New Beginnings

In social media, it's truly been forever and a day since I've last posted. I can barely remember December 2015-- no posts all of 2016 and half of 2017-- crazy!

Quick update: I now have two little girls, ages two and one (they are the major reasons behind the blogging hiatus-- but I love being their mommy, so it's been worth it), and I continued to teach 4th grade ELA/4th grade tech. integration coach until the end of this school year.

Next year there will be a change at school, so I thought, what better time to get back to blogging? {A new blog update from the amazing Megan at Bird in Hand Designs definitely helped me get into the spirit of things too!}

Starting August 2017, I will be back to Special Education. This is where I started my career, and I've always had a feeling that I'd be back. This go around, I will be in one building only, and just covering 5th grade. I'm excited to continue working in the same building, with staff I adore, and back to this area of education.

What will you find here now? Here are a few things to watch out for:

I will be co-teaching in fifth grade general education ELA and mathematics classes. You'll find lesson ideas for math, reading and writing. I will also be working with students in the special education classroom working at various academic levels across all content areas. You'll find ideas for working in the special education setting, working with paraprofessionals, co-teaching, etc.

Every year, {I'll be starting my sixth-year... say what!?} I pick up ideas to try and implement. Some work better than others, some work with one group of students, but not the next... but it's always good to have a full bag of ideas to draw from! Partnering with veteran teachers (and paras!), I'm sure I'll be scooping up even more ideas to share.

We've been blessed by two girls who love to eat. {Seriously, these girls out eat me some days! Even with veggies!!} I made the resolution to try 52 new recipes this year {no more recipes in Pinterest purgatory!} some of which might make an appearance here. I'm all for simple meal ideas during the work week. Plus, I'll be doing some cooking in the classroom with my students and I'm super excited about that!

I'm excited for this new beginning and to dive back into the blogosphere!

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Why Teachers NEED Twitter

I know, it's a social media world nowadays. You have blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest,
Periscope: there are so many ways to connect with other teachers, so why Twitter?

1. Twitter is professional development in your pocket.

This summer, from the comfort of my couch, cuddling with my baby girl, I was able to "attend" conferences such as ISTE and Nerd Camp. The attendees (and some presenters!) shared takeaways, quotes, ideas. Conversations continued within the conference hashtags... I was able to learn and get takeaways to apply this school year. Of course there is value in actually being able to attend the conferences themselves, but due to time, money, among other factors professional development isn't always possible or as in tune to the individual teacher: Twitter changes that! You customize the professional development by who you follow, chats you participate in, and as a result make it tailored to you.

2. Develop a PLN

One thing you have to love about education are all of the acronyms {shout out to my special education friends, you especially know what I'm talking about!}... so what is a PLN? PLN is a Personal Learning Network. This is all about making connections and networking with others that you find interesting. Remember this is a personal learning network, tailor it to fit your needs. The learning is avaliable 24/7, just as quick as opening up your computer or smart phone. See what those in your network are talking about, is there a chat going on or hashtag of interest? Finally this is a network. In my PLN I follow people all over the states and all over the world. It takes a little while to develop the connections but it's well worth it.

3. Together We're Better

When teacher collaborate good things happen. Kayla from Top Dog Teaching has her 2nd graders tweeting {instilling digital citizenship from an early age}, there is a Global Math Task Twitter Challenge going on, there are so many opportunities to open the world up to kids, to connect, to collaborate.

Where to start? The Peppy Zesty Teacherista has a great tutorial to check out for beginners.

If you're already set up, but your head is spinning on how to establish a great group of people to follow? Look for hashtags that interest you. Participate in twitter chats. For the scoop on when various chats occur check out the list of all list for twitter chats from Cyber Librarian. There is also the TpT Chat on Sunday evenings, more information can be found at Erin Integration.

I'll be honest, at first I didn't think there would be much benefit to 140 characters, but once I dove in that completely changed. If you take the plunge in be sure to find me @teacherinoz I'd love to connect with you there!

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Common Core Organization & State Testing

Today is just one of those days... one of those days when I wish I could join Alexander and skip out on this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  {Having to retype this post, even after I saved it due to a blogger glitch...grr.}

Glitches with state testing, no-shows for meetings, schedules being toppled, and all sorts of fun things like that have made today oh so wonderful.

But, enough of the pitty party.

I'm linking up with Manic Monday {boy, isn't that the truth!} and my first Monday Made It to share a few things I've been up to... bad day and all!

One of the things I love most about blogging are the incredible ideas out there, and the people behind them. One such idea comes from Ashley Pennell, another first year teacher, from That's So Second Grade: Common Core Organization with labels!!

You can read about what she did here. Here are a couple of pictures from her revamped filing cabinets. 

Source: That's So Second Grade

Source: That's So Second Grade

A couple of weeks ago, during a workday, I revamped my room. I tackled the organized chaos mountains of resources from the first three quarters of the school year. All of the extra resources and printables are now neatly placed in binders on one of my bookshelves. I have a slight aversion to filing cabinets, so this system works for me. Now, with these labels I can slap a few on the front and binding of the binder and know exactly what I've got, by standard whoot!

Did I remember to take a picture of my actual labels at school? A tape/paper version shown for a visual.

I love this idea. Love it. Love it. Love it. Since I work with several fourth graders I've altered her ideas for this grade level.  If you would like to download, just click on the links below!

Math Label

Math Standard Label

ELA Label

ELA Standard Label

I've seen this test taking strategies poster floating around Pinterest, and being a 1-1 iPad school I had to replicate it.

Whew! The internet has been bizzerk here tonight. I'm stopping while this post will still save. Here's hoping the rest of the week gets better and it goes quick (spring break next week!)

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