Sunday, September 9, 2012

Learning the Ropes

5th grade is proving to be quite different than 2nd grade!  While the basic principles of classroom management remain the same, I'm quickly reminded of how different kids can be.  My new district is far more diverse than my former district and that also creates different issues.

The first thing that is taking time to get used to is teaching the same thing 4 times a day.  I can switch things up somewhat because we do ability grouping so each class is a slightly different level so that helps break up the monotony of the day.  I have my homeroom for about 2 and a half hours in the morning so I have had a chance to really let them know what I expect and what the consequences are for not doing what they're supposed to do.  On the other hand, I have each of the other 3 classes for only 40 minutes a day.  I'm having a hard time remembering their names and (for the most part) they're not as well behaved as my homeroom.  It makes it more challenging to get through everything we need to do in that short period.  I've been taking time daily to remind them of what I expect in my classroom and I've been quick to discipline when there is a problem; I want them to know that I'm serious.

What are your favorite classroom management strategies for this age group?
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Monday, September 3, 2012

I'm Back & Ready to Roll!



I have been MIA from the blog world the last few weeks because I've been hard at work in my classroom!  Nearly everything is ready to go now.  We had a staggered start last Wednesday & Thursday with everyone coming on Friday.  We begin our normal rotation schedule tomorrow.  

I am (still!) very excited for this year.  I have great co-workers and my teammates are awesome!  My kids all seem to be eager to learn and that makes this job even better.  Because of scheduling conflicts, I'm now teaching 1 unit of math and 4 units of social studies.  My team has about 120 kids and they are the "enrichment team."  We have been challenged by their parents and our principal to really push them to keep them growing and interested in school.  We'll be doing a lot of projects and I have lots of ideas for them!

I hope to be back to blogging more this week now that I feel more "settled."


A Tour of My Classroom



Library Corner:  Content Area & current event books are on display while books are organized by subject in baskets on the shelves.  The Cranium Club board will be in action starting next week.

from the back of the classroom

from the back corner of the room


looking to the back from just inside the door


doorway with framed motivational signs--inspired by Pinterest!

"no name" claim board--inspired by Pinterest!

Assignment Board:  blocks created with bulletin board boarder.  I added magnets to the back so it is adjustable.  The subjects' stars match our color coded folders & notebooks.

my corner-I use the blue organizer on the table to prep my supplies weekly (each box is a day)  The colored cart in front of my desk is where I keep extra paper for my students.

To display student work, I'll hang different assignments on this board.  I will organize them by what makes it "model" work:  neatness, completeness, great effort, content knowledge, etc.  The table is where students turn in work and have access to staplers.
This is my content wall.  I printed the vocabulary on sentence strips.  This wall will change with each unit.

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Busy!

I know it's been awhile since I posted but I've been hard at work in my classroom!  Everything is almost done so look for pictures as soon as I finish my bulletin boards later this week.  I have new staff orientation, a professional development day, and student orientation this week.  AND I just found out that I'm teaching social studies now because of scheduling conflicts with my team.  I'm excited about it but I'm bummed because I had some really cool ideas for math.

Back to work!
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Interactive Math Notebook Setup

I've been working on setting up my Interactive Math Notebooks tonight.  If you're interested in utilizing this as a learning resource in your classroom, I highly recommend going to Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes to read her series on math notebooks.  I also watched this great video on YouTube that helped me visualize the concepts I'd been reading about.  It also explains how to attach double sided handouts, more pages, etc.

The Plan!

I'm meeting with my math team next week and they want to hear more about my ideas for the Interactive Math Notebook.  I've read a lot about them this summer and done a lot of thinking about how I want to implement them in my classroom.  I know I'm definitely using this approach for math; I'm considering it for science as well.  The general idea of the interactive notebook is that teachers can "give" information to students on the right side (right brain) and then students process/practice/explain/reflect/and more on the left side (left brain).  The right side is where students keep all of their handouts but they use the left side for vocabulary models and graphic organizers.  Students can get creative with left side; it appeals to their different styles of learning.  If this seems confusing, watch the YouTube video!  

