College Talk

At my school, we're all about college.

Each classroom is named after a different university.

We have "College Shirt Fridays."

 We use "college walk" and encourage "college talk."

My classroom is named after UCLA.

Our student of the day is known as "Bruin of the Day."

Our class money is known as "Bruin Bucks."

And we even have a class cheer!

Now, I am completely aware that college is not for everyone.

However, in my opinion, if college is what you desire,

then you should have the opportunity to work toward this goal.

(Keep in mind I said "work toward.")

You're not going to get into college if you don't have drive.

Let that be said first.

I have been working hard with my students on this idea of

"College Talk."

Better known as academic discourse, college talk

is the way students interact and discuss ideas in class.

We have worked hard to understand what this 

sounds like and feels like within a classroom.

This week we did a little wrap-up,

reflecting on this "College Talk" that we've been using all year.

However, now it's changed from college talk to Academic Discourse.

As I looked at their responses,

I felt one of those moments where as a teacher

you feel proud.  You say to yourself,

"Wow, I taught them that.  They learned this from me."

Yet, the words they reflected were deeper

than I ever could have articulated myself.

So let me brag for just a second and 

share some of their work with you.

(All you non-teachers out there,

this may make no sense, 

but it's a big deal to me.)

 Students created "Team Statements" to declare their 

own definitions and opinions of academic discourse.

 "It is important because it helps you be brave in college."

 

My favorite one from this page: 

"It makes you feel like a genius."

This group felt the need to highlight their cooperative effort

by labeling each group member on their Team Statement. 

Reflections...

Sometimes when we're well on our way,

we forget where we started.

Or when we cross that finish line,

we forget that first day of training

and what it felt like.

Reflection is a powerful, powerful thing.

My cousin emailed me the other day

to share with me that she's thinking about starting running.

I excitedly emailed her back,

trying not to overwhelm her with all my "getting started" ideas,

and then began reflecting on my own beginning.

I didn't start running until 

my third semester of my teaching credential.

It was my mentor teacher 

who inspired me to try it out.

"How was your weekend?" I'd ask.

"Oh my husband drove me to ________

so I could do _______ race."

I played soccer on the weekends,

and visited the gym once or twice a week,

but nothing crazy.

I finally said to myself,

If she can do it, so can I!

I started by running

to a stoplight in my neighborhood and back.

Ha!  I can remember multiple days

feeling crazy for trying this "sport."

Rubbing my side,

waving my hands over my head,

hoping for the side ache to just go away.

And sometimes, just plain giving up and walking.

I probably looked like a huge idiot.

But something kept me going.

Soon, I was able to make that run

without stopping.

And then came the addiction.

That summer I worked as a camp director.

I had to report to work by 7am.

By the time I'd get home from work,

it'd be blazing outside

and running on the treadmill became less fun.

I'm not really sure how I convinced myself into this,

but I started setting my alarm
 for 5:45am two times a week,

just so I could sneak in an early morning run.

Whaaaaaa?

Who was this girl?

---Flash Forward---

Here I am now.

I would call myself a real runner.

Obviously I'll never be an Olympian

or win my age group in a race.

But I'm a runner.
I relish on improving as much as I can.

And I honestly never thought I'd be where I am now

when I first started the trot to that stoplight long ago.

----

Teaching and running are so similar,

it's actually kind of nuts.

Maybe that's why runners make good teachers.

And/or vise-versa.

The end of the school year always brings a reflection

of where we are and where we've come from.

And, more importantly, where we want to go.

Though I came into my "first year of teaching"

with a lot of experience in a TON of classrooms,

I think I've grown more than I ever imagined

in these first two years of teaching.

I feel like I've finally found my teaching identity

and I'm excited to see where it's going to take me.

How it will evolve.

And I'm sure in a few years,

I'll look back and reflect on my first two years teaching

and view them as my runs to the stoplight.

Because things will look so differently then.

I can't wait for that day.

It's hard to see the finish line when you're so early in.

But looking back from the finish line,

that's the fun part.

And when you finish,
that's only the start to another race.

summersummersummer!

Running is a mental game.

And sometimes teaching is too.

While running miles and miles

it's easy to become bored,

frustrated even.

