The Bow Tie Teacher

A quick update

I'm not one of those people who come across as if their vacation wasn't as long as others. I have had a fantastic Summer.  The girls and I got a lot done on our 101 things to do list. The most important is, we were able to relax and chill. There is a high value to being able to do nothing when you want.

Now it's time to start shifting gears back into school mode. All I'm doing in this vein is working on my classroom theme and decorations. I got a big vision for my students this year. Let's see if we call can live up to what we're supposed to be in life. Been going in on the Cricut and having a blast. I might need to set up a meet up with some other teachers and scrapbookers just to get some more ideas, tips and tricks. Not sure why specialty stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby and the such don't host meet ups. Just leaving $ on the table. 

Theme: 7 Habits of Happy Kids. Rather than just a fun classroom, this year I'm aiming to drive the 7 habits home and help my class become school leaders. I have a road map and I'm plugging away at getting my room pre organized so when I step on campus next week I just have to wake up, put up and set up a functional learning environment. 

I've run across some great blogs using this theme and I'll be posting what I'm doing by close of business someday. Has anyone successfully used Sean Covey's book in their class/school? If you can give me some pointers I'll certainly be appreciative. 

One more thing. My blog is going to get a re-fresh sometime in the next week. I'm not sure if the change will break links that you've saved for my page in your readers or feeds. I do promise this, This new blog's going to be pretty snazzy! 

 

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I really didn't know this

I'm not sure how many people know what I'm about to share, but if you do please indulge me.

• I live in GA.
• Air Conditioning is almost manditory most of the year.
• AC does tend to wear on your car and gas consumption.

So just this week I learned that the "recycle" button on the AC means that the car will stop pulling in warm exterior air and start "RECYCLING" the cooler air from inside the car. This might have been common sense to everyone else, but for some reason I didn't know this.

Ok so this week I was in a teaching reading workshop. *I know that's a Summer crime, but hey. I thought I knew what I was doing before the workshop, but WOW! I got a fresh dose of "sit down here and learn something".  Just like the common sense button on my AC I had the common sense button hit for my profession and I really feel I'm prepared to take my students to the next level.

One huge take away was how we as 2nd grade teachers are supposed do and have to bring our students to or on grade level by the end of the year. It's obvious, but the HOW to do it really has been elusive.

So even during the summer I can learn some useful, new ideas. As long as I'm willing to pay attention. This year I expect to not waste as much time and be far more efficent at moving this class to their future.

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Blog abandonment

This week was so draining. I don't want to drone on and on about how this week was a BEAST. You don't want to hear that. 

What I will say is this, no question this week built my faith. I have been working on building margin in my life. Even with this week beating me up I didn't get to my limits.  I know this week coming, I'm going to be pushed more than last week. Thankfully, I've already planned for it and I feel grace to do it. I can see that consistent on going improvement will yield huge results. 

To give balance I've found it really tough to plan/think LONG term about my lessons and class learning. I talked about in in my Avengers post aout making the lessons catchy to get the kids excited about the next lesson. I've had some success in my re-growing veggies lessons in science, but not so much in my other lessons. Just need to work on this for sure. 

I have an evaluation this week and I feel good about it. I picked up some great skills at a workshop a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, I've been kicking it hard so Monday will be the best teaching anyone has seen cause I've been doling out the best daily. 

Crossfit this week was strong. I didn't make it to Crossfit South Cobb everyday, but I was able to sneak into Basement Crossfit and keep my goals in line. I've been juicing well. It's not hard now at all. I'm down nearly 13 pounds. I hope to be able to plant our garden next week or the following week. 

Let's get at it. 

Teachers will appreciate (Science Fair Edition)

Let's mix a funny story. 

Take a school wide Science Fair.

Add the fact that my student who was going to present for our class is absent. 

Sprinkle in some low 50's degree weather outside. 

The recipe for a funny event. 

