Anyway, lots of things have happened since last year. I was displaced at my school because of enrollment and my years of service as a teaching assistant didn't count and I was low man on the totem pole. Don't cry for me Argentina... I had a job at a school down the street within 2 weeks. But then I found out that we earned another position and my principal offered me the job... in THIRD grade! I was really scared to go from Kindergarten to Third, but I LOVE my school. There are a lot of good schools and I have lots of really good friends at great schools, but there is NO place like The Creek!!! So, I took the job.... only on glitch... I had to be released from my new school down the street.
Long story short, the principal released me at the end of June and then I was free to move into my classroom. YAY! But no yay. I had to go through all of the kindergarten stuff and figure out what to keep and how to arrange that room... it was tough going for a while...
Anyway, I love my new team! And love my kiddos. Other than a few panic attacks over testing and the time crunch with the new Dibles/Running Record ipad software thingy, I am doing well in third. I have about 6 of my old kinders (yay!) and more of the sweetie pie kinders I knew from so long ago. My old principal really did me a solid and gave me a great class!!!
So, my room is coming together, my kids are little sweeties and my teammates are life savers... what could even be the problem? Well, how do you teach third graders to read and think deeply. I've got LOTS of strugglers and with NC's new law that mandates 3rd graders that don't pass the End of Grade reading tests automatically fail, I've got to get these babies reading, comprehending and building stamina. How do I do that!?!?
I decided to blog stalk and one of my friends Mrs. Sykes from Hello Mrs. Sykes had a great post on Word Work- my absolutely favorite Daily 5 station. As I read through it, she referenced another blog series of hers, Supporting Struggling Readers grades 3-5. It was as if God Himself had spoken! I almost teared up! I commented on the post that I really needed that series and guess what!!?! That sweet Jen, sent me oodles of resources to use including this groovy Phonics Bundle Pack.
I cannot wait to use this. Jen has many years of experience as a classroom teacher and as as a reading specialist. She has lots of great ideas and practical ways to implement reading strategies into daily teaching. Please check her out!
I'll be trying out all of the great things she sent me in the coming weeks and blogging about them... I promise!!!
~Keep it SASSY!!!
