Distance Learning Take 2

December 17, 2020Posted in EducationTagged 5th Grade Life, 5th Grade Teacher, Distance Learning, Distance Teaching, Evermore, Jessica Day, Taylor Swift, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Feels, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teachers of Instagram, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching in COVID, Teaching in Quarantine, Teaching Life, Teaching Love, Teaching Techniques1 Comment

We are officially wrapping up our 3rd week of distance learning round 2 and I have felt so much better about it this time around than I did in the spring!

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate that we have to be distant instead of being at school but we are so much more prepared this time around. Ever since our Welcome Back days the first week of September, we have been preparing our kids for the inevitability of going to distance at some point. From day 1, I told my kids that we wouldn’t know when but we were going to go back to distance learning during the year and we had to be ready. That definitely has helped us be much more successful this time around.

In the spring, we didn’t have a whole lot of rules or expectations for our students and that was the biggest problem. Because it was such a strange time, we had to go with the flow and we couldn’t penalize a student for anything. I had a few students who I wouldn’t see for weeks and I couldn’t do anything about it. On top of that, students knew they wouldn’t be graded on anything so I had kids who flat out refused to do work because why would they? Being so loose on everything made my job incredibly challenging because I couldn’t teach.

I made sure my kids knew that we would be taking this much more seriously this time and learning was going to take place. They have been doing amazing with it! In the spring, we were encouraged to do a Google Meets with our kids once a week to check in. I tried to do one everyday but I couldn’t make it mandatory so only the same ten kids came. This time around, we have to teach live all day on a Google Meets and it’s so much better! Sure, it’s not fun staring at a screen sitting on your computer all day but my kids are in front of me all morning and we are getting things done.

Another helpful thing we’ve been doing this year is posting our daily agendas that are super detailed. We post them every morning at 9:00 and our follow them exactly how they are written. I go through it with them every morning during our morning meeting so they know what is expected of them that day. It has been super helpful keeping them on track while also getting them on our Meets at the correct times.

This is an example of the one I posted today:

The other helpful thing this time around is that our kids actually have binders with assignments for them to do with them at home. In the spring, we were flying by the seat of our pants every week because we had to do everything over Seesaw or Google Classroom. We taught using resources our kids weren’t used to. This time, we get to send things home weekly so our kids are using materials they would be using if we were in person. It reminds them that this is still school.

When we went to distance learning in the spring, I felt a huge disconnect from my class. I thought we had such a great bond all year but, when we left, I lost all connection with them and it killed me. This year, I’ve felt the same with them that I do in the classroom. It makes me so much happier to log on everyday. I actually think I’ve bonded more with this group being online because, at school, we couldn’t do a whole lot of relationship building due to COVID rules and procedures. We were so busy making sure we were at least 6 feet apart at all times, wearing our masks, and following all the new rules that there was no time for fun and I couldn’t play all of my classroom team building games that I have in the past.

It’s definitly been a hard few weeks, I’m not going to deny that, but it could be so much worse right now. I love my class and we will get through this. The best part is knowing that at some point, we will be back at school which, again, is much better than not going back at all last spring.

Also, can we just take a moment and love the fact that T. Swift just dropped her second album in 6 months? She kills me! I will forever be a huge fan and will never be ashamed of that! Evermore is pure beauty!

Fore more day to day action and live activities, go follow my class Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher!

When it’s 80 degrees in Minnesota for the first time in 8 months, you take your reading test outside. ☀️ #teachersofinstagram #teacherlife #teachersfollowteachers #5thgradeteacher #5thgradelife #teacherstatus #teachergram

Enjoying this wonderful weather while we have it! #minnesotalife #teachersofinstagram #teacherlife #teachersfollowteachers #teacherfeaturefriday #sunshine #summerwhereyouat

Also, jumping on the virtual holiday class picture bandwagon!! I love my little elves!! ❤️💚 #teacherlife #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #holidayseason #teachingin2020 #happyholidays #pixtonedu

When it’s officially Christmas break and you can say peace out to teaching in 2020! 🙌🏻 We survived people! 2021, we are SO ready for you!!

Go check out my recent posts!

NEDA Week 2021

2 years ago I shared a story that is very close to my heart. I talked about my younger sister’s struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and how it has impacted her life and my life. This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week so I thought it would be time to share again the battle my…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher February 28, 2021

2021 = CHANGE

So it has been a while and things have been insane. I feel like I don’t have time for literally anything in my life because I have SO MUCH going on right now. So first things first, I had a HUGE thing happen in my life back in January…. Her name is Annie and she…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher February 13, 2021

Top 10 of 2020

One thing I enjoy the most about the end of the year is looking back and finding the best parts of the past 365 days. Obviously, we all know 2020 has been ROUGH. Like most people in the world, I lost a lot. I got dumped (twice), I lost my job, I wasn’t able to…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher January 1, 2021

12 Days of Christmas – Day 5

December 17, 2020Posted in Blogmas 2020, Blogmas 2020, UncategorizedTagged 12 Days of Christmas, 12daysofchristmas, blogmas, Blogmas 2020, Christmas, Christmas Blog, Christmas Blogs, Christmas Countdown, Christmas Love, Christmas Would You Rather, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teachers of Instagram1 Comment

Would you rather eat gingerbread every day or candy canes everyday?

I honestly had to ask my students this question because I thought it seemed like an interesting one. The results came back even more interesting, it was almost an exact 50/50 response. Half of my kids would rather eat gingerbread and the other half would rather eat candy canes. Personally, I think I would pick candy canes.

I do enjoy both gingerbread and candy canes but I prefer the taste of peppermint over gingerbread. A candy cane is a nice little treat to have that will also freshen your breath. I can’t finish a full sized candy cane but the mini ones are perfect! I’m not the biggest sweet eater but a nice mini candy cane is perfect for me.

Candy canes are also a nice little reminder of my mom. She used to stock up on the packs of mini candy canes during the holiday season. She would buy so many of them that we had one every night with our hot chocolate until the end of July. I would love to have a candy cane everyday just to pay tribute to my mom.

