My Point of View: Cut Teachers Some Forgiveness and Gratitude

I wrote and posted the following on a facebook thread conversation and have increasingly felt more strongly about it.  I thought I'd also post it here on my blog. These are my raw feelings at the moment regarding my position as an educator.  Being a teacher isn't only a job for me, it's a passion and hobby.  I love being a teacher.  I view myself as a capable, bright and educated women who could pursue any career I wanted.  In fact, I started my college career with the desire to be a veterinarian, but soon realized a teacher was more my style.  I haven't looked back since.  

The increasing amount of shared FB posts regarding negative examples of education got me a bit fired up this week and here's my response.

We need to remember to work with teachers and not against them. Teachers are people trying to do the best they can with what they have. I spent nearly $1,000 of my personal money to supplement the holes that we're missing in curriculum and to supplement our very tight supply budget, this school year. (That's a conservative estimate) I have 1/2 hour per day to plan for a six hour day in which I'm supposed to bring high energy and engaging lessons. I have 30 min to eat lunch and 15 min. 4 days a week during recess to pee. I spend hours at night and on the weekends planning, making copies and otherwise preparing. I'm held responsible for the learning of 33 students of which every one has unique needs; with or without parent help. Whether they make adequate progress on a single test is a determining factor as to whether I'm a good teacher or not and will soon determine my pay. I am constantly told by everyone without a teaching degree how and what I should teach. I'm so happy to work with parents who come to me with an attitude of "how can we do this together?" vs. an approach of "my kid needs .... and I expect you and this school to make it happen!" It's time as the U.S. we start to say thank you and how can we help rather than blame and find fault. Sorry, it's a bit of a soapbox. I LOVE being a teacher, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay positive and do what's right for kids with the barrage of complaints and blame. We must all keep in mind what is right for kids. I believe that to be a common standard of expected learning supported by the funds to expose students to the technology tools and information they will need to become innovators and creators. We have to challenge our students and give them opportunity to struggle and triumph. Lawmakers should respect and value the knowledge and opinions of the teachers for whom they make laws. Parents should become supportive partners rather than distant observers and blamers. As humans in general, I think we forget to take a moment to see the others point of view. We rarely question our doctor when he/she prescribes or diagnoses, yet a professional teacher with training and years of experience is questioned by everyone. As a society, we need to say "help me understand" rather than "you're wrong" I have no doubt that there are educators who make choices that I wouldn't agree with, however instead of plastering FB and media with all the wrong, maybe we could focus on all the good that is happening in classrooms around the U.S.

I love what my friend Bob added to my post.  He's a former band teacher and currently a representative for an educational technology company.  I decided to include his comment as well: 

1. This is the exception not the rule (Good one Melissa, can I steal that?)
2. Teachers are HUMAN, they make mistakes too. 
3. Most teachers use what resources are available, and sometimes it turns out to be a bad resource. Teachers do not have enough time or get paid enough to create all their own resources, or even make sure every single thing is perfect before it goes out. We all make mistakes. 
4. Would you appreciate this level of scrutiny on your job, especially if you got paid the same (btw, when I was teaching, I was consistently below poverty level, according to the Government)?
5.  If you know best, then homeschool your kid and quit complaining.
6. If you are already homeschooling your kid, quit complaining!

I am a wife, mother of 3, and an educator.  I have a B.A. in Elementary Education, an M.A. in Educational Leadership and several endorsements.  In any other occupation, I'd be considered an expert in my field.  I LOVE teaching and pray that we will keep in mind what is best for students; remembering Bob's point, we are all human and need to give each other a little credit and forgiveness.

I'd love to hear your response and opinions in the comments.  
(I'm happy to receive disagreeing points of view that are expressed in a respectful manner.)

Product Review: Sanford, the makers of Sharpie

I was recently sent some of Sharpie's latest items to try out and I have to say, I LOVE them!  I'm already a fan of Sharpie markers and pens, but these new additions are fabulous.  My friend and colleague is an artist and currently working on marker skills.  So, dressing up these sunglasses with the new Neon Permanent Sharpies was right up her ally.  She did a fabulous job.  My daughter loved this pair so much, she copied the designs onto her own pair of white sunglasses.  I used the markers for my new exit ticket poster as well.  A post on that is coming next week. 

As an educator, I think I'm a bit of a writing utensil connoisseur.  I'm always looking for great writing items, especially pens.  This Sharpie Premium Pen writes like a dream.  It has a nice weight to it so it sits nicely in your hand.  The lid fits snugly to the end and extends the shaft for an easy grip.  Best of all, it writes like a dream.  It rolls very smoothly and writes a nice, thin, even line. For the quality, I was actually quite shocked at the affordable price of this great pen. 

