Hands are not for Hitting!

This is one of my favorite books to read when children are having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves. In case you do not have the book or you can not find it here is a video of me reading the book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stcoX5mKrk

Some activities that you can do with this book :

• Have the children write what hands are for on a cut out of their hand. 
• Have the children trace and cut out their hand also helps with fine motor skills! 
• Make a classroom chart about what hands are for and what hands are not for. 
• Use this books to talk about our friends feelings and how they feel if they get hit. Etc. =) 

Books Books Books

With the new year right around the corner I plan to get back onto YouTube!  I will be posting activities and lessons that accompany different children's books.

The video will have me reading the book aloud in case you don't own the book or cannot find it.

Feel free to requests books =) 

PA Common Core

Common core standards... a very common and hated phrase to many. As an education major this phrase came up.... A LOT! 

What are these standards?

These standards are  a state-led effort which is coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) & the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). 

These standards were created with teachers, school administrators, and other education experts.The Common Core Standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.

I asked some teachers, parents and people becoming teachers what their feelings on the PA Common Core:

• one parent said "It's to confusing and complicated. In addition to that ... As a parent we can't help because we don't know it either. The teachers seem just as confused at times"
• Another parent who's child is not in school yet looked it up and said "Oh lord it looks scary"
• A Student teacher said " I think they limit creativity and doesn't allow students to learn in ways other than the way they outline."
• A teacher said " I think they are helpful but I don't think they should be the only thing that is taught. Like PA doesn't teach money at all until second grade because it's not common core. 

What are your thoughts?

College!

Well it is official! Come 12/13/14 I will be a college graduate!!

This semester has been extremely busy. I have missed blogging like crazy. Now I have some free time so I will be posting more! 

College was difficult and very challenging but the experiences I learned throughout these past couple years I wouldn't trade for the world. Every bump in the road only made me grow more as a person and become ready to enter the real world. 

Now my 'job' is to start job hunting. I have began this process and I am excited. I cannot wait to see which exciting company I get to work with and the people I will meet. =)

Thinking

Wow it has been a very long time since I have been able to post on here. This past summer I worked 2 jobs and had an online class. This fall is my last semester =). Graduation is set for December! With 3 classes this semester I have been very busy with papers every week and tests weekly. Most of my free time has been spent doing school work. 


I recently started tutoring again. I LOVE it! The best feeling when tutoring is when a child is able to sound out and read the word they had been struggling with before you start helping. 

However, it upsets me to see some of these children who are struggling... A LOT of these problems could and should have been addressed the previous year by the teacher. If a child struggles with reading you, as the teacher needs to get them help right away! 

This has really started to upset me. There are hundreds of qualified teachers without jobs and yet there are people who still teach that do it for the wrong reasons. If you teach please make sure to teach for the right reasons. 

Deciding not to be a teacher was a difficult decision for me. I think I will be better doing things other than in the classroom. Well it's about time to make lunch and leave for school. Hopefully I will be able to post sooner this time. 

Bulletproof Blankets

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Bulletproof-Blankets-Released-for-Students-262542131.html

That's right! In case you haven't heard and Oklahoma inventor came up with the idea for a bullet resistant and tornado resistant. This blanket (seen above) can resist 90% of the types of guns used in past school shootings. 

I think this is a wonderful idea. We  need something to help protect our children when they are at school. School incidents have become too frequent and too many innocent children are being killed. However, these blankets are a little pricey they run around $1,000 per blanket. I am worried that all of the schools would not be able to afford them. Local businesses and the community could work together and fund-raise some of the money to help keep the children of their community safe. 

Once these blankets are bought the children need to practice with them several times. This would greatly help in the event of an intruder in the school. 

What are other ways we could keep our children safe in schools?

Start of something new

May 28th was my last day working in a daycare. It has been a very challenging time. I began working in daycare in 2010 since then I have known no other industry.


