Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Day three:
I gave students 10 questions to answer about themselves. They worked with a partner to compare their answers. This gave them a chance to learn more about each other and discover so many similarities. It was a joy to hear, 'Mrs. Holden, I had no idea I had so much in common with her!" I also heard, "Did you know she likes shrimp and I do too?"
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I gave students 10 questions to answer about themselves. They worked with a partner to compare their answers. This gave them a chance to learn more about each other and discover so many similarities. It was a joy to hear, 'Mrs. Holden, I had no idea I had so much in common with her!" I also heard, "Did you know she likes shrimp and I do too?"
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We have had some amazing experiences this week as 21 students have worked together to build our classroom community! I asked students how they felt about their first day of school and we graphed their answers. They could choose from the following: happy, sad, shy, and/or excited. What a treat to discover that 1 student felt shy and 20 students were excited to come to school! We read "First Day Jitters" and celebrated with Jitter Juice. I hope your students told you about it. They loved it!
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Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Yesterday morning I checked my email and discovered that my grant, "I Wonder" had been funded by 7 different donors at Donors Choose! (I admit I gave the last 7 dollars myself! What's 7 dollars anyways?)
I had to calm my shaking hands so I could actually type a thank you letter to Donors Choose and my generous donors. Some of them chose to remain anonymous, and others just gave a first name.
My grant requested the following items for a total of $319.00:
Science sensory tubes set of 4
Sound box-set of 12
Science jumbo test tube and eyedropper-2 sets
Root viewer garden 3 vegetable on a stand
Light Tracer Artograph
Model 4D Vision Frog Anatomy
Balance Balls
More than twenty grants have been funded over the nine years I have been involved with Donors Choose. The generosity of strangers never ceases to amaze me! It always moves me to tears when I realize others have given to support my students and my classroom. I thought I would share a message from one of the 7 donors:
"I gave because I am a chemist and I deeply value your commitment to opening the door to science for students. Thank you and good luck!"
It's hard to get all of the resources you want for your classroom on a Teacher's salary. It always feels like Christmas when a grant is funded. I can't wait for school to start!
Consider these statistics shared by Donors Choose:
In June, the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) published their annual study about teachers’ out-of-pocket spending. Here are a couple of the stats we found most interesting:
-$3.2 billion was spent on school supplies in the 2012-2013 school year.-$1.6 billion of this spending came from teachers’ pockets.-99.5% of teachers said that they spent their own money on school supplies and classroom materials.-On average, teachers spent $485 on school supplies last school year.
I had to calm my shaking hands so I could actually type a thank you letter to Donors Choose and my generous donors. Some of them chose to remain anonymous, and others just gave a first name.
My grant requested the following items for a total of $319.00:
Science sensory tubes set of 4
Sound box-set of 12
Science jumbo test tube and eyedropper-2 sets
Root viewer garden 3 vegetable on a stand
Light Tracer Artograph
Model 4D Vision Frog Anatomy
Balance Balls
More than twenty grants have been funded over the nine years I have been involved with Donors Choose. The generosity of strangers never ceases to amaze me! It always moves me to tears when I realize others have given to support my students and my classroom. I thought I would share a message from one of the 7 donors:
"I gave because I am a chemist and I deeply value your commitment to opening the door to science for students. Thank you and good luck!"
It's hard to get all of the resources you want for your classroom on a Teacher's salary. It always feels like Christmas when a grant is funded. I can't wait for school to start!
Consider these statistics shared by Donors Choose:
In June, the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) published their annual study about teachers’ out-of-pocket spending. Here are a couple of the stats we found most interesting:
-$3.2 billion was spent on school supplies in the 2012-2013 school year.-$1.6 billion of this spending came from teachers’ pockets.-99.5% of teachers said that they spent their own money on school supplies and classroom materials.-On average, teachers spent $485 on school supplies last school year.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Registration Day
Our district holds registration in late July for parents to bring their proof of residency, pay for yearbooks and provide the school with all updated forms to enroll their child in public school. I feel for them since it's about 10 different forms they must fill out for each child. This also gives families a chance to sign up for after-school care, join the PTA, and get information on buses. The added bonus for parents and students is they get to find out who their child's teacher will be and possibly see who else will be in their class.
As teachers, we don't receive our official role until a week before school begins. It's always exciting when a parent and student comes to you after they have been told their child will be in your class. That moment is filled with nervous energy, anxiety, and lots of excitement (and that's just explaining the Teacher!)
Once I receive my class roster, I love being able to look at the latest yearbook so I can put a name to a face. In Harry Wong's book, "The First Days of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher", he recommends establishing a positive relationship with students day one, by meeting them at the door and calling them by name. I firmly believe this and love the look on their faces when I meet them, shake their hand, and call them by name. That is the moment when a great relationship begins and lasts far beyond the 180 days of a school year.
As teachers, we don't receive our official role until a week before school begins. It's always exciting when a parent and student comes to you after they have been told their child will be in your class. That moment is filled with nervous energy, anxiety, and lots of excitement (and that's just explaining the Teacher!)
Once I receive my class roster, I love being able to look at the latest yearbook so I can put a name to a face. In Harry Wong's book, "The First Days of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher", he recommends establishing a positive relationship with students day one, by meeting them at the door and calling them by name. I firmly believe this and love the look on their faces when I meet them, shake their hand, and call them by name. That is the moment when a great relationship begins and lasts far beyond the 180 days of a school year.
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