Finally, I was able to try out the Sharpie Metallic Permanent Markers in silver and gold.  These are great to use around the classroom for labeling.  I labeled one of my pencil sharpeners using the silver marker with "No Colored Pencils" in an effort to keep it sharper with just regular lead pencils .  Unlike other metallic markers, you don't have to shake the Sharpie's to get them flowing.  You get the metallic ink without the shake and glop. They work fabulously on the black paper as you can see below.  

What are your favorites from the Sharpie line? What other writing utensils are your favorites? 

Be sure to stay tuned and be following so you can see how I used the Neon markers for my Exit Ticket board.  I'll be sharing my new-found math routine with you next week. 

The items reviewed in this post were sent to me free of charge as a condition of posting a review of the products by Shoplet, an online office supplies store.  The opinions and use of the products are all genuine and are in no way swayed by Shoplet or Sanford. Check out the promotional products, promotional shirts and office stationary at the Shoplet store. 

Teacher Training Bootcamp Gmail Tasks

I recently started some self-learning about Google and all this technology company offers in various tools, apps and platforms that can make teaching easier and fun for teachers, students and parents.  My district transitions to using Google products for our email and online tools like teacher webpages.  I've been wanting to know more and Google's lessons have sure been useful in that goal.  There's so much I didn't know about and a few things I did know about, but hadn't taken the time to understand so I could utilize them.  One of these tools is Google tasks.  I knew they existed, and have used them once or twice with my Google calendar.  However, I didn't realize how well they interface with Gmail.

Did you know with tasks in Gmail you can:

• Create Lists
• Set due dates
• Add details or notes
• Add an email message to a task
• Check items off as you do them
• Decide whether to view done items or not

Here is a video that explains some of the features of using tasks within Gmail.

Jen from Tech with Jen is hosting this bootcamp hop

Be sure to follow our blogs and FB pages.  We'll be bringing you posts about the features and platforms Google offers that are useful for teachers about every two weeks through the end of May. 

See other posts about the features of Gmail by clicking the links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Using Spotify in the Classroom

I have begun using the music website Spotify in my classroom.  You might liken it to Pandora or even itunes. Like Pandora, you can pay for an upgraded version without ads.  The advantage of Spotify is the ability to choose the songs you want and create your own playlist.  With Pandora, you can choose only a genre or type of music, not the specific songs that are played.

On Spotify, you may follow other users and their playlists, drag and drop songs from a friends playlist into your own, or create your own playlists from scratch.  You can play one song at a time, or play the playlist so your songs will automatically play on to the next one.  You can also set up a song queue so you can play songs from multiple lists or listen before you place them into a playlist.

My district music specialist introduced me to Spotify and has some great playlists that would be a great start for educators.  You can find her page here.  She also has a great musical education blog full of ideas called My Musical Magic.  My Spotify page can be found here, I'm just starting and will continue to grow my own play lists.

I've started using short 1 and 2 minute songs to time students between transitions and to play classical music as students come to class in the morning to start the day off in a calm mood.  I've started playlists of 1 minute and 2 minute songs for timing transitions which you can find on my Spotify page.  You can also find my morning classical playlist.

I found another source for 1 minute songs here as well. Not a Spotify list, but you might find it useful for transition songs.

Give Spotify a try and see how using more music in your classroom can help your students focus.  Not only is is great for transitions and focus, but you'll be able to quickly find songs to integrate into your lessons.  This will save you time and money.  I'm just starting focus on more music (and other art forms) in my lessons.  I'll be sure to share as I use more and more.

I considered creating my own video tutorial for using Spotify, but found this one below that does a great job.  It gives a great overview and some great information to get you started using Spotify.

Be sure to head to the next Bright Idea from Angelia at Extra Special Teaching

She's sharing tips on Organizing Student Work for Portfolios


Thanks to Shelley of Teaching in the Early Years for organizing the 

Be sure to check the linky below for links to all the "Bright Ideas" this month.

How do you use music in your classroom?  Have a Spotify account and want to share your link?  Feel free to share your ideas and links in the comments. 

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Making Grading a Little Easier

If you've taken a jumbled pile of papers home to grade, then taken an hour to sort them out by subject and then spent a minute on each paper as you search for the student's name in the roster, then this post is for you.

I've totally been there and I needed a way to lessen the burden, especially the time it took to find each students name on the roster.  This was my solution.

It's a file box with a hanging folder for each student.  Each folder is labeled with numbers that correspond to each student. (That's another tip, number your students.  Yes, that is 33 students in my class.) Students return their homework first thing in the morning right into their folder.  They place them vertically, so they can be easily removed from the folders.

One of the class jobs is the "paper collector" whose job it is to take the papers from the file box, in order, then place the pile in the inbox on my desk.  Here's my inbox.

