Spring Break!

Yay!  I think both my students and I are both in need of a much needed break.  On Monday, they were already thinking about their vacation.  Friday was a teacher in-service day, so Thursday was their last day of school.  Where did the year go?
I always think I won't get as attached to the students as I do the previous year students, but those feelings always seem to surface around now.
These kids are so precious, and I feel VERY privileged to be entrusted to teach them!!!  What an important responsibility!!!!!!
It is also the time of the year where I feel exhausted and have given all I can give, without a whole lot of acknowledgement for my effort.    Yes, I believe a week with my family will put things back into perspective...There is much more to teaching that meets they eye.  I can't believe all the time and real hard effort it takes!  It is an all encompassing career....not a 9-5 job, but a 24/7 career. 
Papers need to be written for my three credit class, a technology grant needs to be worked on, and report cards will be handed out shortly after our break. WOW is all I can say.
I remember telling a colleague that was tied up in some of the political agenda that went on early in my teaching career, and telling her that all I have to do is go in my classroom and all of those worries disappear.  It seems to be getting much too complex to do that anymore...
Well for now, I will sign off and spend some quality time with my wonderful and supportive family...Thank goodness my husband is a principal and once a teacher. :)  He understands.

Can you believe it??...The Fluffy Series!!!

I am so excited!  I have a struggling reader who has latched on to the Fluffy series.  He is reading all the time.  He also has quite a few of these books in his book box, and he won't let go of them.  Because of his excitement, other kids are also wanting to read the Fluffy books.  It's an early reader series...Fluffy is a hamster in all the books.  Hurray!  I love it when students get so excited about reading.  I actually requested the books from other public libraries because many were not available locally.  Yes, the books are checked out in my name, but it is certainly worth the risk. 
Not to mention, that I just had a student return two public library books and one of my own books with smushed banana all over the bottom of the front covers.  He forgot about the banana in the bottom of his backpack.  Ooops.  That certainly will not stop me from trying to provide exciting reading material for the kids to read.  Second grade is such a pivital age in which a huge impression in reading can be made. 
Tomorrow, Kim Groshek, an aspiring author, will visit two classes.  She has creatively written and illustrated her Bug's Adventure series.  She will be speaking about how she started to write and illustrate books, along with how she was able to publish them.

READING ROCKS!!!

Focus on Reading!

I wholeheartedly believe that reading is the key.  Finding books that interest kids is a wonderful challenge that exudes excitement.  For I have seen what "Good Picks" do to readers.  When they find a genre that interests them, they become voracious and excited readers.  Reading no longer becomes a chore for them.  They begin to read above and beyond the required reading per night.
I am also thoroughly enjoying  Keith Schoch's blog.  He blogs about teaching through picture books.  In his latest entry, he speaks about incorporating nonfiction books that peak student interest.  For instance, Does It Really Take 7 Years to Digest Swallowed Gum?  or, The Nobel Book of Answers.  These books peak the interst of students by incorporating fun and interesting ideas that anyone would love to know the answers to. 
Two tremendous presenters that I saw recently are Dr. Rick Du Vall and Tim Rasinski.  With their presentations, there is so much to process and blog about...Everything they shared is research-based.  They are astounding and motivational!
I hope to blog about some of their ideas and research-based methods soon.