My New Hoodie

I would like to share with you good news. Yeah! After two years of study, I have completed graduate work.

This is the most important lesson I learned during the program: Communities ignite learning. I achieved my Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction through a professional learning community model. There were 30 teachers who met one weekend a month for two years. What an awesome experience! Without these professionals, I would not have gone as deep. I would not have done as much reflecting, and I would not have been able to integrate what I was learning into my classroom.

Since graduation, I've been reflecting on learning communities. I began writing this blog during my graduate program to meet a technology course requirement. In the process, I connected with teachers. Blogging builds community. I've decided to become a blogger and see where it leads. I intend to use this blog to record ideas, resources, and projects for teaching. I want you to come along too. Although I am writing the posts, I hope you will feel comfortable enough to join the conversation and share ideas.

Yes, you can!

I'm stuck on recycling and the "budget" approves. Extra pencil and pens will be stored in empty paint tins (donated by a local hardware store). I may not be finished with paint cans as Martha Stewart has a clever suggestion for Paint-Can Cubbies over at her crafting site.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"It's that time of the year when our brains are turned to high gear." Our thoughts go wild with ideas to set up a classroom. Ms. Jasztal explored several clever classroom ideas on her blog - A Day in the Life. It was a fun surprise to see Classroom Scissors included. Thanks, Ms Jasztal!

Brown Bag Book Cover

Covering a textbook is as easy as wrapping a present. It's a fun project for students. It only takes a few minutes and will help books last longer. I suggest using the brown grocery bag. It allows students to personalize the cover of the book. In a way, that gives students ownership and pride in our school books.

There's a great tutorial at Howcast that my class will watch before we put covers on the textbooks.

Newspaper Flowers

I'm still recycling. I made these flowers with instructions from Redtedsart Blog. They are super cute and easy to make. My students could craft these for special events at school: Grandparents' Day, Mother's Day, Staff Appreciation, PTA recognition, etc.

I wanted to continue the newspaper theme for my classroom recycling display, so I used old newspaper. The flowers could be made using magazines for added color.

A circle cutter is a useful tool for a teacher's toolbox.

Extra! Extra!

This year I will continue to help students understand the importance of recycling. I use lessons found at Scholastic.

Last night I made this basket from old newspaper. I'm going to create a display of recycled art projects and place them next to our paper recycling bin. The idea is to encourage students to incorporate salvaged, reused, or recycled materials in projects.

The directions for the basket can be found at craftstylish. Once my paper strips were folded, I ironed them. The strips laid extremely flat which made them so easy to work with. Instead of topping the basket with ribbon, I fed newspaper strips through my computer printer to create the reduce, reuse, recycle band for the basket top. I must do this project with my students.      Be-weave me, it's fun!

Both my sons had a paper route.

I'd forgot how messy newspaper can be.

"one nation under guard, with liver, tea, and just this for all"

By the time I get students in the fifth grade, it is almost comical the words they substitute in the Pledge that make sense in their world. I review with children the Pledge of Allegiance and we'll do word studies on the vocabulary written in the Pledge.

I just finished some patriotic clipart to hang with our classroom flag.

Some resources I use to teach the vocabulary words are:

Pledge of Allegiance Activity

Scholastic Vocabulary: Pledge of Allegiance

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance Youtube video