Category Archives: Confessions

Why school is important…according to a 4th grader

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This summer I haven’t taken much of a vacation. I taught Summer Academy in June and now I’m teaching 4 weeks of  5th grade summer school. I’m definitely getting my classroom fix that I miss during the school year  as a tech integration specialist! Like the hilarious things students say!

Setting: Summer school. Reading Lesson about “Guide Dogs”
Student #1: Miss O, why are they called “guide dogs”?
Student #2 (Blurts out!): Because they are dogs for guys…guy dogs. [say it to yourself: guide dogs sounds exactly like "guy dogs"]
Miss O: It’s not “Guy Dogs” it’s “GuiDe Dogs” because they guiDe people.
Student #2: Ohhhhh.
Bahahaha.

Anyway, when I was a 4th grade teacher in Texas (Hey y’all!), I taught a LOT of writing. Since I had to read and grade all those lovely compositions, I began to get smart about my prompts. If I gave an interesting prompt, I had a much better of chance of laughing hysterically on my couch on Sunday afternoons while I graded!

Confession: I gave my students amusing writing prompts for my own entertainment. Gasp! I know, I’m the worst. Seriously though, it makes writing way more fun!

One of my favorites every year was: Why is school important? It seems like a harmless prompt, but oh, it was always very enlightening! So here, are some from my composition hall of fame:

Top 10 Reasons why school is important According to my 4th Graders:

  1. To make friends.
  2. So you can move out of your family’s house (because you don’t like them too much)
  3. To learn…who wants to marry someone who doesn’t know anything?
  4. To get a job and be famous.
  5. To go to college, where they give you money.
  6. So that you can play college football, then NFL, then get a wife and then get married.
  7. To study planets.
  8. Because it takes a lot of responsibility to be president.
  9. To get good grades and have a good life.
  10. School is greatness.

Hope your enjoying your summer! Ask your kids why school is important and share their answers :)

Student Problems

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From the title of this post you may be thinking that I’m having problems with students…but I tricked you! This post is about students writing problems…math problems that is!

Last week I did a lesson with some 3rd and 4th grade classes where they needed to write a math story problem. No problem, right? Wrong! What was supposed to be a 10 minute activity took almost the whole time! They had such a hard time coming up with a topic and actually writing the problem was a nightmare. Luckily, in my new job I often teach a lesson multiple times so I whipped up these little “Math Story Problem Prompts“ to use with my next group.

There are 12 cards about different topics that kids can write math story problems about, from video games to pizza! We had the kids work in small groups or pairs to write a question.

I printed out the cards and laminated them. They were super helpful for my students to come up with math story problems, and it was a great opportunity for them to practice using the math language they were using in their classroom.

Other Ideas for Math Problem Prompts:

  • This would be a great activity to whip out during any math unit, you can just tell the kids they have to use whatever operation/concept your are studying.
  • Have these available as a fast finishers option….maybe create a bulletin board for student created math problems?
  • Write math problems for another class in your grade-level.
  • As a math review at the end of a unit, have kids write math problems–include them on the test. One time, just to mix things up I gave an entire math quiz with only student written questions, they loved it and talk about critical thinking! Their questions were usually way harder than mine.

Any other ideas?

Twas the Week Before Christmas

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I was going through old emails and found this poem I wrote my first year teaching! Yes, along with being fabulously nerdy teacher, I also like to fancy myself poet! Of course, I sat down to design this little Christmas Poem graphic:

If you are a teacher who knows how this feels, can I get an “AMEN!” ?  Does anyone else have school through the 23rd?! Whew! Merry Christmas to all you teachers out there, enjoy a much deserved break!

Oh, I almost forgot, here is a  gift from the Nerdy Teacher–Click here to download the Twas the Week Before Christmas poem.  Please feel free to forward this along to your fellow teachers as we deal with those candy-cane infused little monsters  munchkins.

 

 

 

Where to start confessing…

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I don’t know where to even begin confessing…About a month ago I started a new job as a Technology Integration Specialist and I’m just beginning to figure out what on earth that means! I’m planning to continue sharing resources and ideas, but they might look a little different because I’m not just teaching 4th grade anymore!

