Nicole VanTassel, IExploreScience

“It’s good for them to get messy”
“It’s good for them to get messy”
“It’s good for them to get messy”

😂😂😂

could they be any cuter!? 😭😍😭😍😭

I started the year on maternity leave, so I knew I couldn’t do the typical birthday treats (and miss half the class)… so instead, we saved ‘em up and threw a mini birthday “party” for the whole class on the last day!

in hindsight, a candle would have been cute on top 🎂🥳🤷🏼‍♀️ oh well!

survivingggggg…

What’s working in my class/building:
> community games
> sharing memories, favorites, snacks
> tracking progress and/or growth
> reading time in unconventional places (outside, under forts, to each other)
> outside time (bubbles, chalk, lawn games)
> “Weird But True” episodes and PBS Kids shows for those random 10-15 min gaps when we all need to slow it down 🫠
> classroom clean-up tasks
> memory books and autographs
> competitions (Challenge 24, Spelling Bee, Connect 4)
> co-created class awards (most likely to… // one word to describe… // etc)

ONE MORE DAY!!!

when you wake up sick and stuffy on field day so you carry around a roll of toilet paper all day 😂😂😂

2 more days…

who would have thought 5th graders would love bubbles so much? 😂😂

already thinking about next year 🤪 and how I’m going to actually get kids to read the REAL BOOKS off my bookshelf!

I admit, I love audiobooks and borrowing books from my Libby library on my iPad but real books in your hand? Something special there! Plus I have soooo many great ones and I want to see my students exploring them!

✅ First step, reorganize the bookshelves and simplify my selection. (I have a second shelf and some book bins elsewhere also!)

Next step? Still working on plans. 😅

no more spilled Stanleys 😅

I never take grading home anymore. Ever.

I grade while kids are working independently or during prep. That’s it. If it doesn’t get done then, it waits until the next time I have that window. (Or sometimes, honestly, it just doesn’t get graded. 🤷🏼‍♀️)

But ‘cause, you know, you have to grade sooome things… 😂, I keep a printed roster that I use as my gradebook (nothing fancy but usually up to date!) — assignment date, point value, scores right on the paper. I correct and score first, and then can quickly knock out recording a whole stack when I’m not hunting for names on a screen. I highlight the row when it’s entered into the computer and circle the box if work is missing.

And again — I don’t grade everything. Some things just don’t need a number on them. (But shhhh, I don’t tell my kids that… 😂🤷🏼‍♀️)

you know the end of the year is near when we dig out the locks!! Time for our 5th graders to prepare for the exciting middle school challenge of… lockers!

as an aside, they love practicing and I should add these to my morning bins next year 😂