Some Days You Just Have To Laugh!

Teaching can be the most frustrating and also the most rewarding thing you will ever do.
Some days you just want to duct tape the little monsters to the wall and other days you want to hug them till they pop!

Through it all you have to remember to laugh! If you don't laugh you will be a miserable individual!!

Funny story:
I was in my third year of teaching. Six weeks into school I was moved from one campus to another.
If you have never been in that situation let me tell you that when the teachers are allowed to choose the kids that go to the new teacher they aren't always kind about it. You get the kids who are low or who have behavior problems.
I had such a class. The kids were a wild mix and most days were like grabbing hold of a bull and trying to last six seconds!
One day we were working on a project to go with the story in our reader and one of my little girls came up to me in tears!! She could hardly speak and trailing behind her was the offending boy.
I finally got her to calm down enough to speak and she looked at me with luminous eyes and said in a loud voice, "He says Barney sucks and Barney does NOT SUCK!"
I stood there and tried my best to keep from laughing but it was no use. I turned away from her and laughed until I cried!
When I turned around my eyes were wet as I sternly admonished them that Barney was just fine and that we didn't use such language in school. It is one of my favorite memories of that class.

Taking Care of YOU!!!!

Staying up to 1am grading papers.
Quick lunches of popcorn or a soda and a candy bar.
Going nonstop until you are run down.
These are all very bad things that teachers tend to do to themselves. You can't be your best and give the kids your best if you are worn smooth out.

My solution is simple, almost too simple but take it from me it works!
Take the time to eat breakfast. 
Take time for lunch.
Drink water. Skip sodas and go for the water. If water is a bit too plain add a bit of lemon to it.
Don't hesitate to pamper yourself.
Find what makes you happy. Do it at least two to three times a week.
Easy right?

Suggestions that I have tried:
Walk the dog.
Take a jog.
Go work out.
Go shopping.
Get a massage or a mani-pedi (this works for guys too!)
Go drive a new car.
Golf.
Shoot hoops with the guys.

The list is actually endless and I won't keep you by listing everything I can think of.  Just take the time to take care of yourself. You do no one any good if you are burned out!!

Keeping Up With The Kardashians IS Important!

Teachers need to know what is out there. You have to know what the kids are reading, watching and listening to. When teachers have no idea what the kids are chatting about they seem old and out of touch. This can seriously hurt a teacher's "street cred" when trying to relate to the kids.
Taking five minutes to find out what is popular can go a long way when trying to get into a kid's head. If you can chat about a common thing such as their favorite singer or cartoon character you can build a rapport with students who might not otherwise want to talk to you. Chatting on a frivolous subject can be the springboard to getting the kid to chat about the really important things.

When you have read all your email and checked all your favorite sites take a minute to head to some of the following sites to get into the loop! ; )
WARNING: Most of these are NSFW (not safe for work) They will hit your filters because of some of the content. These sites should be viewed at home only! : )
Urban Dictionary dot com
TMZ dot com
Billboard Top 100
People Magazine
Cartoon Network

Positive Parent Contact

Check out Cherry Cute's Etsy shop.

As I have said before, teaching is a work of heart. We don't do it for the money or the glory but to help kids. Sometimes those kids don't seem to appreciate what we do. In fact, sometimes they seem to fight us tooth and nail as we try to go about educating them. This can lead to the inevitable (and sometimes unenviable) parent/guardian-teacher meeting!

Many teachers complain about the meetings saying that the parents/guardians are not receptive to their suggestions. To these teachers I say, did you make POSITIVE contact first?

Cue the deer in the headlights look!

Positive contact? What do I mean by that? 

I mean that teachers should contact parents/guardians in some way prior to any issue arising. Show the parents/guardians that you are in this together when it comes to teaching the kids and that you are not the enemy.

Some suggested ideas are:

Sending out a note at the beginning of the year asking parents or guardians for an email address, phone number or other way to contact them. At the very least send out a generic note introducing yourself and giving your conference time and a good way to contact you. This tells the parents or guardians that you are interested and not to be feared.

There is a misconception that "coming to the schoolhouse" is a bad thing. Make that misconception go away. Show the kids, parents and guardians that they are welcome any time and that they should drop by to check on the kids. People are very busy these days and nine times out of ten they won't come to the school but just knowing that they are welcome is enough! This also gives you a little leverage when trying to extract the best behavior from the kids. When they know that you and the folks are on the same page and have the same goal it can often curtail bad behavior.

Making positive contact can never hurt and you might be surprised by how much it helps in the long run! : )

Below is an image of a sample letter (I know it is a bit hard to read so I put the text below it):

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to another exciting school year! I am Mrs. Smith and I will be teaching your child technology this year. I am so pleased to see each of my student’s smiling faces each day!

I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am always available should you have any questions. You can contact me via email at mrssmith@myschool.com or you can call or stop by during my planning time. I plan from 8:00 to 8:45 each morning. My number is 411-555-1212. This number rings directly to my desk. Please do not call after 8:45 as I will be teaching. I do stay until 4:00 most days so feel free to call after school.

I will be hosting a meet and greet during the school’s Goal’s Night so please stop by and chat. I am located in the large computer lab in B-hall. Just look for the signs!

Wishing you and your child a great year!

