Hair and Make-up Done For This Teacher During Quarantine Life and Distance Learning

My hair done, make up done, wearing my teacher clothes, all during virtual learning. But why you ask? Where's the messy bun, no makeup, no glasses, no sweatshirt and sweatpants? 

No, I didn't teach. I didn't do a read aloud video. I didn't even leave my house. Again, you ask, 'why is this teacher all dressed up?'

Okay... I did all this for 2 reasons. 

1. It is nice once in a while during times like this to get all dressed up. 🎶 "I feel pretty. Oh so pretty!" 🎶 (in my head 👩‍🎤😂)

And 2. (and most importantly) I had my evaluation meeting with my administrator through Zoom.
I told my principal that I put on make up and did my hair just for her. She replied, "I did the same for you!" 🤣🤣🤣 these are rough time but its important to laugh to keep yourself sane.

The meeting went great. But it was so different to do it through a video conference and not in an office, in person.   Even though we are quarantined, life must go on and certain things can still be done, like evaluations.

So what was covered in the evaluation? 

Considering it has been an odd year, going on Maternity Leave in September and not returning until February, then in March teaching at home with COVID-19 causing this quarantine lifestyle. My admin did not have a bunch of opportunities to do walk throughs. However, I was able to complete my formal observation in the 5 weeks of returning to my class and then leaving again. This includes my goal setting meeting, pre observation meeting, observation,  and post observation meeting. Which usually starts in October and is completed around March. So to say the least it was a little stressful. 

However, with only a little bit of time allowed, my admin was able to write a wonderful report. She talked highly of my knowledge of content, professionalism, development as an educator, and my relationship building with my students, families, and peers. I was happy the Zoom evaluation went well but also happy it is over. No matter how many years you've been teaching, evaluations can still be nerve racking. 

If you would like to know more specifics and what to expect from your Principal your first year teaching, check out my blog post Evaluation Year .

Let me know if you were evaluated as an educator during the Year of COVID-19 Virtual Teaching. 

Happy Teaching!

Spring Behavior

🌷Spring has sprung and student behaviors have begun🤦‍♀️ Just a little saying that I have heard from teachers.

But I think it's more than just that. I think its all about how we look at each child. Some of the children have most likely been misbehaving all year. Some kids are going through something personal. Some children are just being kids and happy to be outside in the warm sunshine.

 Research shows that cloudy weather can have a big part in depression whereas sunny weather can provide people with a more positive energy. I think our students are just showing that positive energy in a way only kids know how to, lots of it 🤪

Now its it's up to us as teachers to join in with that energy! OR we can look at it as, kids trying their best to ruin our day. It's all about perception 🙂

ELA Focus Wall

ELA Focus Wall 

As a second grade teacher, I understand the importance of visuals for primary grades. This board is such a huge resource for my students throughout the day. This is one of my most used and looked at bulletin board in my classroom.  I change this weekly and refer to it daily. This wall uses Journeys curriculum to display ELA information. But it is versatile for other ELA curriculum. I used the same board when I taught 4th Grade and I was piloting Wonders ELA curriculum at the time.

I love to color code everything. I feel that it helps students relate back to the same topics. All the colors may seem like a lot but referencing to it while teaching every day actually helps my students focus better. I reference to each part as I introduce something new, like our spelling and vocabulary words for the week. As we read our story of the week I refer back to this wall when discussing the reading strategy and skill we are focusing on. This is so helpful for my students and helps then better understand each concept. 

I keep this bulletin board up ALL year long.

Here is step by step of how I put this beauty up at the beginning of the school year. 

First I measure, cut, then tac my backdrop paper to the wall. Then I staple it once I get it leveled. Next I staple on my border.

My husband helped this school year because I was 34 weeks pregnant 🤰

Then I measure everything to be evenly displayed. Then tack it. I love tacking things to the wall. It makes for easy removal in case things are uneven. 

Finally, I staple these beautifully color coded words to the wall.

 Here is a closer look at each section.  I switch out these papers, vocab, and spelling words each week for a new theme.

Teacher Finds:I got the colorful sheet protectors  from the Target Dollar Spot. I created and printed the titles, high frequency words, and spelling words using KG fonts. I purchased the reading strategy and skills from Amy Groesbeck TPT store. (In the future I'd like to create my own). I use sticky clips to hold my vocabulary words. I got mine at Lakeshore Learning but you can find some on Amazon. The border and backdrop paper was purchased from Lakeshore Learning as well. The little black pocket chart that holds my spelling words is also from Target Dollar section 😍

I love this wall. I put a lot of love and hard work putting it up. This wall is such an important resource in my classroom for ELA.