Am I Doing It Wrong?

As I celebrated Labor Day working on lesson plans and grading papers a question kept popping into my head:

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Am I doing it wrong???






When I say wrong, I mean planning, structuring, organizing, common core - time management. Let me explain with a sample of my "planning schedule" from last week.

During the Week

 Work Day is usually 7:30 - 5:00 so 9.5 hours

After school I plan after the kids go to bed so 1.5 - 2 hours

Friday, regular work day plus 4 hours

Weekend

Saturday I visited family - an indulgence I know - so 4 hours

Sunday after church I put in 9 hours

Monday (Labor Day) I worked for 16 hours 

(I paid for the Saturday indulgence - usually I put in those hours on Saturday)

So to break it down - I spend 88.5 hours planning/teaching. If I assume 8 hours of sleep a night (ahhhh, a woman can dream) then that is 56 hours sleeping. That leaves me 23.5 hours a week to spend with my family and to eat.

So one day. Oh yeah, so that is why I don't sleep. I knew there was a good reason. My groggy mind just couldn't figure it out. Ha, ha!

This is why I asked my husband last night, "Am I doing it wrong?" (Whoa, ladies, out of the gutter, this is an educational blog!)

His advice was to ask the blogging community. Pretty good advice. So I'm asking you.

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What is your time break down?
Am I doing it wrong?
Does your  planning time look similar?
Thematic planning? Does anyone do this? Does it help? How do you structure it? Does it change the way you plan to make it better or worse?
Can I get my time back OR do I need to put on my big girl panties and deal with it?

I would love to hear your thoughts because I fear I'm burning out and we're only 3 weeks in. Yikes! As a 12 year veteran I know the danger of that. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this. Stress and time management are huge for teachers. I would love your advice.

Just to thank you for letting me pick your brain, here is something I made during that 88.5 hours. It is a Reading Response sheet for main idea. Thanks to Tracee Orman for the great frame! I hope you find it useful!

Diving Deeper into Questioning

I have spent my day in Teacher Evaluation training for Common Core. I attended two sessions and presented as well. The first session I attended was great! It talked about thinking and strategies to encourage higher order thinking in students. It tied in very well with the presentation I helped with about questioning.

One of the determiners on the teacher evaluation rubric for Tennessee Educators is  questioning. According to the rubric

1. Questions should be varied and high quality, providing a balanced mix of question types. 
2. Questions are consistently purposeful and coherent. 
3. A high frequency of questions is asked. 
4. Questions are consistently sequenced with attention to the instructional goals.
5. Questions regularly require active responses. 
6. Wait time (3-5 seconds) is consistently provided. 
7. The teacher calls on volunteers and nonvolunteers, and a balance of students based on ability and sex. 
8. Students generate questions that lead to further inquiry and self-directed learning.

Whew! That is a mouthful! Most teachers are fine with numbers 2 through 7. It's numbers 1 and 8 (the bookends!) that get you. One deals with our friend Blooms and 8 puts questioning into the hands of students. Most teachers solve #8 through coaching, modeling questioning, and providing students with flipcards with question stems as scaffolding. I want to focus on #1 because thinking of those questions can be difficult.

I'm analogy person, so here I am thinking layers and questioning trying to create an analogy. Hmmm, onions have layers, but I don't get excited when I get to the bottom of an onion...no. Some say that ogres have layers...

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Definitely no. Then it hit me. Oceans! Of course, oceans have layers and as you dive deeper they become more interesting. I can relate this to Blooms and higher order questioning.

Imagine the ocean. You start at the top swimming happily in the surface waters of Knowledge and Comprehension. You are having fun. You are challenged, but not too much, just enough to keep things interesting. Maybe you are snorkeling or swimming or just floating.

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Then your friend comes by and wants to dive a bit deeper. You will need some support for that, so you grab your scuba gear (scaffolding, modeling, guidance, yeah, you know). Now you're diving into the Application and Analysis layer. The challenge increases but so does the interest level.

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You and your friend (because you can only get this deep with help of course...ha, ha) decide you must dive even deeper. Scuba gear won't be enough, so you grab your submarine. (Doesn't everyone have one of those lying around??) Now you are immersed in Synthesis and Evaluation. You look around in awe. It is amazing the perspective you get when you are covered by a ton of water. There was a challenge in going this deep, but the rewards are the inspiration of the beauty and wonder surrounding you.


When your students are encouraged to think deeply through higher level questioning, it makes their learning more tangible and it can inspire them to want to learn more about the topics they are studying. Our job as teachers is not just to provide knowledge but to inspire learning. Questioning is one tool that accomplishes that goal.

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One tip is to plan your questions as you plan your lesson. To pull upon a little Backward Design, start with your end in mind. What big idea do you want your students to understand at the end of the lesson or unit. Then build your questions diving deeper each time as you reach for the big idea.

