Free Books? Sign me up

I love books. Especially when they are free. One of the loverly ladies I follow is hosting a giveaway. If you have a minute head over to The Grade Two Zoo and see some of the great ideas she has shared.

Ten Things I have Learned from my class

I saw this idea on several of the blogs I follow. So I thought I would give it a try.
In the order I thought them, not the order of importance 10 Things I Have Learned:
1. Always state your expectations before starting a new activity. Have a child repeat them back to you. Seriously. It works miracles.
2. Set high standards for your class. For the most part they will rise to them. (I love that my class is usually the best behaved second grade at our school.)
3. Create as many fast finishers as possible.
4. Beg, borrow, and steal ideas. Saves time, headaches, and resources. (I love all the lovely teachers I follow on blogger.)
5. Use books to teach difficult topics. They work wonders.
6. Get enough sleep at night, or your whole class suffers.
7. Model, model, model, model, model... I can't say it enough.
8. Kids can be motivated by the smallest things. Pretzels, jellybeans, erasers, extra recess time. Use their enthusiasm.
9. The more enthusiasm you have, the more children want to listen to what you have to say.
10. Having children put their heads down for a minute gives you the chance to regroup and gives them the chance to think about what they are doing.

Some of them are silly. But they are things I have learned.

Adventures in Technology

I made this powerpoint for my students who are still struggling with shape names. I plan on printing the slide show onto heavy paper and then having my lovely children paste pictures real life examples of the shapes on the back. Once they are double sided I will laminate them. Then I will have them as a reference for small group instruction or as general posters in the room.  I'm not sure exactly how well it will go, but it is one of the many projects I am attempting at this time. (Projects are so much easier to work on than cover letters.)

Job Hunting

It has to be one of the most stressful things. Ever! I wish that my principal had room and could just hire me. Then I would not need to worry about resumes, letters of recommendation, or cover letters. (Resume complete, letters of recommendation recieved, now I just need to modify a cover letter for each district and brush up on my interview skills.) Life would be dandy if I were ready.
I went to a teacher work fair today. Holy Hannah. It was crazy. I passed out resumes only to have them land in piles over 3 inches thick. Some schools did not even take them, asking us to go online and apply. Yikes. I have a feeling it will be an interesting couple of months until I find my spot in life.