Couple Sites to Keep in Mind

Found these sites to refer to if ever needed.

http://www.semanda.com
I'm not 100% sure if I want to use this (so not going to put it under the sidebar with "Resources") because of English, but there might be some ideas I personally can take and use for my class.

http://chinese4kids.net
Books in Chinese! I still need to check more into this, but this site is in English. Maybe can use this for one of the guided reading stations!

http://mandarin-immersion.blogspot.com
This is the site where I found the previous 2 links. Will refer to this again!

Going to Taiwan!

Grandma hasn't been feeling the best recently and it's time to go for a visit. I miss her.

While being there, it's a great way to refresh my Mandarin. I haven't been speaking in my absolute best so being there will help with my fluency.. Which might also hurt my English, but we will see.

Because I am going to Taiwan, I need to start making lists. My first list is a list of lists I will make!
A list of...

• what I will eat: 奶茶、湯包、拉阿(a kind of clams in Taiwanese)、香腸、蔥麵包
• what I will buy: some children's books in simplified Chinese, 二胡清涼音樂、笛子清涼音樂、古箏音樂、焦老師的好多顏色筆、印章名「沒做完」「好棒喔」
• where I will go: 台南、盧廣仲演唱會、Visit NCCU, visit some old friends, visit my elementary school、九份

03/20/14 edit
04/19/14 edit

Assessments

Have been thinking about assessments lately. For next year, my 3rd graders need to be leveled based on their four domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).

There are several assessments I have in mind:

• STAMP
• HSK
• ACTFL
• SOPA (?)
• TOCFL

Games for Chinese Learning

Games to keep in mind to teach my kids! This can improve their speaking and listening:

• Taboo
• Pictionary
• Telephone
• MadGab

This can improve their writing:

• Boggle

Extra :: This girl is going to Taiwan this summer :)! Will be seeing if there are any games over there I can get for the kiddos~

Teacher Outfits!

I'm not a huge fan of BlackFriday shopping, but due to a lot of family budgets and financial reasons, I could only save up until BlackFriday to do what I can (not want).

Recently, I found out I don't have much of  formal clothes to go to work in. I love skinny jeans, but I have leopard printed, red, blue, green, and even neon yellow. Although those are awesome to wear (I bought them for $10 each!), I can't seem to find skinny jeans of duller color for work.

Even though they're not as cheap as I wanted, for this BlackFriday, I got several different colors of skinny pants (brown [$20], khaki [$20], gray [$20], corduroy blue [$10.70], and black sparkly [$9] [just because the plain black one was over $20!])

Mom recently bought me shoes too (all flats):

• Michael Kors -- black beige and gold 
• Lauren Ralph Lauren -- black and gold
• Lauren Ralph Lauren -- black and silver
• Guess -- gray skater shoes

I believe I can mismatch a lot of this. Can't wait to start wearing them this Monday!

Mandarin Guided Reading

Oh. My. Gosh.

http://www.fcrr.org/for-educators/sca.asp

Check it out! It was recommended by Dr. Cheryl Wolfel from Palatine School District who is a director for their bilingual program. I can totally use this for guided reading in Mandarin! I can check if I can start implementing some of the Chinese structure words into how they have it for English words.

We'll see.

It's on the to do list.

Cute is Not the Point

http://mattbgomez.com/i-dont-like-tpt/

So I've thought about it way before I even found the post. Why do teachers think making their classroom look "cute" will bring them the best practices in pedagogy? Why do teachers think making their worksheets look "cute" with characters drawn on them will make the worksheets more fun and authentic? I'm not sure why, but in the end, it doesn't help with anything. Sure, you can decorate, but if that's the only thing you do, are you really keeping "best practices" in mind?

Teachers are not hired to make things "cute". Teachers are hired to have the best practices and teach kids to love learning (and more... oh gosh way more).

General Questions

This post has been in the draft for awhile...

1. Do parents have specific roles for parties?
2. What can parents do for volunteering?
3. What can students do during indoor recess?
1. I found this... but not sure if I like all of them. 85% of them are just videos you dance do.
4. Students picking out independent reading book but don't know where to put it back?
1. Leave it in a basket for the teachers to put back according to lexile or fountas and pinnel.
5. Everytime I bring in supplies for all the kids, I gotta bring in 45 of them if I teach two grade levels. This is not a question, this is just a challenge.
6. Do 3rd graders know twitter, facebook, hashtags? If they do, I might be able to incorporate this in some lessons!

Treasure Chest

I just need a chest where I can put all my extrinsic awards in there if I need it in the fly. What can I have?

