Stone Fox, Open House, and State Testing

We've been pretty busy trying to finish our Stone Fox book these past couple of weeks, but we got it done! Oh, how my students loved this book. I think it has been there favorite so far.

***SPOILER ALERT....if you haven't read Stone Fox then you might want to scroll down a little bit****

        I had never read the book before, so on my spring break I took it home to read. I was shocked that Searchlight died! It was almost like when Luke Skywalker found out the Darth Vader was his father..."NNNNNOOOOO!!!!!!!!" However, when Stone Fox stopped the race allowing Little Willy to carry his dead dog over the finish line, I lost it!! There were tears involved. So when I had to read it to my students, I knew that I was going to have to hold it together--which I did, barely. The reaction of my students was priceless. They were so in to the story, so when Searchlight died it was the same reaction as I had! WOW! They were REALLY engaged in the story. I think they were more mad that the story didn't have an "ending". They had all sorts of questions about what was going to happen next. Did Willy get a new dog? What did Willy and Grandfather do now that he was well? Were Willy and Stone Fox friends? This led them to writing the next chapter of Stone Fox.

****OKAY....it's okay to read now...spoiler alert is over*****

        Next, we are reading Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. This out to be interesting. I haven't seen my kids so excited about reading in a long time. So thankful that my principal gave my team the "go ahead" on using REAL books! The little ones are constantly asking about what we are going to read next. Even if they do not care for the current book itself, they are still excited about what the next story will be. That makes my heart get warm fuzzies!

       Okay, next week is an open house during school hours for an entire week! We are trying to give parents a chance to see what goes on in our classrooms during math and reading. Since our school has gone to using Investigations math material, some of the parents started to worry about this "new" math. This is a great way to for them to get a glimpse into our math world, see how making math fun can help students learn, and how we are allowing students to use their own strategies for solving equations (not just using the ONE way the uses one the board). Maybe it will help them see that I have to take care of other children's needs too, if you know what I mean. So far I only have one parent that is coming. Maybe there will be others. Our school already had math and reading sessions one evening a little while ago, so that could be for the low response. I will let y'all know how it goes.

      State testing is just around that corner--in 3 weeks to be exact!! Where did the time go?!?! Our preparations have been underway since the beginning of the month. We have to get our opened responses a little more refined. Lots of reviewing going on here. I have been thinking about what I can do for my students to get them pumped up about doing well on this test. There were some really cute ideas on Pinterest (of course, isn't that were we get every idea nowadays, ha ha ha) that I might try. For example, I saw some cards with cute messages that matches different types of candy. Also, last year I had parents write a letter of encouragement to their child which was given to them the morning of the first day of testing. Those kiddos read their letters every day, aaaawwww. I might do it again. I would love to hear your ideas!!

It's About That Time...

     I can't believe that it's that time of year....time to get down and dirty preparing for the ARMT+ (Alabama Reading and Math Test)! Where has the year gone??? I know that I couldn't tell you.

    I have put my students into those boring, dreaded, hated "military rows" trying to get my students into the right frame of mind.

      Oh how I hate this set up! It drives me CRAZY!!! I don't know how teachers did it years ago putting students in rows. There is no where to move and it makes it harder for group work!

    Today is nothing but mock ARMT+ tests. After our students take these tests, we analyze them to see where their strengths and weaknesses are. From there we are able to group them according to like weaknesses and target those areas in small group interventions. In the past it really helped our students. So, hopefully it will do the same this year.

      Math is our biggest concern since the change to the Common Core Standards or College and Career Readiness Standards here is Alabama and a change in our math curriculum. I don't understand how a state can change the state test and our county adopts a math program that doesn't cover the needed standards.

Is your school getting ready for testing yet???

What I found on my desk

My first day back after my "vacation"/family emergency was an interesting one. The sub left a very interesting note about the happenings of my classroom. Students getting sent to the office everyday, the various strange objects that she collected, and other goodies. What in the world happened to my lovies?!?!

Anyway, they were so excited about having me back that I found this note on my desk when I returned:

Today and tomorrow are the last 2 days of our ARMT testing. YEAH!!!! Next week, we are going to start our weather unit. This means we get fill our brains with awesome weather knowledge and test it when our meterologist (James Spann) comes to speak at the end of our unit! They always have so much fun when he comes!!

