Alright, it has been a while since I've posted. This would be why. I've been working on this post when I've had free moments and I am finally done! I've written out a rough outline of a typical school day in my classroom. I've had a good deal of people ask me what my day is like, so I figured I would write it all out for ya!
If you are completely uninterested in reading my mini-novel, I take no offense. Skip away! If you are interested, I hope you enjoy a peek into my classroom. Believe me when I say that I really enjoy my days and it is fun to get to teach so many subjects in one day! The big pro of being an elementary teacher.
This day, to get specific, would be a Tuesday. I realize it doesn't matter to you but I need to include it because I need to. Yes, I have slight OCD. It's fine.
7:10- I arrive at school, put graded papers into student mailboxes, write the schedule on the board, and get my things arranged for the morning.
7:40- Head down to the office to check my mailbox, make copies, and make my tea (Tazo Passion is my favorite at the moment...SO good!)
7:50- Students begin to arrive at school and they hand in their homework, which I check and file.
8:20- School begins! Students take their seats and we do devotions and calendar time.
8:40- We start spelling: everyday is a spelling test on 24 words, then I teach 6 new words.
9:15- Language begins. We label our sentences: subject noun, verb, adverb, adjective, article adjectives, preposition, object of the preposition, and subject/predicate. There is also time for a quick lesson on quotation marks. "I love language!" said the 2nd graders.
9:45- Just enough time for everyone's favorite: Rocket Math! Students are each on a level and need to write in 40 facts correctly in 1 minute to pass to the next level. They practice orally with each other then move on to the timed test.
10- Music! We line up and I bring the students down to the music room. During this time I make copies, check and return school emails, and work on lessons for the rest of the week. Chatting with other teachers and my principal can also occur during this time :)
10:30- I pick up my students from music class and head back to our room for math. A lesson on adding double digit numbers is up for today! I introduce the topic, explain the strategy to adding the ones and tens, then we move on to practicing on personal white boards. Once we are all on board the students grab their math books and rip out their worksheet for today's lesson. Work time!
10:55- We wrap up and clean up, then pray before we head down to the lunch room for lunch. I head back to my classroom to enjoy some lunch!
11:25- Lunch is over and I head down to pick up the kids. Lots of hugs greet me from various students, current and previous, while we line up to head down to our classroom to grab coats and line up for recess.
11:30- The kiddos head outside for recess while I head to the chalkboard. I write up the afternoon schedule, get my things in order for the afternoon, and snag a quick run to the bathroom. I also stop by the 1st grade teacher's room to chat about field trip plans, upcoming events, and other random news.
12:00- Recess is over and I can hear the kids outside the doors! I take my students into my room and they get settled. I then start to read from "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator", our latest read aloud book. Read aloud time is a big hit and there is always begging for more!
12:15- We finish up our reading and line up to head down for bathroom and drink time.
12:25- As the students get settled, we begin reading. Students take out their reading books, we begin by discussing the topic of kindness and I introduce ideas, vocabulary words, and any other information needed. Students then split off to read the story and complete a worksheet to check their comprehension. Discussion takes place after as we wrap up.
1:25- After reading is finished, we keep plugging right into Bible. We head to the table in the back of our room. I tell the story verbally and students listen, with questions and discussion after. We often times have phenomenal discussions on some pretty tough subjects. Bible ends with a worksheet that could be a crossword, questions, or an art activity of sorts.
2- On to science! This the favorite subject for most, thus a great subject for the end of the day! We have been studying the states of matter and start out with a discussion of what we have learned in the previous lessons. We then jump into an experiment on the weights of solids, liquids, and gases. We hypothesize and test various object weights against others. We then layer liquids in a beaker with the tradition density experiment! A total hit. Lots of "woahs" and "cool"!
