Life

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. We've done so much in my classroom and I have to get better at blogging. With testing, report cards and parent teacher conferences out of the way and having my combination class slowly settling down, I'll try to post more.

However for now, I just wanted to share a story I saw that reminded me that I need to enjoy life. This post has nothing to do with teaching, but I wanted to share.

I saw this on one of my friend's facebook page and loved it. It reminded me that in our busy life when we're always in a rush to do things, we sometimes forget to stop and enjoy it.

As a working mom I am guilty of this. I'm so busy with work and taking care of what needs to be done (cooking, baths, laundry, cleaning, etc.) that sometimes I forget to just take a break and just be with my babies and husband.

Laundry will still be there. Dishes can be done later. The cleaning is never ending anyway. But my babies will only be this age for a while. My husband and I need more time together because we're not getting any younger either.

So, I am going to make a better effort at enjoying life. Enjoy my time with my girls and husband and loved ones.

Just like the other day. We were running late for church and it was freezing outside. So usually when we get to church, I'm rushing the babies inside the church, out of the cold. Well, on this particular Sunday there were leaves everywhere. It was a really windy weekend and alot of leaves had fallen off the trees onto the ground. My 2 year old of course wanted to run through the leaves. My gut reaction was "no. It's too cold and windy. I don't want you to get sick." But, I looked at her and she was just so happy. So we ran through the leaves. My husband rolled our youngest in her stroller through the leaves and we just enjoyed the moment. My oldest was so happy and that made me happy.

I have to let her enjoy life. I'm so worried about not letting her get sick or hurt that sometimes I'm the one rushing her through life. It's so hard though. It makes my heart so sad to see her hurt. But, I can still protect her and also let her be a 2 year old. :) Oh the things you learn with your first child and can change with the rest.

I have to remember not to rush through life. As the old saying goes, always make time to stop and smell the roses.

Well, onto the story that goes with the above picture.

"In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?"

Sorry!

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting. We had our Fall break this past week and then I just returned from a much needed mini-vacation with my family. I'll be back soon!

Ideas

Things are settling down in my combo class. But just wanted to share these GREAT ideas/freebies that I'm planning on printing and making. (There's actually MANY things I want to make but these are the most recent.)

Check out these cool subtraction posters at Step into 2nd grade with Mrs. Lemons and this making words folder at Teacher bits and bobs.

I also forgot that I'm planning on doing the 100 books challenge discussed about here at the Teacher wife's blog. I used her letter and had it translated so I can send it home to my Spanish speaking families too. :) Click the image below to download.

:) Blogland

Since I teach Open Court, I always feel that my posts are "boring" compared to all the fun and exciting blogs out in blogland. I wish I had more time to do what I really want instead of filling up the days with Open Court and enVision. That's why I haven't really posted much about what I do in the classroom. It just doesn't seem as interesting. I try my best to make Open Court fun for my firsties, but for those of you who teaches Open Court, it's pretty scripted and not much you can do.

So I was very excited when Victoria from The wise and witty teacher awarded my little blog as a versatile blogger. :) If you haven't checked her out, go on over and see all that she does.
I love blogland. There are so many great ideas and inspiration to help me become a better teacher.

So thanks Victoria! You've just motivated me to blog more about what I'm doing. Even if it may seem boring to me, I can still share the little things I do to try and make Open Court interesting.

Lesson Plans

It seems like everyone's been sharing their Lesson Plan templates so I thought I'd share mine too. I used a similar template for the past two years, but have been motivated by all the new templates I've seen online to change mine up this year.

I am liking the format very much. I like the extra spot to write in any meetings, assemblies, etc. that may happen after I type up my lesson plans. I'm also really loving the yard duty times on top of my lesson plans. This way I can just circle which one I have for the week instead of typing it in each week. Why didn't I do this before? I also included a blurb about where materials for the week & teacher's manuals should be at and what to write as may dos and must dos for workshop time. (BTW: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these boxes I talked about here. I love that all the paperwork I need for the week are organized by days and it's all ready for me.)
Just click on the image below to download my lesson plan template. If you want the word version, just email me.
Have a good weekend!

Homework Binders

My fabulous team created this homework binder for our first graders to use. The kids bring it home each night and return it to school the next day. They need to bring it home because they need to get their parents to initial their behavior chart that I discussed about here. The students also have to take their decodable books home, read it to their parents, get their parents to sign the book and return to school the next day. There's a spot for that book in their binder as well.

So, when you open the binder we have a sheet in English and Spanish which explains what our binder is and the reason for it.
Next, comes a "key" for the behavior chart and a behavior chart so the parents can see how their child is doing in the classroom each day.
The next page is the pocket for the decodable.
Then a list of our sight words, some addition/subtraction facts, a 100s chart, a sheet to teach how to form letters, we also have a folder that the school bought where we put into the binder. (I don't have a picture of that.) This folder is where we send home notes, completed assignments, etc.
Lastly, in the back pocket we have an explanation about homework and it's importance. That's the pocket where we send home our weekly homework in also.

We love this and it helps the students stay organized. Well, as organized as 1st graders can be. :)

Review Weeks Reading Logs

Here are the translated review weeks reading logs as promised! Happy Monday Everyone!

Click on the image to download.