Day of Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

The Pencil Sharpening Dilemma

I *LOATHE* sharpening pencils.

I hate when the wood starts to splinter!

I hate when it canoes with the lead on one side and wood on the other.

I hate when the lead breaks and falls out and you have to start again.

I hate how expensive pencil sharpeners are and then they still die every.single.year.

I hate how loud they are!

I hate those metal crank styles I grew up with because the outer part always falls off and shavings go everywhere and smeared lead is inevitable!!!!

Well, let me tell you how I really feel. :) ha. ha.

I start the year out great, sharpening them before school, using my neat little “sharpened” container and eliminating the need to sharpen during the school day. Then school stress sets in, time slips away, and it appears as if my kids are eating the pencils! I know, I know, someone like me should get mechanical pencils, but did I mention I hate those, too? LOL I hate how they rip paper, snap off and smear, etc. So, back to good ol’ pencils. I {heart} Ticonderoga. I buy tons, but my students don’t generally bring these at the start of the year.

So, back to my pencil sharpening dilemma. I have a class job to be a “pencil helper”. This person sharpens our pencils whenever they are done with work. This is only possible since I splurged on the:

Source: http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/

And guess what? Lori over at teachingwithloveandlaughter.blogspot.com is having a giveaway for one! Click HERE to visit.

Want to win the pencil war? Check out The Wise Owl’s Winning the Pencil War HERE. It is FREE and may just be what we need! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to take this moment to say thank you, to all of you who have touched my life through blogging. My bloggy friends are a constant inspiration, provide unparalleled advice, and remind me of the positivity and love within my chosen profession. All of your ideas inspire me and make me a better teacher each and every day.

I know I don't have many readers as I am just starting out, but I wanted to thank you. Thank you for always being there. Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog (the one I am transitioning to this blog). I appreciate your words of encouragement and I cannot express my gratitude enough.

I am thankful for the blogging community and the opportunity to collaborate with such wonderful educators.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Turkey Image from 

Pets in the Classroom

I will be honest no matter how badly this makes me look. I hate do not like animals. No matter how much I try and even hearing people say bad things about people who don't like animals, I just can't do it. My mom had a dog when we were growing up and I was never attached to it. I am terrified afraid of a cat scratching me, a dog biting me, bunnies attacking me, etc. Yes, I know it sounds silly. I even attempted to have pets for my son and we made it with 2 hamsters whom I never held and barely touched with one finger since one was fat and furry. We even attempted a cat and a dog until we found them new lifelong owners (for other reasons that weren't because of me :) )

 

I know, so what is the point of this post on my teaching blog? Well, I am a real trooper if I do say so myself. I always have classroom pets for the kids. I get a little hesitant since the cost can be a little overwhelming in the beginning, but I take one for the team the class and have had hamsters (I never touched!), fish, turtles, frogs, and now hermit crabs (because I didn't know it was all a lie that they were easy to  maintain). 

So in July, I found this grant called Pets in the Classroom. They give grants to classroom teachers to allow them to obtain a classroom pet! How cool is that? The program is through The Pet Care Trust. There are two different ways to do it. If you are getting a typical pet from like Petco or Petsmart (the animals are listed) they just give you a voucher. Since Petsmart stopped offering the hermit crabs this way, I had to purchase the animal and supplies and get reimbursed for $100. Yes, the whole $100. I had an aquarium donated by a student and her family so I was able to use the extra for additional shells, food, substrate, etc.

 

Therefore, enter Hermie & Hermietta....

and we can't forget little Flipper (who is one hungry fish)!

Common Core, TEKS, Standards, Blah, Blah, Blah

Source: MindMissions

So, we are all responsibility for teaching the standards. ALL of us no matter where we're from. However, the standards vary from state to state. Take it from this teacher of ONLY military children - there are HUGE gaps in the standards...or at least what is being taught from state to state, duty station to duty station.

Source: Moore Farms

Source: CCSSI

 

 

In Texas we have what are called TEKS which means Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills which is Texas's equivalent to the Common Core State Standards. There are only four states that have chosen not to adopt the CCSS and wouldn't you know, Texas is one of them, which shouldn't come as a surprise since they always want to be difficult different. I am not surprised that Virginia is another, but I am by Alaska and Nebraska just based on my own opinions, observations, and whatnot. Truly, the TEKS aren't that much different from the CCSS. The CCSS language is a lot more teacher and family friendly, but I wanted to save time and not do a side-by-side comparison if it was already done. I know, I am lazy trying not to reinvent the wheel. :)  I found an article from the Texas Association of Business (notice, that isn't an educational publication or anything) that was a bit intriguing. While it isn't the true side-by-side I was looking for, it does compare TEKS to CCSS in Mathematics. I think the CCSS versus TEKS debacle all comes down to politics and greed money. I would prefer if we were able to switch to common core because the goal of CCSS is depth and not just breadth. There is simply not enough time when we have PLC time (45 mins) AND conference time (45 minutes) daily to cover each of the TEKS individually to the depth that they warrant, but such is life.

Texas teachers, or concerned others (that sounds like I am referring to something from Lost --remember that show? But I digress...), HERE's the link if you're interested.  What are your thoughts?  Anyone else teach military children and wonder the effects on them as they PCS (permanent change of station for you non-military folk).