Working somewhere rather than a daycare is going to be very challenging for me. Working in the daycare has been the most rewarding job I have ever done. At ABCs the teachers were more than caregivers, we were part of the family. I have been so lucky to be able to watch some of these babies grow and turn into the wonderful preschoolers.



This summer I am taking a psychology class and this fall I have 3 classes left before I graduate. I am becoming nervous about my graduation. There are so many jobs I would like but I do not know where to start. I still would like to be involved with day-cares but I do not know which position I would like the best.

School safety?

Franklin Regional was a hard story for me to watch and listen about. Two of my cousins went there. They both graduated and were not there during this horrible incident. However, I did know a couple students who were there and still are shaken up by the entire situation and some even scared to go to school everyday. I am very thankful that these students and security guard hurt in this horrible incident are alright.  I hope these students can get past this incident and move on with their lives. 

It is very sad that children now have to live in a world where they are terrified to go to school. We need to ensure that these schools are safe. If the school has metal detectors use them! If you are a district without detectors like Franklin Regional shame on you! It is the job of the schools and districts to protect their children. 

We know that horrible things happen and we need to stop them! There are other schools in this area who check every pocket in purses and backpacks to make sure there are no drugs or weapons being brought in. These schools should teach safety to some other schools. 

I know where I went to high school the metal detectors were suppose to be for everyone who did not take the bus to school and the few buses that were selected to go through them every morning. That is not smart! I know people who drove to school and walked around the building so they did not have to go through the detectors. Also my bus knew that if we went through Monday that the rest of the week we would be safe unless people acted up on the bus. This never made sense to me even when I was in school. 



We need to talk with our students and make them feel comfortable at school. They need to let an adult know if they are being bullied. There needs to be strict rules about bullying. Schools need to pay attention and address bullying. I know certain schools report 0 acts of bullying and I can tell you that is a LIE! Bullying is everywhere. If there is no bullying in the school then everyone must be best friends... NOT. Teachers keep an eye out! Principles and School board members enforce the No tolerance! 


Also practice safety drills frequently!!! In case something happens at your school make sure the students know what to do!

Mobility Awareness Month!

It is national mobility month! 

There are over 18 million people in the United States alone with mobility issues! The NMEDA is having a local heros contest. You can go on and view different people in the United States that have entered to try to win a custom wheelchair accessible van. To some of these individuals it can mean the world with out these vans some people are confined to their homes and not able to enjoy life like they should!

The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding mobility options for people with disabilities. The organization promotes and supports members engaged in the modification of quality transportation and wheelchair accessible vehicles. Over 600 international members work to provide safe and reliable adapted transportation solutions to help build the road to independence. Transportation is the key to freedom and NMEDA is the key to quality transportation.

I personally know one of these hero. A sweet 4 year old little boy whose family would benefit greatly if they could win one of these vans. 

Please go on and vote! You can vote 1 time every day! (link below)


http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/cayden-mcclain-east-mckeesport-pa/




“A chance that something desirable will happen.” This is the definition of the word HOPE. That’s what I have for my son, Hope. It’s been a difficult life for Cayden, but you couldn't tell that from the incredible smile that shines so brightly from this little man’s face. He’s had a rough go from birth. Brain damage, failure to thrive, visual impairment, open heart surgery, stomach surgery, seizures, the list goes on. He’s had every test done to him you can imagine. from spinal taps to MRI’s every six months. he will be seeing specialists for the rest of his life. he is fed through a tube in his stomach, has a kid kart (wheelchair) to get around, and doesn't form words, doesn't crawl or walk. He takes more medication than most people have taken in their lives. And he’s only four years old. I don’t say this for sympathy, this is just some of his background. Cayden will be getting a new wheelchair this summer. Unfortunately, our current van can not access a larger wheelchair. I don’t know what we are going to do. So, my Hope is that you will find Cayden worthy of your vote. I Hope that the diagnosis is wrong, and someday he will walk. I Hope he knows the joy he brings to everyone’s life who has met him. And I Hope that one day I will be able to give him half the happiness he has given me. Thank you for reading, and God Bless.

