Wonderstruck is a True Wonder

I know Wonderstruck has been out a while. I can't believe I didn't read it until now. But I am glad I did.

If you have not read this yet, read it as soon as you can.

Like a line in this book, it is a "cabinet of wonders".

From the beginning you are intrigued with Ben and Rose, two children who long for something. We know them through pictures, and each time we turn the page, a question is answered, yet another one is uncovered!

Libraries and museums are characters in this book, too. Things are saved, collected, and cherished because they carry memories. 

Every page is necessary. Every picture is important.  Brian Selznick tells the story so perfectly. I felt as if I were hearing it from a loved one.

In Wonderstruck, you come to realize something that all readers already feel: that reading a book can change a life. 

I will book-talk this one to my 4th graders, and I have already put this one on my Book Notes page on my classroom blog.

Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins



I am always on the lookout for a good chapter book for my 4th graders. I came upon Toys Come Home on Goodreads. Having read Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party, I was excited to find it. My students have always enjoyed these books. They're always checked out of our classroom library.  

Toys Come Home is a prequel to the two earlier books.  It tells about the origin of many of the things we already know and love about StingRay, Lumphy, and Plastic.  I enjoyed it because the stories are told so well, and each is innocent and playful.  The toys deal with challenges in a child-like way, and the humor will appeal to kids. I like the way it teaches that friends can solve problems if they work together. They protect one another and worry about each other. The characters show curiousity about the world around them.  One of Lumphy's most wonderful lines is: "I can't sleep for all the wondering!" 

They also show bravery by facing fears to protect one another.  

I can see this as a great read-aloud in my class.  A thoroughly loveable book! 

It's a great addition to an elementary classroom library. 



It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I am joining Jen and Kellee from Mentor Texts for this weekly post about what we're reading this Monday. This is my first linky post, and I am new to book blogging! I decided to start one because I wanted to pass on my experiences with these books to others, and it's a natural extension for reading some wonderful literature.


This week has been an amazing week of reading for me! I don't think I've ever read so much at one time in my life. (I made three trips to the public library, and three trips to B&N!) I decided to devote my winter break to two things: celebrating the holidays and #bookaday.  So far, it's worked out.

PICTURE BOOKS:
The Money We'll Save by Brock Cole Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg
Look! A Book! by Bob Staake
Me. . Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Press Here by Herve` Tullet
You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown
Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins
Stars by Mary Lyn Ray
Ice by Arthur Geisert

MIDDLE GRADE CHAPTER BOOKS:
Bigger Than A Breadbox by Laurel Snyder-(COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN)
Pie by Sarah Weeks- (MADE ME CRAVE PIE)
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu-(AMAZING!)
Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins-(SO PLAYFUL!)
Wonderstruck by Brian Jenkins-(FANTASTIC!)

(I will write reviews of several of these soon. Breadcrumbs is an especially amazing book, as are Wonderstruck and Bigger Than A Breadbox.)  These three books will have a special place in my classroom library, and I am planning my booktalks for them now.

Today, I am reading The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene DuBois and Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm.

My plan is to read library books first, then books I own. But the plan may change!
Happy reading and #bookaday to you all!

(My shoe choice today: The new leopard slippers I got for Christmas. I don't plan on leaving the house because I plan to read all day!)

A Club Like No Other

This is the stack of PBs I brought home from our public library, and my own school library. My two favorites right now are Me..Jane and You Will Be My Friend. They came recommended by some new friends I've made in a club I've joined.

In high school, I joined several clubs in hopes of gaining experience and making friends.  Although being in these clubs was advantageous and I did enjoy some of them, there were always some aspects that weren't always wonderful. Sometimes the meetings were long or scheduled at inconvenient hours. At times, I didn't have very much in common with the other members. A few required that I sell things people didn't need at prices that were too high.  Our projects were tedious, and some really had no point.

