Thursday, May 17, 2012

And Another One Bites the Dust!


I stumbled upon this great linky party from Amber over at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher. She wants to know what was great and not so great about the school year. I thought this would be a great way to reflect! Be sure to check out Amber's blog! 

 

The Great:
1. My Kids!
I have the most loving, adorable, sweet class ever! I will truly miss them. 

2. Classroom Decor
I kept my classroom bright, cheerful, and neat. I think it was a comfortable and inviting place for my students. Here are a few of my bulletin boards from the year. 


Brightly colored buttons were glued to the clothes pins. Next year, I think I will paint the clothes pins too! 






3. Hands-on Activities
I worked hard to keep my students engaged in meaningful lessons.


My students created these posters after learning about the different text features.



4. Literacy
I helped instill a love of reading through my book bag program. My students loved it! I had many parents tell me how much their child enjoys reading now. 




The Not-So Great:

1. Organization
I am still VERY disorganized when it comes to keeping track of resources, worksheets, and lesson ideas for the different units I teach. Some of it is filed away, some of it is in my cupboards, and other things are saved on my computer. By the time I get to that unit, I have forgotten what I did last year and waste too much time searching for it all. I would love to make organizational binders for all of my units. That way, when I find an idea on the internet or create something on my own, I can easily slide it into the binder that goes with that unit. I think this will work better for me than file cabinets. 

Pinned Image
 I love the color scheme of these binders!
 

2. Reading Groups
I think I've improved in this area, but I hope to be better at teaching guided reading next year. I want to improve at being able to teach the different reading strategies and be able to better identify my students' needs in terms of what reading strategies they need help with. 

3. Paperwork
This also kinda goes with organization. I want to be better at completing all school related paperwork right away. I tend to leave it on my desk and forget about it until I get an email from the office asking for it. oops.

4. Challenging my high achievers
 I can easily help my struggling students, but sometimes I find it difficult to find activities to challenge my more advanced students. Next year I hope to have more activities to support these students as well.

5. Leaving on time
 Let's just say, the custodian and I are best buds. I want to manage my time better so that I can actually get out of there at a decent time. I'm tired of all the, "so did you sleep here last night?" jokes!



13 comments:

  1. It sounds like you had a great year! Thanks for linking up! I'm a new follower!

    Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher

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  2. I love your giant pencil! What grade do you teach?

    Christi ツ
    Ms. Fultz’s Corner

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  3. Welcome, Amber and Christi! Thank you for following us! :) Chrsti, there are two of us that run this blog. I teach 3rd and my friend teaches special education kindergarten.

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  4. Organization is not my strong point either! That is one of my goals for next year too. :)

    Marvelous Multiagers!

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  5. I totally know what you mean about being best buds with the evening custodians! Mine is retiring this year and he's worried about who will check in on me during the evenings!
    Just stumbled across your blog and am your newest follower! I can't wait to read about your book bag program!
    Jenn

    A Pirates Life for Us

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  6. I love your book bag idea!! I was planning on making some this summer and you have inspired me!! I may check back with you when I get started!! Ughh, paperwork, I have piles of piles under my piles:((

    Aloha,
    Corinna
    Surfin' Through Second

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  7. I am with you on the organization! I have papers everywhere...boxes, filing cabinets, baskets, binders.... This is one of my goals for next year too.

    Your newest follower,
    Stephany
    http://primarypossibilities.blogspot.com/

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  8. Omgosh I love those binders too! Thanks for following and I am also your newest follower!

    BakingCraftingTeaching Oh My

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  9. Hello to Taylor, Stephany, Corinna, Jenn, and Jill and welcome to our blog! Thank you so much for commenting and for following us! We truly appreciate it! :)

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  10. I hear you on the organization. I started binders this year and it has made all the difference. I know where most everything is. I just need to organize by unit subjects rather than just by unit author. I am also planning on removing my desk and just getting a small table to work at. My desk has just become a place to keep stacks out of the way. I am happy to have found your blog. I am your newest follower. Come check out another Southern California girl's blog- 2ndgradesunshine.blogspot.com
    PS: I love your cheerful room! I am the same way.

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  11. Thanks for leaving a message, Elleen! I just stopped by your blog and I'm now following you too!

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  12. I just found your blog and I had to visit! LOVE the title (hehe!) I am your newest follower!

    Amanda
    Teaching Maddeness
    Drop by for my 100 Follower Giveaway!

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  13. Hi Amanda! Thanks for following our blog and leaving a comment. I will head over to your blog right now! :)

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