New Year's Eve with Kids

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

We are staying in this year because you know this pandemic is never ending, so I decided to use the internet to come up with some fun ideas to do with our kids (ages 4.5 and 7)!

Beginning at 4 pm there will be a bag to open at each hour. Some of the bags will have games, some will have things to do, some will have little toys to celebrate.

Here is my plan:

4 pm - New Year's Around the World

Print a blank map of the world time zones. Color in the places that have already celebrated New Year's and then each hour you can see what part of the world is celebrating at that time until you get to your time zone.

2021 - What a Dumpster Fire!

Well here we are. Another year done. Another year that we thought was going to be WAY different than it actually was.

The year started off in Florida, in the middle of a pandemic. We chose to go away for New Year's because I knew the bad news that was coming. Right before Christmas was when I found my lump. I decided that we needed to get away before the craziness that was coming.

January we got the dreaded news. The c-word that no one wants to hear. Found out that we would be teaching from home until March.

February had surgery, but also found out it had spread to lymph nodes.

March started chemo, but also returned to work in the building.

April, May, June got approved to work from home while going through chemo. We also decided to sell our house because you know why not add more crazy to our lives.

July moved into a new temporary home. New neighbors, new school for Mackenzie, new area to learn. We also traveled to Nashville to spend a week with my husband's family (and visit mine).

August finished chemo, celebrated with friends, then went to the beach for a week with family. My happy place. I had a week to just do nothing. No doctors appointments, no treatments, no work, nothing. However, the end of August brought illness for my husband. (we can't catch a break this year) 

September started radiation, but also started back to school it what has been even more weird than 2020. Kids in the building, kids at home. Masks on. Social distancing (*when possible). Eat in the classroom. Trying to pretend that everything is normal. (side note - it's not) Went to a concert for the first time in years. Had a girls weekend in Hershey! Massage and facials!

October finished radiation! Traveled to St. Louis for a wedding. We met more of my husband's family and also caught up with old friends.

November celebrated birthdays, Thanksgiving, family visits, and spent the day in Hershey's Chocolate World to celebrate our daughter turning 7.

December we went on a cruise. We decided that we had both been through A LOT this year and we needed to celebrate. We also spent Christmas in North Carolina with family.

One More!

I usually post about education things on this blog, however, I have been wanting to share my journey and felt like this was the right place to do it. I mean, I am after all educating you about cancer, chemo, and all of the unknowns that go along with it.

One. More.

It is finally here. March 23 seems like so long ago. 15 chemotherapy treatments done. 1 more to go.

Here is an inside look at a treatment day... Vitals checked (temp, weight, blood pressure, pulse oxygen, heart rate), access my port, draw blood work and then wait and wait some more. Once blood work comes back, they determine if you get treatment that day or not. If yes, then they put in your orders to the pharmacy (this means even more waiting). First up is your pre-treatment medications. For me, this includes anti-nausea meds, Pepcid, steroids, fluids, and Benadryl. After you get all of these, then is time for your chemo bag(s). Each bag typically drips anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and half. After the chemo is done, sometimes you get more fluids for another 15-45 minutes. Another vitals check, then they take out the needle from your port. My first 4 treatments took about 4-5 hours, my weekly treatments take about 2.5-3 hours.

This process started off very slow (probably because I started off with a harsher chemo drug, was getting 2 bags of chemo per treatment day, and had a week off.) However, the past 11 weeks have flown by.

I don't know if it has been my positive attitude, my younger age, a relatively healthy body, or a combination of all of them, but I tell everyone that I have been very lucky with this process. I have had very few side effects compared to the laundry list of things that COULD happen that I received in my chemotherapy class.

Speaking of side effects... they are weird. And as I have met different people throughout my journey, it is crazy how the same exact drug affects people so differently. 

I lost my hair after the second treatment. No big shocker there, pretty much everyone does at some point. What is weird is that I have not finished my treatment yet and it is already starting to grow back.

