Five for Friday! Woohoo!

I'm so excited to link up again with Doodle Bug for her Five for Friday linky! It's been forever since I last did it! :) I just love reading what everyone has been up to :) One thing I definitely need to remember is taking more pictures! I just always seem to forget! That's one of my goals to be better at :) Here we go!

1. Realistic Fiction Writing (no picture :( )

My students used this week to plan, prewrite, and draft their first realistic fiction writing in their notebooks. I have to say, some of these stories are phenomenal! I have some of the most creative students I have ever met! So excited for writing this year!

2. Science Lab- dissecting the Lima bean!

My students go to the science lab every Monday and Tuesday, as well as alternating Wednesdays. This week, we've bee focusing on plant parts and how they grow. My kiddos are SO fascinated by how this stuff works! We dissected a Lima bean and they just thought it was amazing!

3. My church opens a coffee shop with a cause! 

I'm so excited becaus where we love, the closest coffee shop is 20 minutes away!!! That used to mean tired mornings at school, now I can support my coffee habit AND missions projects at the same time. All of the net profits go to missions. I am just loving this idea :) YUM! Not to mention their white chocolate mocha may have beat Starbucks ;) 

4. Donor's Choose Project- FUNDED!

I am still in shock by how fast my project was funded. I have doe of the most supportive family, friends, and parents in my classroom! My project was up for less than 8 hours! Can you believe it?!? I am just so humbled by the response! :)

5. Random thought/picture since I forgot to take pictures this week :) 

I felt like this ALL week long... Hahaha

Thanks for stopping by y'all! :) Until next time!

~Lindsay

Whirlwind Extravaganza!

The title of this post is really the only way I can describe this year so far!
I hate that I haven't been on to post and I really hate that I come home from school at 5:30 and fall asleep on the couch by 8:30. It's definitely sad… However- I am absolutely LOVING it! I truly cannot picture myself anywhere else and all I can say is that I just keep running full speed ahead until something stops me! I love the satisfaction of "lightbulbs" going off in my wonderful students heads. It just blows me away how much information these kids know and retain! Teaching in the magnet program has it's pros and cons- my students are definitely the pro! :) 

As for everything else in the classroom- I currently have two grant projects going right now. One is at a local program similar to Donor's Choose, called Find It Fund It Alachua. You can view that project here: http://finditfunditflorida.com/mygrant.php?action=editform&grant_id=3480 ), and share if you can! :) 

I also just got my grant request approved over at Donor's Choose today! (Check it out here: http://www.donorschoose.org/rodriguezteachon ) Woohoo! I am super excited about this one because it is for a writing project for my students. Y'all, these kids can write! Oh my golly, I have NEVER seen third graders with such a passion for writing! I was shocked the first time I had them write in their journals. I wanted to jump up and down and celebrate, but I would have totally disrupted them :) Anyways, my goal is to completely walk them through the writing process starting with prewriting and ending with publishing. That is where my awesome project comes in! I'm trying to get a binding machine, binding materials, and laminating supplies so that students can publish their work. I'm so excited and I hope it gets funded! :) The other project is based on my need for iPads in the classroom. I believe my kids need that added challenge and support being in the magnet program. I need technology to keep these kiddos engaged! I'm hoping a business locally will help me out with this project! :)  Please share this if you are willing! :)

Well, I know this is a short one friends, but I think it was a good one! I hope you guys enjoy reading about my projects! :) I will leave you with a few cute pictures from our Science lab when we were dissecting a Lima bean :) Cute! 

It's Hump Day- Questions from the classroom of a first year teacher...

Wow! I am so ashamed that it has been over a week since my last post! Honestly though, I feel like nose is just above water and that if I stop to do anything other than school stuff I might drown. Please tell me this is normal?! I sure hope so!

First few weeks of school are done and gone and I cannot BELIEVE week 3 is almost over as well! Time sure does fly, those veteran teachers weren't joking about that! :)

As for my classroom, I have such a wonderful class full of eager students wanting nothing more than to absorb knowledge and soak it in! I absolutely LOVE it! It's different from what I had before and it's a welcome change :)

Now, that is not to say it has been all rainbows and butterflies! I don't want to paint this unrealistic picture of perfection (although, they are pretty close!) ;) but I have had a few issues with behavior! Mostly students being talkative and not following directions, but I believe I have corrected this by rearranging the seating. However, I still struggle with one of my students in particular. I'm hoping my beautiful blogging family can pull together and help me out! 

This "angel" of mine is gifted and therefore was placed in the magnet program after being in General Education last year. This angel continually is doing something other than what they are supposed to be doing. From playing with pencils in their desk to kicking and nagging other students of their team. I finally made this student an "island" and today they did a little better. However, that's not the end of it! This student seems to want hand holding every step if the way no matter what assignment it is. If I refuse (because I KNOW they are capable of doing it). This angel COMPLETELY shuts down. I mean, refuses to do work. Why do I do? Have you had a student do this? What was the strategies you used that worked? I feel like I'm grasping at air here, so any and all suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance y'all! 

Also, speaking if behavior- I'm not that thrilled with my individual behavior system. I just don't feel as though it serves that instant gratification purpose that students thrive on. I have tried the clip chart before and was not impressed either because it lost it's valor about half way through the year. Currently, I use the behavior punch cards, but sometimes I cannot just stop what I'm doing to punch a card for good behavior. Any suggestions? The kids enjoy the fact of getting a punch, but I don't feel like I'm doing it enough. For consequences, I use a behavior think sheet, which is also not working because it is so incredibly time consuming and once again- I cannot stop what I'm doing to hand one out. I need a better idea to work instantly. Suggestions here would also be greatly appreciated!

So once again, I sincerely apologize to my awesome followers for the delayed post but I'm still trying to keep my head above the water! I promise posts will be more regular within the next few months- plus I might actually have something to share then that is exciting! For now, I don't feel as though anything I'm doing is blog worthy! Haha! That will be changing tomorrow though! 

Tomorrow is Open House and I have a very nice and thorough presentation ready, so I'm nervous/excited :) Wish me luck and PLEASE leave some suggestions! I truly read every one of them :) 

Thanks y'all!

Lindsay