I'm alive!

The past few weeks have been CRAZY for me. I have been moving classrooms (still not done). It has been an exhausting process, and I know MANY of you can feel my pain! I promise I will post pics soon...well as soon as you can see a classroom and not a pile of stuff in the middle of the floor.

I'll be back soon!

Love ya'll!

What I am reading...and other randomness

Ok, so many people that know me know that I love to read. Not only fiction but professional books as well. I am still a new teacher, and there is so much I still want to learn. So today I went to Barnes and Noble (my favorite place!) and sat in the Education isle. I found a few books I thought I wanted to read, but quickly changed my mind. However I did pick up:

 

and

I am all about learning how to develop higher level thinking in all of MY students. (Kristen at Ladybug Teacher's Files has a post about  QAR strategies and printing a neat QAR reminder bookmark on Post-its!-Go check it out) Has anyone read these books? I had never heard of QAR before Kristen's post. Any suggestions?

There is not much exciting going on right now. I am involved in a Formative Instructional Practices project with other wonderful teachers from our county. We are writing I can statements for each standard. I'm excited about these. We will be sending home checklists of mastered/non-mastered "I cans" each nine week period.

I'll be moving to a new room sometime next week...VERY exciting! 6 computers and lots of storage! My sweet friend, Leigh, was at school today working on her room move. When I got out of the FIP thing, I called her to chat. She informed me that she and her sweet children moved half my stuff for me today! Isn't that so sweet! I am so blessed to have her! I will be posting on the move and setting up the room! Hope ya'll had a good weekend!

GIVE AWAY!

Katie over at Once Upon a Teaching Blog is having a give away to celebrate 50 followers! You can win either a Barnes and Noble gift Card or a Target gift card. You have up to 4 chances to win!

Head on over there!

Once Upon a Teaching Blog

Happy Friday! My bloggy friend, Katie, is SUPER close to reaching 50 followers! She is going to have a contest when she gets there! So head on over to her wonderful blog, Once Upon a Teaching Blog and follow her!

New Blog Design!

Thanks to Leslie at Sweetie Baby Custom Blog Designs for my oh-so cute new blog!

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I've been busy with FIP (Formative Instructional Practices) training and writing "I can" statements this week, and I've learned alot! I will post more on this later....when I know I can. (long story)

Have a great Friday!

Giveaway Winner! 30 minutes early

I HAVE to go to sleep, so I'm announcing the winnner earlier than I thought I would. I will be out of town all day/night tomorrow, so here we go!

The winner of the Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate and book is.................

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 116 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Wells' Tale of a 4th Grade Nothing said...

I follow your blog!

Mindy

So Mindy, email me with your address and I will mail you your goodies!

aslovesteaching@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who commented!

Amanda

Quick lil' Post

Due to my exhaustion, this post is only referencing someone else's post that I found to be VERY interesting. Sharon Taberski, author of On Solid Ground and Comprehension from the Ground Up has a blog! I just found it a few days ago.

   

She just posted something that I found interesting, and I wanted to share. To head on over to her blog, All About Comprehension. The article is about managing time for reading response and independent reading.




Also- don't forget about my giveaway! It ends Wednesday night.

Celebrating 100 Followers!

WOW! I made it! This blogging thing has been life changing. I have been inspired by so many of you! I want to thank all of you for following by having a....GIVEAWAY! Yes that's right- the #2 reason most of us blog. (Admit it...) We teachers LOVE giveaways!

Kelley- I borrowed this from you. Hope you don't mind!

So here is what you can win:

 

                   $25.00 Barnes and Noble Gift Card

AND a Copy of one of my new favorite books:

My students loved this book! It is sorta like "The Little Red Hen". It is funny and sweet!

          

             Check out the video!

So here is how you enter- Please post a separate comment for each one. (Up to 3)

1. Follow Third Grade Meanderings (or post that you already do)

2. Follow by Email (The button is on the right hand side-top'ish.I hope it is working! If not- post that you tried!)

3. Blog about the giveaway (and provide the link in your comment)

The contest will close at midnight (central time zone) on Wednesday, June 8th. The winner will be announced the next evening, June 9th.

THANKS a ton!

The Book Whisperer

    Excitement flows through me every time I open the front door and see a box with that Amazon logo on the side. I posted about the books I planned to read this summer, and The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child was my number 1 pick. Mainly because I had read so many articles referencing this book. I sat down at 2:00 to read this book, and I finished 5 minutes ago...11:49. I read until supper, ate, and then began reading again. I had to watch a few shows, but I kept grabbing this book when the show got boring or a commercial came on.

  I never was a reader growing up. Don't get me wrong, I read some books in middle and high school I loved, but I could count the number of those books on one hand.

  I fell in love with children's books during college. I had a wonderful instructor who let each of us choose a children's book a week and then share with everyone our feelings of the book.

Then...came Harry Potter. I have to admit, I had never read any of the books. I fell completely in love with the movies. After seeing Half Blood Prince with my dad the summer it came out, I was hooked! I could not wait another year to see what was going to happen. So I immediately went to Barnes and Noble and bought Deathly Hallows. This book is 759 pages long. I read it in 48 hours.

This book sparked my love for books. It is so sad it took that long, and after reading The Book Whisperer I remember why. Growing up, I don't ever remember reading books I chose at school. I remember bringing home If You Give a Mouse a Cookie everyday, and reading it before I went to bed. BUT that is it!

PLEASE, please, please- read The Book Whisperer! I cannot emphasize enough how well written it is. Donalyn Miller writes beautifully, so it doesn't seem like a regular professional book. It reads like a memior/novel with classroom/teaching "suggestions".

I recommend this book if you teach 2nd and up, but any and every teacher should read this in their lifetime.

Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox. I am headed off to begin my summer read #2 (pleasure book #1) Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright.

 

Donors Choose Project!

Well...I did it. I just created a Donors Choose project for the upcoming school year.

What did I ask for?





But in black...so they won't look nasty!



Binders and plastic dividers!

I want so badly to use these for reader's notebooks!

I have used plastic folders before, but they are such a pain. It's also extremely hard to get materials in and out!

Fingers crossed and pray, pray, pray! 



Plastic- so they will last longer!
I'm hoping they will last for at least 3 years...



You can view the project here:  http://www.donorschoose.org/missasmith




oh wait!!... Does anyone know how to add a donors choose button to my blog that will go straight to my project?