I do enjoy gingerbread but it’s not my favorite thing in the world. I enjoy a gingerbread cookie maybe once a year and that’s good enough for me. I get my holiday cookie fix in and I’m good for another year.

Come join our 12 days of Christmas Blogmas fun!

To join in on the festivities, go check out our amazing leader’s page Abbey@ThreeCatsandaGirl! If you find her 12 days of Christmas tab, you’ll see her posts from this Blogmas and her past 3 YEARS worth of Blogmas posts!! If you want to read more Blogmas fun, go check out the pages of my other friends; AJ at Petite Slice of Life and Amber at To the Great Western World!

Go check out my Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher for more day to day live action and activities!

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12 Days of Christmas – Day 12

Would you rather bake or eat Christmas goodies? Oh my goodness, it’s already day 12!!! This has been such a fun experience this year!!! I’ve LOVED the would you rather theme, it’s added such a fun twist to this year’s Blogmas and it’s all thanks to the amazing Abbey at Three Cats and a Girl!!…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 25, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 11

Would you rather wear light-up Christmas lights or wear a red nose every day during the holiday season? Oh my goodness, before I even get started I just have to say how crazy it is that this is already day 11 of Blogmas!! It’s crazy how fast this goes by and I’m sad it’s coming…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 23, 2020

Holiday Week 2020 Style

Well people, we made it to break! (Or if you’re not at break yet, you’re very close!) This is usually my favorite month of the year because of all the activities we do and the projects I have. In fact, my first few posts ever were from December activities that I wanted to share! It’s…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 23, 2020

My Experience With COVID-19

December 1, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged 5th Grade Life, 5th Grade Teacher, COVID Life, COVID School, COVID19, Life of the Rookie Teacher, School Life, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching in COVID, Teaching Life5 Comments

Well it happened, I got the COVID. I didn’t get it at school AND I wear a mask ALL THE TIME when I’m around people I don’t know and when I’m in public but I still was lucky enough to get it. I wanted to share my experience since it is such a weird virus. Everyone I’ve talked to who have had it have experienced different things. I kept going online looking for someone with similar symptoms as myself but I couldn’t find anything. I’m hoping that maybe someone reading this can relate to some of the things I talk about and it clicks with them that they might have it too and should get tested.

How did I get it? Most people have this question because you truly might not know. I know exactly how I got it and from whom. I’m not going to lie, I’m a very antisocial person! I have a very VERY small group of friends who I enjoy spending time with and see on a regular basis. My best friend, let’s call him Sam, is the only person I see weekly and I have done so for the past 4 years. I’ve also been super cautious these past 9 months about who I interact with and I know he has been the same way so I have felt safe spending time with him. Well, unfortunately one of Sam’s roommates was exposed and didn’t know. In turn, he gave it to Sam without knowing, and Sam gave it to me without knowing. It happens that fast.

I was exposed on a Saturday but didn’t have any symptoms until 4 days later. I’m on day 17 post exposure and I’m still feeling the effects of this thing. Here is my timeline (again, it is probably different than what you may have experienced or what you have heard from loved ones.)

Day 1: No symptoms

Day 2: No symptoms

Day 3: No symptoms

Day 4: The symptoms began without knowing they were symptoms. I had a sore throat and was super tired. (This is normal when I get overly tired at school. I had no idea these were symptoms.)

Day 5: Sore throat got worse and my tiredness began to turn into pure exhaustion.

Day 6: Sore throat felt the same as Day 5. I also developed a stuffed/runny nose and headache. (I truly thought this was a cold because these are my normal cold symptoms…) I also was so tired, I could barely think. This was the day that I found out Sam had been tested and his test came back positive. I then took a test myself.

Day 7: Throat felt much better but my nose was still stuffed. I was so tired and fatigued I could barely get off of the couch. I slept most of the day. I also noticed the “COVID fog” set in. I could hardly focus on anything.

Day 8: Very similar to Day 7. My nose was still stuffed and I slept the day away. This was the day I also noticed my taste and smell were gone. This was SUPER weird. I’m used to losing smell because my nose is so stuffed but I’ve never fully lost my taste before! It was so weird.

Day 9: Started to feel a little better. I could get up and walk around my apartment but only for a certain amount of time before I needed to lay down again. Nose still stuffed and still no taste or smell. This was the day my test results came back confirming I had Coronavirus.

Day 10: Very similar to Day 9. I was able to get up and move around. I started to notice, however that a deep breath was very challenging for me. This was also the day the insomnia set in.

Day 11: My taste returned but still no smell. My nose was still stuffed and taking a deep breath was still hard. I was able to do more around my apartment without feeling so fatigued. This was the day I started to feel super bored in quarantine because I didn’t feel the need to sleep all day. The insomnia continued at night.

Day 12: Very similar to Day 11. I had taste but no smell and my nose was stuffed up. Deep breaths were hard and I began to notice that the more active I was, the easier it was for me to become winded. I started to notice that I had to do things at a slow pace otherwise I would be out of breath. I also noticed that I was still pretty weak without feeling as sick.

Day 13: Similar to Day 12 but I began to notice my legs were achy. I thought it was from all the laying and sitting but I stretched them and made it a point to move around more but they felt weak.

Day 14: Similar to Day 13.

Day 15: Similar to Day 13 BUT I was able to do 20 minutes of yoga again!

Day 16: My symptoms were similar to how they had been but the major fatigue was back. I had a virtual staff meeting in the morning for 2 hours and by the end of it, I had to go and take a 2 hour nap. I spent most of the day on the couch again just exhausted. I also noticed that after working for a few hours, the COVID fog was back. I could hardly focus on anything.

Day 17: This is my first day back officially at work. The plus side is that we are fully distance learning so I can work from my desk all day without moving around so much. I also can go and work from home if I need to. Deep breaths are still challenging for me and I still get winded very quickly. I feel like I am extremely out of shape. I still have a stuffed nose and I still can’t smell. My legs still feel super weak and the COVID fog comes and goes.

