My Teacher's Appreciation

This has been an interesting teacher's appreciation week this year.

First, I was bitter.  Here in Massachusetts, it's MCAS time again, and my fourth graders were scheduled to have their tests during Teacher Appreciation Week.  I whined to my husband, "So all those catered lunches they've planned for us?  Mr. E. and I will get there after everyone else and we'll be scraping together whatever's left."  Oh boo hoo, right?

Then I got sick and I had to call out on Monday morning.  Again, I was mad.  "I'm missing all the good stuff they had planned for me!!"  I rested, had lots of tea and juice, but felt worse instead of better.  That afternoon I dropped off the MCAS review materials I spent all weekend creating because I was pretty sure I'd have to be out Tuesday too and I was not about to have all that work go to waste.

By Tuesday night, I was no longer whining about missing catered lunches.  I'd had zero appetite since Saturday night anyway, and now their MCAS test was tomorrow.  Do I go in with a fever of 101.7?  Do I...miss the MCAS?  I couldn't imagine this.  Sure, Mrs. L. missed it last year, but she gave birth the day before so it was acceptable.  I asked some of my teacher friends in the blogging world what I should do, and although they all said, "stay home," I didn't want to.  One even admitted that the year she had to be out, many of her kids blew it off and finished in 20 minutes.  Math was a HUGE focus this year in our district, for our grade.  We worked so hard this year to raise our math scores after the hit they took when we adopted a new program last year.  I was in tears the night before when I decided I had to make that phone call.

I wasn't able to stay awake very much this past week, but while I was awake, I was on the teacher's forums and blogs.  And I wasn't the only one having a difficult week.  I read stories about teachers whose principals forgot it was this week, who laid people off this week, and whose PTOs actively decided to do nothing for the teachers this week.  It made me realize that although it felt unfair that it had to be MCAS week, and then it felt unfair that I couldn't be there to receive it, at least I was actually appreciated! And even more special was the fact that some of these teachers enduring a lack of appreciation were spreading the joy that it wouldn't seem that they'd have.  They were showing their appreciation for OTHER teachers!  Calling them up and thanking them for making them better teachers.  It really changed my perspective. I was being pretty shallow up there in paragraph 2.  And at this point, I couldn't care less about getting trinkets.  I just wanted to get back to school and check in with my class and help them feel a sense of normalcy before their second session on Friday. 

After seeing the doctor on Wednesday and getting a handful of prescriptions, she told me to stay home at least until Friday.  And although most of my symptoms are in check and my fever's gone, I am still bone tired (which might be the medications, not the virus).  So I continued to rest up.  Still worrying about how it went yesterday, how my principal (or parents, or anyone) perceives my 4 day absence during MCAS, and how the kids are going to react tomorrow when I get there and basically have to say, "Sure I missed you all, but right now let's take this test."  

Then around 7 p.m. I got a phone call.

It was Mrs. K.

Mrs. K. is the reading specialist at my school.  When I was a first year teacher there, we had common planning time built into our schedule, and I knew right away that she was the nicest lady I would ever meet.  Just last week one of my students felt safe going to her to talk about a "girl issue" that I would have been embarrassed to even talk to my mom about at that age.  Mrs. K. always tells me that I'm an amazing teacher.  She told my mom that when I introduced them at a school event.  I asked her to read a passage at my wedding because she's always been an inspiration to me. 

Mrs. K. was just calling this evening to ask if I needed anything.

I told her I was finally on the mend now, but thank you so much.  She said she was worried because I've never been out this long.  Then she told me that the kids were fine yesterday; she proctored the MCAS for them.

I nearly cried with relief.  I had no idea my principal had moved people around.  Mrs. K. reassured me she's proctored before; she could practically recite the directions from memory.  She talked to the kids before the test, gave them a little time to relax before it and then they got right to work.  And they worked hard.  She told me if I needed to be out again tomorrow don't worry, she'd proctor that session too so to take care of myself.  I didn't think I was ever going to find out for sure what happened on Wednesday (well, maybe in October when we got the results).  It was such an amazing surprise to find out that it had been Mrs. K. in charge on MCAS day!  And the fact that she didn't even wait until I got back to put my mind at ease was amazing. 

I work with an amazing group of teachers, but Mrs. K. is the most inspiring person I know because she is the most giving person I know.  And she will definitely be getting her favorite treat (blueberry muffin) from Duncan Donuts tomorrow.  Happy Teacher's Appreciation Week, Mrs. K!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

I hope you are being "treated" this week.  :)  My school's PTO plans a whole week of edibles, trinkets, student made gifts, and teacher's lunchroom decorations.  Unfortunately, I'm missing out on half of it because I have the mother of all flus.  :(  However, after hearing from teachers around the country who have been in to work this week, and not all of them have been acknowledged, it makes me feel lucky.  At least I AM appreciated, even if I'm not there to enjoy a catered lunch. 

So I started thinking about you, my readers.  You probably already know about the Teacher's Pay Teacher's sale that started yesterday and will continue through today (as long as you use promo code TAD13 at checkout).  But I decided to do one better.  I wanted to show my appreciation for you this week by directing you to some of my freebies!  It's time to really treat yourself.  :)  These items will be free through Mother's Day, so I hope you find something you enjoy.

