What a terrific idea!
Reagan (she's amazing!) is hosting a linky with PERFECT timing!
Here's the scoop:
Ideas for staying sane? Sold!
Here goes mine:
P - Product
This is a product I've been DYING to share, but I had to wait 'til it had been completely student approved. My students LOVE to play the game "Blast" and just finished working on each long vowel spelling. It was time for MIXED long vowel review and I was taking requests (don't ask me why!). I was trying to turn it into a teachable moment because we were also working on graphs (collecting data), but of course I couldn't let a single one of them down. So, I introduce:
My students are so excited because they think the game belongs just to them (they let others play, of course) and I'm ecstatic because the cards all MIX & MATCH so you can use the four game sets together to create one monster-size (140 text cards) game! The first time we did this, my students almost fell out of their chairs (which sadly, is not a rare occurrence).
A - Area
I wish I could drive back to school (no, not really) and snap a photo of my teaching space.I teach special education and my caseload this year is almost 100% inclusion in two first grade classrooms. I also teach a reading intervention in the computer lab and pull small groups for testing in my office/intervention room. So I'm a little bit of everywhere. I co-teach with the two kindest first grade teachers who have generously created space for a table and five chairs that I pull groups at. I also have a small cart and organizer for my supplies. I keep both rooms identical (duplicate supplies) just to keep my sanity and then I'm often seen lugging a teaching "box" back and forth. It works well because the classrooms are next door, however my office is FAR away :(
S - Signal
We have a school-wide signal used for attention. All teachers and staff use it in the exact same way and maintain high expectations for compliance. We use this signal for assemblies, fire drills, lunch lines, or when things get a little out of hand. When I'm working with my small groups, there's a LOT of activity from my students and focus can be tricky. Transitions also need to be well cued - no surprises with my friends! So I use my iphone timer possibly 25 times per day and establish routines for exactly what will happen when the dog barks (they LOVE that one): "when the timer goes off, the caps go on!" I'm not sure if I would survive without using timers!
S - Sanity
Well, I'm not sure what to offer here.
I can def tell you what DOESN'T work :)
I can def tell you what DOESN'T work :)
I workout a lot and can't imagine teaching inner-city without that stress relief. Unfortunately I drink way too much coffee, only cutting back when I'm on an extended break. My healthiest stress relief is blogging and blog-stalking. Oh, I also buy more clipart than I will ever use, but I'm trying to cut back. I'm looking for some more ideas on relieving stress and staying positive in an intense, yet rewarding school environment. A few years back (before my current role), I had read and enjoyed:
Have you read it? Did you find it useful? I just grabbed it out of my teaching storage and set it by my bed for a reread. I hope it will help me gain more perspective with some of the issues we are working with. If you know of another book on the topic, please leave a comment. Thanks!
Happy (almost) Friday!!
LOVE your vowel pack! I read "A framework for understanding poverty" this past summer. I've actually been thinking about it a couple times this past week. The book definitely leaves you with some thoughts to consider. Both schools I've worked at have been Title I, with high free/reduced lunch. So, it was beneficial for me to get a peak into their home values and priorities, by reading the book. I also blogged about the book, if you want to check it out:)
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Thank you so much for linking up! I read that book as well! A real eye opener for sure!
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