This is my first blog and first blog entry. I've been teaching for 12 years. I've taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, and I'm currently in a 3rd grade classroom with 23 students.
I'm constantly looking for new activities to implement in my classroom. I often create my own activities, lessons, and packets. My district uses the Common Core State Standards, so I'm always striving to meet the standards in a fun and inventive way.
I also have some pretty strong opinions about education and teaching in general. So... I'd like to tell something I currently like about education, and something I dislike about education (See! You could turn this into a prefix lesson! Haha!)
What I Like Right Now:
I love holiday activities that are fun and meet the standards we need to teach. It's so easy to bend a fun activity and add just a little twist to create a worthwhile lesson that kids will love!
This is what we're doing in my class this week:
Reading and Writing Activity: Elf Application
What I DISLIKE Right Now:
I dislike mindless, countless, pointless (Now it's a suffix lesson!) holiday activities.
"Let's color a reindeer coloring page!"
"Let's color a Santa page!"
"Let's color a dreidel page!"
"Let's glue a bunch of stuff onto something else with no actual point or direction!"
Sorry... but it drives me nuts! I'm not talking about ONE little craft. I'm talking about weeks of crafts and coloring that don't relate to anything students need to know! Is it okay to do a totally fun craft once in awhile that doesn't meet any standards? I guess... but it's SO simple to make it worthwhile for your class.
Instead of: "Let's color a reindeer!"
How about: Let's read a nonfiction book about real reindeer and compare and contrast Santa's reindeer to real reindeer.
OR
Let's read a nonfiction book about real reindeer and draw an accurate picture with labels (diagram!).
See... still fun, yet totally worth the time!
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