This week in review...
1. It's summmmmmmmmmmerrrrrrrrr!!!!!! Enough said.
2. This summer I will be partaking in two book studies! I myself will be hosting Word Nerds as many of you already know. For my friend Beth from Thinking of Teaching, I will also be hosting chapter 3 (and discussing along the way) for the book study on Building Mathematical Comprehension. I am very excited for both of these! Since I have talked to death my book study, lol, I will give you a little information on Beth's! Building Mathematical Comprehension is by Laney Sammons (the same author who wrote Guided Math) and is all about connecting your reading strategies and academic language to math! I can't wait!
3. Well I finally got one! I'm so stinkin' excited about my new pencil sharpener! I had been seeing them all over the place and thought... No way, those look like throwback, albeit very cute throwback, pencil sharpeners that we did away with. Well I WAS WRONG. And I have never been so happy to be wrong :o) Tomorrow I will be posting my review so come back and check it out! I mean, look how sharp those pencils are!?
4. I had to go to a workshop this week about a new reading series we are adopting from Pearson. Anyone know anything about it?
Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a HUGE fan of textbooks. Nothing against textbooks or teachers who use them, but I am more of a teach from novels kind of gal. Remember, I teach fifth grade. If I taught younger students I might feel otherwise but my kids are about to be entering middle school and should be able to comprehend and analyze passages longer than four pages.
We also have to teach this textbook with fidelity till December to see how it goes. A lot of people keep saying, "You won't have to do lesson plans now. It's all there for you, you don't have to do anything." But I'm one of those weirdoes who LIKES doing things. I like to create new lessons and find other's activities that worked well for them and implement them into my classroom. Again, I don't mind using it occasionally and I am excited about parts of this whole kit and caboodle, but I'm not a fan of someone telling me how to teach all the time and making all of us teach the exact same way. (It's my Texas-Irish blood, I'm very stubborn that way, lol) Teachers are just as unique as our students and what works for one might not work for another. If we have to differentiate for our kids why not for our teachers? Okay, off my soapbox now, haha!
5. If you follow me on Instagram you have already been alerted to this! LOL At Wendy's, if you donate a dollar to... well I'm not sure because I forgot in all the excitement, but if you donate $1 you get this cute little Wendy's Frosty Key Tag. This key tag allows you to get a free Jr. Frosty every time you get something from Wendy's for a whole year. Absorb that... A WHOLE YEAR OF FREE FROSTIES FOR ONE DOLLAR!!!! Now it is just a Jr. Frosty, but who cares!? I'm very excited about this and donated about $5 and got tags for family and friends, haha! I don't know how long this lasts so go get yours today!
That's my week in review! Nothing too overly exciting and I'm okay with that :o) I am very excited for tomorrow because I will be having lunch with 5-6 other fabulous blogging buddies from our area and I'm working on Monday's Made It! Already a good weekend and it hasn't even started yet. Don't forget to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and tell us what you did this week!
I found you through Five for Friday. Our district has been using Reading Street (not the Common Core version) for a few years now, and I'm not thrilled with it. There are some things I like about it, but I miss the opportunity to be creative and really focus on the needs of the children. Good luck! I hope the Common Core version is more flexible!
ReplyDeleteSally from Elementary Matters
Wow! What a great deal at Wendy's! I must go tomorrow! I'm in total agreement with you on the reading series-I'm anxious to see what you think of that series. At least you get a new series that aligns with CC-our district is keeping ours one more year!
ReplyDeleteJoanne
Head Over Heels For Teaching
Wow! What a great deal at Wendy's! I must go tomorrow! I'm in total agreement about the reading series! I'm anxious to see what you think though! At least you're getting a new series aligned to CC-we have to keep our old series another year!
ReplyDeleteJoanne
Head Over Heels For Teaching
I am with you on the textbooks. When we first got our "Treasures" book series from McMillan/McGraw Hill, the entire elementary were told to get rid of everything else. We would all be suing the new series. While I understand the need to be consistent and build a program, I haven't seen a "series" that can accomplish that. NYS has "modules" coming out aligned with the core (supposed to all be out this summer...we'll see). Still skeptical about the whole thing!
ReplyDelete~Holly
Fourth Grade Flipper
Our district uses the regular Reading Street. This summer they are trying to turn those stories into thematic units that are common core aligned.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I love that pencil sharpener! Funny how something can make a teacher SOOO happy! It is very quiet and you don't really even need to hold the pencil either...great for 1st grade! ;0) Can't wait to read your review.
ReplyDeleteMandy
www.mandelinasmadness.blogspot.com
Sabra,
ReplyDeleteWe use a Reading Street but just mainly for the stories in them. I have enjoyed using them for the stories and the literature in them is of good quality. However, if I were to rely just on what was in the book for how we rea, analyze, and respond to the stories, it would be a different story.
I hate to see that your district, too, has the idea that everyone needs to teach the same things the same way. I could go on for HOURS about this topic, but the important thing is that you will still be able to squeeze yourself into those lessons. The literature could be good- that's the meat of it. I'm interested to see how it goes!!
So excited for our book study!!
Kelly
I am a kinder teacher but I couldn't resist becoming a follower so you would hit 300.
ReplyDeleteSabra,
ReplyDeleteI had a blast hanging out yesterday! I can't believe how close we live to each other! I told my hubby about the Wendy's thing and he is all over it! LOL! Need to get together soon!
Leigh
The Applicious Teacher