I am getting ready to begin my third year of teaching. I teach 4th grade and I absolutely love it! 4th is such an amazing grade to teach. They are independent, but they still work hard to please me. I don't have to wipe noses or worry about littles missing mommy, but I still get hugs and pictures that say "BEST TEACHER IN THE WORLD." I am definitely living my dream!
I am also a mom to three littles of my own: 2 girls, Squirt and Goose (not their real names) and 1 boy, Bub (definitely not his real name). Squirt is 9 and getting ready to go to 4th grade. Goose is 6 and going to 1st grade. Bub is almost 4 and almost ready to start pre-K. My hubs is a wonderful guy and extremely patient, considering the amount of half-finished crafts I currently have laying around the house.
I am from the south suburbs of Chicago (GO HAWKS!!) and I am an avid reader, sports fanatic (Bears, Hawks, and Cubs), Pinterest addict, and a crafter (although I have trouble finishing them). Hubs thinks I have ADD, which I don't agree with, but I digress.
I am currently on summer break, officially beginning today. I spent the last two weeks working on a phonics timeline that will be implemented in the new school year. At present time, my district did not have a phonics program. Teachers pretty much did what they could and fit it in when they could. Hopefully this will help things. It's been interesting because while researching best practices, I found a lot of things that I can use in my class this year. There are so many things I struggled with this year, word walls and guided reading being numero uno. There's such a wealth of information out there that it's a little overwhelming. I found several great ideas to help implement word walls and vocabulary. One in particular will be a great way to help differentiate since my students will all be different levels, from way below grade level to above grade level. I can't wait to try them out.
Even though it's summer time, I have been busy working on projects for my room. Since I am switching themes this year, from polka dots to sports, I had to do a little repainting/repurposing.
I am really excited about how these turned out. The Chicago Fire stool (soccer team) will be used as an incentive for the Team Player of the Day. I am not entirely sure how this will be used, but students will have the option of sitting on it for the day. The Blackhawks stool (our 2015 Stanley Cup champion hockey team) is what I use for read alouds, class talks, and just other randomness. I love my stool!
I still have a couple of shelves I need to finish painting and redecorating. Hopefully it will keep me busy.
Until next time,
Katie
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