THAT SAID ...
great author visit today. Seriously, Jeff Mack was a pleasure to work with. He engaged all grade levels and delivered a great message.
Have you heard of Disneybounding? Here's STAR WARS!
Get 'em moving!
Still a long ways to go but fitness is looking up!
Pretty wreaths.
Need something easy for the end of the year? The hardest part is precutting the pieces but even that can be done in multiples (like depending on the paper thickness and the quality of your scissors ... 4-6?). Get some small baby blue (closest to gray that is easy to find) and pink plates and go to Piggie and Elephant town!
Book giveaway coming next week. Something fun for the strong finishing 3rd grade to 5th grade reader. If they love Disney Channel movies they'll love this book. Fun summery "popcorn" sort of title. ;)
I am in the building ten hours a ten, five days a week, but that's ALL. I see every language arts class once a week for a lesson, make sure students have books for SSR, and do a few collaborative classes with teachers. No programming, no maker spaces, just getting books to kids, for the most part. If I had an assistant, I could do more, but I a very lucky that my building lets me "cut my coat according to my cloth" and do one job well instead of lots of jobs poorly. I was in DC with students last week, and testing in Monday, but on Tuesday all the books will start to come in and I'll start thinking about inventory. Be brave without your assistant, and good luck with a new one!
ReplyDeleteI never get emails when you've commented. Anyway ... maybe that is it. I like the makerspace stuff, though. And if I wasn't doing that I'd just be doing "duty" somewhere else. Still not getting any prep/breathing time. Debating cutting back on checkouts to older grades. I've done 3 to third, 4 to fourth, 5 to fifth. Allowed them to get magazines or graphic novels when teachers were ... reticent. But there's only so much one can do. And requests for volunteers haven't come up with much the past couple of years, even with the assistant! Thanks for any and all suggestions. Keep them coming!
DeleteI teach 36 classes every 6 days - grades 4-6. 45 minute lessons - 30 for the lesson and 10-15 for book selection. (The fourth graders need more time, and even early in the school year it is almost 20 minutes until they learn where the things they like to read are located). I do not have an aide, and my lifesavers have been parent volunteers and a few senior citizen volunteers - I have them scheduled from the second week of school until the end of May. They shelve books (I sort them N/F, Graphic Novels, Bios and Fiction between 2 carts) and some check books out to students. I have between 1 and 3 volunteers a day for 1.5 hour shifts. My one senior citizen volunteer used to work in a public library and she likes to do repairs (!) so I save them for her. When I taught in a K-5 setting my last year I was without an aide as well, and I found a similar routine worked for me. I have very limited makerspaces, which I do not rotate or change out (maybe next year, this was my first year in this position) - chess games, snap circuits, origami, blank comic book layouts, and I just bought some legos at Goodwill. My PTO runs the Book Fair in the fall and the spring - the kids shop during their library time. They make the $$, but they also do all the headaches of money and set-up. I could not do it without them. Good luck to you next year - you will find a rhythm!
ReplyDeleteVolunteer shelvers. We haven't had any the past couple of years even when we've asked. Hopefully that will change next year. I used to get kids to help but even the usually awesome ones got tired of it pretty quickly and weren't always careful about how they did it. Our makerspace doesn't change all that much ... and even when it does it's usually good for three weeks cause we rotate weeks between 3rd, 4th, and 5th. I'd love to turn over the bookfair but we need the cash! That is one week when volunteers usually do come. Or at least one super volunteer. How on earth do you keep up with that lesson schedule? BRAVO! I hope they are the same (well, that gets old pretty quickly ... but at least you are not living and breathing lesson planning) across grade levels or I will feel very behind. Thank you for the encouragement! I really do appreciate it.
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