Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Dr. Harry Wong
So... today, Wednesday, I had the opportunity to see Dr. Harry Wong speak at Grand Canyon University. WOW! Everyone in education knows Harry Wong, and every teacher knows that Harry Wong is celebrity status. Being in the same room as Dr. Wong is pretty spectacular.
Now that I've said that, I must also admit that I wasn't exactly 100% completely committed and excited to be there today. At first! I LOVE my kids, and I HATE writing sub plans. So, the thought of missing a day with my kiddos, especially now during a crucial math week, was nerve-racking and stressful. I would have much rather spent the day in room 9.
BUT, what I got at GCU today was several eye opening moments. I know Harry Wong, and I know effective teaching, BUT what I'm about to share is an entry into my mind, my heart, and my soul as a teacher, and the "Ah-ha" moments I had today as an educator and a person.
1. As Dr. Wong was speaking, I thought about what I do in my classroom. Nearly everything he said and suggested and shared is something that I ALREADY do.
2. All of those things I mentioned above CAN and SHOULD be perfected and made better suitable for my classroom and my practices.
3. Reflecting on my teaching practice is so much more fun when I have someone like Dr. Harry Wong leading the way through my thoughts.
4. I began thinking about the ways that I could perfect and change what I already do in my classroom --- actually, I haven't stopped thinking about that -- and literally am SO excited to implement some new ideas just to re-iterate procedures and policies in room 9.
5. Consistency is the greatest gift, next to love, that I can give to the kiddos who walk through my classroom door.
6. LOVE is everything. As I have been reflecting this afternoon, I've brought myself to tears a few times just thinking about my kids, and their lives, and what I want for them in the future. I was inspired to think about this after hearing a special guest speaker Chelonnda Seroyer today. She opened my eyes so wide, and I could never thank her enough. Seriously, check this woman out. She knows what's up, and she is an inspiration. Anyway, I have been thinking about all that I want and hope and dream for my kiddos, every single one of them who enter the doors of room 9. The outpouring of emotions that I experience, the desires and dreams I have for them, the faith and belief I have in them, and the LOVE I share for them is THE greatest feeling or emotion in the world. This is true love. This is eternal love. I thought I knew love before, but I hadn't experienced the whole thing, the whole experience ... now, I have. And it is the greatest, most unexplainable feeling in the world.
7. I AM an effective teacher. The last 4 months of my first year of teaching have been a whirlwind, a roller coaster, a mountain, a river, anything you can imagine.. it has happened. I have thought several times about my future, and what I was going to do. Was teaching really for me? Am I cut out for this? Can I survive? What am I doing wrong? Today, after listening, laughing, crying, and reflecting, I can say that yes, I AM AN EFFECTIVE teacher. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Am I teacher of the year? Certainly not. Can I improve? Absolutely. Do I still have a lot to learn? You bet. BUT --- CAN I DO THIS? YES! And, I can do it effectively.
8. It's okay to start over. But, it's not okay to look back and wish for it to have changed in the past. You can only change the now.
9. Teaching is the greatest, most rewarding career available.
10. I was created in the eyes of God to be a teacher, a leader, a supporter, a cheerleader, and a lover. I am doing THE very thing that I was put on this Earth to do, and I love every single minute of it. How cool is that?
If you ever get a chance to see Dr. Harry Wong speak, don't pass it up. If anything, you are given the opportunity to see a CELEBRITY AND self-reflection after PD/Conferences is truly the best!
Dr. Harry Wong- Effective Teaching Practices
~Ms. Niehaus
Now that I've said that, I must also admit that I wasn't exactly 100% completely committed and excited to be there today. At first! I LOVE my kids, and I HATE writing sub plans. So, the thought of missing a day with my kiddos, especially now during a crucial math week, was nerve-racking and stressful. I would have much rather spent the day in room 9.
BUT, what I got at GCU today was several eye opening moments. I know Harry Wong, and I know effective teaching, BUT what I'm about to share is an entry into my mind, my heart, and my soul as a teacher, and the "Ah-ha" moments I had today as an educator and a person.
1. As Dr. Wong was speaking, I thought about what I do in my classroom. Nearly everything he said and suggested and shared is something that I ALREADY do.
2. All of those things I mentioned above CAN and SHOULD be perfected and made better suitable for my classroom and my practices.
3. Reflecting on my teaching practice is so much more fun when I have someone like Dr. Harry Wong leading the way through my thoughts.
4. I began thinking about the ways that I could perfect and change what I already do in my classroom --- actually, I haven't stopped thinking about that -- and literally am SO excited to implement some new ideas just to re-iterate procedures and policies in room 9.
