Three Stars and a Wish {3-17-14}

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I'm just getting back into the swing of things after being away for a long weekend. The hubby and I had a family wedding to attend in Florida so we turned it into a four day mini-vacation! To top it off, the rehearsal dinner for the wedding happened to fall on my birthday!!!

So, it's been a very merry weekend indeed, and I am still trying to come back down to planet Earth. I figured I would ease my transition back to real life with another edition of Three Stars and a Wish. If you'd like to linkup, simply download the template here and use the inlinkz button at the end of this post. 

Three Stars:

* Spring is finally around the corner! It seems that we are finally done with the winter weather for this year. Today I was very happy to be able to enjoy an iced coffee outside in the sunshine after school. (McDonald's offers free coffee to teachers in my metropolitan area every Tuesday. It's basically the best perk of my job.)

* New teachers were invited to a meeting after school today- since I am in my third year, I still qualify. Our advisor reviewed some key points to being an effective teacher as outlined in "The Harry Wong Book." Our county gives every new teacher a copy of the book at new teacher orientation their first year. I will admit that I did not read this book when it was initially given to me. I wish I had because the information that I have come to gain from it at workshops and seminars is invaluable. If you've never heard of the book, The First Days of School... you NEED to read it. Or, if your attention span is too short, you can find tons of Harry and Rosemary Wong videos on youtube with a quick google search. He is a GREAT speaker and educator.

* 40 of us music sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers have collaborated on the release of four eBooks throughout the month of March to celebrate Music in Our Schools Month. I contributed to the one that was just released yesterday: Instruments of the Orchestra. Each contributor has offered teaching tips and links to freebies that will enhance your teaching of this concept. I have already gotten a ton of information just by reading what my co-contributors have put in! It is FREE to download, along with the other three ebooks: Rhythm, Listening Lessons, and Melody (to be released next Monday).

A Wish:

As I'm sure most teachers would agree, the number one thing I seem to always be lacking is time. Time to collaborate, time to plan, time to grade, time to decompress... I have a pretty well-balanced schedule this year with ample planning time built in to my week. What I wish I had more time for is actual face time with students. I keep finding more and more resources and lesson ideas that I want to try out and there just simply aren't enough class sessions to do it all! I see my students twice a week for 30 minutes at a time, which is plenty for elementary schoolers, but I still don't get to do all the great things I want to do with them! I have to remind myself occasionally that it's more important to teach fewer things WELL than to just touch on a million different concepts. 

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That's my Three Stars and a Wish for today.
Have a great St. Patty's Day, everyone!
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{Three Stars and a Wish, or 3SW, was inspired by a popular method of peer critique: you point out three things that worked well and one thing you wish for improvement. I use it as a means for personal reflection of my teaching. If you would like to share your own 3SW, download the template here.}