New School!

If you didn't already know, I am moving up and out of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We are headed to Springfield, VA and we couldn't be happier! I officially have a new job at Springfield Estates Elementary School and I can't wait to get started. I already have so many new ideas to try with my students. I always put a large emphasis on the fact that our class is our "school family" however, this year I want my students to feel like the classroom is their home away from home. I want them to have an active part in making the classroom theirs. My idea starts with a white table (which I have to explain the background to first). My mom's friend Ms. Anita (who is my second mother), moved into her home in Florida and found a picture on her wall. She tried to remove the picture and realized that the person who lived there before her painted on the actual wall and then put a picture frame around it. The people before her called it the "Murial." Yes, the Murial, not the Mural. Anyways, everyone who ever came to her house was asked to paint a picture onto the Murial. I really liked this idea and I wanted to do a version of this at my own house. I had an old table from when I was a child and so I painted the entire thing white and then painted a beach background on the top portion of it. Whenever a friend or family member would come to the house they would paint a picture onto the beach scene and then paint their name. It was a fun tradition and it became a very interesting beach scene full of a dolphin, battleship, and even an airplane. 

I decided that it was time for the table idea to move its way into school. I took several pictures of it and then sanded and re-painted it white. At the beginning of the year I would like to have the students paint something on the top portion of the table and then paint their name. I have a Plexiglas piece that goes on top of that part of the table so we can use it without damaging our paintings. I have also drawn squares all over the rest of the table for the students to create a quilt like creation. I drew squares so no one would paint ridiculously large pictures that took up half of the table and so no one would paint over anyone else's art work. I will keep the table on top of a plastic bag and the paints and brushes inside of the table. I think the students will love the opportunity to be creative and help personalize their classroom furniture. We'll see if it works, I'll keep you posted!

P.S. - I am without a doubt upset to be leaving my students at Woodson. I will not be able to see them grow and change and say Hello in the hallways like I always do. I told them that they are more than welcome to write to me at my new school but at the end of the year I wasn't sure where exactly I was going. To any of them who are interested in writing to me I would LOVE to hear from you!! This is the address of my new school: 

Springfield Estates Elementary

6200 Charles C Goff Drive

Springfield, VA  22150

Please don't send any letters until after September 1st if possible (they start after labor day here). I truly look forward to hearing from you and I can't wait to hear how your summer went! Plus, I'd love to tell you all about my summer adventures as well! I hope to hear from you soon (: 

-OneCrazyS

Mrs. Soderstrom

Summer Birthdays Celebration

Every year I struggle trying to figure out what to do for those poor students who happen to have their birthday over the summer. Normally, I like to have a big class party where I make cupcakes and we sing and watch a movie for them. This year however, I had a much better idea. In case you didn't know, I love to bake! It's a sad thing for me though because no one in my house likes baked food. Not even my 2 1/2 year old boy! What's a sad baking girl to do? Bring baking to school of course! This year, I decided to bake our birthday treats as a class. Originally I was going to have us bake cupcakes but since I didn't want them working with raw eggs, I decided to use blueberry and chocolate chip muffin mix instead (where all you have to add is water).We used both of these yummy mixes to make muffin puffs (basically muffin cookies). Of course I couldn't just have them mix in the correct amount of water and be done with it, I let them experiment. We put more water in one mix than the other and made predictions on what we thought would happen. We also discussed what to do to make dough or batter thicker or thinner if we were following a recipe (this knowledge definitely comes in handy when cooking). We came to the conclusion that adding liquid to batter would make it thinner and adding a solid like flour or confectioner's sugar would make it thicker.

 First, I lined the cookie sheets with foil and sprayed them with cooking spray.

(The pans we used at school were smaller. I had to recreate this at home because I forgot to take pictures at school.)

  Then, I let each of the students put a blob of muffin mix from each bowl on the pan and then I put them in the toaster oven. (At school we put each of the different batters on different trays.) Don't worry if the blobs are too close to each other.

While the muffin puffs were baking, I wrote all of the students' names (with summer birthdays) and their birth dates on the board. I passed out colored paper and assigned 2-3 students a specific student from the board. We spent some time creating hand made birthday cards. 

Once I removed the golden brown muffin puffs from the toaster ovens (they only take about 5-7 minutes to cook), the students passed out their cards and we sang Happy Birthday. Then, we observed the different muffin puffs to see what happened when the batter was thicker or thinner. We also talked about why some of the muffins ran into each other and how we could avoid that if we ever baked them again.

 After that, I passed out the muffin puffs and juice. We had such a great time and I think the students who had a birthday over the summer really felt special. It was easy, educational, and tons of fun! I will definitely be doing this again next year!

-OneCrazyS

P.S. - Normally, I try to post something every week but over the summer I am going to try to post something every other week. We are in the wonderful process of moving which means fixing and painting EVERYTHING in the house. Oh the joys of moving!

