Monday, December 19, 2011

Principal Observation - Go Ahead and Feel Sorry

Hi Girlies!!!
A lot of you stayed in your jammies all day long today - didn't you?  C'mon, don't try to tell me any different just to make me feel better about trying to instruct 23 wiggly, squirming, hyped up, overcooked firsties - I've been reading your blogs.  "Teaching? What's that?" says Kristen, over at Teeny Tiny Teacher. Heather from Heather's Heart sweetly states "It is after 5:00 and I am still in my pajamas!" Well let me just tell you somethin'...good for you, you deserve it and I hope you're enjoying every minute of it!!!!!

In spite of the constant fidgeting and hummin' and squirmin' and jigglin' I'm planning for my formal observation tomorrow.

What Was I THINKING!?!?!

Well, two weeks ago when I scheduled it I'm sure it was right after taking my first seasonal bite of peppermint bark and I would have agreed to anything at that moment of pure bliss. 

What might I be attempting to teach my freaked our first graders tomorrow?  Well, Mr. Principal is coming in to observe writer's workshop.  I'm sure it will go okay.  We're hot and heavy into making our writing easier for others to read {one of my favorite units of study}. 

We started this unit by dividing our huge stack of writing from our writing folders into two piles - easy to read and hard to read {Lucy Calkins}.  I was so impressed with what big kids they were.  Typically, first graders write it and wanna be done with it.  To ask them to look at their writing again, not just one story, but all of them and really look at it with a writer's eye and do something REALLY big-kid by admitting {or even noticing} that some of it isn't so easy to read...well, that's just asking a lot of a 6 or 7 year old...but I'm telling you, they rose to the challenge.

After that we shared with the class what we felt made our writing hard for others to read.  They came up with a really insightful list {including "Peach juice on my paper"... can't Delmonte package their fruit cups differently...seriously?!?!? No worries...I'm pretty much ready to ban them in my next newsletter}.

We've taken each "problem" and together we worked through a solution/tool/strategy that we can use to make improvements.  So far we have:

This is how our classroom chart is organized - it has more items on it.

For the big day {probably while you're all watching Ellen, drinking your cuppa joe...} I'm going to post a story that I've written but of course it won't be easy to read because I will have done some lazy erasing and written write on top of that lazy erasing.  They'll come down to the carpet with their Writer's Eyeglasses and they'll do some detective work - detecting what needs to be fixed in my writing.

After that I'm going to give them all a brand new PINK, smooth, delightful eraser.

Doesn't that just make you smile?  Might not seemlike much to you - but we only use these little guys...

So they are going to be mighty geeked about their new writing tool that will magically help them erase better {same concept as new gym shoes help them run faster}. 

Click on the picture below to pick up the list we're using to keep track of our learning:

Clipart: Scrappin Doodles

Wish me luck {and I'll wish you some good guests on Kelly, or good juicy topics on The View}...

OH, and I'm SOOOOO excited that I reached TWO HUNDRED followers!!!!  WHOOPEEEE....I'm thinking, with the holidays and all...and with my current frazzled state I'll hold off until I reach 250 followers to do a little somethin' - somethin'!  Stay tuned...{and maybe put my cute lil' blog button on your blog...maybe? Hey, you can do it while you're watching The Doctors}


17 comments:

  1. Bless your heart on having an observation tomorrow! I am sure you will be fine, but I am glad its not me! :0) Good luck!
    Ms. McBee’s Kinderbugs

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  2. Eeek! Good luck tomorrow! I'm sure you will do FABULOUSLY! Your plans sound great.

    Amy
    Krazy About Kiddos

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  3. UGG! sorry your still in school - sending lots of positive teacher vibes your way for tomorrows observation! Not that you need them I know you will do great!

    Amy

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  4. Bloggy Hugs are coming your way!
    Tomorrow is our last 1/2 day~ today was pure mayhem! If it hadn't been our Holiday Celebration, I totally would have gotten a sub...okay probably not.
    Good luck tomorrow- I know they will love their big erasers!!
    Going Nutty!

    Staci

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  5. Good luck tomorrow. Your lesson sounds wonderful and I am doing this after the holidays with my kiddos. Thanks for sharing.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ki8EcnVbd-Q

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  6. HA! I pasted a link to a youtube video instead of my blog. Tired, obviously.
    2B Honey Bunch

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  7. Wow. Good luck! Today was a super tough day in my classroom. Still 2 full days ahead. But no formal observation. That was last week. ;)

    LOVING your writing lesson - thinking I need to do this with my kiddos!

    Seriously though, good luck tomorrow!!!

    Oh My Little Classity Class

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  8. I am having a moment of silence for you. Ohsweetdear...let us know how it goes. I am sure you will TOTALLY ROCK IT OUT!
    In my Jammies,
    Reagan

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  9. Wow - an observation this week?!! You are . . . wow. You are . . . impressive!!!!
    I love your lesson idea!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Makes total sense to me!
    A Teeny Tiny Teacher
    PS The "tho thorry" and "tho thad" and "theriously" is from my post called "News Worthy" but I talk like that all the time with my niece and nephews (and my class) and crack them up. :) :) :) It's the little things.

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  10. Good luck with your observation! Your lesson is sure to impress your principal! I love it...and plan on using it after the holidays. Thank you for sharing!

    -Megan
    http://firstgrademagic.blogspot.com

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  11. What WERE you thinking? :) Kidding...you did wayyyy better than me. My AP asked about setting up my 2nd (and last eval of the year...oh yeah! Woo Hoo!)to which I reply...can we wait until after Christmas? He was generous enough to say YES but...I am sure he has slapped a big SLACKER bumper sticker on my yearbook picture. :) Now you have to tell us how it goes!!

    pS: do you have real glasses they use? That would be such a cute idea!

    2nd Grade Paradise

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  12. Your lesson sounds fabulous!!

    I'm sure it will go great!

    Kelli
    Tales from a Traveling Teacher

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  13. I'm totally feel your pain of others being in their pajamas! Love your ideas on doing this unit. I am starting this unit right after break and am totally having my students write down the ways to make their writing easier. Thank you! Good luck with your observation :)

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  14. Your lesson sounds awesome. I found myself wanting tips on how to get my first graders to have lots of pieces of writing to choose from. Good luck. I have to work on December 23rd for a full day, so I totally empathize.

    Kimberley @ 1st in Maine

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  15. I will put your button on my blog! Yours will be the first! I am having a giveaway, come check it out! :)

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  16. Should a student finish their work ahead of everyone they are to get additional work out of the remediation box.

    classroom observation resource

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