I wonder if I'm alone in feeling guilty for being on sick leave? When I wasn't teaching, taking time off work to get better wasn't such an issue. I guess that as a teacher I feel guilt for not being there with my kids. I feel guilty for letting my team down, for using up school funds on CRT cover and for just not being there. In a way, it's all being compounded by the fact that I have heard (through the ever-so-helpful grapevine) that there are people at school questioning whether I'm truly ill and making comments about my commitment to my class.
This afternoon I spoke to my doctor and expressed my feelings to him. He told me that I have to put my health first, as without it, I wouldn't be able to teach anyway. So, let me know - am I alone in feeling guilty for putting my own health before my class? Do you work even though you know your body and/or mind need time to rest and recover? Am I the only one who would be sitting at home with glandular fever, not only feeling as though I should be at school, but also placing orders for graduation bears, typing up notes to parents and planning for the 2013 school year???
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Blog Hop
Are you looking for some awesome teacher bloggers on Pinterest? Check out the links below for some fantastic classroom ideas!!
More classroom pics...
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| 6A Timetable I have always had a timetable displayed in my classroom - when I first started teaching, I used to handwrite it on the whiteboard. Well, no more! I made a bunch of tags that cover all sorts of things (obviously not Bike Ed or Golden Time!) and just change the timetable as necessary throughout the week. The kids check it when they come into the classroom in the morning to make sure they have the books they need. |
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| Storeroom Sign Just a little bit of Harry Potter humour in my classroom... :D |
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| Clock Labels I found a pin ages ago on Pinterest that had clock labels similar to these. I loved it so much that I made my own version. I used the colours to help the kids see the difference between 'past' and 'to' times. I've had a lot of coworkers ask for my template - my labels are now used from Prep through to Gr 6 classrooms. Love it! |
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| Eating Time Activities Our kids have 10 minutes of eating time in the classroom before they go out for lunch. During that time, I found that the kids can get noisy and a little silly, so I introduced activities for those sessions. The Star Box is like 'Show and Tell' where the kids take a box home to fill with certain objects (eg: a family photo, your favourite book). They then share their items and tell the class the story about each item. The kids run their own Joke Competition and Positives sessions are where we share the positive leaves for our Positive Tree. The blank session is the kids' choice - sometimes it's a game of Word Tennis, sometimes Lunch Police... |
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| Noticeboard I used to hate when the kids would chase me around in the morning with notes and money, so I introduced them to my noticeboard. There is a checklist with each note written on it and a pocket for each of the notes that the kids have to return. They tick their name off the checklist and then put their note in the correct pocket. It works so well - I don't lose any notes and I can see at a glance which kids have outstanding notes! |
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| Birthday Board I modified an idea I found on Pinterest for this birthday board. I used a corkboard and hot glue gunned buttons around the border, then glued ribbon on to create each month's box. The pictures are the kids holding blackboards with the date of their birthday written on it. |
Sunday, 21 October 2012
My Classroom - 2012
So here are some pictures of my classroom - as it stood in early 2012. As I'm on sick leave at the moment, I don't have any more current photos to add, but I'll definitely be adding them when I'm well and back at work!! Almost all of the things in these photos have been moved, changed, added to, updated... Nothing really stays still in my classroom too long! |
| My Positive Tree Bunting I use the Positive Tree with my class to build connections and develop more positive relationships between the kids. I have a box of 'leaves' that I've printed on coloured paper and cut out that are available to the kids throughout the day. As they (or I!) find something positive to 'dob' on someone else for, they anonymously write a positive on a leaf and then put it in the Positives box. Once a week during eating time, I open the box and we read all the positive comments. The kids love it, I love it and best of all, it's a way for me to monitor some of the things I didn't even get time to notice happening in my classroom. |
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| The Beginnings of the Positive Tree This year's Positive Tree - the very humble beginning! After I've read the positives aloud, I staple them to the tree. It got so big I had to move it to a pinboard of its own! At the end of the year, the kids get to keep their positives. They write me positives too - it's a great ego boost :D |
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| Published Writers Wall I found a few pins on Pinterest that gave me inspiration at the beginning of the school year - one of the coolest ideas I found was using clipboards to display work. I made these by creating a template and then cutting out different coloured and patterned scrapbook paper. I chose a contrasting sheet for under the names and those I made on the computer. The kids add their own work throughout the term - they choose pieces they are most proud of to display. And when they have nothing up, I still have a pretty and colourful display! |
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| Part of the Classroom Library Another view of the Positive Tree and part of my Classroom Library. I love reading and I think it's so important to create an inviting, colourful zone for kids to read (if they choose to). I have pillows and cushions that the kids can choose to take to their tables as well. Over the years, I've found that the kids are much more inclined to read during Independent Reading sessions if they can choose where to sit! |
Howdy, wanna waltz?
