Miscellaneous
I'm sitting here with my morning cup of joe, and I'm trying to find some fodder to blog about. I'm not coming up with much.
This tub holds some of the things I didn't throw out of my new classroom when I was purging it of its previous holdings. T. had a large collection of Disney videos that I don't think were appropriate for fourth graders, but will be perfect for Jillian. So, I packed them up and brought the home. We've got every Sing Along Songs video here ever known to man. I'll split the booty with Grammy and she can keep some at her house. My nieces LOVED Disney Sing Along Songs. I'm sure Jillian will too. I also took home some early readers from his vast collection of books that weren't grade level appropriate. They'll be right at home in Jillian's library.
Other things of note:
* All the fourth grade teachers at my school have begun implementing the writing program that I was led to through the research for my thesis. This is the formal implementation phase of my thesis. I'm getting positive feedback from them that they like the 6+1 Traits of Writing methods. My principal is having the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction come out next month to observe one of my lessons. They are looking for a program for the entire school district to adopt. Writing is one of the most difficult things to teach. The assistent superintendent happens to be a former principal of mine and we have a great appreciation for one another, so I'm totally comfortable with her observing me. She has always been really supportive of me, and had paraded me and some of my reading strategies before the previous superintendent several years ago.
* I had a good week with my students, and I'm feeling like I'm getting in the groove again.
* We have two new teachers at the 4/5 level and they are a delight to be around. They've brought a lot of energy to our team.
* We celebrated a coworker's birthday last night at the Cheesecake Factory. A GOOD TIME was had by all!
* The weatherman says we may have our first Santa Ana wind condition of the season this week. I'm not liking the prospect of that AT ALL!
Have a lovely weekend, everybody!
This tub holds some of the things I didn't throw out of my new classroom when I was purging it of its previous holdings. T. had a large collection of Disney videos that I don't think were appropriate for fourth graders, but will be perfect for Jillian. So, I packed them up and brought the home. We've got every Sing Along Songs video here ever known to man. I'll split the booty with Grammy and she can keep some at her house. My nieces LOVED Disney Sing Along Songs. I'm sure Jillian will too. I also took home some early readers from his vast collection of books that weren't grade level appropriate. They'll be right at home in Jillian's library.
Other things of note:
* All the fourth grade teachers at my school have begun implementing the writing program that I was led to through the research for my thesis. This is the formal implementation phase of my thesis. I'm getting positive feedback from them that they like the 6+1 Traits of Writing methods. My principal is having the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction come out next month to observe one of my lessons. They are looking for a program for the entire school district to adopt. Writing is one of the most difficult things to teach. The assistent superintendent happens to be a former principal of mine and we have a great appreciation for one another, so I'm totally comfortable with her observing me. She has always been really supportive of me, and had paraded me and some of my reading strategies before the previous superintendent several years ago.
* I had a good week with my students, and I'm feeling like I'm getting in the groove again.
* We have two new teachers at the 4/5 level and they are a delight to be around. They've brought a lot of energy to our team.
* We celebrated a coworker's birthday last night at the Cheesecake Factory. A GOOD TIME was had by all!
* The weatherman says we may have our first Santa Ana wind condition of the season this week. I'm not liking the prospect of that AT ALL!
Have a lovely weekend, everybody!
posted by Joannah @ 8:14 AM
13 Comments:
At 9:16 AM,
Puddin' said…
Congratulations on the success of your writing instruction! That has to be so fulfilling to see your hard work and something that you put your soul into become such a success! Way to go!
You scored with those videos and early reading books! See, there were (some) treasures in all that junk! ;)
At 9:22 AM,
Sugar Cookies And Hope said…
That's amazing, Joannah! It must be nice to see all your hard work benefit the students who will be learning from it.
Have a great weekend!
At 9:46 AM,
C's Mom said…
It has to feel great to see your work in action! All the best with that. Be proud of yourself.
A great weekend to you, too!
Mmmmm....Cheescake Factory!
At 10:20 AM,
cruisin-mom said…
found your blog through Seraphic Secret...what a lovely tribute and keepsake for your daughter.
At 11:28 AM,
Catherine said…
Congrats on your writing program! It's wonderful when hard work is rewarded. It's also a real treat when new staff blend so well with staff who have been there longer. Your great attitude plays a huge part in this I'm sure!
It's funny, I read the first part of your sentence, 'Our first Santa Ana wind condition' and my first thought was ooo...sounds nice. Guess I was off the money!
For those of us northern folk, what is a Santa Ana wind?
At 11:45 AM,
Joannah said…
Catherine,
A Santa Ana wind is a hot, desert wind. They can blow so powerfully that they down trees and powerlines. They are a firefighter's worst nightmare because crazy people like to set brush fires during a Santa Ana wind. The air is horribly dry during these winds. I can't say anything nice about a Santa Ana wind. In fact, one website accurately says they "make your nerves jump and your skin itch"!
For more information:
http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html
At 12:11 PM,
Catherine said…
Ahhh...now I understand why you're not a fan of them!
Hope it passes quickly.
At 1:30 PM,
Shannon said…
Yeah, except for the possible fires, I'd take Santa Anas over 8 months of mugginess anyday! =)
Good to see you're back in the swing of school. I can't believe the amount of work I had to bring home. BTW, did I tell you that we had Riney Jordan speak at our convocation? If you get a chance to read his book/see him, he's a hoot!
At 5:11 PM,
Elise said…
My girls loved the Disney sing along videos when they were wee ones. It is amazing to me how a child can watch the same thing over and over and over.....but it kept them happy and this mom happy also;). Congrats on the writing program and hope those winds don't do any damage!
At 5:12 PM,
Michelle said…
I'm with you on the Santa Anas. Nothing hypes the kids up like a nice, hot wind! Cheesecake Factory...Mmmmmmm. Maybe it's time for another blogger get together! :)
At 5:19 PM,
Donna said…
My sister gave me her kids' old Disney Sing-a-Long VHS tapes when Emma was a toddler. She loved them!
Nice work on the writing program...as the daugter of two educators, I know how challenging the job can be!
At 6:51 PM,
t~ said…
I understand STRONG winds...not a real fan of them!
Love the Cheesecake Factory, yummy!
At 6:56 PM,
Polar Bear said…
Congratulations on the success of your writing. I am going to read more about it tomorrow. Maybe I can learn a new technique, I'm always on the search. :)
Cheesecake Factory is unbelievable. Yummm!
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