Wish List

Hoping these make an appearance on my "Students don't touch! These are my special books!" shelf sometime soon, before I teach economics in early March.

One Hen by Katie Smith Milway

If the World Were a Village by David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong

If America Were a Village by David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong

These are a.maz.ing. Based on the premise that if the world/America was a village of 100 people, how many would have access to clean water, be able to read, know how to use a computer, etc.  Much easier to talk about our world when you're talking about 100 people instead of millions... kids can't grasp millions (and neither can I!).

One Well by Rochelle Strauss and Rosemary Woods

This one could also be used to teach the water cycle... how water gets from one place to another

Late Christmas gifts are better than no Christmas gifts, right? :)

**photos from amazon.com

Perseverance

These last few days before winter break are killers.  The kids are crazy, the teachers are antsy, and there is a TON of work still to do.  Thankfully, 3 snow days last week (yippee!!!!) really helped my stress level... however, it just made the kids crazier, made me antsier (is that a word?), and made us squeeze that TON of work into 2 days!  Winter break will definitely be a much-needed time away from kids, lesson plans, grading papers, and waking up early! Who am I kidding... I'll be doing all of those things anyway (maybe not the waking up early part...)!!

On the flip side, I can't believe that I'm almost halfway done with my first year of teaching.  Many people say that your first year teaching is the hardest--gosh, I hope so!  The amount of work needed to just get through each day is insane... like I tell my kids, you have to bring your A-game EVERY day, just to stay afloat.  Hopefully, things will get easier with time and experience.  If not, please visit me in the local mental institution in the semi-near future.

Here We Go...

I'm a big fan of blogs.  They make me think, laugh, and cry my eyes out (sometimes all at once).  After fighting the urge for a while now, I've decided to start my own.  As I'm going through my first year of teaching, I wanted a way to share my (hopefully) successful ideas and plans,  gain creative ideas from others, and vent at the end of a crazy day.  This blog will probably last for a week, or until the horrifying stack of papers next to me explodes.