Current Projects

I have many things that I am currently thinking about and working on in order to make my classroom, and this blog a success! I often find myself browsing the oh so many spectacular teacher blogs that their are out there, and I notice how many followers they have, and how active they are in the blogging community. At this point I feel two things: 1.) I can't wait until I reach that point! 2.) How in the WORLD do these people manage both their classrooms and such a successful blog that they post to regularly. It takes everything I have in me not to pull my hair out EVERY day because I feel such an overwhelming sense of defeat at the end of each school day. This job is more than a full time job, because I spend EVERY waking minute planning and preparing for the next day. 

However, I am currently working to feel less overwhelmed, and I feel I am getting there... slowly but surely! Although... I will let you know how I feel in a couple weeks... 

Currently I am working on a few projects and I would like to share one of them with you all :) I hope you like it! 

Weekly Digital Newsletter: 

Since my classroom is an independent studies classroom, my students to a great deal of work independently, which makes it challenging to keep track of all this work. Furthermore, parents want to know what their kiddos have been working on all week, and are hungry for some feedback. I do send home Daily Learning Logs that keep track of what the student completed/worked on for that day, but I was still in the market for something a little more comprehensive to help me keep track, and to keep the parents well informed. 

I began to think about the possibility of using a newsletter. This was something I had used in the past that got great feedback from parents. It featured information about out week, upcoming important dates, and some feedback about their child for that week. The downside: I used a TON of paper to pull this off on a weekly basis. Not to mention at the time, these newsletters were attached to a weekly homework packet. 

This is not ideal, so I considered creating a newsletter "website" and having individual student information for the parents to click on. I played around with google sites for about 5 minutes until I realized that my plan was way too time consuming, and not very practical in the way I was thinking of using it. 

Then it hit me... create a document on Microsoft Word, and use a Mail Merge to input all the student information, that way I can email parents and attach the document! No printing, or web site figuring out required!!! 

The creation of the document and the spreadsheet that I will be using for this project did take me about an hour to complete, and then another hour to refresh my memory with the mail merge. The reason this took so long, was because I had to open and save EACH mail merged document individually. I also had to go back and re-save my documents as PDF's because I realized it would be unprofessional to send them as word documents. 

However, I have finished now with this project (I am in the process of emailing them all individually) so I figured I would show you all what I created :) I must admit, I LOVE the end product, however... it is taking a minute to email each bulletin individually... I am on the hunt for an easier way to do this! 

Page 1 of the newsletter features a note from me, our week at a glance, and upcoming important dates for parents to remember, I also included a picture from the week of the students participating in a brain-based activity. 

Page 2 features all the independent work from the week. It informs parents of whether or not work was completed, and if their child has some work to do over the weekend. Scores for certain assignments are also reported. 

The last page is simple, just a quick thank you for reading and some extra information about this very first newsletter. I think future newsletters might just be 2 pages.

Emotional Roller Coaster Ride

I am four weeks into my first year as an elementary school teacher. I did everything possible (even without knowing it) to prepare for this moment. My second block of student teaching was spent in a 2/3 combo class. My first long term sub assignment was in a 3/4 combo class. My second long term sub position was in a 4/5 combo class at the school that I signed my contract with. Everything I did prepared me to teach in a multi-age classroom at Aveson. My experience and my attitude together should have been enough to get me through this first year of teaching without having to deal with ANY of the first year teacher blues that I have heard SO much about ever since I decided to get into this profession. 

I was wrong. 

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING could have prepared me for this year. I'm not complaining... just stating the obvious fact. This job is HARD! I spent so much time resenting the teachers that complained about their jobs in the lunch room while I was substitute teaching. I used to think they were so lucky for having a job, and I thought if I was ever given the honor to have my own that I would NEVER complain, because I would just be so happy to have a job in the first place. Now I have one, and don't get me wrong... I feel VERY lucky! However, I am starting to realize a bit where these other teachers are coming from. 

Some days I come home feeling like I was crazy for choosing this profession, and that I can't handle it... and other days I come home feeling extremely fulfilled because I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing; and yet still others I am just so tired that I don't even have time to think. Everyone keeps telling me that what I am feeling is "normal," but a big part of me knows that these types of up and down emotions shouldn't be normal. Luckily for me, I am currently feeling fulfilled :) Let's hope this keeps up! Week 5... BRING IT ON! 

Dr. Seuss Mural Complete!!!

For the past few weeks a friend and I (but mostly him) have been working on a Dr. Seuss mural in my classroom. At my school we have what we call the Guiding Principles. Pretty much our mantra and way of being. These principles guide our instruction, our interactions with each other and our students. When contemplating how I was going to post these in my room a thought came to my mind. This would be so much more earth friendly, and easier, if I could just paint them on the wall instead of making all these crazy posters. From there I contacted a good friend of mine Billy, and we got to talking about how we could make this a reality. The conclusion we came up with was to paint a Dr. Seuss theme, and embed the guiding principles in the scene. We have finished the scene, and the next step will be to add the guiding principles. Take a look at our journey! 

First we had to paint over the yellow. I chose a calm purple.

