What is a Scientist?

Every year I try and make a big deal about what a scientist is. Every year the misconceptions are the same. "A scientist is someone who wears science googles'', "A scientist is someone who wears a lab coat".  We always discuss ALL the different types of scientists and how each and finally come to the conclusion that we all can be scientists. We all can ask questions, make predictions, interpret data, and make conclusions. Who does not love experimenting?

You all ROCK! Our second Donors Choose project is only $219 off from getting funded and with the code JUMPSTART it would only be $110 and if you take the optional donation of 15% off it is only $93!!! We are sooooo close!!!! Our Hokki Stools have been shipped!!!! YAY!!!

Click the link if you would like to check out our projects!!! They keep extending the back to school code but we are not sure how long!

Have a wonderful week! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Nouns and Hashtags

What is a proper noun? This is a question asked by several third graders this week in room 8. As I let the students lead several discussions this week, I found out quickly who knew and who did not know several standards. As we were discussing nouns one day I realized that most of the students did not know what a proper noun was. We quickly discussed it and the next day went off on a proper noun hunt! It was a blast and they loved discussing with their peers about the proper nouns they found on our scavenger hunt! 

 #goodstudent

 The first week of school we hashtaged several ideal classmate characteristics. They went around the room hashtaging characteristics and then we came back to our meeting to discuss.

Thanks to everyone who supported our classroom this weekend at Donors Choose!

We only need $140 with the code JUMPSTART!!!

I cannot believe how generous everyone has been! 

I have several blogposts set up for this week! Check back in for some more pictures and to see what we have been up to! It is going to be a wonderful year!!

First Day and Donor's Choose

Hi all,

Today was an eventful and exhausting day. It will take us (students an teacher =)) a couple of weeks to get back in routine.

Last night with the rain the school had drains backed up and some of the rooms flooded. Unfortunately one of the rooms was a third grade room. =( We delightfully took in another class and had about 42 third graders and two teachers in our classroom this morning. We tried the morning meeting circle and we did not fit, but it was still nice to hear everyone's yucks and yays. We did not get to start out how we planned but it was a good lesson about how things do not always go as we anticipate but it all works out. =)

If you came in this morning, I promise it is not usually that chaotic!!!

We went through several procedures today and had music in the library (Music room was also flooded), took a math pre-test, two recesses, and a writing activity!

Our writing activity started with students picking a gum ball. They got together with a person with the same color and got to know one another. Tomorrow as they come in they will turn their planning page into a writing piece and create this little craft!

We also needed to discuss how moving and sitting on a ball is helpful for our brain. We discussed ball expectations and we are all set! This is my fifth year using balls and the kids and I absolutely love it more each year!

I wrote a more lengthy post about benefits a few years ago.  You can read by clicking here.

One of my teammates let me know of another amazing seat that has the same benefits as the yoga balls. They are called Hokki stools. You can read all about them here. And more about the benefits here.

I wrote a Donors Choose grant to get some of these in our classroom for students who would prefer a stool with the same benefits. I put about 600 dollars on it from gift cards and because they are so expensive it only took about half of the price. The good news.....this week only, any donation you make to my project will be doubled! No matter the size (seriously, every little bit counts). Just use the code SPARK at check out!!!! YAY! If you can't donate anything at this time, no worries... just share this information with anyone who you know is passionate about education. Your donation will have a direct impact on at least 20 students this year and you'll hear back from our class about your impact! Any donations towards this site is also a tax deduction. You can click the stool to get to this project!

I was a little ambitious (maybe too ambitions)  this weekend and thought I would write one for two more iPads. We have several more kids in our room this year than last year and I REALLY liked loved how we had one iPad for every two students. This allowed for students to personalize the iPad and keep projects safe while they worked on them. They were able to stay logged in to their google accounts for easy access and it made projects run more smoothly. Nothing is worse than vigorously working for an hour on a project and the next day it is gone. This was a major time saver for our class, especially because we use these tools for so much through out the year! This project can also be cut in half this week by using the code SPARK!!! Thanks so much for your consideration! Click on the i Pad to get to this project.

Lastly, I will leave you with my favorite part of the day! After ALL of the procedure lessons that will last what seems like forever, we took a break to play a little "get to know you" game. We threw a ball around the circle saying hello to friends and then did a little speed round. They were giggling and joyfully throwing the ball to one another.  Something so simple made these wonderful third graders pep right up! It was a good day and I can not wait for 

Have a great week!

We are Back!!!!!

Today was our first official day back at school. As I am thrilled to be working in my classroom (haha), working when students are back is WAY better!  I hope you all had a wonderful summer! I spent the summer with my three boys at the beach, back home in MO, lake time, lots of pool time, Starbucks dates, visiting aquariums, more pool time and of course researching (Pinteresting) for fun school ideas for the year!

 

 

It was absolutly a wonderful summer and I can not wait to hear about how yours went! Be prepared to write about it!!! =)

I am so excited to see all of the students who will be in our classroom family this year! As you all know I taught first grade at Beeks for five and half years before moving to third. This means, I have a few students that I had in first grade AND I already know most everyone in our class! SO EXCITING!!!! This is my second year in third and last year was my favorite year yet! Third grade is my new favorite grade!!!

Our theme this year is Lego's and I can not wait to meet you all tomorrow at back to school night!

Students: When you come in I want you to walk around pick a seat to sit at and get to know our classroom. This is your learning zone for the next school year. You should be comfortable and happy!

Parents: There will be i Pads and computers available to fill out my back to school google form. You can do this at school tomorrow night (Thursday) or click the picture below to get a head start. This will stream line the process and save lots of paper!

Thanks so much! Looking forward to a  GREAT, FANTASTIC, ENGAGING year!