But when those moments arise,

it's important to give your mind a reason to wander

just so you forget all about the 

temptation to give up.

Only 18 teaching days until summer vacation!

And so, with that, I have decided

upon 18 things that I hope to do this summer
to give my mind a little motivation
to daydream about
"My Best Summer Ever."

My Best Summer Ever will include...

1. Road trips - South Lake Tahoe for my family reunion, Santa Cruz with my mom, and more!

2. Watching So You Think You Can Dance! I vow to not miss an episode this year!

3. Spend as much time by the river as possible! 

4. Early Morning Runs to beat the heat
5. Camping - hopefully beach camping so I can cross something off my 30 things before I'm 30 list
6. Bike Rides galore! - I hope that this is the summer my brother and I actually follow through on our plan to bike ride from Sunrise to Negro Bar.
7. Making salsa and trying out other fun recipes with the tomatoes I am growing.
8.  Spending lots of time by the pool while getting a great tan.
9.  Paddle Boarding for the 1st time! 
10. Sewing projects with Abuela 
11. Finally learning a weights routine at the gym
12. Eating a crap-TON of my favorite summer fruits - cantaloupe, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, etc!
13. Baking/cooking as many of the recipes I've pinned on Pinterest as I can.
14. Watching Baseball - Rivercats, Giants, A's, who cares!
15. Saving money to plan an AMAZING Disney trip for my Fall Break/Birthday
16.  Antiquing/Thrifting a little more often 
17. Reading at least 1 book for every week of summer vacation- 7 total!
18. Donating - Time & things I don't use anymore.

You ever hear people talk about a

"runners high?"

Well, this is all where it stems from.

Mental games.

Because when you allow yourself

to daydream or make lists in your head

you forget what mile you're on

and you just keep on going.

Before you know it,

you're done!

And the best part has arrived!

The finish line!

new books!

I remember when I was in the credential program

I had this professor who was obsessed with literacy.

She was always so amped to share

her latest idea to hook kids into loving reading.

I always thought she was nuts.

Don't get me wrong,

obviously as a future teacher, I thought literacy was

super important and should be promoted to students.

But I never really saw what she was so excited about.

But now, two years into my teaching career,

and I'm starting to see what she was so hyped about.

There is nothing I love more than 

having discussions about reading with my kids.

I love when they ask me what I'm reading

and I love when they ask me to help them pick out a book.

I love the look on their faces when I ask them

how their latest book choice is going.

Or when I ask them if they think I should read 

their book choice next.

And I especially love the surprised looks they give me

when I tell them it's okay that they need to abandon a book.

You're actually telling me it's okay to put this book down?

Yes, yes I am.

But I'm also asking you to go find one that you won't want to put down.

---

A few months back,

I got an email from Donors Choose,

a website that helps teachers fund projects for their classrooms,

saying that many companies have been fully funding

projects and encouraged members to post a new project.

Sadly, I had already posted two projects with no success.

But I thought, eh, why not?

So I created a project called "Reading Like Its Going Out of Style."

I chose over $300 worth of books

I thought would never actually make it to my classroom.

But then yesterday,

I awoke from a well-deserved nap,

and checked my email to find a message that said

Bank of the West had fully funded my project!

I have to admit I almost even forgot I posted the project in the first place.

But I was so excited!

Afterwards, I had the best time looking through

the list of books that I had chosen.

After rereading the synopsis of each one,

I made mental lists of which students in my class

might want to read each of the books first.

But hopefully among the stacks of books that will be arriving 

will be the one that a student just can't put down.

I guess I wouldn't say that I'm obsessed

with literacy like my professor was.

I think I'm just more obsessed with

my students actually loving to read.

So hooray for acts of kindness

and hooray for new books!

Fried Brains and Hand Phones

This was a long week.

Due to testing, 

my kids brains are fried.

So today,

I broke out the "hand phone"

as we played

Who Wants to be a Science Millionaire.

"Hand phone?" you ask?

Don't tell me you've never pretended to

use your hand as a phone before.

What would have been even better 

is if I would have had a banana handy.

But I had already ate mine for snack at recess... 

---

As a way to get my kiddos excited to review science

I busted out a powerpoint millionaire game

a teacher had emailed me.

I used my equity sticks to choose a contestant for each question.