Bill Nye/ Ken Ham debate

For my Teaching Science K-4 class we were asked to watch the Bill Nye and Ken Ham debate of evolution vs. creation.

 Both Bill Nye and Ken Ham made very valid arguments for their opposing sides. I feel that this is a topic that will never be agreed upon. When discussing something this controversial it becomes hard for some people to talk in a professional matter. I feel that these two men kept their emotions out of the debate enough so they both remained professional. 

Ken stated 'if you teach creation in a public school that's teaching religion. If you teach evolution that's science"

This is a very important topic in schools. Many districts in our country have opted to discuss the theory of evolution as part of their curriculum. This can make some teachers uncomfortable. They think 'what should I do?' 

Science should be all about DISCOVERY! Children love doing hands on learning and actually becoming 'scientists' discovering new ideas. Let science be messy and fun not lectures that half of the children will ignore. If we constantly lecture the students will not learn and they will not enjoy science as they should! 

In my opinion, since the school districts call for evolution to be taught, I believe the teachers should teach a little bit of  evolution and a little bit of creation. By teaching this we are educating children on the diverse thinking about how the world came to be about how it is now. It should be kept simple and contain the 'facts' from each side. We should not teach these two sides to try and cause tension in the school. They should be used as a tool to help show diversity in society. 

Where do you stand as teachers, educators, parents, grandparents, citizens? 

The Power of Education

While doing homework for my teaching social studies class I read an interesting part of my book. It said :

"Please understand this: Education is power. In general, the more education people have, the more likely they are to have a well-paying job, to tolerate diverse beliefs, to vote regularly, and in other ways to participate in government and, thereby, to write the rules we live by. "(Parker, 2012)

This really got me thinking. Education is very important. Education can shape individuals as well as countries. 

Education is something that starts when you are born. From the time that we come into the world until we leave we are constantly learning. Whether it is a formal education setting or just everyday life. 

Without education people in this country are not able to grow and prosper into their dreams. Every type of job needs some type of education even if it is not formal education. 

Education really is the key component for out society to grow and prosper. 

In order to have a society that can function properly during difficult times such as war, extreme weather, and economy hardships we have to have people in charge who value education. When these leaders value education they are constantly learning and adapting what they know in order to best help the citizens they look over. 

Works Cited

Parker, W. C. (2012). Social Studies In Elementary Education, Fourteenth Edition . Boston : Pearson Education, Inc .

Does your brain need a break?

Are your students fidgeting during class? Are you tired of losing the attention of the class? 

Instead of getting frustrated and losing valuable teaching time in the classroom give the children a brain break.  A brain break is when we give the brain an opportunity to take a break. 

During this time the children can stand up and get their sillies out! There are many ways to have a brain break.

 You can have the students:

Stand up 

Take a walk outside or inside if the weather is bad

Do jumping jacks

Play Simon says 

Play a game

Do an activity with the lesson 

Sing a song

Recite a poem 

Etc 

There are many different options that you can try with your students. This will save lots of teaching time and it will also help the students better understand the lessons because they will be concentrating more on the lessons at hand. 

Brain breaks can also be known as physical breaks. This is simply because you are giving the children a chance to take a break and do something physical to get let out some energy and to get the sillies out. 

This activity can and should be used for every age student. As a college student I know that during my classes which are 2 hours and 45 minutes long it is very nice to get a 3-5 minute break every once in a while. This makes the time go a little quicker and allows the students to take a few moments to refocus on the lecture. 

Have you used brain breaks? What worked in your classroom?

Let's write quickly!

A quick write is a very useful tool that teachers from first grade to college can use with their students. I think everyone uses quick writes, they just don't know it. 

