious. All these obscure and rather outlandish situations have really begun to bug me...

Fashionate About Teaching

Hi Friends,

So I had some undercooked chicken this past Saturday and I am going to assume that that was the cause of a major (at least in my book) episode of food poisoning - the first of its kind since I've been alive! For a foodie and person who literally grazes 24/7, I've determined that food poisoning is indeed a fate far worse than death. I hadn't eaten food for two days and at that point I seriously had to ask myself, "Self, what are you?". I felt neither human nor alive. Regardless, I'm doing much better now and although I am aware that I'm long overdue for a teaching post, I thought I'd celebrate my return to eating solid foods with a F.A.T. post. Do you see what I did there? ;)

Vasquez Rocks, Rock!

Hi Everybody,

My obsession with Vasquez Rocks first started when I discovered that it was the filming site of some Star Trek (the original series) footage back in the day. Admittedly, and I'll gladly call myself out before you do, the only Star Trek I've ever seen is the 2009 blockbuster so yeah, I'm not a die-hard fan or anything by any stretch of the imagination. However, the idea of hiking here with a vibrant yellow Star Trek shirt (shout out to my old roommate for making it happen!) was irresistibly appealing to me and it was a near instant addition to my ever so evolving Bucket List.

Banh Mi Birthday Dinner

Hi Everyone,

Today was my mom's birthday and in lieu of me sending her flowers on Mother's Day, I decided to slave away in the kitchen and create a flavorful birthday dinner for her (and me!) to enjoy. Growing up, my mom always cooked dinner for us. In fact, missing dinner was considered a cardinal sin in the Lee household. Everyone knew that dinner was synonmous with family time so you'd better be dead if you weren't there, and if you were alive and absent, then yikes, you might as well be dead. Suffice it to say I rarely missed dinner with my famiy and over time, thanks to this tradition, I grew to associate food with love. So what better way to show love for my mom than preparing her a scrumptious feast?

He Was Nuts About Her

Hi Everyone,

For all the fellas out there who think you've got the number one wingman, think again.
Meet Waldo. He's a walnut and I reckon his success rate is higher than your average wingman's.

I'll be posting an update with our metamorphosis unit sometime later this week, but today, I'm feeling rather whimsically nostalgic. In grad school, one of the classes we were required to take was a course on incorporating art into our pedagogy. Needless to say, this was one of my favorite quarters during my M. Ed. methods coursework taught by one of my favorite professors on the staff.  There was one project in particular that really roused my creativity and made a memorable and lasting impression on my otherwise somewhat forgetful and unimpressionable memory. Well, today also just so happens to mark the eve of my one year dating anniversary with my current beau. You might be wondering what an art project I was assigned in grad school has to do with me celebrating a wonderful year with my boyfriend right? Allow me to share yet another version of boy meets girl.

Earth Means the World to Us

Hi Everyone,

Last week we learned about the 3 R's: reducing, reusing, and recycling. We read a bunch of books about recycling and discussed what it means to take care of our Earth. My students especially enjoyed We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers by Lauren Child. The illustrations and characters (Charlie and Lola) are so much fun and the way the book covers the topic of recycling is just wonderful. Later in the week, after the concept of recycling was in my students' schemas, we sorted out paper, cans, and plastic on our Promethean Board by taking turns completing this short activity.

The Secret KinderGarden

Hi Everyone,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! I don't know where you are reading this from, but here in San Diego, we are enjoying some absolutely gorgeous spring weather. The low point of my weekend was having to drop my boyfriend off at the airport. Lucky (or unlucky if you ask him) bug gets to travel to Colorado for a few days. I miss him already! The highlight of my weekend was playing frisbee with my friend at the breath-taking beach in Coronado and trying African food (my first time) for dinner. It was the ultimate late Sunday afternoon/evening of R&R if you ask me.