2:35- The final chunk of the day. Silent reading time! Students all grab a pillow and a mat and snag a spot in the room to read silently to themselves. One student gets to take their turn on the green reading chair. This time is incredibly silent and the students loooove it! So does Miss Ongna :)
2:50- The school day is over and we pack up and head out! The end of the day also includes thumb high fives and, on Fridays, we do a Friday dance. Yep. You read that right. Friday dance. We have a great time in 2nd grade! It is great to spend each day like this. I am spoiled :)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Grumble Box
I have to tell you about something amazing that happened at the beginning of this year and has continued through the school year. This is one of those moments as a teacher that you simply cherish because you can see God working through these amazing young kids and they ended up teaching me.
It all started when I read a devotion one morning about a family that struggled with grumbling. In the story, the family decided to make a grumble box and every time someone grumbled, they had to put money into the box.
After I had read the story, we discussed grumbling, the fact that it is a sin, and no one wants to be around a person who is comstantly grumbling and complaining. That is when it happened. One of the students suggested that we put our own grumble box on the board and put checks in whenever someone grumbled. All of the students got very excited and wholeheartedly agreed to work on this and keep each other accountable!
I was completely flabbergasted. Here were my students asking to be held accountable for their grumbling. In what universe does that happend??
Well, we put the box up on the board and started to keep track. It took a bit to get used to being aware, but eventually my students went on to make it an entire week without grumbling or complaining! How amazing is that?! I can only say that God has been doing amazing things with these students. We still have the box up and continue to keep each other accountable to this day.
I feel that it is only fair to admit that yes, I have gotten a check or two up on the board. A stack of papers I had in a binder fell completely out and I let out a small "Ohh man!" From behind me I hear, "Uh oh. Miss Ongna, that was a grumble!" Busted. As embarrasing as it is to be made aware of my complaining by one of my students, I could not have been more proud in that moment! These kids have held each other, and me, accountable for their sinful actions. The best part is, when one alerts another about their grumbling, there is no yelling or getting angry at that person about it. They simply realize and admit that they have done wrong. Seriously! I just can't make this stuff up.
How fantastic would it be if we could do the same in our daily lives? Simply hold each other accountable for our sins with no hard feelings, judgment, or better than thou attitudes. Their awareness of their grumbling and attitude towardes changing it has, in turn, made me extrememly aware of my tendency to complain and convicted me to work on it. My students are teaching me. It doesn't get much better than this folks!
It all started when I read a devotion one morning about a family that struggled with grumbling. In the story, the family decided to make a grumble box and every time someone grumbled, they had to put money into the box.
After I had read the story, we discussed grumbling, the fact that it is a sin, and no one wants to be around a person who is comstantly grumbling and complaining. That is when it happened. One of the students suggested that we put our own grumble box on the board and put checks in whenever someone grumbled. All of the students got very excited and wholeheartedly agreed to work on this and keep each other accountable!
I was completely flabbergasted. Here were my students asking to be held accountable for their grumbling. In what universe does that happend??
Well, we put the box up on the board and started to keep track. It took a bit to get used to being aware, but eventually my students went on to make it an entire week without grumbling or complaining! How amazing is that?! I can only say that God has been doing amazing things with these students. We still have the box up and continue to keep each other accountable to this day.
I feel that it is only fair to admit that yes, I have gotten a check or two up on the board. A stack of papers I had in a binder fell completely out and I let out a small "Ohh man!" From behind me I hear, "Uh oh. Miss Ongna, that was a grumble!" Busted. As embarrasing as it is to be made aware of my complaining by one of my students, I could not have been more proud in that moment! These kids have held each other, and me, accountable for their sinful actions. The best part is, when one alerts another about their grumbling, there is no yelling or getting angry at that person about it. They simply realize and admit that they have done wrong. Seriously! I just can't make this stuff up.
How fantastic would it be if we could do the same in our daily lives? Simply hold each other accountable for our sins with no hard feelings, judgment, or better than thou attitudes. Their awareness of their grumbling and attitude towardes changing it has, in turn, made me extrememly aware of my tendency to complain and convicted me to work on it. My students are teaching me. It doesn't get much better than this folks!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Wonderfulness!