But now, I've joined a very wonderful club. This club meets at hours convenient for me. I share a common interest with all its members. All the "work" for this club involves me doing something I love to do! And every "project" has a point!
(See note below about projects.) But the very best thing about this club is that it helps me be an even better teacher.

The club I've joined is the Nerdy Book Club. We read all sorts of wonderful books. We met when we can, whenever we like, and every book we read makes us all better writers (and though most of us are writers, it is not required for membership). I read some wonderful children's books that I place in my classroom library.  I learn about the newest books and the best books, and I am able to bring this into my teaching and my school!  I am so thankful to be a member of this club! I've already read so many quality books that I never would have known about if it were not for my fellow members.

 

 

Would you like to join? Great! As one of our wonderful officers says, if you read, you're already a member! 

* A note about projects:
All Nerdy Book Club projects involve reading any book you like, whenever you like, and sharing it with any or all of the book members in any form you choose. . .

 

Eve Bunting Inspires

As a 4th grade teacher who teaches writing, I have come to rely on Eve Bunting. Her books always help teach so much.  I reach for Wednesday Surprise every year. And A Day's Work is one of my very favorite books.

Pirate Boy is a 2011 book. It is a very sweet book about a conversation between mother and son. Danny asks his mom some great "What if?" questions, and Mom answers with assurance and love. Mom proves to be just as creative in her replies.  Its playful and loving tone invite the reader in to an imaginative, creative world. Mom has Magic Spray!  There are pirates and sea monsters! It ends with cookies.  Julie Fortenberry illustrates the book and the pictures are just as wonderful.

I am in awe of Eve Bunting's talent. She is an inspiration to readers and writers of all ages everywhere.

(P.S. I also would love a bottle of magic spray.)

Stacks & Stacks

Stack A

I have many stacks of books around my house. I move them around regularly. I arrange them in several ways, depending on my mood. Some days I stack the books by genre (picture books, chapter books, or young adult).  Then sometimes I stack them by their location of origin or means of aquisition.  The books in Stack A above all came from B & N. I bought them the day of our read-aloud event. I had been hunting some of these titles for a very long time, so when I saw them on the shelf, I was elated!

Stack B

Stack B is also arranged by means of acquisition. I bought these at a different Barnes and Noble on a different day.

No matter where I get my books, I like having them around me.  Some that I have pictured will never be part of my classroom library. I read them to understand good writing and because I love reading books other people recommend.  

Three books from the above stacks that I will definitely share with my class:

Hound Dog True by Linda Urban

Marty McGuire by Kate Messner

Pie by Sarah Weeks

Big Nate and Friends by Lincoln Peirce

I loved all of these books and will put up a review here in the coming days. 

In the meantime, I'm off to read and wear my last cute pair of shoes for the day: my slippers. 

Barnes and Noble Event

Recently, our school held a fundraising event at Barnes and Noble.

This is a very popular book in Texas. The reindeer are Longhorns, and they come to a sod house.  Our fourth graders performed a Reader's Theater of this book. It was a hit!

I also read Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson. It was nice for a read-aloud and seemed to bring a peaceful mood. This is a very sweet book to read during the holidays.

It came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint.

I also read my favorite picture books of 2011: I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen. This book makes you think, entertains you, and causes you to ask questions.  The kids AND the parents enjoyed this one.  I really want to make my own red hat! 

The event was wonderful, and I was so glad to be able to participate!  Afterwards, students and I walked around the bookstore (as parents followed!), and we were able to help them pick out some good titles!  

New Shoes, New Views

Over the Thanksgiving break, I reawakened the reader in me.


Yes, I still love shoes.

I picked up this pair of gray suede boots at a great Black Friday sale, in fact.

But I have always loved books even more. Thanks to some "tweechers" and a new club I've 'joined', (The Nerdy Book Club), I have been reading more than ever. Through their eyes, I have seen how much I owe it to myself to read. I have come to see (again), how precious books are, and how much they have always meant in my life. I notice I am reading with more intent. I am reading to finish books because the story is so compelling. I am reading to be a better teacher. And, I am reading to be a better writer.

