January 2016

Thank you for stopping by!

Back in November, my students started working on their reading fair projects. This is the second year my teammate and I have done this fair. Last year my students enjoyed this project and this year was no different. This year, some of my students couldn't wait to get started.

In my hope to build a community of readers, this project is intended to get students engaged in reading and to also get others interested in the book they are reading. Overall I think this is my favorite part of the year. As my students are working in and out of class on their project I anticipate the final product.

This project was also a great way to show what my students had learned in regards to fiction reading and everything they were taught during the first semester. In this project they has to include:
~A description of the main characters
~The setting
~Tone/Mood
~Point of view
~Problem
~Solution
~Plot summary
~Authour's purpose

These are a few projects I snapped a picture of:

To get the fifth grader excited about the project they will be doing next year, we had them be the judges. They were given a scoring sheet and were ask to look at creativity, uses of materials, and overall quality of the project.

And the winner is....

All students also when presenting their book were to give a book talk. We asked them to be as natural as possible because they were the ones that read the book, their job was to get other to want to read the book too. To help them prepare for the presentation we gave an outline of what their book talk needed to include. Below is an example format they followed.

Click here for a free copy

Remember reading is important and making it fun has to be too!!!!

It has been a while since I have linked up with #2getherwearebetter, but I am happy to be back in the grove for 2016

Happy New Year!!!!! I hope everyone has had an exciting 2015 and is ready to have an even better 2016. I know I am ready!! As the year was closing I felt that I didn't do as much as I would have like to do in some areas of my like. I consider myself a person that is driven to do better and be better, so with reflecting on 2015 and creating goals for 2016 I am sure it will help me achieve more in the new year.

My word for the year is GROW. I started on my TpT journey and blogging journey two years ago because I wanted to share with all you amazing teachers out there the things I was doing in my classroom. It has been a slow start with finding the time and finding my creative view. So, this is the read I want to really GROW and connect with other teachers more than I have before. To start, I am in the process of getting my blog redesigned so be on the lookout come April! I can't wait!!!!

I work with students in an area that in not the best. When they go home, there may not be a parent home because they are working. This means that they don't always have someone to ask them how their day was, help them with their homework, or even just to spend time with. I want to make sure that I motivate them to be the best and do their best in and outside of the classroom. They don't always see the end goal but I want to motivate them to see and achieve everything. I also don't want to forget to celebrate them for all their successes. I currently already have a start student for each week and I also want to do more. I am planning on having mini celebrations by doing lunch with the teacher for those students.

My brand Teaching Little Smarties is still new. I have been on TpT and blogging for the past two years and slowly I have been getting my name out there with social media. I love, love, love Instagram and that is where I have displayed all my classroom pictures. I want to continue to grow my business and hopefully, make it to the Teachers Pay Teachers Conference in Flordia this year (also looking for any roommates LOL :)!!!!!). I want to connect with more teachers in the social media world because you all have some many ideas and I also want to share my ideas with you too. I feel that social media has made me a better teachers because I have found people to follow that have the same beliefs as me. Setting aside time and scheduling in my planner when I am going to blog and put out new content in my TpT store is also a starting place. ***You have to remember that follows don't equal greatness*** MUST ENGAGE FOLLOW!!!

I am so guilty of bringing work home way too much. In 2016, I am setting time aside for family even if it is just watching a movie together. Leaving school at school twice a week is a must. One day during the week and one day on the weekend will be strictly FAMILY!!! I know my children will love this because they won't have to watch me grading papers every day LOL!!! I want to enjoy my children while they are young because my oldest goes to middle school next school year and it will be rare that she will want to spend time with me and her sisters :(.

I hope you all stick with me on my journey in 2016!!