5. Consistency is the greatest gift, next to love, that I can give to the kiddos who walk through my classroom door.
6. LOVE is everything. As I have been reflecting this afternoon, I've brought myself to tears a few times just thinking about my kids, and their lives, and what I want for them in the future. I was inspired to think about this after hearing a special guest speaker Chelonnda Seroyer today. She opened my eyes so wide, and I could never thank her enough. Seriously, check this woman out. She knows what's up, and she is an inspiration. Anyway, I have been thinking about all that I want and hope and dream for my kiddos, every single one of them who enter the doors of room 9. The outpouring of emotions that I experience, the desires and dreams I have for them, the faith and belief I have in them, and the LOVE I share for them is THE greatest feeling or emotion in the world. This is true love. This is eternal love. I thought I knew love before, but I hadn't experienced the whole thing, the whole experience ... now, I have. And it is the greatest, most unexplainable feeling in the world.
7. I AM an effective teacher. The last 4 months of my first year of teaching have been a whirlwind, a roller coaster, a mountain, a river, anything you can imagine.. it has happened. I have thought several times about my future, and what I was going to do. Was teaching really for me? Am I cut out for this? Can I survive? What am I doing wrong? Today, after listening, laughing, crying, and reflecting, I can say that yes, I AM AN EFFECTIVE teacher. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Am I teacher of the year? Certainly not. Can I improve? Absolutely. Do I still have a lot to learn? You bet. BUT --- CAN I DO THIS? YES! And, I can do it effectively.
8. It's okay to start over. But, it's not okay to look back and wish for it to have changed in the past. You can only change the now.
9. Teaching is the greatest, most rewarding career available.
10. I was created in the eyes of God to be a teacher, a leader, a supporter, a cheerleader, and a lover. I am doing THE very thing that I was put on this Earth to do, and I love every single minute of it. How cool is that?
If you ever get a chance to see Dr. Harry Wong speak, don't pass it up. If anything, you are given the opportunity to see a CELEBRITY AND self-reflection after PD/Conferences is truly the best!
Dr. Harry Wong- Effective Teaching Practices
~Ms. Niehaus
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Dictionaries, Applesauce, skyping and other shenanigans in Room Nine
What a week! -- I feel like I say this every week.. but things are flying by so fast, and sometimes, things are such a blur... but we are surviving... it feels slow, but in the scheme of things, they are going by so fast.
I wanted to share our Synonym flowers from last week.. They're so cute and we've received many compliments. Of course, I stole the initial idea from Pinterest, but we tweaked it to make it our own! :)
We continued this week with multiplication and division, and area. We did some fun activities, including making arrays with our bodies, measuring our tables to find area, drawing equal groups and using skittles to multiply and divide within our equal groups.
On Tuesday, we used our skills with functional text to read a recipe and we made homemade applesauce! It was so much fun and everyone loved it! :) AND, our classroom smelled extra yummy!
***This is an edit***
I wanted to add some pictures of our first classroom book! :) We have been working on these fiction stories for a few weeks now. They had to pre-write, write, edit, and publish before they could type into Kidblog. They then printed and drew illustrations to match their stories. The common theme is that the setting for each fiction story is a school. Hence, the title of the book! :)
They have such unique and creative minds, and sometimes, that is missed because of their lack of writing skills in the English language. I can't wait for them to see the finished product and to see what their peers wrote. I love when they give each other praise and boost confidence! :)
I wanted to share our Synonym flowers from last week.. They're so cute and we've received many compliments. Of course, I stole the initial idea from Pinterest, but we tweaked it to make it our own! :)
We continued this week with multiplication and division, and area. We did some fun activities, including making arrays with our bodies, measuring our tables to find area, drawing equal groups and using skittles to multiply and divide within our equal groups.
On Tuesday, we used our skills with functional text to read a recipe and we made homemade applesauce! It was so much fun and everyone loved it! :) AND, our classroom smelled extra yummy!
We had two new mystery skypes this week! We skyped with an all-girls school in Dallas, Texas and an elementary school from a small town in Nebraska. Mystery Skpying has been such a fun thing for us, and it is really awesome to watch my kids work together to problem solve, and they are learning to ask proper and appropriate questions and really work with the maps to find the location of our new friends.
I am excited to introduce mystery number skyping in the next few weeks! It will be great exposure to working with numbers for the kiddos who struggle with number sense. They seem excited about it too!
We have made Skype much more of a privilege now. The kiddos have to earn the right to participate in the next mystery skypes from now on. I hope this will help them to realize how much of a privilege it is to participate in these cool activities, and that it just isn't given to them because they are in my class --- I want them to learn that they have to earn it.
