Teachers Impact a Child's World

As another week comes to a close, I wanted to share something with you. Our school IRT (instructional resource teacher) sent a link to Kylene Beers' blog post (Kylene Beers is a prominent literacy specialist) from August 20. I just had to repost the link to her post, "Why I Hated Meredith’s First Grade Teacher: An Open Letter to America’s Teachers". Click HERE or click the name of the post above to visit her site. Take just 2 minutes to read through her letter. What an awesome and powerful reminder about how what we do can really impact a child's life. This is the reason we are all in this profession, and it is sometimes good to remind ourselves of that. Before you get bogged down in the craziness of another school year - the paperwork, the behaviors, the test scores, the disgruntled parents, the rude staff members, etc..., just remember that your students cherish you, look up to you, and will remember you and your love for the rest of their lives, even if they don't show it to you immediately. Your impact will live through them, and that is why your job is so important. Make the best of this school year with your kids. As Winston Churchill once said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." Please, just take a few minutes to read Kylene's letter. You won't be sorry. Happy 2012-2013 school year!!!

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Tag You're It!

I've been tagged by 2 awesome ladies - Donna at Math Coach's Corner: Got Math and Cynthia at 2nd Grade Pad. Here goes! :-)

Rules:

* Post these rules* Answer the 10 questions that the tagger posted for you* Create 10 questions of your own to ask the people that you're about to tag* Tag 10 people and link them with your post (and let them know they've been tagged!)

The first one is Donna over at Math Coach's Corner: Got Math. 

1. Have you always wanted to teach? Yes, I have always wanted to be a teacher and have loved working with kids for as long as I can remember!
2. If you could travel anywhere, where would it be? I have always really wanted to go to Australia - I would either do that or go back to the Amalfi Coast in Italy, because it was BEAUTIFUL!
3. Dogs or cats? DOGS!!! ;-)
4. How many different grades have you taught? 2 - 1st and 2nd
5. Are you more or a book or movie person? Book!!! I love going to movies, but I fall asleep during them quite often, and I always end up liking the book better anyway.
6. Describe a student who particularly touched you. Why? Being at a Title I school and seeing the students I work with, quite a few of them have really touched me, but the couple super special ones that have stuck out have all amazed me with their tenacity of spirit and their willingness to open up and let me in. Knowing that you've "opened up" a tough student and have made a difference and connected in some way is the most special feeling in the world.
7. If you found a spare $100, what are you likely to spend it on? Either a nice steak dinner or deposit it into the bank account.
8. Do you have a guilty pleasure TV show? Heck yes, but the question didn't say to name it, haha. ;-) I'm too embarrassed!
9. What famous person would you most like to have dinner with? I wish I could have eaten dinner with Harry S Truman - he is fascinating to me. As far as someone alive, if my husband would allow it, I wouldn't mind having dinner with Mark Whalberg, ha!
10. What's your favorite stress reliever? Hands down getting a massage!!!

The second one is from Cynthia over at 2nd Grade Pad. 

1)  How long have you been teaching? 7 years

2)  What college did you get your teaching degree from? Good ol' William Jewell College

3)  Who are the family members who live in your home? My husband, my dog Ringo, and myself!

4)  Do you have any pets and if so, what are their names? See above. :-)

5)  What is your biggest pet peeve? Rude people

6)  How long have you been blogging? Since last summer off and on, but really seriously since January/February

7)  What grades have you taught? 1st and 2nd

8)  What is the worse thing that ever happened to you in your teaching career? Hmm... I've had lots of embarrassing things happen, as I'm an incredibly clumsy person, but probably the worst thing that ever happened, is that in my 2nd year of teaching, I "forgot" about a student who was in the safe spot, and he fell asleep, and I took my class to dismissal without him. It was AWFUL - I felt HORRIBLE, and I never made that mistake again! Please don't judge!!! ;-)

9)  What is your least favorite thing about teaching? The sheer number of hours I put into my job :-)

10)  What will you do this summer while on break? Relax, swim, read, sit on Pinterest, travel, clean the house, cook, DIY projects, and start planning for next year! 

 Ok, here are the questions for the blogging friends I am about to tag:

1. What would you do if you couldn't teach?

2. What is your favorite sport and team?

3. What do you do to "get you through a rough day?"

4.Where would your dream home be?

5. What is your favorite thing to do to relax? 

6. What is your favorite season and why?

7. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?

8. Describe a student who has particularly touched you and tell why.

9. Regular Coke, Diet Coke, or Neither?

10. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you while teaching? 

