Advice?

Well, it’s been a while. Increasing your class size by 50% makes for a very buys year, it turns out. Go figure. Anyhoo, I’m back for a few. Spring Break is around the corner and I couldn’t be more pleased. After Break it is a 9-week push until summer. Wow!!

I’ll write more about my year at another time. Right now, I need a little help with a student situation. One of my young students is about twice the size of all the others. He is gentle, caring, always involved in class discussions and terribly enthusiastic. On one field trip to a park he said, “Ms. Teacher, we are so luck to be out on this beautiful day. Thanks for taking us here.” What a dream. The problem is, he allows himself to be a total pushover.

Big Fella was told by another kid to run laps around the yard, so guess what he did? He ran. He will not say anything to his friends to put them in their place. He just goes home and cries about it. Mom wants to help him develop the tools he needs to standup for himself. I have suggested things like being honest about his feelings and telling is friends things like, “that makes me feel bad”, “if you are my friend, why would you say that to me?” or “I would never try to make you feel bad, like that”. These have not been implemented.

My question to all of you in cyberspace: How do you get a pushover to standup for himself? Keep in mind he is one of the youngest, as well as largest, in my class. He is teased about his physical appearance, including the fact that he suffers from plumbers butt almost all the time. We’ve tried belts and gentle reminders to no avail. His shape simply does not support pants well a this stage.

Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I’ve been wracking my brain and searching the Internet for a week or better now. I’m at a loss. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

Have you ever...?

Found on But Wait! There's More. . .

Wanna play? It's simple. Copy, paste and if you've done it, bold it.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said I love you and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Busy, Busy Me

Reports , reports and more reports. So, it turns out when your class size increases by 50% you end up with 50% more reports to write. Ya, that’s not so fun. But it’s done! Praise whatever holy entity you believe in, my reports are done!!

Now, perhaps I can finish my application essay for Grad school. I wrote half of it two weekends ago, when I filled out the application, and have been on reports ever since. We are also starting our Maps unit at school and I love maps!! So, that is taking a lot of my time now too. I got a fantastic new book from Scholastic called Our World by Millie Miller. I am going to use it to create a fabulous group project about the continents. I’m so happy to have finally found a good book for my students about geography. It can be tough hunting for the younger folk sometimes.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to try for this grad school thing again. Your support means a lot. Especially on days when I come home completely wiped out.

From October 1st to Winter Break, (that's right no Christmas Vacation here in Cali), always passes in the blink of an eye for me. Is it the same for you? It seems like school just started and yet my relationship with the kids is much different than it was in September.

Graduate School Again?

So. . . I’m applying to grad school again. I received an MA in Education in 2002 and I guess I’m ready for more. I’ve been writing for an independent school publication and making lots of changes to curriculum over the last few years. A few weeks ago the idea of going back to school crossed my mind and didn’t seem quite as absurd as it had in the past. If I have all of this drive to improve myself, why not focus it a little and get another degree?

This time, I’m planning on getting an MA in psychology. My undergrad degree is in psychology, so I have a nice background on which to build. I also have a big personal interest in this area. Knowing why one of my students behaves the way he/she does would help me find an appropriate way to redirect his/her focus. This degree would also qualify me for a School Psychologist position and allow me to perform preliminary educational and emotional testing in order to determine the best course of action for various learning/behavioral issues. A school psychologist easily makes double what I do as a classroom teacher. This position would also allow me more flexibility with my hours when we decide to start a family.

That said, I’m not sure I want to leave the classroom. The degree could also help me be a really kick-ass elementary school teacher. Either way I feel like I win. I’m young enough that giving up some time after work and on the weekend for the next two years is not so daunting. We don’t have kids yet, so I need not feel guilty if I become slightly obsessed. I’ve been teaching the same grade for 6 years and even have the option of taking on a co-teacher next year. With all of these things in my favor, it’s hard to find a reason not to go.

Then there is the $ situation. Ya, it is going to be an expensive in devour. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to shop around for less expensive schools. My Education MA program was phenomenal and I plan on returning to the same school for the Psychology program. They teach me in a way I find very conducive to long-term retention and application. In my opinion, there is no reason to mess with something that works. I qualify for a few small scholarships and I’m pretty sure loans won’t be a big deal. I’ll just add it to the monthly payment I make to Sallie Mae now. I’m willing to pay off a house and an education until I’m old and grey.