It’s SO weird how this virus has changed over these past 2 weeks. I also want to note that I never had a fever or a major cough. (2 very common signs of COVID.) My aunt, uncle, and cousin all had it but they all experienced something completely different from me and each other. The one thing we all have in common though, is that we still are all slow moving and get tired too quickly. My uncle had it a month and a half ago and told me he still gets winded from the simplest of things and has to take it easy.

The one thing about quarantine that I did enjoy, was all the time and photo shoots I got to take with my cat….yes, I’m a crazy cat lady and I embrace it!

I have attached an interesting chart I saw on Facebook yesterday that compare COVID symptoms to the flu and the common cold. I found it interesting because a lot of my symptoms aligned with the common cold and not COVID. If you have ANY of these symptoms, go get yourself tested because it might just be the Coronavirus even if you’re convinced it’s not.

Go check out my Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher for more day to day action and live activities.

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12 Days of Christmas – Day 10

Would you rather have to put up outdoor Christmas lights for all your neighbors or wrap all the holiday presents for extended family members? This one is an obvious choice for me. I would so much rather wrap all the holiday presents for extended family members! I’ve never put Christmas lights outside so I think…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 22, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 9

Would you rather always know what the perfect gift for someone else is or get the perfect gift from others? Well this one is special to me because I think I’m a pretty good gift giver if I do say so myself. I would totally want to know what the perfect gift for someone else…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 20, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 8

Would you rather vacation somewhere cold or hot during the holidays? Let’s see….this is actually difficult for me. I live in Minnesota so Christmas is NOT Christmas without the cold and the snow but a nice hot holiday vacation wouldn’t be too bad either. I think if I’d have to pick I’d choose to vacation…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 20, 2020December 20, 2020

Going Back to Distance

November 21, 2020Posted in EducationTagged 5th Grade Life, 5th Grade Teacher, COVID School, Distance Learning, Distance Teaching, Hybrid Teaching, School Fun, School Life, School Safety, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teachers of Instagram, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching Life, Teaching Love2 Comments

Like most Americans right now I am starting my 10 day stint of being in quarantine. I just found out that I have been exposed and had to take my first test. I’ve been dreading this day because I didn’t know what it would mean for school. I couldn’t imagine being away from my kids for 2 weeks while someone else teaches them. Ironically however, yesterday was our last day of in person teaching for awhile. Our district is officially moving to a full distance learning model so this unfortunate quarantine is coming at the right time.

As we all know, COVID cases have been skyrocketing these past few months and it is now hitting Minnesota hard. I can honestly say, up until August, I knew of maybe 3 people who had tested positive. Those cases were people that I didn’t even know personally. They were relatives of Facebook friends I haven’t seen in a long time. I knew how serious COVID was, and I have been one to take it very seriously, but it hadn’t really affected me yet.

About a month ago it started hitting too close to home. My class started to become a rotating door of students in and out of quarantine. At first, they would only be gone for a few days while they waited for their parent’s negative test results to come back but then the tests started to come back positive and I would have students out for weeks at a time.

It wasn’t just my class. This started to happen around our community. Because of this, we had to move our elementary schools to a hybrid model of teaching. Our hybrid model was a bit different than what other schools have done. The district still wanted our kids to come everyday but they had to be at least 6 feet apart at all times. To do this, most classes didn’t have to change anything except for moving some desks farther apart. That was not the case for my 5th grade teammates and I.

Because our kids are bigger and our class sizes are larger, we had to split our kids up. In order to do that, but still give them full instruction in person everyday, I had to move 1/2 of my kids into an adjoining classroom.

This was a wild concept for me to grasp my head around. I was going to have to teach 2 classrooms at the same time. After many hours of planning and preparing I finally got my “second classroom” set up and had my schedule set to how I was going to do this.

The view from my adjoining classroom door.

Within days of us moving to a hybrid model, our district decided we would be moving to a distance model right after Thanksgiving. We spent exactly 8 days in this hybrid set up with our kids.

Yesterday was the last in person day with my class. It was surreal to have to go through this again. The upside was that I was able to prepare my students for this possibility. I stressed so many times how this would be vastly different than what we went through last spring. I explained MANY times how we would be coming back sometime soon. This still was hard for some of my kids to understand. I had a few meltdowns because they were convinced they would never see me again. It was breaking my heart.

I was able to send them off with a little gift to keep them entertained until we start distance learning on December 1st. Last year, I had donors who supported my students so each one would get a free book every month. Thanks to the shut down, I wasn’t able to give them their March, April, or May books. Those books have been sitting in my car for 6 months waiting to be given to someone. I thought this was the perfect thing to send home with my students to put a much needed smile on their faces.

It was exactly what they needed. Even my harder students were thanking me.

This is going to be very challenging once again but I think we are more ready than we were. I know that this won’t last forever and I’ll have my class back in person soon. Once again, this proves to me how much I love my job and how much my kiddos mean to me.

For more day to day action, go follow my class Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher!

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Mystery Science for the WIN

October 23, 2020Posted in Education, UncategorizedTagged 5th Grade Life, 5th Grade Teacher, COVID Classroom, COVID School, COVID19, Elementary School Teacher, Friday Fun, Hybrid Teaching, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Love Teaching, Mystery Science, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Feels, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teacher Resources, Teachers of Instagram, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching in COVID, Teaching Life, Teaching Love, Teaching Techniques1 Comment

Oh. My. Goodness. This COVID teaching life is no joke. I am EXHAUSTED. I mean, we all know that teaching is exhausting but adding on all of the new rules AND the constant changes, is extra rough.

I’ve learned this year that I have to be okay with not being the best teacher in some areas and accepting that things are going to be hard and different. I will admit that this week was a hard week in many ways. Our school has gone from dropping the bomb that we would be moving to hybrid learning in the elementary schools on Monday, to being told we wouldn’t be given prep time for that transition on Tuesday, to then being told we would not be going to hybrid on Thursday. There is no other way to explain it than to say it was a total mind f**k. On top of that huge confusion, I had parent and student issues going on as well. I honestly can say I know I taught something this week but I don’t really know what.

