Etch 'n Sketch Reflections

That pretty much sums it up. As I sit here typing this, I have that hazy feeling of, "Wait, Monday was only a few days ago...why can't I remember it?" This was just one of those weeks that was chock-full of stuff. But even though I can't remember Monday, I know it was a good day. Because if it was a bad day, I would know. Okay, I shook off some of the cobwebs , and now I am remembering Monday (actually I cheated and looked at my lesson plans). My 7th graders this week started our next unit on extreme weather, climate change, and human impacts. We took a look at one of the standards and broke it down into a more student-friendly language so that we can relate to it more. I like doing this with the class and then writing the standards & translations next to each other on the window so that the students can see the scientific terminology along with the personal meanings. We then discussed what we know about climate change and then filled in some of the gaps with gui...

We've once again reached that point in the year as the holiday season begins when we turn out thoughts toward that which we are thankful. It is a time, even when things may seem difficult, we can focus on the positives (as well as try to look for how the challenges can help us grow). So, as I think about my life right now, I know that there are many positives and challenges that I can reflect on and be thankful for. I am thankful for the teaching position that I have in a school district that I love to be in. I have always felt welcomed in Sheboygan Falls, and I think my colleagues are some of the best around. I am grateful for my former 3rd grade teammates and the friendships I made at the elementary school, but I am also incredibly thankful for the welcome I received upon my move to the middle school. My partners in the science department and 7th/8th grade teams have been so helpful during my transition to middle school. Additionally, I am thankful to my administrators who saw t...

I think this might be the earliest blog post I've gotten in for this school year! Usually I blog around 9 or 10 at night after I've finished up my prep work for the following day. Because the life of a teacher usually consists of taking work home (especially for me this year). I know (or hope, at least) that as I get more experienced with the 7th and 8th grade curricula after this year, my nights won't be filled with as much prep work. But since everything is new this year, I know that I have extra learning to do on top of the daily lesson presentations. That's why my evening routine is typically get home, make dinner, do family stuff, and then settle in for prep work. Tonight, however, will be different--because tonight there is a Packer game, and I want to enjoy it :-)  And the work my students have been doing has allowed for this opportunity. The 7th grade students have been learning about plate tectonics and plate boundaries. We've been utilizing a variety of r...

Well, my first quarter as a middle school teacher is in the books, and it feels good! I've definitely learned a lot over these past several weeks about the middle school lifestyle. I've learned how to balance the lifestyle of a new teacher all over again, trying to lesson plan for a new set of standards. I've also learned how to juggle grading for 75 kids rather than just 20 (that one took me longer to catch on to, but it did feel good to have all the grading for the quarter done and posted). And, of course, I've learned A LOT about my kids! Strengths and struggles, behavior tendencies, who doesn't work well with who, which students just need gentle reminders and which ones need a firm approach. Going into second quarter, I definitely know what techniques I want to repeat and which ones can be altered or dropped. Bring on the next nine weeks! Both the 7th and 8th grade classes have switched gears a bit this week. While both grades are still in our geology units, w...

After feeling like last week would never end, this week was more of a breath of fresh air (the storm did clear a bit of a path). I was able to prioritize a few things and check items off my to-do list (mainly grading), which is luckily getting shorter. Things also quieted down at home a bit, so that really helped, too! So, by the end of this weekend I am predicting to be fully caught up with grading and to have the next couple of weeks' plans sketched out. It's been a big geology week in 7th and 8th grade! The 7th graders started the week with a quiz...I thought for sure that there would be groans about having it on Monday morning, but I think they were probably actually happy that I had pushed it off from Friday so that we could get a little more review in on Friday. Overall, the class did very well on the quiz--there were only a few students who received a strong recommendation from me to make corrections. For the rest of the week, the students have been working on a resear...