Thursday, May 30, 2013

Planning Already

How soon do you do it? Start planning for next  year, I mean. Throughout the year, I'm constantly thinking to myself, "I want to do that again," or "NEVER again!" So I'm linking up with Kim at Finding Joy in 6th for her awesome linky party to share some of my plans for next year.


I started running about two months ago (read more about it on my other blog), and it has been an amazing journey! I've seen so many positive outcomes, not just in myself, but in my students as well. I definitely want to keep this up.


I partially implemented Everyday Math this year with my fourth graders, and I saw amazing results in retention of some common math concepts. Next year I'm moving to fifth for a year, but I want to keep up the calendar math routine, tweaked with 5th grade level activities. Here's a link to the files I made for the 4th grade calendar math if you're interested.


Because I work in a small school, we sometimes have to shift grade levels due to enrollment. For the next school year, my cohort will have the entire 4th grade, and I will move up to 5th. While I'm super excited to get to teach a new curriculum and have some of my students again, I will really miss her! We work so well together.

How about you? Have you started thinking about next year yet? Join the linky and share!






Friday, May 24, 2013

An Ending

The close of the school year is upon us, and it is definitely bittersweet. I'm so excited to get to spend time with my family this summer, and I'm looking forward to teaching and attending professional development conferences. But at the same time, I'm sad to see the end of such a great year.

I will really miss the daily conversations, activities, and laughs that were so common this year with my group. I will miss seeing their curious faces and the excited looks on their faces when we'd learn something particularly fun. I will miss their work ethic and determination, and their encouragement.

With this sadness comes excitement, though, at knowing that next year brings a fresh start for us. That's one of the great things about teaching. We get to start over each August!

As I write this post I'm reminded of a line from my favorite book series, The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. "There are no endings, and will never be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was AN ending."

This is my favorite line in the series. It reminds me that with each ending brings about a new beginning.