Pinterest

If you are pinning head over to Michelle's Math in the Middle: Pinterest Linky Party.  (Feel free to follow my boards as well.)

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE pinterest, but sometimes I feel like I spend all my time gathering new ideas and none of my time actually creating these new ideas!  I hope it is just a summer problem.  Anyway, I am hereby vowing to be better.  I am picking 5 projects to do by next Friday.  If I blog it then I have to do it, right?

Classroom Organization: Drink Mix Containers I will make container for our name sticks & one for our high frequency words.

Management: Ask Me Visor I will make two ask me visors (one girl, one boy).

Academic: Writing Skill Cards  I will make a set of writing skill cards for not only lines but also each letter.

Seasonal: Sub Tub I will finish my sub tub.  Complete with emergency sub plans which can be used for any read aloud.

Miscellaneous: Song Routine Binder Make a song binder easel for our beginning of the year songs and poems.

Late to the Linky Party

Jenn over at Finally in First started a favorite font linky party a few weeks ago.  It took me forever to get all of my fonts reinstalled on my new laptop, but I am FINALLY ready to join the party.  :) 

The ladies before me have FABULOUS taste so it was hard, but I tried to stay away from including repeats.  I definitely added quite a few new ones to my collection!

(If you click the image you should be able to view a larger version)

I {heart} Linky Parties!

Mrs. Lamb from Views from Room 205 is hosting a linky party asking us to share the things we could not teach without.




Here are the things I depend on (and there are a LOT!):

Embeding PDFs from Google Docs

I had a question about how to embed pdfs and saw many others did to.  So I looked it up on googles help page.  I figured now that I have an answer (and a couple easy tips) I would share the wealth.  I just hope I explain it clearly....


Step 1: Upload your document

Step 2: Share your document

(right click on the document you want to share and select "share")

(Next to where it says "Private - Only the people listed below can access" click on "change".  Change it to "Anyone who has the link can view".

Step 3: Copy the link to share your document (I will hence forth call this your magic link.)

Step 4: Place it in your blog
When I'm writing my blog and I get to the place I want to put a document I type the document name with asterisks on either side of it (so it is easy to find later) and link the text to your magic link (that you copied earlier from google).

***LIKE THIS***

Step 5: HTML mode
Then when I'm all done I switch to HTML mode.  And find the place where I want my document.  It should be too hard to find the string of asterisks.

Step 6: Paste the code

The Fancy Code¹:
<iframe frameborder="0" height="560px" src="LINK TO THE DOCUMENT" width="100%"></iframe>

Cut and paste The Fancy Code below your magic link.  You can hit enter a few times to make room. Then take the part that says "LINK TO THE DOCUMENT" and replace it with the magic link.  You just need to insert the blue part that is between the quotation marks.  So copy blue.  Replace red. (It looks pinkish in the picture, sorry!)  Delete the excess parts of your magic link with your asterisks and all that extra stuff you didn't need anymore.  Clear as mud? 

Step 7: Publish your post
Easy peasy lemon squeezy... or at least it is the second time. :)




¹Anything truly remarkable always starts with the.  See: The Ohio State University

Behavior Plans and Behavior Problems Linky Party!

I think Linky Parties are one of my most favorite parts of blogging.  They are like web professional development I didn't even know I needed. :)  Anyway, I am joining this party because a) I found it in a timely manner and b) managing behavior problems has always been an area of challenge for me.

Visit the Lesson Plan Diva's site to see some of the other posts:

I have a very hard time being firm.  I give WAY too many warnings.  I think my students can tell just by looking at me that I'm really a softy pushover without an intimidating bone in my body, and I really don't want to call their parent.  That means that I have to compensate!  A lot!  Each year I get a little better, and hopefully by the time I'm ready to retire I will have become a master.

Our school started PBIS last year to help us approach behavior management as a community consistently across the building.  I love it and it has drastically cut down on behavior problems (at least in my room).  The best part... due to my technology skills I was nominated to make the documents for our school, so I love using them!  Of course as I made them I pieced together ideas from many other wonderful schools in our county and across the internet, but imitation is the best form of flattery right?  (I wish I could give credit to the sources of my inspiration.)

We have a 4 color system which in my room is really a 5 step system.

Each day each student starts out on red.  If I notice model behavior they are able to move their clip up to the star.  Every time everyone in the class has ended the day on red or the star (more commonly known as "all red days") we get a "popcorn point".  When we get to 10 points we have a popcorn party!  Why popcorn?  Because I like to eat it.

On the other hand, each time I need to redirect a student throughout the day the student must move his/her clip down.  The first step is yellow, or a warning.  After that is green which means the student must fill out a reflection log and call his/her parent for an intervention.

*Bare with me, this is my first attempt at sharing one of my google docs.*

If the behavior continues the child takes a break in a buddy classroom while he/she fills out another reflection log.  Usually by now the problem has been resolved and the student may return to class, but if the behavior continues the buddy teacher will determine that an administrative referral is necessary.