The Carrot Seed

Hi Friends,

Last week we finished our unit on what plants need to grow. I am loving the content that I'm teaching this quarter! It is so engaging and fun for my little ones. The overarching theme of last week was plants, but more specifically, carrots. We used The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss as our focus text and it is truly one of my favorite children's stories. It is such a simple yet poignant tale about the tenacity of a little boy and his belief that despite what everyone tells him, his carrot will grow. I found this text very refreshing as it reminded me of the innocent sense of empowerment that I once had as a child and strive to maintain here in my adulthood.

Needs of Seeds

Hi Everyone,

We finished up our soil/plant wall yesterday and I think it turned out lovely, don't you? The illustrations to accompany the interactive writing are my favorite! Stay tuned for more from our plant unit later this week.

So I have a confession to make...

Creating Classroom Community

Hey Everyone,

Happy Monday! I've kind of been on a blogging kick lately, have you noticed? Anyways, I finished our new classroom door a couple weeks ago (I guess that makes it kind of old now), but forgot to feature it. It took a couple hours to make, but I really believe it was time well spent as it bolsters the sense of classroom community in our room. My students gave me tons of compliments when they saw it the next day and even brought other students from other classrooms to show off to during recess.

A Really Dirty Unit

Hi Friends,

As promised, here are the lessons I did on soil with my kinders last week. After writing and learning about mud pies, we dug a little deeper and explored soil. I launched the lesson with an interactive flipchart on our Promethean Board. For those of you who are not in teaching or familiar with it yet, a Promethean Board is like a chalkboard from the future, and the future is apparently now.

Our morning weather graph flipchart using ten frames with sentence frames

at the bottom to help compare information we see in our graph.

Mud Day

Hey Friends,

What a busy week! We finished our unit on mud, seamlessly setting the stage for plants, by focusing on soil this week. I did so much with this unit that I think I'll post a separate blog post featuring the actual lessons at a future time. For now, I just want to celebrate surviving another two weeks of teaching! My students' behavior continues to be one roller coaster of a ride. I will say, getting spit on and told "you suck" by the same little five year-old girl was a new experience altogether. Interesting way to start off my career to say the least. You know what they say, sticks and stones...

Cubes, Cylinders, Cones, and Spears

Hi Friends,

We started our unit on shapes last week and finished it up today. We did a lot of exploring to learn about the different properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes. I actually taught this unit when I was student teaching a year ago and changed it up a bit for this year.

  

Fashionate About Teaching

Hey Friends,

I'm really excited about today's post as I finally get to feature some local talent. As a teacher, I collaborate all the time with my colleagues, but it's a skill that I try and transfer to various domains of my life outside my professional one. I love getting together with different people and creating something a thousand times better than what I could've done on my own. This time I had the awesome opportunity to work with my friend, Chris, on a photoshoot for this here blog. I hope you enjoy the results of our collaboration! :)

Muddled

Hi Everyone,

With exactly 44 days left before I'm woefully unemployed, I've already started to think about and reflect on this past year. Honestly, I'm really proud of all the things that I've accomplished thus far but I'm also overwhelmingly disappointed with my constant struggles to get my classroom management under control. Recently my class size went down to 19 students and I truly believed things would start to get better. They haven't.  Although I feel like I have my back up against the wall, I'm not giving up until I hear that dismissal bell ring on June 7 and will continue to remain hopeful.

Student teaching, every resource I've read, every teacher I've spoken too, none of it seems to be helping me get through my daily challenges with my students' behavior. I just feel lost. Luckily, I can feel my skin thickening every minute that I am in the classroom and I know come next school year, I'll be ready, so ready. I've found that in these times of trouble, Mother Mary does not call to me. Instead, I get quite the morale boost from reading all the stories my kiddos have written capturing some pretty special moments in the classroom, reminding me that no matter how hard I am on myself, I am a good teacher and I can do this!

Mud Pie

Hey Everyone,

My name is Tiffany. This is my mud pie. It is my secret.