1. Star stickers
2. Smiley stickers
3. Pencils
4. Erasers
5. Small Dollar-store toys?
6. Homework pass

I'm wondering if I should add more or if I want to just add an abundance of the things...

Did Not Know -- Purchase of Images

I had no idea that people were selling clip art to teachers (or anyone).
http://www.scrappindoodles.com/ you have to pay to get pictures????

Read Matt's article today and it made me think about "cuteness" that teachers try to put into their classroom thinking it would make their classroom more effective.

I've thought about it for a pretty long time. What good is your classroom if you can't use it to its full potential? You can make it as cute as you it to be, but would having polka dots really help you organize where the students work should be stored? Or if having a pink and black pattern would help you organize your students' data.

But I'm also try to see the other side of the spectrum. Maybe having a cute classroom encourages the teachers to keep it cute, therefore keeping it more organized. I won't know until I start next year. We'll see!

Chinese Upbeat Song Update

I got up to 50 songs!! My goal is 100 and I'm already half way there! (started in October 26, 2013. It's been 15 days!! I've harassed my family and friends haha) I might be able to add at least 20 more :) We'll see!

... But I might delete a couple because some songs might not be the most ideal for 8/9 year olds haha.

English Upbeat Music Playlist

So after realizing that finding Chinese upbeat music was such a long process and probably going to take a really long time to get to at least 100 songs. Fortunately, English is easier because everyone has probably made a playlist of this already on YouTube.

I haven't had the time recently, but I'm sure I can BOOM quickly find at least 30 songs for Zumba fast.

Actually.. now I think about it, I can probably find "Zumba 歌"...

Chinese Upbeat Music Playlist

This probably should be on excel.... Or just download onto my playlist?

1. 我相信 - 杨培安
2. 我的骄傲 - 杨培安
3. 同一片天空 - 新兵日记
4. 稻香 - 周杰伦
5. 童年 - 罗大佑
6. 明天会更好
7. 早餐，晨之美 - 卢广仲
8. 别在我睡着的时候打给我 - 卢广仲
9. Que Te Pasa - 卢广仲
10. 像白痴一样 - 卢广仲
11. 干杯 - 五月天
12. OAOA - 五月天
13. 玩乐 - 方大同
14. 因你而在 - 林俊杰
15. 阳光宅男 - 周杰伦
16. 恋爱ING - 五月天
17. 牛仔很忙 - 周杰伦
18. 水手怕水 - 周杰伦
19. 公主病 - 周杰伦
20. 自以为 - 方大同&许佳莹
21. 不要不要 - 张文宣
22. 幸福氧气 - 张文宣
23. 关在家 - 关诗敏
24. 快递甜心 - 关诗敏
25. 大艺术家 - 蔡依林
26. 舞娘 - 蔡依林
27. Mr. Q - 蔡依林
28. 特务 - 蔡依林
29. 唯舞独尊 - 蔡依林
30. 马德里不思议 - 蔡依林
31. 笑忘歌 - 五月天
32. 玩美 - 蔡依林
33. 死定了- 自由发挥
34. 欢迎光临 - 自由发挥
35. 夜猫 - 丁当
36. 唇唇欲动 - 蔡依林
37. 傷心的人別聽慢歌 - 五月天
38. 藍色巧克力 - 謝娜
39. 快乐的歌 - 謝娜
40. 最炫民族风 - 凤凰传奇
41. 快樂的歌 - 楊培安
42. Dr. Jolin - 蔡依林
43. 最新超動感舞曲 - By2 DNA 

Classroom Materials List (will be updated)