As a writer, I thought my only avenues for writing were online articles and newsletter pieces. (I have managed throughout the past couple of years to have a few things published.) When I took part in National Writing Project this past summer, I was working on my writing every day and creating pieces I didn't know I had in me! Essays and poems galore! Miraculously! Gloriously! (It's amazing what you an accomplish in the right environment with encouragement.)

But teaching elementary school has a funny way of keeping you really busy--and nurturing my own writing ability has not been on my priority list. Yes,  I write in class in my own writer's notebook with my students every day (I must model), but those pieces remained in my notebook.  I hadn't done anything with my own work because I'd been focusing completely on my students' writing. As a class, we have been working on NaNoWriMo YWP, a classroom blog, and some web 2.0 projects.

But what I've discovered -- nestled deeply under piles of lesson plans, stacks of graded papers, empy Sonic diet Coke cups, and tons of to-do lists---is my own need to write. In my back-to-school zeal, I started this second blog but hadn't done very much with it. 

I know its purpose now.  "Teaching in Cute Shoes" will be a place for ME to write. It will be a place for me to talk about books. And, ultimately, it will be a place for me to connect my own reading and writing to my teaching. Everything in my life is connected to that in some way. 

So now, I will not only show pictures of my shoes, but I will also share the books I am reading.

I know this is a really different kind of blog, and I'm not sure if it is possible. I am willing to find out! Even if I am its only reader. 

Here's my first book stack picture.  I can hardly wait to dive on in---all the while wearing a pair of cute shoes. 

Mrs. Alaniz

New Shoes! Plus, It's Friday!

I love Fridays! I especially love Friday when I am wearing new shoes.

For a while now, I have been searching for a pair of comfortable and inexpensive leopard shoes---ones that might double for cafeteria duty and the classroom carpet.

I finally found them!  Plus, they have some bling on them, too.

This week we celebrated National Day on Writing.  Did you?
My class and I wrote in the hallway using fun pens and pencils.  We read Cynthia Rylant's The Relatives Came.  I sent an email to my fellow teachers informing them of this day and its purpose. 

We had a great discussion on the national topic of "Why I Write!". 
One student said he writes because "it's like TV on paper"!

A great day!  And tomorrow is Friday!  And I will be wearing new shoes!

So Busy!

It's been a while since I've posted, but like most teachers, I have been very busy.
I am working hard to create a classroom community, develop readers and writers, utilize digital tools, and keep learning and growing as a teacher.  Whew!


Despite the demands on our time, I am determined to make our classroom a place where students create products to share (soon!) with the globe. I started slowly with Edmodo where we discuss books, and now I am using Voicethread.  We've slowly begun commenting on our classroom blog, and now we are working on writing quality posts.  Through the comments, I teach capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar!


To keep it all straight, I use my iPad and a great app called Home Routine. I can combine household tasks with school ones, and I feel great when I can mark something off! 

I will post more this week about QR codes and CAFE. 

What are you learning this week? 

More to come soon!

Time for Boots!



I finally got the chance to wear my Madden Girl boots to school!  Friday was Grandparents/Special Friends Day at our school, so it was time to put away the jeans and school shirt and dress up.  I wore a black dress and these boots and I was totally comfortable!  The heels are very good to your feet! 

What a busy, busy week!  I attended a tech training, and parent conferences started up.  Our class started book recommendations (or book 'buzzes'), and the Book Fair ended.  I spent more money on books (of course!), and we are well into our unit on the regions of Texas. Groups are creating brochures for each region and practicing their cooperation skills. I am having the students compliment one another on their group work, and it is great to see their reactions as we share the compliments in class.  My students are starting to really come together as a community, and that makes me happier than a pair of cute shoes ever could! 



I Love the Book Fair!

I love when the Book Fair comes to school. First of all, it gives me a chance to replenish our classroom library AND help my school at the same time.

