Summer School

I knew before it began that this was going to be a summer that flew by...and it is!  Usually I'm counting the days before I'm back on a schedule. This year I'm teaching summer school and between that and all of the plans our family has made I feel like I don't have enough time for everything.  I'm not sure how I feel about all of that.

Summer school is amazing.  It's my first year teaching and what a learning opportunity it has been for me.  I'm teaching 3rd grade reading and technology with my dear friend, Alicia.

Not only do I get to come to work and work with her (and many other wonderful people), I also get to carpool with Mr. Jones (added bonus) since he's working at the same building.

Summer school has proven a very effective training ground for a new teacher like me.  It 's been a place to learn, grow, and experiment.  I've tried different strategies for implementing Daily 5, conducting guided groups, and organizing a writing workshop.  I love that I get to try things out now BEFORE I start my first full year of teaching.  Here are a few samples of some of the fun things we've done:

1. It's finally started getting hot, so we're trying to think of ways to cool down. We made an in class "lemonade stand" where students could purchase 2 cups of lemonade throughout the day, but they had to give us the correct change.

2. Alicia had the idea to read Rainbow Fish on the first day of class to learn about being a good friend and then we made some of our own rainbow fish.

3. We are teaching students how to collect data, so Alicia had them choose a favorite flavor of ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate) and we created a pictograph.

        


More pictures and lesson ideas to come from the "summer fun hub". :)