Mrs. Smith

Edmodo: It's Just Like Facebook But Safer!

From the Edmodo site: Edmodo is designed to get students excited about learning in a familiar environment. On Edmodo, teachers can continue classroom discussions online, give polls to check for student understanding, and award badges to individual students based on performance or behavior. 

The neat thing about Edmodo is that it is set up in the style of facebook so students are using a format that they are familiar with. Unlike facebook Edmodo does not allow the students to message one another. If they do message it is something that goes to the whole group or to the teacher. Posts can be moderated.

From the Edmodo site:  On Edmodo, teachers are at the center of a powerful network that connects them to students, administrators, parents, and publishers. This network surfaces the world's best resources and tools, providing the building blocks of a high quality education. 

There is a vast community of teachers and administrators who are able to ask and answer questions in real time. This makes problem solving so much easier. It is also nice to know that the problems you may be having in your classroom, school or district are not unique to you. 

From the Edmodo site:  Edmodo makes it simple to track student progress. All grades and badges assigned or awarded through Edmodo are stored and easily accessible. Teachers can get the pulse of their classrooms through student reactions to quizzes, assignments, and discussion posts that capture understanding, confusion, or frustration. 

Edmodo makes it easy to set up lessons especially if you are crunched for time! You do all the prep work prior to the class and then the students can jump on the computers and get going without any down time. This is also a great resource for those days you have to be out. No worry that the sub won't understand what to do. The kids log into Edmodo and there is everything they need for the day.
I also love the feedback and polling option. I try to ask the kids what they are interested in so that I can craft lessons that are both the required lessons and relevant to what they want to learn.

Don't be afraid of Edmodo their help section is awesome! If you are lost you can really find what you need. Edmodo. I admit that I am still learning about Edmodo but love it so far and as I discover new and nifty things I will post again.

Using Pinterest in the Classroom

Image Borrowed From THIS Nifty Site

Pinterest is a powerful tool not only for teachers but for students as well. This must be used with older children because they must be able to sign up with Pinterest.
Pinterest is awesome but, as always, we must be vigilant when they are surfing to make sure that what they are perusing and pinning is appropriate! : )

Students can create boards for the various activities they are doing. If a student is doing research on Jonas Salk they could create a board and quickly pin various sources that they can peruse and possibly use later. It is much easier than trying to copy down a URL or save the page to a favorites bar especially if they are using school computers!
This works well if the students must collaborate on an activity. One board can be accessed by everyone in the group. 

Students could use their boards as a springboard for writing. Give them a topic and let them find relevant information on it. You could even use the collection as part of a research grade.

Some other ideas:
Timelines
Famous Person Report that can be shared with the class
Science Projects
Writing Projects
Researching any and everything!

Tech Bytes has an article on Pinterest that I worth the read.  
Teach Thought has another article to inspire you!
Last, but certainly not least, an article on NEA about Pinterest.

Take the time to surf for ideas. It will be worth every second you spend on it!
 BTW If you can't tell, I am SOLD on Pinterest!

Keeping Kiddos Safe on the Net

Safety on the internet is a hot topic. We never want our little ones to get into a situation that could have dire consequences. There is so much trash, and that is what it is trash, on the internet that it is good to find safe websites for the kiddos to use.

In my opinion a "safe" site is one that is self contained. There are no pop ups or ad banners on the side to lead the children out of the website they are on.

NetSmartzKids.org is a great site. It is fun and funky and the kids love it! The kids are led through all sorts of situations that can be potentially hazardous and the solutions to those situations. There are movies, and games and videos to keep the kids engaged. The site is a program of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Safe Online Surfing is another site that is dedicated to teaching kids safe surfing. This site is brought about by the work of various organizations.  It has safety for kids from 3rd to 8th grade.

A list of some of the safe sites that I use are below:
BrainPop
PBS Kids
Starfall
Sesame Street
Study Jams
Kids dot gov

Making Money for Your Computer Lab

This artwork was borrowed from  Monkey Art Awards.

Sorry, we have no money in the budget for that.

We have all heard those disheartening words. Nothing hurts worse than finding an amazing site that the kids can really use only to be told that there is no money. Not one to sit around and whine (which does no good) I get off my tush and earn that money!

I have tried all the usual things; candy sale, bake sale, raffle, garage sale, begging....
These things all get you the dollars but they require a lot of work and often some upfront capital. I can't afford that so I looked around for ways to earn money that had no upfront cost. One of the best ways I have found  is the Box Tops for Education program.It requires little work from you but you reap BIG rewards. It is easy to get started. Sign up. Print collection sheets. Write a note or use the one from the site and voila! The money starts rolling in! Each seal is worth 10 cents. You can't beat that! 

The seals are easy to spot and are on most products you already use. For a list of eligible items click here.

Collection Sheets
You can download collection sheets or you can make you own. To get ideas for sheets I go to Pinterest (no surprise there right?) I love this sheet that looks like a dollar bill. It reminds the parents that for every ten box tops the school gets one dollar!
This is the  sheet that I am currently using. I made it myself in Office Publisher.
                                                      
The kids get a chance for a McDonald's gift card and they love it!.
It doesn't matter if you make you own sheet or use one of the site's sheets. Just get started. You will be VERY glad you did especially when the check comes in!