9:34 am I have to QUICKLY prep new students to present on our science fair project because the student I wanted to present is absent. Sure, no sweat.

I have to still teach the rest of my class, but hey. I just didn't know I had 2 minutes to get my presentation ready. Ummm, boy it's hot in here.

9:37 I'm rushing to get these kids ready. I notice that they could use a little lotion on their hands and faces. It's cold and cold weather plays ashy games with little brown kids. So, being always ready I reach in the closet to give them some lotion, or what I thought was lotion. I give each kid a little dollop on their hands and I run back to my group.

9:37:43 I notice that the presenting kids are having a bear of a time rubbing this "lotion" in and it's starting to foam. One joker is rubbing it in on his face. I mean their going to town! 

9:38 The lady comes to my door asking for my students to come to the media center for the presentation. I run back to my closet to see what I gave them. BABY WASH! Why do I have a small bottle of baby wash in my closet! For the love of Pete! 

Thankfully, I play it off and give the kids a wet wipe to "spruce themselves up for their Blue Ribbon". 

9:41 I quietly laugh at myself, because this could only happen to me. 

At that point I should have grabbed my bag and taken a mental health day. It only got more and more crazy after this. Praise God!

About to get my Crossfit WOD and I'll catch you soon. 

Conservative Christian Southern Black Tea Party Male Public school Teacher

I just wanted to see if I could get 100 views with that heading. Help me out, won't ya! How many more labels can I add?

Honestly, I keep politics out of my blog as much as I can.  I do have an opinion, just like you. Most of the time the armpit rule applies. I do think politics is a part of our lives and sadly it becomes more a part every day. However, there is so much about life here in America that unites us all. Most of the time I'd rather focus on the great things that make us Americans than the nasty underside which is American politics. 

Alright back to your work and don't forget to VOTE!

Don't play the game...play the man.

Everyday we play a game. Sometimes we're up. Sometimes we're down. No matter what we're in a game and we need to win. You have to know the defense and the offense, that's a given. But do you know the players better than they know themselves? 

 

A person once said "Don't play the game, play the man." In my case it's "play the children". I need to really, really dig down into the fine details of each of my students to raise them up to where they need to be. If I play the "class", I'm only going to reach 60% of them at best. Some way I'm going to do a better job of dealing with each student and each of their abilities so I can help raise up 100% of them. Like I've said this is an All Star class. They have a lot of talent and they're sharp. It's going to be tough, but so is getting beat down everyday. I just choose what hard job I'm going to do, cause I'M playing the children not the class. 

As a recap, my time frame analogy was spot on! For literacy, it worked like a charm. Now I need to improve my content. Thankfully, I do have the times down. Looking for a timer that I can set multiple times for, if anyone wants to suggest one. Next I'm going all in on my math times. Haven't had any feedback on it, but I'll get myself on a better schedule and time this week. By end of 1st 9 weeks I have the SuperLearner Central running like a well-oiled machine. 

I already have my lessons done and sent off for next week. I have my emergency sub plans done. I have my new BBoard ready. Just need the kiddos to work on their work to put up.  Not sure what I need to do to get the "authentic" student work quality up. I do models and I have them follow me, but they're just not that creative and imaginative. Wonder how to teach that. 

Crossfit South cobb will see my carcass tomorrow. Can't wait. Today's WOD was fun looking. I didn't get in there. No excuse will be given. I will be there tomorrow and I will have down that gallon of water to keep me hydrated. 

What a great week!

This week has been great. I really, truly have been blessed with a fantastic group of kiddos. They don't do a lot of things right, but wow are they open to correction and redirection. 

Now, if I could get the guy I shave with everyday to really understand this literacy block I'd be golden! There's just a lot of moving parts to this new Common Core and just when I think I have an idea of how one part works I find I was looking at it wrong. I will say that my teammies are on it so I'm learning the fine art of begging for help. In all seriousness I'm gaining better understanding and it's starting to make sense. I need to dig through more teacher blogs to find ideas and resources. 