The kids get so excited about the new books, and as they make their wish lists we discuss genres, summaries, and authors.   

Our wonderful librarian has each teacher fill a wish basket with books they'd like to have in their classroom. I always have trouble keeping my wishes to a reasonable number.  This year, I filled TWO baskets. 

. 

What do you love  about Scholastic Book Fairs? 

Week 5 of the school year has been the busiest yet.  With all the running around I did I should have work sneakers, but instead I wore my new pair of fall boots from Rockport.  They match with my rolled up Levis and school shirt.  

Last week our class had a substitute for the first time, and they did a great job! Yeah!
I attended a great training put on by some excellent educators in our district.  They participated in the Sally Ride Science Academy, and then returned to train other teachers. 
The goal of the academy is to raise awareness about careers in science, and I learned so very much.   During one of the opening activities, we were asked to brainstorm a list of scientists.  Most of us listed those who were no longer alive. But during the course of the training we not only learned about famous scientists living today, we also learned about careers in science, and how we can educate our students on all the different careers possible.  There are so many! 

We learned that we will need more and more science and math graduates in the future. 
We also learned left with some great science activities. I am so glad I attended!

Saturday Shoes

This weekend was a special one. So I wore a pair of special shoes. I was honored to present at one of the breakout sessions at the local TAIR conference, a gathering of preservice teachers interested in literacy.
So, needless to say, I had to dress up.  I thought these booties would be perfect with my dress. (I am excited because I feel fall arriving, and I can bring all of my boots off the high shelves.)

At the TAIR conference, I shared my experiences with using mobile learning devices in the classroom.  We are fortunate at our school to have sets of iTouches for our students, and I figured out the best ways for my students to use them. 

But my favorite part of sharing was introducing QR codes to the future teachers.  I absolutely LOVE these 2-dimensional bar codes! I see them everywhere and collect them! It's an obsession, really!  I created them for my classroom blog and my teacher blog. ( But there is so much more you can do with them! Read my next post for ideas!)

Author/poet/teacher George Ella Lyon was the keynote speaker at the conference. All the Water in the World, one of her many books, is a great read-aloud for teaching the water cycle. Plus, it's just beautiful writing! My friends and co-presenters were so happy that she joined us for lunch! What a privilege it was to spend time with her!

Teaching presents you with so many wonderful gifts. And this day was a gift to me! 

Google Earth and After School

The official name for the color of these shoes: PEWTER.
Unofficially, they are CUTE!

I knew today would be a long day.  With recess duty and a district meeting after school, I knew I would need to be comfortable and fast-moving.  Flats are a great option.  These are by Naturalizer, and they are SUPER cute with skirts. 

Today's great teaching moment came when I used Google Earth. Our district wanted to help the people affected by the Bastrop wildfires, and our campus decided to create  banners of encouragement for their school communities. My students wondered where Bastrop was, so I pulled up Google Earth. Rather than find it on a map in our social studies book, we could instantly pull it up and zoom in to surrounding locations with the touch of a finger on our Smartboard.

Then, spontaneously, my fourth graders started throwing out all kinds of fabulous questions (which I immediately collected in a Word document). The questions were insightful and deep---much better than any worksheet or textbook.   As we were thinking and discussing, I realized that sometimes the best learning is unplanned.  I used it not only to teach service to others, but also as an academic learning opportunity (geography, math, capitalization).  The students were even discussing what region it was in (something we were learning in social studies the day before). (That made me smile.)

 Take advantage of every chance you have to create real learning opportunities for your class.

Memory Bracelets

Yesterday, I wore one of my most favorite pairs of flats.  They are the brightest red I have ever seen. They are cute and comfortable and, of course, they come from DSW (a.k.a Shoe Heaven).

Sept. 12, 2011
 Our district observed remembrances for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th yesterday. We read The Tin Forest by Helen Ward, and watched a Reading Rainbow video about an amazing elementary school in Manhattan. The children at the school were displaced on Sept. 11th, and they received support, gifts, cards and notes of encouragement from all over the world. They eventually returned to their school. They spoke with such strength and wisdom, and their gratitude was so touching.

