Tell Me Something Good

This is year has seemed busier and more difficult than previous years, but there are still great things going on in my life.

Something Good at School:
I have had a blast teaching science to third graders this year.  We have learned about the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and the muscular system.  We have been focusing heavily on vocabulary instruction.  My students have grown so much this year in their knowledge of science vocabulary.  As part of my instructional coaching position, I test a strategy before having the other teachers implement it in their classrooms.  On the pre-test, three students scored basic and sixteen scored below basic.  On the post assessment, I had five students score advanced, seven score proficient, four basic, and four below basic.  The students who were still in the basic and below basic category increased their score by at least 15%.  I am so proud of them!

To learn more about how we are teaching vocabulary, check out Tales from Outside the Classroom where I did a guest blog feature on Interactive Vocabulary.  In this feature, I layout the strategy and give you a link to my pre-assessement and a packet about the interactive vocabulary strategy.  If you are interested in the first unit I taught in science where I embedded the vocabulary instruction, check out my Teachers pay Teachers store for my Vertebrate and Invertebrate Classification Unit.

Something Good at Home:
My husband and I have been bonding over Doctor Who.  I hesitated for the longest time thinking I would not like the show.  I was oh, so wrong.  I am in love with Doctor Who!  The Doctor is one of my favorite characters on television.  I have only seen the three current doctors (nine, ten, and eleven), but we are trying to find the old episodes to see Doctor Who from the beginning.  I think I may have an obsession because I even created a Doctor Who pinterest board.  Some of my favorite pins so far:

I love this second one so much of because I love the song Sheldon (from Big Bang Theory) has Penny sing to him when he is sick:  soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur, happy kitty, sleep kitty, purr, purr, purr.

Something Good in the Bloggy World:
I don't even know where to begin here.  I found a fabulous community in the teacher blogging world.  Everyone is so supportive!  To all my Top Teacher friends, I love our group and hearing about your joys and upsets.  One of the best things about being a teacher in this day and age is teacher blogs.  I have found some fabulous resources that have made my life as a teacher so better.  One of my favorite blog posts recently was from Runde's Room:  A Little Big of Blood and Gore.  She shared how she made blood with her students.  As soon as I read it, I knew that I had to make blood with my third graders.  We have been studying the muscular system and the heart and it was near Halloween.  They loved it!  We did it right before parent-teacher conferences, so they got to take their bottle of "blood" home with them that night.  They were excited to explain to their parents all the components of blood.  We are currently writing a two paragraph piece about the heart and blood that we will finish next week.



What is going well in your life?  I would love to hear in the comments below.  Then go check out Rowdy in First Grade's linky party:  Tell Me Something Good.