Currently March

Sure, I'm supposed to be working hard on my National Boards Entry 3 right now, since I'm at a Coaching Saturday event.  But I really wanted to get this up first!  Sooooooo...this is a bit of a Boards themed Currently.

Listening

I am at a Coaching Saturday event in order to work on my National Boards entry 3.  There are a ton of people here getting coaching and work done, so there's a ton of talking around me and amazing conversations about collaborating, reflecting, and imagining.  For me, I'm just supposed to be sitting here planning my next several Science lessons because I need to make sure I am using Math to move the Science learning forward.  

Loving

It rained this morning.  For about 3 minutes.  Seriously Arizona?  I despise you right now.

Thinking

I'm here working till 3 and the celebration starts at 5:30.  Soooooooo...this is all about concentrating on my HUGE task at hand.  You know?  After I'm done with this blog post of course.  LOLOLOL

Wanting

Did I mention this rainy weather didn't last long?  I suppose I should at least be happy that the cloud is still full of dark clouds.  So there's that.

Needing

I had really hoped to have videotaped my entry lesson by now.  But it is testing season and so this hasn't happened.  So, planning these lessons today will definitely help!  Next step, figuring out who is going to tape me.  My hubby did it last year but his new job is during the day...soooooooo I am in quite the conundrum.  

?????

These are the items I really NEED whenever I am at these coaching events!  Mountain Dew is especially essential after lunch when I hit a wall.  

Have any of my readers achieved National Board certification or are in the process?  I am a retake candidate and am working on 1 entry and 1 assessment exercise this year.

{Saturday Sprinkles} Of The Science Variety

Well, sadly my winter break is OVER!  Waaaaaaaaaah!  I cannot believe how seemingly fast 2 weeks went by.  But I really needed it and am glad it came when it did.  So, to help me get back into the swing of things, I am linking up with my buddy, my pal, my friendliest friend, She, over at Sprinkle Teaching Magic for this weekly linky party.

While I never really officially blogged about my National Board results, I did mention over on my 13 in 13 blog post here, that I missed it by a teeny tiny 6 points.  Argh!  So, I am retaking my Entry 3 (Science/Math) and 1 or 2 Assessment Center exercises (Science and Fine Arts) this year to make up those 6 points.  

Two weeks before winter break, I introduced our Levers & Pulleys (FOSS) unit to my students through exploration and very little information given by me.  Because I know my students learn best through exploration, I chose to have them jump right into working with levers through exploring with what they already know and understand, which helped them grasp on to the concept more deeply and peeked their curiosity way more than if I had just given them a vocabulary lesson and jumped right into the first experiment of setting up a lever to lift a load.  Do you see how I just threw a National Board explanation format at you?!  It comes at you in your sleep after working on them for 4 entries and assessment exercises for 2 years.  You're welcome.  

Here is a peek into our classroom during this 45 minute chunk of time where I had small groups of students gathered around me to help me open a paint can with their fingers while partner/trios gathered around our computers to explore and attempt a Simple Machines Brainpop game on how to build levers and pulleys to complete tasks (again, remember I did not give them any background information).  

While you can't see their faces, let me just paint the picture (LOL, see how I did that?) for you. They are staring at that paint can for about 5-10 seconds and thinking solo about how they can possibly open it after all trying to do so with just their fingers.  Right after this, we had a seriously insane conversation about what they could use to actually open it.  Many of them mentioned seeing their dads or uncles opening one with a screwdriver before, so I asked them, "Why do you think a screwdriver works instead of your fingers?"  Some of them wanted to try to open it with their pencils because they figured out they needed something similar to a screwdriver, but stronger than their fingers.  Of course, their pencils broke and I asked them to discuss why the pencil broke, etc. Through this, they were heading towards the idea of a fulcrum, but they weren't quite there yet...perfect!  It paved the way in such a beautiful manner for their first experiment.  See below ("I Wonder" in their notebooks) for their next step after what you see in this picture.

They had some fantastic exploration discussion going as they tried to play out ways to move objects and lift loads to win the game.  I definitely recommend giving your students a shot at this free game from Brainpop.  My students absolutely ate it up and wanted to play it again.  It was hard for me to shoot video (via my iPhone) while trying to listen in on their discussions, so I only got this quick 10-second video after I asked this pair of boys why they think their object they chose finally worked to lift the load (for some reason I also couldn't get my YT link from my page to work either, so there's that).

When students were finished with either the paint can or the Simple Machines Brainpop game, they went to their desks and began filling out their "I Wonder" page in their Science Notebooks.  All I asked them to do was write about what the two activities sparked in their minds.  These wonderings will pave the way to their experiments, including their two final inquiry-based experiments in which they design their own exploration and carry-out the building of levers and pulleys to accomplish a task.