The new program requires roughly the same time commitment as the previous one I attended, so there is also some comfort in knowing what to expect.

I’m excited.
I’m nervous
I’m going to be very busy!

Thinking

My evenings, like most teachers’, are pretty routine. I come home, change, check email, make/order/eat dinner, watch TV, read a few blogs, do whatever work I need to, veg-out/think, get ready for bed and go to sleep. My veg-out time is particularly key to an evening well spent. This consists of me turning my desk chair around, it swivels, putting my feet up on the plush pink armchair and just thinking. Most nights this is accompanied by music. Once in a while, it’s nice to have silence though.

This is when I process my day and prepare myself for the next. Sometimes I even dream about the future. I can spend anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes lost in thought gazing at my Ikea paper lamp. While reviewing the day’s events, I’m able to see things I may not have noticed in the moment. I feel that certain kids can be over looked due to my larger class size. When I look back on the day, with individual kids in mind, it helps me remember their specific accomplishments. It can also remind me that I didn’t notice very much about a particular student and should really give them some attention the following day.

These are often my most creative moments, when I think of my best lesson plans and time saving ideas. Organization is one of the keys to my classroom success. I feel capable of handling most unexpected changes during the day because I always have something I can whip out and fill time with. Not just something, but an educationally valuable experience for the students. (Earlier this week I couldn’t get the VCR to work after getting my class excited about the first video of the year. I built it up by letting them know how very few videos they will be seeing in my class this year. We worked on a fire safety mad-lib I had waiting in my basket.) Finding ways to streamline my classroom is a continuous process that changes as my students’ needs do. This quiet-time has also given birth to some of my favorite cooperative project ideas.

While I’m veging-out this way, my diligent husband is typing away on his keyboard not three feet away. Sometimes I wonder: does he think it is odd that I stare off into space like this every evening? I never see him doing this. He used to offer me websites to look at or magazine articles to read, but after hearing nothing but a polite, “no thank you” he gave up. Now he just checks to make sure I’m awake. It’s true; I’ve been known to fall asleep in my chair from time to time. He has come to accept my “process”.

Am I alone in my quiet time ritual? I have never really thought about it as odd before, but maybe it is. How much time do you spend just thinking? Do you do it while watching TV, listening to music or doing something productive like knitting or exercising? What do you think about or does it vary?

Just wondering.

Halloween Costumes??

Didn’t we just celebrate Halloween? Wasn’t it just yesterday I worked so hard to come up with a very cool idea that was fun and yet still educational? Why is it here again so soon? Well, this year I need a little help. Does anyone have any costume ideas for a group of 4 elementary school teachers? Please leave me a note if you do. We’ve been the 4 seasons, a painter and his works of art and even a number sentence. Please save me from weeks of stressing over this.

Feel free to leave any other cool teacher costume ideas too. I can’t be the only one out there looking for something new.

Welcome to October!

Loved it!

Dinner with the former student was a raging success! It was wonderful to see him again and reaffirm how very cool he is. My husband and I got along famously with his parents and really hope we can see them all again. I’ve actually started an email relationship with the student. He makes me laugh and I think it is good for him to know someone outside of his family really believes in him.

More All About Me

I just corrected the Beginning of the Year English Test that I give for evaluation purposes. This is the first year I have had to bring them home, but I was never going to have time to grade all of them at work. I have a feeling this may be a trend. Oh well.

In an effort to make lemonade out of my lemons, here are a few gems from their All About Me writing piece. Students were required to write 6 sentences about themselves. I’ve stayed true to the creative spelling.

1. My mom put me in violine becase she wants me to be in a orcastra.
2. I love to play on my bed with my brother when we are suppued to be sleeping.
3. I am one of those boy’s how dose’nt like there sister all thoe I get mad at her. I like animals even thoe I don’t know the name’s of them.
4. and ofcors I like horseback riding to. And I like my birthday
5. I like surfbording. Bot Nether me or my mom coode stand up.
6. I like to slepe.
7. I lick woter fawlis. I lick to do staf.
8. My favorite boringing thing to do is wach t.v. (Yay!!)
9. I hate cleaning my room.
10. I don’t like to lose playdates.

