Welcome Back to Mrs. V's Grade Threes

Wow! I can't believe how time has flown. Two years ago I started a blog and had hoped to stay on top of everything. If you go back through old posts I am sure you will notice that is not really the case. 

Heading into the next school year I am hoping to jump back into blogging and am setting a goal of posting on a semi-regular basis. When I first started this blog I wasn't really sure if anything would come of it or if anyone would get anything out of it and then today I found a Pin on Pinterest that links back to one of my blog posts! If my ramblings about classroom life, projects, and teaching in general can help inspire even one other teacher out there then I feel like it is worth it. 

So all that being said here is a little update about last year:

I taught a grade 3/4 split with 29 students. I learned a lot about my management style and also that I can actually handle a class of that size. Before this my largest class was 23 students. I am very fortunate that my principal understands how difficult it can be to teach a split so he hired a part time teacher for the grade 4's Math, Science, and Social Studies so I only had the full class a little more than half of the time. While I welcomed the support for the core subjects I also learned how much I have come to depend on having some flexibility in my schedule so having to stick to a specific time frame every day in order to accommodate the split schedule took some time to get used to. 

I had the opportunity to attend some PD on Project Based Learning last year as well. As with most things my first unit didn't work out exactly how I wanted but I am eager to try it again this year with a little bit a lot of tweaking. Stay tuned for an update on that later this year. I did absolutely love the fact that the unit was basically all hands on learning and the students seemed really excited about their final projects. I think the hardest part is each group created one final project and then had to decide who got to bring it home. I'll have to see what we can do about that this year. 

Outside of my regular classroom teaching I also continued coaching volleyball, basketball, badminton, and track and field. My husband and I have put a lot of time and effort into growing the current sports program at our small school and it is so exciting to see it taking off. As the school continues to grow so do the teams and they have done well competing against the much larger schools in our district. 

Since I don't want to bore anyone with a long rambling post... which let's face it may have already happened, that is a basic overview of my 2014 - 2015 school year. As usual I have been using a bunch of my summer to prep for the upcoming school year and I am excited to share more ideas and insights with you as the year goes on. Welcome back to another year of Mrs. V's Grade Threes!!

Oh Yeah, I Forgot... Teaching Isn't Easy

It has definitely been an interesting start to my school year. My first two years of teaching I had the same group of students- with a few minor changes of course - since I moved from teaching grade 2 to grade 3. I was extremely fortunate because they were such a wonderful group to start out with.Of course every group has its quirks, difficulties, and is amazing in their own way but with this particular group of students I really clicked. We got along great which made classroom management much simpler. They were all happy to work with each other which was awesome when it came to seating arrangements and group work, and they generally were a very positive group of kids. Now I realize I may be remembering things going much smoother than they actually did but that's not the point. The point is that after two years with them I figured I was on my way with teaching. I knew what I was about, how to manage and organize my classroom, and how to deal with problems and difficulties along the way.

SCREECH... That is the sound of my ego coming to a grinding halt. After four weeks with a new group of students I have been reminded and am very aware that each group of students is different and requires different approaches to teaching. While my first class had some pretty big academic needs my new group of kiddos requires much more social, emotional, and behavioural support. Definitely not what I am used to. Needless to say I have not been the super-confident teacher I thought I was going to be this year. Now please don't get me wrong, I am not bashing my abilities as a teacher or saying I don't think I can do it. I am simply saying this first month of school has been a humbling reminder of how different every group of students is and how previous years are not necessarily indicators of what will happen this year. I need to be ready to change and adapt fro year to year.

All that being said, I am excited to push forward through the next few weeks and continue my search for what works and doesn't work for this particular group of kids. Looking through all these other teacher blogs I am encouraged and humbled by the experiences of other teachers. We have an amazing job and I can't imagine doing anything else. I think my new group of students is an awesome reminder for me that teaching is not easy, that students bring challenges with them to the classroom, and they all deserve to be loved for the unique people they are. I have heard that you never forget your first class, and I know I will forever hold them close in my heart, but more than ever I am excited for the challenges and changes that come with new groups of students. Bring on the rest of the year! I am ready.... I think.

Budding Bloggers Linky Party

I am so glad I found this Linky Party over at I {heart} Recess! It is such a fantastic idea to connect new bloggers with each other and with other bloggers who have been doing this for a while longer. One of the things I am learning to love about blogging is the chance to connect to other people, and more specifically other teachers. I am really excited to check out the other blogs and see what they have to offer!

1. While stalking Pinterest for new classroom ideas I stumbled across the wonderful world of teacher blogs and fell in love. I have spent hours (just ask my husband) pouring over these blogs, reading and discovering what other teachers do. I felt inspired by all the pictures of classroom, tips, freebies, and good ideas that I thought I would give it a try.I have only been at it for a couple months but so far it is a great way to share a piece of myself as a teacher and to learn from other teachers as well. I love being a teacher and am very passionate about what I do and I definitely enjoy having a way to celebrate and share it with others!

2. I don't think I have a favourite subject. (Yes, I was that kid in class.) If I had to pick one though it would probably be Science. I am of the opinion that getting your hands dirty is a key part of childhood and I love giving students that chance in my classroom. I enjoy seeing kids excited about what they are learning and I find that Science lends itself to a hands-on approach so well. Besides let's face it... experiments are a blast!

3. The foundation of my teaching style can be found in the book of Proverbs: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." I see each of my students as individuals who have been set apart for a purpose. It is my job to not only teach them the curriculum but to provide them with skills, attitudes, and habits that will allow them to be life-long learners. Doing this requires me to build relationships with the students, get to know their strengths and weaknesses, and do my best to differentiate their learning accordingly. I also think learning should be fun and enjoyable. I do my best to get students excited about what we are learning. As I mentioned before I love hands-on learning, moving around the classroom, and trying new things. And if we get a little messy in the process it's even better!

