Tuesday Thoughts

Hello internet, I hope you are doing well.  I feel like today was a very long and very short day all at once.  Let's get the bookkeeping out of the way, and then we'll discuss why.

Homework: Dreambox (math), Read 20 minutes, Monday and Tuesday section of Science Review sheet, and Words Menu.  Also, my Edmodo account is active and I believe all students have joined my online class.  There is a words assignment on the words menu for Edmodo.  Just post that to the page or send it to me in a message.  Thanks!

So, back to the thoughts from the day.  Why do Tuesdays seem to rush by and take forever all at the same time?  Well, part of that is that during the kids resource, my planning period is devoted to a fifth grade team meeting.  I love this time.  Really, I do.  Today's meeting felt very productive and we are ready for next week.

That being said, the meetings do cut into the time that I would be taking care of other things.  Getting the room ready for reading groups, making copies, responding to emails.  Therefore, I do many of these things in the mornings before school or after school once the kids have gone home.  Not complaining, because the day really does go by quickly, it just feels like it's dragging at the same time.

I'm working on our newsletter for October also.  Should have that completed in the next day or two and will be ready to send out on the first of the month.  YAY!

Well, time to be productive in other realms of life, it's bedtime in Mrs. Kelly's house, so off to send those tiny humans to dreamland.

~Mrs. Kelly

Looking into next week

Oh dear friends, it has been a busy couple of weeks for Mrs. Kelly.  I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.  When I got this job I had another job (have to pay the bills right?) and up until this Thursday, I was still working that other job.  Let me tell you, 60 hours a week is NOT my idea of fun.  Because of this some things slipped through the cracks.  Mostly this blog, sorry all, but it was last on my priority list.  School, my kids, my husband, other job, and the house were on the top of that list.

Luckily for me, that will no longer be a problem!  While I will miss my coworkers, I am so happy to finally be starting this new chapter in my life full force.

So, onto my plans for the next week!

Monday: Back to school night!!!

I can't wait!

Parents: Please come out, you'll get to know some more about me, my expectations for the year, and some other nifty stuff.

Science this week: MATTER! I love science, have I mentioned that?  It's the most hands on subject I teach, and it's amazing.  We have some cool stuff in the works for science this year (more you'll learn about during Back to School Night, so be there or be square) and I can't wait!  Back to matter, well, matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.  So. Just. About. EVERYTHING! We will be having fun with this, I'm sure.  Students and Parents, once I get better with Edmodo, I will be posting videos, sound clips, slideshows, and so on to help bring science home.

Math: We are finishing up patterns (numerical and geometrical) this week.  I feel better about this week than last week.  The kids seem more into this (it's much easier to do and make this in hands on visual ways than prime and composite) and I feel like we are enjoying and learning more.  I'm thinking we will test on this on Tuesday, but maybe Wednesday.  We did lose a day due to county pretesting, but man, are we going to have to catch up after this!  I hate being behind on pacing, but it's better than having all of the kids lost and confused.

Reading:  We are continuing our character study through a series by reading Howliday Inn, the second in the Bunnicula series.  Please encourage your students to read at home, read to them, have them read aloud and silently.  

Writing: We are going to focus on creating longer pieces with more vivid vocabulary.  Encourage your students to add details when they verbally tell a story.  Get them used to trying out new words.  I am also going to spend time on parts of speech and editing their work.

Word Study: This week starts our differentiated word study groups.  Students have words menus glued to the front of their word study notebooks.  My Edmodo account has been started and students have accessed my class.  I will have spelling challenges for them their also.

Also, I am going to assign the job of photojournalist this week.  One of my students will be in charge of taking pictures of what we do through the day so I can post them here.  I hope to make this a much more exciting blog now that I have the time.  

Looking ahead: watch out for a blog post about DreamBox.  I will be discussing this during Back to School Night, but will put the information here as well.

I can't wait to see all of your lovely, smiling faces on Monday!

~Mrs. Kelly

So over the rain...

We've had 6 days of school so far.  We've spent 3 of those days inside during recess due to rain.  I feel so bad for my kids.  I have some puzzles and today I stopped by the dollar store on my way home to pick up a few little games but that's no substitute for going outside.  You can only play so many games of four corners or heads up 7 up before they become boring.  Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine tomorrow.

In other news, I was excited to use my lunch-crock today and had left over lasagna.  If you don't personally know me, then you have yet to experience my crock pot obsession.  I love them! They are great for anything.  Breakfast, dinner, appetizers, and with the invention of the lunch-crock, hot lunches everyday!  I love mine so much I bought a second when they went on clearance at my grocery store.  Why I'm going on about my lunch I don't know, but just in case you cared.

