Monday, January 28, 2013

My Favorite Part of Me is....

Happy Monday
(well as happy as they can be),

I have a lot of catching up to do on the ideas I've been gathering for the past yearish, so pardon me if the ideas seem random.

I believe I mentioned before that I just finished a long-term sub job for a 3rd grade class and let me just say I miss those kids, staff, school and even community.  The school was in a small rural community (very farmish), the school was small and had about 400 kids K-8, and there was this delicious lunch spot that I frequented when I was too lazy to bring a lunch.  Words can't even begin to describe how amazing the staff was there.  Great ideas flowing through the hallways and smiling faces every corner you turned.  This idea I'm going to "store" into my save files on this blog is such a cute one.

The idea behind this writing activity is that the students choose a part of their body they love (could easily tie this lesson into a science lesson) and write about why they love it.  Some of the body parts these first graders wrote about and why they loved them were so cute!


My Favorite Part of Me......

Teaching writing is always a struggle for me.  I search and search for great, fun ideas that actually inspire kids to write.  So many kids struggle to find a passion to write and writing is often overlooked when teaching.  I want ideas that are not only fun for the kids but fun for me to teach.  The fact that I got a kick out of their final pieces I can only imagine what the process was like inside the classroom.  I love that this teacher also took pictures of the kids showing what their favorite part of them is :-) 

Can't wait to try this out with my future class!
~K

Friday, January 25, 2013

Hello World!


Hello world,

Being a substitute teacher, I come across hundreds of ideas for my own classroom and experience hilarious stories and heart strings being pulled by the little (and big) ones of elementary school students.  My idea for this blog is to use it as a toolbox/journal of things I come across and stories I want to share.  I've been inspired by many of my friends who are teaching abroad or starting their first year as a teacher who have created a blog to keep in contact.  My friends and family constantly remark about how they love my hilarious Facebook status about my students and want to know more. So....here it is! I'm also constantly taking photos and thinking "OH that'd be great to do in my own classroom or OH I would change it this way" so for my own purposes I want to talk and journal about what I hope for when I finally get my own classroom.  THEN hopefully, I can turn this into a blog about my own classroom.
A Little Bit About ME
  • I graduated from Western Oregon University (Go WOLVES!) in 2011.
  • I'm working on my Master's at WOU in Information Technology (essentially using technology in the classroom) currently.
  • I've been a substitute teacher for about a year and half.  I just recently finished a long-term position for a 3rd grade classroom.  They were amazing little angels!
  • My favorite place on Earth is my cabin in Montana.
  • I love Pinterest! (Soooo many ideas!)
  • I have a love for food, but I'm not that good of a cook, yet!
  • Another random love I have....fake cheese! Mmm Nachos!
  • I have the coolest teacher name, I mean who wouldn't want Miss Smart as their teacher?
I hope you enjoy my experiences and ideas!
-K