From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Wulf

A big topic in my school district this year is that they want K-4 teachers to integrate science and social studies with their ELA (English Language Arts) curriculum.  And I have a problem with that, but not for the reasons you would expect. My district took science and social studies out of our day completely.  You heard that correctly.  We no longer have a time slot to teach science or social studies.  What does my day look like then?  180 minutes of ELA, 120 minutes of math, 40 minutes of prep, 40 minutes for WIN time (What I Need which is our Tier/RTI time), 30 minutes of lunch, and 10 minutes of breakfast.  That's all 420 minutes in our school day.  And I have a problem with it. They say that our ELA curriculum integrates science and social studies in with the reading we will be doing, but honestly?  I don't think it's enough.  If we want students to gain real-world skills in school then we need them problem solving and only doing t...

When I first started out teaching I didn't realize how much of my money I would spend on supplies for my classroom.  I mean wow!  I walked in with practically nothing and no budget to get anything so I did the best I could.  My principal helped me out as much as she was able to and I took anything and everything from any of the other teachers to help me out.  It was insane but those first few years taught me a valuable lesson.  I needed money and it needed to be someone else's.  No joke.  My husband always jokes that he doesn't look at our bank statements at the start of the school year because he knows I spend way too much on what I need for my classroom, which is true.  But he also understands why I do it.  And he is fully on board with me finding ways to get that money without having to spend my own.  My secret?  Grants.  I apply for grants ALL. THE. TIME.  Let me say that again.  I apply for grants ALL. THE. T...

Last year my class was pretty amazing.  In all of my 11 years of teaching I had never had a class like last years class.  My students were phenomenal.  I set my expectations and my students did everything they were supposed to, for the most part.  Even thought they were amazing students, they still had issues with each other at times.  They would pick at each other and every once an a while someone was mean to someone else.  So I thought to myself, what could I do with them to change some things? One of the things I am so glad I did mid-year last year was read the book How Full is your Bucket: For Kids  by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer with my students.  Here it it: My students loved this book!  It really resonated with them.  We had some great discussions in class about behaviors, how to treat people, and what it means to be a bucket filler.  We talked about how positive words can really help someone's day and how positiv...

Ah good old multiplication.  How doth I love thee.  Let me multiply the ways (ha). In all honesty, at the 4th grade level students are supposed to already have the basics of multiplication down.  They should know their facts and should be more than ready for two-digit by two-digit multiplication.  But let me tell you a little secret.  They're not ready.  When we get to multiplication in October/November my students have no clue what I'm talking about.  I might as well be speaking a foreign language that's how much they can't recall their multiplication facts.  And when you throw in two-digit x two-digit?  Forget about it (said in my loving Italian accent)! The way my math curriculum is set up is that it is a scripted curriculum.  What is a scripted program?  I'm so glad you asked.  It means that I've been given a guide (7 very thick and heavy binders, one for each unit) for each and every lesson.  It tells me what to s...

We as teachers talk a lot about the curriculum, the tricks to get students to do what we want them to do, and how to have an enjoyable time.  But what about when it all hits home?  The topic of hearing is something that I take very seriously for myself, my family, and my students.  Why? My son is hard of hearing. Not deaf, not fully hearing, but hard of hearing and he's only 3. That's right.  My 3 year old is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids and it was a long journey to get him to where he is today.  Let me give you a little bit of our background. When my son was born they did all the normal tests they do in the hospital, one of which being a hearing test.  They tested his hearing probably 10 times over the course of 2 days and got no reading on him.  They told us sometimes babies can still have fluid in their ears and we made an appointment to come back in 2 weeks.  Still nothing.  So next was an audiologist.  The first co...

Teaching STEM concepts can be frightening, but they can also be a lot of fun.  I'll admit, that sometimes it's really hard to fit STEM into my day because it's so jam packed with everything else I HAVE to teach.  My solution?  STEM Days! One of the biggest things we do in 4th grade (that we've done the last two years and I'm going to push for for this coming year) is have a STEM morning outside the day of our school wide Field Day.  During Field Day they break our entire school into two groups.  One group had Field Day in the morning and the other in the afternoon.  During the morning half is when we do our STEM Day.  We usually only pick two big activities because it is the entire grade level outside having fun and collaborating.  Here are the two activities we pick. Solar Oven S'mores Sounds amazing right?  It is!  We simplify it for the 4th graders because honestly, I don't trust some of my kids with a knife to cut their boxes pe...

Being able to read is truly magical.  Teaching students to read is part of some serious witchcraft.  I don't teach littles and I couldn't imagine being the teacher trying to teach someone to read.  Kudos to all of you Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade teachers teaching those babies to read!  I am in awe of all of you and your patience and diligence to teach those little minds how to chunk words, sound them out, and figure them out.  I have a 4 year old at home and have been trying to teach him to read.  I readily admit that I am not strong enough for the job, however I know his teacher is going to be able to teach him how to read better than I can. Though I admit I'm not strong enough, or let's be honest patient enough sometimes, to teach my own son to read himself, I have taught him quite a few strategies to help him learn how to love reading.  This got me thinking about strategies I employee in my own classroom with my students when they are havin...

Don't you just love when you can incorporate music into your classroom?  Seriously.  My students love to listen to music as they work and we always have a deal that as long as they are working quietly I will play music.  Now, I'm not talking crazy rap and I'm not talking always classical either.  I'm talking popular music with a slight twist. Know what it is? Kids movie songs.  Yes, you heard me correctly I said kids movie songs.  When new kids movies come out I try to figure out what songs are going to be popular with my students.  Do I really go to all of those movies to figure that out?  No!  I use my own kids as guinea pigs and see what they like and then try it in my classroom.  If my two sons will dance around my living room to it chances are it's on my school playlist.  Now I don't keep much on there, and I do monitor for lyrics, but watching my students bop their heads to the music or sing out loud is always fun.  I...