Then we made Memory Bracelets with red, white, and blue yarn.The students needed partners to do this activity, and they turned out really well.  (The idea for this came from material our district social studies coordinator passed on to us.)

My students really enjoyed making these bracelets.

More importantly, we remembered the day in our own way.  

Memories and Connections

A Teacher's Memories of Sept. 11th
On this 10th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11th, I stop to honor those affected by the tragic events of that day.  Such stories of bravery!  Such stories of family and love!  Such stories of heroism!  My thoughts and prayers are with you. To the members of our military and their families, to the firefighters and police officers and their families, and to everyone else in service to our country, I offer my simple and insufficient "Thank you". 
Like everyone else, I remember where I was that fall day. I was teaching school, about to begin my first year of teaching 3rd grade. I still remember my sweet class from that year, and I think they are freshmen in college now!  I remember getting a knock at my door from a fellow teacher down the hall. I remember him sharing the news.  I remember being completely shocked and frozen in time.  But I paused thoughtfully and shut my eyes for a second, then turned around to face my little ones.  .  I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of protectiveness over them. I wanted them to be safe and happy. For the rest of the day, and beyond into the year, that was my charge. I wanted them to continue to laugh with their friends, read dog-eared books, eat their Goldfish snacks from little Tupperware containers, and ask insightful, funny questions about plants! I treasured these moments even more in our little classroom at the end of the hall for the rest of that year.  .

My Bulletin Board Moves to My Door

I put this on my door because I had no more room inside. It reminds me of my goals with my class!

I absolutely love using technology in my class. But it's been slow-going for me so far.  We have textbook pick-ups, learning of rules, establishment of procedures, etc.  We have blogged and used our Smartboard of course, but I have been bogged down with long to-do lists lately that have kept me from implementing these tools fully.  This door reminds of where we are headed with technology.  

I'm starting with Edmodo on Monday, and on Friday, I received an invite from some 4th grade teacher friends for a Mystery Skype---our first of the year!  So things are coming along, though slowly.


Some of these little details on my to-do list can get crossed off quickly.  Some will take more time.  This is all a part of teaching today.  But I can't let those details stop me from remembering that it is all about my students and their learning.  They deserve all of my energy and all of the best ideas I can find, regardless of the length of my to-do list.   

Do you ever got bogged down with so many details that it's hard to realize your goals for your class? 

Time Capsules

Well, shoe-shopping/teacher friends, this next post won't feature a pair of shoes, but I 'll share something shoe-related.  Look what I found over at Kirkland's the other day:

This is supposed to be a piggy bank.  My husband gladly bought it for me because he thought it might inspire me to actually save for the shoes.  Little did he know this actually makes me want to buy more shoes.  I took it to school and put it on my desk. It tells more about me!

I had the students in my class tell more about each other with a Time Capsule activity we do every year. 


We start out with a Pringles can.

  I send home a letter on the second day of school listing the items parents need to send:

• a sealed letter writtten to their child (wishing them a great year, offering encouragement, sharing memories)
• trinkets that represent their child's interests/hobbies (usually these are keychains, or small objects)
• paper, stickers, etc. to decorate the outside of the can

In class, we write a list of 10 goals.  We also include a list of our favorites at the time:  favorite movie, favorite book, favorite foods, etc.
They end up looking something like this:

  We also include a piece of string that represents the student's height.

I 'bury' them, then pull them out on the last day of school.  The students usually forget about them, and they love opening them. They especially love reading the letters from their parents. 

I know many of my teacher/blogger friends use this project. What other ideas can you share?

Shopping for Fall Shoes

I bought these boots at shoe heaven (DSW).   A teacher in Texas should always have a pair of these. 

It is getting cooler here, and for that I am grateful!  It means it will be time for boots. . . and that will start a whole new aspect of this blog! 