So here goes, my first blog entry.
I guess I should do a bit of an intro here so that you, my dear readers, have some understanding of who I am, what I do and what my hopes are for this little corner of cyberspace that I've staked as my own. My name is Rachael but I'm better known to my students as Ms A (mainly because my surname is tricky to spell and trickier to say!). For the past 4 years, I've taught grade 6 at a fantastic primary school in Melbourne's western suburbs. I am lucky enough to work with an awesome team and an even greater bunch of kids. This year there are 23 little chickens in my class (they get used to the names I use for them - spunky monkeys, chickadees, smelly people) and I love spending my days with them.
As it's currently Term 4, my main focus is winding up the year for myself and also getting my kids as ready as possible for high school. It's so scary to think that they've only got 9 weeks of primary school ahead of them. Scarier for me because I'm currently on sick leave with glandular fever. This is possibly the worst I've ever felt in my life. No, strike that, it's DEFINITELY the worst I've ever felt. Missing out on my kids' last term is just adding to how awful I feel.
Which I guess I gets me to the question of what I hope for this little blog. I haven't really blogged as such since I was a teenager hooked on livejournal (please tell me I wasn't alone in my addiction there!) and my main aim then was to dump as much of my emotion out on the screen as possible. Today I'm older (absolutely), wiser (hopefully) and much less angst-ridden (hmmm...) so I think my main aim for this here blog would be to collect my thoughts about teaching and post any ideas that others might find useful.
A word about my teaching style and philosophy. I believe that learning is a lifelong endeavour. I love reading, I spend hours perfecting tasks and units of work and I have never taught a lesson the same way twice. My classroom is colourful (hence the title!) and I'm constantly rearranging displays and furniture. I try to make learning as interactive and engaging as possible. I don't use worksheets unless I absolutely have to, and generally speaking, I only use them when handing out projects or information that the kids need to hold onto. I'm looking forward to meeting more teachers online and learning more, more, more!
*Ms A
I guess I should do a bit of an intro here so that you, my dear readers, have some understanding of who I am, what I do and what my hopes are for this little corner of cyberspace that I've staked as my own. My name is Rachael but I'm better known to my students as Ms A (mainly because my surname is tricky to spell and trickier to say!). For the past 4 years, I've taught grade 6 at a fantastic primary school in Melbourne's western suburbs. I am lucky enough to work with an awesome team and an even greater bunch of kids. This year there are 23 little chickens in my class (they get used to the names I use for them - spunky monkeys, chickadees, smelly people) and I love spending my days with them.
As it's currently Term 4, my main focus is winding up the year for myself and also getting my kids as ready as possible for high school. It's so scary to think that they've only got 9 weeks of primary school ahead of them. Scarier for me because I'm currently on sick leave with glandular fever. This is possibly the worst I've ever felt in my life. No, strike that, it's DEFINITELY the worst I've ever felt. Missing out on my kids' last term is just adding to how awful I feel.
Which I guess I gets me to the question of what I hope for this little blog. I haven't really blogged as such since I was a teenager hooked on livejournal (please tell me I wasn't alone in my addiction there!) and my main aim then was to dump as much of my emotion out on the screen as possible. Today I'm older (absolutely), wiser (hopefully) and much less angst-ridden (hmmm...) so I think my main aim for this here blog would be to collect my thoughts about teaching and post any ideas that others might find useful.
A word about my teaching style and philosophy. I believe that learning is a lifelong endeavour. I love reading, I spend hours perfecting tasks and units of work and I have never taught a lesson the same way twice. My classroom is colourful (hence the title!) and I'm constantly rearranging displays and furniture. I try to make learning as interactive and engaging as possible. I don't use worksheets unless I absolutely have to, and generally speaking, I only use them when handing out projects or information that the kids need to hold onto. I'm looking forward to meeting more teachers online and learning more, more, more!
*Ms A
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