Papermaking

Here is a little dialogue between a colleague and myself:

"We should recycle and make paper for Christmas projects." -me
"I don't know how to do that, do you?" -colleague
"Well...um...Yeah, I made paper when I was in 2nd grade." -me
"Okay.  How do we make paper?" -colleague
"Well...um...I'm sure I can find directions on-line.  But it must not be too hard." -me

Apparently, paper making is not that easy!  I learned a valuable lesson in childhood memories: just because it was easy as a child, doesn't mean it is easy as an adult (doing the "behind-the-scenes" work and all)!  That being said, we had a blast!

Mrs. Roller, myself and 4 student interns (Ms. Hoscheid, Ms. Kolbach, Ms. DiMaria, and Ms. Skjervem) combined forces and worked as an awesome team to provide our students with a fun, memorable, go-green experience that they will cherish.  Hopefully when they are adults, they will remember the joy of the experience, the laughter, the positive atmosphere, and the pretty (interesting looking) paper and not the smell of the irons, the sopping wet tables, or the slightly panicked look on the teachers faces.  :)

For a detialed lesson plan on how to make paper, check out Project Learning Tree resources.  (I will update the citation later when I dig out my book again.)

Snowball

This is a backpost from November...

On a cold and dark Friday night, Mrs. Roller and I sat in her classroom, diet coke in hand, munching on fries, and talking about the week (and month) ahead.  The Promethean board, humming away from a busy day in first grade, displayed a page from the PowerPoint we created this summer, outlining our ambitious goals for the year.  Our dialogue grew and grew, full of life and lofty goals of what we wanted to accomplish with our classes in the coming days. 

It hit me: Project-based learning is like a snowball.  As you watch the snow fall, you have great visions of the perfect, round snowball (Or in our case, students becoming active participants in their home, school, and community, making a difference, going green, learning about unsung heroes and modeling the virtues uncovered.).  All bundled up and with a bounce in your step, you fling open the door and bound down the steps and into the snow (All the materials, resources, and supplies are piled around the school lounge.).  As you start to gather snow, you smile, enjoying the creation and still dreaming of the end snowball (Dipping our feet into the project in September and October, staying on course with our end vision in mind.  Listening to the feedback from students and families who appreciate, value, and enjoy the project's direction.).  But then, as you roll the snowball across the yard to gather more snow, you start to notice that the snowball is getting quite large and moving faster than you anticipated (There is so much we want to do, experiences to share, artifacts to find, technology to develop...).  However, you keep pushing the snowball, hopeful and happy...

Sometimes our First Grade Community in Action project seems too big, slightly out of our control, and definately overwhelming.  As I take a moment to sit back and reflect, I smile and remember: this is what I wanted and this is what I'm getting...
 *Students motivated for a greater purpose than to please the teacher.
 *Students taking action, not only in the classroom, but at home and in the school.
 *Students learning the basics (reading, writing, and math) through authentic and meaning ful projects.
 *Students forming a true sense of community, appreciating, respecting, and valuing each other as individuals.
 *(And of course, a little dash of fun!)

Ghosts and Goblins, oh my!

Happy Halloween!  Today I am reminded of a fun book a colleague gave me a few years back, This is the Teacher about a teacher who is ready for school to begin.  However, by the end of the day, with all of the mishaps and adventures, the teacher is... all ready for bed.  I would like to recommend that the author write a sequel about the same teacher on Halloween.  Oh the sugar, sweets, excitement, and adventures that ensue in any classroom on Halloween. 

Please note, this is in no way a complaint, as I myself get just as giddy as the students.  Gooey treats, spooky art projects, learning disguised as halloween games...  I love watching their faces and hearing their excitement as they make pumpkins using 2-D shapes, mix a pumpkin snack by following 2 step directions, read and sing a pumpkin song that has wow words, and so on.

This is the first time I can recall students wearing costumes to school.  It went quite smooth.  We had a parade through the first grade wing to show off our spook-tacular disguises.  Pictures will be posted soon.

Yummy snack idea: Mix together pumpkin pie filling and whipped cream. Place a dallop of mixture on a graham craker.  Freeze for 1 hour.  Mmmm...kid (and teacher) approved.  (Source unknown.)

Meet Ms. Hoscheid

Ms. Hoscheid is a student intern.  She is working diligently to earn her bachelor's degree from Black Hills State University (my alma mater!).  We will be co-planning and co-teaching together during the course of the school year.  The program is intentionally designed to increase student learning in the classroom and provide both the student intern and the clinical faculty opportunities for growth.  Only the best graduate from BHSU - Go Yellow Jackets! 

It has been a joy getting to know Ms. Hoscheid and watching her blossom in our classroom.  She is a native of South Dakota, growing up in the state capital of Pierre.  She is an intern for the Rapid City Rush and has exciting stories to share about working with professional hockey players!  This summer Ms. Hoscheid worked for the YMCA summer program and has a plethora of experience to draw upon in regards to field trips, arts, crafts, and much more.  Ms. Hoscheid has taught us about sink and float this month.  We look forward to learning from her great ideas in November!