They stood up to the challenge.

If they could answer the question without help,

they earned 6 class dollars.

But they also had the option to 

"phone a friend."

Though I hoped that they could answer each question

without help,

I almost wanted them to phone a friend

just so I could use my "hand phone" and fun phone sound effects.

"Brrrrrrrrrring! This is the host of 

Who Wants to be a Science Millionaire.

Is this _________?

Well I have ___________ on the line and they need your help

to answer this question.  You'll have 30 seconds."

---

Anyway, you get the idea. 

The kids LOVED it!

I feared they'd lose all control as I turned on my 

game show voice and sound effects.

But they didn't.

It was so fun!

I love when spur of the moment,

crazy, fun learning happens!

It's sometimes better than those lessons

that you spend time planning.

a little sleep can be magic!

Maybe all I needed was a nap...

Because today,

I felt like little miss sunshine!

At track practice, a parent asked me

"Did you drink one of those Monster drinks?"

Nope.

No energy drinks.

Just a little dose of a nap afterschool,

an early bedtime,

and 15 extra minutes to let myself "sleep in" this morning.

And wha-lah!

Ahhhh....

And the best part is,

Tomorrow is Friday!

Oh the things sleep will do for you!

What sunshine and perspective it brings!

Hopefully all this sunshine of mine

will bring me a nice little PR

at my race this weekend.

*fingers crossed*

And if all else fails,

a friend reminded me,

there's always another race to enter.

the fight

It's not the size of the dog in the fight,

but the size of the fight in the dog.

Well, people, let me tell you

this girl's got fight!

I am doing all I can to power through

these last few weeks of school.

Track meet trials.

State testing.

Friend's wedding Saturday.

Half marathon this Sunday.

State testing again.

Track meet finals.

End of the year benchmarks.

Then four weeks of school left.

I've got this!

Teaching is like a marathon.

You feel like a rockstar during some of the miles.

Then a few more later, 

you want nothing more than a glimpse of that finish line.

All you can do in the meantime,

is give yourself a little pep talk,

drink some more water,

and keep on truckin'.

One of the mantras I use during races sometimes is:

Warriors don't quit.

So, with one foot in front of the other, I proceed.

The kids are exhausted from testing

and are just about checked out.

(That's what 5th grade-itis will do to your students.)

But I won't let them give up either.

It's time to embrace the end of the school year fun.

Art projects.

Science Experiments.

Field trips.

It feels so far away.

But I've got this!

Warriors don't quit.

victory is mine!

This is basically going to be me the day that summer vacation arrives.

Teaching. It's like a freakin' marathon sometimes.

And until then, you can find me at the aid stations of life.

Otherwise known as small bits of inspiration 

to remind me,

"You're almost there!"

It's Monday! What are you reading?

So recently I've been a little inspired

by a wonderfuly adorable blog

by a fellow teacher.

Teaching in Cute Shoes.

Who then,

inspired me to follow another blog,

Teach Mentor Texts.

Well this week I've decided to link up,

and join in on the

"It's Monday!  What are you Reading?!"

party.

Lately, I've been pushing myself to

read a few books from my classroom library

so that I can recommend them to my students.

Sounds kinda geeky,

but I'll do anything to get my kiddos hooked on reading.

Thanks to the recommendation from

Teaching in Cute Shoes,

I just finished The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson.

Some of my girls would love this book,

though they swear they hate historical fiction.

It's about this Japanese doll

and the stories of the girls who come across the doll.

Of course, I'm still reading Mockingjay

but part of me is slow to start it because I know

I'll have to reread it when the movie comes out.

And with my kiddos, we're right in the middle of

When You Reach Me.

I love this book!  Well, I am partial to realistic fiction,

but there is just something about this book that I love.

It reminds me a lot about my life as a kid

and the friendships I had.

And I'm a sucker for Newberry Award Winners.

And what's even better is

I hit the jackpot at the library last weekend

and scored a copy of this on audio CD.

And lastly,

my latest impulse buys at Barnes and Noble:

This looks hilarious!!

Kids with superpowers from their braces, inhalers, and more!

And I let my boyfriend pick out this one:

Ahhhh...I am so jealous of my students sometimes.

They love reading.

LOVE IT!