Most people have to take medications to help with nausea, aren't able to eat because they feel so sick to their stomach, and tend to lose weight, which is not always a good thing when your body is taking in these very serious drugs. I have not had to deal with any of this and for that I am VERY thankful.

Another weird side effect, is my fingernails have turned rigid, hard, and are attempting to fall off. You don't realize how much you use your thumbs, until your fingernail is in a lot of pain and it hurts to use them.

Fatigue. Yes, chemotherapy makes you very tired. Especially when you are getting it every week. Your body doesn't have as much time to recover between treatments, so the fatigue seems to build up. However, fun fact, on treatment days I get a bag of steroids. My body loves to become wired when given steroids. So while I am exhausted on Tuesdays, my body is like let's go, I'm wide awake!

One thing that not many people tell you about is the emotional/mental side of chemotherapy. I try to live my life as I normally would, but some days it is hard. The kids don't fully understand what all I am going through, so they don't always get it when mommy is tired. I am not always the best at asking for help or communicating my feelings, so I have had to focus on explaining to people how I feel or if I need help. Some days I just feel like doing absolutely nothing and others I feel perfectly normal. I have tried reading and some days it is hard. It is like my brain just can't handle it.

Every week I sit in a room with 3-5 other patients. I listen to their stories. I have seen people get frustrated because their blood count, platelets, etc. are too low and they can't receive treatment that day. I've seen people have to get blood transfusions rather than their chemo treatment because their numbers are too low. I have learned a lot about blood work and all of the different things that they measure. Again, I am so fortunate with this journey. My numbers have always been great. There have been weeks where my white blood count may be low, but the other numbers are high enough that it doesn't affect my treatment. I had a couple of weeks where one of my liver enzymes was high, but never enough that it prevented me from getting treatment. I am a checklist person. I loved being able to go each week and mark off another treatment. I can't imagine showing up and then finding out that you can't get treated.

On top of all of this is getting cancer in the middle of a pandemic. This means no visitors. Not only are you going to sit at a treatment center from anywhere to 3-8 hours, you have to do so by yourself. Luckily the nurses are absolutely amazing and make you feel like home, but it gets lonely. Many of us just choose to sleep or read or play on our phones. The people that I truly feel sorry for are those that need people there to help them understand the process, or what it means when things don't go as planned.

While I am SO thankful that I am going to be finished, I am going to miss all of the nurses and patients that I have made connections with over the past 4 months.

My chemotherapy journey is coming to an end, but I am not quite done yet. 

Next up is radiation therapy. 6 weeks, 1 session per day for a total of 30 sessions. Stay tuned!

5th Grade I CAN Statements

It's about that time. I have hit that point in my summer break where I am ready to start looking ahead to next school year. I will say that it is hitting a little later this year than normal, which is absolutely needed after this past year.

I revamped these I CAN statements to use in my room in place of putting up the standards. I like the direct statement that the students can read and say, "I can" do this!

I tried to make them appealing to the eye by adding a visual of some sort to help them understand what is expected. I also used bold and underline formatting to help identify key words in the statement.

These are all mostly in black and white, because let's be honest, who has access to a color printer at their school (*rolls eyes*). However, I do like to use colorful paper to print them on and make them pop in the classroom.

Click on the images below to get your FREE copy!

Proud.

The year is winding down. It felt like the beginning of the year was flying by and then man the last 3 months felt like an eternity. 

This year was weird. It was an adventure. It was full of unknowns, new things, changing the way we look at education, the way we teach, the way the students learn. Some kids thrived. Some didn't. 

Personally, this school year was full of challenges. From learning how to teach 100% online, something that even I struggled with no matter how comfortable I am using technology. To trying to engage students and build relationships, again something that I put first in my teaching, but struggled with this year. To my personal health issues that began in January.

However, as I look back and there is one word that sticks out. Proud. 

I am proud of my students who overcame the challenges of learning from home, those who adapted to hybrid learning, those who were taking care of siblings or other children in the house while also trying to keep up their own education.

I am proud of my school and coworkers who came together to get through a challenging year. We shared resources and ideas to help us master virtual learning and then we making our school a fun and safe place to be once hybrid learning began.

