Mrs. Tina's Tots

Oh goodness....I thought I was doing good, and then I went to link up and BAM! I'm behind....I looked at the schedule wrong. So here is my very quick, and very late take on Chapter 4: Games!! "The need for survival, belonging and love, power, freedom, and fun are the five critical needs that must be satisfied if people are to be effectively motivated," (Glasser, 1999) Motivation...one of the most important things, in my opinion, that we can give our students. If we cannot motivate them to want to do their best, then we are never going to be able to reach their full potential. What better way to motivate kids than by playing games?!! Kids love to play, and I love to indulge them. My games are usually pretty simple in my room, sometimes I come up with them off the top of my head. One of my kid's favorite games is a very easy sight word game that I made up one day after a few of my kid's were completely stuck on about 4 words. I call it Pass A Word. I gave th

Book study time!! This chapter was all about FIELD TRIPS!!!! Field trips are one of those things that a lot of teachers don't have control of. Most schools around here, including mine, get 1 spring field trip to end the year. I have gone to the zoo, and to the Museum of Discovery with my classes over the last 3 years. My first year I worked at a private school and the parents were COMPLETELY in charge of the field trip. They took us to the skating rink. It was a lot of fun, and my kids couldn't believe I could skate! :) It was a good bonding experience for the end of the year. Now I teach in tiny town Arkansas, and not only do I get just 1 field trip per year, I am 1 hour away from anything....and I mean anything...even Wal-Mart. And I am 2 hours away from the nearest museum, zoo,( insert any other good field trip spot here). So, we don't get to stay at our location for more than a few hours before it's time to head back to school. So one thing that I have delved i

I'm linking up with Farley tonight for Currently! I love doing these! :) 1. Listening: To 101 Dalmatians. I bought it Monday night because I love this movie, and I heard another winter storm was coming in and I thought the kids might like something new to watch! We watched it on Tuesday, Wednesday, and twice today. I think it will get lost for a week or so after tonight ;). It is so fun to see my kids love the same Disney movies I grew up with!! 2.Loving: I am so excited about the changes that are coming to me next year! I currently teach kindergarten, but next year I am going to move up to teach 4th and 5th grade Literacy and Social Studies! I started my teaching career in 3rd grade, and while I love teaching the little ones I'm excited for the new challenges that await me! :) 3. Thinking: I'm never gonna go back to school.....I haven't had a full week of school in 3 weeks, and I am so tired of all my plans getting interrupted. This snow stinks, and I'm n

I was quite inspired by the girls that went to the Ron Clark Academy, and blogged about their experience. I'm so thankful that they did. Their experiences gave me the last little kick in the pants that I needed to finish this school year strong. Anyway, I decided to join in their book study. There is nothing more exciting, or inspiring for me than teachers discussing and learning from each other. I teach at a small school where there is only 1 teacher per grade level usually and I miss having a team that is all on the same grade level. That is what I love most about teacher blogs, the sense of community and having a "team". I got my book a little late, and we were out of school all last week because of snow, except Friday, so I haven't had time to implement anything from the book yet, but I'm going to next week. :) So let's get into it, shall we?? Chapter 1: Brainstorming and Discussion This chapter was all about talking. More specifically, the IMPORTA