Getting Started

Throughout my [brief] teaching career, I have seen a considerable rise in the number of teacher-run blogs out there. I have gotten so many wonderful ideas from fellow educators who want to share their best with the rest of us, and I wanted to start my own for a number of reasons. First, to put what I'm doing out there in case anyone can benefit from it, but also to chronicle what goes on in my classroom on a daily basis. It's a very exciting prospect to be able to look back on this blog and see how my students and my teaching change.

A little snapshot of me for an introduction:

• I am a fifth grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher in South Carolina, a state that is constantly criticized nationally for our lackluster (they think) test scores. 
• I teach Language Arts and Social Studies to two sets of students each day. This year, both sections of students are considered "Eagle" classes, meaning they are state-identified as gifted and talented OR are considered to be high flyers. 
• I integrate practically everything I do, so that our reading, writing, and Social Studies are tied together at all times. There are not enough hours in the day as it is, so I have to combine things to cover the standards sufficiently.
• I am our school's representative on the district ELA textbook adoption committee, so I have heard a lot about the impending implementation of the Common Core standards. I have mixed feelings about this, and I look forward to writing on here to help me sort out my feelings about this change. 

I suppose that's all you really need to know! I genuinely love teaching and interacting with the kids--if only they would streamline the paper- and busy-work so that I can spend more time on my students and less on paperwork and putting out fires!