Click on the picture above to grab a small freebie about questioning. It includes definitions of the different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, question stems, key words, and a guide for planning questions. You or your students can use it to practice making higher order questions. Enjoy!

Getting Ready and an Award

Well, it's here...my first day of work. I go back on Tuesday. I always have mixed feelings about this. I like getting back into a routine and the excitement of a new school year, BUT I miss the lazy summer days with my family, especially my kids. I'm blessed in so many ways because my school is five minutes from my house (past a few farms, some cows, and a couple of fields), and there is a nursery on site. I know how lucky can a girl get? The whole family is in one spot! Having everyone close does make it easier, but I still miss spending time with those crazies!

Little brother on his hand-me-down big wheel.

With school starting I've been hard at work trying to get myself organized. I've spent some time at school, but I try to finish what I can at home first. This way my little shadows can continue to soak up some summer fun.

Soooo, my room is still a mess. No pictures please. I have crossed several things of my to do list though: science and social studies pacing guides, my year plan, printing/laminating/cutting my word walls, pirate numbers, and calendar/math focus pieces. I've also dressed up some power verbs for my room.

What? Last year our county decided the students needed to be familiar with the verbage used on standardized tests. When they evaluated us they wanted these words used in our lessons. These words are: analyze, categorize, examine, explain, justify, prove, summarize, compose, relevant, irrelevant, predict, compare, and contrast.

These can be difficult words for primary students to grab onto, so the teacher down the hall from me had a brain wave and made posters for each word with the definition. She hung these in the room to remind her to use them and to help the students remember them. I loved the idea, so I've dressed them up in pirate gear to match my room.

They will become my Pirate Words of the Week and I'll introduce them one at a time until my firsties have them down. Then they will be posted in the room as a little reminder. What do you think?

And now for the reward....

While I was two-steppin' in Nashville at the DFA YC Southeast Dairy Conference (loads of fun, lots of dairy info about stuff like milk prices, cheese, cows, grazing, you get the idea), I was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by Laugh Live Love Learn, Crazy Daze in 1st Grade, and Smiling and Shining in Second Grade.

               

     

Now, its my turn. Here are the rules...

1. Follow the person who gave you the award.
2. Link back to the person who gave you the award.
3. Pass the award on to at least 5 new bloggers.

Here are my nominees...

First Grade with a Cherry on Top

  

 

  

Common Core Dreams

So last night I dreamed about common core. Let me be clearer...I had a nightmare about common core. A storm blew in waking my baby up 3 times (yeah, that was a nightmare too...but that's another blog). I would get him to sleep and BAM! I was right back in the middle of the nightmare.

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There they were...an evaluation team. Not the normal evaluators, but a team of robotic like scientists bent on common core perfection. The evaluation team flaunting their plain, white lab coats and ugly, brown clipboards walking through my HOUSE! Yes, common core had invaded my house. They strolled through my house scribbling notes, nodding heads, and pointing to my treasured items.

"Those pictures, yep, not common core. Must come down."

"That rug, definately not common core. Get rid of it."

"The toys, nah, don't think so. Have to go."

I nodded my head like a bobble head agreeing to everything they said. It was crazy!

Any other person would think I'm making this up, but you know I'm not because I bet you've had the common core dream too.

I know mine was brought on by my immersion into the beast as I made pacing guides and researched. Then when I found out first grade was going to be tested next year, that sealed it. I went to bed wondering how I was going to get my firsties ready for the test. I knew the vocabulary would get them before the information did. What was I going to do?

Thankfully, I stumbled upon a Common Core Word Wall by Anna Brantley (I love her stuff!). Click the picture below to check it out yourself.


                                            

It includes language arts and math of course, but what really got me excited was this little sentence:

"I will add the science and social studies vocabulary cards as soon as they are released."

How wonderful! I'm loving the idea of using this word wall this year.

So, how are you getting ready for Common Core? I would love to hear your thoughts!

The Joys of Reading

I love teaching reading because I love to read, but it always seems to be the most daunting subject to plan for in first grade. So much is involved in turning fledgling readers into accomplished, "I can do it!" readers. Phonetics, phonemics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency all have to come together under the right conditions for the magic to occur. At times it feels as if I'm stirring together a witch's brew where one misplaced ingredient would cause the whole concoction to explode.

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This never turns out well!




After teaching reading for several years and researching good reading practices, I would like to say that I have completely come to terms with reading instruction. Although I do feel more comfortable with it, I still have my panic moments, especially with my strugglers. I don't consider this a bad thing. I think any teacher worth their salt (as we say down south) should worry. No teacher wants to let their students down academically or otherwise. On the other hand, we shouldn't beat ourselves with the reading stick every time a student misses a word or gives you a blank stare when you ask them, "What is the setting of this story?"

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This actually happened to me....during an evaluation...by one my brighter students...who liked to be noticed...who smiled when she said "What's that?"...it rendered me speechless...only for a moment...oh dear!

