Another Test

       OK, I saw this cartoon over at Third Grade Thinkers and just had to blog about it myself.

        Sadly, this is where I feel that we are in education today.  We test our students multiple times during the year to find out if they are ready for THE test.  More often than not I feel that if we just taught our students they would perform on THE test.  It is funny, it's almost like "they" think that all of this testing makes our students better learners and therefore better test takers and maybe it does, but I highly doubt it.  I think that good teaching makes better learners and because of that they are better test takers.  Until the "powers that be" figure it out I will continue to test my students multiple times a year and then use that data to inform my instructional decisions. 

Reading BINGO

        I was checking in (and catching up) on all of the wonderful blogs that I follow today and I saw that over at Pitner's Potpourri that Mary Pitner has shared a Character Tic-Tac-Toe sheet with us.  In my comment to her, because she asks if we download anything to leave her a comment, I mentioned how great it would be to use with my students.  I also mentioned that I use a genre BINGO sheet with my students to encourage my students to read in all of the genres.  This got me to thinking that duh, it might be nice if I shared my BINGO sheet with you.  So . . . here is my BINGO sheet.  I hope that you will find it useful.

Christmas Music Already?

        Today as I was preparing to make my drive home I turned on the radio and to my surprise not one, but two radio stations were playing Christmas music.  I don't mean to sound all bah humbug or anything but seriously . . . it's only November 7th.  I love Christmas. I love the real meaning of Christmas.  I love the decorations.  I love shopping.  I love giving gifts.  I love getting gifts (is that OK to say? oh well).  I even love the Christmas music . . . but not on November 7th.  I think the reason why so many of us out there love Christmas music is because it is usually only around for a brief time.  Am I crazy? cranky? correct? Just curious what your thoughts on the subject are . . .   

Fall Carnival

        This past Friday was my school's fifth annual fall carnival and it was tons of fun!  The weather was perfect, chilly but not unbearable.  I also had the most ever (in a nine year career) amount of parents that were both willing and able to contribute to our booth.  Thanks again, you know who you are ; )
       
        Even though our class's pumpkin may not have won the pumpkin decorating contest I still think that it was sooo cute and definitely an accurate representation of our class.  What do you think? 

        Now that I know how to upload pictures from my phone to my blog (just figured that out today) I can't wait to share photos of my classroom.  Once you see them you will understand much more clearly why I just had to have a frog pumpkin. 

       

Positive Attitude

        As we get ready to begin not only a new week but a new month I am reminded of the power of a positive attitude.  I even found this quote that I just had to share. 

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."  ~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995

        May your attitude be one that annoys others  . . . in the nicest possible way of course.   

Bucket Fillers

        This is the second year that my students and I have been bucket fillers.  This is such a great way for the students to recognize the kind things that they say and do for one another.   I always read the forms before delivering them (to make sure that everything is appropriate) and I have been really impressed with the notes that I have read. 
         My favorite bucket filler story this year has to do with the first time we emptied our buckets.  I have a student that had an extremely tough year last year.  He felt alienated and alone even told me that he has never had a best friend before.  So anyways . . . this student was absent the day we emptied our buckets and when he returned on Monday this student saw that he had four bucket forms waiting for him in his cubby.  He asked if they were all from one student in the class and I told him no that they were all from different people.  His whole face lit up!  It was a sweet day.
         If there is anyone out there not yet participating in the bucket filling "movement" let me encourage you to do so.  It does not take much time but it will be well worth the classroom community and closeness that it will foster among your students.