Flying Pretzels and a Comprehension Toolkit

It is Tuesday night, and already it has been a week!  I started this week really excited to get into the classroom, and ended the day with crazy student events and a 2 year old monster toddler chucking pretzel chunks at my head while we were driving home.  Happy place; happy place; happy place...

I came to the conclusion that a.) my toddler is amazing because he has a baseball arm on him for sure, you should have seen those pretzels flying b.) every teacher is feeling the same way right now and c.) we ARE going to have a SUPER 13 days before the holidays!

My favorite blog right now is Life in 4B; if you haven't checked it out, you should!  Her curriculum is so closely matched to us right now that I am finding tons of great ideas to keep my teaching fresh, exciting, and yet structured.  I will post pictures tomorrow, but we are building Thoughtful Journals using the Thinking Strategies and the Comprehension Toolkit activities.  I love her idea, but my OCD brain is struggling with the fact that it is the end of November so how do I find the time to add Quarter 1's learning to it.  Is anyone else doing these journals?  I would love suggestions!!

If life isn't complicated enough I am trying to create a new grade-book checklist that at some point I am hoping to share with the higher ups in the higher-ups building.  Really feel that students are getting grades for more of work ethics rather than proficiency.  Thoughts anyone?

Well, I have pretzel chunks to pick up and other blogs to surf. Have a great Wednesday!

Well, here goes...I'm biting the bullet; I'm jumping on the bandwagon; I'm bleating with the other sheep! Yes, I officially have a blog!  My goal for this blog is to step past all the negative politics surrounding education at this time and to focus on what is IMPORTANT, the students.  


A couple weeks ago I was spending quality time on www.pinterest.com, yes, that means ignoring the laundry, when I came across a couple education blogs. Wow, is all I can say!  Jackpot! What great ideas and visuals I've found for incorporating into my classroom, while still being able to maintain the (inserting buzzwords of the day) integrity and fidelity of our curriculum and gvc that our district has adopted.  


My goal for this blog is humor, ideas, and always a positive learning attitude!  Here goes the ramblings of a 5th grade teacher....