Word Nerd

In a classroom that never sleeps...

A new superhero emerges from the shadows...

To save the grammar day.

Word Nerd takes the duty of educating and informing YOUR students about the most pressing grammar concepts of day very seriously.  But he does have a sense of humor and a very catchy theme song!

So run, walk, jog or sashay over to this website to download the first episode of Word Nerd for FREE.

Nerd Out.

Breathe New Life Into Wooden Blocks

We've all played with wooden blocks as small children.

But the motivation and excitement about playing with wooden blocks fades once students enter first grade and beyond.  But simple wooden blocks can be fantastic engineering tools!  

STEM, STEM, STEM.  STEM this, STEM that, STEM is the buzz.  I have embraced STEM and love it but it's the E that excites me the most.  E is for Engineering....building.  Building means play and creativity and perseverance and imagination and reflection.  So combine wooden blocks and Engineering and you get

click to take a peek

I just added this to my small math groups and my students love it!  

The motto of the activity is: Build it tall, build it wide, but don't go outside

(the perimeter).  Students fill the gray space up and then build upwards to see what kind of structure they create.

I admit, I sat and played with this one evening last weekend while watching a show on Hulu and it was fun and relaxing!

Let's Do the Time Warp Again...

Three months. . .

That's how long it's been since I last blogged and switched grade levels.  I'm now at the end of our first quarter and can't believe how FAST time flew!  I just did my report cards and parent-teacher conferences are this week.

So let's rewind a bit:

Friday May 27th, 2016 = Hello summer and sure, I'll teach a 1/2 combo come fall. I'll spend the summer brainstorming and prepping a bit :-)

Wednesday August 17th, 2016 = A new school year and I'm excited to do the 1/2 combo and my class list looks AMAZING!

Thursday August 18th, 2016 = Um what....no more 1/2 combo?!  Someone needs to move up to 2nd grade?!....fine, I'll step up to the plate....my class list looks NOT amazing; 26 students is THE BIGGEST class I've had in all my 18 years :-(

Mid-September = crying breakdown, unfortunately in front of my 3rd grade daughter in my classroom after school. I feel SOOOO much school stress this year :-(

Beginning of October = crying breakdown, unfortunately in front of my grade-level colleagues. I feel SOOOO much school stress this year :-(

Today = It is what it is...what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger...I'm liking the curriculum...thank goodness for the sweet, awesome kiddos (small bunch) that I have!

The entire time that this was all unfolding I would do or plan or make something that I told myself, "You should do a blog post about that!" but I just could not make the time and kept feeling guiltier and guiltier.  I also haven't run consistently since before school started and that makes me feel guiltier and guiltier as well.

Okay, I'm done spilling my guts. 

I'm going to make some time for blogging, creating/sharing teaching resources and running.

I have nothing new to share right now....that is publishable anyway.  But take a peek at this freebie compilation of Readers' Theater scripts that I posted about back in June.