This week was like any other week at school until Friday! In the morning the entire elementary had an anti-bullying program kick-off. We use the OLWEOUS program in our school. First students met in the gym for a school wide morning meeting. Each grade level had tie-dyed a white shirt their grade level color, so it looked like a rainbow in the gym. There we saw an anti-bullying video our staff made last year, learned about our new giving tree project, and listened to Sara Bareilles' song Brave. Brave is out new theme song this year. (The students LOVED it!) Our hand print tree is branched off from Rachel's Challenge, which we did last year, but this year bystanders who stand up for bullying will get a hand print to add to the tree. Then all the students went back to their rooms and had mini lessons about bullying. The classes rotated between the three grade level teachers where each teacher taught a different lesson. Students really enjoyed going into other classrooms and started to truly understand what bullying is and what they can do to stop it. The students were SUPER excited to hear that at lunch we were having "Mix it Up", where students get to sit with different grade levels and classes to get to know each other better.
Later in the day, when I was teaching in the middle school, the students all made a an anti-bullying video. Later they had a school wide picture taken! I was sad I couldn't be there! :( BUT, I got to do something super cool! I learned a dance to Katy Perry's song ROAR. We streamed to another school who was also doing it with us. The other school is our "rival" school, so we were coming together to make peace and take a stand against bullying. On Saturday during halftime at the football game we all performed a flash mob! It was mostly middle school and high school students, but some younger students who take dance lessons at the local dance studio were also apart of it. The news came and everything. You can check the dance out here!
Our school was featured on WBNG News! :)
I am so excited to be apart of such a wonderful cause! I can also now say I've done two flash mobs, which is pretty neat! :)
My friend Karen and I on Friday. The teachers were asked to wear their anti-bullying t-shirts that day. They say: " Delaware Academy Stands For... Dignity for All" :)
I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog for about a year or so now! I finally decided to take the plunge for several reasons: 1. I made it through my first year of teaching! 2. I'm finally done with my Masters!!! (YAY!) and 3. My cousin really encouraged me to join TeachersPayTeachers, so I figured I could do this! (You can check her blog out at If You Give a Teacher a Treat :))
Just a little background info about me to get started:
I worked as a universal pre-k teacher for about six months right out of college. It was really just luck! I swear! :) After going on about a dozen interviews and coming in second almost every time due to lack of experience (how do you get it if no one will give it to you?!?!) I watched my little twin cousins for about six months. My cousins were about 2 at the time and I really enjoyed doing things like going to the library with them, and all the other fun things we would do. During this time I decided to go back to school to get my Master's in special education. I went online to Grand Canyon University. I then decided to sub at a local school, Delaware Academy and Central Schools. This eventually helped me land a job as a one year sub in third grade, then I received my Master's last February, while I was teaching 3rd grade. This helped me land my current special education position. I currently do 3rd, 4th, and 8th grade ELA direct consultant and resource room.
I am hoping to post more about ideas and experiences that I have! Stay tuned!
