I've been absent

I want to blog every day, but I've been a little busy lately. Since I have a few minutes I thought I'd just say hello, and don't forget about me. I'll hopefully be writing more soon.

Also, my students have started a website. Please check it out to see what we're doing in the classroom!

Math is FUN and REAListic!

Friday in math we were supposed to use a worksheet activity to budget a party. Instead we decided to budget for a real party, and if the price was right we could actually have the party.
First we made a guest list, materials needed, venue, time, why (what is our reason for having the party). We discussed how it would be rude to invite someone then ask them to pay, we had to cut back our guest list b/c we didn't have enough money to pay for everyone.....

It was so much fun. The kids were up and talking, sharing ideas and having fun. We did tons of math. We called our local pizza parlor to ask how much a pizza was, could we get a discount, how many slices come in a pizza. Then after figuring out how much pizza we needed we calculated the tip. Then we calculated how much each student needed to bring, which is only $0.60 more than what they pay for lunch.

The kids were very involved in the process and couldn't wait to make sure our party was within school rules. The kids talked about it the rest of the day. If only every lesson was this good.

Appropriate Timing

Thursday: a kid in my class lost his tooth, but he waited until a transition time to take care of it. I made sure to make an example of him to the class... "he did a great job waiting for an appropriate time and not interrupting our lesson...."

Friday: a different kid calls out while I'm in mid sentence to ask for a band aid. If you could only have seen my face...I'm sure it read something like, "You've GOT to be kidding me." Anyways, before I had a chance to say something 4 or 5 of his classmates groaned and said, "Come on! You're supposed to wait for the appropriate time. Don't you remember yesterday with the tooth? Gosh!" I couldn't help but smile.... they really do listen.

Hopes and Dreams

So this year for hopes and dreams I decided that we would not display our dreams for all to read. I asked students to write down their hopes and dreams on a piece of origami paper. Their hopes and dreams did not have to be school related and I told the class that I would not read theirs if they didn't want me to. Only one student asked me not to read his. The others were all very different, some comical and some tearful. Once we were done writing our hopes and dreams we folded the paper to look like a bird. One of my coworkers bought a birdcage for us to display our hopes and dreams in. I haven't taken a picture yet, but when I do I'll post it. I'm looking forward to having parents add their hopes and dream birds to ours. I wonder what theirs will say...

Sample of hopes and dreams by my students:
I hope to become a lawyer some day.
I hope I don't fail 5th grade.
I hope I make good friends.
I hope I become a better writer.
I hope I can become the best batter on my team.
I hope my cat doesn't die.
I hope I do better at math this year.

Best School Ever!

I'm not going to lie. I was excited about my new job at a new school, but a part of me was a little worried that something might go wrong, that I wouldn't fit in with my team, or the community was going to be hard for me to become part of, or that the community would be one that I didn't like.

Well after this week (and especially the past 2 days) I know I have nothing to worry about. Everyone has been so incredibly helpful, kind, thoughtful, and considerate. When I say everyone I mean everyone. I am so excited to be a part of this community. I feel like I fit in and that I am going to have a wonderful time at this school. I want to thank everyone who went above and beyond the call of duty. I am so full of joy that I can't even think what else I want to say right now. Just that I'm thankful and very appreciative to work at such a wonderful place. If I think of more I'll add it...

Update on Classroom

Hey all. Here are some photos of my classroom as of this afternoon. As you can see it's still under construction.

Delicious Library

This year will be my first experience with my very own classroom library. I don't have a lot of books, but I value the ones that I do have. I spent this summer pondering how I was going to set up my library for 'checking out' purposes. I'd like to know which kids have what books and for how long they've had that book, are they checking out different kinds of books or always the same type, are the books just right or too hard, etc. Well lucky me I found just the thing, a library that uses images and works on the computer, Delicious Library. This program is made for a MAC (sorry PC users). There is a program that is supposed to be similar to Delicious Library but for the PC made by MediaMan. I haven't tried this one, but both offer a free download for you to try. (Both cost $40 for a license)

I absolutely love Delicious Library. It's very easy to use and fun too! I plan on having a job titled, "Librarian." This job will go to a student who will use Delicious Library to check in/out books to students. This will allow me to keep track of my books and see what students are reading. Because the program uses images it could be used with students of all ages. Students do not necessarily need to know how to read.

This program also keeps track of other items like games. So if I wanted to I could allow students to check out games as well.

It's very easy to add an item. All you do is put in the ISBN or the title of the book. Delicious Library will look up your item and give you a list of what matches as well as images to go along with the items.

