Bedtime say what?!

I just went running around my neighborhood and was surprised at how many kids I saw out playing in their yards. Why is that strange you might ask? Well, it is 8:45 at night...

What happened to bedtime?!

 I saw at least 10 kids under the age of 5 out and about riding bikes, playing ball, and hanging out in their yards. 

no sign of pajamas...

...no cuddly bedtime stories...

...no winding down to end the day....

Rather than passing judgement because I am not a parent, I will say, it must be hard to be a parent when it is totally light outside until after 9:00! Why would kids in Portland want to go to bed when they finally see the sun after months of rain and it is warm and sunny until 9:00 at night. If they went to bed, they would miss some prime playing time!!

As a teacher, I get frustrated when it comes to bedtime because there are parents who do not have any sort of reasonable schedule for their young children. I had one student this year going to bed at 11:00 at night because his mom really didn't understand that little kids needs LOTS of sleep and need to get to bed by 8:00 or 8:30. Once our counselor discussed it with her, she changed the family habits and it helped a lot, but I still find it sad that some parents are not aware of fundamental aspects of wellness for children. Like I said, I am not a parent, but I do know that kids thrive on schedules and predictable routines and going to bed at 11:00 simply does not make sense for a young child who needs to be alert and ready for a full day/week of school. 

I am seeing the effects of over tiredness, illness, and almost end of the school year-itis in a major way. Yesterday I had NINE students absent and today SIX. Something yucky is going around and getting enough sleep is important in order to stay healthy. 

Even though it remains light out, I think it is important to maintain a proper bedtime schedule on school nights. During summer vacation, let them stay up as late as they want, but for these last few precious days of school, put them to bed!

Some tips for an effective bedtime from ehow.com

1. Step1

   Have a designated bedtime. Decide whether the time you are choosing is the actual time you want the kids in bed or the time you want the bedtime routine to begin. Whatever the case, stick to that time. On the weekend of course you can push the time back a few hours as needed, but try to stick to the routine even on the weekend.

2. Step2

   Plan out what the course of events will be that will make up this bedtime routine. Always start out with an activity that can transition your child from their current activities to bedtime. They can, straightening up their room by putting away stray toys or clothes. If their room is already clean, they can quietly play or read for about 15 to 30 minutes. Make sure you call out a count down to bedtime to prevent tantrums. Such as, “one hour to bedtime, 30 minutes to bedtime, or 15 minutes to bedtime.”

3. Step3

   The routine itself should take about 30 to 45 minutes and consist of some if not all of the five main points that I’m about to mention. 1. Putting on their pajamas. 2. Brushing their teeth 3. At least 15 minutes of face to face time with the person putting the child to bed 4. Making sure you child is comfortable 5. Saying goodnight

4. Step4

   Depending on the child’s age, try to let them do as much as they can on their own. You should let the child choose his/her own pajamas and also let them put the toothpaste on by themselves.

5. Step5

   I found that the face to face time is best spent reading a couples of stories to the child. Let them choose the books. Involve them in the story by asking simple questions, such as “why did that happen or what do you think will happen next?” There are alternatives to reading a story such as singing a few songs together or if it’s an older child just talking.

6. Step6

   Make sure your child is comfortable by giving them their favorite stuffed animal or blanket, a small glass of water or even by turning on a night light. The last part of this routine should be saying goodnight. If you’ve taught your child a prayer let them recite it or simply tuck your child in and give them a reassuring hug and goodnight kiss. Don’t forget to say I love you and good night.

End of the year ORGANIZING

This is not my classroom library, although I kind of wish it was. Just an example of how organized it can look.

Today after school I spent quite some time trying to organize my classroom library and sort my books. When I first started teaching, I was willing to take any books that were offered and willingly put anything in my library just to fill up the shelves. 

Now that I have been at it for a few years and have experience teaching reading to first graders, I have a better gauge of what kinds of books are appropriate for the shelves of a first grade classroom library. I made a huge pile of books that I deemed inappropriate and fortunately our school has a Book Nook program that I can donate them to so that kids in need can take them home. There is nothing wrong with the books, but I am trying hard to limit my books to ones that are truly age/level appropriate. I have gotten a lot of really nice, brand new books this year through the Scholastic Book Clubs and my fabulous Donors Choose proposal that was funded (Thanks Karin!) so I am less willing to hold onto the really old beat up, ripped, and way too hard books that I willingly adopted 3 years ago!