The thing that got me through this week was my amazing team. This is the first time I feel like I’m on a team where everyone understands each other and is always there for you no matter what. I’m also finally on a team where everyone is a real person. There are no words to explain how helpful that makes everything.

There has been one resource that has truly been a lifesaver for me. If there is one subject I am not good at teaching, it’s science. I have really struggled with that in the past and was really stressing about how I would do it this year since I’m struggling just teaching reading and math.

This year our district is piloting Mystery Science as our science curriculum. For years I have been showing Mystery Doug videos weekly to my classes just for fun. If you’ve never watched these videos, do it! They are usually about 5-10 minutes long and touch on anything and everything kids want to know about. A video might be on how pencils are made, but the videos go way deeper than just that answer. I’ve told my students that every time I watch a video, I learn something new even if I know the answer to the title of the video.

Mystery Doug than evolved into a full fledged science curriculum website known as Mystery Science. (To be honest, I’m not sure what came first Mystery Doug or Mystery Science but I personally heard of Mystery Doug first.) Mystery Science’s website is super easy to follow and teach that literally anyone can do it! Even someone like me who really struggles understanding parts of science in the first place.

All you do is find your grade level standards and there are videos ready to go to show your students. The video goes through a lesson and always has a hands on exploration at the end. My students are starting the year off by learning about energy and electricity. They just completed an activity where they built their own chain reaction machine. It was so cool because they got to learn about energy transfer while also being their own engineers.

The site is so friendly to use that it is PERFECT for a distance learning teacher. My students all have their own Chromebooks so we’ve been practicing on doing lessons completely independently just in case we have to go distance in the future.

I send out a link on Seesaw to the week’s lesson, show them the materials they will need for the exploration, and then set them loose. The lesson videos are 10-30 minutes long and the hands on activities are around 30 minutes long. I’ve really enjoyed watching my kids be totally independent in their learning while navigating the videos and making their projects.

We do every other lesson together as a class so we can have class discussions and I can keep track of their learning. The weeks that they go through the videos on their own, I have a print out of questions they have to answer throughout so I can see later they followed along. (This has prevented my slackers from just clicking through the videos just to get done.)

The other super nice thing about this site is they are always updating it and posting new projects and videos weekly for any grade level. An example this week was that they posted a video on creepy crawly bugs. I sent this video link out to my class today during WIN time as an optional “Friday Fun” activity. They watched a short video and then got to make their own symmetrical centipedes. They LOVED it! It was so fun watching them laugh at the videos and get super into making their own bugs. The best part was that, to them, it was a Friday Fun activity but they were actually doing a science lesson at the same time without even realizing it.

Moral of the story, even if your school has a set science curriculum, go check out Mystery Science’s site. If you subscribe to Mystery Doug’s weekly videos, you get a new free video sent to your email every week followed by extra activities they will randomly post throughout the week. (Like the bug activity from today.) Kids love it and I promise you will to because it is no extra work. It’s actually a nice relaxing time of the week because for a few minutes you can take a breath while they are captivated by the video being shown.

For more day to day action, go follow my Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher!

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12 Days of Christmas – Day 7

Would you rather meet Frosty or Santa? Two of my favorite holiday characters, Frosty and Santa! Who doesn’t love these two classic magical characters? If I had to choose one to meet though, I think I would choose to meet Santa. This is going to sound crazy but I’ve always had this weird idea that,…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 18, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 6

Would you rather star on a popular holiday music single or star in a popular holiday movie? This is a quick and easy one. I would LOVE to star in a popular holiday movie! I am one of those hopeless holiday romantics who love Hallmark Christmas movies. Yes, they all have the same plot, but…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 18, 2020

Distance Learning Take 2

We are officially wrapping up our 3rd week of distance learning round 2 and I have felt so much better about it this time around than I did in the spring! Don’t get me wrong, I still hate that we have to be distant instead of being at school but we are so much more…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 17, 2020

Back in Work Mode

October 9, 2020October 9, 2020Posted in Education, UncategorizedTagged 5th Grade Life, 5th Grade Teacher, Chromebooks, COVID Classroom, COVID School, COVID19, Daily 5, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Online Learning, School, School Fun, School Life, School Safety, Seesaw, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching Life, Teaching Love, Teaching Techniques1 Comment

Oh man, I don’t know about the rest of you but I feel like everyday has been a marathon and a sprint at the same time. I don’t know if it’s because of our shortened schedule mixed with our new COVID rules and procedures but I am exhausted at the end of every day. I also feel like I never get everything done that I need to.

We are now officially one month into school and I have finally come to the conclusion of what kind of class I have. I have a group of really sweet kids but they are also a group of kids who cannot be unsupervised or unstructured for more than a few minutes. They are the type of class that can get really loud and excited fast but then cannot come back down. I’ve had a couple of classes like this before so I sadly know what we will and won’t be able to do.

I’ve also come to the conclusion on who my students are as people. I know who my class clowns are, who my shy insecure kids are, and who my overachievers are.

My students (at least I think) have realized who I am as a teacher as well. I have high expectations for them and they know it. (Some of them hate it.) I do not tolerate certain behaviors that they have been able to get away with in the past. For some, this year has been a rude awakening and I’ve been called the mean teacher many times. In our district, 5th grade is the last year of elementary school. We tell our kids on day 1 that we are going to treat them like middle schoolers so there isn’t such a culture shock next year when they enter 6th grade. It’s been crazy for me to see how many of them don’t even act like a 10 year old.

It’s been rough trying to get everyone back into school life again. I’ve been told by my teammates that the 5th grade teachers are known as the “mean teachers in the school” because of the high expectations. What has made this year even harder than normal is that some of these kids haven’t had any structure in over 6 months. (Some even longer than that because their 4th grade teacher had no expectations what so ever.) The first few weeks I caught them doing things that I couldn’t even believe I was seeing. During a test I had students getting up to talk/share answers with another student in a different spot of the room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had students who constantly tried to “sneak” on their hats in the classroom even though it’s a school policy to not wear hats. I’ve also had students who have flat out refused to do what I’ve asked of them. When I’ve asked them if they have gotten away with refusing what a teacher has asked before they said yes. It’s been wild and has definitely been an eye opener.

