Giving shape to Wordle

So if you've already jumped aboard the Wordle bandwagon, you'll love a little something I discovered last summer.  Tagxedo allows to type in or upload text and it will generate it into an image, either stock images or one (including photos) you upload yourself.  The possibilities are endless... character traits of a character or famous person, descriptions of students, brainstorming for stories, creating heart maps.... I used it simply to create an image for my classroom door, maybe a few binder covers.

  

Oh, and here's from last summer:

Have fun!!!

Swimming Together

On the first day of school I read Swimmy by Leo Lionni. Sometimes I play the video version on youtube The story of the little fish, and the idea of swimming together as one becomes our glue for building class climate and community.  In the past we've been known as The Fishbowl, but this year my pod will be known as The Vermonsters, and my class will be Rainbow Trout, so I've dubbed our new 3rd grade-SS-Writing room The Rainbow Fish.

                        After reading the book, students design a puzzle piece to represent themselves.  They don't see the posterboard I designed, so they are unaware of the final shape.

    As a class, they sit and take turns trying to fit the puzzle together.  We discuss the concept of swimming together and what that means for our class.

A Complicated Title, But the Job's the Same

This coming school year, because of NCLB and state mandates for school improvement, my building is moving toward elementary departmentalization. This would sound more exciting and less daunting if it were a simple, "I'm the writing teacher."  My official title?  I will be a 3rd grade homeroom teacher, the on level 3rd grade math teacher in my wing (2 classes), and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade social studies/writing teacher for my "pod."  Confused yet?  Let's hope the kids won't be, right?

To make my summer even more jam packed full of frantic evening pinterest searching and constant visits to school email to get updated on the summer cleaning schedule, I'm moving classrooms, to one left by a retired 3rd grade teacher.  Mind you, I moved into a retired teacher's room when I first came to this district, but I didn't have a 3 and 1 year old then, and I spent the entire summer in the classroom.  Not to mention I just threw out the last of the material left by that teacher when I cleaned out for this move.

"What furniture are you keeping?"  the custodian asks me. How should I know?  I have yet to figure out how to set up my new giant room to accomplish all that my title implies.  And the closets are full, ready to be weeded through. And my belongings are piled out in the hallway.  And I have to find childcare to come in and deal with all this.  And...

Summer vacation.  I lifted 450 pounds of sand into a sandbox today and watched my children's eyes light up and their bare toes curl.  This is what my time should consist of, but we all know that being a full time teacher and a mother is a difficult juggling act, a complicated title that requires delicate balance and über patience.  My job title?  I am a teacher.  The age, the subject, the room configuration- none of it matters.  I am a teacher.