This week, for a fun introduction to spring and a scaffold for moving into plants and insects, we are learning about mud, more specifically, mud pies! How cute is this introduction for Tiffany's mud pie recipe?!? I absolutely love her writing. If you knew the group I have this year, you'd recognize a certain sincerity beyond that of just being kinder writing that really makes her writing pop. I'll be sharing more about the writing process my students are currently going through to complete their mud pie stories later this week. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Three {Stunning but Evil Step} Sisters Waterfall

Hi Friends,

It wouldn't be a real spring break for me if I didn't get in at least one hike and goodness gracious, great balls of fire, it was a tough one! Prior to Friday I would've said that with the exception of Three Sisters, I pretty much have hiked most of the major/popular hikes in the San Diego area. I actually had a chance to hike Three Sisters awhile ago when a couple of my friends and boyfriend went, but I was home sick with the flu (insert sad trombone here).

Eggcellent

Hi Everyone,

With only a handful of days left before the end of spring break, yesterday I was hit by a surging need to create. I figured since Easter was only a rabbit's hop away, decorating some Easter eggs would suffice. I don't come from a particularly religious family so growing up, I didn't really partake in any Easter traditions like Easter egg scavenger hunts or indulge in a big Easter feast. However, having taught as a Sunday School teacher before (2010-2012) and now that I'm currently dating a church goer, I've started to realize just how fun and festive Easter can really be.

High Five

Hey Friends,

It's been awhile since I've written a High Five post so let's bring it back. I took the last five days to get away from work completely and just enjoy some time off back in LA. Here are my five favorite things from the past five days.

Pleasure Reading and Guilty Pleasures

Hello Friends,

In true spring break fashion, yesterday I enjoyed a lovely day of leisure reading and at-home cocktail making. I don't know what happened between fifth grade and college but I completely lost the love of reading that I once had when I was a youngin'. Whether it was being forced to read material I had little to no vested interest in or having a lack of comprehension skills, there was a long period of time where reading for pleasure was absent from my life. I'm so glad that my initial affinity toward reading has recently reemerged as I've taken up to reading on my spare time and even joined a book club. I'm pretty sure my high school English teachers would be proud if they knew I was reading Orwell's 1984 for fun (it really is my current spring break leisure read!). There's nothing like letting a book make you wonder and ponder, transport you to a new world, or just give you peace of mind. There is so much joy that can be derived from reading and as a budding teacher, it is one of my biggest hopes that I can bring this joy out of my students.

Spring Fever

Hi Friends,

It's officially the first day of spring (YAY!) and I'm a quarter of the way through my spring break (BOO!). I didn't realize how much I've been neglecting my blog lately. To be perfectly honest, I just haven't felt as inspired as I usually am. Not just in regards to my job, but also in regards to things going on in my personal life as well. I recently received my "you might not be hired back" letter right before the break as a formality, since I am on a one year contract after all, and although I've been trying to suppress my worries and fears of being unemployed and not having my own classroom next year, the reality of it all has slowly begun to sink it. There is however, a transitional kindergarten opening up at my school next year and I literally threw my name in for teachers that were possibly interested in the position. It would take learning a new curriculum and working with students even more immature and younger than some of the ones I have now, but if it means being able to continue my growth as a teacher then I am ready to accept that challenge. May the odds be ever in my favor!

Testing Testing 1 2 3

Hi Friends,

Sorry for the lack of posts, it's been a rough couple weeks. To top it all off I'm in the midst of report card time. "WOOHOO! Report card time!" said no teacher ever.

100th Day of School

Hi Everyone,

This week, my students and I reached a momentous milestone - we celebrated our 100th day of school! It was a fun-filled day of various activities that my students really enjoyed. To quote, I remember one of my kiddos saying, "This is the best day of school ever!" to another classmate - adorable. As delightful and merry as it was to celebrate, the day week did not go without its kinks.

