2013 school year

The school year is officially underway. Today was back to school night & I finally put the finishing touches on my room. Finally. Check it out!

Sneak Peek

This is the computer table in my room. It used to be a little station, but now it's pushed against the wall because I have no room to spare :( oh well! My bulletin boards look awesome this year! Here's a sneak peek...

Thinking...

All weekend I have been thinking of all of the things I wasn't prepared to think about when I was preparing to be a teacher...
Here's my list:
*How do you use a room parent?
*How SPECIFICALLY do you come up with a final grade to put on the report card?
*How do you deal with other teachers?
*How do you plan field trips for three months from now when you don't even know if you will be teaching the right lessons for that trip at that time??
*How do you turn your brain off so that you're not thinking about teaching every second of every day?

Anyone who can answer the last one can have a cookie!!

xxOOxx

My Fourth Grade Classroom

My room is FINALLY ready for business (good thing because the first day is tomorrow!!) so I thought I'd share some photos...i know you've been dying to see what I've

been up to :P

My Desk is already messy! haha

My OWN Classroom

FINALLY!! Welcome to Ms. D's classroom :D

So, this is what I have been working toward. This is what I have wanted for five years. This is what I have dreams of. This is MY classroom!!!!!

Do you share my excitement? I know, I know... it IS awesome!!! I have already made so many changes and have made many plans for this new learning space. I will fill you in as the room progresses. Stay tuned for many more photos to come. (and wish me luck)

xxOOxx

Happy Birthday to MEE!

I have had an absolutely fabulous birthday weekend. Aside from the fact that the weather was suuper cold, It was definately one of the best birthdays Ive had in a while :)

So... when i came to work this morning and two cute kindergarteners ran into my room breathless and said, "Ms. D! Ms. D! We NEED you in kindergarten riight NOW! Hurry!" I was kinda worried. I followed them to their room and was greeted with a huge "SURPRISE!!!!" form the rest of the class! They sang me Happy Birthday (complete with the Cha-cha-cha's) and gave me a beautiful new plant for my room. What a perfect way to top off a perfect weekend :D

Thank you KA & KB!!

xxOOxx

A riddle

Written by a first grader earlier today:

i see a anmol that is brwn and white kut

you, no the anstr? oooooo

i no the anstr, it is a der, aaaaaaa

So, How are your powers of deduction? Did you figure it out?

here's a hint...

.

..

...

....

.....

.......

I see an animal that is brown and white. could

you know the answer? Oh Oh Oh!

I know the answer, it is a deer, hahahaha

I knew you kut do it!!

xxOOxx

Halloween Time!

Here are some pictures of my room all spooked out :)

xxOOxx

In my Opinion

One shouldn't use certain things as a punishment. Some of these things include reading, writing, and physical exercise. I'm also not limiting this to the classroom. I believe that the types of punishments where a child must write standards, read silently, run a lap, or do push ups are counter-productive to their development.

As teachers, we spend our entire lives trying to get our students not only to read and write but to LOVE reading and writing. We want them to WANT to read books and write stories. However, by using these as punishment, they begin to believe that theses tasks are boring, monotonous, and a punishment (go figure). The same goes with physical exercise... we want kids to learn to LOVE exercise, to enjoy the feeling of physical exertion. But when we tell them to "go do a lap" and are surprised when they are in fifth grade and despise PE. C'mon people, I'm just asking for a little common sense!

*sigh*

xxOOxx

Welcome to Ms. D's Class!!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while, but I've been busy. Well, busy and kinda lazy... haha. But no I'm back in a school. In the rhythm of the new year, so you can expect more blogs and anecdotal stories soon! Until then, here are a few pics of MY classroom!! Enjoy!

This is my tree. I <3>

My tiny bulletin board! lol

xxOOxx