I definitely feel like I know a little bit more about each of them.

Surprises Shared

The first time my students participate in Share (show-and-tell) I assign them a small All About Me project. Each child finds a shoebox and creates a box that tells me something about who he/she is. This means students decorate the outside and place 4 or 5 times that tell something about them inside. During Share, students explain why they decorated it the way they did as well as why they chose the objects that were placed inside. Every year this is marvelous! I get to know them a little bit better and they have a surefire hit the fist time up.

This year there have been a few eye-opening moments related to Share. First, a student asked if he could take his box home because he had shared it that morning. I told him that was just fine and thanked him for his great Share. In response he explained that he was so glad he didn’t have to sleep without his favorite stuffed animal again. The poor kid. That is such a great example of how nervous my students are at the beginning of the year. They can’t imagine doing something against the rules. Well, most of them are like that.

The second incident was absolutely delightful. . . and surprising. I have a new student who seems very sweet. He is incredibly smart and very well mannered, but a little spacey. He seems to play on the periphery of group games rather than joining in. He watches, learns and then attempts to play on his own or on the sidelines. When he presented his Share this morning the kids were riveted. He had a coin collection, that was pretty cool, and some soccer pictures from his team. The thing that the kids were most interested in amazed me. It was an award he received from his teacher for being a great helper. I give awards all the time. Who knew they cared so much?? At recess today one of my run-around-boys told his buddy he couldn’t play handball because he was going to play with the new kid. YAY!

Names and Checks

Is it ever too early to start using your behavior modification technique? Why does it feel mean to write a kid’s name on the board the second week of school? Unfortunately, my students left me very little choice today. I gave warning after warning. I even gave one kid his “final warning” three times. The third time was when I realized what a terrible precedent I was setting.

The biggest downfall of most behavior modification techniques is the consistency with which it is applied. Today it became clear that the same kids will push and push until I put my foot down. Well, it went down with a thud.

I have two names on the board and one has a check next to it. When your name goes on the board you loose 3 minutes of recess. If there is a check next to your name that is 6 minutes, with two checks it becomes 9 minutes. Once there are three checks I call home. Nobody wants me to call home. The names and checks are erased as soon as the student has “done their time”. As the end of the year approaches, or the particular group of kids needs it, the names stay on the board for up to a week and students sit out on Fridays from snack, or everyday that week. There are lots of ways to adjust the method in order to best redirect you class.

Something to keep in mind if you, like me, take recess time away from your students: they need to use up that energy. If you have the kids sit out during play time they have almost no choice but to play during work time. I have found that if I force the kids to do calisthenics during recess I kill two birds with one stone. The kids use up their energy and aren’t wiggling around like maniacs when they come back into my room. They also didn’t get to play all of the games they were looking forward to.

I’ll let you know how this works out tomorrow with the new crew. The names and checks were put on the board after lunch, so sentences will be carried out tomorrow during snack.

The First Monday

I have yet to see my entire class in the same room. One is still out sick with Strep, but my no-show from last week has finally arrived. I’m not entirely sure I sent her home with all of the notes from last week that she needed, but so it goes. She’s lucky to have her work on our hallway bulletin board. Thank goodness she is a quick little thing and could get it done during our Morning Business slot. Am I coming across as less than flexible? I’m really not… less than… I mean…I am flexible…usually.

This whole “large class size” thing is running me ragged. It’s not that I can’t do it. It’s just that I feel like I’m starting over again. I could teach the curriculum to a class that was 25-30% larger than last year, no problem. It’s this whole 50% increase that throws me. Why is it that 4 kids can make such a huge difference? I managed to get some planning done during my free periods today, so hopefully the rest of the week will fall into place. I’m ready for things to feel normal now.

I thought you might enjoy these two winning quotes from last Friday:

I was reading the kids a book about Luis Pastuer and his discovery of the rabies vaxine when Loud Girl put her hand in the air.
“Yes, Loud Girl”
“I had a disease once. It was called Hand and Mouth and Food disease. You get it when you don’t wash your hands.”

This was followed up with a comment from her tablemate, “My uncle is a doctor and he says an earache is worse than having a baby.”