I'm planning on using 3 subject spiral notebooks.  The first 2 subjects are for the right side/left side notebooking while the final subject will be for their warmups.  I'm going to let my students decorate their covers however they want so that they take more ownership of their interactive notebooks.  The first few pages will be designated for the Table of Contents.  Pages are numbered as a set.  The left page is #L and the right page is #R.  Each page must also have a title and date at the top.  If students are absent, they are responsible for obtaining whatever they need for the right side of their journal and then adding something to the left side.  

I've created a set of guidelines for students which they must keep in their journals for reference.  You can download this for free from my Teacher's Notebook Shop by clicking on the picture.



After the guidelines, students must paste in the grading guidelines.  PS-They are only allowed to use GLUE STICKS for pasting things in their notebooks......NO LIQUID GLUE!  *This can also be downloaded for free by clicking on the picture.

The left side of the journal will often have a Frayer vocabulary model.  I'll be using this when a key word is introduced.  You can download this 2 per page form from my Teacher's Notebook Shop for 50 cents by clicking on the picture.

I've never used an Interactive Notebook before so I'm sure I'll be making changes and getting more ideas as I go.  I do have some concerns.  One of my concerns deals with new students.  How do you catch a new student up with this model of teaching and learning?  I also don't know if I'm going to have a document camera in my classroom.  It is extremely important to model with these and I don't know how else to do this quickly and easily.


Your Turn

Have you ever used Interactive Notebooks in your classroom?  How might you deal with my concerns?  What are your concerns?



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Sunday, August 5, 2012

What's Going On?

I'm joining up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her "Currently in August" linky.  

Busy!

I keep seeing a lot of bloggers saying they start back with kids this week!  Crazy!  One of my friends starts with staff workdays this Friday.  Teachers in my home district start back next week and then kids come the week after.  I have my new staff orientation the 3rd week of August and then don't start with kids until the following week.  


This week is "fair week."  I grew up in 4-H.  I was in the 4-H Band, was the president of the Food & Fashion Board, and did cooking projects.  I never showed animals but the fair was always the culmination of the busy 4-H summer.  Even though I'm not directly involved in 4-H anymore, I still enjoy spending time at the fair watching 4-H Band concerts, animal shows, browsing the 4-H Center, and of course, eating!  I don't anticipate doing a lot for school this week because of the fair.  If I get the "magic" email saying I can get into my room, I'll probably spend a couple of days working at school.


I've been trying to work on some curriculum related things for school but I feel like I'm stuck.  I have copies of the curriculum maps but they're not very detailed; it's proving to be frustrating as I've never taught 5th grade before.  I need to talk to my colleagues before I'm really able to continue with much more.  In the mean time, I'm focusing on organizational types of tasks.

So when do you start back with kids?  What are you working on?

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Friday, August 3, 2012

Parent Communication Binder & STUFF

Too Much Stuff!

After what seems like a million years of waiting to have my own classroom, I had accumulated quite the collection of educational junk materials!  Between seeing things on clearance, teachers retiring, and going crazy waiting for my "own" class, I just kept getting more and more "stuff."  It was all in plastic tubs in my basement while I patiently waited for a full-time position.  I didn't realize just how much there was until I found out I had this 5th grade job.  I ventured to the basement to start the great sort and it took quite awhile!  I'm proud to say it's all organized now.  I have put the things from teaching language arts, social studies, and primary grades in other tubs to be stored back in their corner in case I ever return to teaching those subjects or grades.  Now I have a new pile!  It's all the stuff that needs to be transported to my new classroom.  I'm supposed to be able to get in next week and I'm extremely excited to do so!  

All of those clear shoe box tubs are full of the many supplies I've gotten at Staples during their penny sales!  If you don't check their weekly ad to see what they have leading up to school, you're losing out!  PS-Do you see the box for that 10 drawer cart?  I got that at Sam's Club for $25.  I saw the same cart at Michael's yesterday for $60!  Check out your local Sam's to see if they still have it for that bargain price!  Those 3-packs of Puffs are only $3.99 at Staples and Target.  I've stocked up for at home, too!