What Teachers Really Do Over The Summer

Most of us teachers have been watching all of the funny teacher videos of "What Teachers Really Do Over The Summer." Ms. South organized the whole event and one day after school turned into a fun-filled costume show of sorts. Everyone came out in full force with their boas, horse heads, masks, wheelchairs, and wigs. It was a blast and I couldn't have asked for a better end to the year. Ms. South made a great trailer for the students and we all watched it on the announcements on Friday. The big day will be next week for all of the students to watch the whole performance in all of it's glory! I can't wait! She was nice enough to post it on YouTube for all to see. Check it out below and enjoy the show!

-OneCrazyS

The Magic of YouTube

Everyone knows the power of the Internet, but one specific site has changed the face of education today. YouTube is one of the most widely used sources for informal education. If there is anything you want to learn, just look it up on YouTube, and more than likely someone will be there ready to share their knowledge with you. Personally, I use YouTube all of the time to advance my own knowledge outside of professional development opportunities, grants, graduate classes, and the like. I am well aware that I do not know everything there is to know on any particular topic, therefore I am always looking for new ideas or a fresh take on an old idea. Some teachers may spend their summers at the beach, but honestly . . . I spend most of my time learning (just ask my husband). Last summer I spent several hours a day watching YouTube videos to learn how to create a blog, as well as the title, tags, and widgets for a blog. I stayed up late learning how to create professional looking teaching materials through the use of an open source program called Inkscape. I even learned how to film, edit, and publish teaching videos to share on YouTube. I cannot express my love and admiration for this site enough. Some people may spend their time watching cat videos or funny babies, but I use it as a free gateway to gaining knowledge. You know what they say . . . knowledge is power! It's possible that I spend so much time learning because I don't have any cable or public television service, nor do I want it. I truly see myself as a lifelong learner and I always want to acquire more knowledge about anything that I can; television is a distraction to this process in my opinion. I am an inventor at heart, which explains why I am continuously curious. I use everything I do as a learning experience and then I use YouTube to help me figure out how I can improve upon those experiences. More recently, I have been using YouTube to learn a new way of teaching. Some people may already know this, but soon I will be moving away from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. My family will be moving into the Springfield, Virginia area and we couldn't be happier. As a teacher in Somerset County, Maryland, I realize that many other counties (including Fairfax County, Virginia) use a much different teaching model than what I currently use in my county. I have taught in many different ways throughout my eight years of teaching, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages. The key to anything in teaching is to file away the successes for later use and to learn from the failures or challenges that have been presented to you. I never truly see anything as a failure and I discuss this in depth with my students. The only way to fail is to give up! If something does not go as expected or as you had hoped, then the only real thing to do is to stop and figure out what went wrong and how can you fix it to make it work better. I see students become upset and frustrated when they think that they have failed. I then explain to them that this is not a time to be sad, but a time to think: What happened? How can I make this better? They change, they immediately stop and their mental wheels start to turn. An inventor is not someone who is the smartest man or woman in the world, but someone who never gave up and tried something multiple times until they succeeded. Yes, I realize I have wandered away from my original YouTube discussion, but this was important to say, as so many teachers ignore struggling students instead of giving them the tools needed to become self-motivating individuals. Now, back to my move to Northern Virginia. We are moving to Fairfax County and with that comes new challenges and experiences. I have been on a few interviews and have learned so much from each and every one of them. I did not realize how different the actual classroom teaching model was in other counties compared to mine. The need to know immediately took over and I began doing extensive research into the way that Fairfax County teaches. I have asked questions and emailed the Elementary Mathematics Specialist in the county. I have learned about DRA2, Words Their Way, Guided Reading, Responsive Classrooms, and Math Workshop. I have watched numerous training videos and other videos of teachers in the classroom using these types of teaching models, all without having to go out in the rain. YouTube is simply a wonderful tool for any teacher who just wants to know more. After watching videos of teachers using these strategies in their classroom, I began using some of them in my classroom as well. I like to test and try things out before jumping into anything (if at all possible). My students and I have a wonderful relationship, and I have explained to them that we are going to be trying new things and they are more than happy to oblige. We now have daily morning meetings and use transitions to get from one place to another. We meet in small, leveled guided reading groups and work on individual skills based on their needs. We use secret passwords (e.g., stars with words) on our chairs each day to help us learn new word patterns at our individual level (stay tunned for this blog post later). We meet in small groups to learn specialized math skills, which are based on previous assessments. So many changes in so little time, yet I feel nothing but happiness. I see how happy my students are to greet each other and pick transitions. I see how much they have improved because of the more individualized instruction. Nothing makes me feel better than seeing happy children learning. I have started to wonder where has this model been my whole teaching career? I have always worked hard to have happy students who enjoy learning, but this was something different. This was a whole new way of thinking and teaching, and I welcome it with open arms. I know that there is still more to learn and I am excited to see what else my good friend YouTube has to offer. I know what I'll be doing this summer, what about you?