And it makes me love to share more and more books with them.

So they'll love it even more!

...

I wish I loved to read when I was a kid.

the toughest days of teaching

The toughest days of teaching

are not necessarily the days of

lessons gone wrong.

Sometimes they are just days

when things are out of your control.

Today I had to say goodbye

to one of my most favorite students.

The girl with a cheery smile,

and a love for school.

We have a pretty tight system

when it comes to attendance at our school.

Miss too many days,

and you're put on an attendance contract.

Fail to meet it, and you're out.

Makes clear sense to me.

I have no complaints.

How can you get an education if you're never there?

And why must the teacher be accountable for

a student's test scores when they are always absent?

But today,

it hurt my heart when it meant that this sweet girl
would no longer be my student.

It's tough to be strong

when our 10 year old students

are playing Mommy at home

because her real Mommy

is too busy being a 20 something.

It's tough to tell a child

that their childhood days are over.

They are now in charge,

even though Mom is supposed to be.

"You are in charge of you," I said.

"You're in control of your education.

Don't let your mom ruin that for you.

Do whatever it takes to get to school.

This is not your fault."

As I helped her packed her things in her backpack,

and tears rolled down her eyes,

I prayed to God that she'd remember this moment.

Remember how much school meant to her.

So that years down the line,

when things get harder,

she doesn't quit on her future.

Because obviously her mother already has.

Today was a tough day in teaching.

Ah-ha's while running

I had the most amazing, 

mind-wandering

run today!

I think I love running the most

when it clears my mind

and I find myself with all of these new

revelations and "ah-ha's!" about life.

Today was marked an easy day.

Easy days are harder than they seem.

I actually have to remind myself to

"Take it easy."

So today, I soaked up everything I could

during my run.

Appreciated the squawking ducks.

Smiled at the cute little boys racing on their trikes.

Relished in the cool breeze,

and found myself grateful that the rain has subsided

for a few more hours.

And as I ran,

I was reminded that teaching

and running are quite similar.

There are days when teaching 

feels like a freakin' marathon.

"Where's the next mile marker?"

Which translates to:

"When's the next school break?"

But then there are days,

like today.

Where I just soak it all in, 

and enjoy every last second of it.

Today was the first day back from Spring Break.

So, of course, the back-to-school

nightmares began on Friday night.

I had forgotten what days like today feel like.

So I dreaded coming back.

Drove my boyfriend nuts with my grumpiness.

Pouted all the way til' bedtime Sunday night.

But then, today was here.

Ready or not.

And you know what?

It was pretty darn awesome.

The kind of awesome that I feel when

I see that mile marker that makes me feel,

"Really? Already? I'm flying!"

That brings the smile, and the sense of victory.

The kids were angels!

They must have gotten sick of staying home

with their boring parents.

(They must have actually missed me.

Though they'll never admit it.)

They were excited!

You know how I could tell?

They arrived to school practically bursting

to show me their book project posters

for their Spring Break homework.

"Wanna see my poster?"

"Does this look okay?"

A few kids even knocked on my door early

just to ensure it made it to the classroom safely.

And I'll have you know,

I never get early-morning visitors in my room.

Then,

in the middle of teaching the difference between 

an independent clause and a dependent clause

(BOOOOORRRRRING!)

one kid accidentally shouted "WAIT!"

because he was so excited to share his "ah-ha"

moment with us all.

And there it was:

the awesomeness.

Teaching is like running.

You feel like crap sometimes,

but mostly, you feel awesome!

Today, I'm feeling awesome.

And when I feel awesome,

I feel like running.

It's a cycle.

But which came first?

The teaching, then the running?

The running, then the teaching?

I don't really know.

All I know, is I feel awesome!

ms. grumpy

Whenever a break ends,

I always get grumpy.

I love my job.

I really, really do.

But I think when I take a quick little break,

I sometimes forget.

Who doesn't love

shopping til' you drop,

trying new recipes,

and spending time with those you love?

I've been spoiled!

Slept in.

 Watched March Madness.

Ran. And ran some more.

Baked biscotti.

Started Mockingjay.

Hid from the rain.

But back to school in a few days.

I'm grumpy.

But I'm sure those bubbly

5th graders will cheer me right up.