Parent Communication Binder


I worked on creating my forms for my parent communication binder today.  In my New {School} Year Resolutions post, I mentioned that I had some ideas for organizing contact information.  Inspired by Pinterest, this is what I have in mind for my Parent Communication Binder:
  1. Parents will fill out a front & back form at the beginning of the year.  This will allow me to have an easy reference with names of family members, best way and time to contact, medical/allergy information in addition to how the parents feel their child perceives school, their strengths & weaknesses, and other information vital to success.
  2. After this form, I will have a copy of the contact log.  This will allow me to quickly record who I've contacted, when, and how.  It also has a big box for recording the reason for the contact and the parent's response.  At the top of this page, I've made a little box for checking off positive contacts for 1st and 2nd semester.  I think it's incredibly important for parents to hear from their child's teacher when they've done well with something and not just when they're in trouble!  I want to do this more than just twice in the school year but no less than 1 time per semester.  This little checkbox will help me meet this goal!
  3. After the 2 pages, I'm putting a clear page protector for each student.  I will use this to store notes from home, copies of discipline referrals, IEP meeting invites, printed emails, etc.
Each student will have their own section in my binder where everything will be kept together for easy reference.  Hopefully I won't have to print extra copies of the contact log because I'm sure all of my students will be angels :-)  I'm going to keep this all in one of these pretty binders I got from Staples (super cheap...don't remember the exact price).

This 3 page packet is available as a PDF at my Teacher's Notebook shop for 75 cents!  If you'd like a copy for free, comment and tell me how you think this would help you in your classroom this year (please include your email address).  I'll give a free copy to the first 2 followers to comment!
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Testing!

Remember when I said I couldn't commit to certain things? Well, I have a new blog design :)  Thanks to http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/, I have a new background!  This is just a test post to make sure all my colors are okay and my signature shows up!
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Checking Things Off of the To-Do List!

I've been busy today "creating" things for my classroom!  

These are my turn-in bins for classwork, homework, and notes from home.  I got the plastic tubs from Target out of the Dollar Spot butttttttttttt they were $2.50 each.  I wanted to do yellow letters originally because our school colors are purple and yellow but I couldn't find yellow stickers at JoAnn's.  It's hard to see in the picture but I used yellow permanent marker to put polka dots on and outline the letters.
I also got these cute cardboard tubs out of the Dollar Spot at Target and printed my own labels.  I used Mod Podge to attach the labels to the boxes.  I'll be using these to keep my pencils organized as I quickly found that pencils are the bane of many teachers' existence!  I think I had a pretty good system for pencil management last year with my 2nd graders.  I didn't let the kids sharpen their own pencil unless they had a personal sharpener in their desk.  I made sure that I had at least 20 sharpened pencils each morning.  In order to get a new pencil, kids either had to put a dull pencil in the "unsharpened" cup or throw away a pencil that was too short to write with.  They weren't allowed to keep more than 3 pencils at their desk or else I dubbed them "pencil hoarders!"  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to approach this with my 5th graders but it will definitely be a similar system.
The "no name" clothespin board has been floating around Pinterest.  This is my version.  I'm not super crazy about it.  I think it might be too much yellow.  I might add some white polka dots or something to help break it up.  This was a pretty simple and cheap project.  It cost about $3 or $4 in supplies from JoAnn's.   (BTW, I buy gift cards to JoAnn's and Staples at Giant Eagle to earn Fuel Perks!)
The last thing I did today was create these cute printables based some ideas I got from Pinterest.  I use Power Point to create PDF files as it is much more user friendly than Word.  The files are going to be posted in my Teacher's Notebook store for free!  I bought the black frames from the dollar store.  I think this will help add uniformity to my classroom.
I'm also working on a cute incentive for class discussions.  I bought glow bracelets at the dollar store (5/$1) and I'm going to put little flags on them that say "What a Bright Idea!  Thanks for Sharing!"  I also want to make an organizer out of a cereal box for putting my absent folders in but I didn't have a cereal box like I thought I did!  What have you been working on?



Monday, July 30, 2012

New {School} Year Resolutions!


Amanda at Teaching Maddeness is hosting a Linky Party to discuss our resolutions for the new school year. I joined thanks to Hilary at Fifth Grade Fancy!  *BONUS!  She is celebrating 100 followers and doing 2 giveaways.  You should totally go follow her blog now and enter!*

Now back to those resolutions...

