Welcome to CAL!

Today was my first day at my new school. 
I will be honest. I was/am nervous. I miss my "normal". I miss knowing everyone as I walk down the hallway. I miss my teacher friends. I miss feeling like I am home. BUT...Today was a great day!  I am having a hard time putting it in words. Christian Academy of Louisville is a place that can't be explained. Over the past months, I have had the privilege of meeting several different teachers and leaders and I knew then something was different. 
With only a public school teaching background (and NEVER teaching 6th grade), I really didn't know what to expect when it came to teaching in a Christian School System (btw CAL is the largest in the USA). I was overwhelmed. Today, we spent the morning in God's word. I was prayed for, asked to lay my fears down, given verses, and taught what it means to teach at Christian Academy of Louisville. 
What did I come away with? The people at CAL are not only labeling themselves as a Christian school but they truly live it. They urge it and have it in all conversations.  They want my character to display Christ, they want my lessons to have Biblical integration, they want me to share God's word with my students, and pray with them. 
 I left today with a peace. It truly is a blessing to be starting a new journey at CAL. Pray for me as I start teaching 6th grade. I am finding joy with the "older kids"! 
And if you every find yourself living in Louisville, check out Christian Academy of Louisville. 

http://caschools.us/es

I survived the first TWO months..

I survived. Yep. Whoa, was it a whirlwind.  I welcomed 22 kids, on the 19th of August. Having no idea of their personalities, that has all changed. We are all comfortable now and our different personalities are shining through. 

If your child is in third grade or hasn't reached it yet, let me just prepare you..Math is Challenging. Rounding is currently all we think about. I try to find ways to make it fun. They thought writing on their desk was just the craziest thing ever. It wipes off without a problem

 (we use socks as erasers...easy, washable, and cheap)

(Side Note: I don't let my kids say things are hard, they tend to give up easily. We say things are challenging but we work hard to solve those things)

I have said before that I love teaching with anchor charts. I really feel like it helps my kids grasp what they are learning when they see it. I leave the anchor charts on my walls and take them down occasionally. I will switch them out, depending on what skill we are looking at. 

These are all Reading but I also use them in Math.

We are implementing the Common Core standards this year for English Language Arts (we started the Math last year) and I have LOVED it. I love unpacking the standard and not following a certain curriculum. I believe it has made me enjoy teaching even more. I love getting to read my favorite books to teach the skill. (PS: I love Kevin Henks, Patricia Polocco, and Janelle Cannon. They are all GREAT authors that I have used so far.)

If you are an educator let me recommend Teachers Pay Teachers. 

It is an awesome website. I get 90% of all my printable from this site.

 I also always get the free downloads. 

Life lately (meaning these past two months) that does not involve school involves weddings. I have two sweet friends, one is getting married in October and the other in November, that I have helped host showers for this past month. 

Adam and I are enjoying life, as always. School is busy for my sweet husband. Adam is in his final year at USA (I think). We are both thrilled that football is back on TV. I don't think I could love fall any more. There is just something about a Saturday in the fall. It doesn't get any better. 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Welcome To 3rd Grade

I promised myself last year that I would be better at posting things throughout my school year. I wanted to share some classroom setup pictures. I made some changes from last year. The OCD self in me is pretty pumped about it.  Welcome to Mrs. Tait's room!

These pictures were taken BEFORE my 22 kiddos arrived! My walls are no longer empty! 

Trip to Denver

Ok, spring break is over and I was forced got right back in the grove of things today at school.

 FOUR. WEEKS. UNTIL. SUMMER.

Last week was spent around my house cleaning, catching up, and visiting my mom, friends, and family. It was a perfect, simple break.

The week before SB I had the opportunity to go, with a few other teachers, to a math conference in Denver, Colorado.

We hit the ground running as soon as our plane landed in Denver. We learned many great, new ideas while at the conference. It makes me excited to implement all the new things next year. If you are reading this and teach math, I would love to share some things with you. Leave me a comment and I will email you.

Denver was freezing. We arrived on Tuesday night and when we woke up Wednesday morning it was snowing...and it snowed alllllll day long. I like snow, it really is great, BUT after being in it Wednesday and getting drenched,  I realized, I REALLY like warm weather.

