Well Hello There June!

Oh, June! Mixed with so many emotions each year. Happiness, chaos, warm weather, stress, laughs, anxiety, smiles and lots of question marks! June--- you're bittersweet!

I wish I could announce my placement for next year and the ideas that are rolling around in my head for my class and TPT this coming year, but the question marks are bold. With school closures, declining enrollment and lots of changes, I will once again be in limbo. I have had to take some time in the past few months to seriously sit down and discuss what I want for the future. My husband and I often bounce ideas off of each other and try to brainstorm our future. Although the future is unknown, we can still dig a path--- and that's what we plan on doing :)

We haven't started carving the path, as of yet, but lots of ideas have been floating around. I do know that I love my job, even though the jumping around from school to school and grade to grade has been tired me a bit. I don't want to lose my zest for this awesome thing I get to call "my career"..... so I will be taking this summer to regroup and refocus and perhaps start to dig the path.

Until then, I continue to express my love for teaching through these last few days. Here's what's been going on in 7E:

We have been analyzing and dissecting informational texts. During the TPT sale, I picked up a TERRIFIC informational reading pack by Lovin' Lit. Ummm, this teacher rocks and I am so glad to have had access to her awesomeness all year! I can't wait to meet up with her and many others in Vegas this summer :)

We started off with some mini-samples and templates to work with. From there, my students ran with various non-fiction/informational texts. Gotta love Newsela! The greatest find this year, for sure!!

My kids choose their reading level and zing! It has also allowed me to assign them readings according to my curriculum focus that week. Lifesaver!

We also have analyzed various poems. I have been trying to teach my students various strategies for comprehending all types of texts.... even poetry. I love that poetry is so "user friendly". My students embrace it and are uber creative, which helps! Here, we used the poem "The Road Not Taken", analyzed common words and new vocabulary. We also made strong personal connections. Two-thumbs up!

In addition to a little reading, we have also engaged in LOTS of writing. My students have been bugging me to sit next to friends all year. My classroom has been VERY structured this year due to the dynamic of my kids. It was the best medicine for sanity. Sooo..... I taught them how to write persuasive essays --- Their assignment was to write a persuasive essay or letter to me about the importance of seat selection and choice in the classroom. Next Monday I will move their desks. We'll see what goes down! Ha!!

In Science, we've been pretty engaged with learning about structures and newtons and all that jazz. Below are my kids building a scaffold to hold weight. They're kickin' butt with this activity. Their lab reports will accompany their structures in the coming weeks.

And finally, we have been working on our pitches for "Shark Tank"/ "Dragon's Den". The students have been working hard with another element of persuasive writing--- persuasive presentation and sale pitches. Using Adobe Photoshop 5.0, the students have been creating "real ads" for their innovative products. And OH-MY! They are sooooo good! I will try and post them asap. Just getting them printed off at Staples :)

So, we're already off to a busy start to June. Some are winding down, but we're just continuing on. I teach grade 7.... 19 boys, 6 girls. Ya... there's no letting up. Haha!

Oh, and on the way, I am diggin' my pathway....

~Kaitlin~