Week In My [teacher] Life | ep.10 

Sometimes people cannot imagine what teachers go threw if they are not parents thanks for being real i love your videos

Thanks for another video! After 30 yrs in 1st gr, you are ray of sunshine and a great reminder of why we go to our classroom everyday...the kids! Programs, testing, and data collection can make you lose your center. Thanks!❤

I would love to hear more about your compliments and what exactly you do with those! And also your centers! I teach 1st as well!

When I taught first grade me schedule was like yours where we had recess and then lunch right in the middle of the day. I found the kids were always just tired after lunch which caused behavior issues or problems focusing so I would give them just 5 min of quiet time when they returned before starting me lesson. I would play some instrumental music and they could put their head down, write in their journal, or read a book. This gave them a few minutes to get refocused and really helped.

I have about a 30 minute commute to and from school as well and I LOVE listening to podcasts by other educators! There are so many podcasts focused on giving advice to first year teachers, and they’ve been so amazing to listen to! They pump me up and get my brain going in “school” mode in the mornings lol love your videos!

Stay strong! This is my 7th year teaching, and yesterday I came home and cried. We all have bad days, and you are so blessed to have support backing you up. I have this at my current school too, but I've been at schools without that support and it makes ALL the difference!

Teaching making 10s is a huge deal in second grade! The more solid they are on making 10s, the better off they'll be in second ( in my neck of the woods). Happy Teaching!

So happy that you stand your ground with your students and allow them to recognize that their choices have actual consequences. I’m sure your students will remember that and think twice before behaving like that again. 😊

Glad you do express the harder days. As a upper middle school teacher my good days are few and far in between. It is a difficult profession and I'm glad you stood your ground. I have 6th graders and even 8th graders who dont understand that their actions have consequences.

That after lunch struggle is so real with the littles! We set aside 10 minutes of meditation. The children sit or lay down on their carpet spots and follow a 10 minute guided meditation (first graders!) Really helps them to calm down after lunch and get recentered for learning. And I'm so glad you were so real about what happened with your student. Nobody ever warned me about that and I was completly unprepared the first time a student destroyed our room during my first fulltime student teaching placement. Elementary teachers need to be aware of what they are signing up for. Teaching is amazing but it is hard!

Your outlook on life is so inspiring! I also appreciate your honesty with the hard parts about teaching. Its comforting to see that everyone has good and bad moments and how they are handled. I'm student teaching in the fall, which I am both excited and nervous for. Your videos always make me smile and give me confidence!

OK, Lauren. I AM OBSESSED with your videos!! I would love to be a teacher in the future and you inspire me so much:) You have such a bubbly personality and I'm sure your students are so lucky!💜

I look forward to these vlogs so much! I always watch them at least 2 times in a row right after you post them lol. You're just SUCH a breathe of fresh air! I love the positive energy you put off in your videos so so much! Thanks again for another GREAT video!

Hi Lauren! I love you videos and always look forward to seeing your next video! When I had math after recess, I would always read a read aloud to my kids. They love Junie B Jones and I would read a chapter a day and it was just what they needed to settle back into the routine after recess. I’m on my 3rd year teacher and I still struggle with centers and guided reading. Do you think you could share with us what you do during guided reading and some of the centers you do and how you do them? Like how you rotate and how often you rotate? Happy teaching! 😊

Hey Lauren! I’m a second year, second grade teacher! We also have lunch and recess in the middle of the day, and sometimes the afternoons can be challenging. What I find works for my students is after lunch and recess we have a restroom break and grab some water if they need it. Then when we get back to the classroom I have them sit on the carpet to do an interactive read aloud. I’ve noticed it really helps them calm back down and get ready to learn. Interactive read alouds are great too because they get opportunities to turn and talk to one another and are practicing reading standards without even realizing it because they’re enjoying the book so much! I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for sharing because I just had a similar day and you made me feel less alone!:)

I don’t know if you have this kind of time in your schedule, but at one of the schools I’ve observed at, the teacher would turn the lights down and have the kids find a comfy place in the room to lay back or sit with their head down or something like that while they listened to a read aloud. She was a fourth grade teacher so it was a chapter book. You might have to edit how free you are with where kids sits in first grade so they could see pictures. But long story short, having just five or ten minutes to sit and relax and just listen after recess really helped them to settle down and get their head back into learning mode

Love your video, Lauren!! Your flowers are beautiful!

Thank you so much for sharing some of your PD information! It was great to know. I’m gonna have to find different ways to make short meaningful chunks throughout my day! 😃

Thanks for sharing about your kiddo that was having a tough time. It's sometimes the reality and no one likes to talk about it. I'm going to implement a calm down corner this week for reasons just like this. Have a great weekend!

I love how teachers learn about trauma and the effects on learning now. It certainly is important to keep in mind because students are not always capable to speak out their needs on their own. Personally, I had always been a good student and learned quickly until I was placed in foster care and the weight of the abuse hit me. It made it hard to concentrate and be motivated. If teachers would have been more understanding it would have helped a lot. When I will be teaching it will be something I keep in mind. I love getting ideas from your videos that I can implement in my teaching in the future.

Love all the brain science! As a 15 yr veteran you are inspiring me and I look forward to your videos each week. And I certainly recommend your channel and Instagram to all the new teachers I support as an instructional coach. I can’t wait to see more of your journey and especially how you implement some of the brain science research in your teaching!! 😊

I would love to see a morning get ready with me!

Hi Lauren! I’ve been watching your channel from the beginning and love it! You have such a positive attitude and energy. 😊 I have been teaching for over 15 years in grades k-3 (currently 3rd grade) and your channel is my most favorite! We have lunch and recess in the middle of the day too and we love to do mindfulness after recess. Even if there’s only time for 5 minutes it’s worthwhile. I highly recommend Counselor Keri’s resources to get you started. She has a blog, Instagram, and TPT. Have a happy weekend!