Next week, we continue with multiplication and division, and functional text. We also hope to dive more into inflectional endings in words, and syllable routines!
I can't believe next week brings us into November already. We are almost to a 3 day weekend, and then a long week for Thanksgiving. Trucking on through, and making progress where we can.
I am blessed to have some pretty amazing people in my life who have reminded me this weekend that even though I am teaching standards and assessing on standards, I am also teaching my students valuable life lessons, I am introducing them to success, and providing a safe environment for them to learn. I hope that these things continue throughout the school year; these kiddos sure are teaching me just as much as I am teaching them.
I'll end this week's blog post with a video one of my twitter followers shared about bullying created by middle school students. How creative, unique and inspiring!
***This is an edit***
I wanted to add some pictures of our first classroom book! :) We have been working on these fiction stories for a few weeks now. They had to pre-write, write, edit, and publish before they could type into Kidblog. They then printed and drew illustrations to match their stories. The common theme is that the setting for each fiction story is a school. Hence, the title of the book! :)
They have such unique and creative minds, and sometimes, that is missed because of their lack of writing skills in the English language. I can't wait for them to see the finished product and to see what their peers wrote. I love when they give each other praise and boost confidence! :)
~Ms. Niehaus
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Mystery Skype :)
Wow!
...
That is literally the only thing I can say to describe the week we had in room 9. We returned from fall break on Monday and I wasn't sure what to expect. The morning started out very very strange. By strange I mean, it was completely silent in my classroom. This NEVER happens. I wasn't sure what kind of twilight/scary moon stuff was going on, but it was weird. As the day went on, it became less weird.
I really feel like we have made some gains, and some major gains at that. The kiddos were actually excited to see their fiction and nonfiction video, and even though, they said that they still need to talk louder, they were much more receptive of themselves on camera. WIN!
When we started the week, planning for our Mystery Skype, I was super nervous. NO ONE wanted to be a speaker, or talk into the camera. I gave them some pretty big guilt trips and finally got 2 volunteers. We talked about our jobs, and I let the two speakers practice talking to each other on skype with one of them using my phone outside. I think this really helped them to calm their nerves.
We started multiplication this week, with a minor introduction of division. We really started to understand arrays and equal groups. They are able to solve multiplication problems now, and that is a huge success. What we are struggling with is the multiplication facts. I am struggling as a teacher, with how to actually teach this. We have made our own multiplication charts to help them see the pattern of repeated addition and skip counting, and that was a great visual. We are starting to take our timed multiplication tests, and it's a pretty big struggle. I don't know how I can really expect them to be able to answer these multiplication fact problems so quickly after only 4 1/2 days of multiplication instruction, but somehow, they need to be able to answer it for our assessment this Friday. We are going to truck along and learn some songs and hopefully be able to memorize some facts. This is probably more challenging with my group, because they still don't have basic addition and subtraction facts memorized either. Taking big leaps, but still a long way to go across this pond.
We talked about synonyms and antonyms this week, and made synonym flowers! They turned out adorable and I hope the students learn to use them as resources when we are writing and talking about word usage. We started our big unit on functional text, and began with using a dictionary. We still need quite a bit of practice with using a dictionary (They struggle with actually finding a word), but at least we know what a dictionary is and what a definition is (yes, we really had to have that conversation). We also learned how to use a thesaurus, and for some reason, they LOVED this.
This week, we are going to learn about encyclopedias, maps, schedules, and diagrams. We will also learn about homonyms, and break down some homographs, and homophones. Phew! Lot's to do in the next few days!
We have TWO more mystery skypes set up for this week, and we are super excited for them... so, let's talk about Mystery Skype number one!
Oh my gosh! How fun! The kids did AWESOME! After the mystery skype, so many of them expressed an interest in being the "speaker" because it "really wasn't that scary". This makes my heart happy. We had our photographer and video taper during the skype, so of course, I made an imovie of our entire skype. I can't wait for them to actually see it and see how awesome they did. We have some new formats to follow for these next two skypes, and I am excited to see how they perform, especially since now, they have such greater confidence about the whole idea now. After we finished the skype, I sat in my classroom and cried tears of joy for a good 6 minutes. I can't even explain in words how proud of them I am. I gave them a HUGE challenge. Remember, they didn't even know what state we lived in, or what the difference between a city and a state was? They were successfully able to locate Michigan in our mystery skype date. Of course, we might have cheated with the whole google search part, BUT, they did use their map resources to narrow down states, and for that, we can certainly celebrate greatly! They succeeded, and definitely passed that challenge. I LOVE that I am sticking to my guns, and bringing this technology into their lives. It is so different for them, and not traditional in the sense that NO ONE else on my campus is doing anything that I am, BUT, my kids are preserving, they are learning, they are building skills, and gaining confidence. We are doing great things in room 9, and just because "data" on an invalid and irrelevant assessment doesn't reflect our greatness, doesn't mean we can't celebrate. We are great, and, we are doing great things. Good things are happening, and I am so excited to share this greatness with these little hearts.
