So Long, Farewell

This coming week will be the last for the 2008-2009 school year at Metz. What a wonderful experience it has been for me to be able to share what has been going on in my classroom all year. I believe that all teachers, new and experienced, have things to learn from each other. It is in this exchange of ideas that we become better educators for our own students and colleagues.

Creating Class Made ABC Books

Reading ABC Books and creating our own have always been an enjoyable learning experience for me and my students. I have given you ideas about some in my previous blogs, but I wanted to share a few more with you today. Maybe you will make a few with your students before the year is over, or use some of these ideas when you start a new year in August or September. Each year I choose a few class books to save for myself, and the rest I give away to students. The ones I have chosen to keep I will treasure forever.

Bulletin Boards: Spring Has Sprung!

One of the best things about teaching at Metz is the fact that all of my colleagues take such time and care to keep our hallways looking beautiful with student work. These displays allow everyone to have a glimpse on what is being taught in each room and are also excellent learning tools. I took some time last week to photograph many of these gorgeous displays to share with you. It is one thing to read an idea for a bulletin board in a magazine, but quite another to see a teacher's and her students handiwork! Enjoy!

Technology in the Classroom I

Recently, your team of Teacher Advisors put together a collection of ideas on how they integrate technology in their own classroom to make the ordinary extraordinary. In addition to those clever ideas, I have some additional quick tech ideas to share with you that I have completed with my 1st graders over the past several years.

Valentine Activities

Here are a few quick and fun activities with the theme of Valentine's Day!

100th Day of School

Schools start at many different times of the year usually in August and September. At Metz, we started the latest that I ever remember, and as a result, we are celebrating the 100^th day of school next week on February 4^th. Whether you have already celebrated the 100^th day of school with your little monkeys this year or having it coming up in a few weeks, I hope you can find some fun ideas here to use and have some 100^th day fun!

Peace Begins With You

In addition to teaching about the wonderful life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I like to extend the celebration of his birthday into several lessons on peace; peace within our selves, peace with others and peace between nations.

President Obama's Inauguration

With the incredibly exciting Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama coming up on January 20th, I thought I would share with you some links of lessons and resources. I hope you find time to teach about this historic event so your students are able to feel that they have been a part of our country’s democratic process. I know my own first graders are fascinated with President Elect Obama and pictures of him are hung all over our classroom. We have one particular solemn looking photo that is hung on the Good Citizen Board because the kids like to think he is looking down on us making sure we are all doing a good job in our work. They are such cute little sweeties, I really love working with 1st graders!

Grant Writing (Tips!) For Your Classroom III

Loretta Holland is one of the fantastic women that volunteer their time at the Junior League of Austin, Texas. Our local Junior League works in cooperation with 3M and AMD to give thousands of dollars in grant money to central Texas teachers through the ABC Grant Program. Lucky for us, Ms. Holland, a professional grant writer and consultant, chose to share her tips for writing successful grants.

Grant Writing For Your Classroom II

Last week in my blog Grant Writing I, I listed some of my favorite grants, many of which I had success with. Of course I can’t possibly share all grants that are available, so I wanted to follow up with links to websites that have many different types of grants, scholarships and contests listed.