Next post I'm going to talk about the things I quit doing and some things I started. This is one. I'm going to have a Super Learner of the Week. My kids are so fabulous that it's only right to celebrate them. So this Friday I'm going to roll out a new award with my classroom jobs. This is going to be my 1st SL of the Week. I have some VERY helpful kids and if I could I'd give this out to 4 or 5 of them. This little guy is the best because he's been overly helpful with new kids coming to the class. I know he understands the class procedures and he shows them to others like an all star. He's mindful of his work and always puts in the time to make sure he's doing everything right. He doesn't do everything right, but he's making an effort and will correct himself when directed. He's really the epitome of a Super Learner to me.  And besides he's a snazzy dresser for 7!  Nevermind, he was moved from my room today with no explaination. SMH

 

 

Crossfit and my classroom do mix

You all know that I seriously heart Crossfit. Not interested in debating the merits of your dance class or your video series. If you like it and are seeing results, keep at it.  I've seen so many fantastic results when people are passionate and intense about their task. Whatever kind of pretzel you're contorting your body into, please enjoy. 

There are a few reasons I've tied my wagon to Crossfit as the means to drag my carcass off the couch. I've found that my reasons can be lined up with my teaching experience as well. 

 Nothing is ever the same.  Yeah, there are crossfit benchmarks that roll by every couple of weeks or so, but the scheduled WOD are always different. If your gym is doing good programing you'll se your favorites mixed in with your not so fav and that unknown keeps your growing.

This couldn't reflect the classroom any better. There are children who come to you daily and you expect them to return everyday. But they don't! Their evil doppelganger comes in and takes up shop in your room and all you can do it adapt and respond. Got to deal with the Child of the Day that showed up in your room just like the WOD. 

No matter how tough it is...you're getting better. There are the tough skills that you just don't seem to get, but over all you're getting better. Currently I'm expecting the Crossfit genie to bring me a muscle up. I've been waiting for his cousin Teaching genie to make this job easier everyday as well. But what I've noticed is I'm getting closer to my muscle up and I'm getting better at teaching. The more I use resources like Beyond the Whiteboard and ClassDojo the more I see that I'm getting strong and eventually I'll get that muscle up and I'll probably be a good teacher, too. 

Teamies are the best! I work with some of the best people. I'm very happy with my school. I feel the school has my back just as much as they want th best for the kids. That translated into my gym. There are some great people there. Most of our interaction is spent between near death experiences with barbells and burpees, we've really grown. 

Everything looks crazy until you give it a shot.

One thing about CF I've learned over the years is that it's not for most people. Once you start rattling off the latest WOD description and how excited you are, your co workers/friends/family immediately start calling Dial a Shrink. The same applies to teaching. May people don't see WHY we do it. Most of the time we talk about just how tough it is to get through to Johnny or Sally.  Many times we don't KNOW why we do it, either. We do know that we find fulfillment in this career. We just know that we're supposed to and somewhere in this hay stack is big, shiny needle. And we're going to find it. Kind of like 50 #135 power clean for time. "Why?!"

"Well because that's what was on the board today." 

 Planning leads to success. The more I plan and prepare for class the better lessons get. I feel that "break through" happening with my students. The worse prepared I am the more it shows in my students.  The more I plan and schedule crossfit into my life the more it fits into my life. Especially eating. When I plan my meals to compliment my workout I see great results. When I eat when and whatever I tend to derail my results. When I plan to hit the gym right after work, but before I pick up my girls I just works. That keeps me on track and on pace. 

Every second counts. Imagine a workout that goes on for 12 minutes. You're beat down. You won't want to pick up that weight one more time. You look over to your neighbor and they're feeling the same way, you can tell. You notice him looking over at the clock and he makes a mad dash to the weight and hoists it up. You do the same. You two are in an all out sprint. That weight it flying. TIME! You collapse to the floor in a total exhaustion. Afterwards you find out that you and your neighbor were within a few reps of each out, but you pulled it out. You didn't let the last few seconds fade away. You ended strong.  