Resolution #1:  DOCUMENT! I know I do a good job at keeping materials and supplies organized in my classroom.  I keep my classroom looking organized but I feel like I don't do a good job at organizing my documentation for parent communication & interventions.  I have several ideas for making a binder just for these purposes and I really want to commit to doing a better job in this area.

Resolution #2:  COMMIT!  I'm terrible about deciding I don't like the way something is working or looking after a few weeks.  This goes for my lesson plans, desk arrangement, newsletters, and more!  I waste so much time changing things around.  I need to be better about deciding to at least stick to it for a full quarter or semester!

Resolution #3:  TAKE PICTURES!  I have this fancy new camera I got for Christmas and I rarely use it for the sole fact that I just don't think "oh, this would be a great thing to take a picture of!"  I don't have any pictures of just my classroom from last year.  Sure, you can see it in the background of the 2 or 3 occasions I remembered to take pictures of but I didn't take a picture of my reading corner, my desk organization, or desk arrangement. I also need to do a better job of taking good pictures of student work.  Most of these pictures are from my cell phone because I didn't think about taking my camera to school.

Resolution #4:  BLOG!  I want to write for my blog at least 3 times a week.  I know it will help me do a better job of documenting what I've done and force me to remember to take pictures.  It won't necessarily help me commit to things because reading blogs is part of what makes me want to change things around! I'm planning on doing interactive student notebooks for math and possibly science so follow my blog for more on those!

So what are your resolutions?  Leave a comment, join up, and let me know!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

7 Habits

I think it is SUPER important to set high expectations at the beginning of the year.  Students need to know that you expect the world of them and that you have faith in them!  I'm going to be doing this "7 Habits of Highly Effective Students" presentation at the beginning of the year.  If it works out to do it during orientation when I'll have parents, I might do it then so that they can benefit from the message.

This presentation will help let your students know that you don't care about what happened in the past; you believe that they can be successful THIS year if they put their mind to it!  I based the Power Point presentation off of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits and I believe that it applies to us teachers, too!  One of the habits is beginning with the end in mind...totally applies to assessment!  Another habit is being proactive...this is so important as a teacher.  Keep yourself organized to prevent messes in the future!

Click the picture below to purchase this presentation from my Teacher's Notebook Shop.  It is on sale through Monday for $2.40.  As a reminder, ALL items in my shop are on sale for 20% this weekend in celebration of my new blog!  I've also added my science Cranium Club cards.  Check it out!



Do you want this 7 Habits presentation for free? The first 3 people to comment with their email address will get it for FREE!

"To Do" Linky Party

Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies
Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies started a linky party to share your "to do" list for things to accomplish before the start of the school year.  I know that I have a lot of things to get done; the scribbled list on the yellow legal pad on my kitchen counter is a constant reminder of that!

1) Settle on a design for my plan book.  I HATE the lesson plan books you can buy in a store.  It took me until November to come up with a plan I liked last year and it won't work for me this year because of changing grades and teaching multiple sections of only 2 subjects.  Bummer!
2) Get my parent communication binder in order
3) Make my "no name" claim board (as seen on Pinterest!).
4) Plan lessons for math & science!  I'm doing interactive notebooks for both subjects.
5)  Meet my colleagues!
6) Move into my classroom!
7) Finish my "back to school" activities for the first few days.  We'll be doing a split start where the first half of the alphabet comes on the 29th and the second half comes on the 30th.  I won't have all of my students together until August 31st.
8) Make my Class Handbook
9) Find more time to spend poolside with my Kindle!
10) Watch the Olympics!

I have a lot more to get done than these 10 things but this is a start :-).
What do you need to get done?  Join in and share!


First Day Jitters Blog Hop




Ashley at Fierce in Fourth started a blog hop to share 3 "first day jitters."  As I am starting a new year in a new district and new building, I definitely have some jitters!

1) I'm moving up from 2nd grade to 5th grade.  I'm pretty sure most of the kids are going to be as tall, if not taller, than I am!  This is a huge change in curriculum and the state is changing over to using Common Core for math and ELA in addition to new standards for social studies  and science.  I have so many ideas that I'm not sure where to start!

2) I don't know anyone in my building yet except the principal!  Is my teaching team going to like me?!? Are they going to care about my ideas?!?