Besides the weird behaviors and adjusting to being back at school, we’ve had some pretty good moments including these amazing Daily 5 moments and this amazing writing my student wrote for me during write to self. (For anyone who doesn’t know, Max Kepler is an outfielder for the MN Twins and I love him!)

This year (thanks to the threat of going distance again) our school has provided Chromebooks for everyone in the district. Before this year, only kids in grades 6-12 had them. Being 5th graders, our students were the first to get their Chromebooks in the school. It’s been fun incorporating different sites and apps into our lessons. I am used to teaching with 1:1 devices, so it’s been fun for me to teach my students how to use different platforms like Seesaw, IXL, and Epic. I’ve also learned that “free Chromebook time” is the perfect Friday afternoon reward for positive behavior since the novelty of having them hasn’t worn off yet.

On top of the sites I’ve used before, I’ve also learned about more platforms our school is rolling out district wide this year. It’s been exciting incorporating different typing and music sites that they’ve been learning how to use in their media and music classes. As crazy as this year is, using the Chromebooks has been a nice constant in our day that will be able to stay constant when and if we have to go back to distance learning.

I’m also trying to adjust to trying to teach outside as much as possible. I’ve kind of been slacking on this. The only time I’ve really been outside with my class is to eat snack and lunch. That’s been it. (And that has been interesting itself.)

This is one of my students using the tinfoil from his lunch to “heat up” his friends peas….

I felt bad this week when I was hearing from other teachers about how they’ve been out to teach reading and to do math homework. Today I finally decided it was time to try going out. We were in the middle of taking our super long unit reading test so I had them finish it outside. It was wonderful and went much better than I had expected. (It helped that one of my harder students wasn’t in my room at the time.)

It’s been a weird month and it’s only going to get weirder. With our county’s COVID numbers, we are more than likely heading to a hybrid model soon which will be a whole new definition of weird. BUT I am thankful to have a job and to be able to see and teach my students in person. I’m really hoping things start to turn around soon so we won’t have to go back to what last year was like. Fingers crossed.

The mask eyes you have to make in order for your students to know
you mean business.

For more day to day live activity and action, go follow my school Instagram page @lifeoftherookieteacher!

Go check out my past posts!

12 Days of Christmas – Day 5

Would you rather eat gingerbread every day or candy canes everyday? I honestly had to ask my students this question because I thought it seemed like an interesting one. The results came back even more interesting, it was almost an exact 50/50 response. Half of my kids would rather eat gingerbread and the other half…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 17, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 4

Would you rather have holiday decorations up all year or never be able to put them up again? This one is a piece of cake for me. I would totally rather have decorations up all year long instead of never having them up again. I LOVE decorating for Christmas. Along with putting up the tree,…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 13, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 3

Would you rather eat only Christmas cookies or only drink hot cocoa? Oh man….I’ve never thought about this one before. I’ll be honest, I love both Christmas cookies and hot cocoa but neither are my favorite thing in the world. I think if I had to pick one, I would choose to eat only Christmas…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 11, 2020December 11, 2020

Outside Cafeterias and Masking Up – COVID Classroom 2020

September 19, 2020September 19, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged 2nd Week of School, 5th Grade Teacher, COVID Classroom, COVID School, COVID19, Elementary School, Elementary School Teacher, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Mask Up, Mask Up MN, School Life, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teaching Blogs, Teaching Life1 Comment

Our first full week is complete and I’m shockingly not as tired as I have been in the past. It was a good week full of lots of housekeeping and FINALLY starting some curriculum lessons!

This week started off with a pretty normal couple of days but then the bomb came. We found out Monday that on Wednesday our entire school building’s schedule was going to change! Because of specialist schedules and bathroom schedules, the schedule had to be rewritten so our classes wouldn’t mix in the hallways. Luckily for us, the only thing that switched in our schedule was lunch being a whole half an hour sooner than it had been. That was wonderful news for me because I was STARVING by the time we finally got to eat. It’s crazy how much of a difference 30 minutes can make.

My students loved the change in schedule as well so it didn’t bother me too much. The only problem came when one of my students (who needs to know what’s going on at all times otherwise he has a mini melt down) couldn’t understand why our schedule changed and why we were going to lunch sooner when the clock didn’t read our “normal” time. I felt bad for the poor kid. He handled it much better however than I thought. He was able to adjust quickly by the next day.

Lunch has been one thing that has been really strange this year. For one thing, because we can’t mix with other classes, we can’t each lunch in the lunchroom with the whole grade level like normal. Because of that, we have to eat in our classrooms (gross) or outside! If there is one thing I hate, it’s the smell of a cafeteria in an elementary school. I LOVE my job but I hate lunch supervision duty. (Even if the smell wasn’t so bad, just watching some kids eat is disgusting!) When I heard that my students would be eating in the classroom, I was not too thrilled.

The first few days I tried eating inside but it was too chaotic and the smell was too much. This week, I took my students outside to eat and it was a little easier. It was a challenge to get my students to eat the first few days rather than go crazy because they were outside. I think it was hard for them to understand that we were outside to eat lunch, not play. Yesterday and today, however finally got better. They found a spot in the grass and ate their lunches like normal human beings which was a small but exciting win for me.

I did have to laugh though, because a group of my boys were yelling and pointing at something in the grass. When I asked what it was they informed me it was a dead bird…..I asked them why they didn’t move and they looked at me like I was the crazy one. I guess eating next to dead birds is the cool thing to do now…? 5th grade boys are weird.

Another small success came this week with one of my students. Last week I hinted at a story about one of my anti mask wearing students. In our district, parents were offered many options for their child this school year. They could opt in for 100% distance learning classrooms or 100% outdoor/nature based learning classrooms if they didn’t want their child to have to wear a mask. It was then stated that any family who chose to send their student back into the classroom would understand and agree to having their child wear a mask all day everyday. No exceptions.

One of my boys had a really hard time with this.