Confession: I really miss being a classroom teacher! I hear from other specialists that I’ll get over this, but right now I miss having my own students and classroom and I miss knowing what I’m doing! Ok, so it’s kind of nice not having grading and the million+ other things that a classroom teacher has to do, but it’s also very weird. We’ll see, maybe by the end of the year I’ll never want to go back to the classroom…Speaking of here is one of the things that I get to do in my new job:

1:1 iPads in the classroom:

I am SUPER lucky to be working with an amazing second grade teacher to facilitate a 1:1 iPad pilot. Yes, you read that correctly, 1 iPad for every student. Swoon! (I’d go back to the classroom in a second for 1:1 iPads!!!) Not only was I given an iPad to use, but I have spent many hours working on plans and ideas for iPad integration in the second grade classroom. Check out my Diigo resource list here: iPad Resources

If you are lucky enough to have any iPads in your classroom you should check this out…I will continue to add to the list as I find more ideas and resources!

One that we are really excited about is ePud Bud and this could be used in any classroom, not just the iPad blessed ones!

You can use this website to make your own eBooks! You can scan pages in or have kids create them, but they can be loaded on any device or viewed on the website. Cool, cool, cool!

Txting

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Confession: This year is the first year I’ve given out my personal cell number to parents. I don’t know why I thought that if I gave out my number people would abuse it. Did I think I would have parents calling me in the middle of the night? Silly, right? The reality is giving the parents a line of communication outside of school hours has been great! Many parents work until 6 or 7, and by that time they can’t contact me at school. Also, I’ve had texts from parents who I had never had contact from before; they feel much more comfortable sending a text than actually calling me.

And it has also been rather humorous…

Text from a mom: Miss O,  Jack says he only has to do his Novel Project if he wants to…

Call from a Grandmother: Miss O, I keep trying to show Lindsey how to do two digit multiplication but she insists that I’m not doing it “Miss O’s way”…can you please help us?!

And then of course, some most of my students have cell phones, and a few have gotten a hold of my number…

Student Text over Spring Break: Miss O, I am car sick!

I also have a student who texts me her spelling words every Friday!

This was by far the most creative! This student did not want to finish her homework, so she sent me the Pink song “Pretty, pretty please!” (The CLEAN version!!)

So, yeah, I get a few random texts telling me about being car sick and pictures of new puppies, but it doesn’t bother me a bit! I really like the connection between home and school, and I always get a good laugh at my kids’ texts!

Teachers: Do you give out your personal numbers? How do you stay in touch with parents?

The weekened ate my homework…

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Confession: I have a stack of grading 6, 7, 8, 9 inches high that has been collecting in my “To be Graded” bin…and I didn’t even look at it this weekend!

I had a paper for my master’s project, grading, planning and blogging to do this weekend, but it was 90 degrees, sunny and breezy. The patio was calling my name…and I answered! So, the grading is not graded, the blogging is not blogged, the planning is not planned, and the paper is not…papered (eh, it almost worked). I guess you could say that the weekend ate my homework.

Wardrobe FAIL!

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Yesterday we were back to school after Spring Break, and I certainly started the week off on the wrong foot! As I got out of the car, I spilled  coffee ALL down my shirt…FAIL! (Quick commercial for Tide To-Go Pen…worked a miracle!) Then about half way through morning I noticed there was a general “tittering” around the room. I finally stopped the lesson and demanded what was going on. One of my sweetest little girls raised her hand and said, “Miss, you’re wearing two different shoes.”

“Why yes, yes I am!” Second FAIL! Now, in my defense, I get dressed at about 5:45am, and this was the first day back after spring break so I was rather sleepy. Also, I had on long trouser pants, so when I looked down my feet looked like this:

You can hardly tell, right?

Ei, yi, yi! My kids got such a big kick out of this and I had a good laugh too. We decided that Friday would be mismatch shoe day in Miss O’s class.

Life sure does teach this nerdy teacher not to take herself too seriously!

What I see.

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Confession: I subscribe to dozens of educational blogs…and sometimes I get tired of the “education today is bad…” mantra.

I know as a progressive educator I should be passionately raising my fist in agreement that we have a broken system and fighting to change it. But sometimes oftentimes I get frustrated. So many blogs rag on teachers, “Bad teachers do this…”, “Teachers won’t change…” and I understand where they are coming from. Yes, there is a lot about education and teachers that needs to change, but what those blogs, videos and articles don’t show is that most teachers love their students and their profession and do not intentionally use outdated practices. I experienced this last year when I worked as our campus’ Technology Specialist. I started out the year frustrated with teachers for not wanting to change, but as the year went on, I realized that every single teacher wanted the best for his/her students and desperately wanted to integrate the technology and ideas that I was offering. The problem was they literally didn’t have the time in the day to learn how to teach differently. Some might paint these teachers as unwilling and stuck in their ways, but I saw a different side. I know how the world sees teachers, but I see something different.

This is what I see:

I see committed teachers who arrive at school early, tutor struggling students for an hour after school (with no compensation), then stay until 6 o’clock planning and preparing for another day.