I highly recommend this program. Thanks Delicious Library!!!

Can you see it?

So I wanted to do something different to my books so that I can easily recognize which books are mine, and which books belong to someone else (i.e. student, library, teacher, etc.). I decided I wanted to go with a logo, printed on clear a sticker so that I wouldn't interfere with the cover of the book. Below is a picture of my logo I think.... I've tried it out on a few books and it looks good. You can see it but it isn't blaringly obvious.

For those of you who know me I added something extra....The body of the jaguar is made up of the letters of my last name....can you see it?

MY ROOM!

Wow....I've been away for some time now.
Well now I'm back!!!
I got to take a look at my future classroom....
Take a look..........

Ahh...the things kids say...

"Do you have a bowling ball in your pants?"

I'm riding the swings, having a great time, when a kid says to me, "you're gonna break it."

"I have to go to the bathroom...I can feel it coming"

"can we just make it a 100? I don't like the .99."

"I'm going to eat lunch witchew"

more to come

Another One Goes By....

The following idea came from Snippety Gibbet.
Put your playlist on shuffle and answer only with song titles that come up.

1. What does next year have in store for me? Rain, Yoko Kanno

2. What does your love life look like? Is It Any Wonder, Keane

3. What do I say when life gets hard? Top of the World, Shonen Knife

4. What song will I dance to at my wedding? Ain't No Other Man, Christina Aguliera

5. What do you want to do as a career? My Hero, Foo Fighters

6. Your favorite saying? Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5

7. What do you think of your parents? Whip It, Devo

8. Where would you go on a first date? Bad Day, Daniel Powter

9. Drug of choice? I Just Can't Wait to Be King, The Lion King

10. Describe yourself. Velvet, Toadies

11. What is the thing I like doing most? Falling Faster, Metallica

12. The song that best describes the president? The Kids Aren't Alright, Offspring

13. How will I die? Let Me Be Your Wings, Thumbelina

14. The song that will be played at your funeral? The Eternal Vow, Dun

15. The song you'll put as the subject? Another One Goes By, The Walkmen

.....Try it for yourself....what will you get?

SID: School of Interior Design

As some of you may know, I work at a school that has a modified calendar. Currently we are having intersession, which is basically like summercamp with SOLs mixed in. This is optional, and kids have to pay if they want to come. Well, Unlimited and I are teaching a class together about interior design. The students are allowed to make their dream room, and will present it to their peers next Friday.
So today we are hard at work, when it comes time for recess. I make the announcement "Start cleaning up, we have recess in two minutes." Then I hear groaning from the class. Actual groaning! Then a few of them look up from their work and say, "Do we have to go? I'd rather stay here, I don't want to play."
Success!!

Smartboard Workshop

So Unlimited is presenting a workshop for our fellow interns on how to use the SmartBoard. Unlimited is looking at the different options and sees the option to record. Being the inquisitive (curious) person she is she clicks on record and begins yelling into the computer, "Hello!!! Testing! TESTING!" I turn in my seat and say, "What are you doing?" "It says record..." "No," I say as I shake my head, walk over to the SmartBoard, pick up a pen and begin writing on the board. Meanwhile, back in LaLa Land, Unlimited is still yelling into the computer, her face directly in front of the monitor. Ahhh, thanks Unlimited for the hearty laugh...

How Can This Be!?!?

So I was at the library this weekend working very hard...
As I was perusing the books on tape (or cd rather) this one little boy had an epiphany:
You mean that I've been doing it the "hard way" all along when I could have done it an easier way?!?!
I was trying my best to mind my manners and not laugh hysterically. The look on his face combined with the use of quotation marks with his fingers and the fact that he was only about 7 or 8 was too much for me...I had to leave.

What a Book!

One of my magnificent coworkers gave me a free book. I gladly accepted, but was unable to peruse its contents until last night. Wow! One of the best books I could have ever asked for. Simple, to the point, and full of fabulous ideas that get my brain jumping.

I highly recommend this book, Literacy Work Stations: Making Centers Work, by Debbie Diller. I haven't read the entire book yet, but just by glancing at it I can tell it's gonna be a good one. I should know, I've read enough prescribed literature over the past few months to know when it's going to be good or just down right awful.

Thanks to Organized Chaos for the wonderful book.

Books that Rhyme and What They do to my Mind

Rhyming books, books, books
makes my brain cook, cook, cook.
Frizzles and frazzles
then sparkles and dazzles.
Whenever I read a book that rhymes
my brain must continue for quiet a long time.
I can’t think thoughts straight
Unless they rhyme great
I must go to bed
Before I fry my brain dead…

Where's Unlimited!?!?

Unlimited is a very responsible person.
If you leave her a voice mail you can bet that she will return your call within 48 hours.
If you send her an email you can bet that she will respond within 24 hours.
If you send her a text you can bet that she will respond within 1 hour.
If you send her a text asking if she is still alive you can bet that she will respond within 5 minutes...right?
Well not this weekend. After calling and emailing without getting a response I started to worry, so I sent Unlimited a text that read:

I just start to worry when I send emails and leave messages but you don't respond. Especially after your almost heart attack story...are u ok?

I thought surely she would reply within minutes....but no, nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I was afraid we lost Unlimited forever!!!!!!!! Luckily Unlimited just forgot her phone, and decided not to check email while she was away...

Unlimited: Don't let this happen again!

It's the Little Things In Life

Even though I try very hard not to, I end up taking the simple things in life for granted.

I wish I could breathe through both nostrils again...for those of you who have this ability, be thankful.

Update

Chris now has 1,162 members = the member/hour rate is decreasing...What does this mean class? Anyone...? Anyone....?

The Internet is an Amazing Thing

I can honestly say that I don't know what I'd do without the Internet.

I use the Internet for:
homework/paper/research
communication-blogs, news, emails
games
ideas-lesson plans, art activities
pictures
weather
shopping

I've also used the Internet to verify questions for schoolwork and for fun (i.e. "was that the guy in that other movie"). The Internet is a wonderful place to support my hypothesis or defend my answer, but I've never used the internet to prove a teacher wrong. Well, I was on Facebook today when I happened upon a new group titled, 10,000,000 strong for Chris beating his statistics teacher's expectations
The description reads:
Chris' statistics teacher said it would be impossible for him to contact 10,000,000 people for a sample group... too bad she didn't think he'd actually try.

Currently the group has 717 members. I wonder if he'll actually succeed...and if he does how long will it take? As far as I can tell, this group was started Feb. 13th around 8pm, so about 5 days. (5 x 24) Which is 120 hours. (717/120) That's about 6 members an hour. (6 x 24) 144 members a day... (10,000,000/144) so it would take him 69,444 days to get to 10 million. (69,444/365) 190 years...Good luck Chris!

Intern Support

I work with one of the best intern groups ever!
We meet every Friday to have breakfast together and catch up.
We constantly visit one another during the week just to say, "Hi."
We always take time to share our experiences.
We try our best to help each other during tough times.
We are supportive and encouraging.
But most importantly we know how to have a good time.

I'd like to give a shout out to:
Unlimited- You are my Emilio. Happy V-day.

The Power of Technology

So as I sit here in the dark I am thankful for my iPhone. You see my power is out, and yet I am still able to blog, surf the net, watch videos on youtube, check email, and listen to music......at least until the batteries run out.....then what will I do!?!

How I Got My Blog Name

Someone asked me about this and then recommended that I post my answer. So here you go:

When I started this blog I couldn't think up a name...I was playing around with different things and somehow I thought about silly corn, like "corny" as in a corny joke, I tend to be a big fan of those.

Then I thought of a farmer seeing the word "corn" and reading this blog but being very confused b/c it's nothing about corn.

And then Charlotte's Web inspired "That's some _______" again with the farmer theme. Let me just say it was one crazy brainstorming afternoon.

I picked it as a joke, but the more I think about it the more it fits. Corn will pretty much grow no matter what, but if you take good care of it, you'll get a better crop; kinda like students.

Wordless Wednesday (a little early)

Ahh...Music

So a I read a chapter in my art textbook about music when I was reminded of a movie called Paradise Road. This movie is one of many movies that inspires hope through music. If you've never seen it watch this clip. It explains the power of music much better than I can.

What is the Point of Homework?

Why have it?

I have seen many teachers throw homework away after they have glanced at it.
Then why have it?

It's to assess the student. But I'm not sure if the student actually did it on their own, or if they had help from someone else so I can't actually grade it.
Then why have it?

It's to teach the student responsibility. But sometimes a student has family responsibilities that are more important (i.e. making dinner, putting his/her siblings to bed). Does this mean that your student is not responsible b/c they don't have time to do a worksheet that they know you don't always look at?
Then why have it?

As practice. But when they know you don't look at it, or they can get someone else to do it and you'll never know, is that the practice you want them to get?
So why have it?

This is difficult for me b/c I grew up in a world where homework was a must. School isn't school without homework. But now as a teacher, I can't justify homework. It just doesn't make sense to me right now.

The Mom Song

I discovered this video a while ago, but I found myself humming it today so I thought I'd share.

The Mom Song

If you've never seen this, it's really funny. It takes a few listens before you catch all the words. I know I've definitely heard some of those phrases in my home before. How about you?

Now they just need to make one for teachers...

I hate being sick!

I'm sure no one has ever said, "I love getting sick. I get to stay at home, sleep all I want, watch tv, what more could you want?" To be healthy!

I hate being sick.
I become grouchy and impatient.
I never feel hungry, but I know I should eat.
Nothing tastes good.
I feel so lazy and unmotivated. (which is okay when you're healthy and you make a choice to be/feel lazy)
My body is all 'achey' and nothing makes it feel better.
I feel like I'm trapped under water; everything sounds and looks blurry.
My mind is all fuzzy from the cold and the cold medicine.
Sleeping just isn't the same when you're constantly coughing.
Oh, and the coughs
that
just
don't
stop.
The looks people give you when you go out. I already feel rotten and you're not helping.
Knowing you could be infecting innocent others, especially friends and family.
I hate being sick!

Crack is Wack!

For those of you who don't know me, I tend to be an overly self-conscious person. One of my biggest fears at work is wearing inappropriate attire, specifically attire that reveals the front and back cracks (if you need to, now is the time to take a minute to reflect on this subject).

Another fashion faux pas at work is showing your underwear. Some argue that "At least we know she/he is wearing some," but I don't feel the same way. I would rather not have the answer put in my face. In fact, I would like to not think about it at all.

You know you've seen other people fall victim to this outfit disaster, but have you ever told them? Is it your place to tell them? How would you bring this issue about? How often do you worry about this issue? Have you ever considered it before today? (Most of these ?s are rhetorical, but feel free to respond)

In most cases the criminal has no clue that they are committing a fashion crime, but I'm not comfortable saying anything. I can understand the cause for such cases. You try on a cute pair of pants: "they fit well, look great, decent price, I'll take 'em!" Or you try on a cute top: "feels good, looks good, little low but know one will no." But when you were trying them on did you squat down on the floor, or bend over to talk to someone like you would while working? I do, but sometimes the pants/shirt are/is too cute to pass up. So, I make sure that I wear longer shirts, and a belt. Then, I tuck my long shirt under my belt whenever I sit on the ground. I'm sure this doesn't look that good, but at least I don't have to worry about what I'm showing. For tops, I refuse to wear most low collar or v-neck shirts, unless I have another shirt on underneath. This limits me from many cute outfits hanging in my closet, but again, I don't have to worry about what I'm showing.

Also, it is important for us to set good examples for the students, not just in our behaviors, but are attire as well.

Basically the next time you go shopping or get dressed for work remember to: Just say NO to crack!

Another Eric Carl Book! Why?

We have spent the last seven days focusing on Eric Carl's books and the artwork he makes/uses in his books. We also watched a 30 minute video about Eric Carl explaining his book making process. When this project was started, the students were informed that they would be writing stories and making "beautiful papers" to illustrate their stories just like Eric Carl.

So for every read aloud we have been reading Eric Carl books. Today a kid says: "Another Eric Carl book! Why? We have read so many." Then most of the class chimes in: "Yeah, he's right. They've all been Eric Carl!" Seriously? You just now noticed? Where have you been all week? Not in this room that's for sure.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So during our morning meeting on Tuesday this wonderfully cute little girl says:

"I checked with the teacher and he said it was ok, so I'm going to make chocolate chip cookies. I got the recipe from my pm class and I am going to make some with my mom and I am going to bring some to you. You can only have one and I am going to bring them in so you are going to have one whether you want it or not."

I couldn't help but laugh! But I haven't seen any cookies yet...

Billy the Kid

So whenever I get bored, or have some free time I check out the new movie trailers posted on apple. I find that movies are a great way to start/change a conversation. One movie has peeked my interest: Billy the Kid. This movie is a documentary of the life of a 15-year-old boy, who, like us all, is different. Supposedly this movie is out, but I have not seen any advertisement for it. The synopsis posted on the link below has me intrigued. Let me know if you’ve heard any reviews.

Watch the trailer:
Billy the Kid

Hey Ya'll....Come On In!

As some of ya'll may know, I just started this blog this afternoon with the help of JM. Being my first one, this is only a test. More will come so make sure you check back!