I also find that there can be such a thing as TOO many books in that the more we have the less we have to focus on caring for them. I found many books shoved in places they don't belong, so for the rest of the year I am going to display fewer books and have more put away for special checkout only (for responsible book users). 

I decided that I really wanted to keep my books grouped by subject (especially the non-fiction ones) so I made bundles based on some of the topics we cover:

• insects
• matter
• weather
• frogs/amphibians
• colors
• animal life cycles
• dinosaurs
• presidents and American symbols
• parts of speech and grammar
• math books
• coins and money

I also have a bundle for special holiday/times of year books that I grouped in order of when the holidays come during the school year

• Back to School
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Winter/Christmas
• Groundhog's Day
• Valentine's Day
• 100th Day of School
• End of the Year

All of those books are ones that I use for instructional purposes, so I don't let the kids have access to them all the time. My instructional books stay on my own personal bookshelves so that they stay in better condition and don't get lost/misplaced. Sometimes I feel like I am hoarding books, however there are plenty for the kids to read daily and I think I deserve to have an organization to my teaching materials that does not happen if the kids have access to everything.

I also organized books that the kids can read at all times and grouped them by type/author/level. Some of those groups are:

• Frog and Toad
• Cam Jansen
• Magic Treehouse
• Junie B. Jones
• Clifford, Berenstein Bears, & Little Critter
• Henry & Mudge

I did not take any photos yet, but I will try to remember to post a few. For now, here is a link I found to some good information on planning and organizing a classroom library.

This teacher has some good photos and explanations of how she set up her library. She even has custom labels that you can type over and print out for labeling those special "teacher books" that you don't want your students keeping in their desks. 

Also, when I post my pictures, you will see I have a TON of baskets for my books which I found at the Dollar Tree. They have baskets that fit small chapter books like Junie B. Jones perfectly and they come in a variety of colors. You can't beat the price, so I have definitely stocked up as my library has grown.

Additional classroom library resources:

Classroom Libraries

Resource for leveling books

Printable book basket labels (by type, author, series)

More Labels (even cuter!)

Cataloging/keeping track of your books

CareBks

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu how to care for book

found at Carl's Corner

Summer Fitness

For the past two years, the first Monday in June has marked the beginning of a month long, 5 day a week Boot Camp guaranteeing a jump start on summer fitness. Hour long 5:30 am classes filled with hardcore strength training, toning, running, pushups, sprinting, pushups, burpees, pushups, lunges, squats, and (did I mention pushups) had me starting summer break with fitness on my mind.

This year, because of 5 snow days which tacked 5 extra days onto the end of our school year, I decided not to participate in June boot camp. Getting up at 5 so I could make the 5:30 am class, then rushing to get back home, shower, get ready and then race back out the door to get to school was a little hectic. Thinking about having THREE whole weeks of that this year rather that two just made it seem like a stress overload. 

I really enjoy my time in the morning in the classroom before the kids come. I usually arrive by 7:15 which gives me a whole hour before the kids walk through the door. During camp, I could barely make it by 8, which gave me zero time before kid arrival which always meant starting the day a little more stressed. 

I hope that despite not having an organized class that I will still kick my exercise routine into high gear because lately it seems like my sugar addiction has kicked in full gear and some extra pounds have found their way to my buns! Last summer, with the encouragement from my awesome boot camp trainer Daniel, I gave up sugar completely for over 100 days. From about mid July through almost Halloween I did not indulge in any of my sugary favorites. After Christmas I totally fell off that no sugar wagon and I am really hoping to get back on it starting NOW. Perhaps a public pledge will help me stick to it, so here is goes.

I am officially designating tomorrow, May 30th, my first official sugar free day. My goal is to get to my birthday, June 26th without any sugar downfalls. 