Side note: He is a really sweet boy who has ASD and ODD. He receives behavioral support services in a normal year so I had a feeling, with this crazy strange year, he would need some extra support to help him get through these first few weeks.

When I first met this student at our Welcome Back Days, he flat out refused to wear a mask. He then informed me his thoughts on mask wearing and let’s just say, they weren’t positive thoughts. During our first 30 minutes together, I didn’t get anything out of him other than his negativity towards coming back to school and having to wear a mask. I think I heard the word hate come out of his mouth at least 5 times every minute.

Because of our non-negotiable rule that if a student comes to school they must wear a mask, I knew the first day (plus) would be hard. Sure enough, day 1 started with him flat out refusing to take his mask out of his backpack. I didn’t know yet how to work with him in a way that would be productive so I had to call for some backup. Sadly, he was in my room for maybe 1/2 of the first day. I was able to have a conversation with him at lunch that day. I tried to get him to talk about anything other than masks but he was stuck on that subject all day. At one point, I asked if he’d like to wear a face shield instead. His response, “People who wear face shields look like terrorists.” Yep, so no face shield.

He was so angry and stubborn about wearing his mask on day 2 that I only had him in my classroom for 1 hour that day. I hate that! I never want a student out of my room for a long period of time even if they are having a rough behavior day. I wanted to regroup and go into this week with a fresh attitude and mindset on how to get him to be more relaxed so he could stay in our room all day.

This week, he walked in Monday morning with his mask on and that was that. It was like I was finally getting to see the real him instead of the angry irregulated boy I met last week. Granted, he still complained up and down about how much he hated masks but he kept it on. He would take it off every so often but as soon as I would ask him to put it back on, he did it no questions asked. That’s a success in my book! The best part was that by the end of this week, I finally got him to smile and laugh with me. I think we finally made a breakthrough where he feels he can trust me and knows that I’m in his court. I know we will have rough days this year but I think we’re building a relationship to help offset those rough days.

I know I’ve said this before but I have a soft spot for kids like him. It’s my more challenging students that I think about all the time even after I have them. I know that, because of past behaviors, sometimes these types of kids get a bad rap and some teachers immediately are prejudiced towards them because of that. I hate that. These kiddos need extra love, support, and understanding. They’re different, they need different things than most students in the classroom and I’m not afraid to give them what they need even if it makes my job harder. If you can build that connection and trust with those students, your “bad” days won’t be so bad. That kid will know it’s okay to have those hard moments and it won’t change how you feel about them or how you treat them.

Overall, our first official full week went pretty well. I love my class and can tell it’s going to be a great and fun year! There are a few yahoos in my room, however that might need to see the “mean Ms. Nygaard” come out if some of their choices don’t change for the better. They’re not bad kids by any means but I can tell it’s been 6 months since some of them have had any structure and discipline in their lives, thanks COVID! I’m hoping next week is just as great.

(There are talks about moving to a hybrid model soon so we’ll see what happens. If it comes sooner than not, be ready for some major teaching fails as I try to navigate teaching 2 rooms of students at the same time! Fingers crossed!)

Extra little surprise this week, one of the teachers at my old school sent me this awesome message over Facebook. One of my old students wrote about me in their weekly morning work. It’s the little things like this that make it all worth it!

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12 Days of Christmas – Day 2

Would you rather be an elf in Santa’s shop or a reindeer on Santa’s sleigh? This is an interesting question….would I rather be an elf or a reindeer? I think if I had to choose I would choose to be an elf rather than a reindeer. This might sound silly but deep down I’ve always…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 6, 2020December 6, 2020

12 Days of Christmas – Day 1

Would you rather give up Christmas trees or Christmas cookies? I know this one might be hard for some but for me, this is an easy would you rather Christmas question. It is not Christmas without a wonderous beautifully lit Christmas tree. I would easily give up Christmas cookies if it meant keeping my Christmas…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 4, 2020December 4, 2020

My Experience With COVID-19

by Life of the Rookie Teacher December 1, 2020

The First 2 Days of the 2020-2021 School Year

September 11, 2020Posted in EducationTagged 5th Grade Teacher, COVID School, COVID19, First Day Jitters, First Day of School, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teaching Blog, Teaching Blogs, Teaching Life, Teaching Love, The World Needs More Purple People, We Don't Eat Our Classmates2 Comments

Well as most of you are aware, this year is going to be a hot mess. After 2 official days with my class, I know that will be a true fact but I am so lucky to have the class I do! They are amazing and so sweet.

Our first day was yesterday (Thursday, September 10th) and it was a crazy day but it felt SO GOOD to be teaching in front of a group of kids again. I forgot how much I love working with them but I also forgot how much I love just getting to know them. It was a weird first day though because most of my “get to know you” activities we couldn’t do because of social distancing and masks.

Instead of having a full lesson plan on the whole day, I just made a list of what needed to get done and I worked from there. Our mornings are insane because school officially starts at 9:15 and we have to be at our specialist classes (art, phy ed, music, or media) by 9:20! Pretty much my students arrive and we’re out the door. That isn’t exactly the way I would like to start my day (especially our first day) but I’ll just have to get used to it.

Once I picked them up from their music class we had to take our first bathroom break of the year. I never thought I would have to have a “bathroom break schedule” for my 5th graders but that’s what this year entails. We can’t mix our class with anyone else so we can’t go to the bathrooms when other students are there. Because of that, we have certain times of the day our class can go to a certain bathroom when no one else is there. Needless to say, the poor 5th graders were so confused that this was happening but listened pretty well and didn’t complain. We have a few more scheduled throughout the day and they were awesome at handling that new change.

I was able to throw in some traditional first day activities like reading First Day Jitters and We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. I love reading those stories on the first day of school because they spark great conversations on how everyone is nervous for the first day of school (even teachers.) They’re also just fun silly books that the kids get into. Before we created our class rules I also read a fun new book called The World Needs More Purple People. It’s a fun new book written by Kristin Bell and Benjamin Hart. It talks about how the world needs more kind hard working people who are themselves and who accept others. It was the perfect book to read considering all of the things that have been happening in the world. We decided that our class motto was that we’ll all be Purple People this year.