Yellow is almost gone, I feel calmer already!

No more yellow!

Beginning stages of The Lorax

Almost finished!

The Lorax COMPLETE!

Adding Truffula Trees.

Painting Truffula Trees and adding Horton.

Continuing to paint Truffula Trees.

Finishing Horton, and adding grass.

The finished product.

I added fun lamps and Dr. Seuss books to the equation.

I am SO happy with the way this turned out! The characters and the trees look GREAT!!! This adds so much character to my classroom, and I know the students will LOVE it! I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the help I did with this project. Not only did Billy pretty much paint this entire thing, but his wife Charlene helped. When we were finished painting Charlene helped me rearrange my classroom to fit my needs. We were really able to capture EXACTLY what I wanted out of my space, and I couldn't be happier! Billy and Charlene, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am in love with my classroom, and I owe it all to the both of you!!!

1st day back-- PD week

My summer has officially ended. Today was my first day back at work. My first day with my students will be Tuesday, September 3rd. This week is professional development week, or PD week. We spend time with our directors and colleagues, go through agendas and procedures in order to prepare ourselves for that first week (and for me that first year) with our students.  I wish I could say that I felt 100% prepared for the first day, week, month, year of school. That I left today's meeting(s) with my lesson plans in hand, and that I am ready to go... but I would be lying. However, if being prepared was measured by how excited an individual was, I think I might be the most prepared person I know. I am overly excited to get this new year started. It feels SO good that I am doing EXACTLY what I want to be doing. All of my blood, sweat, and tears that went into college are all worth it now. What makes me even more excited is that I will be carrying out this work in a school that I really believe in. It is so great to be apart of an organization that puts the needs of each individual student at the top of its priority list. So to say that I am just excited is an understatement. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Many things stuck out to me today while we were in our meetings. In honesty many things have stuck out to me since I began my journey at Aveson. But today during our meeting(s), we were being given our expectations as Advisors and Staff at Aveson, and one particular expectation really made me think about some of my previous experiences. Never talk negatively about a student. This is something I have never experienced at Aveson, but I have however experienced this many times at other schools while I was a substitute teacher. It really hurt my feelings when this happened (usually during lunch breaks). I couldn't believe that these educators who had made a commitment to serve their students would talk about them so with their colleagues. I remember sitting there, listening to their various comments and thinking to myself... if you don't want to be working here, I will gladly take your place; and I would LOVE to work with that student on whatever you are complaining about. And I would do it with a smile! I thought these teachers were so lucky to have jobs in a job market that was in such a huge state of decline, I couldn't understand why they were taking that for granted. However, I am glad to have taken the path I did, and end up at the school I did. A place where it is a norm NOT to talk negatively about students in the lunchroom, or anywhere else on campus.. because at our school, we just don't see our students that way, and we choose to use our time more effectively. 

Now talking about using time effectively.... That is one avenue I wish I could be more on top of at the current moment. Actually, I take that back... I have been using my time for pretty much nothing except for school, school, school. BUT I wish I had a clearer picture of exactly what I was doing. This will be my first full year as a teacher. I walk around my campus, and look at the classrooms of other teachers who seem so calm, cool, and collected. I envy them. They know exactly what to expect come the first day of school. What needs to be covered, and how to prepare their students for a successful year, because they have done it before. I feel like instead of having a clear picture of what to expect, my picture is a bit fuzzy. It's there... and I can look at it, but I must have forgot to put my glasses on or something, because I can't make out exactly what the picture entails. 

I am a person who needs things to be well planned, and organized. However, this will be my first time planning and organizing for a "fuzzy picture." My strategy is going to have to be trial and error. I have set up my classroom the way that I think I want it, put things where I think I want them, but who knows... When All my students are in the classroom I might just decide the way I have things laid out just doesn't work. I might need to move things to a more effective space. It's hard to tell exactly. At our meeting today I had so many different papers and notebooks I didn't know what to do with ANY of it. It's all just floating around in my backpack, and it is driving me NUTS!!! I need a three-ring binder with folders and clearly labeled dividers. A place to put everything. Usually I would have put these types of things together before going to a meeting, or to school. This year however has been a bit different. I wanted to purchase my binder and all of my organizational materials... but I didn't know what I should label my dividers, what kinds of things I would want to put in my folders, where/how I would want to organize my notes. Do you know how hard this has been for me? I live by an organized and well thought out plan and schedule. Luckily today while I was at PD I was able to conjure up what I would want to write on my dividers. I think I might make a trip to target or office max tonight ;) 

The first day of school is fast approaching, and I can't wait to share how that goes!!! 

Classroom and Apartment Updates

As previously stated, the summer has started off pretty slow when considering all the plans I had in my head to get myself organized. With that being said.. I am going to share a video I posted on YouTube a few weeks ago. It showcases my classroom as it was when I came into it. At the time, I had not added any of my own decorations or materials. I must say that I was EXTREMELY lucky to inherit a classroom from a teacher who decided to leave me a lot. So... without further adu, here is my classroom :) 

Since this video I have brought a lot of my own personal items into the classroom. Including, a desk, disk-o-sits (for students who need to move), a huge bean bag, math manipulatives, books, and many other items that are not yet organized. 

