ThirdGradeFun

Quote: We learn who we are–in practice, not in theory–by testing reality. In some ways this is what I always tell my students and my own children. You never know what you can do until you try, In my classroom, I don't allow students or my own children to tell me they can't do something until they have tried. In a way, I feel this comes from my own passion to succeed. I myself don't like to be told I can't do something because no one knows what I'm capable of until I've tried. I'm not afraid of failure because if I gave my 100% to something and I don't succeed, I will usually try and try again! I believe failures lead to success. Encouragement cards. With all that being said, many of you know that oldest son is in the Navy. When he was in boot camp, I wrote to him every day. It was a difficult time (actually still is) because for the first time in 22 years he wouldn't be home for the holidays. The holidays are a time for joy and if I couldn...

photo credit: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1409997 Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain This quote by Mark Twain really resonates with me, especially at this point in my life. I have noticed that as I get older and my kids aren't as dependent on me, I want to be more adventurous. I want to spend more time doing things that I want to do. I want me time! I've always been good at telling other people, "don't live with regrets", "you don't want to look back 20 years and ask yourself, why didn't I do ___!" Now it's time to take my own advice. When considering a new project, I jumped into the reflection exercise. These questions stood out the most: What do I do on weekend mornings?, Are any of these ‘making’ or ‘creating...

Hello everyone! My name is Alicia. I am a teacher in Cicero. I've been teaching since 2003. For 14 years of my career, I taught in 3rd grade and for the 2018-2019 school year I will be teaching second grade!! I'm pretty excited but at the same time I am nervous about the change. Some other exciting news, unrelated to education, I am a Navy mom! As you can see, from the picture above, I have three children that are my entire world! My oldest is a sailor, my youngest is daddy's girl, and my middle child is my twin (we think alike and my husband says we can be stubborn, I like to think we are persistent)! My children are also my current events resources, lol. I learn so much from them and sometimes I get technology ideas from them! I enjoy incorporating technology into the classroom as often as I can. The more I learn about technology through the cohort at St. Francis University, my confidence about using technology in the classroom increases. I have also noticed technology...

If you've been keeping with my blog, you probably already know that I am seeking an endorsement in Computer Specialist. On the first day of this particular class, titled Managing Educational Tech Services, I left with my head spinning and very overwhelmed. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the class! I wasn't sure if I would even have the energy, especially since I was encountering new experiences with learning new curriculum for a new grade level. I was having some major behavioral problems with some students from day one, so I knew this was going to be a challenging year. Then to learn about our final project, on our first day of school literally drove me to the edge. Luckily, with great support from family, colleagues and friends I was talked off the ledge. However, I don't regret tackling this class. I have learned so much more about laws like, FERPA, CIPA, and IDEA. I occasionally discuss topics from this class with other teachers. I'm constantl...

As part of an assignment, we were asked to use the ISTE standards to assess the readiness of technology integration in our school. Ths tool was conducted by observing 4 classroom teachers (2-second grade/2- third grade). As you will see in the short video clip, a checklist listing all ISTE standards was used. For some of the questions, the teacher needed to reflect and answer on his or her own. Ironically, the result show that the teachers were stronger in standard 7 - Analyst. This standard related to demonstrating implementation of a variety of formative and summative assessments, to accommodate learner needs, and to use the assessment data to guide instruction. The standard that teachers struggle with is standard 3 - Citizen. This standard relates to inspiring students to be part of the digital world in a responsible manner. I strongly believe that our teachers are strongest in standard 7 - Analyst because we work in a data driven environment. I'm not surprised that ...

It seems that collaborative learning spaces are currently trending. So when I had to design a space without thinking of costs, I had so many ideas. Then I thought, there are so many trendy learning environments that when you take a first look , you may think "wow, this is beautiful" but there may also be children looking at it thinking "wow, this is overwhelming". So I decided to keep it simple. For the sake of differentiation, I would like to have 2 Promethean boards. In the meeting area, I could teach whole group. Then if I need, I could leave up the work on one board and move a second group across the way to the second board and teach an extended mini-lesson. Shelving would be a must! One side could be for books and/or magazines and the other would be for STEAM kits to be stored.  like a rug area for those that like to work on the floor and tables on another side for group work. In the area with tables it would be nice to have a large dry erase wall to have ...