A Day in My Shoes

Happy MLK Day! I have enjoyed a relaxing morning so far...filled with lots of coffee, sleep and the Today show. Man, this makes me long for summer. Not so fast, lots of fun teaching still ahead before June. Anyways, today I have linked up with Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher to give you a glimpse of my teaching life. Enjoy!

5:00 a.m.-Alarm goes off, since I have TWO puppies this means I have to get up. Every morning when the alarm goes off they are on top of me waiting for me to stir...then they pounce! From this point, I get up, stumble downstairs (until I have had cup number 1 of coffee...I am well, unpleasant). Take the pups outside, attempt to not fall down or get tangled in their leashes, come inside feed the dogs, insert coffee into the maker and wait for the yummy goodness to fill my cup. After that I typically watch the news, have my morning devotions and enjoy a few minutes on the couch.

6:00 a.m.--shower, find something to wear, change my mind, find another outfit, change my mind again until I settle for my good ole' standby yoga looking black pants (teachers will KNOW what theses are, lol). Dry my hair, decide on up or down for the day, makeup, brush my teeth, purfume. From there its around 6:30, kiss the pups and Mr. Hubs goodbye and I am out the door around 6:40 with my second cup of coffee in hand. Once, in the car I turn up my praise and worship jam. I have a mini concert every morning on my 5 minute drive to school. You should see the looks I get!

6:45 a.m.--pull into the parking lot, get my trusty bag out of the car and head to my room. My room has 2 doors so I head through door number 2 and turn the lights on then put my bag down and head out door number 1 towards the office to sign in. After signing in and checking my box I then go back to my room and get ready for the day. This consists of making my morning message, making copies, etc. By this time my teacher pals have started to arrive so I have lots of people to talk to.

7:30 a.m.--the kiddos start to arrive. Lately, I have been using this morning time to complete Read 3D MOY assessments. In between assessments, I am reminding kids to sign in, read the board and upack...the usual.

8:10 a.m.--Leave for encore...quickly, because we are typically running behind :) After dropping them off, I can breath, have a sip of coffee and catch up with my grade level. I use this time to grade papers, set up for reading, make charts etc.

9:00-11:00--Reading

Yes, I have 2 hours of reading and I love this! We begin our reading lesson with a read aloud and mini lesson. Lately, our lessons have been focusing on literature circles. For examples, how to have a good discussion, various jobs etc. Students are given an opportunity to practice the skills we have been learning in a quick check. Then they break into lit circles for 30-40 minutes. As they are reading, I am observing, conferencing and checking in with groups. Each student has a job for their group and are expected to be working on that job during this time. At the end of our group time we discuss what went well, what we can change and how well each person worked cooperatively.

11:00--Recess, lately inside due to FREEEEEEZING temps :)

11:30--Math

We try to begin our day with a word problem. Students are expected to follow all pencil strategies and show their work. From there we begin by setting up our learning objectives for the day. We typically get through the teacher input then have to leave for lunch at 12:15. On a side note--if you do NOT have a class set of whiteboards in your room, get them. My kiddos love them and use them everyday!

We pick back up with math at 1 p.m. typically students practice their daily skill with a partner in a game like activity. I give a daily quick check to check for master of the skill taught. From there I have 4 math groups. (1. Guided Math with Mrs. J, 2. EOG Prep, 3. Math Games, 4. Computer Time).

2:00 p.m.--Science

We have been learning the scientific method and working on projects for our science fair lately. My students are required to complete a science notebook. This is a great way to note only teach them note taking skills but also why it is important to follow steps in an experiment.

2:25 p.m.--Pack up, write down homework, out the door. Off to duty I must go.

Oh my woooooordd! I am exhausted after typing this. On to cup of coffee number two! I am reading The Next Step to Guided Reading over the break...what are you doing?