I will be working in my classroom tomorrow, and I plan on doing a whole lot of organizing! I need for things to be in their proper places so that I can actually get legitimate work done while in my classroom. 

On a more personal note, my apartment is almost finished :) I have about 98% of my stuff in the apartment, and about 75% of it organized. The parts that are not organized so much are my closet, laundry room, and pantry... 

Be sure to let me know what you think of both my classroom, and apartment in the comments :) 

Slow Start to Summer

I had all sorts of big plans for the summer regarding getting organized for next school year, and I have come to find out that it's not so easy. I have become extremely overwhelmed with the amount of items on my To-Do list. I am currently trying to: 

1. Get my classroom organized and ready for the first day of school
2. Get a substantial amount of lesson and project planning down on paper in order to feel comfortable going into the first weeks of school 
3. Move into my new apartment-- and all the planning and money spending that goes into that
4. Organize and open up new social networking sites: Ms. Jenelle's Class facebook page, Ms. Jenelle's Class Twitter account, My Pinterest account, This blog, and not to mention I haven't even started my class web site yet. 

I feel like when I sit down to work, I have so many things going through my head, without an organized plan of how to address them that I have a really hard time actually working. Another thing I want to make sure I do the right way is keep all of my personal social networking sites as private as possible, and filter students, parents, and colleagues to my professional accounts. The last thing that I need is for something that I post on a personal networking site to harm my professionalism. If anyone has any suggestions on the best way to go about doing this please share :) 

For the meantime, I would like to share some really great websites and resources that I have come across the past few days, and I hope they will help you in your classrooms as well. Please also feel free to share anything in the comments section, to my facebook page, or simply via email. I am always interested in new resources!! 

1. ScootPad- This is an educational web site that students can use independently to practice math and literacy skills. The web site follows the common core standards, and organizes data wonderfully for teachers.
2. Donors Choose- This is a website that teachers MUST become a member of. With this website you are able to ask for materials needed for your students to be successful in the classroom, or complete a project. Donors are then able to sign onto the website and contribute to what it is you are asking for. After you have received your materials, you are required to send thank you letters :)
3. How To Learn Math- Stanford University is offering a free online course that claims to help change students' relationships with math. 
4. 20% Time- This article talks about the benefits of using Google's 20% time in the classroom. 
5. Twitter in the Classroom- This article lists some great ways to use twitter in the classroom. There are a lot listed, and I do not feel that all apply to me, but I do feel that some are very beneficial. This article inspired me to start my own Ms. Jenelle's Class Twitter account. I hope I will be able to reach more students, parents, and other educators this way.  

I sure hope that you find these resources as helpful as I did. Please remember to contact me with other resources you think are worth a look :) 

Thanks for reading!!! 

New York State Of Mind

I am leaving for New York tomorrow morning! This will be my first time visiting the big apple, and I can't wait! The reason I am going is to present with my partner teacher at a conference in Brooklyn. I feel so honored to be such a young and slightly inexperienced teacher able to present at this big conference. I'm extremely intimidated, but I know it will be an excellent learning experience for me, and I can't wait!!! We will be giving a presentation about how to make change in your community. With this project our students identified a problem that they were passionate about helping/changing in Pasadena, and from there they came up with an achievable solution to their problem and created action steps in order to Take Action in Pasadena. This was a very rewarding experience to have with the students, and it was so inspiring to see them takle such big issues within their home town. I am excited to give this presentation, and I hope that people attending will go back to their schools with a plan in mind about how to re-create this project with their students and within their communities. 

After the conference is over (Friday) I will be spending an extra day in New York to site see :) Like I said, I have never been there before, so I am excited to do all the cliche touristy things. Among all the things to do, these are the ones I am MOST excited for: 

• Go for a run in Central Park
• See a broadway play (I will be seeing Motown)
• Take the (free) ferry to Ellis Island and see the Statue of Liberty
• Visit the new Freedom Tower, and the new museum that goes along with it
• Go to the Museum of Natural History 
• See Times Square (maybe) 

If any of my readers has ANY suggestions for other (relatively cheap) fun activities I should partake in while in NYC please feel free to contact me using: comments, email, facebook, or twitter.  

After I return from New York my posts will consist of me putting my classroom together, and planning for next year. 

TTFN... Ta Ta For Now!

Welcome to Ms. Jenelle's Class!

I am so excited to be starting this new blog! And I can't wait to connect with many other teachers and bloggers out there. I have been thinking about creating this blog ever since I started blogging, and now that I have a full time teaching job I am so excited to have a blog that can showcase things I am doing and learning in my classroom! I have also been researching how to customize a blog for quite a while, and while I still have TONS to learn, I am excited to debut this new blog which has more of "me" in it than any of my other blogs :) (I don't think I could have used the word "blog" any more than I did... What do you think)?

Please subscribe, or visit again to see what's new in Ms. Jenelle's Class! I will be posting throughout the summer about setting up my very first classroom, and I am hoping to explore video posting as well :) YouTube here I come!!! 

TTFN... Ta Ta for now!