But mostly I am proud of myself. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. Had surgery in February. Started chemotherapy in March. I started off with a positive mindset that I wanted to finish the year, but I also made sure to put my health first. I took off the days that I needed to take off, or days that I just didn't feel good. I fought to get my accommodations approved so that I could work from home. As much as I wanted to be in the school building, I knew that the safest place for me to be is at home.

I am proud of myself for putting ME first. I learned to say no. I learned to stand up for myself when I knew I couldn't handle something. I took a break from the "extra" stuff, like creating resources and blogging. I knew that I needed to focus on me and my students. 

I am proud of me for getting through this year. And I am proud of ALL the teachers out there that persevered through ALL of the challenges that this year threw at us. While I am excited to get back to normal next year, I think it is also important that we don't go back to the previous "normal". There are a lot of things that this year taught us about the education world and we as educators much make sure that we are ready to face even more challenges as we push forward.

I hope that you all are doing well!

Patience, Flexibility, Forgiveness, and Empathy

I wrote this blog post during the spring of 2020 as we first began our adventure with distance learning. I wanted to share it again because these four words are still so true during my virtual learning experience.

It is easy to want to jump back into the normal routine of school. Curriculum, assignments, attendance, grades, tests... the list can go on and on, but one thing we have to remember is that this is not normal. What we are dealing with while trying to virtually from home or the school building, or teaching in a hybrid format with some kids at home and others in the building is something that we have never been through before.

Yes, it is important that we continue to teach the curriculum and assess the students throughout the year to see what they are learning, we also have to do it with patience, flexibility, forgiveness, and empathy. We don't know what all these kids are having to deal with at home while they are also trying to complete school on the computer. I have had students tell me, I will be back I need to help my sister get logged into class or I will be back I need to get a bottle for my baby sister, or hold on I need to help my mom with something. These kids (especially my 5th graders) are now not able to just focus on school like they would in the building, oftentimes they are still taking care of things in their household WHILE going to school.

On the flipside of this, I am home trying to teach my classes, while my daughter attends kindergarten virtually on the computer. Honestly, she has done amazing, but then I also hear other parents sitting next to their kindergarteners helping them navigate this unknown world of virtual school and i feel guilty that I can't be there next to her. Luckily her teacher has these four words down, because there will be weeks where we will do all of her assignments on the weekend because at the end of the day when I can finally help her, she is exhausted and doesn't want to do anything school related. And you know what, what is ok with me.

While I have been preaching to have patience, flexibility, forgiveness, and empathy with our students, it is also SO important to have these four things for YOURSELF as well. 

Have patience with yourself, whether you are working and trying to help your kids with school or you are teacher trying to teach in a virtual or hybrid setting, please know that you have not done this before. It won't be perfect, but if you have patience it just may work out.

Have flexibility with yourself. Those dishes sitting in the sink after a long day will still be there the next day. The laundry that is piling up, it will get done eventually. Again, we are not living in normal times right now. The day-to-day things we were used to doing are going to look different right now.

Forgive yourself. Especially look at your moms. Mom guilt can feel so strongly right now. I already mentioned that I feel guilty I can't help my daughter more with her school, but you know what, her teacher knows our situation and completely understands. Some nights my kids don't have the best dinners or get a bath, but it's ok. They are happy and healthy and that is all that matters.

Lastly, have empathy for yourself. We are living in times that we would never have predicted a year ago. Celebrate the little things. Made it through the day? Cheers! Cooked dinner for the family? Success! Took a shower and got dressed in regular clothes? Pour another glass of wine! :-)

Patience. Flexibility. Forgiveness. Empathy.

We will make it!

Cafe Board and Interesting Word Collector

The second part of The Daily Five is the Cafe. This is a set of strategies that are broken into the four components of reading. (To learn more about them, check out www.thedailycafe.com/cafe)

For my Cafe board I decided to make strips that have the strategies listed on them and then once we have gone over one of the strategies we add it to the Cafe board.  Also, I use the mini-Post-It note pads and have one for each student and put their sticky note under the exact strategy they are working on rather than at the top of each column.