A quick write is when you take a topic and write everything that you know about the topic in a given amount of time (example: 1st grade: bugs- 3 min). During the time allowed the students are not allowed to erase or reread what they have written.  This allows them to get all their thoughts out before going back through.

These quick writes can be used as a student's brainstorming activity, a way for the teacher to see what the students already know,  an assessment after a lesson to make sure the students all understand and many more possibilities.

I like quick writes because it is an easy way for me to jot down ideas for my blog when my time is limited.  I think it would be a great idea to use in the classroom when the students finish early.

Even though I am a big supporter of quick writes I do believe that they should not be used every day.  This needs to be an occasional tool that is used. This will keep the children interested in the activity. 

New Year!

Happy New Year to you! As 2014 unfolds what are your resolutions for the up coming year?

This is something that I feel should be shared with students. Tell them some of your resolutions (school appropriate of course). After discussing yours have the students write some down for themselves.  Save these and during the last week of school pass them back out and see who is following their resolutions still.

With this new year try to come up with a pact with your students to stop bullying.  A new year can be a great time to talk about bullying.  Talk about what they should do if they see bullying. Explain how the victims feel when they are bullied.  Tell them the consequences of bullying.

Overall with this new year encourage your students to be better people!

I hope you had a safe and happy New Year!  I look forward to writing many new posts this year.

Stop Think Points

During this past semester I learned about a reading technique called Stop Think Points. Stop Think Points are places in a story where the teacher has the student stop and think about something. These can be made into a bookmark which each student will receive before beginning to read. 

This can be a great way to teach reading to the whole class. The teacher is able to have the class read a book and even with the different reading levels they are able to participate and do the same activities. 

When the students stop the teacher has a lot of options they can have the students:

•  think about a question and be ready to discuss 
• summarize what they have read
• draw a picture
• etc

This activity can be used for any grade and some Stop Think Points can be more challenging for the students who are reading above grade level. 

I used this activity in a second grade classroom where I taught a guided reading lesson. I had the children read a couple pages stop and pick out certain information to share with the group. This activity really worked for me and the children were all on task!

Here is the Stop Think Point I made :

This is a great  way to keep children on task and to see if they are fully understanding what they are reading! 

Change

Hello everyone! It has been very busy on my end. With school, work, tutoring and babysitting life has been kind of hectic. I have decided to change my major slightly.

Instead of going and becoming a teacher I will now have a BS in Education called Early Childhood Education Services. This is a program offered at CALU which is very similar to the Early Childhood Education with Teaching certificate. I will still be able to get my teaching certificate if I decide to go back and get my masters. I will also have a minor in Psychology. I am very excited to finish this degree and find the perfect job for me. 

With finals just around the corner I plan to post a lot more on my blog. This semester has given me a lot of wonderful ideas to share with everyone. =) 

Have a wonderful holiday and I will be posting more shortly. 

Cursive

Well it has been almost a month since I posted last. School has been very busy lately. 

One thing that I have noticed in our schools is the lack of cursive writing. I do not write in cursive but I do think it is important to teach our children how to write in cursive. They should at least learn the letters in their name. 

I remember when I was in elementary school they were very big on learning cursive and saying how important it is for our future. I have now realized they lied! I never use cursive unless I need to sign my name. Even then I print the first letter of my first and last name. 

Now most schools have opted out from teaching cursive writing. I understand that the standardized testing does not have cursive on it, however we as educators need to prepare our students for the real world. In life you will need to sign for different things and printing is not always an option.

We can take 15 minuets of the day and teach some cursive skills.

How can we communicate??

With schools starting back all over the country we as teachers will have a new set of families to communicate with.  Communication is very important. Making sure that families understand what is going on with their child's learning can be a difficult task especially for those families who work full time. There are many ways to communicate with families. It is our job as educators to find out which forms of communication work best to fit the needs of the class and families.

Here are some common ways teachers communicate with parents:

1. Monthly news letter

           This can talk about the school as a whole or just the specific class.