I can still wear sandals, but those days are numbered. 

My fourth graders and I had a marvelous day!  We talked about 'reading lives' (from Lucy Calkins), wrote about objects that spark memories, counted up to 1000 using number lines, and then started torn-paper self-portraits. I got that idea from Amanda over at The Teaching Thief blog.   I'll post pics of those when they are done. 

My class earned 4 compliment cupcakes today!  I was so proud of them.  They had an exemplary day!


I have a great new pair of cowboy boots.  I can hardly wait to wear them to school!

Friday Shoes

My Bandolino sandals.  Love love them. They make me feel like I am walking barefoot.

Friday was great!  I wore these silver shoes with my Friday  school team shirt and jean capris, and they made car duty bearable!

After two full weeks of school, my to-do list grows. My weekend projects (after a Saturday of college football), include working on my lesson plans and preparing for Curriculum Night this week. I also have a couple of Pinterest-inspired objects to try as well. 

My Reader's Workshop is coming along well! However, I do see the need for book 'luggage'.  If students have the books they need on hand, they don't get up to look for them and waste precious reading time.  I purchased the baskets, but now I just need to make the tags.


Before I left Friday, I rearranged desks once more to make sure everyone is in a new group. 

We are working on building community in our classroom.  That takes time and opportunity!  I will use Bucket Fillers beginning next week. Tune in next week for pics of this. . . . and the super cute shoes I will wear at Curriculum Night! 

Back in Cute Shoes! Back In Our Room!

These shoes remind me of gladiator shoes!  So comfy but so cute, too! I can wear these when I am not moving desks.

If you read my previous post, you know that my class and I had to move (temporarily) due to an AC problem.  We moved into a room next door that had AC but nothing much else. 

After a day in the room (which was a disruption of routine, but actually a great adventure, too), my AC was repaired that afternoon.  We moved our desks back this morning, and we were able to continue with our day! Great!  

After a day like that, I need a little treat:

(My Sonic choice is usually a Rt. 44 Diet Coke with Lime, Easy Ice. Got that tip from a friend!)

So we wrote (following Lucy Calkin's Small Moments strategy), and we made 1,000 Books in Math. The kids did a lot of thinking here, and the kids could easily see how much a thousand was!



My class is also doing really well with Reader's Workshop so far, even though we've just learned the guidelines. 

Tomorrow will be another good day filled with AC and Sonic drinks and yes, cute shoes. 

What's your favorite Sonic treat? 





Change of Venue

Before I write about my shoes, I have to write about my classroom.
Specifically, how I have to move out of it for 3 days. . . .


It seems our AC unit isn't working. A new compressor is needed which means 2-3 days of repair. 

So, with some help from my student intern and my wonderful teammate, I moved 23 student desks down the hall to an empty but air-conditioned room.  So grateful I have somewhere to go!

I will have to teach without my classroom library, my writing center, color-coordinated teacher's desk and accessories, and my cute classroom helpers display. 
I will have to teach without my Smartboard, my document camera, or my projector. 

But we will be fine. 
And I am undeterred.
We will learn our place value.
We will continue our Special Person stories (ala Lucy Calkins).
We will have Reader's Workshop.
We will continue building our classroom community.

And I will continue to wear cute shoes. 

(Today I wore my very athletic and comfy Asics with burnt orange stripes--which ended up being a good thing since I had to push desks down the hallway!)

Have you ever had to move out of your classroom?

Weekend Shoes

These shoes are also from Yellow Box.  I love the bling on them! 

WHY I WORE THESE SHOES: 

This weekend, I, of course, wore weekend shoes!  They are cute and glitzy, and I only wear them to school during the summer when I go work on my classroom.   
I also wore them to school today. Yes, I sometimes work in my classroom on Sundays.
(I wasn't the only teacher there!)