Do with that little gem what you will.

Large and Unwell?

There are so many of them!!! I have 50% more students in my class this year compared to last. Wow, does it make a big difference. The biggest problem seems to be my timing. Last year I would often be able to finish little projects in 5 minutes or so. This year I can’t do anything in just 5 minutes!! I also have to get used to the new volume of the room. It doesn’t bother me if my students chat a little, when it is appropriate, as long as they are not disrupting other students. With my new class size, the gentle hum has turned into a small rumble.
Thank god they are cute!!

**************

Well, we are off to a lovely start. One child left for a doctor’s appointment at 10:30 and didn’t return. His mom called after lunch to let me know he has a form of Strep throat that exhibits itself through scabs on your face. Doesn’t that sound great?? He can't come back until Monday. I know I've come in contact with him. . . several times. Another child went home at 12:45 with a fever. Oh yes, we are off to wonderful start. Who knows what adventures tomorrow will bring! ;)

Inspired Again

I keep waiting for the beginning of a new school year to become something mundane and wrote. Seven years in and it is still as exciting as it was the first time. Granted, I don’t have anxiety about the “What ifs” anymore.

What if I forget to teach something?
What if the kids don’t listen?
What if I totally blank in front of them?
What if they are mean to each other?
What if I haven’t made the copies I need?

Believe me, I could go on and on like this.

The truth of the matter is, we all forget, are not listened to, have mean kids, and are missing important copies, from time to time. The test of a teacher is how we work through it. Shouldn’t we be honest with the kids and let them know that even teachers make mistakes? Isn’t it just another teaching moment? It seems to me a “What if” can easily become a lesson in how to adapt to new situations.

So, release yourself from the “What ifs” and enjoy the beginning of your best year yet. You, my teacher friends, have new smiles to meet and young minds to enlighten. What a great job!!

Life Long Learners

One of the most important things I try to impress upon my students is that learning is a life long process. Just because I am their teacher doesn’t mean I’ve stopped learning. I read about history, watch PBS specials and learn about things like ToonTown from them. If I learn about something particularly interesting I try to share it with them the following day. This way they can see how excited I get about new information. In the classroom, I create challenges for students who complete their classwork early. These challenges usually involve little research projects that can be done in the classroom. I encourage the students to share their findings with the class when there is time. Being generous with the stickers is always helpful here!

What do you do to encourage life long learning?

Oh those pencils. . .

This week I took a moment to ponder the importance of pencils in my daily life. It is amazing how much of my time is devoted to discussing the quality, color, effectiveness and size of pencils. Here are just a few examples of pencil talk at work:

“Ms. Teacher, I don’t have a pencil” Where do they always disappear to?

“Ms. Teacher, I can’t find a pink colored pencil.” There are none at her table, but 5 at another.

“Ms. Teacher my pencil only sharpens down one side.” Why is that and how on earth do you save the pencil once it’s so mangled?

“Look, the whole middle part just came out of my pencil. Ms. Teacher, can I write with it like this? Pleeeeeease.” I’m not as annoyed when this happens with colored pencils, but you wouldn’t believe the mess when regular pencils decide to up and separate.

“Crash, clickity, clackity, tip, tip, tap. ” Pencil bin being knocked over and offering up its contents to the table, floor and children’s laps in the middle of my lesson. Luckily, since changing pencil bin styles, this only happens every few months.

I had the kids clean out their cubbies on Wednesday. 15 beautiful long pencils were found. Why must they try and keep them in their cubbies? They just sit there, forgotten, until we clean them out and then the kids look around all sheepishly. Silly, silly children.

The cold hard truth

Sorry to leave you in the lurch for so long. Here is how my report worked out:

"Sneaky needs to spend the summer focusing on his reading comprehension. It is imperative that an adult sit with him while he reads. This person should ask him to summarize each paragraph, in his own words, after it is read. He has a tendency to mumble through words he doesn’t understand and quite often these overlooked words change the meaning of the passage."

It recetnly came to my attention that they have been helping him read at home by handing him a book and setting a 20 minute timer, so I just went for it. I figured, “what do I care? Soon I’ll be rid of them forever.” I hope the kid gets some help.