2. Facebook

            We are a technological society therefore more and more people are communicating through online sources.  The daycare I  currently work at has a Facebook page. Each parent has to sign a paper giving permission for their child's picture to be put on the page.

Remember privacy! Make sure the profile is private and that only parents and the staff have access to the page. 

If done properly this can become a very useful tool for the parents to see how their children are.  Also parents are able to talk with each other and ask questions that everyone can see. If there is a reminder for parents it can be posted and will appear on the parents news feed.

3. Daily reports

Paper that allows the parent or guardian to see what the child did that day.  This can be very general or specific.  Things you can include: meals or snacks eaten, bottles for younger children, naps, activities during the day, and notes of anything they need or are low on.

4. Emails

Again parents are always on the move. However there are a lot of parents who have their emails right on their phone.  Emails can be sent while the children are at lunch or even when they are in another classroom.

5. Phone

Making phone calls can be very challenging because most parents work during the day. After work is when they spend time as a family. Also most jobs do not allow personal phone calls while working.

6. Monthly Meetings

Have open time after School hours when you can meet with parents or guardians to talk about any concerns you as the teacher or the family have about the child and where they are in the class.

7. Daily Board

In your classroom you can have a board where the daily activities are posted. This will only work if your parents and guardians pick up at the school.

8. Text

Some parents may find it easier to text than call or monthly meetings. This can be a very fast and easy way to communicate with one or multiple families.

9. Website

Creating a website is very simple. I have actually made one recently for my babysitting and tutoring, through webs.com. Here parents can post questions and all of the parents can see and can comment. On my page MissSara.webs.com I have a calendar to let families know when I am available.

Why Why Why Why Why!?

Let's talk about the biggest question I get...... WHY? No I don't mean from the children either... I mean adults. They are constantly asking why.. "Why do you work with kids?" "Why don't you work some where that you would make more money?" "Why not work where you can get more hours with school?" If someone has thought about it they have asked!

The big answer is....

 because I love what I do. 

When you wake up and honestly get excited about something at work you are lucky! 

If you are not excited about work you probably are not in the correct field.

When I get to work I walk through other rooms in order to get to the room I work in. When the children see me they usually scream my name and run over and give me hugs. Even on a very bad day they are able to put a huge smile on my face =).

People might think working with children is difficult and they are right. At times it can be very stressful and hard but it has been the most rewarding experience that I have done in my life time. They say the best medicine is laughter and they are right! Even a crazy day filled with unhappy screaming children can be so rewarding when a child begins to laugh. :-)

Just the other day I came to realize that an infant I watched when I first started working in a daycare is now 3. 

Where has the time gone?

It is an amazing feeling to watch a child grow and turn into a great individual. A lot of the time you are there for the child's first. Their first steps there first crawl their first word. Parents are often working 40 hours a week during that time child is with you, the childcare worker.

If you are in childcare or a teacher or on your way ..Why did you get into this field? 

Candy!

Candy can be a big topic when it comes to children. Some will argue that candy makes children over weight and that it should never be eaten. While others believe that you can eat candy on occasion along with a good diet and exercise.

Me? I love candy! I eat candy almost every day. Am I over weight? Nope! 

I do believe that if you sit on the couch all day eating nothing but candy you will become over weight but, most children are not going to do that. A couple pieces of candy here and there will not make them suddenly gain weight like crazy.

I recently had some nerds and as I was eating them I read something very interesting on the box....

It said:

" Want to know where Wonka candy comes from? Read all about it in CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by Roald Dahl RoaldDahl.com " 

I could not believe it! Candy encouraging a child to read? Not only is it a great book but an amazing author with many books that children love to read. 

As you might have read in the past I believe that reading is key! Children need to be able to read to excel in other subjects! The fact that a candy is encouraging children to read makes me very happy. 

From finding this out it just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover! =) It makes you wonder what other interesting facts will I discover today?