DonorsChoose.org

I am rich! I am rich with love from my students! I rich with smiles from my students who feel good about what they are learning! I am rich with questions from my inquisitive students who want to know as much as possible! I am rich with thank you's from parents, students, and strangers who know my heart and soul is in this job!

I am not rich with money! As a teacher I make $1000 each month over minimum wage. This may sound like a lot but when you have a family and you spend about $250 each month on your classroom $1000 doesn't seem like a lot. In NC we have been frozen and money is short for schools. I am determined to not let this trickle down to my students! They struggle at home and shouldn't at school.

In order to provide the best for my students I have turned to the most amazing resource for teachers! The website is www.DonorsChoose.org. As a teach you write grants to ask for resources that you need for your classroom. Now don't let that word grant scare you. It isn't like you think, you basically tell your story. Share your ambitions and your expectations for your students. Share with donors why you want these resources and how it will impact your students! This is important because donors want to help. They want to see their money reach the children. Once your grant is funded you take some pictures and have your students write thank you notes. Send all that back and your done! The best part is you are also teaching your students to be thankful for things and how to show thanks through letters!

This website has changed me as a teacher! I am inspired to reach for the best lesson possible because I know I can get the resources. I am not a screener for DonorsChoose which means I read teacher grants and decide if they meet criteria! This has been a great experience because I get so many amazing ideas!

Setting Goals

As a teacher I feel setting goals is imperative to be successful. As a person I set goals for myself all the time. Some I reach and many that I don't. This year I set the goal to lose 20 pounds. I am half way there but it hasn't been something quick and easy and I am amazed I have stayed focused but the results make me feel good so I am sticking with it! Sorry I digressed, back to school goals! Goals are a way to keep your mind working towards something while also rewarding yourself for the success of reaching the goal. Or how to reflect on yourself in a subjective way if you don't meet the goal. I think as a teacher if I don't set goals for myself how can I expect my students to set goals for themselves.

So this year I am going to break it down for my students and really get them reflecting on individual subjects. I want them to really think about their strengths and weaknesses in order to better themselves. I feel that teaching has become so mundane and robot like. We are given a curriculum and expected to teach it and students are expected to master each part. Where is the relevance and the attachment to what they are learning. When you remember how to do something it is because it impacted you in way that changed how you did something or created a time in which you were successful or unsuccessful. Setting goals can do that for our students because it makes them have a purpose for learning the skills.

Once I find the page I found from another teacher I am going to adapt it and post what my final product will be. It will sit on their desk and be a reminder of what their are working towards. I want my students to succeed and I want them to want more for themselves and in order to do that we need to set goals!

For the Love of Teaching

I was probably 6 when I realized that I wanted to be a teacher. I know I was that young because it was before my parents divorced and we lived at our old house. We had neighbors that lived right behind us and they had a cool basement with this retro carpet that screamed 60's. We played down there all the time and it was ok if we spilled on the carpet because it was so old.

They had all kind of "school" stuff we could play with to play school. I was always the teacher/boss and my brother and the little girl that lived in the house were always the students. We had a dry erase board which made me feel so authentic. My tipping point was when I once called my dad in either fourth or fifth grade and asked him for an answer to my homework. He told me to get my social studies book out and read him the page I thought the answer was on. Then he continued to ask me questions about what I had read and if I still thought the answer was there. I was getting really frustrated that he wouldn't tell me the answer. After about thirty minutes I found the answer. He asked me how I felt and told him I was super proud of myself for finding the answer. That was the moment where I wanted to become like my dad and help kids find the answer; not give it to them.

I am entering my 6th year of teaching which is bittersweet for me. I am excited because as everyone said, it gets easier each year! I feel more and more confident as well as excited about the new school year. I told my school secretary last week that I look forward each year to the letter we get in the mail that lists all the new staff members and the schedule for the first few weeks of school! She told me I was probably the only one. :)

My fifth grade teacher helped me begin paving the way to become the person I am today. She was strict and expected almost perfection. She was a woman of few words but I always felt that she wanted the best for us. She worked hard to teach us and it showed through he comments on our papers or just the nod of her head.

As a fifth grade teacher I hope to inspire my students and encourage them to dream big. I want them to feel excited about learning and eager to explore the world around them. I want to foster their curiosity while holding them to high expectations. I want them to leave fifth grade exhausted from all the learning but fired up to become the best person they can become.

I love to read blogs and after finding Pinterest.com I have been introduced into the world of teacher blogs. Wow! I could spend hours reading peoples blogs and all the amazing ideas they have. Sharing ideas is where the best teaching comes from. I never even thought about sharing things that I have created because I didn't think of them as being ideas worth sharing. The more I read other blogs I realize that even though they may not be mindblowing ideas, people can adapt them to fit their classroom and be the best teachers possible! I hope through this blog you will be inspired to teach all students and become the best teachers possible!