I see concerned teachers who use their personal resources to make sure their students have all of their physical needs met at school (buying food, clothing and toiletries)–then worrying about them every night.

I see caring teachers who give up their lunch breaks, evenings and weekends to eat with students, go to their basketball games and get to know their families.

I see compassionate teachers who cry at the end of the day because they feel like they still weren’t able to do enough.

I see relentless teachers spend countless hours trying to figure out how to reach a single students and will not give up.

I see  teachers who are putting their blood, sweat and tears into their students and practice, and still fighting an upstream battle.

I will keep on reading all those blogs and articles on education reform, and I still believe that education has a long way to go. I will continue to provide opportunities for teachers in my building to integrate technology and learn how to make their practice more relevant. But I will not talk down on those teachers, because  I know what I see.

Spring Breaking

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So Spring Break is here, and I have no plans! At least no plans in the way that people mean when they ask, “What are your plans for spring break?” I’m not going on vacation or visiting family or friends! Here is my to do list:

-Sit outside and read.

-Buy cowboy boots.

-Get a car wash.

-Finish crocheting blanket.

-Go for a walk/run everyday.

-Get a pedicure.

Yep, I’ve got plans :) I just felt like I needed a big giant sigh and a nap! So I’m spending my days reading and my evenings with friends, and it is wonderful!

I didn’t make it to the library on Saturday to pick up books for my week of relaxation, so on Sunday afternoon I picked up my favorite book of all time, Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery to read while I sat outside on the patio.

Confession: I have read the Anne series countless times. (Like way more than 10xs, all 8 books) I used to reread them every summer from about 5th grade through high school. Now I just pick them up whenever the spirit moves. I love Anne. I love her imagination and passion for life. I love that she is always making mistakes and getting into “scrapes”. I think she is one of the greatest characters ever written…and that is a bold statement! The series follows Anne’s entire life from age 11 (about the age that I first read the series!) through motherhood, and as I’ve grown up I have been able to identify with her in different ways. I feel like she has been a friend and companion to me…so here is to Spring Break with my good friend Anne :)

Ps. My plan was to buy a Kindle over sprint break, but after this discussion on Facebook yesterday I’ve decided to wait and save for an iPad, which seems much more appropriate for a Nerdy Teacher :)

Picture 3

**Is there a book that you reread over and over again?

**Do you have an opinion on eReader options?

Cures from the Classroom

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Today is my birthday! So what does a nerdy teacher do on her birthday? Give a benchmark test and clean up vomit!

Yep, today my kids had to take a benchmark math test…all. day. long. Booo. At about 9:30 one of my students raised her hand and said, “Miss, my stomach hurts.”

Confession: I rarely let my kids go to the nurse. I found out very quickly my first year of teaching that kids inexplicably get sick during tests and during any other undesirable activity. Basically, no blood, no vomit, no fever–no nurse pass! (Of course I make exceptions…usually I’m pretty good at dividing the really sick kids from the fakers) To ward of my constant complainers I have a bag of tricks to cure almost any complaint, and it works 87% of the time!

Cures from the Classroom

Bottle of Lotion: Cures: Itches, redness, invisible skin ailments. Me: Here, put some lotion on it.

Wet Paper Towel: Cures:  “Sprained” [body part],  headache, anything that “hurts”, jammed, slammed or stepped on fingers, itches, redness, invisible skin ailments– can be used with the lotion if necessary.

Vaseline (the tube kind): Chapped lips, can be used interchangeably with the lotion.

Band-aids: Cures: Minor scrapes, paper cuts, or if the previous solutions don’t work.

Drinking Fountain: Cures: Stomach ache,  Sore throat, cough, hiccups, general not feeling good.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?”: Cures: Stomach ache, general not feeling good

Trash can by desk: Cures: Stomach aches

Cough Drops (Make sure you get the “yucky” flavors: Cherry, original or menthol): Cures: Coughs (duh :)

Lay your head down for a minute: Cures: Any of the above.

**NOTE: If a students clearly is hurt or sick I always let them go to the nurse!**

Ok, back to my story. This student  looked like she felt yucky, so I told her to get a drink and gave her a pillow to lay her head down. A few minutes later…Blaaahhh! All over my pillow, the desk and then in a bucket I had set by her desk! Ewwww.

Our custodian doesn’t come in until noon. It was 9:30 with a classroom full of students trying to take a benchmark. Birthday or no birthday, I had to clean up that vomit. And, sadly it was one of these pillows that I made this summer…Pillow–>Trash. Oh well…

And to close off that kind of gross story, I just have to share this birthday card: