Keep Calm, Spring Break is only 8 hours away!

No, seriously. Spring break starts in 8 hours. EIGHT HOURS! 
I used to get so irritated when teachers would count down to breaks like this. Like I have been. Shamelessly. 
And then ... I landed my first real teaching job. 
And I GET IT! Holy smokes! 
I am checked out and ready for a week of sleep, relaxation, hiking, and a visit from my best friend! 
When I taught preschool, I thought I understood. I thought I knew what burnt out was. I thought I knew when it was time for a break. OH NO! 
This is a whole new level.
Don't get me wrong - it's just as grueling in the preschool land. But, it's different! 

The last 4 days in my classroom have not been fun. Not at all. 
I read a quote on Twitter recently asking teachers if they would want to be a student in their classroom. That really stung for me. 
I started thinking - for a long time about my classroom.
We have a lot of fun, we learn a lot, it's loud, and we move around. 
I would say it's fun. 
But lately- that hasn't been the case. At all.
 We have been preparing to test, reviewing to test, teaching to test, and taking tests. It's been BORING!
It's been HORRIBLE for ME.
I can ONLY imagine how awful it has been for their tiny little brains. 
:(

And it doesn't really get any better. 
We have spring break next week. 5 days away! :)
And then, we come back ... :-(


It's a sad face because this it what MY classroom will look like after we come back,

Monday - Normal
Tuesday - Piloting the PARCC assessment ALLLL DAYYY LONGGG

And after that, we have 13 days of classroom time which will be spent soley focusing on "fixing" skills that we didn't grasp on the Galileo test so that we can prepare for AIMS (the state test). 

And after that,
FOUR MORE DAYS OF TESTING ALL DAY LONG! (The state test- AIMS)

This terrifies me, it saddens me, it frustrates me, and it worries me. I don't want to hate coming to school, and I certainly don't want my kiddos to hate coming to school - BUT WHO LIKES COMING TO SCHOOL TO TAKE TESTS AND PRACTICE TESTS?

Raise your hand if you do --

...

that's what I thought! :( 

So, as I have been pondering these things, and preparing to not be happy (even after spring break - which is supposed to refresh you) I have decided that I am determined to find a way to make these weeks enjoyable. 

Innovation is going against "normal" and stepping out of the box. Innovation is doing things differently, even when it's scary. I define myself as a teacher, as innovative. I step out of the box. ESPECIALLY at this school, where innovation doesn't happen. So, here's to being innovative - I have an obligation to get these kids to fourth grade - that means they have to pass the state reading test. That means that I have to prepare them for that test. BUT - that doesn't mean that I have to prepare them by giving them practice test questions every day and "fixing" them. 
And ... I have no plan. But I will get there. I will find a way! 


Here are some shares from our classroom and my life this week --

I have gained A LOT of weight this school year. It has been stressful, and emotional, and over-bearing at times. But, I am determined to find a way to still be healthy and active. It's not the same, and it's not easy- but I'm making small progress. I ran the first 5K of the year this past weekend, and I'm gearing up to run an 8K this coming weekend- my longest race ever. EEK! 

The joys of living in Arizona- Spring training! So much fun, and such beautiful weather! 

I Love when my kiddos do silly things like this - they all signed this card and secretly passed it around for me, and then secretly placed it on my desk one day this week. They are the best! :) I wish they had the opportunities to truly be more creative all day long. 

More snail adventures. We did have 2 snails die this week, but they've been active with us-- even a little bit of what looks like "snail fighting"... or "playing" ... the snails did an excellent job of distracting us from the bores of testing all week! :)

So, now what?

Spring break, that's what! 

Back to being excited - because I do deserve this break, and so do the kiddos. 

And because, I can be innovative, and step away from the norm to find a way to make "review" more engaging and fun! 

Happy, Happy, Happy!! 

Stepping out of the box...

Okay, well my last post was mostly about me, and my crazy thoughts.
But, here's what's been going on in our classroom. Besides, all the crazy test prep. :)

The title of this post is "stepping out of the box" because that's what I feel like I do.. every day. I am an innovative teacher. And, someday, as I continue to master MY craft of teaching, I will be supported in my "stepping out of the box", and truly, honestly, will find my place in the world of teaching, education, and learning. I will never be a "master" teacher, because there is always room for growth, reflection, learning, and improvement, but I can certainly continue my quest to "mastery" throughout my entire career.

So...
the last few weeks, wrapped up in a few pictures! :)

I LOVE these kiddos!!

Learning about transformations in Geometry by dancing the Cha-Cha Slide! It was so much fun to get up and move and the kids were able to really learn what a slide and turn were! :) Awesome learning!! 

Making Tree Maps of 3D shapes and their attributes! :) 

We reviewed facts and opinions and persuasive writing, by making an advertisement for third grade at Cartwright Elementary! :) So much fun, and we really like talking about positives! 

Tree Maps classifying 2D and 3D shapes!!! 

Observing seeds, and starting our sprouting seeds experiment! Will we be able to sprout seeds with only water? 

Ms. Niehaus had an observation during review week- we were reviewing Multiplication properties, and facts with fact families. We had to be festive, and make fact families using properties with Pots O' Gold! :) 

My Mentor, Mr. Bustamante, participated in Read Across America day, and came to read to us! 

We were surprised to see how much our seeds started sprouting with just water!! Making observations throughout the process! 

