No Time!

I haven't had time to update my blog!! I kind of forgot about it until my Mom mentioned to me that I didn't update it. So here is a sort update :)
I have begun teaching a lot more as well as planning for February. Our students are struggling in math, reading, and writing so we are focusing a great deal on those subjects. I am starting to see that it is hard to include all the subjects separately and that integration is very important. For February I am planning math centers and focusing on counting money. We are going to create a little store where the students can shop at the end of the week with the money they have collected from good behavior. They will have their own money bags that they will have to count. Also we will have math centers that focus on the theme of the week, money, a math website, and some kind of integrated math/science or other subject lesson. The students enjoy centers and have practice so I thought it would be good to continue. Also each week we are going to focus on an important person throughout history for Black History Month. We will read a book together and do a read a loud activity. Throughout the week I plan to include that person in our other lessons. It has been a lot of work planning all of this, but I enjoy it!
Also the students have been copying the same sentences off the board for their writing all year! I asked my teacher if I could start having daily news instead starting in February. She agreed! So I have new journals for the students and each morning I will write them a message. Then I will either have a question for them, a sentence to fix, etc. Right now our students struggle with creating their own sentences and have been copying too many things! My goal is to have them writing their own stories by the end of the semester.
It has been a long week due to a cold and losing my voice, but I have been worried about my family back in the Midwest! The storms looked awful and I can't believe the power and water problems. I hope everyone is staying warm and getting enough food.
Hopefully this weekend I can update even more! We are headed to Flagstaff this weekend to get my muffler fixed and get supplies. We are planning a Super Bowl party for the dorm students and need to get fun things. The Arizona Cardinals made it so everyone here is very excited!