Here is the Cafe board in my classroom:

Here are my resources:

• PDF of Cafe Strategies
• CAFE menu headings

The Interesting Word Collector is as a word wall. Throughout the school year we will add words to this wall that we come across in reading or writing.

Here is the Interesting Word Collector in my classroom:

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Embrace the Mess

We live in a world where everyone is trying to live their best life, which means that we tend to share all of the good parts with our friends and family, especially on social media. We post the pictures of our kids when they are smiling and getting along. We post pictures about vacations and cookouts with friends. We talk about the latest and greatest thing we have tried or the food we've cooked. All the positive stuff, which is great. But what does this do to us mentally? It can be draining. We begin to compare our lives to others. We try to live up to other peoples' standards. We get frustrated when things don't go right. We begin to wonder why.

But guess what... it's time to embrace the mess and keep living your life.

This is something that I am learning to do. Before kids, I was the person that always had my house together. The kitchen was always clean, the living room was always picked up. After kids (especially once the second one came around), I often felt a lot of anxiety when the house was a mess. I would get frustrated, sometimes at the kids. I didn't like that I was blaming the kids for feeling this way. Then I realized that the mess means they are playing and having fun. The dishes piled up in the sink and the laundry on the floor means that I am spending more time playing with them. I had to come to the realization that having a "messy" house was going to be the norm for years to come as the kids grow and instead of constantly living with the anxiety about the mess, I am learning to embrace it.

It's ok to come home and there be toys all over the floor, to have dishes piled in the sink, to have clothes that need to be washed or put away (let me be honest, I absolutely HATE putting clothes away so more often than not we just look through the piles of clean clothes to find something to wear every day). :-)

There is so much pressure on us to live this perfect life, but it doesn't have to be that way. When your friends post a perfect picture of their kids, just know it took them at least 10 tries to get that perfect shot. When you see those picture perfect clean kitchens on Pinterest or in magazines, just know that they probably don't even get used. Stop comparing yourself to others and be grateful for the life you live.

I am learning to love my messy, sometimes unorganized, crazy life and you should learn to love yours too.

A few tricks and tips:

• Create a cleaning schedule; I've used two options. 
• Option 1 - assign a small task each night of the week. For example, Mondays - vacuum, Tuesdays - dust, Wednesday - bathrooms. I also did one load of laundry per night, as needed.
• Option 2 - pick one day of the week and set aside an hour to get through all of your cleaning. Stick to the one day so in your mind you know, Wednesday evenings is my cleaning night. With this option, I tend to do laundry all throughout the day on Saturday (one of my days off)
• Sometimes it is ok to not be organized
• My kids have a playroom where they have all of their toys. Each toy has a specific bin it goes in when we clean up, but some days (especially if the kids want to help) we just throw things in whatever bin we see and ta-da we can see the floor again!
• I also have that one room that if I know we are having guests come over I will throw all the odds and ends that I don't feel like putting away into the room just to get it out of sight.
• Ask for help!
• I tend to do most of the cleaning and laundry around the house because I am home so much right now with virtual learning, whereas my husband gets home later in the evening and his days off vary. However, I have learned that when things are getting backed up or if we are having people come over, all I have to do is ask him to do something he will always do it. (now if I could just get the kids to help out more) :-)

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The Daily Five Check-Ins

Originally when I was having the students make a decision as to which Daily 5 choice they were going to do, I would call their name and have them tell me which one they were going to do and then once all 28 kids were done I would release them to begin. Now I use this nifty creation to have the kids put their picture next to the choice they want to do and then get started right away on the activity. This process went from being 10 minutes to now taking about 3-5 minutes.

Here is a picture of the choice board: 

I used those student stickers that they give us every year and glued them on a magnet. Don't get them? You can print out their name or take a picture and print it out and then glue it on a magnet.

I allow the students to keep track of what they have chosen throughout the week because I want them to have some choice, but I also encourage them to get to all of them each week.