3) I hate not having a plan.  I wish I could meet with my team NOW and find out what they do for reward systems, homework policies, etc.  It would really help me with all of my planning.

Do you have any advice for me?  Link up and share your jitters!

Giveaways

#1)  Check my post below for a giveaway!  I've only given away 1 copy of my math All About Me Poster instructions and I'm prepared to give out 2 more.  Just comment on that post & tell me how you would use it in your classroom.

#2)  I want to do a bigger giveaway but I'm going to wait until I hit 50 followers.  I'm so excited that I already have 10 followers after just a few days.  Let's see if I can get to 50 before my students come for orientation on August 23rd...invite all of your friends!

#3)  I was inspired to do a giveaway like this because of a new follower I have!  Kathy at Kathy's Coordinated Class invited me to check out her blog and she's doing a giveaway for a $20 TpT gift card in celebration of reaching 50 followers.  Go follow her blog and enter for a chance to win!

Kathys Coordinated Class

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Celebration!


First item of business, you can now follow my blog through email by signing up with Feedburner on the right sidebar.  I think this is the easiest way to follow blogs; it helps me keep track of what I have and haven't read.  If there is something I want to save for future reference, I keep it in my inbox until I have time to Pin It!

 I'm slowing getting the hang of things with my new blog!  In celebration of starting a blog and updating my Teacher's Notebook shop, I'm having a sale beginning now and going through Monday!  I only have 10 items listed at this moment but there will be more posted this weekend.  Consider this a preview of the great things to come!

One of the things you have to check out is my newest item.
I'll be having my math students complete this assignment for the first week of school.  It could be applied to several grade levels as you can require your students to make it more complex by using equations rather than  simple numbers.  I got the idea from Pinterest and made it my own.  The first 3 people to comment and tell me how they'd like to use this in their classroom get this for free!

Start Your Own Shop!

Teacher's Notebook is a great tool for teachers to share and find resources.  I highly recommend starting your own shop...it's better than the *other* website where you can sell your own materials because you get 100% of your sales!  You do have to pay a small, one-time set up fee but I made that back in no time!  Plus, you earn reward points!  



Awards

I'm so excited that I already have followers after just 24 hours...thank you for keeping motivated to stay with this! I've quickly learned that part of blogging is recognizing fellow bloggers for good work and promoting each other's blogs. I've been awarded two awards by three followers...I've procrastinated posting this entry because both awards "require" you to award it to 15 other blogs. I'm struggling to find blogs which haven't already received this award but do not fear! I will definitely be sharing my finds in the future so stay tuned ;-)

First up...the "One Lovely Blog Award!" I was awarded this by K is for Kinderriffic and Working 5 to 9


For receiving this award I have to....
1. Follow the person who gave me the award.
2. Link back to the person that gave me the award.
3. Pass to 15 new bloggers and let them know they have received the award.....as I said before, this is proving to be quite the challenge. I will pass it on to a deserving blog sometime in the near future!

Next is the "Versatile Blogger Award" from Monica at Classroom Capers. 


Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you
2. Include a link to their blog
3. Include the award image in your post
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award....once again, I'll pass this award onto a blogger who hasn't yet received it when I find someone!
6. When nominating, include a link to their blog
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.

So here are my 7 random facts:

#1:  I basically despise dramatic movies unless I'm watching them while wide awake.  I have the hardest time staying awake for any movie/TV show that doesn't make me laugh!  My favorite TV show was Desperate Housewives but it's all gone now :(  I got hooked on Army Wives through Netflix so it's my new favorite!

#2:  If I had to pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be boneless buffalo wings with ranch!  I LOVE spicy food!

#3:  When I was younger, I aspired to be a teacher for the sole fact that I wanted my very own Judy clock to play with whenever I wanted!

#4:  I am an Ohio State fan but my "fan" doesn't even begin to describe my husband.  I have entire room in my house dedicated to Ohio State memorabilia!  In addition to cheering for the Buckeyes, I really enjoy going to baseball games.  We are fans of the Cleveland Indians and their local Triple A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

#5:  Last winter, I decided I could be an "extreme couponer!"  While I haven't achieved the same levels of savings as what they depict on TLC, I have figured out how to save a decent amount of money!  It's like a game for me when I go to the grocery store!

