2017 ~ The Reflection

As it's the last night of 2017, I'd thought it'd be fitting to reflect on my adventures this year. If you meet me in person, and you me what I've been up to, my first response is, "Nothing much. I'm pretty boring."

Yeah, have I mentioned that I'm a total introvert and mostly socialize with different online communities?

Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Disneyland

Because really, 2017 had some good adventures. Here's a look back at this year:

*Disneyland ~ I spent my 40th birthday with my family in Disneyland. I wasn't expecting my family to join me but we were all heading down to LA for a family thing, so it just worked out that way. I was thrilled to enter my 40s walking through Sleeping Beauty's castle (one of my favorite places on the planet) with one of my favorite people on the planet (my niece) at my side. Ah-maze-ing.

*Snow day at Donner Lake ~ my brother, his wife, my niece, and my giant snow dog and I took my CRV up to spend the day in the snow. We walked around, took pictures, threw snowballs, Dakota took a snow bath, and had a picnic in my car. As we left, it started snowing...which turned into a storm that left one of my friends stranded right by where we were. We, however, beat the storm and had arrived safely at home by that time. 

Dakota giving himself a snow bath

*Field Trips ~ I went on two overnight field trips this year. I went to Fort Ross, California for an overnight trip with another 4th grade class. I had just decided to change grades and thought it would be a good idea to check it out. It was because I'm not going back again. But I also went to Coloma, Ca (which you can read about here) and that was a good trip. It was a 2 night trip but totally worth it.  

*Conferences ~ I went to one incredible conference and one that I didn't need to attend. The one that I didn't need to go to was about cochlear implants at Stanford University. It was a good conference but not for a 4th grade teacher. The conference was designed for parents who are just starting the journey of getting implants and what to expect in the coming years. Most of the children are under the age of 4 and it just didn't work for me. And even the sessions lead by the doctors didn't teach me anything. One doctor said, "Well, everyone here knows this part, so for the sake of time, let's move on." And I was the only person in the room who had no clue what he was talking about.

Halls of Stanford University

The other conference I attended was incredible and truly deserves it's own post because this conference took place at Columbia University in New York City. It was not only a great conference that I got so much out of but it was also an incredible adventure in the city with my sister-in-law. 

*New grade level ~ Changing what grade level I teach (kindergarten to 4th grade) has been a huge adventure. New curriculum, new classroom, new age group, and new teaching hours for me. I'm liking it a lot, it's not easy but I'm finding that I'm loving a lot about it. K was hard to teach. I had to teach how to be a student and then the foundation of reading, writing, and math. Now, we dive into deeper levels with all that stuff. The math was a little tricky but I think it's going okay. 

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park, NYC

*Books, books, and more books ~ This year, I read a ton of books! Okay, yes I'm introverted but I still do things. I spend time with my family, I walk my dog, I even went to the gym in 2017 (more than once!) but one thing I did was I stopped watching TV. I caught up on all my shows over the summer. I made a point to watch Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight but other than that, I'll watch Youtube videos for a bit and then I read. And I read more than one book at a time (they have to be different genres so I can keep them straight) and BAM! I read over 100 books. Goodreads says I read 111 books but I DNFed (did not finish) 7 books and reread 3 books....so really, I read 107 books this year. I count audiobooks, children's chapter books, and graphic novels as books I've read because I just do. When I was working out, I was listening to an audiobook. Any road trips? I've got an audiobook. I even read with my students during our library time (that's when I read the chapter books) so my students will see me reading and I can keep up with the new level books that my students read. 

Some things to look forward to in 2018:

I've got my trip to Europe which I have blogged about in great detail here and here. I'm hoping for another Disneyland trip but I haven't planned one out. I'll be going to Coloma again at the end of 2018. I'd like to take my teardrop trailer out this year but I discovered that I don't like camping so maybe I'll just sell it. I dunno. 

I plan on continuing on my weight loss journey although my focus will be on getting in shape to handle all the walking I will be doing this summer. I do need to lose weight for 2019 because I'm going on a desert camel ride in Morocco and that would be cruel to the camel. 

I'm setting my reading goal at 100 books. I don't know if I'll make that but I can try.

I'm leaving the negative from 2017 behind and taking with me the good. Just as it should be. 

Happy New Year!

I Teach K Conference

I requested more training to improve my Kindergarten Teacher Toolbox. A teacher toolbox is a figurative toolbox containing all your teacher knowledge and know how. If you come across a problem or your students aren't responding to your normal procedure/instruction, then you reach into your toolbox and can pull out another method to try.

It doesn't mean that I don't know how to teach, it's just maybe there's a better method to doing something that I can try. 

And I will be honest with you: I do not enjoy teaching the beginning part of Kindergarten. 

It's not just the fact that I have to focus on the procedures of being at school, I don't enjoy what I am supposed to be teaching, namely introduction to the alphabet. I have been teaching it the same way for the last three years and I think there's a better way out there. 

Typically, after Winter Break is when I start to love what I teach. Yes, the children have the procedures down by then and are more independent but we also move from whole group instruction to Guided Literacy Groups and I have my stations going with different activities while I pull small groups of students and work with them at their reading level because if you don't know, some children come into my classroom not knowing the alphabet and some come in already able to read. I love my Literacy Groups because I can meet my students where they are and take them to the next level. 

I want to start my groups earlier in the school year. I want to spend time teaching the independent activities so that it my students will know what to expect before they go on Winter Break. But to do this, I have to completely change how I have been structuring the beginning part of the year, but at the same time, I am totally excited to do this since I need to make changes anyways. 

I went to my principal and we talked about what I want to do in my teaching. She was so supportive that she is sending me to the National I Teach K Conference in Las Vegas this summer. So many tools for my toolbox!

I feel like this will help me really zero in on teaching Kindergarten. After teaching 2nd Grade for so many years, there are some aspects of Kindergarten that I would like to be more aware of. I feel like my eyes are being awoken to all the possibilities!

Here are the sessions I am signed up for: 

*Fabulous Fine-Motor Fun (a total Kindergarten thing)

*Bringing the Outdoors in & Taking the Standards Out (toolbox)

*The Magic of Music & Movement (granted, we sing a lot but there's so much more!)

*Teach Sight Words So They Stick! (I hope to move away from relying on homework)

*Kick Learning Up a Notch with Literacy Center Fun (more activities!!)

*Phonemic Awareness & Phonics Fun (toolbox)

*Interactive Read-alouds through Deliberate Instruction (not covered in my teacher college)

*How to Re-Tool Your Busy Day to Get Everything Done (YES! PLEASE!)

As I've said before, I'm a good teacher. I can and do teach children to read, write, count, add & subtract. I am the best teacher that I can be at this moment. I have even won a local radio station's Teacher of the Month.

Me rocking R2D2 on the front page

But my goal is to be an amazing Kindergarten Teacher. 

Three years ago, I was handled materials and told, "This is how we do it in K." Well, hang on to your hats, cause I'm about to shake things up!