The hardest part about giving up sugar is that it means no baking. I am pretty good at resisting temptations, however when I bake that is the big exception. I just can't help having a good lick (or ten) from the bowl and of course I have to try out the goods before I feed them to someone else. I have been so obsessed with trying out new kinds of cake balls, but perhaps I will have to put that on hold for awhile. Last summer I found that once I had been off sugar for awhile, I really stopped craving it. Even now, when I have sugar (and I always have too much) it really makes me feel bad. That should be further incentive to give it up.....we'll see how it goes.....

no more Miss Betty Crocker

Wishing and Hoping

Sometimes it's fun to shop around and see what products are out there, even if you don't have an immediate plan to make a purchase. I always enjoy looking at the Lakeshore Learning website because I get ideas and sometimes I can duplicate expensive products for a lot less money.

Aren't these cute?

The retail price is $22, but I am certain that with a little creativity they could be made cheaper. Even just with laminated star shaped die cuts in different colors and straws if you want to go a real inexpensive route. I wish I had seen these earlier because my reading group would LOVE something like this. It's just another way to make comprehension strands a little bit more interesting. I do think that these wands would lead to girls playing princess in the classroom, but I would be willing to give it a try....

Lakeshore also offers many book bundles on certain themes/subjects. These are great, but expensive! At a price of $89, this Multicultural Stories Paperback Library offers some great stories that help kids to think about different ways of life. I am planning to take a multicultural literature course as part of my doctoral studies and I am very interested to learn more about this type of literature and find some more good examples to add to my collection. Although bundles like this are great, I find that it is more economical to add to my collection of books little by little with the help of Borders rewards coupons and Scholastic Book Club special coupons and offers.  

Another themed library I found interesting is the Character Building Stories Paperback Library which retails for $79. One area that I never spend enough time on is character building. We have a curriculum that we are supposed to use, but I find the lessons rather boring to teach. The kids like them well enough, but I imagine it would be a lot more fun to learn about positive character traits through stories like these. 

New (to me) Book

I got this book with my April Scholastic book club order and  I really liked it. The story is about a little girl who collects all the spare change she can find in a jumbo sized jar because she is saving up to buy her mom a big comfortable chair.  She shares the story that the home she lived in with her mom and grandma burned down because of a fire and they were left with nothing. They were given many things by kind friends and neighbors, but what the girl wants most for her mom is to have a comfy place to rest after she has worked hard all day. She saves and saves until finally the jar is full and she takes her mom and grandma shopping for the perfect chair that they have been dreaming about. 

My class really enjoyed this story and I am happy to have it as part of my collection.

My school is also putting on a spring book fair and the PTA did a coloring contest for teachers with the grand prize of $100 in books from the fair and two runner up prizes of $50 to spend at the fair. I entered and my fingers are crossed! There is some tough competition....teachers are a creative bunch, but I think I may at least be in the running. The students get to vote and the winners will be announced on Monday. 

...and we celebrate

My wiggly, silly, fun loving reading group has been working super hard all year. The majority of the students in my group began the year reading between 0-3 words/per minute on their Oral Reading Fluency assessment. Results of their latest assessment showed excellent gains with a high score of 45 words/minute (above the first grade end of the year benchmark). Not all of my students made benchmark, but they ALL improved and they now truly see themselves as readers. When I told them that our reading group was almost over they said, "noooooo!"

Throughout the year, I played many games with this group and offerred many incentives because they are still primarily externally motivated and just now, at the end of first grade, beginning to make that crossover into being self managers and intrinsically motivated and responsible. One of their favorite games was the chance to earn points towards a special celebration. The first time they needed 100 points, then 200, and finally 300 points to earn their last celebration. Because reading is in the morning our celebratory snack typically consists of juice boxes and Nutrigrain bars, but they are toally pumped for it. This time they selected fruit roll ups and juice boxes. 

Because I am SO proud, that is exactly what they are gettting, so tomorrow.....

WE CELEBRATE!

I wrote a letter to each student (well it's the same letter for everyone, but I hand addressed and signed them...) and I am giving each student the letter enclosed with a photo of us together. In the letter I expressed how happy I am to have had them in my group this year and how PROUD I am of how hard they have worked.

Of all the groups I have ever taught, I have become particularly attached to this group. Perhaps it is because I know how much they need the support and encouragement. Also, I have had my fair share of frustration with this group which in the long run has futher endeared them to my heart. Although they don't always listen and they sure have a hard time sitting and STAYING on their bottoms, they have given me so many happy memories to take with me and I will remember this group throughout my career.