Back at it!

Wow...moving schools and grade levels has truly caused me to put the blog on the back burner!  (Maybe even off the stove!  oops!)
5th grade has been a big adjustment, but I'm loving it!
This is our first week back after Spring Break.  We had some pretty awful weather over break...but now it's getting into the high 70s!  (If only we had that weather last week!  I'm not so sure I would have been as productive, though!)
I was pretty excited about the activity we have done for the past two days in class.  My students have been struggling with inferences...so after lots of google searching, I came across this great resource from The Brown Bag Teacher -  Hands on inferring practice.  We did our "backwards" writing yesterday.  The students were the authors who knew what their readers needed to infer, they knew the basic background knowledge of their peers.  The only part they were missing were the clues!  Today we posted the writing around the room and students did a gallery walk to read each other's writing and see what they could infer from the passage.  Tomorrow we will compare the answers!
We have about 3 1/2 weeks left until our state testing...when do your students take theirs?

Now for the April Currently from Oh Boy 4th Grade!

Listening:  Wicked Soundtrack.  I'm going to see it for the first time on Friday.  So very excited!

Loving:  80 degrees?!  I'll take it!

Thinking:  4 weeks till testing?!  Where has the school year gone?

Wanting:  New flip flops.  Pretty self explanatory.  80 degrees out...and my toes want out!

Needing:  I always need new shoes.  :P

Hours and Last Day:  The students finish on the 23rd.  We go back after Memorial Day for Admin Days.

Classroom photos!

So...it seems I've blinked...and summer is over!

My eyes are just about blurry from staring at plans all afternoon...so I leave you with pictures, actual blogging tomorrow!
I'm linking up with the Fantastic Farley for August's Currently...

Listening:  Johnnyswim.  I'm obsessed.  You need to listen to them now.  Beautiful vocals, amazing lyrics, just wonderful.
Loving:  I met my sweet students this past week!  Love my group!
Thinking:  I'm pretty sure every teacher going back to school is feeling this way!
Wanting:  Books!  I can never have enough books!
Needing: A manicure.  I've picked at my fingers (stress habit!) in meetings this week...I need to get them taken care of!
B2S:  Post its!  My students know I love them...in fact, many gave them to me as part of my Christmas presents this year!
          Sharpies.  Big ones, small ones, fat ones, thin ones...I love them all!
          New shoes.  See pic below.  :)

First day of school!

Calendar area and my lunch count... 

Accountable talk board...we're adding more to it this week!

Currently

Trying this for the first time...
Linking up with Farley for her "Currently"...I always read them, but never do them!
Here we go!

Listening:  Need by Tyrone Wells.  I'm pretty sure I could listen to him sing the dictionary.  Love his voice.  So calming and beautiful.

Loving:  The week I was able to spend with my parents, brother, and friends back in New Jersey.  I missed them!  I needed a week to relax and recharge!

Thinking:  Laundry!  A week away lead to lots of laundry left to do.  I don't mind doing laundry, it's my least favorite chore to have to put my laundry away.  Maybe I should just stop buying clothes?  Nope.

Wanting:  A burger from The Pharmacy.  Mmmmmmm.  These burgers are infamous.  I even teach a writing with details lesson about these burgers.  haha!  My students know they are my favorite!

Needing:  Storage ideas for my new classroom.  I'm moving from a classroom with plenty of storage to a classroom with much less!  Help!  I need ideas!

Tips, tricks, or hints:  I can't take credit for this...it's a pinterest idea!  I love it, though!  It helps keep it from getting bent, and it's an easy way for me to find what I need!

Hello there!

First of all, a big hello to my new blog followers!  :)  Welcome!

I was fortunate enough to be selected to be a fellow in the Middle Tennessee Writing Project, the local section of the National Writing Project.  I spent two weeks with around 20 other teachers varying from 1st grade to college professors!  I found myself developing as a writer, it was nice to be able to write and ENJOY it again.  I was lucky to be able to share ideas with many other teachers and make new friends to have as awesome resources.  We were able to learn new ways to teach writing to my students and incorporate it into all aspects of the curriculum.  I can't wait to put the things I learned into practice in my classroom.  I'll also be working on an inquiry project in my class, looking at the link between digital publishing and student motivation and achievement.  Be on the lookout-I'll be posting a few questions for you all soon!  What are some programs/apps/sites that you use for digital publishing?  

It's almost that time...Target and Staples have started putting out the school supplies...which means I need to head in to my classroom and start unpacking!  I've got some projects in the works...photos to come soon!

Summer!

Well...one week into my summer vacation.  I took a much needed week away from school related activities, including my blog.  I'm back and ready to start preparing for the move to 5th grade (we can prepare poolside, right?!)

A quick recap.  I'm officially out of my classroom.

This is the only classroom I have called "mine" here in Tennessee.

It was a bittersweet move.  I'm excited for the new adventures, but I loved my room!

 Empty room.  

 Who knew I had so much stuff?  

I promise...Mine only goes to the blue door.  My teammate has the other half of the hall.

Now a few pics of the things I'm loving right now.

What do you love best about summer?

 Hanging by the pool.  

 My sweet little town.

 Hiking sights

 More hiking.  :)

 Love this trail!

 My new favorite nail polish color!  Pool Party by China Glaze.

 Baseball!  Nashville has a AAA baseball team, The Sounds.

Featured blogger...

Head on over to Fun In First, where I'm a featured blogger!  Dana's got some great ideas on her site, so check it out!

Update...Mostly in pictures!

Ahhhhhh.  Do you hear that?  It's the sound of a post tcap sigh.  I survived my first tcap test as a 4th grade reading teacher.

In the two weeks leading up to tcap, I tried to come up with different ways to review concepts.  The students had fun, and really impressed me!  Here's a few pictures of just some of the games we played:

 Bazinga!  The kids loved this game...and it didn't take long to put together!

I used review questions from many different sources, with a few "bazinga!" cards to make the game a little more interesting.

 A closer look at the Bazinga! board.  I want to add more to it for next year.

 Study Island...I love this resource!  Do any of you use it?!

 Tic Tac Toe on a shower curtain bought at the dollar store.

Students were able to throw a rubber puck towards a square if they answered a question correctly.

 Partner Questioning

My door leading up to tcap.  I love baseball!

 Test taking tips on baseballs.

 More Study Island...

 My treat for my students Monday morning!

 Threw this one in for fun.  I promised my students if they worked their hardest all week, we could listen their favorite song.  What did my homeroom vote for?  A Christmas song...in May.  (I'm not going to lie...I do love this song!)  So, you can be sure...we danced around my classroom to snow globe, even though it was 80 degrees outside that day!

Now that testing is done, we are in full swing for our annual wax museum project.  Right now, most students have completed their speeches.  These two are filming each other on my iPad, so that they can go back and watch themselves.  They are responsible for pointing out something they did well and something they think the need to work on for our performance.