Once we finished that story we created our class rules together. I do this every first day and every first day after Christmas break. I love it because the students are involved in our rules and take more ownership in following those rules.

The day was crazy and seemed to fly by. On top of all the normal first day things like organizing materials and getting to know each other activities, we had to go through new rules and procedures like wearing our masks, taking mask breaks outside, eating lunch in the classroom, and cleaning ALL THE TIME. Before I knew it (and before my list was complete), the day was over.

When I finally got to check my email at the end of the day, I saw I had a “delivery” waiting for me in the office. My mom had this beautiful flower display sent to celebrate my first day back.

Today was day 2 and it also flew by and was full of challenges but my kids were awesome and flexible about it. Today was centered around Chromebooks and the internet……yeahhhhhhh yikes.

This year, our district is finally rolling out 1:1 devices for all students k-12. Before this year, 6-12 had Chromebooks so the elementary students were not used to sites like Seesaw and IXL. Last spring during distance learning, they had a really hard time implementing those sites because no one had used them before. This year they wanted to be more prepared.

Today we decided to distribute their new Chromebooks and log into some of their online accounts. It was a crazy mess! Some of my kids could get into certain sites and others could get into different ones. For some wild reason, I couldn’t get all of my students into every account we have to start using on Monday. Hello headache!!!

Luckily, they were super patient and understood the struggles of the internet not working. Once we attempted all log ins, we played a Kahoot game to just have some fun. They all were able to get into that and it was so much fun! I made a 20 question Kahoot all about me and they loved it. Over the past 2 days I had shared tidbits here and there about who I am so the Kahoot was my way to see if they could figure out how to use Kahoot but also to see who in my class listens well and who doesn’t.

After our Chromebook mess, I had them pick out their first read to self book from our class library. We had a nice calm 15 minutes of reading before lunch. It was a nice way to practice stamina while also calming down after the crazy Kahoot game.

Today we also had to finish up our rules and consequences for our class. Day 1 we created our rules so today, day 2, we created our consequences. Before we brainstormed a list, I read The Bad Seed and The Cool Bean to remind them of what we want our class to look like and what we don’t want our class to look like. I was so impressed because their consequence ideas were so mature and realistic. Out of my 4 classes, I can already tell this group is the most level headed group I have had.

I’m so excited to actually start a real schedule next week. I think this will be a great year no matter what it looks like. Right now, our numbers look like we may be headed to a hybrid model soon which would mean 1/2 of my class would be in one room while the other 1/2 would be in my “second room” next door. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that doesn’t happen but if it does it does. Be ready for some interesting stories if that happens! I also have a student who is anti-mask so I’m hoping next week he finally gets over the fact that we all have to wear them. Because of his defiance, he hasn’t spent much time in my room so I’m hoping that changes!! Fingers crossed!!! That’ll be a story for next week and you definitely don’t want to miss it!

Year 4, let’s go!

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Going Back to Distance

by Life of the Rookie Teacher November 21, 2020

Mystery Science for the WIN

Oh. My. Goodness. This COVID teaching life is no joke. I am EXHAUSTED. I mean, we all know that teaching is exhausting but adding on all of the new rules AND the constant changes, is extra rough. I’ve learned this year that I have to be okay with not being the best teacher in some…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher October 23, 2020

Back in Work Mode

by Life of the Rookie Teacher October 9, 2020October 9, 2020

Back to School COVID Style

September 5, 2020September 5, 2020Posted in EducationTagged 5th Grade Teacher, Back to School, COVID School, COVID19, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Mask Up, School, School 2020, School Fun, School Life, School Life 2020, School Safety, Social Distancing, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teaching Life1 Comment

Entering and Exiting School in 2020

Well here we are everyone, we made it to September. It has been a wild and stressful summer because I didn’t know if I would have a job for this school year and, even if I got a job, no one knew what it was going to look like.

I know I wasn’t alone in that boat and I know I’m still not alone.

I wanted to start by giving a little update on my crazy long wait these past few months. As I’ve said before in a previous post, I found out the last week of April my job was being cut at the end of the school year. This was completely devastating to me because I did not see this coming. I found out later that my principal didn’t even know about it until after I got the call from the superintendent. It was a mess. I was given hope, however that they would be hiring back later in the summer once the fall school year plans were finalized.

I waited and waited and waited ALL summer for them to repost my job but it never happened. In Minnesota, we were told that the governor would make an official announcement on fall plans the last week of July. Districts were going to wait to hear his plan before they finalized theirs. A week after the governor announced Minnesota’s county by county plan, I heard from my principal that they would not be hiring anyone back. I felt sick to my stomach.

While I was waiting to see if I would get a call back, I was looking for other jobs around the area but no one was hiring. I truly thought there was no hope.

I felt like there was no hope until my home district (the one I grew up in and the one I taught at my first year out of college) was planning on hiring a handful of new teachers because of new programs they were going to roll out.

Side note: This district came out with very different and creative school choices for families in order to keep enrollment high and to make sure everyone felt safe in whatever environment they would be in. Families had the choice to enroll their student in a full distance learning class, a regular in the school class, or a nature based class that is entirely outside. Because of these options, many students stayed in the district and many students enrolled in the district.

I was fortunate enough to get an interview and a job offer back at the first school I taught at 3 years ago in the town I grew up in. I will officially be teaching 5th grade this year and, as of now, I am 100% in the classroom.

Just because we get to be back in the classroom, doesn’t mean things are back to normal however. I am usually a teacher who loves grouping students and hates desks. I love having tables in my room so students can collaborate throughout the day. That is not an option this year. I have 26 students and 26 desks that are spaced strategically around my small classroom to create as much distance between students as possible. It’s crazy how much room that takes up.

Another strange thing about this year is I don’t just have 1 classroom, I have 2. If our school has to go to a hybrid model of learning, 1/2 of my class will be in 1 room while the other 1/2 of my class will be in the other. Luckily the rooms are next to each other and has a door that connects them but it will definitely be an interesting experience.