The bottom box is the inbox and the top is the out box.  Two students in the class have the job of "paper passer" whose job it is to pass back papers I've seen.  ~You can see my current helpers need a little reminding.~

When students pass things in throughout the day, the same routine is followed.  I rarely have a time when everyone in the class is handing something in at the same time because I work with groups most of the day.  When the whole class does need to hand something in, I excuse them by tables while the rest of the class begins to transition to the next activity.

This method keeps student's papers in alphabetical order so that I can quickly find the students on the grade book list.  It also keeps subjects together so I don't have to sort my papers or flip back and forth between subjects as I look at the papers.

I clip no-name papers to the board with a binder clip that hangs from a hook magnet.  I'm always surprised though at how few of these papers get claimed.  Students who have missing work seem to just prefer to redo the assignment rather than be bothered to look through the stack of nameless work.  I recycle the pile at the end of each quarter.

I hope this tip is helpful to you and alleviates your burden when grading papers.  Be sure to visit Maneuvering the Middle and her post about response systems.

 You can check out all the other great ideas in this Bright Ideas blog hop by clicking the links in the linky under this post.  We also have a pinterest page to accompany this hop which can be found here.

Thanks to Shelley from Teaching in the Early Years for hosting and coordinating this event!

Organizing Task Cards with Folders and Bags

I have been loving all the task cards that I have collected from many great sellers.  Task cards have become a staple to my math instruction, especially the last couple of weeks as I have been trying to figure out how to make guided math / math workshop work for me.  One of the difficulties becomes how to best store all of the cards.  For me, the best way I have found to store them is in 9x12 zippered bags which I then place in file folders in my file drawers according to the concept they match.  The 9" x 12" 4 Mil Clear Zip Lock Bags are a bit heavier than the standard zipper bags you use in your kitchen and even the gallon size bags are just a bit too small to fit a full sized page.  You can get 100 bags on Amazon for under $15, click the picture to be taken directly there.

I like that I can keep the full page cover, instructions, answer sheets and blacklines in the same bag together with the cards.  I simply grab the bag from the file and it is ready to use.  I place them in the center and students have the directions, cards and answers all there at their fingertips.  When it's time to replace with a new concepts, I just file the bag back in the correct folder.
Here they are in the bags and the drawers.

These are regular zip gallon bags because I ran out of the 9x12 bags and needed to get these cards done.  You can see that the bags don't close.  I didn't think to grab some cards in the bigger bags to show you.

I often put the cards on a shower ring.  I find them in the shower curtain section at Walmart.  There are 12 in a bag for less than $3 and they stay together much better than the binder ringers.  The smaller end at the top also makes them easy to grab and carry.

Some of my favorite shops for task cards and projects are:

If you have some great task cards for math to share, be sure to add the link to your blog or TpT store to the linky at the bottom of this post. 

In addition to the great bags I have found to store my task cards in, some other office supplies from Smead have been very helpful. Smead's new file folders and hanging file folders make the organization even easier.  They now have larger tabs so that finding the topic behind located on the folder tab behind all of the bags is so much easier now.  The Smead file folder tabs are a bit taller and longer, you can see the difference in my photos of my file drawer between my older folders and the new Smead ones.  The hanging files now come with tabs attached.  I no longer have to worry about those plastic insertable tabs the I would have to fuss with.  Now the same large tabs are already attached to the hanging folders so they are ready to use right away. Additionally, there's a new Smead expanding pocket I love to use at home.  It's perfect for thowing the bills into so I know where they are when it comes time to pay them.  The new expanding pocket has a "no slip" surface added to the top making it easier to grab and take to my computer.  With the bags and folders, you'll be all set to organize your task cards for easy use in your classroom year after year. 

You can see the light green tabs in this picture as well that are the new tabbed hanging folders.  Soo nice to have them already tabbed!!

Do you have some math task cards or task projects that you love or created and would like to share the link to them, feel free to add it to the linky below.  If you have a post about how you use or organize your task cards, please link those posts as well. 

Note: I was sent the above described promotional products by Smead at no cost in exchange for a blog post review. The use and opinions described above are true and accurate and in no way coerced by Smead or Shoplet / Shoplet UK.

December Currently

Where did November go???

Linking up with ...

Although I'm wishing that the TpT sale had started today so I'd have a few things ready for the week, I've got my wishlist ready to go.  It's pretty long, I'm going to have to cut a few things out and save for next time.  I've been so grateful for TpT since September.  I was grateful before that for the opportunity to sell my items, but after starting fifth grade pretty much new this year, TpT products from other sellers have saved me! I feel so blessed to be part of a great community of teachers that blogging and TpT have introduced me to.  I'll be taking advantage of the sale going on at TpT on Monday and Tuesday and hope you will too.  My store is still full of some great items for Primary grades.  Click on the great button by Creative Clips below to be taken to the Dilly Dabbles TpT store.  I hope that over the next few months and the coming summer, I can have more for the upper grades with a year of fifth grade behind me.  

Enjoy your next few weeks with your students before the winter break!