4. Three interesting facts about me:

My family lived and volunteered for a year at an orphanage in Mexico when I was 16. While we were there I had the chance to help teach English in the school. I guess it got me jump started on teaching!

I am slightly obsessed with elephants ever since I had the chance to ride one for 3 days at an Elephant Conservatory in Thailand.

I love to make music by singing, playing piano, and playing guitar!







5. I don't have a TPT store but am happy to share anything you may find on my blog that looks interesting or useful to you if you send me a message.

Blog Goals

One week done, 39 more to go! The beginning of the school year has come and gone and it is time to begin getting into the swing of things again. I am amazed to discover how much adjustment time is needed when welcoming a new class. My first two years of teaching I had the same group of students (I moved from gr.2 to gr. 3) so there was very little adjustment time at the beginning of last school year and my first year I was so overwhelmed at the beginning I'm lucky to remember anything at all. I have a smaller class this year but that does not mean it is without its challenges. I am excited to see where the year takes us, to build new relationships with this group of students, and to see how I grow as a teacher. With all this excitement and the craziness of a new year though I figured it would be a good idea to set out some basic blog goals for myself.

I can get a little one-tracked when I get stressed out or when something is really important to me which means that during the school year I can ignore almost anything. I don't want that to happen this year and as I already mentioned one of my personal goals is to actually spend time with people and have a social life this year. For my blog I have a list of 3 basic goals:

1. I hope to keep up on my blogging this year especially since I am still new at this. I don't want to become so focused on school that I completely forget about adding to my blog. I am really enjoying the opportunity to share and remember all the things that happen in my classroom and I hope to continue it as the year progresses.

2. I love the chance to link up with other bloggers on a common theme and share what has been happening in our individual classrooms. One of the things that drew me in to teacher's blogs was the opportunity to share and learn from each other and I think Linkys are a great way to do it!

3. I have found some great little tid-bits in my exploration of other blogs. One of my main goals for this blog is that it becomes a place where other teachers can discover some new information, gather some creative ideas, and have fun learning from each other.

I hope you can tag along for the journey!

Summer Time

Wow! I can't believe that summer break is almost over. One more week until teachers go back to school and only two more weeks until the kiddos arrive! It has definitely been a busy summer filled with beautiful weather, tons of weddings and good family time.

 Looking back I also realized how much time I spent at school this summer. I know, I know this is the point where people tell me I'm nuts and that I should just enjoy the summer but I found using summer to accomplish some big classroom tasks to be quite worthwhile.

I started the summer by culling and organizing old resources that had been left in my classroom by previous teachers. It is amazing how much stuff can be collected over time and how much of that stuff was left in cupboards for me to find. There were a few items I found to be useful but there was also a bunch of old resources that made their way into the recycling bin. It is hard to get rid of things but it's also so good to free up storage space.

I also used some time this summer to attempt to get ahead on my unit plans for the first few months of the school year. Being a newer teacher I find I still spend a lot of time getting to know the curriculum and developing unit and lesson plans. I'm hoping the result of giving up some of my summer free time will be fewer weekends spent at school over the course of the school year.

 I definitely enjoy heading into the new year feeling prepared and ready to go but I also don't want to get into the habit of filling my summer with lesson planning. Then again I feel like spending a full two months away from school would leave me feeling disconnected from everything. I guess I won't actually be able to test that theory until I try it though. Okay, I am officially rambling about this topic so I'm going to ask you to join in with your opinions. Does anyone else use summer time for planning? Do you think it is a worthwhile use of your time? Do you find it stops the longer you have been teaching?

I would love to hear your thoughts. It would be nice to know if I am a crazy work-a-holic or if this is just what dedicated teachers do with their "free" time. Talk to you soon!

Summer Goals

Woohoo!! Summer's here!! I am so excited for summer and have some goals I want to accomplish.

 I know I know, it seems like there are a lot of school items on this list considering it is summer holidays. If there is one thing I have learned about being a new teacher it is to take the time to organize and plan when you have it. So I will be taking some of the time I would have spent doing nothing relaxing and use it to get ahead for September. My hope is by getting myself more organized now I will be able to take more time during the school year to relax and have some down time.

 My summer won't be all work though, my husband and I are running a wedding circuit this summer with 3 friends and 1 brother getting married in the next 2 months. The nice thing is the weddings are spread out basically over the entire country (BC to Ontario) which gives us a chance to play tourist! We are off to Niagara Falls for the first time in our lives!! So excited to take it all in and spend some quality time away from the normal routine with my hubby!

Trying Something New

Welcome to Mrs. V's Grade 3s!

Recently I have been finding myself on more and more teaching blogs. I am loving the chance to explore what other teachers have been doing and learn a little bit more about how they organize and run their classrooms. The more I explored the more I wanted to be a part of sharing my experiences in teaching.

As I sit here trying to write my first post (I've been told the first is the hardest, I certainly hope so) I am sorting through what I want to include on this blog. Here's what I'm thinking:

~ All things classroom related including organization and management strategies.
~ Fun classroom ideas for activities and learning
~ Tips and strategies for new teachers
~ Book suggestions (I love anything to do with children's literature)
~ Math games and activities

I realize that starting a teaching blog in June may seem a bit odd. It is my hope that as I work on some of my summer projects I can get myself into the habit of updating my blog. Being a new teacher my list of classroom projects for the summer is pretty lengthy and includes items like reorganizing my classroom library, developing a system for tracking and assessing learning outcomes, and working on numerous Pinterest-inspired projects. I definitely work best with lists and goals so I hope to put up another post soon with some blog-related goals related to how often I want to try and add new posts. I'm excited to see how it all turns out!