Just a day, Just an ordinary day!

Today I went to school prepared to give a performance assessment on fractions and I wound up on the beach with 76 first graders...allow me to explain!

As our followers know I teach 5th grade and Kelly teaches 1st grade.  Today, as I arrived at school I had heard that something happened to our other first grade friend, Diane.  She had seriously hurt her back getting out of her car and was in her classroom and such EXTREME pain that she couldn't even move.  With our principal out, due to a recent surgery, we knew we had to come up with a plan.  Without missing a beat Kelly gave me a look.  You know the look, the one where you knew what your friend was going to say before they said anything.  Just looking at her face I knew I was going on the trip.

Seconds later, Kelly said "call the office and let them know that Diane is going home, and you are going on the trip".

Within seconds, we had:
-Notified the office that Diane was going home
-Organized her permission slips and emergency bag
-Met with my Co-teacher to tell her she was going to be taking over my class today
-Re-planned my day

...And before I knew it I was in my classroom with 23 fifth graders, 24 first graders and only half of us were going on a trip.  Now, it is awful to admit, but I kind of enjoyed telling my kids that I was heading to the aquarium and the beach on this gorgeous 84 degree day.  Don't judge, it's the reason we LOVE personal days.  The fact that we are out enjoying the day while everyone else is at work.  After a few organizational details we were on the bus heading to the aquarium.  Kelly and I have never been on a trip together and have never been on the same grade level-we were rather excited to be grade-level colleagues.

Not a bad Wednesday!

What I learned on a first grade class trip:
-When the tour guide asks for questions, every child will want to tell their own fish story.

-Even though they are told not to touch the glass, everyone WANTS to touch the glass. 

-First graders will touch a horseshoe crab without a second thought. 

-Keep your eye on the nurse, because when you need her she will be 100 yards down the beach on her cell phone. 

-It doesn't hurt to have a male teacher on the trip for boy bathroom breaks. 

-No matter how many times you tell a first grader to stay away from the water there will always be that one boy who tries to get hit by a wave. 

-All beach-goers eyes are on you as you ruin their peaceful beach day storming the shore with 80 seven year olds. 

-I LOVE first grade enthusiasm.

-Even though you are told not to bring peanut butter because of allergies someone WILL bring peanut butter and he WILL wind up sitting next to the allergy child during lunch. 

-Once you rave about one child's beach findings, EVERY child will want to show you something so you can rave about them as well. 

-I can so handle first graders.

-Kelly and I make a good pair whether on different or the same grade levels.

I have to say, this trip had both Kelly and I questioning whether some grade level change requests were in need because we REALLY enjoyed working together.  There was such a natural flow and we were ALWAYS on the same page.  Maybe it's time for me to move down a few grade levels? Just a thought!

So, how was your day?
-Damien 

A call to action....

Only a few days ago I created a new post asking all the Potter fans who follow our blog to help me change things up a bit by posting some Potter related ideas for my already Potter themed classroom.  Well, my new friend at A GREAT TITLE not only offered some help, she wrote an ENTIRE blog entry full of a ton of ideas. (Thanks so much!)

Here is a link to her post:  A GREAT TITLE 

Check it out and keep the Potter ideas coming!

-Damien 

The Reading Buddies

Father's Day and Eric Carle

Father's Day is quickly approaching and if you are still in school (like us) here is a great activity. First read Eric Carle's book Mr. Seahorse.  This will lead to a discussion about how dads take care of their children.

Then trace, cut and paint two seahorses.  Add tissue paper seaweed and some shells then fill out inside of card.  There you have it, a cute lesson and a Father's Day card.  Just click on the link below for this unique and easy activity.

Hang on the end is near!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fathers-Day-Seahorse-Card

Kelly

Harry Potter Ideas

Hello buddies-

If you follow this blog you may have seen my post about my classroom theme: HARRY POTTER!  This year I am looking to change things up a little and am asking for your help.

If you are a Harry Potter fan and have an idea for something Harry Potter related I can do in my classroom for my theme-SEND IT TO ME!  I read the first two book with my kids so anything connected to those two would be a BIG plus.

I am open to all ideas, regardless how big or small.  I have been inspired by my buddy Kelly to change things up and change things up I will!

Thanks in advance for your creative ideas and energy!
-Damien

Why Teachers need Summer Break!

Mr. Clemons is a genius, and I had to share this article with you, from one exhausted teacher to another!

Why teachers need summer breaks

Letting teachers have summer breaks are for the public’s benefit

BY BRAD CLEMONS

 

The most annoying question a teacher gets is, “What are you going to do all summer?”
The asker is implying one of two things, each determined by where he puts the emphasis. If the asker puts the emphasis on the “do” – “What are you going to ‘do’ all summer?” —  we teachers understand. He likely pictures us sleeping until 10 a.m., sipping Kool-Aid in a plastic kiddie pool and reading Harlequin novels while Prince plays in the background.