In other words, teach the five components of reading and teach them well. Document progress and change gears when necessary. Research ways to teach reading, talk to good reading teachers, and implement good reading strategies in your classroom. BUT keep in mind that reading really is developmental. Consider yourself, your reading skills are still developing. You will never stop learning how to read and understand literature better. Reading, like math, is a skill that builds and grows with you. The same is true for our little buddies. Give them time and trust your teacher's gut. 

With that said, here is my pacing guide for this year. I can't teach without a guide especially in reading which can feel so random as you move through the different skills. In our district, we use Scotts Foresman Reading Street basal. My plan is to incorporate our basal into the Daily Five. My thought is that the basal stories would be good for Read to Someone and I can pull the activities for Word Work and Work on Writing from the skills presented that week. This will free me up to tackle more complicated texts during our shared reading or mini-lesson each day. What do you think? I would love your feedback as I'm always looking for better ways to teach reading.

Click the picture above to download

If you are considering doing Daily 5 in your classroom, you have to check into the Daily 5 book study going on this summer. I have loved it and the information has been invaluable. It has been wonderful to read and see how other teachers are interpreting Daily 5 in their classrooms. I have recommended it to several teachers at my school already.

Here is a link to Chapter 1

And another one that you might like

  You can also check out my Pinterest boards for more info about reading and the Daily 5. Just click the link at the top of the page. 

Happy reading!

What are Your Writing Plans?

So, here I am knee deep in the next phase of my planning. This week I tackled writing, which I might add is one of my favorite subjects to teach.

Confession time, before I went into education, I was an English major. Yes, I was one of those, and I fit the stereotype perfectly. I graduated with my B.A. in English Literature. I also, as many English majors did, dabbled in writing. A younger me had aspirations of becoming a writer. Oh, not a famous one, no, I liked staying in the shadows and just under the radar. It would've been great, except I began to be pulled in a better direction. But, I digress...

Click the picture to get you free guide

In first grade it is hard to separate writing and reading. They go hand in hand, intertwine, compliment each other....um, you get the idea. If you put all those standards on one pacing guide though, it is overwhelming. So, I break them up for my sanity as I've done here. 


I teach writing using Writing Workshop. My buddies love it! I see such improvement in their writing by the end of the year. I don't jump in right away. I usually ease them into it making sure they have the basics first (handwriting, sentence structure, etc.), but with Common Core I've had to up the pace a bit. With Common Core they are required to write four different types of paragraphs by the end of the year - how-to (research), informative, opinion, and narrative. I want to make sure that my buddies are comfortable with each so that they are prepared for second grade. I'm hoping I can meet the pace. I'm thinking of focusing on grammar on Mondays. Then pulling the grammar in with a mini-lesson before Writing Workshop on Tuesday - Thursday. Friday will be another grammar day or assessment. What do you think?


I'll be posting Reading next...if I can decide which Common Core text exemplars to use for Shared Reading. Any ideas???

Introduction and a Freebie

I'm belly flopping into the world of educational blogs. Stand back because this could get messy! I'm not new to blogging. I've been writing a personal blog for over a year now as a way to share the highlights of my children's activities with grandmas, papaws, aunts, uncles...you get the idea, but I don't think a readership of my family (despite the sheer number of them) counts.

Now my husband, a dairy farmer and fellow blogger, has convinced me to venture into the world of professional blogging. I don't know what he's thinking. I'm already MIA during the school year (can you relate???) and now he is encouraging me to disappear even further into the depths of the computer. Hmmm, perhaps I should be concerned...

The title of my blog came from the t-shirt slogan, .

With all the changes, social issues, lack of resources, and general educational upheaval, you would have to be crazy or fearless - or both! I think most teachers fall into the fearless category. Everyday I'm impressed with the dedication and passion of today's teachers. What makes us fearless education soldiers? Our love of children? Probably. Our passion for learning? Definitely. Or could it be that despite what everyone says we really do know what we are doing and are confident in our abilities? Absolutely!!

One area I enjoy is planning. I love planning and researching ideas which is how I splashed into the blogging world. I've been skulking around blogs for awhile now and gobbling up some real inspiration.



I'm now ready to give back a little. Like most of you I'm planning for August. I'm starting by tweaking all of my curriculum guides to match Common Core. We adopted Envision Math last year as well, so I started by aligning my guide with Common Core and Envision. Now I usually don't teach strictly from the book, so I'll be adding other activities that match the Topics but dig deeper into the standards. Can we say rigor? Yes, that's a catch phrase in our county as well. You can snag a copy of my Curriculum Guide below.

I apologize for the long post. Generally I keep it short to keep up with my 3 children.(Right now my one year old is trying to tackle my computer. Wonderful!)

Let me know if this is helpful. I'll be posting my language guide soon, so check back!