This presentation has some student check-in sheets, as well as, an electronic check-in that can be displayed on an interactive whiteboard:

The Daily Five Student Check-Ins

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It's OK to Need a Break

I made this original post in December 2019 before the world changed.

Dear moms (and dads)... we all need a break sometimes and it’s absolutely ok.

Last weekend we found out that our daycare provider had an emergency in the family and was going to need to take off Monday through Wednesday, which left us having to figure out what to do with the kids. Unfortunately we don’t have any family in the area and have never really found a backup babysitter for situations like this. Sometimes we can get one of our parents to come stay with us, but this time I asked if my mom wanted the kids to come to her house for a few days. She did (thanks mom!), so I packed the kids in the car and met her halfway.

She kept the kids for the entire week and it was a week that I didn’t realize I needed.  I went to work as usual each day. However, I didn’t allow myself to stay late as I would have done in the past. No kids means catching up at work, right?? Not this time.

So I left on time each day and came home. I also could have done a million and one things at home while the kids were gone, but I didn’t. I did a few small things like picked up the playroom and cleaned the kitchen. But that’s it.

I used this week to recharge mentally. I watched TV shows that weren’t on Nick, Jr. or Disney. I read an adult book. I enjoyed the quiet. I needed this time.

My husband and I also enjoyed this time together. We went to happy hour, we went out to dinner, we made dinner together. Just the two of us. We also needed this time.

To all the parents out there, it’s ok to need a break from your children. I’m not saying send them away for a week because this was definitely not planned. But take a night for yourself. Whether it’s a couple of hours for a date night out, an evening away, or even just a few hours out shopping, take the break.

This rule also applies to work. That will be another post, another day. But taking a mental break from things in life is a necessity at times. Take care of yourself.

The Daily Five

I was first introduced to The Daily Five book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser when I taught in Fairfax. I was a second year teacher in grade 3 at the time and was excited to try something new.

This blog post discusses what exactly The Daily Five is, how I set it up in my classroom, and the signs I used. I prefer to make the signs with my students each year, so you will notice they are nothing fancy.

So I decided to hit the ground running and jump right into the daily five the first week of school.  I explained to the students briefly all five parts of the daily five and then explained that we would be slowly learning about each one of the next 5 weeks.  I started off with teaching them about Read to Self. I followed the ideas in the book and had them read for only 3-5 minutes before stopping them to join me back on the carpet.  The first time I just released them to choose a spot wherever they wanted, but I discovered this didn't quite work out so well.  I had students under tables, behind doors, etc. So we then had to go over appropriate places to read in the room.  By the end of the week we made this chart:

Next we started Read to Someone.  The kids really enjoyed reading with each other.  The hard part about having them all do read to someone at the same time is that it was quite noisy in the room which bothered some kids, but I assured them that once we actually started the daily five there would only be a few pairs of students read aloud while the other students were working on other parts.  By the end of the second week we had made this chart:

Next we introduced Listen to Reading.  I only have 4 computers in my room that we can use as listening centers so I kept a list of the students and made sure that by the end of the week all 28 of them had gone on the computers to listen to books.  Our school has a subscription to MyON which is where we go to listen to books.  Before I introduced listen to reading I showed them the website and how to log on and choose books.  As the four students were listening to reading I allowed the other students to choose whether they wanted to practice read to self or read to someone.  I made sure that I was taking notes on the students behaviors, while monitoring the students on the computers to make sure they were not having any problems navigating the website.  I found this part of the daily five was the hardest to manage because it always seems that one of the computers has a hiccup and has to be rebooted.  Here is the chart we created by the end of the week:

Around the second or third week of school I introduced the students to a Writer's Notebook and Writer's Workshop (which I will talk about in a later post). I made sure to do this before introducing Work on Writing because I feel that it is important to teach the students how the writer's notebook works before giving them the choice to work in their notebook during work on writing.  During the fourth week of school I introduced work on writing by explaining to students that this was their time to work on a piece of writing that they have already started, begin a new piece of writing, edit a piece of writing, or publish a piece of writing.  We made this chart by the end of the week:

Lastly, we introduced Word Work.  I divide my word work into three choices. The students can work with the mystery word using the magnetic letters, they can do the word sort, or they can write the room.  I did a spelling inventory during this week so that I can help steer the students in the right direction when it comes to their word work choice.  I will explain my word work ideas in a later post.  Here is our chart:

All five of these charts are located on the wall in the back of the room so the students can see a visual to remind them of the five different parts of the daily five and what they should be doing during each part.

