Back to School (10 Writing Prompts for Students)

~ What are you most looking forward to about this school year? Why are you looking forward to it?  What are you most worried about? Why?

~ Write a letter to last year’s teacher telling him/her what you did over the summer. Where did you go? Who did you go with? What did you do?

~ Make a list of 20 things in the classroom that interest you. Choose three of them and write a short description.

~ Write one thing that relates to school for each letter of the alphabet. For example A = alphabet, B = ball, C = Crayons

~ Do you like school? Why or why not? What would you change about it?

~ Write a story using characters from your pencil box. For example, Ronald the Ruler and Penny the Pencil

~ Write a poem about school. Here are some rhyming words for you to use. school/cool, smart/art, rules/tools, day/play, class/pass, grade/made

~ What do you think school was like 100 years ago? What do you think it will be like 100 years from now? What things are the same? What things are different?

~ Make a list of 10 goals you have for this year. How will you achieve them?

~ Imagine that you go to an underwater school. What does it look like? Who is with you? What do you like about it? How do you get to school?

Free Cards for Teachers

I've had lots of memorable teachers. In fact, that is why I decided to become a teacher. One I particularly remember was Mrs. Randolph. She was incredibly creative, and had a great story for every situation. She was great at giving us personalized gifts as well, even though she was on a very tight budget.
Speaking of personalized gifts, Tiny Prints is offering teachers free greeting cards starting tomorrow, and lasting through October 31st. Just select your greeting cards, and enter code APPLE2010.

You also can participate in a Tiny Prints Teacher Greeting Card Twitter Party with the tag #makeitpersonal this Wednesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET/1:00 to 2:00 p.m. PT.

This is part of a blogging contest for a random $50 prize from Tiny Prints. 

The Long Division Song

This year my fourth graders really struggled with the steps of long division. That is, until they learned this song that I wrote to a familiar melody.

After singing this a few times as they marched around the playground, they all know the steps fluently!

Do you teach with songs? What are your favorites?

Routine. . . Getting Back to It

Today was the first day back to school after spring break. Mondays are typically difficult for my students, but this one seemed worse than most. I have about 5 students who are extremely affected by any change to routine, and have to take some time to settle back into it when they have been gone.

My third graders did a fantastic job. They were quiet and obedient. I was very pleased. My fourth graders on the other hand, were a totally different story. Let's see, I had. . .

- one that was talking back
- one that would not stay in his seat
- one whistler
- 5 talkers
- two fist fighters

So, needless to say, it was a stressful day. Hopefully tomorrow, the students are settled into the routine a bit more, and behave more appropriately.

Speaking of getting back into the routine after break, here's a great article I found about it.

Do you have any great tips or ideas? How to you bring your students' minds back to their schoolwork?

On a positive note, one of my students came to me this morning asking for forgiveness for something he had done. It is such a blessing to have students who want to do right and want to please God.

I'm Back

For a long time, I have been bogged down with family health issues, incredibly big challenges at school, and very little time to blog.
Right now, we are in the middle of spring break, so I have been able to take care of/catch up on some things, and so this blog is being revived. I don't plan to post daily, but we'll see what I can manage.
If you are new here, thanks so much for following/reading. I value your input!

Friday Follow

I am participating in Follow Friday this week. I would like to get a few new followers, and have fun in the process!

Pre-Referral Intervention Manual

This book is amazing. It was given to our school today, and I learned so much by browsing through it. This book is used so that teachers can be sure they have tried everything possible with students before they refer students for testing.

For example, you have a student who fails to complete their classwork during class time. All you have to do is flip the book open to the index, find that topic, and then turn to the page indicated. On that page, you will find about 45 different things to try with that student.

I plan on utilizing this book to its fullest extent.