Kirby Larson's Blog

Head on over to Kirby Larson's blog and you will see ME! Moi! Dawn!! I'm featured on her "Teacher Tuesday" blog post.

Kirby Larson is a wonderful author. I loved her books Hattie Big Sky, Hattie Ever After and The Friendship Doll. I need to find a way to use those in my classroom soon!

ReThink Charter School

There's a new kid on the block:

The educators involved with this are brilliant people. I am excited to see this new school evolve.

Wellness Week

Our school has a knack for fitting more into a week than is even comprehendable. This week, with all the fun of getting ready for Spring Break, wrapping up units, writing poetry, service learning and more we threw in Wellness Week. We had daily body breaks. We learned new songs. We danced. We sang. We had smoothies for everyone. And we prepared for an awesome assembly.

Reader's Theatre: veggies are snacks too!

Get up and dance!

Casual Day Surprises

Our AP is more fun than your AP!

Notice the red runners that complete the ensemble.....

She embraces every casual day theme with gusto! Today as dress up day. It is a tickle trunk extravaganza! 

She even changes throughout the day. We sure love her! Thanks for the laughs you bring! 

Appreciated Accolades

Sometimes you wonder if all the work you do makes any difference. It's so nice to get emails like this now and then:

Hi Everyone,

    

We wanted to thank you all so much for your participation in the Book Battle for the past few months! 

    

We can’t explain to you how much impact this has had on [our daughter's] reading and even the rest of our family reading time.  We have enjoyed all the books that were chosen and love to see the excitement in our daughter’s face.

    

When I  was growing up I did not read and thought I didn’t like it.  I think it is because I didn’t have the right people to show me how to embrace reading.  Since grade 3 (book club) [our daughter] has become such a passionate reader and we thank you ALL for your influence on her passion for reading now.

    

Thanks AGAIN for going above and beyond!

The truth is, I'd keep doing this stuff even without the lovely pats on the head. I love it. It is so great to hear the parent's perspective though. The more I read about the importance of reading and the more I see it make a difference in kid's lives the more motivated I get to put work into it. The bonus is that it's really fun too.

The Battle of the Books night was interesting. Truthfully, if I had to do the questions they had I wouldn't have done very well. I'm not good at remembering details from books, especially way after the fact. It's interesting to see what sticks with certain people though.

Bottom line is: I love the feeling of a story. I get lost in it. I guess whne it's over it leave me and I move on to the next one! LOL

 

Battle of the Books!

This year I got to be involved with our grade four student's Battle of the Books. We started in about October with a list of five books. Students formed teams and asked a teacher to work with their group.  Some groups met often, others less often. Some groups assigned book experts, others read every book. We all met together after school and that is where the battling began!

The teams:

And of course, there was food:

We had a great time!

These are girls after my own heart!

Free Friday

I believe choice in the classroom is really important. I also believe there needs to be time for free play. It is a complicated dance for me as I try to plan activities best for learning. One thing that has become really beneficial in my classroom is Free Friday. It is amazing what 15 minutes of whatever you want to do can be a benefit. 

We actually take 20 minutes for Free Friday. If students had days where they neglected to do homework or didn't get their agenda signed they have to sit out the first 15 minutes of Free Friday. We rarely have anyone sit out. Bonus: parents are signing agendas each day and staying informed about their child's work and homework is being completed. 

I do have a couple rules though. Kids have to be caught up on their work. They have to first catch up before they can play. They also have to have a clean desk. For those who can't quite figure out how to keep their desk clean all week, they at least get it clean on Friday. I believe that is important so that kids can stay organized. 

During Free Friday some kids choose to do their homework.

Some choose to play with electronics.

Some draw and do crafts.

And some enjoy some good old pretend play.