Saturday, June 15, 2013

Five for Friday: Summertime

Even though school is out, I’m still working. Friday has not lost its appeal! (Edited to add: I was so tired last night I fell asleep working on this post. It guess that goes to show that some things don’t change!)
 fiveforfriday

1
I am teaching drama in our afternoon enrichment camp at school. I’ve done this for the last 4 or 5 years. We call it drama, but I really do mostly songs and games. I usually do stick puppets around week three just to mix things up a little. It is easy, fun, and the pay is good.
The biggest shock is always the kindergarteners. They are really soon-to-be- kindergarteners. This year we have several with summer birthdays, so they are only 4 right now. I usually don’t take too much notice, but next year I will be teaching K-5. It is going to be quite different!
One of the littlest girls reminds me so much of my own daughter. One of the other teachers said the same to me today, so I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so. This little girl has started calling me the “Drama Queen.” Two summers ago I was very pregnant with my son. Another pint-sized camper called me “Drama Mama.” Gotta love it!

2
My husband usually puts me to shame with gift giving. This year I bought him something he has wanted for years. He is like a child playing with it. I’m having fun just watching him!

3
Next week I am going to the Marzano Conference. Due to my participation in the case study filming this year, I am considered a “special guest.” We were told that means that we are going to an extra event with all the VIPs. Before the school year was out they also mentioned that their writer was going to interview each of the five of us from my school who took part. We didn’t think much of it. The liaison we work with said it would just be a few questions.

Last week the five of us got an e-mail from the writer. They have set aside a room and cameras to film the interview. We already e-mailed to ask about the kinds of questions to expect. I was filmed 10 times this year - four lessons, three coaching sessions, pre/post interviews for my formal observation, and a Common Core planning session.

I worked really hard this year not to duplicate outfits. I didn’t realize the planning meeting was going to be filmed and I repeated a blue sweater. My biggest problem is that my “nice” clothes are dresses. I am a dress kind of girl. For filming you have to wear a microphone. Microphones work much better with pants or skirts.

I have a couple of gift cards to spend so I am going to try to find the time to pick out something new before I go. If we do this project again next year I’m going to need a new wardrobe!

4
I made a rough plan for my room next year. Now that school is out I’ve had a chance to dig around the new room some. I’m turning the art room into a STEAM Lab. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics)

STEAM Lab Layout

This is NOT to scale. I’m not that good. On the far left are the built in counter/cabinets/shelves/sinks. I haven’t decided on the shape of tables yet, but the brown tables will be for iPad and art projects.
I’m looking at rugs. I found several here that I have been looking at.

The polka dot thing is this cabinet:

cabinet

The purple rectangles in the bottom left are some of the same cabinets in purple that look only slightly better than the before picture. I have plans for them!

The blue tables will have iMacs on them. They won’t be blue either. My dad and stepmom helped me measure things out and pick out tables to fit the space.

The big problem is I haven’t decided where to put my desk. The best place would be in front of the gate where the kiln is stored, but that doesn’t sound safe. (Though I won’t be using the kiln that often.) We’ll see how it goes!

5
I had 5 things picked out last night, but I’ve forgotten the fifth. Today was a lazy day around the house. I cleaned the kitchen. We went to Costco for a chicken. Nothing worthy of being my fifth item.
Instead I’ll end with a question: How does your school deal with saving/turning in electronic student work? I read a blog about first graders turning in assignments through Drop Box, but I didn’t get an answer yet about how that works. Suggestions? Ideas?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

5 comments:

  1. I love, love, love your cabinet! Those dots look great. I love your number 5, it makes me feel good about our relaxing, accomplish very little day! Have fun shopping for a new outfit (that works with a microphone!)

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  2. Even if it's not to scale, it appears you have a lot of room! What I would give for space like that... :) The cabinet looks great, a huge improvement! :)
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners

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  3. I love what you did to that cabinet. You brought new life to it. Did you paint that on or is that contact paper? Would love to know? It's always fun to find new 2nd grade teachers in blogland. I am your newest follower. Take Care.
    Tammy

    Mrs. Flickinger's Butterfly Oasis

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  4. We have a system called Gaggle and it has a Drop Box set up within it. I personally haven't used it. I've also seen teacher who use a flash drive and let each student save to it. They set up folders with each kids name and the kids know where to save it. This seems to work better for older kiddos.

    Deniece

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  5. Congrats on being considered a guest speaker!

    That cabinet is just precious!

    24/7 Teacher Amy Harrod

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