Enjoy! :)
Have a blessed week!
~~Ms. Niehaus
...
That is literally the only thing I can say to describe the week we had in room 9. We returned from fall break on Monday and I wasn't sure what to expect. The morning started out very very strange. By strange I mean, it was completely silent in my classroom. This NEVER happens. I wasn't sure what kind of twilight/scary moon stuff was going on, but it was weird. As the day went on, it became less weird.
I really feel like we have made some gains, and some major gains at that. The kiddos were actually excited to see their fiction and nonfiction video, and even though, they said that they still need to talk louder, they were much more receptive of themselves on camera. WIN!
When we started the week, planning for our Mystery Skype, I was super nervous. NO ONE wanted to be a speaker, or talk into the camera. I gave them some pretty big guilt trips and finally got 2 volunteers. We talked about our jobs, and I let the two speakers practice talking to each other on skype with one of them using my phone outside. I think this really helped them to calm their nerves.
We started multiplication this week, with a minor introduction of division. We really started to understand arrays and equal groups. They are able to solve multiplication problems now, and that is a huge success. What we are struggling with is the multiplication facts. I am struggling as a teacher, with how to actually teach this. We have made our own multiplication charts to help them see the pattern of repeated addition and skip counting, and that was a great visual. We are starting to take our timed multiplication tests, and it's a pretty big struggle. I don't know how I can really expect them to be able to answer these multiplication fact problems so quickly after only 4 1/2 days of multiplication instruction, but somehow, they need to be able to answer it for our assessment this Friday. We are going to truck along and learn some songs and hopefully be able to memorize some facts. This is probably more challenging with my group, because they still don't have basic addition and subtraction facts memorized either. Taking big leaps, but still a long way to go across this pond.
We talked about synonyms and antonyms this week, and made synonym flowers! They turned out adorable and I hope the students learn to use them as resources when we are writing and talking about word usage. We started our big unit on functional text, and began with using a dictionary. We still need quite a bit of practice with using a dictionary (They struggle with actually finding a word), but at least we know what a dictionary is and what a definition is (yes, we really had to have that conversation). We also learned how to use a thesaurus, and for some reason, they LOVED this.
This week, we are going to learn about encyclopedias, maps, schedules, and diagrams. We will also learn about homonyms, and break down some homographs, and homophones. Phew! Lot's to do in the next few days!
We have TWO more mystery skypes set up for this week, and we are super excited for them... so, let's talk about Mystery Skype number one!
Oh my gosh! How fun! The kids did AWESOME! After the mystery skype, so many of them expressed an interest in being the "speaker" because it "really wasn't that scary". This makes my heart happy. We had our photographer and video taper during the skype, so of course, I made an imovie of our entire skype. I can't wait for them to actually see it and see how awesome they did. We have some new formats to follow for these next two skypes, and I am excited to see how they perform, especially since now, they have such greater confidence about the whole idea now. After we finished the skype, I sat in my classroom and cried tears of joy for a good 6 minutes. I can't even explain in words how proud of them I am. I gave them a HUGE challenge. Remember, they didn't even know what state we lived in, or what the difference between a city and a state was? They were successfully able to locate Michigan in our mystery skype date. Of course, we might have cheated with the whole google search part, BUT, they did use their map resources to narrow down states, and for that, we can certainly celebrate greatly! They succeeded, and definitely passed that challenge. I LOVE that I am sticking to my guns, and bringing this technology into their lives. It is so different for them, and not traditional in the sense that NO ONE else on my campus is doing anything that I am, BUT, my kids are preserving, they are learning, they are building skills, and gaining confidence. We are doing great things in room 9, and just because "data" on an invalid and irrelevant assessment doesn't reflect our greatness, doesn't mean we can't celebrate. We are great, and, we are doing great things. Good things are happening, and I am so excited to share this greatness with these little hearts.
Enjoy! :)
~~Ms. Niehaus
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Fall Break
Happy Fall Break!
