I was talking to a friend who used to work in a school's office as a secretary. She gave me the idea to do today's comic strip.

http://aethyr1.homelinux.net/~cecilia/july26.html

After teaching K for fifteen years, you would think it would be hard to become excited about a new school year! But, amazingly, I am finding it easy to be jazzed up about 2010-2011.
You see, I have spent the past five years helping my hubby build our dream house. This meant nights, weekends, and summers doing everything, and I mean EVERYTHING associated with construction of a non-conventional house. Whew! It was quite a ride...one that I am glad to have made, but am glad it's over!
At the end of May, I did a deep clean of my classroom right down to the smallest nook. I pitched old materials that had long passed their expiration date as to relevance to how I teach now. With a spiffy-clean room, a clean desk, and much more space due to editing out large obsolete furniture items, I'm getting that "brand new again" vibe. And I love it!
My newest acquisitions...and highly recommended I might add, are:

"The Next Step in Guided Reading",...

I'm already getting ready. Yesterday I met with my teaching partner to create a "Welcome" letter. We basically just sent the school supplies list since everything is currently on sale.

Also, our statewide test is changing, so I started to analyze some of the sample tests. Since I work as a language arts coordinator for our school, I started to download state testing score ranges and performance indicators. I still need to spend more time and formulate a plan to introduce the information to staff.

For my classroom, I'm currently working on rewriting some of my formative assessments and reworking some of my reading strategies instruction. I'm starting with author's purpose and will move on from there.

Pet peeve time folks. Yesterday, I started coming down with a sinus infection. As some of you know, I am well versed in the sinus arts. So much so that while I am not a doctor, I could play one on TV.

So, this is my peeve. When I get a sinus infection coming on, I know what it is. I know it. My wife knows it. Heck, even my dog knows it! I've had so many sinus infections in my life, I could write a "how to" book on sinus infections.



Now, here's where the peeve really begins. My ENT is always booked, and always running late. It would be a miracle if I could call and get in to see him on the same day. So in calling the office, I don't expect to see the doctor. In fact, I don't even want to see the doctor. All I want is for him to tap the little keys on his computer and send a prescription in to Walgreen's.

BUT.....THERE IS A PROBLEM...

Tomorrow is my last day of summer school. I am taking a class on ADHD and Autism. I'm working on a tips for teachers fact sheet and will have to post it.

Yeah, I blog a lot. I have blogging tendencies. I'm an overblogger. I have hyperbloggerism. Look it up. It's real, I tell you!

Regardless of my blogging ailments, I've noticed something interesting about my PT blog recently, and I'm dumbfounded as to what the cause is.

Earlier this week, I posted to this blog. It was just a quick thought that I needed to vent at the time. I had previously posted four days prior, but I have often had more than one post in a week.

For those of you who don't blog, there's a certain thrill associated with seeing your post on the main PT Blogs page. I usually hit the "Post Now" button and then refresh the main blog page like a crazed idiot until I see my post appear. So yes, I'm hurting for entertainment I guess.



On this particular day, I went through my usual compulsive posting ritual....

A few months ago I attended a workshop where a math teacher shared a strategy that she uses with her students to help them solve word problems.

The strategy involves a paw outline using the title "I P.A.W.S. for Word Problems." This is what the acronym P.A.W.S. stands for:

Problem Key Words
Analyze the Steps
Work it Out
Solve! Does it make sense?

Then on the actual paw part of the outline, the students would work out their problems. This area is called the "Work Pad."

This was such a creative idea that I decided to create a document for it. Attached you will find the PDF I created for "I P.A.W.S. for Word Problems." Let me know what you think.

Update: I realize that some of you were not able to access the attachment due to restrictions on your member level. I uploaded the document to my website and if you are interested, you may find it by following...

"And now a word from our sponsor."



I made this into a shirt. You can see it here.

I've been a bad, bad girl. I haven't been here posting as I'd planned. I'm teaching still...summer school. It's only 1/2 days, but it's the 1/2 of day that you'd really be teaching (basically, no planning time, no lunch, no recess, no morning announcements, that sortof thing). So, content wise, it's still heavy. Not to mention we're working with kids who really need the help. I'm loving the small group, though...with lots of time for reading groups and one-on-one conferencing. I can only imagine how much learning could happen if I had such a small group all year instead of the typical 24 or so that I get with no aide. Oh yes...that's the other thing great about summer school. We even get an aide for 1/2 an hour each day who comes to help with reading groups. So cool.

But, I'm looking forward to the end of next week and the chance to finally really be on break for a little while. My one concern with taking the summer school assignment (we need the money...)...

Remember how, this spring, I posted a renewed vow to continue my blog, if not with a slightly different slant? I felt things were changing- I knew I still loved teaching, but I also knew that I was growing in ways that were not directly related to it any longer. I posted exactly three posts this spring- all in that renewed and freshly devoted spirit. I could make my blog work with a couple of changes, I thought. And then (out of the blue) my posts stopped. Dead. No end of the year update or soppy goodbyes to my class. Turns out, I must have been instinctually reacting to a much, much huger change- one that I didn’t even know was happening at the time.

That’s right… I’m pregnant! My husband and I are expecting in December, and we couldn’t be more excited! The first couple of weeks I knew, everything seemed normal. I think I may have even posted one of those blogs during that time. But then, everything ground to a screeching halt as the realities of pregnancy...