My room this year isn’t as exciting as I normally like it to be but I’ve accepted the fact that having a perfectly decorated classroom is the least of my worries. I still wanted to share some pictures of my room just in case anyone is wondering what a COVID classroom looks like in Minnesota as school begins.

We had our teacher workshop week this week and it was a very different workshop week than I’m used to. All of our staff and team meetings were centered around questions and brainstorming sessions on keeping our students safe and distanced. The weirdest thing I think we discussed this week was the idea of having scheduled bathroom breaks throughout the day so our classes don’t mix with each other. Being an intermediate teacher the past 3 years, I’m not used to taking a class bathroom break especially at certain times so that is going to be a challenge for me to get used to.

Our last day of workshop was also our first day of Welcome Back/Assessment Days. I’m used to having 2 full days of this but this year we have 3 in order to keep our families separated as much as possible. We get 30 minute time slots per family with 10 minutes built in between to clean. As nervous as I was to meet my new families and students it was easily the best thing that I’ve gotten to do since school ended last spring. I am so excited to get to work with kids in person again and meeting 8 of my new students just increased that excitement even more. It was also so refreshing to meet all of the families who were so thankful for all of the work we’ve been putting in. They were so appreciative over our efforts and were so understanding when I kept telling them that what I told them yesterday might change in a matter of days because things are changing every hour. That was definitely a highlight of my week.

It’s going to be a mess but I’ve realized that’s where everyone is at and it’s okay. We are all just doing our best and making the most of what we can. I’m just so thankful to have a job and to be able to finally teach kids in person again! I’ll be back next week to cover the first 2 days of school and all of the new challenges that will come with it including trying to talk in a mask all day.

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Outside Cafeterias and Masking Up – COVID Classroom 2020

Our first full week is complete and I’m shockingly not as tired as I have been in the past. It was a good week full of lots of housekeeping and FINALLY starting some curriculum lessons! This week started off with a pretty normal couple of days but then the bomb came. We found out Monday…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher September 19, 2020September 19, 2020

The First 2 Days of the 2020-2021 School Year

by Life of the Rookie Teacher September 11, 2020

Top 10 Things I’ve Learned About Myself During Distance Learning

10 – I Would Not Be Good At a Desk Job I have learned I can NOT sit in one spot all day on my computer. I love teaching for many reasons but one of the reasons (that I never realized until now) is because I am constantly moving around the room multitasking and working…

by Life of the Rookie Teacher May 20, 2020May 21, 2020

Fairytaletopia

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020Posted in Education, UncategorizedTagged 4th Grade Life, 4th Grade Teacher, Fairytales, Inferencing, Life of the Rookie Teacher, Mystery, Reading, School Fun, School Life, Teacher, Teacher Blog, Teacher Blogs, Teacher Life, Teacher Love, Teacher Resources, TeachersPayTeachers, Teaching, Teaching Blogs, Teaching Life, The Land of Stories, The Land of Stories Wishing Spell, Valentine's Day, WritingLeave a comment

If you’re anything like me, you LOVE read alouds with your students. Back when I was doing one of my teaching practicums in a 3rd grade classroom, I heard the most memorizing story I’ve ever heard (apart from Harry Potter of course!) The story was called The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer. My cooperating teacher would read this book to her students during their snack time when I would be doing other tasks for her. I would be so distracted listening to her read the story, that I struggled to get my jobs done. As a 20 year old girl, I was hooked to a story written for young readers.

The story is part of a 6 book series called The Land of Stories. The main premise of the book is about a pair of twins (a boy and girl) who magically find themselves trapped in the fairytale world. They get to meet all of their childhood heroes while working with them on a variety of adventures. It puts a fun and crazy twist on the fairytale characters we all grew up reading about. I HIGHLY recommend looking into reading this book to even your own kids. (Or just for your own pleasure. I know I loved it!)

After hearing this read during my practicum, I knew this was going to be a read aloud in my own classroom. This is my third year teaching and I have read the first 2 books of the series every year. What I’ve found with all 3 classes is that they LOVE this story and can relate to the two main characters. The twins start off in the 6th grade and are complete opposites. The boy is the goofy, funny, and care free character that gets in trouble in school, but doesn’t understand why. The girl is a perfectionist who gets A+’s on all of her assignments and tests but doesn’t have a lot of friends. The two may be different but they are the best of friends and stick up for each other no matter what. Students find that they can relate to one of the two twins (or both) which makes the story even more fun to read.

I have not had a class love this series though, as much as my class now. They are OBSESSED and I love it. I see them reading the series on the side and are having discussions constantly about it. Somehow they’ve convinced me to read all 6 books in the series to them, which I haven’t done before because I wanted them to continue to want to read on their own (which, like I said, they are still doing!)

A few years ago, after I learned how much my students loved the series, I found a fun inferencing activity on TPT from The Teaching Twins that allows students to solve a fairytale mystery. The activity is about something going wrong at Cinderella’s engagement ceremony. The pack comes with interviews from famous fairytale characters along with finger print examples and handwriting examples they need to look at. I have used this the past 3 years and it has always been a success. They LOVE being able to solve a mystery that involves the same characters from The Land of Stories.

Today, we got to start with reading witness interviews and looking at clues found at the scene. They each are working in groups of 3 to come up with their answer on who committed the crime. Tomorrow, we will finish reading the interviews we have left and then, as a group, they will each write a summary explaining who their main suspect is and why. I love it so much!! They have so much fun!!

We also are working on a project to celebrate “I Love To Read Month.” Yesterday, I told students they had to think of their favorite book of all time. They were then given a piece of white tag board and were told they had to “recreate” the cover of their favorite book. It melted my heart to see over half of my class pick a book from The Land of Stories series. They had so much fun starting this project and have begged me all day to give them more time to work on it. I can’t wait to share the final product with all of you!

It has been a fun fairytale filled couple of days and I love it! I can’t stress enough how amazing this series is and that you should definitely go take a look at it for yourself!!

PS. Happy Valentine’s Day week, teachers…may the odds be ever in your favor!