I truly miss teaching reading, but wanted to share my resources with you all!

Here are a few resources:

• Daily 5 Posters
• Daily 5 Posters with Descriptions

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Instagram: @mrspotterstyle

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Repost - Reflecting on the Past Decade

Since I started a new blog, I wanted to bring this post over to this one because I always enjoy looking back at where I've started and where I'm heading.

This is something we need to keep in mind with our kids and students. Everyone is on their own path and everyone has a different starting point. So what looks like growth for one person or child may look completely different for another person or child. Celebrate the small journeys along the path and keep it moving forward.

Little did I know that 2020 was going to be one heck of a year, but it is still fun to go back and read what all has happened.

Jan Brett Author Study

November is one of my favorite months to teach because of Election Day, Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. However, after Thanksgiving comes one of my favorite units to teach.  I absolutely love Jan Brett.  She is an amazing author and illustrator.  Each year I have taught I have done an author study using some of her books as a whole class project.

I take about two weeks to compete the author study and try to read one book each day.  After we have read five of the books I have my students write a summary for one of the books with their table group.  There is a graphic organizer in their packet to help organize their thoughts and then I give them chart paper and a marker to write their group's final draft.

After the summaries, I have the students do a character analysis.  They choose one character from one of the books and draw a picture of him/her in the middle.  They then write different things about the character around the outside of the picture.

The next big thing that I do is read The Mitten by Jan Brett and then read The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt and the students compare and contrast the two stories.  Once we have read both stories I allow the students to write their own mitten stories.  I cut out large mittens from construction paper and have the students decorate them as the cover to their stories.

The last thing we do is make a graph of our favorite Jan Brett books as a class.  I choose five of the books and have the students pick their favorite.

The mitten stories, summaries, and graph all go into the hallway as a display for the month of December. (I seem to have never taken a picture of this display so I will try to do that and update this post in the next few weeks.)

I have made a packet that goes with the author study that can be found by clicking here!

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Instagram: @mrspotterstyle

Twitter: @apotter730

What's Next??

I have mentioned before that I am ready to take the leap and leave the classroom. I just feel that I am ready to do bigger and better things. But my issue is always, what't next?? What is it that I want to do next in my educational journey.

A couple of years ago I decided to get my Admin 1 certification. I thought maybe getting into administration is what I would like to do next. While I have had many people tell me that I would be good in administration, I am just not sure if deep down I want that to be the next step. 

After I finished my certification, I taught for another year in the classroom and then decided to apply for assistant principal. I made it into the second phase and then was told I wouldn't be getting to the next round where I would interview for a position. Deep down I was kind of happy because again I just wasn't sure this is what I wanted.

In the fall I was invited to attend an aspiring leader's program. This program is focusing on the role of assistant principal and has taught me a lot about not just administration, but how to be a good leader in general. It is also helping me realize that I am just not sure it is the next step for me.

One thing that I really enjoy when it comes to teaching is helping other teachers. I enjoy being able to share resources/thoughts, support ideas, and answer questions. I really struggle internally when I see a teacher who needs this extra support and I am not able to fully help or support them because I am still in the classroom. This is especially hard when it comes to new teachers. I was so fortunate that during my first few years of teaching I had a very supportive math resource teacher, reading resource teacher, and instructional coach to help get me through those years when we are just trying to stay afloat.

I know a lot of people say this, but we HAVE to find a way to support our teachers. Teaching is tough. I am in year 11 and I still feel like I am trying to figure things out. Now, we are throwing in this pandemic teaching. Some are 100% virtual, some are hybrid, and some are in the classroom trying to figure out how to teach with social distancing.