High Test Scores = Teachers Get Pied

I think that it's been almost a month since my last post...such a LONG time ago! There has been so much going on that I just didn't think that I needed to carve out time to blog. With having to take care of my mother then deal with the loss of my father and try to get my school work done in between the craziness; blogging just wasn't the first thing on my mind.

The Lord has been taking care of my family during these difficult times in ways that I couldn't even describe. He has given my an amazing church family that is supporting me and my mother in this difficult season. I was so glad that I was able to take off a whole week of school during state testing week!! My lovely team took care of my kids while I was (well....still out until Monday) out so I didn't have to worry about anything. I have never lost anyone so close to me before and it's the most difficult thing that I have experienced in my life, and I know that it's worse for my mother. There has to be such a dependence upon the LORD to make it through these hard times.

I do love when  I get emails from parents telling me that the sub is making their children miss me terribly. He he he. It warms my heart, I just can't help it.

Before testing I planed on giving everyone an update on our ARMT Spirit Day. It was a huge success!!! The children LOVED dressing up and it got pumped about taking the tests. I think the best part was the pep-rally. The students that exceeded the state's standards the previous year got to pie their teachers in the face. What kid wouldn't want to do that?!? They let us have it too! They took those "pies" (really just whipped cream) and smeared them in our faces or at least making sure that it got us really good in the face. I never have so much cool whip all over my body as on that day. It was dripping from the top of my head, I had to constantly wipe it from my eyes, and remove lots of it from down my shirt. The kids couldn't have had more fun.

I am hoping that this really got them motivated in wanting to do well this year. Also, I am hoping that my absences don't affect them either. I sent my parents an email explaining the situation, so maybe it will be alright.

Break's Over and ARMT Pep-Rally

       I can't believe that my spring break is just about over. I have kept to my "no school" policy this week. It wasn't hard since I have been taking care of my stepfather in his battle against cancer. Next week, those smiling faces will be trampling through the halls with sleepy eyes and a fresh brain.

      I love it when we come back from a break because they are more eager to learn than before. It makes my job a whole lot easier when they have their brains turned on ready to go! What I love most is that testing doesn't start for a couple of weeks. This gives us all time to get back into the swing of things and have some fun before those dreaded tests.

What I am really excited about is our 2nd annual ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) pep-rally that the teachers hold for the testing grades. The teachers usually become the cheerleaders, doing all those great tricks/tumbles (well, maybe not this year since most of the teachers are pregnant). The grade levels have a cheer contest to see who has the best cheer/chant. The winner gets the spirit stick. Ahem, third grade won last year!! Leading up to the pep-rally, the kids get to participate in spirit week. They get to dress up that are paired with different slogans (Army day is--"attack the ARMT", nerd day--"outsmart the ARMT").

This year the kids with the highest scores get to pie their previous teachers in the face! OM MY GOODNESS!!! I will have pie all over my face in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully my group this year will be motivated to do well so they can pie me in the face next year. I know that there are several that would LOVE to do it. Ha ha ha!!

All before this, I am going to have a restful week or so with my students which will be nice. It's time for the 4:30 wake up calls, the dire need for caffeine, and random stories form my students. I love my job!

Letters from Parents to Kids Idea

One more day to go before I am sitting back and relaxing.....well, sleeping in at least. There is still too much to do with my day to sit around and relax. I was sitting here finishing clipping my coupons when I thought of something for all my upper elementary friends (mainly 3rd grade teaching friends).

Third graders are usually pretty scared about taking their first state tests, so I thought about getting my parents to write letters to my students last year. In fact, my whole team got in on the game!! We sent out a letter to the parents, explaining that the letters where to encourage their children and calm any fears. Also, they were to send the letters in a sealed envelope with their child's name on it. On the first day of testing, all the students opened their letters. I have never seen such joy on their faces! Even those students that got letters from me (their parents didn't send one). They read their letters every day before they began. It was the sweetest thing. 

Since it was such a big hit last year, I am going to try it again this year. My students need some encouragement even though I know they will rise to the occasion ;) Last year I sent home pretty paper with an envelope so there would not be any excuse. I think that would be a great idea for this group too.