What the PUCK?

The last few weeks have been a doozie! I passed my BTSA requirement for year one and I'm looking forward to completing year 2 to finally attain a "clear" credential in the state of California. In California, teachers leave the credentialing program with only a "preliminary" teaching credential which needs to be "cleared" by either completing the BTSA program or by taking additional course work. BTSA is a mentoring program where new teachers are paired with a seasoned teacher for guidance.  The program lasts 2 years and teachers have 5 years to complete it. With the budget crisis in California and the dismal budget in San Francisco, only 2nd year teachers are qualified for BTSA... which means, you only have a window of 4 years to clear it.

Anyway- I passed. Yippee.

My school has also had many, MANY assemblies as of late. One of which was a visit from the coach, announcer and mascot, Rawhide from the San Francisco Bulls- Professional Hockey Team!

...

yeah- that's what I said too!

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Apparently S.F. has a pro hockey team! My students were so excited to meet professional athletes, that they didn't quite notice that there were no actual players there that day... (shhhhhh), but they were psyched anyway and asked the coach, and Rawhide to sign their yearbooks.

Book Report- Diorama

My students presented their diorama book reports this afternoon! This book report kept them super, super busy and preoccupied during testing. At my school, we group our classes into two groups for testing. Group A & Group B. SOoOOo, to keep the non-testing group busy while they were not testing, I assigned them 2 states projects and a book report (after one group is done, they switch and the other group has time to complete the assignment).
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We also tried self scoring and peer scoring. From 1-5, they scored their own dioramas before they examined their classmates, and then again AFTER they've seen everyone's.  It was interesting how some of their scores changed.  I thought it was a good way for my students to assess how much effort they actually put into this project.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher Appreciation WEEK!

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WHEW!  Things are winding down in Room 301.  We finally finished taking and administering THE TEST.  My first year in 5th grade has been so rewarding. It had it's ups and downs and loop-d-loops, but overall, it was an amazing ride.

There are so many ideas that I want to try and so many more I want to tweek and fine-tune for next fall.  I've been busy cleaning and packing up my room to prepare for the summer. My school site is used for summer school so all the teachers have to pack their things away "just to be safe"- which means things go up and down every year. I'm sure it will be a hassle, but I think it's also a good thing so classrooms can constantly change and freshen up!  I'm already thinking of a new layout for fall and toying with furniture/desk arrangement.

Graduation is only a few weeks away!!! I better make sure to pack on the waterproof mascara- I was REALLY, REALLY fortunate with this group of students as my first class. I'm going to miss them so much!

a milestone

Happy 4 years!

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because you just "know it" when you feel it.

photo editing site

I was pretty devastated when I found out that Picnik was closing closed, and I was frantically and anxiously looking for another user friendly photo editing site. Thanks goodness PicMonkey "tarzaned" in and saved the day!  I used it for my previous post and I have to say... I'm really excited for the site to fully launch and offer premium membership access.  I loved Picnik because of many one-click features that yielded amazing results- and PicMonkey seems to follow suit. 

Token System / class wide reward system

Currently, I believe that I have developed and established two decent classwide reward systems.  I have found that recognizing positive behavior with the addition of rewarding them has helped immensely in terms of classroom management. I adapted a strategy that I found online: Token System I really liked how this particular strategy allows teachers to select students for further rewards and incentives from a pool of students who have already proven to be on task, focused and exhibiting expected behavior.

Whenever I "catch students for kindness or modeling quality behavior", I will either cue them silently to "get a token" or even loudly so that others may quickly focus and try to earn a token themselves (works like a charm). Then, on Fridays, I blindly choose 5 tokens from the box (an empty baby wipe container), and allow these students to either, 1. pick a prize, 2. have priority (computer, games, etc.) 3. Choose a "privilege", such as a lunch date with me. I also pick tokens from the box for students to help in "special" activities (instead of using popsy [popsicle sticks], which gives everyone an equal chance), because I should "allow" students who have already shown and earned tokens, priority.