And.. we are really sprouting. Our bean seeds look awesome, but you can see we've got some Fungus on our other seeds. We have some questions for gardeners or scientists about the black specks on the fungus, and what causes that to happen. If there are any science people reading, help us out! :) 

After observing the sprouting seeds, we were able to take a look at a bean seed, open it up and identify the three parts of a seed. It was so fun being able to see the parts instead of just naming them like we had been doing! :) 

And now ... the exciting stuff. The next part of our science kit includes land snails, and beetles! WHOA! I was totally totally shocked when they showed up and completely grossed up. The beetles are still not my favorite, but the snails are growing on me. The kids love to get them out and play with them. So, even if they stink, and poop, and eat chalk, and leave slimy mucus everywhere, they have been a great distraction, and the kiddos LOVE them! :) 

And, that takes us to the end of quarter 3. We are still reading Olivia Brophie, and Sky Island. Check it out here : Olivia Brophie 

We are so engaged in the book, and can't wait to see what happens next! :) 

I leave with a picture from #EdcampPHX which I attended earlier in the month of March! Great time with connected educators! 

Have a phenomenal week! <3 

Dreaming about Galileo..

Okay... my title is a little bit of a joke, but not really. I have literally been dreaming (or, nightmaring, rather) about Galileo. Galileo is our benchmark assessment through the district. Because our district receives so much funding, and is continuously on an improvement plan, we test, test, test, and test again to keep track of data, plan with data, discuss data, and more data, data, data. 
Blah, blah, blah. --That's what it all means to me. 

Being completely honest on that one, because a blog I read today, told me I could ... No, seriously check it out here. Thanks #Edrethink for sharing and inspiring. 

Anyway, so the last few weeks, we have been cramming, cramming, and cramming some more. Trying to get every skill met in some way before we take the quarter 3 Galileo test. Before our walls were completely bare and covered for the test, because God forbid the students "cheat". 

I have come to the realization that this is the problem - we are expected to teach 40 some new skills during quarter 3 in math and reading. So, since January, we have been cramming information overload into these poor babies' brains. We have been teaching some skills for only 1 day, some for 2, and some were lucky enough to get 3 or 4. And then, we move right on to a brand new standard. Some of them go well together and compliment each other, but some do not, and do not make for easy transitions. No matter how you look at it, this is not okay. At all. It's not okay for kids who have parental involvement and support at home, it's not okay for middle class kids, it's not okay for kids who have educational support, it's not okay for kids EVER. 
But, this is where we are. This is what we do. And it's "normal". We "teach" all these skills, the kids don't truly learn anything or retain any of the knowledge to be proficient in the skills, and we move on. There's no time to go back and reteach or reassess, there's no time for interventions, there's no time for small group instruction. We have to push, push, push, and hope they grasp enough to pick the right answer on the benchmark test, and then the state test in 4 weeks. 

So, this is where we are, and yet we still have admin. breathing down our throats and necks asking us about common formatives, and keeping the rigor up, and preparing, and data, and how our students did on the CFA's, and how are we small grouping, and reteaching, and how are we fixing the fact that less than 80% of our kids are passing skills. WAKE UP ADMIN!  These expectations are not realistic, in any way, shape, or form. Take a deep breath, step back, and think for just 45 seconds about what it was like for YOU in the classroom. Just for 45 seconds, put yourself in our shoes. I know that admin. are under a lot of pressure from district, from state, from everywhere. I get it- I do. And, I feel for them, and respect them, because I don't want to be responsible for an entire school. That's not why I became a teacher. BUT, I do try to remember that they are in a big position, with a lot of stress, too. I just wish for 45 seconds, they would take the time, to do the same - just try to see things from our perspective, and truly be a leader. Be honest, but be a leader. Leadership controls everything. It can make or break everything. What I'm really trying to say, is make up your mind. What do you want? Stand up for us, as teachers, but most importantly, for the students as kids. You CANNOT expect kids to retain information when you expect 6 skills to be taught in 5 days AND CFA's every week, AND reteaching, small group instruction, and RE-ASSESSING. It is just not possible. So, make up your mind. After all, these are KIDS we are working with. They are innocent, they just want to be loved, and to learn. What happened to that, and why is that such a negative feeling? 

So, here I am on the eve of our District Math and reading benchmark testing week. I will walk into my classroom tomorrow with bare walls, and the alphabet chart covered with chart paper. I will pass out multiple choice tests, pencils, and privacy folders, I will walk around all day making sure students are on task, I will only let one student leave for the bathroom at a time, I will make my kids wait an extra hour for lunch, because we have to have a completely different schedule for testing, I will make it through the day without a special or prep, because specials teachers have to help proctor exams, and we can't waste any testing time, I will make my KIDS sit and stare at paper to answer 45 multiple choice questions all day long without breaks, without recess, without interaction. Just us, and the bare walls. I will cry when they leave, pray that they scored proficient enough to leave me highly qualified as a teacher, and cry some more. 
But, I'll do it. Because I have to. 
Because I have to have hope that someday, soon, this madness is going to change. Someday, someone is going to stand up and bring the KIDS back into the picture for education in America. 
Because I have to make it through my first year teaching in an inner-city Phoenix school with a 93% ELL population, and 100% free and reduced lunch. 
Because, I am not a quitter. Because, I believe in my kids and their true potential - not their score on a benchmark test.