Grad School?

I have been contemplating going back to grad school... ?? ahh! The decision terrifies me. There are pros and cons, and I feel like laying them all out here will help with my decision.

Pros
*knowledge-- I will become much more knowledgable in what I do, and will keep me up to date with the latest in the educational scene.
*doors open-- I can't imagine coming out of the classroom, but you never know what the future holds. Perhaps later in life I will tire of the every day hassles of being a classroom teacher, and maybe I'll want to do something else, like guidance, administration, or supervision... Always helpful to have something to fall back on.
*money-- this one might be a joke lol... the difference between BA and MA pay is peanuts, but I guess every little bit helps
*networking-- I'll meet more educators. I'm sure, in my classes, and meeting other teachers always helps in getting more ideas.

Cons
*money-- why does this one show up on both? money is the root of all evil, I tell you. In this case, I'd have to shell out a lot of clams for a degree. Yes, I get some back from my district, but not until I've finished the course.
*time-- a lot of time that I have been spending with my family and on my current classroom duties will have to be sacrificed to do well in my classes.

Hm... are those really the only cons? Maybe my decision is already made for me... ?!

Volunteers

I'm curious about what other teachers do about parent volunteers?

I've always welcomed parents into my classroom. I figure I have nothing to hide, right? I also feel that my students' parents and I should work as a team towards our one common goal: helping their child work to their potential.

Many teachers have the opinion that this teamwork should work as follows: teacher takes charge during the school day, parents take over at home. Why not intertwine the two? Show the students that all of these people are working together and care about them... and that all we do is FOR them?

To all those educators out there who are skeptical, I say give it a try!! Don't let the parent intimidate you. YOU are the professional, and you know what you are doing! Accept the help. The parents AND your students will thank you!

Clickers

I am so excited that my district was able to purchase a set of Clickers for my school!! For those of you who do not know, Clickers is a program that allows students to answer questions projected onto the board through a remote control device. The program will save their answers for you to later review. It's so cool!

What's great, is that the kids think it's "so cool" too! It's bringing 21st century technology right into my classroom! What I also love about them is that rather than calling on one student to answer a question, this records EVERY students answer!

Another awesome function is the reports section. Under reports, you can get actual percentage grades for report cards among many other types of reports. Another function is that you can print out individualized study guides for each student based on questions that they got wrong.

This is such an exciting addition to my classroom!! I can't wait to use them more often!

Website

How do you utilize your classroom website in the classroom?

I use my classroom website as an online classroom. I find it to be one of the best tools that I use to communicate with my students' parents. On it, I put homework assignments, book report assignments, as well as useful links to help students with the skills we are learning in spelling, math, reading, science, and and social studies.

I also put a parent resources page on my site, to help parents who may be struggling with their child. Whether it be with homework, learning or attention issues, or just tips to raising a good student-- they can find it there.

Finally, I wanted to make sure that I gave back. There is a teacher resources page where I share good websites and ideas that can maybe help other teachers out there.

I decided to use a teacherweb, but may decide to be more creative this summer when I have more time to look into it!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, EduBloggers!!

Halloween is one of the biggest perks to teaching elementary school, don't you think? You get a chance to see all your little friends come dressed up in their fantasy worlds. Lots of clowns, power rangers, supermen, rockstars, and Obamas ready to parade in the infinite circle around the poop-ridden fields behind the school. Fun, yes?

I, this year, was a clown. Not so original, but I have never been a clown before- so it was a first for me!!

And, why is it, that Halloween is the only function that you will see EVERY SINGLE parent of the children in your class? Academic days... back to school night.. conferences... eh.. but-- HALLOWEEN??? SIGN ME UP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Website

Hello, fellow bloggers out there.

I wanted to share a new website with you-- www.starfall.com.

Check it out.. my students went on it today and had a blast.

Computers

Teachers, I have learned something new today. In computers. YES, me. I am SO excited!!!

I dutifully took my students to computer class this morning. They immediately began typing away on their typing program. I started to make my rounds to make sure they were using those dear home-row keys, when the computer teacher called me over. She then showed me how to turn off the auto-format when making a table.

O---M---G!!!

Now, many of you may be thinking WHO CARES??!! And you may also be wondering why I think that this is blog-worthy... Well, my friends, I ask you-- have you ever found yourself cursing at the computer while typing your spelling words into a table... backspacing with every word to fix the auto-corrected capital letter?

Well-- if you have... let me make you just as excited as I am. It's a little trick called:

FORMAT--- CHANGE CASE...

Oh, how I love learning new things...