Hiking in Hawaii

Pride and Prejudice

I am a math and science teacher but my love for english is strong! I decided that I would use some of my spring break time to make english literature products on Teachers Pay Teachers. My first venture in to making english lit products was by making a project booklet about Pride and Prejudice.

Zootopia Classroom Theme

I have had the pleasure of seeing Zootopia twice and I am absolutely in love with the movie! I made a Zootopia classroom bundle! CLICK HERE to get yourself a set!

The set includes:

-Name Plates

- Blank Labels

-Banner

-Calendar Months

-Calendar Days

-Birthday Poster

-Classroom Supply Labels

-Days of the Week Poster

Harry Potter Classroom Theme

A few posts ago, I talked about classroom themes for the next school year. I have made a Harry Potter Classroom theme set! CLICK HERE to get yourself a set!

The set includes:

-Name Plates

- Blank Labels

-Banner

-Calendar Months

-Calendar Days

-Birthday Poster

-Classroom Supply Labels

-Days of the Week Poster

I am putting together an Alice in Wonderland Classroom theme set as well! Keep on the look out for it!

Capillary Action

I recently taught a lesson on capillary action. My students loved the experiment we did. It took a couple of hours to see real results but it was worth it!

The water travels up the napkin and into the three empty cups due to capillary action. This experiment was really easy to do and it was not very messy.

The Special Education Teacher Planner is Here!

This special education teacher planner is everything you need to keep organized throughout the school year. You can pick and choose which sections you want in your planner. Print just what you want! This planner can be used year after year. All you need to do is print and put in the appropriate dates!

The Special Education Teacher Planner contains:

- Terms of Use
- Section Dividers
- Accounts and Password page 
- My information page
-12 Month Calendar
- Weekly Calendar
- Daily Calendar
- Sub Plans Student Concerns pages
- Sub Plans Schedule pages
- Sub Plans "In Case You Need Help" pages
- Grade Book
- IEP Goal Tracking pages
- IEP Snapshots pages
- Student Contact Info and Call Log pages 

I got my planner bound at Kinkos! You can punch holes in the pages and stick them in a binder or get them bound as well. You can separate your planner pages and IEP management pages into two separate books so you do not need to lug around one huge book everywhere.

This project took a lot of time but I am happy with the end result! If you wish to purchase one, CLICK HERE!

Space!

I have always been fascinated by space and space exploration. Last month, it was normal day for me and I was walking to my math co-teach class. I will try to re-create the conversation that took place between me and my co-teacher minutes before class:

 "The kids need to be taken down because an astronaut is coming to speak today" she says.
 "AN ASTRONAUT! Which astronaut? Was this an astronaut on the ISS? IS IT CHRIS HADFIELD??" I ask.
"I'm not sure but can you take them down?"
"YES. Yes I can."

I almost sprinted to the cafeteria, yelling at the students behind me "Why aren't you guys more excited??"

Ellison Onizuka was an astronaut from Hawaii who was killed in the Challenger disaster. His brother, Claude, spoke to the students first and explained that it was the 30th anniversary of the disaster. He brought up astronaut Michael Fincke to speak about the Challenger and about space exploration.

After taking some questions from students, the bell rang. The students began to leave to their next classes but I hanged back. I was not leaving without a picture. 

Thanks astronaut Michael Fincke and Claude Onizuka for coming to speak at our school! 

Planning a Special Education Planner

There are many of things I learned this school year but there was something I learned a lot about that I was not counting on... which organizational style works best for me. 

I learned that a normal binder with dividers is just not for me. I began this school year using binders as my main means of organization. My friend, Mari, made me some beautiful binder covers that I still use. 

I figured out that an accordion file works best for me and I am able to stay WAY more organized with it. Something else I learned is "keep, delegate, or trash". I was not anticipating the amount of papers I get in my teacher mailbox everyday. I used to keep all of them and it made me crazy. Now whenever I get papers in my box I decide if I am going to keep it. If I do decide to keep it, I need to delegate what I am going to use it for RIGHT AWAY and if I cant delegate it, I throw it out. I have learned that if I cant delegate it right away, I never will and it is just going to be one more piece of paper that will fill up my accordion file.

Also, I figured out what kind of planner works best for me! I am addicted to planners and I waste money on new ones constantly. I have figured out what I need and don't need in my planner. I have decided that next school year, I will create my own planner that will work the best for me! I am a special ed. teacher and I am going to make myself a section on IEP case load management. I will also upload it to Teachers Pay Teachers for the other teachers out there who are like me :).