Homework today:  Read 20 minutes, state identification worksheet, DreamBox (I'll post more about DreamBox later once I have all of my information in front of me.), and word study menu.

One day soon I'll download my pictures of the room from the iPad and will show them off.  Until then, I do apologize for the boring pages and posts.

Thanks!
~Mrs. Kelly

p.s.  If anyone can think of some ways to spend indoor recess, I'd love the ideas!

Week Two has Commenced

Hello hello world!  We have jumped full force into week two of school and it is AWESOME!  I adore my class, have I mentioned that yet?  Well I do.  That being said, let's get down to business.

What we're doing this week:

Word Study: Short vowels, there is a homework guide glued into each students word study notebook (I'll attach that tomorrow, it's on the other computer).  All students have the same sort this week.  I will have groups made up by next week or the week after and we will have differentiated lists.

Reading: We are working on character traits and growth across a series.  I will be reading some books from the Bunnicula series to the kids over the next couple of weeks while we discuss how a character can grow and change over time.  Other aspects of reading comprehension will be practiced as well, but our man focus is characterization.

Math: My math class (remember, we switch for math!) is working on prime and composite numbers this week.  Today we introduced the concept and talked about the factors of numbers (the numbers you multiply together to get a product.  For example the factors of 8 are 1,2,4,8 because 1x8=8, 2x4=8)

Social Studies: Geography.  Last week we focused on the world, this week we are narrowing our focus to North America and the United States.  We have talked about the eight different regions of the U.S. and will be focusing on state locations within those regions throughout the rest of the week.

Writing: We are working on a personal prompt writing "What Do You Hope to Accomplish this Year? How?"

Keep your fingers crossed for better weather, it was raining today so we had inside recess.  I hate it when we have to do that, I feel like the kids are cooped up all day, they deserve that time to use up some of that energy.  Think clear sky-ed thoughts!

~Mrs. Kelly

First Day of School!

Good evening friends!  Mrs. Kelly is happy to announce that (in her opinion) the first day of school was a success!  I have a great group of kids and I feel like we're really going to enjoy working together this year.

For my parents,
   Homework: read for 20 minutes, and fill out any paperwork that came home.

I had hoped to put up pictures of my room today, that was the plan at least, but I left my iPad at school and it has all of the pictures.  Oh well, longer post tomorrow then!

I want to send a big THANK YOU out to my students, parents, and amazing co-workers.  I'm looking forward to my first full time year, and you are all an integral part of it.

~Mrs. Kelly

Open House...

I wanted a better post up before today.  I've been working on my room all week, and Open House is today.  My hopes were to have a long detailed post with pictures of what my room was, is, and hopefully will be. Life got in the way.  Finishing up at my old job this week as well as starting my new job has taken some time away.  Bad news? I don't have pictures loaded up yet.  Good news? Things are smooth sailing so far! I have to state again how wonderful everyone at this school is.  They are all so helpful and I am so blessed to be a part of this community.  Hopefully pictures will come up this weekend and I'll be able to give a detailed look into my room.  School starts on Tuesday!

Mrs. Kelly

New Job!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Mrs. Kelly starts a new job on Monday! Phone rang on Tuesday while I was on vacation six hours away from home for an interview on Wednesday morning.  You better believe I was in the car that night leaving my husband and children with hubby's family and driving back home.

I've had interviews before.  Those interviews led to a long term sub position but nothing permanent had happened.  I've walked into unfamiliar buildings before, stomach full of butterflies and my mind racing. Sat uncomfortably at a table with new faces who's job was to judge me and my potential ability, and left knowing that I didn't have a job.

This time was incredibly different.  I walked into a building and felt at ease from the start.  Met with a principal, A.P., and a fifth grade team leader who all gave off a welcoming vibe.  Believe it or not, I enjoyed the interview!  I liked talking to these women, I felt like this was a place where I belonged.  The best part was they felt that way too!  As I began the six hour drive back to my family my phone rang again.  As I pulled over to check my voice mail, it rang again.  HR left a message and another school had called asking if I wanted to come in for an interview.  Not even two hours after leaving the best interview ever I was getting a call saying that I got the job!

Teacher work week starts on Monday.  I have a job, in a school, with my own classroom.  I'll be teaching fifth grade in what I think is a pretty darn good school, with some people who (in my one short meeting) I have decided are amazing.  I can't wait.  I have spent the weekend scouring Pinterest and trying to mentally design my room.  I will be posting pics along the way with my progress.  Once school starts I will update more often, sometimes with quick posts just to let my students and their parents know about homework or due dates, other times there will be longer detailed posts.

See you next time internet!

Mrs. Kelly