My schedule was set up like yours with reading in the morning in math in the afternoon, and my kids struggled with it so much, especially with body control and manipulatives and such. So we talked to our school and we were able to switch our morning and afternoon and honestly it has been life-changing. I don’t know if that is something that you’re able to do but if it is it was a huge help for me and my teammate.

You're doing a great job! Keep it up! I also tend to gravitate toward math PDs as I have a lot of students who struggle with concepts taught in the primary grades when they get to me in the upper grades.

I noticed the sorority on your shirt and I was in the same sorority at my college! I am in my second year of teaching elementary autistic support, but I watching your videos! I definitely have taken so much advice from you even in my field of teaching, so thank you! I also understand those tough days and I love how you handled it and reflected on it afterwards! Keep doing you!

My advice for the lunch recess and then math schedule would be to do about 2-5minutes of a quiet break listen to quiet music, to help the kids get ready to learn. It will be worth the time in the long run

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!!! You’ve inspired me to pursue teaching! I’m graduating from undergrad very soon so I’ve applied to fellowships, still waiting to hear back so I’ll optimistic!

I have only watched about 25 minutes of the vlog so far (don't worry I will keep watching until the end :) but I just wanted to say that I am a first year teacher in third grade this year and I can relate with everything you are saying! Teaching is amazing and wonderful but there are hard hard days and I have those moments with students where I feel truly unsure of how to deal with behaviors or emotions. I just wanted to say that you are not alone, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences because it makes me feel like I am not alone too! We will get through this first year and we will be stronger teachers and stronger people because of it. You're doing great!

Hi! I am a chilean teacher I love your videos you really inspired me to be a better teacher thanks!! Greetings from Chile

Lauren, I loved this vlog. We have a lot in common. I love PD as well and I love to learn, but I don't have any teacher friends who share that love so I felt like an outsider. Every week, you actually help me feel better about myself as a teacher. You're doing such a great job. If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend attending Kagan Professional Development. It starts with Cooperative Learning and branches out from into Brain-Friendly Teaching and more. Its the best PD I've attended. Very Interactive. Have a great week.

If you don't already, you should try the Libby app. It allows you to check out books in any format by using your library card. Get that reading :)

Is it weird that im not a teacher at all but a homeschool mama ...i look to your videos for guidance and comfort cause even though im the mom of my students i still have to draw a firm line to what i can push them on in hopes of them being proficient in certain subjects and give a little slack to not be excellent on every subject anywho i love your enthusiasm and appreciate your honest vlogs cant wait for the next one

Hi Lauren! I’ve been loving your channel. How is your first year going? Thanks for doing what you do.

You taught me so much in the video Thank you!

I’ve done all of my observations at the same same school that I’m about to begin student teaching at. Last spring during a multi-day observation, the teacher mentioned that during the fall semester her 2nd grade class had STRUGGLED majorly with afternoon math. She pulled some studies that said students learn math better in the morning & was allowed to teach it in the morning during Spring 2019 semester, when I observed. She was raving to me about how much better the kids were doing & she had data to prove it. For the Fall 2019 semester, they had the entire school teach math in the morning for the 2nd Q and saw improvement across the board. They are now working towards getting school board approval to make the change permanent. Maybe this is something you can bring to your principal about implementing in your classroom?

Love your hair! and of course, your videos! :)

Our fifth grade team had math right after lunch and they struggled as well. I know fifth is very different from first, but it’s interesting to see the same issues. They finally just talked to admin and sped and were able to change their schedule and move math to a different time of day. The time switch has made a huge difference.

You never told us how Miss Massachusetts went! (unless I missed it). Also did you find out what that beeping was?

I teach first too. We also have math after lunch. I have a set routine warm-up mountain math spiral review program it's online you might want to check it out then we do a word problem in using the model draw method, math talk- then the my engage lesson. I also do have the fitness warm ups my kids love them.

Do you have an hour special every day? Just know you don’t have to grade everything students do or send it all home. That was good advice I got. Where is your watch band from? Keep up the fun!

Love your videos. I teach Fundations also. I would love (if possible) to see a video of you teaching it. Thanks!

Where can I buy the composition books ?

What am I going to do now that I have to wait until next week to watch another one of your videos! ☺️😂 I’ve been binge watching your videos during my “early morning me time before I head to teach my little sweet first graders”. I would love to know what inservice you are enrolled in for guided math?! That is what I really want to implement into my class this year. We do daily five for literacy but really want to do it for my math instruction ☺️

Loveee your channel

I want to move to MA and finish my teaching degree there.

There could be something going on at home if he does not want to participate in an activey because in an education class this past week we talked about students not wanting to participate in class room activities.

Will you do a video about making a professional portfolio 😊

Dont feel bad about the turkey writings, I have the same up too!!! Im taking them down next week. Where did you get the writing rubric from?

Hi Lauren! What lipstick are you wearing in most of your videos? Its so pretty! x

I got that same halfway banner! :) Are you doing anything for the 100th day? We just celebrated ours on Thursday!

I’m about start as a first grade assistant...what kinds of things does she do for you that you like???

Watching this was a refreshing and informative hour of my life ☺️ I’m currently a student teacher and I love how real you are! That hard day is something I feel like all starting teachers are underprepared for! If I may ask, what did y’all do to maintain a safe environment and calm the student down when he was having his fit? I’m also just like you with loving being a learner 😂 and honestly I feel like I learn so much from your vlogs! Keep up the greatness!

Hi, I know that you’ve posted this before but I can’t find it. I’m looking for a link to your lanyard.

Where did you get the letters for your word wall?

Do you teach any science or social studies?

have you linked your boots yet? lol =)