Multi-Sensory Magic

This month has been so long, but such an amazing learning opportunity. I have been in an in-service class called SMILA from 8am-3pm Monday through Friday for the last four weeks. SMILA stands for Simultaneous Multi-sensory Institute of Language Arts and is a method for teaching children with specific language deficiencies how to read or improve their reading. It was designed for work with dyslexic students, but can be used with any child.

Each day we have lecture, watch a SMILA teacher teach a whole group lesson to students, work in small groups with students, eat, have another lecture, then plan for the next day. A long day for sure, but broken up enough to keep you going. I love that we get to watch an experienced teacher use the steps with the whole group and then I get to try with my two students. Also, to be able to work with real students and watch them improve over the last four weeks has been amazing! One of my girls is an ELL entering 4th grader who went from not knowing all of her letter sounds to knowing all of her sounds and many of the blends and phonograms. I wouldn't have believed the improvement if I had not been a part of the process. 

The SMILA method's goal is for students to be independent readers and writers, but it gets there by starting with the basics and moving on from there. I have been coming home every night to my roommate so excited about this or that. My favorite parts of the method are the decoding and that it is a method, not a curriculum! I can take it to my school and use what I have learned within the curriculum I have to teach. 

To spend an entire month of the summer in summer school is not necessarily my idea of fun, but I am so thankful for the last month of learning. The teachers I have been working with have talked about children they regret not being able to reach that may have been helped with SMILA, so I am grateful that I am learning about it now! It is now in my tool belt of teaching strategies that engages students, helps a variety of students with different learning styles, and most importantly, helps every child learn to read! 

SMILA is mostly in the Tennessee and Mississippi area of the south, but it is based off of the Slingerland method. SMILA is also (soon to be) featured on DyslexiaEd.com if you school is a member (if not, see if you can convince your principle! The state of Virginia got a membership for every teacher in the state.)  

Now that SMILA is ending, hopefully I can start blogging more and start gearing up for my first year of teaching! 

A New Look

I am so excited about my new blog look! Tessa from Tales from Outside the Classroom designed the site. I love how willing she was to work with me and patient when I took a long time responding! I am still working on settling into the design, but I adore it already. It also gives you a peek into what I am working on for my classroom!

The in-service I am in this month is really great. I have already learned so much and it isn't even half over yet! But they are very instant on using cursive to teach children, which I haven't really encountered. Do schools still teach cursive? The school I student taught in didn't, nor did the rest of the district. If it is better for a child's memory to use connect letters, then why doesn't everyone do it? I still haven't made up my mind on that one. I need some more training and research before I make up my mind!

June Currently

June has snuck up on me. I am amazed it is here yet the first of May seems so long ago. I spent the day in my first grad class and this evening attempting to unpack my apartment. I broke down boxes and hung a lot of art! It is starting to feel like home.  Since it is the beginning of June that means that it is currently time! Link up with Farly for more currently fun!

Listening 

I have only been in Memphis a week and am already saturated in country music. There really is something delightful about country music and summer. 

Loving

I haven't had time to unpack or decorate in the past week and it has been killing me. I finally spent about 5 hours today cleaning and hanging up all of my artwork. It is starting to feel like home! 

Thinking

I am amazed by how much I need for me classroom. So much planning, prepping, decorating, and purchasing to do. 

Wanting

I have had my eye on a laminator to keep at home, but haven't taken the plunge yet. Any suggestions or advice? 

Needing 

A printer! I have had free printing all through college, but now that is gone and I have nowhere to print. My classroom doesn't come with a printer (it has wireless access to a copy machine) so I have no way to make color copies.

Vacation Essentials

1. Sunglasses. I love wearing sunglasses mostly because I hate bright or strong lights. 

2. A book. Anything that will catch my attention. I read a lot of young adult fiction because it is faster and has less bad language in it. 

3. Sunscreen. I am so incredibly pale that sunscreen is a must!  

Have a lovely week and don't forget to link up! 

What a Whirlwind

What a crazy few weeks it has been! I graduated and moved to Memphis. This past week has been about exploring the city, but grad classes start tomorrow. I was able to see my new classroom this week and cannot wait to get started! Hopefully I will get back to a regular blogging schedule soon.

