Hello there! My name is Lauren Francis, and I'm 25. I teach fourth grade in a small town in Missouri and absolutely love my job! I started teaching 3 years ago right out of college. I taught second grade my first year and have been teaching fourth grade for the last two years. It was quite a change, but I couldn't be happier! I honestly love teaching fourth graders. They're such a fun age! They still seem to like school, but they're much more independent at this age. Don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of drama, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
I wanted to start blogging about all of the things I do in my classroom. I love looking on Pinterest and reading other teachers' blogs to get inspired to try new things in my own class.
I am in charge of science for our fourth grade (we only have two teachers per grade). My partner teacher is in charge of social studies. At first, I was bummed because social studies is one of my favorite subjects (plus, I minored in history in college), but I am so glad that I get to do science. There are endless possibilities as to what I can do in my classroom for each topic in science. It's a very hands-on subject, and I utilize that as much as possible. Science has become one of my favorite subjects for sure!
Even though I love science, I have always loved ELA the best. I love grammar and reading! My dad was a high school English teacher in the town where I grew up, so I grew up with it. There's just something so satisfying about knowing when to use commas, how to punctuate sentences, how and when to use certain words, etc. I have always loved grammar (even though it can seem boring to students sometimes). I have a confession, though: I never liked reading as a kid. I would do anything and everything to get out of doing those book reports. I felt like reading was homework! Once I started reading the books, though, I'd come to find that I actually enjoyed it. However, there was always a negative connotation that went along with reading (at least for me), and I know that killed my dad. He is an avid reader and neither of his kids were bookworms growing up. (My brother still isn't a reading fan and would rather have his teeth pulled than read a book for fun.)
I, on the other hand, have fallen in love with reading because I finally found books that enjoy. I'm a huge fan of dystopian novels (The Hunger Games, Divergent, Taken (no, not the Liam Neeson one), The Maze Runner, etc.) and want to help my students find the books that make them WANT to read. We're reading Holes right now in my small group time, and the kids are absolutely loving it! I have tons of different activities to go along with each section of the book, and they actually give themselves homework so that we can read more and do more in group time! That just makes me so happy!
Finally, I want to talk about math. Math was the bane of my existence growing up (even through college). I was a straight-A student in all areas except math. I never understood it and still struggle with it today. Don't get me wrong, I had wonderful teachers, but I just never quite grasped the concepts (especially fractions and measuring). I actually didn't understand fractions until I had to teach them! I worried myself sick thinking about how I'd have to figure out how to teach something about which I didn't feel comfortable at all! My saving grace was my mentor teacher during my student teaching semester. She is an amazing teacher and taught in such a way that everyone could understand. After observing her lesson over fractions, I was an expert! It was so simple! It had just never clicked before. So, because of that, I'm very mindful of the struggles my students endure when it comes to all subject areas, not just math. I know how it feels to be a naturally good student in all areas except one, and it's frustrating! It also helped me be more patient with my lower-level students because I've been there.
My goal as a teacher is to make sure that each and every one of my students has a chance to succeed and that I provide those chances for them. It's the best when a kiddo has that "Ah-ha!" moment. It's the most rewarding feeling in the world to see a struggling student finally click and understand the content (especially when I see how excited they get).
So, I've decided to keep this blog for myself and for others. I want to keep track of what I do in my classroom and see what others do, too, so that I can constantly improve my teaching. Comments are more than welcome! I love collaborating with other teachers to come up with new, fun ideas! Anything I post on here will be credited back to where I found it, and anything original from me is open to anyone else to use however they feel will fit their teaching.
My TeacherPayTeachers store has only a few things as of right now, but I plan to add much, much more as I continue to blog. (My Holes unit will be up *hopefully* before too long!) Stay tuned!
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