I goofed and forgot to take my camera but I did get some pictures on my phone. Snow really makes everything pretty and picture worthy.

Shaving Cream Shamrock

I woke up this morning and before my feet even hit the floor I thanked my sweet Jesus that it was Friday! I think Spring Break forgot about MCPSS..we are ready for a break! This past week we have been reviewing and taking EQTs (end of quarter test). This makes for a long stressful week. I promised my kiddos that if we could make it to Friday that we would do an art project. Well we made it and we loved every minute of art!

I wanted to share the project we did today. It was of course Pinterest inspired but I modified it just a little!

Shaving Cream Shamrock

Material
shaving cream (1 can was more than enough for my 18 students)
paper plates
paint
napkins
paint brushes
spatula
card stock


**Before you start the project you will need to copy an image/template (I did a shamrock) on card stock. Have the students cut out the image first.**
**Pass out paper plates and napkins.**

Step 1
*Spray shaving cream on the paper plate
*Have students spread out the shaving cream using their fingers. (They don't want to smooth the shaving cream out totally, just make sure the whole plate is covered.)

Step 2*Pass around the paint (I went around to each student and let them pick our their paint color. I then squirted the paint on the plate. Since we were making shamrocks I just had different shades of green. Paint color depends on the season/project)

Step 3
*Have student use opposite end of the paint brush to spread out the paint. I encouraged my kids not to mix all the colors together. We used our paint brush to create swirls, circles or zigzag lines.

Step 4
*Place the image (shamrock) face down on the paper plate. Use your fingers to press the image. After you feel like your whole image is covered, gently pick it up and leave it on the table to dry.

Step 5
*Allow your project to dry. (I would say 1-2 minutes)

Step 6
*Take the spatula and scrape off the extra shaving cream.

Step 7
*Allow your project to dry one last time :)

FINISHED PROJECT..

My students LOVED this project! They loved getting a little messy with the shaving cream and thought it was so cool to mix it with paint!

It was a great day in Mrs. Tait's 3rd grade class! 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Keep Calm

IT. IS. ALMOST. 4TH QUARTER...need I say more. That phrase could possibly be my favorite right now.  I have almost completed my first year of teaching. Whew I am a tired teacher. Right now my kids are ready for spring break (still several weeks away) and I am too!

I feel like this sums everything up...

Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE TEACHING. I love getting up and going to work every morning, I love seeing my 18 kiddos everyday, and I love that light bulb moment when they learn something new. At this moment I am just ready for SUMMER! 

I wanted to share a few things going on in my classroom. I have been horrible about keeping up with my 1st year of teaching, on my blog, and I am promising now to do better in the years to come! 

Last week we had a fun Friday by getting to video conference with a 3rd grade class from Michigan. I signed up for the conference a while back and could not wait for my kids to get to experience this use of technology. The goal of the conference was to tell your partner class about your city, using a reading strategy or book. We decided to persuade our friends to visit the great city of Mobile. We have been learning about author's purpose and we have learned that an author may write a story to persuade the reader to do something! WE HAD A BLAST! We talked about Mobile's history, sports, gardens, Mardi Gras parades and seafood. 

Last Friday we also had a Dr. Seuss celebration! We started off the day by eating green eggs and ham and then had some pretty cool celebs read us a Dr. Seuss book via the web! (I definitely got cool points for that one)

At this point in the year you really don't want to change your classroom around simply because it is almost summer. NOT ME. I am itching to get in my room and totally transform it. I have started a running summer "to do" list. There are so many little things that I have found that must be done! 

One thing that I did go ahead and do this year was a vocabulary board in my classroom. ERD has school wide vocabulary that must be posted somewhere in your room. I really could not find the place for it until I was given a new bulletin board...BINGO! I went right to work. 

Whatcha think...

This will hold my "lets redo everything/reorganize" urge...at least until summer!

If you are a teacher reading the blog let me know some organization tips you may have! 

Right now we are floating in fraction land...everything is a fraction!

PS: I am addicted to making anchor charts for my classroom!

Happy Tuesday!