There you have it!  This is what Science looks like in my classroom...at least at the beginning stages of a new unit.  I only took these pictures for my National Boards portfolio entry, so they aren't super detailed.  But I loved She's idea of looking back at what the week was made of and considering how successful it was.  Basically, I think this weekly linky party will be a really perfect way for me to reflect back on those bad weeks (really hoping they are fewer and fewer these last 2 quarters).

Thanks for visiting!  Definitely link up with She and other teachers each week.  This is a way for us hard-working teachers to share those successes we have more often than we realize.

There Goes My Summer!

**Warning:  This is a picture heavy post...but entertaining all the same!**

I feel like summer vacation zoomed past me at light speed!  But when I stop to think about where I was when I went home on that last day of the school year back in May, I realize...I did get to enjoy a nice two months off. By that I actually mean this...

No really!  When everyone else was going home and truly celebrating on May 24th, I was freaking out knowing I had one more week before my National Boards portfolio entries were due.  For that first week out of school, I worked like a dog to finish up final edits, do major reflections on myself as a teacher, scanned documents, pictures, letters, and more like a mad woman, and sat at my pretty little iMac uploading and watching a status bar move across the screen.  Many deep breaths and hesitations (pressing that "Submit" button was trickier than an outsider would think) I submitted two days earlier than I told myself I would!  

Proof and memorialization of me submitting

Then, I got to enjoy my life for a few days before I had to go back in to the classroom for a special math lab school (AKA summer school).  Meanwhile, I was stressing out about having to take my 4-hour assessment at the Assessment Center in 3 weeks on June 21st.  There was no time for rest as I read up on some math techniques and how to interpret and diagnose reading errors (since it had been awhile since I'd delved in to that).  You see, I was working towards a Middle Childhood Generalist certificate, which means all subjects (including fine arts and health and wellness) ranging from 3rd to 6th grade.  There were quite a few things that I needed to get back on the bike and practice riding for.  So those 3 weeks looked a little something like this...

A little bit of light reading, highlighting, and going post-it flag crazy!...it's honestly a really amazing textbook, really.

I was even boring my furbaby, who nicely held down my papers for me so they wouldn't blow away.

I even went old skool and used flash cards to help me nail down all the accomplished teaching standards I would have to use in my essays.

To keep myself focused on the day and how I'd live through it, I...okay, before you read this next part, I ask you not to laugh at me...I scheduled my DVR to record the Jodi Arias movie on Lifetime.  It kept advertising to premiere on June 22nd, and I knew that would be the day after my tests.  So to me, that was like my target, to live to see June 22nd.  Okay, stop laughing now.  I enjoyed sitting on my couch that night with no responsibility but to watch this made for TV movie!

Did anyone else get excited about this debuting like I did?

When June 21st came around, I was a ball of nerves and didn't think I'd make it through the test alive.  I was afraid more than anything that I would get in there and forget everything I knew as a teacher or I, especially, would not be able to find the right words to answer the mutli-step questions.  All of them. But, thankfully, I got through it and survived to tell...

I proceeded to celebrate in a HUGE way by going out to Buffalo Wild Wings with my supportive husband and friends at my favorite place to unwind.  I CANNOT describe in words how amazing it felt to be able to actually take a breath and enjoy my summer and my free time for the first time in 2 years!  

Honestly, when people asked me if I was going to travel or do anything once I was finally finished, my answer to that was honestly...no.  I wanted to just be able to sit on my couch, read a book or watch T.V. without having to worry about what I should have been writing, typing, or reflecting on.  And you know what?  It felt fantastic!!!  Hence the meme I posted at the top of this blog.  Sure, I won't find out my results until the end of November, but I couldn't be happier to have several months not to think about it anymore...until maybe October when it creeps up on me.

But being the ridiculous Type-A person and teacher that I am, several days later, I was back to my kitchen table working on school items for the upcoming school year.  I couldn't help it!  There were all sorts of ideas I had because of completing National Boards, and frankly, a lot of things needed to be changed in my classroom to improve the impact on learning for my students.

I did get to enjoy more time with my friends though and it felt really good to join them and not worry about what I should have been doing back at home.  Bunco. Book Club. Day trips. Yelp Elite pool parties. Ceramics painting.

A few more shots of my "boring" summer vacation, just so I can remember I wasn't a total vampire!

In fact, I did lots of shopping and movie-going as well...two of my favorite pastimes!!  Who is with me when I say this was one of the BEST movies this summer?!

Anyone who lives in Arizona knows, its better to just hide inside like a vampire until the weather cools off again.  So, to some my summer probably seems like a total bore...but sweet freedom was all I tasted!

Heh. So true when you live in the desert.

Tomorrow (today, when this post goes up) my summer ends.  My alarm clock will go off at 5am.  I'll have to join the morning commute.  Day-long meetings.  Eventually that leads to lesson plans on the weekend again.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  Someone pinch me so I can make sure this is all a dream...that I don't have to go back to being a working stiff already!!!