The more I think about it, I think my first step out of the classroom needs to be some type of teacher support role. Whether it is resource teacher, coach, mentor, whatever, I need to help my teachers. Because ultimately when you are helping the teachers, you are helping the kids and that is where my heart is.

My goal in 2021 is to make things happen. Somewhere out there my job is waiting for me, I just have to find it.

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Instagram: @mrspotterstyle

Twitter: @apotter730

Write Around the Room

I've seen many versions of these type of write the room activities, but I wanted one that I could customize to fit my kindergartners needs.

My version has 20 different sets, 10 months worth of words with clipart to match the different months. Each set has 12 word cards and a sheet with primary writing lines for your child/student to practice writing.

Here is a list of what my version includes:

• school vocabulary
• rhyming words
• number words
• opposites
• compound words
• color words
• feeling words
• position words
• zoo animals
• articles of clothing
• and 10 sets of sight words

The best part of this document is that you can make a copy and change all of the words to anything that you want!

Click here to get a copy of the presentation!

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Instagram: @mrspotterstyle

Twitter: @apotter730

Into the Unknown

As we enter 2021, we have made it almost halfway through the craziness of virtual kindergarten. In June I wrote a blog post about how I wasn't sure what kindergarten would look like for my then 5 year old.

We found out in August that she would be starting off 100% virtual. The school started kindergarten off with a gradual entry. The parents met with the teacher one day. Our daughter met with the teacher one day. Then they had a couple of days where they just had morning meetings. During the third week of school, they followed a full schedule.

The school created a schedule that they felt would work the best for these kinder babies. They have a morning meeting, phonics in one of three small groups (the other time is supposed to be independent time), math, a 2 hour break for lunch/recess, then small groups in the afternoon for science/social studies/health/reading. Lastly they have specials at the end of the day.

At first I loved this schedule. I thought it would be good for the kids to have extended breaks from the computer. However, as we have progressed through this year, I have discovered that these long breaks are HARD. Unfortunately, she has a break from 10:55am to 1:50pm because she is in the last group in the afternoon. I have two, hour-long classes that I teach during this break so it is hard for me to help her with independent work and she won't do it on their own.

Even with the struggle around the working independently, it has been AMAZING to watch this kid navigate this virtual learning like a pro. She absolutely loves being on the computer with her teacher. She loves to tell her "friends" on the Google Meet that they are her best friends, even though they haven't met. She has learned sight words, letter sounds, how to add/subtract, understand greater than and less than. She is starting to read. All of this has been accomplished while learning on a computer.

The things that these kids are accomplishing right now is nothing short of amazing. They are learning to navigate technology, programs, online assignments, etc. during a pandemic. All while dealing with who knows what at home. 

We continue to venture into the unknown as we begin 2021. Many counties are continuing virtual learning with no idea when or if we will return to the school building. Keeping positive thoughts. This may not always be easy, but these kids are resilient. 

Fractions of the Week

Fractions come and go throughout our pacing guide in our 5th grade curriculum, so I created this simple Google Slides presentation that I use every couple of weeks to keep fractions fresh in my students' brains.

You could choose to have students pick 2 fractions or you could pick the 2 fractions for them.

Each day of the week the students have a different task to complete with the 2 fractions. There are so many different ways you could use this. For example, you could assign it Monday and say that it is due Friday and the students could complete it on their own time. You could use it as a warm-up every day of the week.

This could also be changed to focus on whatever it is you are focusing on with fractions. For example, if you haven't taught adding and subtracting fractions yet, you could just customize it to fit what your students have learned.

The way that I have set mine up is the following:

Monday - model the 2 fractions

Tuesday - compare the 2 fractions

Wednesday - find 3 equivalent fractions for each one

Thursday - add the 2 fractions

Friday - subtract the 2 fractions

I have included some basic fraction strips that could be used, but if students pick their own fractions and use a different denominator they won't be able to use that virtual tool.

Click here to get your copy of the presentation!

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