Back to School Bloglovin' Linky Party

I just linked up with the Back to School Bloglovin' Party.
I am just getting into blogging, and I am loving Bloglovin'!  It has been so easy to use to group my blogs that I have stalked for a long time.  No longer do I have to scroll through some of my personal friends' blogs to find my teaching friends.  Love it!

Hope everyone has a great night!

Juliane

Blog Button First Try

This is my first attempt at creating myself a blog button - I hope it looks ok - I don't have all of the cute papers and backgrounds stuff some of the rest of you have, but here is my try.

Broken Teacher Heart

I am one of those teachers that forms very strong relationships with my students, and I have had several moments of teacher broken heart over the last few months. I have found out that 4 of my former students dropped out of school, and each case breaks my heart. They were such smart kids, they just needed the right structure and right teachers in their lives to encourage them on the journey. One is considering going back, but still it breaks my heart. Tonight though was the topper on my broken heart. I received a Facebook message from a former student telling me of their move to another state. For some reason he has convinced himself that because he is not in Texas anymore that he won't be smart in school. This is one of those students that was super bright and I just knew that he would go far in life. He has a brilliant mind, and it broke my teacher heart as I watched him write about how inadequate his abilities will be in the NYC school system. Teacher broken heart! So this begs the question with me - how do we convince our students they are worth something no matter where they are? How do we convince them they are smart when there are outside factors telling them they are not? This is my teacher broken heart. I love all of my kiddos past and present, and I don't like it when their heart is heavy. This is one part of the job that is difficult - I don't know how students can come and go from your classroom and you not get attached and feel a part of their lives. Have you ever experienced teacher broken heart?

BlogLovin

I have joined BlogLovin' to keep up with my blog stalking! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Presenting at a "Mini-Conference" and Post-Tornado woes

I am soooo nervous! I got asked to present at a Mini-Conference at our Regional Service Center in about a month! I am super excited, but I do not have access to some of my school stuff right now. You see 3.5 days before school let out, we experienced an F1 tornado after school. We had some people on campus for the annual sports banquet, but everyone was safe. 3 of our 4 instructional buildings sustained quite a bit of damage, mostly water, but 1 building has some structural issues. My classroom is in one of the damaged buildings, and we have been asked to stay away unless just absolutely necessary, so here I am unable to get to my resources. To top it off, I am presenting on something that I was not able to work into my first year of teaching in my current school and assignment, but it is something that I have missed terribly! My topic: Math Stations in Upper Elementary! Math Stations are my love in the Mathematics classroom, and I am passionate about figuring out how to get them back in my classroom this upcoming school year. Math Stations were the best thing I ever did for my 4th graders, and I never structured them the same way because as you well know students are different and different classes have different dynamics. It is all about doing what is best for you and your students. I saw my students own concepts that they struggled with and become familiar with vocabulary in a whole new way. Wish me luck as I prepare, and if there is anyone reading out there, I will be working the next few weeks on my presentation and will share out some of my favorite resources and structures.

Confessions of a Long Time Blog Stalker

For years I have stalked blogs or tried to blog. Confession: I have been so overwhelmed with my daily tasks of teaching that I have not gotten very far and have often given up quick, but I am not a quitter, and as I start the second year of teaching 6 grade levels, I find myself needing to organize my finds and thoughts, and if someone find that useful, then thank goodness. I know you are thinking holy cow 6 grade levels, well I somehow survive each day teaching 1 grade level each period of the Junior High bell schedule. I teach 3rd grade Math and 4th-8th grade Science. It keeps me hopping, but I love a challenge. So as I start this blogging adventure, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Juliane Sullivan. I am very happily married to my husband of almost 2 years Chris. We have no children, and the only pets in my house are the fish that are usually in my classroom. Chris and I are very active with our local bowling association acting as the league manager. It keeps us very busy. Chris is an avid bowler and bowls as much as I will let him and even works there 3 days a week. I hope some of you will join me for this ride, and if not, I will be working like crazy over here to organize my units and thoughts.