After choosing my 5 tokens on Friday, I dump out the container, and we start fresh again on Monday so that everyone has the chance to redeem themselves, or continue to be recognized and rewarded for their behavior.
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Mad woMEN

well- I'm not mad per-say,
just delighted that I finally caught up with the complete series of MAD MEN!

David and I have been serial couch potatoes as of late, curling up on the couch hiding from the recent pitter patter of the rain. I wasn't a fan of Don Draper in the beginning of the series- and I'm not sure I still like him that much- but I've just fallen in love with the cast and industry and art of advertising.

There was a rendition of this song in a recent episode and now we're both humming and acting silly around the house singing it.

translation:

Kiss kiss kiss etc.

My God, how soft they are! 

Kiss kiss kiss etc.

The sound of kisses!

In the bushes, under the August sky

Lovers glide stealthily

Like birds, they have dates

Everywhere you hear:

Kiss kiss kiss etc.

My God, how soft they are!

But tell me, do you know

What that means, between us,

What does “zou bisou” mean?

It means, I confess to you,

But yes, I love only you!

Kiss kiss kiss etc.

My God, how soft it is!

Aloha Day

To celebrate the last Friday before The Test, my school hosted another festive spirit day.  Staff and students were encouraged to dress up in island clothing/gear.  I sweetened the pot for my class by offering up to 5 tokens and 1 individual ring for each participant- and it worked.

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Many of my students did not own any "island/tropical" items so I brought in some sarongs that I've collected over the years and flower hair pins. Needless to say, they were very excited to walk around the school all day in resort wear! We also had another treat, one of the paraprofessionals at my school was so delighted with the spirit in Room 301, that she offered to teach everyone a dance! We spent the end of the afternoon learning the dance and enjoying some popsicles a student brought in. As for the staff & teachers, we enjoyed a delicious spread of sushi, made-to-order loco moco's and fresh fruit smoothies!

Aloha and Mahalo to my students, the staff and my school!

Triple Threat

The week prior to spring break was quite stressful and intense.  I was observed and evaluated from my principal (new teachers are required to be evaluate 4x), TWICE.  With a huge sigh of relief, I did well for both of my lessons (science & social studies).

Not only that, Room 301 was busy working on their final book projects from Student Treasures.  I will elaborate on our specific project on a later post, but I highly recommend teachers to check out the company! Basically, your class or your students can experience what it's like to have their writing/work published, and understand the process from idea, to draft, to hard-bound book! 

And... not only that, but our school was also up for review for our application to become a California Distinguished School!  Yes- all of that jam packed into one week.  I was really nervous about the panel visit and observation of our school site for the award.  Teachers, principal, staff, parents and students were interviewed and I was even "shadowed" for a few hours. In summary, a CA Distinguished School title, "Honors some of California's most exemplary and inspiring public schools. Schools selected for the Distinguished School Award demonstrate significant gains in narrowing the achievement gap." 

With excitement and pride, I am so pleased to announce that my school is now a "triple threat," whatever that may mean...

Not quite sunny- San Diego

Oh boy! Spring break has been quite a doozy.  David and I just came home from a last minute trip to San Diego.  The billboards lied.  It was NOT sunny at all in San Diego, it was rather overcast and ugly.  Because it was last minute and unplanned, we didn't have an itinerary, but we managed to enjoy the short stay there regardless.

Did I mention that it's SPRING BREAK!?!?!
woohoo!
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We decided to take the scenic route and drove on on Hwy.1/101 as much as possible

Good Eats-
Rigoberto's Taco Shop on Miramar for carne asada fries. Cocteleria La Playita for their delicious shrimp cocktail & shrimp tacos. 25Degrees for their juicy burgers and amazing onion rings. San Diego Chicken Pie Shop for their homemade and CHEAP chicken pot pies. And we threw in Chick-fil-a for good measure.

On our way home on Hwy.1, after zooming by many beach cities/towns, we noticed some paintball players hauling gear across the highway- and decided to check things out. Eagerly, David decided that we should stop to "re-fuel", at Huntington Beach... There, we watched some exciting professional paintball matches.  Its been awhile since we played paintball together- but I have a feeling we he will pick up the sport again this summer!

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