Everyday in school is like that. When the 2 pm time comes around I can either lean off the the throttle or keep plugging away. Do I let off cause I've been working with these students for 6 hours already or do I keep pushing on? Whenever I push on and make the kids practice fact familes or spell something hard until the bell rings I have a much better day the next day. The kids will come back having thought about the book we read or have some new insight. Every second counts. 

Crossfit and Teaching need each other. The stress teaching causes me can only releaved through hard vigorus exercise. Throwing the weight equal to my entire class over my head makes it very easy to sit that class down and breath a sigh of relief. The exertion that CF causes on me really helps me to mellow out through the day. I'd be bouncing off the walls by 11:13 am if I didn't blow off a lot of extra steam during my 430 forrays to CFSC. 

PS. CF convinced me to leave Team Adidas! 

Wouldn't trade my INOV8s for the world! 

 Alright got to get hustling. Group warm up starts in 20 minutes. Here's a little video of a a 47.5 inch box jump. 

What the Hunger Games has taught me about teaching

I devoured the HG series this week. Amazon did me a huge favor by allowing me to borrow the 1st copy to get me hooked. Needless to say I ravished all three books in a week. While I was working with a small group of kids I realized even more how the students respond to Class Dojo. They want to get as many points as possible, especially when they know that Friday we're going to have a treat. It made me think about the HG and how Tributes responded to the parachutes during the games. Here are some things I'm going to implement in class. 

• I'm going to give out my classroom jobs by lottery. I've attempted doling them out by having the students write an application. This would be much more interesting. *Update, this worked perfect. I am going to have to change the classroom jobs more often. Allowing them to keep them for weeks and weeks isn't working right. Maybe 3 days top.   
• Drop little "gifts" on students during the lessons. Maybe a calculator during a math 2 min drill or a book to help give more insights during a science lesson. 
• I have to manage classroom supplies better. "3 pencils and that's all. If you need another I will have to start taking a Class Dojo point from you." 
• Push the kids to work in groups that grow and flex all the time. This is more of a planning issue than anything else. Need to find a way to reward them for successfully working together. The catty-ness is so old!
• The more we understand our situation to better we can make decisions and not have to repeat lessons. 
• Understand that it's easy to become the thing you despise even if you think you're doing a noble work. Don't sink in order to get what you need. 
• Going to have some kind of mid week reward on Wednesday not just Friday. 5 days is too long for my students. Maybe if the students get 1/2 of the points needed for Friday by Wednesday they can do something fun on Wednesday afternoon. 

Testing starts next week. I can't wait for this to be over. I'm not sure how well my class will do, but I'm just ready for them to get it over with. The stress on the teachers and the kids is immense. The desire to succeed is even tougher when it doesn't seem to be met with equal desire by the students. Just got to hope and trust for the best. 

Day 62 of the 115 Royal Burpee challenge. Been beating my up for sure. I have the lion share of them to still do. Joy! *I'll do 5 burpees for every comment I get about my comparison on THG and teaching. Almost got a muscle up yesterday at Crossfit South Cobb. Got to build off that momentum. 

Spring Break has sprung

This SB was so restful. My personality is one that has to do in order to relax. Boy did I get a lot done. I can honestly go back to work this week ready, because I know that I've done pretty much all I could do over the break. I won't come home and look at a yard, driveway, garage, pile of books, basement, hedges or cars that need to be tended to. I was blessed to get A LOT done over this break. I even remained consistent with Crossfit this week. I mean I was a busy bee. Going to ride this wave of "get 'er dun" right on into the 4th quarter. My students better come prepared cause I'm ready to get it going! 

 

*Ummm...those lesson plans. Umm... yeah. Let's talk about that, later. Much later.