Keeping My Poise

Hi Friends,

Although Valentine's Day is complete hogwash (blatantly just a Hallmark holiday), there's no point fighting the kids. Kids LOVE Valentine's Day, or Friendship Day as we call it. Good lord, I think it was more popular in my classroom than Halloween and Christmas combined. Needless to say, energy levels were high. Herding and harnessing all that excess energy left me utterly drained, but at the end of the day, I'm glad I kept my poise.

Snow Much Fun Learning

Hi Friends,

Happy February! I don't know about you but I am so looking forward to the four-day weekend coming up, that's right we get an extra day. Oh, and I guess I'm looking forward to spending Valentine's Day with my special sweetheart too :). I just got done making some red playdough for the kiddos following the same recipe found here. A couple weeks ago they got in quite some trouble for leaving the lid off their green playdough and getting lazy with cleaning the center up once activity time was over. Hopefully the short playdough hiatus I enforced will serve as a reminder for them to be more responsible with their classroom materials. As far as my kids are concerned, playdough is a finite resource so they need to learn to take good care of it and make it last. This is an important concept in general but I think it's even more applicable to the current movement in education to teach 21st century skills.

In 'N Out

Hello Friends,

This week was off to such a rough start but it's been smoothing out quite nicely. For one, after working two 4-day weeks in a row, my alarm wasn't set for Monday of this week. Whoops. I completely overslept and had so much prep leftover that I hadn't had a chance to finish over the weekend. I managed to get everything ready before I had to greet my kids at 8:20 when the bell rang so phew, dodged a mullet there. Just another manic Monday.

Winter

Hello Everyone!

My first week back was hectic to say the least, but Monday always seems to find a way to rear its pretty head around doesn't it?

The Crayon and Glue Stickler

Hi Friends,

School started again on Tuesday and it's been quite the adjustment. Not that I thought it was going to be seamless or anything, but I was not prepared for the apparent decline in my teacher stamina after a three week and one day vacation. I'm working on building it back up to where it was before the break.

Indulgence

So I'm obsessed with this thing called Nutella ella ella eh. You may or may not have heard of it, but chances are by now you have. It is indeed my go to indulgence. I had just returned home from my doctor's appointment and after a couple back-to-back vaccines I was in need of a quick pick me up. I opened the pantry and there she was - seductive hazelnut flavored chocolatey goodness. I grabbed a bag of honey wheat pretzel twists and let the dipping commence. What are your favorite go to fixes when you're in need of a quick pick me up?

P.S. Just a quick anecdote, I never thought I would meet anyone who didn't like Nutella much less date that anomaly, but I bought a small tub for my boyfriend to try before we started dating and I was shocked to discover he wasn't nuts about it when I found the same tub in his pantry months later. Oh well, more for me :)

Blueberries

Hi Everyone,

The clock continues to tick away. T-minus 5 days until I'm back on that teaching grind. As incredibly relaxing as this vacation has been giving me a chance to catch up with family, old friends, and myself, it's also made me astoundingly LAZY.  Maybe this is why in other professions they only give you 2 to 3 weeks, if you're lucky, off a year.

Before/After

Hi Everyone,

6 days left until I go back to work and I must say, I'm itching to return. Shh, don't tell anyone but I really miss my kids. :)

This morning, I stumbled upon an old picture I took during my student teaching and I could not believe my eyes.

New Year, Old Stuff

Well hello, hello friends,

With just a little over a week of my winter vacation left, it's time to start getting back into lesson planning mode and gearing up to prep my classroom for the new year. Of course just as my luck would have it, after I took everything, and I mean everything, off the walls, I find out we're having one of the assistant superintendents come through for a visit. Really?!? Two days after a three week long vacation - playground balls.

Fashionate About Teaching

Hello Friends,

I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year festivities and is looking forward to a great year! For my first post of the new year, I'm featuring another simple teacher outfit. Since I'm vacationing in LA, I decided to take advantage of the city and use it as a scenic backdrop for my photos.