See-Ya Later, Second Graders!

I cannot believe how fast this last semester went. I started the semester counting down the days until April 25 and May 2, which are the dates for the end of internship and graduation. 
Somewhere in the middle of the last 16 weeks, I lost count of my countdown and started wishing for time to slow down. 
Every day I woke up excited to get to school and see their sweet faces. 
I know that as their student teacher, I was teaching them each and every day, but I learned so much from them too- things that you don't learn from a textbook or a college professor's lecture (sorry to any former professors reading this :-) ) I learned how to be patient, how to listen, how to address their individuality, and how to love and support them during their school day. 
Each and every one of them will always hold a special place in my heart as they are my "first" class. 

Group Hug!

On Friday, we had a little celebration. Our very generous room mom donated a pizza party, which included pizza, chips, drinks, and my favorite- Publix cookies :) I hope I have a room mom as great as her! My sweet supervising teacher organized the best gift I've ever received... A CHEVRON/BURLAP (my favorites) memo board full of gift cards to teacher-friendly places: Barnes & Noble, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Dunkin Donuts, etc. She knows me so well!

Funny how great minds think alike... Here was my gift card bouquet for her. A "how-to" post will follow for this:

"Thank you for helping me bloom!"

My supervising teacher, Mrs. C., is such a wonderful teacher and person. She is just one of those good people that you aspire to be like. I cannot thank her enough for her support and guidance, and for putting up with me and my quirks :-) She totally handed over her classroom to me and trusted me,  giving me the room to "bloom", and for that I will be eternally grateful.

We didn't say "goodbye" we said "see-ya later"... Who knows where I will end up teaching!

Journaling- The Benefits are Endless!

Happy Sunday!
Celebrating today with a freebie! My journal prompts are now free! 
I created these while working with a struggling fourth grader before the FCAT. This student loathed writing, and unfortunately wasn't the best writer. She was an amazing student- absolutely brilliant- but hated writing and put little to no effort in her writing pieces. After learning the benefits of journaling, I decided to create a notebook for her and would glue in a series of prompts for her to respond to. Each week when I met with her, if she completed one or more prompt and it was quality work, I would give a reward (a pencil, a fun eraser, etc.) Over a series of 12 weeks, this student made incredible progress.
I think with everything changing in education, writing has taken a backseat. This statement really bothers me as I see writing as such an important skill and a foundation to being an effective communicator. Another way I use journal prompts is by putting one a week on the whiteboard for students to start when they first come into the classroom. They love them! It also serves as a fun sort of incognito way to assess students' writing skills.

Click here to download and as always, please leave some love! 

Enjoy!

Storytelling

I LOVE Storytelling! I have been trying to think of something clever to begin this post, but honestly, I can't come up with anything more true- I LOVE Storytelling!

When most people think of storytelling, they think folktales. Storytelling is a method in which the reader embellishes or places emphasis on the story to make it more appealing to the reader- which I think means it can be done with any genre! During a course at UCF, the professor made each and every one of us do this in front of the entire class. We had to have one prop and it had to be something easily made. 

I decided to read Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. If you haven't read this yet, you really, really need to. It is hilarious! It also teaches kids the importance of NOT interrupting (ugh, a huge pet peeve!) I think I may need to read this next week... 

Here is my finger puppet I made. So incredibly easy! I used construction paper and goggly eyes, but I could have easily drawn the eyes on. Every time the little chicken interrupted, I took the finger puppet out from behind my back and loudly read his interruption. Of course I was more dramatic in front of a class of children than a class of my peers.
I can't believe I forgot about this quirky little book and puppet... I can't wait to read it to my second graders next week.