WHY I WENT TO MY CLASSROOM:
When you design your classroom setup before the year starts, you think you know how things will work out.  But when real students come into the room, and start making it their own, you realize what works and what doesn't.  My groups of 4 and 3 just didn't leave enough room for all of us to move around as comfortably as needed. So I had to regroup into 3 larger groups.  It's not the ideal, but in a real classroom, you have to be flexible. The upside is I have a larger area by my classroom library. So, the lesson here is that adjustments are always okay and always necessary when it comes to creating the best environment for your students.

HOW I REWARDED MYSELF FOR MY HARD WORK MOVING DESKS:
Yes, I do buy shoes.  But I especially love a trip to Barnes and Noble. (A teacher can NEVER have too many books.)
I always head to the picture book section where I keep my eye open for great mentor texts for writing.  I have been looking for a particular book for quite a while now.  I know I can order it, but there's just something about finding it and picking it up, paying for it, and carrying it home.  This time, I found EXACTLY what I was loooking for:

Scarecrow, by the wonderful Cynthia Rylant, is a beautifully written story about: scarecrows.  I attended a session with Penny Kittle this summer, and she modeled the use of this book to teach a writing lesson. (I cannot say enough good things about Penny Kittle's book: Write Beside Them.)


I walked out of that store as happy as can be in my glitzy Yellow Box sandals!

Have you ever had to make adjustments in your classroom setup? 

The First Week of School is Over!

My Friday shoes:  A pair of much-loved, much-worn Zebra mules by Yellow Box. 
They go perfectly with our school shirt and jean capris. 

 

 Wow! A Whole Week Just Went By!

Well, the first week of school is over!  It was excellent but exhausting! And it seems that the to-do list keeps growing.  I keep a to-do list on Penultimate on my iPad, but also find myself using sticky notes and bus-shaped notepads from the teacher store.  If I don't write it down, there's a good chance it will get forgotten.

What did we do today?  

We had a fantastic Friday!  My classroom is coming together like a new little community. We made our Time Capsules that will be 'buried' until the last day of school, we wrote in our Writer's Notebooks, and we talked about Easy, Just Right and Challenging books (from Fountas and Pinnell).  (We also finished setting up our Science Notebooks.)

 My Little Freebie:

In our Time Capsules we included:

• sealed notes written by parents
• trinkets that represent hobbies and interests
• a list of goals for the year
• photos
• a piece of string that represents the student's height (which we measured with yardsticks thereby compelling a very happy teacher to HAPPILY teach conversion of inches to feet).
• a list of favorites: (movies, books, songs, foods, etc.)

I know many of the great teachers out in Blog Land use this activity with their students, too! 

Another great day in 4th grade! Now this teacher REALLY deserves some shoe-shopping this weekend!  

Mrs. Alaniz 

 

 

 

 

 

Three for Thursday!

First, before I share my shoe choice today, remember that it is the fourth day of school, I teach upstairs, and I have lunch duty.  So FLAT IS  THE WAY TO GO! But my selection is cute!

These are a pair of super-cute Toms that were custom painted for me.  They were a precious gift from a sweet mom of one of my wonderful students a few years back.  They are comfy and cute, and I LOVE LOVE the cause of TOMS and all they do to help children.

Back to my favorites:

My favorite font:
I am still trying to get techie with fonts, but my favorite font on Microsoft Word has to be:

Minya Nouvelle

Once my schedule settles, I will take the time to download some more cute fonts.

My favorite blog:

There are so many great teacher/education blogs out there!  How can I pick one?  Answer: I can't!  I read so many of them!  So instead, I will say how much I enjoy reading Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman.  Her blog is so creative and I get the best recipes from her!  Plus, she blogs about manicures and perfume, so it's an all-around win!

My favorite resource:

A mainstay for me throughout all of my teaching years has been Scholastic. It's a great source for just about any lesson topic, and they are great about hosting webcasts throughout the year.  My class and I loved the webcast they hosted from the Plymouth Plantation last year.  Great history lesson!

I hope you enjoy my favorites, too!  Thanks for reading my blog today!