I'm becoming terrible at keeping up on this blog. I apologize. Life, as it always seems to have the tendency to, has become rather busy during this joyous holiday time. Plus I rather enjoy having a lazy Saturday when I can, totally shutting my mind off from all that may distract it from simply existing as an oozy pile of muscle.
School has been simply plowing forward and my students continue to blow me away! I wish I could have you all in my classroom for a day so you could simply marvel with me at the wonderfulness that is them!
I also continue to enjoy the joy that is hanging out with 7 and 8 year old kids and their most delightful selves! My goodness, these kids are hilarious and awesome. Today, one of our spelling words was chicken. At the end of teaching the kids how to spell the word and putting it on the board, I always ask for someone to give me a sentence. A student did, then they raised their hand and said, "Miss Ongna, could we do the chicken dance, since it was a spelling word and all?"
My answer to that question? "Of course! Why would we not?!" So, we all got up and did the chicken dance, at 9 am on a Monday morning.
Who wouldn't want to? I love that my kids are quirky, energetic, creative, and a bit weird! When they tell me that I am weird I reply with a "thank you so much!" I would hate to think that a child wouldn't be comfortable being anything but themselves in my classroom. Just read the bulletin board outside of my classroom. We have been studying dinosaurs and fossils in reading, so I had my students write a newspaper article about a dinosaur attack. SO creative and hilarious! They all took their ideas and ran with it. Love it so much.
If you can't tell, I am really enjoying my school year. You may think I exaggerate or am simply embellishing because I am writing it on a blog, but please take my word for it: it is completely and utterly true. I don't know how I was so blessed to be able to come teach these kids, but I am so, so grateful for it!
Of course, what would be a post about the joy that are my delightful students without a few quotes? These kids rock.
"You sneeze weird. And you laugh weird. And you're weird! Were you like this as a child?"
Student: "Squish! That's an onamonamona!"
Me: "A what now? Oh, you mean an onomatopoeia?"
Student: "Yeah, that's what I said."
"I'm really in a good mood today. I think it's because I ate ice cream last night!"
"Mmmm I just want to eat you up!"
School has been simply plowing forward and my students continue to blow me away! I wish I could have you all in my classroom for a day so you could simply marvel with me at the wonderfulness that is them!
I also continue to enjoy the joy that is hanging out with 7 and 8 year old kids and their most delightful selves! My goodness, these kids are hilarious and awesome. Today, one of our spelling words was chicken. At the end of teaching the kids how to spell the word and putting it on the board, I always ask for someone to give me a sentence. A student did, then they raised their hand and said, "Miss Ongna, could we do the chicken dance, since it was a spelling word and all?"
My answer to that question? "Of course! Why would we not?!" So, we all got up and did the chicken dance, at 9 am on a Monday morning.
Who wouldn't want to? I love that my kids are quirky, energetic, creative, and a bit weird! When they tell me that I am weird I reply with a "thank you so much!" I would hate to think that a child wouldn't be comfortable being anything but themselves in my classroom. Just read the bulletin board outside of my classroom. We have been studying dinosaurs and fossils in reading, so I had my students write a newspaper article about a dinosaur attack. SO creative and hilarious! They all took their ideas and ran with it. Love it so much.
If you can't tell, I am really enjoying my school year. You may think I exaggerate or am simply embellishing because I am writing it on a blog, but please take my word for it: it is completely and utterly true. I don't know how I was so blessed to be able to come teach these kids, but I am so, so grateful for it!
Of course, what would be a post about the joy that are my delightful students without a few quotes? These kids rock.
"You sneeze weird. And you laugh weird. And you're weird! Were you like this as a child?"
Student: "Squish! That's an onamonamona!"
Me: "A what now? Oh, you mean an onomatopoeia?"
Student: "Yeah, that's what I said."
"I'm really in a good mood today. I think it's because I ate ice cream last night!"
"Mmmm I just want to eat you up!"
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| Doesn't get any better than this! |
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