-OneCrazyS

Shaina Soderstrom

End of the Year Awards Necklaces

Black and White Awards Necklaces

Color Awards Necklaces

Necklace Pack

The year is beginning to come to a close and I have truly loved my class this year. We always become so close and yet I know I have to let them go. I love having my students vote and give class awards at the end of the year (like most teachers) but this year I wanted something different. I was tired of the same old certificates that ended up on the fridge for a little while, in a special box, or more than likely in the trash. I wanted something that my students could wear with pride and show off to their family. I wanted them to feel like they earned a real medal. I love to invent new things and I felt like the end of the year award necklaces were the way to go. I made a student voting sheet for the students to decide who gets which award. I also made a Teacher Tally Sheet because it used to be such a pain to figure out who won each category. With this tally sheet, I can just write the initials of the students who they voted for in each category, put tally marks if they were voted for more than once, and then circle the student who had the most tallies. Much easier!

Once I know who won each award, I'm going to print the necklaces out on card stock. After that, I will write their names and then laminate them. I made three options because I love to have different choices. Personally, I like the black and white ones the best. They are easy to print at home and don't use a lot of ink. Plus I can have the student who won the award color it themselves.

Then, all I have to do is laminate it, cut it out, punch holes on the black circles, and tie a piece of string long enough to go around their neck. Voila! Super awesome awards necklaces all ready to be worn and shown off. I am so excited to give these to my students!

There are also awards necklaces in color (so you can just print and go) and a pack of both color and black & white necklaces. However you like your necklaces, I know your students will love wearing them. I can't wait to see their smiles while they wear these! I hope your last few weeks are happy and not too stressful (: 

Check Out My End of the Year Awards Necklaces HERE:

Black and White Awards Necklaces

Color Awards Necklaces

Necklace Pack

-OneCrazyS

Classical Learning

I have spent several years working in teacher collaborative grant groups at Salisbury University. We spent many weekends and week-long summer sessions learning about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.Throughout the past year or two, STEM became STEAM, adding a new element of the Arts into STEM education. Ever since I was a child, I have been deeply involved in the arts. I love to dance, act, and create anything imaginable. I honestly think that my arts education has helped to shape me into the teacher that I am today. I try to weave the arts into my daily lessons so that my students enjoy learning and are engaged in everything we do. I love to create chants and dances to help my students remember new concepts. I also love playing music during class, especially instrumental music. The students hear plenty of lyrics throughout their lives outside of school, but I want them to truly listen to the music behind the words. Recently, I came across a wonderful group on YouTube called The Piano Guys. Most of their work consists of instrumental remakes of popular songs. They cover songs like "What Makes You Beautiful," "Let It Go," "Titanium," "Story Of My Life," and more. All of them are beautiful and my students love listening to them. My absolute favorite one to watch is "What Makes You Beautiful." 

Take a look:

When my students watched this, they were completely engrossed in the video; it is absolutely amazing to watch. Who knew you could play the piano like that? I am truly inspired and in love with this group's work. All of the songs are appropriate for everyone. I can't wait to listen to more of The Piano Guys this week! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

- OneCrazyS

DEAR Time Contest

First grade is a wonderful age where students truly become readers. Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) time started several years ago. I'm not exactly sure when, but I know that we had DEAR time many moons ago when I was a young student. I used to only have DEAR time when I could squeeze it in. Mainly because many of the students would not read the entire time. Their attention would wander and I would see several of them just running their fingers along the words quickly or looking around the room. My inventor mind went to work and I came up with our behavior snack and the DEAR Time Contest. Once DEAR time begins, I pass out a small snack (goldfish, pretzels, or animal crackers) to everyone who has behaved well all day long (their card has not been moved for poor behavior). Then, I take out my book and read with my students. While I am reading, I look up at the end of every page or two to see who is also reading. I begin to keep a short list in my head of 4 to 5 students who are engrossed in their books. As I continue to look up, I narrow my winners to 2 or 3 students who were truly reading the entire time. Once the timer goes off (I set it for ten minutes after I pass out the snack), I have everyone put their books back in their "book bag" (i.e., a gallon zipper bag where they keep all of their books in their desk) and then I have them all come and sit quietly on the carpet. I bring 1 or 2 small prizes and announce my winners. To each winner, I may give out a pencil, a smelly sticker, an eraser, or anything small for their effort.

My students love to be the winners. I also make sure that I tell everyone else who didn't win that it could be them tomorrow.  Now, we make room for DEAR time every day and my students groan when we have to stop. I have noticed that many of them are reading harder books and that they even point out spelling words and phonics lessons that we have learned in the past. The addition of a very simple contest has turned what used to be a chore into a treat. Hopefully this contest can help to keep your students actively reading during your entire DEAR time. 

How have you kept your students engaged during DEAR time? Let me know! I'd love to hear about what you've done (:

-OneCrazyS