(P.S.  We had another awesome day in 4th grade:  We set up our Science Notebooks, played a fun place value game, wrote lists in our Writer's Notebooks, and earned two compliment cupcakes for our class reward!  SWEET DAY! )

Where It All Goes Down Wednesday

My room is upstairs and it is one of the bigger classrooms in our school. But I still always need more space! 

This is the outside of my classroom. I like to use a western theme since we are in Texas and our fourth graders learn all about Texas history.

I love to use technology in my classroom, so I decorated my door with the names of tools I have used in the past and will use again.

This is the front of my classroom.  I LOVE LOVE my Smartboard!!!  I am so grateful to have one! 

I have to also share this nice desk set I picked up at The Container Store in my favorite color: orange. 

I got the teacher discount, too! 


This was the third day of school. Today, I introduced Book Nooks, showed how take care of our classroom library, introduced another writing strategy from Aimee Buckners Notebook Know-How, and made sure we all completed our Neighborhood Maps.

Today I was happy to wear my silver Nine West flat sandals. They are flat and cute and you just can't beat that!  They also matched my white capris wonderfully!

Teacher Talk Tuesday

The purpose of today's Blog Hoppin' post is to provide advice for new teachers.  Though I have been teaching a while, I still want to learn all I can.  But here are some things I always try to remember:

1.) Talk to other teachers.  Get advice, think aloud, and bounce ideas off of other professionals.  They will always think of things you didn't!

2.) Read professional books.  Many talented teachers write books on so many subjects: writing, classroom management, motivation, etc.  Read and learn!

3.) Create your own bag of tricks.  There are many books on classroom management and so many different ideas.  But you have to find the ones that work for you!  Ultimately, they should inspire children and create a sense of excitement and purpose!

4.) Remember you are a learner, too.  In your classroom, you are the lead learner.  If you can't picture yourself doing your own project, then your students won't find value in it either. 

5.) Never stop learning!  There are so many things to learn that will help you become a stronger teacher.  The more you learn, the better teacher you become!

Today was our second day of school!  We received textbooks, created maps, covered our Writer's Notebooks, and had our first silent reading time.  I had to remove some tables in my classroom because there wasn't enough room to move around.  I designed the classroom in my head before the kids arrived, but now that they are here, I can see what works and what doesn't.   I love that!  I can keep making it better!

(P.S. Today, I chose a pair of Bandolino silver flat sandals.  They were super cute and super comfortable (which was great for outside car duty)!

Meet the Teacher Monday!

Today was the first day of school, and I am SO exhausted! So much I needed to do, and so much I want to do!   My class is awesome, and they are willing to work hard and get to know each other. I am trying to not overload them with everything!
(P.S. I wore my b.o.c. Wedges today, but I had to change into my Asics sneakers by lunch time!)

Tell us a little something about you!

I love teaching 4th grade, and I am proud to be a Texas girl!  I have taught 3rd grade and 5th grade but my favorite grade is 4th. 

How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching for many years,  but every year seems like the first because I approach each as a new adventure! 

What are you looking forward to this year?

I am looking forward to incorporating more tech tools this year, and I hope to share more with the staff on my campus. 

What teaching supplies can you not live without?

I love my Smartboard so much!  When I got mine after the winter break two years ago, I considered it a holiday gift. 

Books are also VERY important to me!  Books begin conversations and friendships. Books teach us about life. 

I just got my own iPad, and I look forward to using it in my classroom.  So many great apps!

Low tech I know, but I also love sticky notes!  In every color and shape!


Another great tool in the classroom for the teacher:  a really GREAT pair of shoes!  

First Blog Post

Although these shoes ARE cute, I will not be wearing them on the first day of school.  These are my fancy banquet shoes!

I am so excited to join the teacher blogging world!  It took a while for me to create my blog, and it isn't perfect, but it's done!  I have been reading some excellent teacher blogs this summer.  With the first day of school tomorrow, it is a great time to start. 
I look forward to connecting with teachers around the country.