Here are the friends I am tagging:

1.  Michelle at The 3am Teacher

2. Deb at Oh My Little Classity Class

3. Amanda and Lisa at Stories from Room 114

4. Lori at Conversations in Literacy

5. Rebecca at Darlin' in First

6. Deb at Fabulously First

7. DeAnne at First Grade and Fabulous

8. Amanda at First Grade Garden

9. Kim at Grade One Doodle Bugs

10. Jeannie at Lessons of Literacy

Looking forward to reading all of your answers! :-)

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Another Great Linky Party

Donna, over at Math Coach's Corner, is having another great linky party! And who doesn't just love a fabulous linky party? Check it out for a list of different teaching blogs that are organized by grade level!!! Click the picture below to head on over to the party and find new blogs - don't forget to add your own!

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Multi Blog Giveaway!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am participating in a multi-blog giveaway this week with 6 other fabulous bloggers!!! Many thanks to Cynthia over at 2nd Grade Pad for inviting me to participate. I feel so unworthy as I'm kind of just starting out with my TpT store! :-) Anyway, you can win some amazing items from these ladies! The items from my store that I'm including are my Spring Butterfly Math Pack and Roll a Sight Word - 1st Grade List. It is super easy to enter the drawing - see the rules below.

1.  One entry for following all 7 blogs.

2.  One entry for following all 7 TPT stores.

3.  One entry for blogging about the giveaway and giving a link to Cynthia's blog.  (Feel free to copy the first picture showing all the blogs from above.)

Feel free to leave me some comments, but in order to "count", you will need to leave a comment for Cynthia for each of the 3 chances to win, letting her know that you are  following all seven blogs, stores, and that you blogged about it.

The winner will receive a free item from each of us! The drawing is next Sunday, April 8, 2012, at 7:00pm. Good luck! Below are all the wonderful items you could win:

 

from Cynthia at 2nd Grade Pad

 

from Mrs. Lemons at Step into Second Grade

from Mrs. Dixon at Sassy in Second

from Rachel at a-b seymour

from Mrs. Williams at 2nd Grade Pig Pen

from Miss DeCarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice

from ME :-) at Confessions of a Primary Teacher



Happy Monday!!!

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Common Core App

I found the coolest thing ever when I joined Deb's blog at Fabulously First. She had a great tip for downloading the Common Core Standards App to your blog. I LOVE this, as it makes it so super easy to quickly find a standard to correlate with whatever you are needing. If you look at the right hand side of my blog, you will see a little pullout bar. Click it and you will have quick access to all the Common Core Standards! Woo-hoo!!! To add this cool app to your own blog, go HERE - Mastery Connect to get your HTML code and to watch a short video on how to install if you aren't sure. What a great find!!! Thanks again to Deb for the tip - be sure to stop by her blog sometime by clicking her button below!:

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Kinder-2nd Linky Party

I know, double post. However, I had to do this now before I forgot. I love linky parties, and I found one that is just awesome. Jeannie over at Kindergarten Lifestyle had the BRILLIANT idea to link up all the wonderful K-2 blogs that are out there in bloggy universe. I just LOVE finding new blogs, as everyone seems to have great ideas, resources, and tips. Go now and check it out and be sure to start following some of the fabulous new blogs out there!!! Click the picture below to go the direct page and sign up!

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One Lovely Blog Award

Wow! So spring break is upon us in my school district right now, and the hubby and I went out of town for the weekend for some much needed R&R. When I got back, I was surprised by a couple of sweet fellow bloggers who had given me my first blog award! What a great thing to come home to! :-) I feel so excited and honored - thank you so very much to Brittany at Sweet Seconds and Erika at The Honey Bunch!!! These 2 ladies both have super cute blogs of their own, so please go and check them out!!! I just love finding new blogs, and I am just so impressed with the way blogging teachers share their ideas and resources.

I now get to pass this lovely award on to some other deserving blogs, and I will be including some new discoveries as well as some old favorites. Here are the rules for the award:

1. Link back to the blogger(s) who gave you the award.

2. Pass the award on to 5 other lovely bloggers.

3. Follow the person who sent it to you.

Soooooo..... Drumroll please! Here are the blogs I am passing this award along to:

 Michelle at The 3AM Teacher - love love love her graphics, clip arts, and tutorials!



Deb at Oh My Little Classity Class - shares so many free resources and has great common core math activities, she has been so helpful to me as I've started my blogging journey!

Lori at Conversations in Literacy - Lori has tons of great literacy ideas, and she shares them so selflessly!

Krista at The Second Grade Superkids - I just discovered this blog recently, and I'm excited to see what else she has in store. She is a teacher in a dual language classroom, especially as I have a high ELL population in my classroom.



Jill at Mrs. T's First Grade Class - This is another fairly new blog to me, and I'm really enjoying reading about her class (she teaches at an arts centered school - very cool!) and seeing her ideas, pictures, and resources.

Thanks again to Brittany at Sweet Seconds and Erika at The Honey Bunch for thinking of me, and to the blogs I passed the award on to, come and get it! :-)

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