1. (40) File Folder/Plastic/Milk Crates http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-File-Crate-Set-of-6/14138976 maybe not getting milk crates anymore!
2. (10) 1' Binders
3. (10) 2' Binders
4. Fabric (for bulletin boards)
5. (10) Small Stacking Baskets http://www.target.com/p/sterilite-small-stacking-basket-pack-of-6/-/A-12981146#prodSlot=medium_1_29
6. (12) Drawers (individual that can stack on top of each other) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-Medium-Modular-Storage-Drawers-Set-of-6-White/15940599
7. (3) Mini-3-drawers http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Mini-Organizer-Set-of-6/10877957 have 1 at home. Need 2 more.
8. (20) Fabric Container Organizer http://www.target.com/p/closetmaid-cubeicals-fabric-drawers-1-pack/-/A-14469040#prodSlot=medium_1_12 have 3.
9. (1) Bean Chair
10. (1) Papasan Foldable Chair CHECK
11. (1) Floor Lamp
12. (1) Rug ~4x6
13. (6) individual paper lanterns http://www.orientaltrading.com/bright-party-lanterns-a2-3_8941.fltr?prodCatId=551273
14. (6 boxes) Hanging File Folders
15. (50) Magazine holders http://www.amazon.com/Flyt-Pack-White-Magazine-Holder/dp/B001PH3HJ8/ref=lp_3744811_1_2?s=furniture&ie=UTF8&qid=1382852577&sr=1-2
    CHEAPER HERE: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50022354/
16. (30) Backup Activities for moments where students are just sitting/standing there and not doing anything on off days (holidays, days before break, etc.)
17. (30) Wall Pocket Postits http://www.amazon.com/Post-Pockets-Closure-8-Inches-3-Pack/dp/B005DKN6OO/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_2_T4CY?ie=UTF8&refRID=16CD9ZWNB2DJNYE7PH9N
18. (1) Pocket Chart Organizer http://www.amazon.com/Smethport-747-Organization-Center-Pocket/dp/B001JTQDGQ/ref=pd_sim_op_2
19. (30) pencils school offers pencils
20. (5) small caddy (Target: $1 each) http://www.amazon.com/Romanoff-Small-Utility-Caddy-Red/dp/B000HKHLEQ but mine are 3" x 4"
21. (5) letter (Target: $1 each) tray http://i.walmartimages.com/i/mp/00/79/48/09/04/0079480904348_P255062_500X500.jpg but mines are different colors and made from cardboard
22. (24) pencil basket (Target: 6 for $3) I bought blue and black
23. (6) pocket chart with 8 pockets each (Target: $1 each)
24. (3) Storage Bin (Target: $1 each) I bought black ones; self-making cardboard boxes (kinda like shoe boxes)
25. (3) Teacher's Tote (Target: $3 each) http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-8nobnycL._SL500_AA300_.jpg except mine doesn't have the front pockets
26. (20) Folders (Office Depot/Max: $2 total) no prongs
27. mini prices, birthday signs, table name tags (Target and Office Depot/Max: ~$5)

07/16/14 Edit

Total amount spent: ~$65

Books, Wishlist, and HR Questions. A post I will have to get back to...

This site has a lot of the books I might be able to read to my students next year. My school has already ordered some of the books, but I'm wondering if I can order more. This is a great resource to have. Here's the link!

I'm starting to collect a wishlist of books on Amazon. Need to put them in Lexile order soon on excel so I can easily put them in my classroom library by levels for my students to easily pick them out during independent reading or something. So far so good. I might it on Google Doc soon.
DONE! Google Doc Text Set

I am waiting for the school district's HR to contact me to sign the contract. If I have any questions, I can ask then. Questions to ask during contract time:

1. What things will I already have for classroom?
2. How do I purchase classroom supplies?
3. Do I have to pack at the end of the year?
4. When to see classroom? Can I pick my own?
5. When can I start setting up classroom?
6. Am I allowed to use educational social media such as edmodo?
7. If I order Chinese books online, do I pay for that on my own?
8. Do I have to get a Masters to stay in the district?
9. Would Masters be paid for?

Christmas wishlist: a lot of gift cards. A lot.

Teacher Sale 2013

I found a couple of places where I can start looking for classroom materials and decorations. I'm hoping to go cheap and find as many sales as I want. The following places are great places to start looking for sales:

• OfficeMax
• Staples
• Big Lots!
• Office Depot
• Mardel (too bad I live in IL)
• TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) [although I prefer not to by things from them]
• Joanne Fabrics
• Michael's

Capitallyfrugaldc actually has a ginormous list of where teachers can get discounts (including many other places not obtaining classroom materials).

Many of the sales are around Teacher Appreciation Day/Week and they are different for each store lol.

*Mental Note: Keep checking on the websites weekly when May starts.

Other places to buy without sales:

• Goodwill
• Dollar Store
• Dollar Tree
• Garage Sales

Screening Interview... NOT!

I received my screening interview today! PSYCH! It wasn't! It was an hour past the length of a typical interview and I am proud to say:

I will be a 3rd grade Chinese Immersion teacher for the 2013-2014 school year!

I'm very excited. I just mailed in my thank you letters to the two people who interviewed me and my principal will go ahead and get me started on the hiring process. I will be setting up a time with them to meet and talk about the contract. Definitely  not an easy read.

I'm already thinking about my classroom set up and what to purchase, from my own pocket.

I need to create a list of thing to purchase and a list of questions to ask about the unreadable contract.