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...

Sooo, I'm on day 3 of snow days this week! We also had 1 last week, well 2, but we were out for President's Day anyway so it didn't count against us. This is the most snow we've had since we moved down here. I was hoping moving to southern Arkansas we would miss all of this mess, but nevertheless it seems to have found me. We have about 4-5 inches right now, and it is still pouring. We should have 7-9 inches before it's all over. :( I'm not a fan of the cold if you can't tell. So I've been on a mission to BRING SPRING by going ahead and decorating for St. Patrick's day! Since it is in the middle of the month I always hate decorating the first of March because after it's all over I just want to take it down, and I only get to enjoy it for a couple of weeks! So I decorate so I can enjoy it for a month! I LOVE St. Patrick's Day. Which is weird I know, it's not a holiday that a lot of people really celebrate or even like to celebrate because ...

Hi! Anyone out there? No? Maybe? I hope so! I started out so good this school year, and then September hit, and I got so crazy busy that I thought I would catch up my blog by the end of October, and then I got a cold, a typical first of the year cold, that OOPS, turned into a sinus infection, which turned into bronchitis, which turned into pneumonia!!! I was sick for 6 weeks! After a ton of medicines, and doctor appointments I finally started feeling better in time for Christmas. I lost 12 pounds during my pneumonia bout because I lost my sense of smell, therefore my taste was gone, and I was nauseous from the pneumonia. I didn't get to eat at Thanksgiving, but I made up for it during my Christmas break. :) (And didn't gain any of that weight back! Score!!) Then on December 29th I had a terrible burning pain in my abdomen. I had pains like this last year, but my doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong. And then it went away, and hasn't returned until now. That landed ...

I'm back with my September Currently! I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade! So here it goes!! LISTENING: To Jake and the Neverland Pirates...because I have kids and they will sit through it while I cook dinner, and do other things :) LOVING: That my baby took a 3 hour nap today. Okay so he's not really a baby. He's 2.5. But he didn't get a nap the past two days, and has been a cranky mess today. So, I'm glad he was able to sleep, and I got a lot of quality time in with my 6 year old. :) THINKING: About how I needed to go to the school today. To grab some assessments, to put up some things, to make copies, etc....And then I left my key at home, and I live 40 minutes away from my school. :/ Oh well, at least we got home for nap time :). WANTING: A 3 hour nap myself. I'm always so tired the first of the year. NEEDING: To do laundry. Self-explanatory. It's ENDLESS........and I don't know why. How can 4 peo...