The Moral Dilemma

Let’s talk yearend reports. How honest do I have to be? It’s a no brainer for the kids that are staying at our school. I’m honest and give ideas for summer enrichment when appropriate. I don’t want to saddle my coworkers with a kid who isn’t prepared. Luckily, most of my parents are already aware of the things I’ve mentioned in their child’s report, so it’s just a formality. I’m also proud to say that most of my students are receiving glowing reports.

But. . .what about Sneaky Kid who isn’t coming back next year? His parents are an incredible pain in the ass. The stop by your room, pull their kid out early a lot, say they are working with him but aren’t kind of parent. Are you familiar with this breed?

Should I be honest about everything and make my conference extremely uncomfortable or do I sugarcoat it with general remarks and coast my way to summer? I’ve met with these parents at least 4 times since Christmas. One meeting included the kid’s educational therapist who I exchange emails with weekly. Both of us are frustrated by the parent’s inability/ lack of desire to help the kid work at home. These are the folks who sent the “this homework is to hard for my son” note.

What would you do?

Mental Health Day

I used to think people who took mental health days were nuts. Can life really be that overwhelming? Apparently I’m growing up because now, I understand. My classroom is one of my favorite places in the world. I love my bulletin boards and all of the color. It is truly a happy place. Every now and then I find myself getting a little snappy with the kids. Yesterday was that kind of day.

I spent my weekend putting out fires between my mom and brother. Thank heavens they live in different cities because I couldn’t possibly do this on a regular basis. I’m pretty sure they are both a little crazy. So, after an extremely stressful weekend, I was a little less than pleasant yesterday. I also ended up sending two kids home sick. My throat hurts and I have report cards to write.

Today is my mental health day and I am embracing it wholeheartedly. I’ve written my assistant two pages on exactly how to conduct the day. Yes, I’m a little anal. She is interviewing for head-teaching positions right now, so the practice is good for her. My husband took me out for a lovely breakfast and now I’m here typing away on my neglected blog.

Three cheers for mental health days!

That doesn’t help

Why do some parents feel the need to question the relevance/importance/difficulty of the homework I send home? In September of every year I tell the parents, “Homework should not be difficult. Students should be able to complete the written portion in less than 15 minutes and feel successful. We struggle in the classroom, not at home by ourselves. “ I feel very strongly about this homework policy and always back it up with research about how over worked our children are.

What ever happened to down time? My students go form after school classes to piano, to Karate and then home to eat dinner and do their homework. They have schedules like this 5 days a week with gymnastics or team sports on the weekends. Anyway, I digress.

This week one of my students sent back a piece of incomplete homework with a note from his mom scrawled across the top, “This is to hard for my son.” It was a crossword puzzle using his spelling words. My assistant thought I should correct the spelling of “to” and send it back. Instead I wrote, “Please help your son complete this homework. All of the other students were able to solve the puzzle. I’m sure, with a little help, your son can do the same.” Sure enough, it came back completed the next day.

I happen to know that this student’s sibling’s teacher, (did you follow that?), gets the same kind of notes on her homework from time to time. Every teacher wants to know when work is overly challenging. If I didn’t teach it well enough the first time, I’d like to try again. In most cases, however, it is just parents trying to get their kids out of doing homework. That doesn’t help at all.

WOW

Word of the Week, WOW for short, is a weekly activity that my students absolutely love. Once a week I give small groups of students a word to unscramble. Groups race each other to see who can unscramble the word and find the definition the fastest. The winning group reads me the word, definition and uses the word in a sentence. I write all of this information on a reusable poster at the front of the room.

Students attempt to use any of the WOW words in their writing, homework and classroom activities. Each time a WOW word is used that student receives a small sticker to place on an animal shape attached to the interactive bulletin board. Once his/her whole shape is covered he/she moves up to the next shape. The kids love accumulating little stickers. It works even better than candy and I don’t have to deal with the sugar high!

I choose the WOW words based on curriculum relevance and excitement level. Most words tend to be either adverbs or adjectives. The students are encouraged to use these more interesting words when writing. Why say “great” when you could say “wondrous”? Like most activities, it is hard to get every student excited. However, the ones that do choose to actively participate reap immediate benefits. It is also really nice for me to read stories with a more interesting vocabulary.