So, why has life been so crazy? Well, at the beginning of February, I was once again fortunate to be asked to represent my school as the Teacher of the Year. I never expected to go through the process more than once, so I was very flattered to be asked two years in a row.
The dinner that our county puts on to honor the Teachers of the Year is simply amazing! Our high school's culinary arts students prepare the meal, and they always outdo themselves. I was blessed to have my family join me at the banquet, as well as my work friends and colleagues. It was a very special evening. I didn't win County Teacher of the Year, but I'm still very grateful for the opportunity.
I've also been hard at work during the past month on what can only be described as a labor of love. At the beginning of the school year, one of our fifth grade teachers, Dr. D, asked me to help him develop a before-school broadcast club (somehow, I've developed a reputation for being somewhat tech savvy). He envisioned creating a program that allowed students in fourth and fifth grades to produce a daily news broadcast that is streamed (LIVE!) to the entire school each morning. Thanks to many early mornings and a lot of collaboration, Dr. D's vision became a reality!
We even had the opportunity to present our program at a Board of Education meeting in March. The Board members seemed very impressed by the students' hard work and dedication.
Dr. D and I will be traveling to Ocean City, MD this Thursday and Friday to present our program at the Common Ground Conference. In preparation for the conference, I have been working hard to put together a packet for Teachers Pay Teachers that will give teachers everything that they need to start a similar program at their schools. I finally finished it this evening!
Included in this packet, you will find:
- A description of the program
- The CCSS addressed in the pack
- Instructions for setting up your studio, including a list of needed resources and a picture of our studio
- Student application, parent permission, consent and release
- "Teacher Feature" sign-up sheet
- Job checklists
- Job assignment recording sheet
- Reminder stickers
- Basket/folder labels
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Here's a sample of our script. The script is totally editable to meet your school's needs.
I'm loving the student application that we developed. A huge part of the program is developing a work ethic and learning responsibility, and the application clearly outlines the expectations that we have of our students.
I even created reminder stickers to help students (and parents) remember what time to be at school on the days that they are participating in the program.
For at least the next week, this 53-page resource is ON SALE for $8.00! Click on any of the pictures above to head over to my TPT store.
I can honestly say that helping to get this program up and running has been one of the highlights of my school year. I have loved getting to work with some of the older children (many of whom are former students), and I've had the opportunity to work with a colleague with whom I may not have had the chance.
My Kindle is calling me. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!
