The Bow Tie Teacher

Working hard at making it do what it needs to do.

This week has been a beast. I'm not sure I got Teacher of the Half day, not to mention Teacher of the Whole day.

We did well on our Accelerated Reader marathon last week. I hate that I wasn't able to "see" how well/poorly each kid was doing at first. Now I can monitor their test taking in real time. That way I  can make them read, re-read before doing a test. 

My reading class's attempt at making a magazine ad for a space hotel. Over all they did well. They were really excited about the idea. Wonder if they'll ever see a real space hotel. 

What a week!

Been busy all week, but I certainly haven't given up on changing the world one lesson at a time. These kiddos are certainly trying, but at the end of the day they're going to learn something. See ya this weekend. 

A really neat cracker choice

Now this would be a tasty way to practice some spelling.

My students in Sunday school ate them so fast this is the only word I could make before they ate the box!

Do teachers ever clock out?

My return to teaching came with an agreement with myself. I agreed that I'd do some work at home, but I had to keep it in control. In the past I didn't want to and rarely did work after 4 pm. I still don't lose my mind, but I do put in after hours/weekend/vacation work. It just helps me do better each day so that time is well invested. 

I get kind of sad when I hear people on either side of the political argument going in on teachers. Now I do believe that a LONG, passionate discussion could be had about the system. I know what I do and I don't take it personal.  I just wish people would allow themselves to understand even a small bit of what we deal with on a daily basis. So many jobs allow you to clock out and not think about your work until you return. Teaching isn't like that at all. Many quality teachers put in late hours at school and still do work when they get home. 

Somehow people feel that saying something like,"Oh, I couldn't do your job. You must be superhuman." Allows them to in the next breath tear down that same person. But those same people would be in tall weeds if they had to do what we do on a daily basis. Never mind what teachers do off the clock, just what we do from 7:45 to 2:45 would sink many a pundit. 

*Jason steps down from his soapbox and goes back to grading papers. 

Never enough Seuss

I'm really having fun this week. Its sad that Seuss "isn't cool" to some kids. Yeah, its kiddie, but last I checked my school was full of...kids. I've had more kids reading this week than in previous and they're certainly talking about the 20 or so Seuss books I brought in.

I made them do a story map for all the books they've read. I think its cute how they try to slip my 1st name in on the sly.

Kids made a nice graph showing their favorite book. I think next time I'll find a more permenant way to show this. My graph is one that I use over and over again. 

Class story map. Went well. Kids enjoyed adding their input.