The Workshop Model

How many of you are familiar with the Workshop Model? Reader's Workshop? Writer's Workshop? If you are, then you've probably heard the name Patrick Allen before. Patrick Allen is a teacher in Colorado, part of the PBEC, he's written books, and his specialty is conferring with students during the workshop model.

Now, a bit of my personal history with the Workshop Model. When I joined my district almost 10 years ago, they were fully entrenched in the Workshop, particularly with reading, and I had to play a bit of catch-up. I didn't receive any formal training on it, but I signed up for professional development, watched other teachers who were more confident in the model, and felt like I had a pretty good handle on it. I enjoyed it with my second and third graders. We had a routine. I was helping my students really become great readers.

And then I switched schools, I switched grade levels (finally, 5th!), and I completely abandoned the workshop model. I was new to the grade level, and I found it easier to follow the lead of the 3 other teachers at my grade level who had been teaching much longer and had been quite successful. And honestly, I was much more focused on learning a whole new curriculum, that I let other things that had worked for me previously, slip away.

So what's the reason I'm mentioning this now?

For the last 2 days I have been at my district's main office, with 40 other elementary teachers, principals, coaches... learning directly from Patrick Allen.

 I feel inspired again. I feel excited for the upcoming school year! 

And even better than that, my school district has a 3 year plan in place to re-introduce the workshop model and work directly with Patrick Allen and his colleagues. I know that we have time to learn the skills that have been so successful in other classrooms across the country.

This is why I teach! To feel excited about what can be done in my classroom and to feel like I'm reinventing my teaching style.

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And I'm back...

So it turns out that the 2013-2014 school year was a very busy time for me...

• I sold my house.
• I bought a new townhouse.
• I had to wait 1 year for said townhouse to be built and move-in ready.
• I moved in, organized, and set-up my new townhouse.
• I was on 3 committees for my school/district which had me out of the classroom much more than I (or my students) would have liked.
• I built a website for my school to house all our digital products, as we applied for the California Distinguished School award. Henry P. Mohr Digital Products
• Almost 2/3 of my students were used as student ambassadors, tech gurus, or panel members for the Distinguished School visit.
• I had an awesome class of creative, tech-curious students who I was able to try a whole assortment of things with.
• I worked on updating my TPT and TN stores, and saw certain products do amazingly, others... not so much.
• My school received the California Distinguished School award.
• And lastly, I completely neglected my blog. 

I wish I could say I'm a master multi-tasker, but when it comes down to it, there's only so much time in the day, so some things got pushed aside. This blog being the main one.

But I'm back. I'm ready to devote more time to this blog, as I still have loved reading other people's blogs and what amazing things everyone is doing in their rooms. It's a constant source of inspiration. 

So to anyone who may still be reading... I'm sorry for the hiatus. And I hope you'll continue to read. I'll be updating my current pages, and posting new things. Especially tech ideas.

Homework Checklist

I'm linking up with Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files and Elizabeth at  Fun in Room 4B for their Optimum Organization Linky Party.


I don't know about the rest of you, but when it comes to checking in homework every morning, it can be a little daunting to make sure you get everything checked off. In my school district, homework cannot be a factor in a student's overall report card grade, except in terms of participation. I use homework as merely practice or review, as well as a classroom management tool.

I like to keep track of all the returned homework assignments for the week in one easy place. I always keep it on a clipboard on my desk and often my students utilize to help keep track of what they may have missed throughout the week.



I've used this checklist for a couple of years now, and I love keeping the same subject areas together for the week, and it also helps me keep the number of homework assignments to a minimum. I keep all the lists throughout the year, and it really helps me keep track of those students who habitually forget their homework and it's affecting their performance.

If you're interested in this checklist, just click on it and download it for free. 

Currently in July

Farley, over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade is hosting her monthly "currently" and I can't believe it's already July! Time is flying by.

Listening: I'm a huge fan of country music, and I always think country music is the perfect addition to summer time. Sun, surf, an ice cold beer, and a little country music.

Loving: My family just returned from a little trip to the mountains. I absolutely love Lake Tahoe, it's so gorgeous and there are a ton of things to do: biking, swimming, boating, shops... and casinos. Sadly I did not walk away a winner... but a friend who was there at the same time, she won $1100 on a Wheel of Fortune slot. I was not as fortunate.

Thinking: I'm heading down to Disneyland on Wednesday, and I'll be spending three days at both Disneyland and California Adventure. I absolutely love all things Disney, so obviously I'm excited!

Wanting: It's been ridiculously hot here in northern California. Multiple 100+ days. It's 9:45pm and it's still 87 degrees outside. On Tuesday it's supposed to be 113. That's just too much.

 Needing: My car just returned from Lake Tahoe, and man does it show! It's covered in dirt, dead bugs... all those lovely mountain things. I need to wash it. Desperately.

Tips, Tricks, or Hints: I always try to do something over the summer that I enjoy... this summer I'm going to 2 different country concerts with friends. I'll be seeing Luke Bryan and Brad Paisley in August. I love seeing live music. There's nothing like it.

Common Core

I don't know about you guys, but one of the main things I'm trying to work on this summer is getting myself ready for common core. Even though my district is not officially adopting it until the 2014-2015 school year, many teachers at my school are using this upcoming school year as a transition. To help keep my mind organized I made this fun and organized way to keep all the standards straight, and I also wanted to give myself a spot to write down any resources I may come across that works with the new standards.

I'm giving away my product for free at my Teacher's Notebook site, though it's specifically for 5th grade. Feel free to download it, if you feel like it would be helpful! Click on the picture below to be able to download!

2013-2014 Calendar

The last day of school was last Friday, and yet, I've already made a calendar for the 2013-2014 school year. I like to plan out my time, figure out some big projects and ideas over the summer before I can even begin to start thinking about the next school year's day to day stuff.

I bought a whole bunch of fun digital paper and clipart from Honey Dew Design's shop on Etsy, and I can't wait to buy more and update a lot of my previously made items.





I've uploaded the file to my Teacher's Notebook shop, if you're interested in checking it out! It's got both a color version and a completely black & white.