Soooooooo Much Planning……….

I feel like I’m finally conquering my biggest problem. PLANNING. I have never really had the time, nor did I know what I was doing. Although I do not claim to be an expert, I am so much better. I have to. I’m teaching a combination 4/5 split. So, I have really been a stickler [...]

I Have Readers!

Although teaching General Education is exhausting, I am slowly getting the hang of it. The one thing that’s soooooooooo great is that almost all of my students are readers. I have this one 4th grade student, who I will name Lisa, who reads 199 w.p.m. before mistakes. She read “If You’re Reading This, It’s Not [...]

So Swamped!

I have been so swamped. I have to say that teaching General Education is soooooooooo different than teaching Special Education. For one thing, I have to teach more subjects. For my special education students, I only taught Reading (Phonics, Intervention, etc…) all day long. Here, I actually have to switch & teach all the required [...]

What We Read Today…

I let my students vote on which book to read today. They picked Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino. They really loved it. I love picture books. They house such a large concept in a simple format.

Had Forgotten About…

Since I wanted to get back to teaching so badly, I guess I romanticized it. I still love teaching, but I forgot how tiring it is. Especially repeating yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy I have a job. I am looking forward to working with my students. I love them already. One of my [...]

Books We Read This Week!

The first day of school I read I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont. They liked it. On the second day I read the tried & true, Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. I tried to read it the first day but ran out of time. We made up for that today as we read [...]

I Brought the Captain Underpants Books Today!

Yesterday I was talking to my students and trying to gauge their reading interests. Captain Underpants, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Sponge Bob, & Stink were the most popular. So today I brought the Captain Underpants & the other books. For the girls I brought Amber Brown & Junie B. Jones. They were so excited. [...]

I Had Them At Hello!

So, I started my new job but have been too tired to post. It’s not like the job is super hard, it’s just that I’ve been a couch potato for a whole year. So, it’s going to take a little while to get used to working again. Anywho, this is how the day went. I [...]

Write My Own Ticket!

I have a very diverse resume. This came up as I was, once again, having a discussion with my husband about writing my own ticket. First I was working with low performing students in a low income area. I am now working with a high performing general education class in a private school in a [...]

Mangling Songs!

I am not one to be very afraid of making mistakes. How could I be when I am the Karaoke Queen! I am nearly fearless when I at Karaoke with my sisters. Oftentimes I will get up & sing a song I haven’t sung or heard in years. That’s when I learn that the song [...]

I Accept My Fate!

Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula (B.K.A. Captain Archer from Star Trek Enterprise), ran from 1989-1994. This, along with Sliders & Babylon 5 are my favoritest Sci-fi shows ever. Why? It’s because I love the time travel element of this show. However, surprisingly I’m not going to talk about time travel today. For this post I [...]

Did You See The L.A. Times Article (Value-Added Analysis) on Teacher Effectiveness? (Yes, That L.A. Times Article!)

I recently came across the L.A. Times article that’s been causing quite a stir. It’s a collaboration (of sorts) with The L.A. Times & L.A.U.S.D. I’m trying to be objective, but it’s really hard when I see teachers on there, that I know are good teachers, being maligned & publicly embarrassed. This “system” is very, [...]