Teacher Tool Box!

As I said from my last post I have a "teacher tool box" which really consists of a folder on my computer and a huge file folder at home that holds a lot of the great teacher resources, ideas, inspiration and activites that I have been able to collect during  the last year or so. One thing I have learned is that in the field of education we must all work together to provide the best possible environment for our students so that they may thrive as learners and succeed inside and outside of the classroom! Also, as an educator I believe that in order to succeed as a teacher I too must also surround myself with the tools and resources necessary and continually push myself to learn new things about teaching! With that said here are a few great sites that I love to browse and take inspiration from to store in my teachers tool box!

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/

A to Z Teacher stuff is a great resource for worksheets, lesson plans and a wonderful supportive community of teachers in all areas and levels of education.

http://www.jmeacham.com/

Miss Meacham's site is a great place for assessments, worksheets, games and lesson ideas!

http://www.wrsd.net/literacy/launch.cfm

WRSD is a great site focused on readers workshops for grade levels K-5

http://www.criticalpast.com/

Critical Past is a great resource for Social Studies research and lessons!

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml

Rethinking Schools is a great site dedicated to teaching Social Justice Awareness in the classroom. I also subscribe to their magazine and highly reccomend looking into their site, and publications!

These are only a FEW of the many sites available to educators! I hope to update often about all of the great resources out there and look forward to finding great inspiration to share!

- Miss V

Welcome to my classroom!

I have had the wonderful pleasure to student teach in two great classrooms, in different grades and at different schools during my time as a teaching credential candidate. I also had the amazing opportunity to teach in my own classroom during the summer of 2010. In creating my own classroom I wanted to take elements from each classroom that I student taught in as well as incorporate my own ideas to suit the needs of my individual students and our needs as a summer school program.

The classroom that I was placed in for the summer school position belongs to a full time k-1 teacher during the regular school year so I was lucky enough to have access to tables and chairs as well as the most incredible word walls which my students and myself built upon over the summer. My goal in the summer school classroom was to make the space not only academically stimulating but also playful and fun for the long days and extended classroom time. I added an art center, a garden center, a music center and a dramatic play center. I organized the students into table groups based on color cards and adjusted seating throughout the summer as needed, dependent on ability level, classroom management needs and English language support partners. Since I taught through the Chinatown YMCA in Chinatown the majority of my students were bilingual in Cantonese/English or Mandarin/English and the students themselves were one of my greatest assets in English language development as they worked with one another helping in translation and just friendly support and community. Working in any school environment it is so important to be aware of the needs of your English Language Learners, and this particular classroom taught me that being aware of and empathetic to the needs of your English Language learners is key to reaching the full potential of all of your students.

Now a quick look at a few of the classrooms I have had the pleasure to teach in!

Miss V and a few students during Summer School!

My Summer School Classroom... Artwork created by my class to brighten the room!

 

Fourth Grade Student Teaching placement! Great Artwork displayed and students using their white boards during math!

Kindergarten Student Teaching placement, calendar, class rug, word wall and table groups in action!

I love that each classroom is different, suited to the needs of the individual classroom community. Having the opportunity to work in three different classrooms I was lucky enough to see the many ways a classroom could be organized and I was able to get some great creative ideas on how to design my own! In the fall the blog babblingabby did a great "tour of classrooms" take a look, I know I am keeping a lot of these great ideas in my "teacher tool box" and hope to use a few of them in the future!

Check out her post for a tour of her classroom as well as all of the other teachers that linked up!

- Miss V

Think Pair Share!

Welcome to my blog! I love the concept of think pair shares in the classroom! I believe it's not only important for my students but also to myself as an educator to practice independent thinking skills, collaboration and sharing of ideas and thoughts. This blog is a place where I can share a little bit about myself and my background in teaching. This is also a place where I can share and explore new teaching strategies, lesson plans and collaborate with other educators on great classroom strategies, fun activities and to journal where I've been and where I'm going in this wonderful world of education! Enjoy and feel free to follow or comment along the way!

- Miss V