#6:  I had never been to a casino before October 2011 and now I'm hooked!  They built a new one less than 30 minutes from our house and we are frequent visitors!  I can't get enough of the thrill of winning!

#7:  Sometimes I wonder if I have adult onset ADD...ever since beginning my teaching career, I have the hardest time staying focused on one activity because my mind is always bustling with activity and ideas!


That's all for now!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

New Bloggers Blog Hop

Got this from one of my favorite blogs from when I was teaching 2nd grade!  http://www.bainbridgeclass.blogspot.com/


1.)  What state are you in?
Ohio

2.)  What is your current teaching position?
I was just hired to teach math and science in 5th grade at a middle school.

3.)  What is your teaching experience??
I subbed from spring 2009 until November 2010 when I started a long term sub job in 2nd grade that led into a full time job for 2011-2012.

4.)  When did you start blogging?
today!

5.)  Share some blogging tips or a resource.
As you may guess from the name of my blog, get INSPIRED!  Follow others, use Pinterest, and collaborate to get ideas!


This is a Blog Hop!

Blank Slate

I got in to see my new classroom last week. There is a TON of built in storage and I'm very thankful for that! My color scheme is going to be black and white with pops of bright colors. Our school colors are purple and yellow so I'm going to be working on including those colors too. I can't get in until next week or the week after to "move in" but here is a preview of what I have to work with. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Cranium Club

I've seen some things on Pinterest (check it out!) about "Cranium Club."  After doing some more research, I've decided this would be an awesome thing to implement in my classroom to help motivate my students to learn more.

What is it?

Cranium Club is a series of questions from different subjects.  Students must do research to find the answers to these questions and then present their findings to their teacher.  There are typically levels to achieve as students answer more questions.  All teachers do it a little differently and it can be adapted to meet the needs of your classroom.  

How am I implementing it?

Because I only will be teaching math and science, and we have a standardized test to prepare for, I will have 3 subjects:  math, science, and general knowledge.  I'm using other people's lists of questions as inspiration but I'm really going to be creating all of my own questions which are more aligned to the standards in Ohio (we are using the Common Core for math for the first time this year).  I'm currently working on science and I'm making super cute cards (in our school colors) which will be organized on a ring.  *I will be adding these to my Teacher's Notebook store upon finishing them!*  
Students will have to research answers on their own time at home or after finishing their responsibilities in my classroom.  I haven't yet decided for sure how I will go about getting the answers from my students.  I'm thinking about having them keep a Cranium Club notebook or maybe giving them answer sheets to turn in.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
Each student will have a record sheet where we will color in the corresponding square when they correctly answer a question.  I'm planning on having levels of achievement from bronze clear to double diamond.  Students will be recognized with a postcard home when they achieve a new level as well as a colored brain on our Cranium Club board in the classroom.  At the end of the year, they'll get a certificate and I'm still trying to come up with the incentive for achieving the highest level possible.  I don't know if we'll do an ice cream party, pizza party, guest speaker...still looking for ideas!

So have you ever done this in your classroom or are you planning on trying it this year?  Do you have any ideas to share with me?  I'd love to hear from you!  

Finally Jumping In!

Hello...welcome to my first attempt at a blog!  I'm a second year teacher making the move from 2nd to 5th grade and changing districts this year.  I got a lot of inspiration for teaching 2nd grade from blogs but I'm struggling to find many blogs about teaching 5th grade...or any intermediate grade for that matter!  Apparently it is more popular to blog about the primary grades!


I'd like to use my blog as a platform to share some of my ideas but also to get feedback from others.  Please feel free to comment on my posts to ask questions, give feedback, or share your own ideas.  You'll find a lot of what I talk about in my Teacher's Notebook store, http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/buckeyesnyder.  I'll be working hard to add more to this in the coming months.

A Little Bit About Me...

I'm a graduate of The Ohio State University and Western Governors University (feel free to contact me with questions about WGU...a wonderful graduate program!).  I'm teaching 5th grade math and science in a fairly large district in central Ohio after making the move from a smaller district.  Because each group of students is different, I don't believe in using only materials that someone else has created; I think I should pick and choose in addition to modifying existing and creating my own materials.  These are the types of things you'll find in my Teacher's Notebook shop.