Lesson Plans, Finals, and Graduation Week

In just a few days I will be in possession of an undergraduate degree! I am so excited, but sad to leave my school behind. We already had Convocation, and now have finals this week and graduation next weekend. But to get to graduation I have to first take finals! I am having trouble finding motivation to get work done. I already have a job and am doing well in all my classes, so even failing the finals I would still have passing grades.

One of my final projects this semester is to adapt a lesson plan to accommodate ELL students. We had to choose a pre-written lesson plan and add to it what different levels of ELL students would need. Having worked in Texas public schools, I was familiar with CSCOPE, but also with many teacher's distain for it. My professor suggested checking out a website called Read Write Think. I spent hours on it looking at lesson plans! Great lessons, all are TEKS/Common Core aligned.

I wanted to chose a lesson that I could use next year, so I looked for second grade lessons. There were so many! The one I ended up picking taught some economic vocabulary using Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique  

An adorable book and a cute lesson to lean some difficult words. I modified the lesson some to accommodate for ELLs and to add a spiral station work, but other than that it was a wonderful lesson as is. I know I will continue to reference this in the future!

Let's Get Acquainted: Teacher Questions

I love LaToya's "Let's Get Acquainted" linky party because it gives teachers a chance to share their hearts and provides a "face" behind the blogger. It is fun to get to know the amazing teachers behind my favorite blogs. 

1.  What made you decide to become a teacher?

Although I was in denial for most of my childhood, I have always wanted to be a teacher. Even as a young kid I was always trying to teach people things. My younger sister says that I will make a good teacher because I am bossy. That is an accusation I can neither confirm nor deny. I more officially decided in high school when I started working with primary grade students in a summer camp. 

2. What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher?

I haven't had my first class yet, but my classroom observations and student teaching have been so rewarding. During student teaching we were working on times tables with the fourth graders and I had one student that just could not get past her two times tables. I worked with her individually and realized that she didn't understand the concept of multiplication! After about 45 minutes with her, and she finally got it! It was wonderful to see the light-bulb go off in her head and for her to enjoy math. 

3. If you were not a teacher, what would you be?

If I wasn't a teacher I would have to decide between being a baker or a costume designer. I have always loved baking and would enjoy owning a bakery (except for that early morning part). Throughout college I have worked at a costume shop making clothes for campus productions. I also worked backstage. If I wasn't moving to Tennessee, I would be working for Dallas Shakespeare Festival as a dresser this summer! 

Teacher Appreciation Sale

It is teacher appreciation week! Time for people around the country to take a moment and think just how difficult a teacher's job is. If nothing else, other teachers are appreciating each other. That means a sale at TPT! I have been pouring over the site since I found out what grade I would be teaching. Downloading free files gave me a lot of great ideas, but I had not purchased anything yet. Why not make my first time to purchase a sale!

My first though was that I need to buy some things from the first teaching blog I ever read/followed, the incredible Clutter Free Classroom. Since I will be a first year teacher, my plan is to start with an organized and clutter free class with her help!  

I bought the Classroom Procedures to help me figure out how to organize what my expectations will be! I would love to incorporate some (or all) or Whole Brain Teaching, but I also need to align with the school expectation. 

My favorite idea I have seen probably in all of blogger world is the Find it/Fix it. When I read the blog post I knew I was going to use it in my class.  A way to have the room clean at the end of the day and no need for a class job chart? Yes please! 

Next, I went over to the shop of my favorite 2nd grade blog, Sunny Days in Second Grade. I have read this blog beginning to end, and am so encouraged by it. I have seen so many veteran teachers just bemoan what is happening in education, so it is great to hear from someone that is viewing the world in a positive light! 

This is another one I cannot wait to introduce! Being able to integrate writing and math in a real-world and kid loved way is hard, but not when you add dessert into the mix. Tasty Tuesday does a great job with her kids, and I am sure mine will love it to! What kid doesn't enjoy making (and eating) dessert?! 

I'm still poking around TPT and may buy something else today. I am grateful to my own teachers, and to all teachers that make a daily difference in the lives of students everywhere!