Bathroom Pass Printouts

Field Trip Permission Slip

Good Hygiene Hand Washing Reminder Poster

 

New Student Orientation Preparation

 

Using One Half as a Benchmark Fraction Coloring Page

Student Catch Up Folder Cover

Nut and Peanut Free Poster

Enjoy!

Celebrating Teacher's Appreciation Week with a Sale!

It's that time again!  Teacher's Appreciation Week starts tomorrow, and to celebrate, Teachers Pay Teachers is having another site-wide sale!  So if you have some items sitting in your wish list, go check it out on May 7 & 8 and treat yourself. 

 

 

Those of us over at All Things Upper Elementary will be throwing a sale to coincide with the site's in order to give you 28% off nearly all of our products (just remember to use promo code TAD13 at checkout).

If you're looking forward to stocking up while the prices are low, check out some end of the year activities I like to use with my class.  Just think, now that state testing is over (or nearly over) you can focus on:

1.  Activities that integrate art and creativity:

Tessellation Lesson Plans

Geometry Mini Unit 3 Dimensional Figures

2.  Science and Social Studies (I feel like they're put on the back burner as math and reading tests approach):

Immigration Lesson Plans Companion Sheets

States of Matter Mini Unit

3.  Fun review games to keep skills fresh:

Fraction of a Set Task Cards Bundle of 3

Equivalent Fractions Activities 3 in One Bundle

Long Division Games Bundle

4.  End of the year activities:

End of the School Year Kids Clean Up Task Cards

I hope you find some great resources during the sale!  Besides resources geared specifically for this time of year, do you already have other planned purchases in your wish list?  Share your favorite finds in the comments below.

In addition to the huge sale, I wanted to let you know about my blogging buddy Jamie's (AKA Miss Math Dork) math link-up.  Not only can you find math products (grades k-12) just in time for the sale, but half of the items in this linky party are FREE.  So enjoy!

Teachers For Boston Marathon Fundraiser Update

For everyone who donated to the Teachers for Boston fundraising effort for the Boston Marathon bombing, thank you.

So far, we have raised over $5,000!  The generosity of teachers is an overwhelming thing.  As a MA resident, thank you to everyone for helping to heal my city.  

If there's anyone reading who did not donate but is interested, there is still time before this fundraiser ends.  You can still buy the K-2 or 3-5 bundle for $20 (we're talking about $180 worth of products here) from now until Wednesday, 5/10.  I donated one of my fraction of a set task cards activity as well as a great little classroom management tool.

For anyone who donated through different means, but is interested in winning a free copy of one of these products, Michaela Almeida (the fundraiser organizer) will donate the $40 to pay for one of each of these products, and give them away to 2 people.  Go ahead over to her blog for the details.  You have from Sunday 5/5 to Wednesday 5/10.

Fraction Unit Wrap-Up: Grade 4 Math in Focus Chapter 6

As I mentioned before, I needed to teach my fourth graders the third grade chapter on fractions this year.  Since it wasn't in the third grade standards, my district decided to move it up to fourth.  However, it worked out just fine, because there was a lot of overlap.  And I actually really enjoyed laying the groundwork for improper fractions and mixed numbers.  I could be sure that the concept of what fractions really are was fresh in their mind, as was finding equivalent fractions.  So I spent a week just on ways to represent a half before we moved on.

Next I asked students to refer back to the equivalent fractions they found when using the plastic fraction bar manipulatives.  I explained that when two different fractions, such as one yellow bar and 4 purple bars equal the same amount, they are called equal, or equivalent.  You can read about this in my equivalent fractions post or check out my fraction activities bundle preview.

Next, I had students write down a fraction that was equal to 1/3 and a fraction that was equal to 1/4 on two separate sticky notes.  I asked them to stick them anywhere on the board, and try to trick me.  "Pretend I'M the one who has to take this quiz!  I need to sort them into the correct boxes." 

Once this was done, I had them turn and talk with a partner about how they thought I figured it out so quickly.  The results went onto an anchor chart, "How Can You Tell if a Fraction is Equivalent to 1/3 or 1/4?"

Once they had a few different ways to explain the algorithm, they were ready for lots of practice using it.  And after another week of practice finding equivalent fractions and simplest form, (whether they practiced it in the context of adding, subtracting, comparing or ordering fractions with unlike denominators, finding equivalents and simplest form was the pervasive skill) I gave them their "third grade test" (Math in Focus, grade 3, chapter 14 test).  And I am proud to say NOT ONE STUDENT thought that 1/4 + 2/8 = 3/12.  They were so comfortable with the concept of denominators being a different fraction altogether that the thought did not even cross their minds.  Not every single kid found the equivalent correctly, and many of them didn't pay attention to the direction to "write your answer in simplest form," but those were learning lessons for another day (I sat that half of the class down and showed them "the most popular wrong answers" and lots of them said "hey, that's what I wrote......ohhhhhhh!").  

It was time to move on to the fourth grade unit. Next time I'll write about improper fractions and mixed numbers.