 

That is an unfair stereotype born of and perpetuated by jealousy.

One problem is that the public observes retired teachers leisurely making crafts or gardening on a dewy morning; that image is projected onto all teachers. What people don’t realize is that any random teacher gardens because of her psychosis. The lady is so fried from years of repeating herself and being disrespected that she has been reduced to compulsive gardening as a form of self-therapy.

It’s quite healing for a seasoned educator to work with an object that cannot talk back, run away or lie to its parents. A person needs to see progress, so gardening for a teacher is perfect because the plants grow quickly, and if not, strangulation is still legal. Plus, she can lead a plant to water, and it will actually drink. If her plants get mixed up with the wrong weeds, she can rip the weeds out, however passionately, and people will compliment her thoroughness.

But when the asker puts the emphasis on “all” – “What are you going to do ‘all’ summer?” — I have a problem with that.

He foolishly perceives summer the way he did as a child — the days bled into each other as warm and breezy evenings served as pauses in one long adventure. Waters, suntan lotions, girls who did not yet know him, bicycles and Jeeps – these made great memories. Surely each summer is 90 Saturdays in a row, he thinks.

That person’s view is skewed by his failure to understand what teachers did “all” fall, winter and spring.

In August, each teacher came in with a hopeful glow and the dove of peace on his shoulder. He also used naïve phrases such as, “There is no such thing as a dumb question.”

By September, the dove was gone, but there was still a job to do. The teacher chuckled, remembering that students are and have always been difficult. He felt that with a few more corrections, the kids’ bulbs of self-control would light, and he would write a book someday with lots of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes in it.

By October, the teacher identified the children who had been “left behind,” and he formed a revised plan. He also pushed his weekend honey-dos back to Christmas break and wondered if he was the only one to think there were a few legitimately dumb questions.

By November, the teacher knew why the children had been “left behind” and subsequently denounced everything he was forced to learn about education from his college professors, all of whom worked only with adults and thus disqualified themselves as authorities.

By December, the promise of a break made the teacher smile. He read self-help books and formulated his own poetic halftime speech. He even began to shake off the frustration he was developing with a few students: Answers-rhetorical-questions-in-the-middle-of-a-lecture Boy; Squid Boy, who can’t keep his hands off of those around him and has a habitual fancy for ink; and even Entitlement Girl, who misses two days a week, never makes up any work yet is genuinely shocked when her grade is low.

January was rough, but he only looked on CareerBuilder.com a few times. He re-clarified the classroom expectations and introduced a list of dumb questions.

By the end of February, he found himself having to shake off sarcastic thoughts: “You’re like the little sister I never wanted”; “I think you just had an out-of-skull experience”; or “Have a brunette explain it to you later.”

March was bearable because the thought of spring break made him think of beaches, and even though his room had no windows, he changed his desktop background to a beach scene and tried not to think about Missouri weather in March or his honey-do list he had put off from fall and winter.

In April, like a prisoner with tally marks, he began to count things. He was on his third stapler, nine girls and one boy had cried in his class this year, and he was shocked to discover that he had been asked, “Are we gonna do anything today?” 427 times — just one short of the threshold he set in March, at which a sacrifice would be required. He estimated that by the end of the next month, he would have graded more than 1,100 essays this year, all demonstrating such a low level of progress that in order to avoid the despair of a wasted life, he would have to convince himself that the whole class was actually deaf and he had never noticed.

May, though, was better than he feared. He renewed his contract and answered congenially the first 10 times he was asked, “What are you going to do ‘all’ summer?” In private, he researched emotional disorders on WebMD and became dissatisfied with all humor except statements that were punny.

See, summer breaks are essential to public health. People should wisely remember how cranky most of their teachers were and then imagine how unsafe a school could be if those teachers did not have time to tend garden or do crossword puzzles or visit places like Maine. So, teachers should “do” whatever it takes “all” summer in order to not “injure” people.

We teachers love our students like family. But the best of families need to get out of the minivan and stretch every so often.

Brad Clemons lives in Columbia and enjoys toning up his puns.

Hang in there my friends!
-Damien and Kelly
The Reading Buddies

SmartBoard Perimeter and Area FREEBIE!

Hello Buddies-


Today I created a SmartBoard Activity, minus many of the SmartBoard bells and whistles, to get my kids to apply their Math Critical Thinking Skills and their knowledge of Area and Perimeter.  It is a simple activity but really forces your kids to think about what they are doing when it comes to finding and applying Area and Perimeter.  Did I mention that it is FREE?


Anthony's Pool Problem (Area/Perimeter in Action)


Make sure to check out our TPT Store for the activity. 
Our TPT Store


:0)
-Damien 

Don't forget...

Hello Buddies-

Don't forget to check out our TPT sale

Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!

Damien and Kelly

The Reading Buddies