Catching up

School has started!  It was such a busy and exciting time that I forgot about my blog.  Our classroom is bustling with 25 Mighty Knights, who are thoughtful, insightful, and eager to learn.  In the first few weeks of school we talked about our role in the classroom and school community.  To culminate our discussions and learning we created a class mission statement and motto:
     **Think for ourselves.  Learn by trying.  Live like Mighty Knights.  Smile and have fun.**

A brief recap of the first 7 weeks of school (in no particular order):
*Bucket filling*Dream catchers*Hopes and Dreams for 1st grade*Goal setting*Building stamina*Read to Self*Read to Someone*Work on Writing*Combinations for 5*2-D shapes*3-D shapes*Small moments*Sink and float*Heroes*Recycling*Milk Jug Igloo kick-off*Schema*Comparing numbers*Kevin Henkes*Character traits*Singing*Class pet: Snowball*and much more...

Welcome Back Party Bus

Yesterday, a handful of staff from Knollwood, sporting the new Knollwood t-shirt, piled onto a big yellow school bus with boxes of school supplies and headed into the community.  While our gracious driver careful navigated the neighborhood roads, a quiet murmur of chatter abounded as teachers dished over summer adventures and shared dreams for the upcoming year.  As the bus turned in to the Lakota Homes community, honking its horn, teachers peered out the window, earger to see the faces of students from past years and meet the new faces of this year.  It took meer minutes to unload the supplies and get rolling.  What a fun way to kick off the school year!  It was so nice to chat with former students and their families and meet new families.  Can't wait to see our Knollwood students with their new Knollwood t-shirts on the first day of school! 

Next on the agenda: BLT in-service and staff meetings.  Oh, and free breakfast - woo hoo!  :)

1 week countdown

School starts 1 week from today!  Woo hoo!

Today has been crazy-busy just like the past week.  Searching for the best tabletop organizers, labeling new books in the class library, rearranging furniture in hopes of finding that perfect room arrangement, outlining lessons for the first week of school...  After several hours of running around the classroom (and school) in a frantic pace, I finally crashed into my cushy desk chair. 

The flourescent overhead lights are turned off.  The room is illuminated by the soft glow coming from the lamps scattered around the classroom.  Soft music is playing from the radio in the meeting area of the classroom.  I hope my students enjoy the calm feel of the room that I am enjoying this moment.   

Next on the to do list: hang curtains, store empty boxes, and set up new laptops with student links.

No shoes

Books packed in the trunk.  Fragile school decor tucked in the passenger seat, seatbelt and all.  Milk jugs tossed about the backseat (follow the blog to find out the importance of milk jugs).  Hop in my little speed machine.  Sunglasses, check.  90's music, check.  Shoes, oops!  I was so excited to get to school and turn the tornado-scene into a calm, peaceful learning environment that I forgot to wear shoes.  Back into the house.  Shoes, check.

During the summer I wear shoes as seldom as possible.  Let the feet breathe is my philosophy.  Barefoot, I feel a sense of comfort and belonging.  It is my hope that my classroom is a place where students feel as though they could take off their shoes and settle right in.

Today my goal is to finish unpacking boxes, assemble class library, create bulletin board pieces for the start of the year, set up lamps and reading nooks, and stash away the empty boxes and leftover pieces.   

In the beginning...

So fast the summer has past!  Many fun times.  Many stressful times.  Many work times.  Now it is time to reset for another great year in first grade.  This is always such an exciting time of year.  You know you are a teacher at heart when you get giddy over Sunday ads and spend many shopping trips drooling over the yellow pencils on sale, brightly colored folders neatly lining the shelves, and random new office gadgets.

Yesterday I picked up my classroom keys and joyously marched down to my room.  As I burst into my room ready to roll up my sleeves and start moving furniture, I see that the music materials and instruments are still piled high in the front of my room.  Bummed that I won't be able to assemble my room, I must say that the custodial staff at Knollwood is awesome.  They have been working mighty hard to get the school in tip top shape for the late August arrival of 600 smiling students! 

Tuesday and Wednesday turned my classroom into a scene from a twister movie.  Boxes spralled around the room, half unpacked.  Stacks of books lining the window shelves.  Miscellaneous school supplies scattered on the counter.  Notes of projects yet to finish dotting my new desk. 

Yes, I got a desk this year - a real teacher's desk.  It is small and old-fashioned in design.  Because my desk is actually facing our main class meeting area and in close proximity, I must make it a priority to keep a clean desk this year.  It is quite convenient, however, to have my desk next to the meeting area as I will now have a comfy chair to sit in during morning meeting and read alouds. 

It is a goal of mine to have many small reading nooks in our classroom this year.  The students love to curl up with a good book where there are few distractions.  While the room looks chaotic now, I am loving how it is slowly starting to come together. 

Time to work on our class web-site, presentation for First Grade Kick-Off, and eat some leftover steak.  Yum!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  Here I will attempt to recount the wonderful joys of teaching first graders and the many adventures we encounter together.  This year is shaping up to be an exciting new journey with many fun and educational field trips, projects, and guests.  Time to set up the classroom and plan out the first week...only 11 days left.
Mrs. T