I can't believe I am sitting here on fall break. That means that I, specifically, survived the first quarter of my first year of teaching. Phew! It's been a crazy first quarter. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing, but we are surviving. When I sit and reflect about the first day of school, and where we are now, I can't help my beam with pride. These third graders have already grown so much together. We have made significant gains, and are heading in the right direction in so many areas.
I can't wait to see what quarter 2 brings; I have a feeling it is going to be even more enjoyable, so much more fun, and so exciting to learn so many new things.
Quarter 2 brings multiplication and division to us. That is pretty much all we will be working on in Math, and phew, it's going to be tough; we are up for this challenge though!
In reading, we will focus a lot on synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and inflectional endings. We will also learn dictionary skills, how to use a thesaurus, and different types of functional text like maps, graphs, directions, recipes, and schedules.
Science will be fun and interesting. I believe our next kit will be Elements of Sound. This will be a first for me, so that is why I say interesting, but science is always fun. :)
My plan is to video tape as often as we can, to perform some skits, make some homemade applesauce (Because, I need a little bit of fall in my Arizona life), become better readers, master multiplication and division, and to be creative, exert energy, and learn together while having fun.
Our end of the quarter project this time is going to the Cardboard Challenge. I am super super excited for this, and I think the kids are going to LOVE it. We are going to be collecting cardboard materials, and then will have a day (or two) or preparing, planning, and building a game out of recycled materials and cardboard only. We will then spend a day playing each other's games and learning about why we chose to make what we did.
Oh, and Let's not forget that we have our FIRST Mystery Skype planned for next Wednesday. The kiddos don't know what day it will be yet, BUT, I am so excited to see them through this project. They have already come so far with their geographic skills and I hope that they are still able to present themselves with confidence to this classroom.
Phew, so much going on in the upcoming quarter. I can't contain my excitement!
To celebrate, I've added another free TPT item ... we will be reviewing and practicing our multiplication facts with this Roll, Write, Multiply activity!
To end quarter 1, and the last blog post from quarter 1, we have our FINALIZED video of our non-fiction vs. fiction project. I was brought to tears watching the evolution of these kids on camera. They video taped each other for this final cut, and I edited. So much fun. They still aren't talking very loud yet, but golly... look at how far they have come!! Love love them!! <3
Happy learning! See you next quarter,
Ms. Niehaus
I can't believe I am sitting here on fall break. That means that I, specifically, survived the first quarter of my first year of teaching. Phew! It's been a crazy first quarter. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing, but we are surviving. When I sit and reflect about the first day of school, and where we are now, I can't help my beam with pride. These third graders have already grown so much together. We have made significant gains, and are heading in the right direction in so many areas.
I can't wait to see what quarter 2 brings; I have a feeling it is going to be even more enjoyable, so much more fun, and so exciting to learn so many new things.
Quarter 2 brings multiplication and division to us. That is pretty much all we will be working on in Math, and phew, it's going to be tough; we are up for this challenge though!
In reading, we will focus a lot on synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and inflectional endings. We will also learn dictionary skills, how to use a thesaurus, and different types of functional text like maps, graphs, directions, recipes, and schedules.
Science will be fun and interesting. I believe our next kit will be Elements of Sound. This will be a first for me, so that is why I say interesting, but science is always fun. :)
My plan is to video tape as often as we can, to perform some skits, make some homemade applesauce (Because, I need a little bit of fall in my Arizona life), become better readers, master multiplication and division, and to be creative, exert energy, and learn together while having fun.
Our end of the quarter project this time is going to the Cardboard Challenge. I am super super excited for this, and I think the kids are going to LOVE it. We are going to be collecting cardboard materials, and then will have a day (or two) or preparing, planning, and building a game out of recycled materials and cardboard only. We will then spend a day playing each other's games and learning about why we chose to make what we did.
Oh, and Let's not forget that we have our FIRST Mystery Skype planned for next Wednesday. The kiddos don't know what day it will be yet, BUT, I am so excited to see them through this project. They have already come so far with their geographic skills and I hope that they are still able to present themselves with confidence to this classroom.
Phew, so much going on in the upcoming quarter. I can't contain my excitement!
To celebrate, I've added another free TPT item ... we will be reviewing and practicing our multiplication facts with this Roll, Write, Multiply activity!
To end quarter 1, and the last blog post from quarter 1, we have our FINALIZED video of our non-fiction vs. fiction project. I was brought to tears watching the evolution of these kids on camera. They video taped each other for this final cut, and I edited. So much fun. They still aren't talking very loud yet, but golly... look at how far they have come!! Love love them!! <3
Happy learning! See you next quarter,
Ms. Niehaus
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