Students also have the opportunity to earn punches on a punch card.  In my room, after 5 punches the child gets to pick a treat from our treat box.  When the student gets to 10 punches I buy him/her an ice cream at lunch.  After 15 punches he/she gets to go to read with a buddy 3rd grader.  If the student fills the whole card they are invited to a school wide party at the end of each quarter.

(The acronym S.O.A.R comes from our behavior expectation matrix.)

Now does this system work for all of my students?  NOPE!  I have tried various sticker charts, point systems, etc but the fact of the matter is I am simply NOT good at keeping up with them and therefore they become ineffective.  So here are the 3 most valuable tips I have learned over the past few years.

1) Spending my personal time with a child is one of the BEST ways to build a positive relationship with and show them that I honestly and truly care about them as a person.  I have visited homes and brought board games.  I have taken students out for a day at the movies.  I have gone to softball games and girl-scout meetings.  The value of this is PRICELESS.  It can be intimidating and scary at first but the benefits far far far far far outweigh the cons.  They never forget it.  Even the most difficult student will work towards one of these visits.  (I usually have one or two students a year that need this extra attention, so it does not end up taking up too much of my free time.)

2) Keep redirection from becoming personal by focusing on inanimate objects.  For example, if a student is distracted and not working or working very slowly  say, "You know what, I don't think this pencil is working very well.  Why don't you try this fast one."  and zoom the pencil in the air in loops as you pass it to the child.  Or "Oh my goodness, I think something is wrong with your chair!  It keeps tipping!  Try this one."  Sounds silly, and it is, but it works!  It makes redirection a positive experience instead of negative.

3) Take pictures of positive behavior.  Show them to the class.  It is one of the best compliments you can give.  Praising a child individually is like one compliment.  Praising them in front of an audience is equivalent to getting a compliment from everyone hearing it!

(*Teacher tip* Intimate bags make great chair pockets.  I used to get them 3 for $1 at Dollar Tree.  They have since changed the material they use and the new bags snag and don't hold their shape well.  Boo!)

This student had kept his work area clean while the rest of the room was a wreck!  Can you tell by the overturned chair that is just outside of the picture?????

Hope the links work for you!  If they don't, let me know and I'll go watch a tutorial so I can to fix them.

Back to School Bonanza Giveaway!

Oh my!  I have not visited blog land in forever!  After spring break I grounded myself from blogging to wrap up the year and this summer has been dedicated to wedding planning.  But I am happy to announce, I am finally off punishment and have allowed myself to start blogging once again.  Boy did I ever pick the best week to come back!  There is a HUGE giveaway going on from some of my blog idols.  There are 12 prizes going to the winner.  Yes, you read that right... 12!

You can find out all of the details here:

I don't know if I can wait until Thursday to purchase some of those delicious units on TPT!

My nest linky party

I have anxiety about joining this linky party.  Ha, that's cuz I don't want my inner slob to show on the internet.  I guess I have two nests at school...

The first nest is the one I like best because my laptop and document cam are there!  This picture is post my after school cleaning.

good: I love having my desk in the middle of the room.  It helps me keep it clean because I actually spend time there now.
bad: That nasty paper sorter gets so junky looking!  I need to go through and purge.  (There are also two bins you can see poking out from under my desk.  I'm hoping some elves live under there and will clean those out for me... I'm still waiting.)


ugly:  This is what it usually looks like at the end of the day.  Eeeeek!  I tend to keep going at rabbit pace all day and never stop to put (or even throw) things away until after the kids are gone.  I wish my desk were closer to the recycle bin!

This is my other nest... I hate the clutter surrounding it.  I even sewed a curtain to hide some of the clutter... unfortunately I don't think I made it big enough, it really needed to cover the whole small group area!

good: My "do not disturb" hat - When I am in small group or assessing kids I put it on, then the kids know not to bother us.  Sometimes I forget to put it on and the kids happily remind me when I try to shoo them away.  I probably look ridiculous... but hey, whatever works, right?
bad: Too much stuff!  I need to throw some away, but of course then I'll need it.  Am I the only one that identifies with the show Hoarders?  They should make an episode dedicated to teachers.
ugly: My small group table has been MUCH neater in past years.  I blame it on that nasty cabinet thingy.  I need to find a teacher to swap a bookshelf with me if I am in the same room again next year.

I'm too embarrassed to show you the nest I am sitting in right now at home (I have completely taken over the coffee table and one side of the couch), and the spare bedroom that has become a giant walk-in teaching closet.  My fiancee keeps asking me to do something about it.  Each time he asks, I go in there and move crates around, but somehow I don't think that's what he has in mind.  I even promised to bring some if it to my classroom, but then he realized June is just around the corner and it will all end up back at home anyway! ;)

My First Linky Party!!!

Always First Grade has been hosting a classroom photos linky party and I have enjoyed seeing everyone's classrooms so much that I have decided to share mine.

 

This is the view when you walk in my room.  Please excuse the mess on the students tables, today we were  SOOOOOOOOOO busy (Making these cone shaped leprechaun faces from What the Teacher Wants) we didn't have time to clean up at the end of the day.  In fact, if it weren't for another TA popping her head in our door at 2:15 we wouldn't have noticed that it was the end of the day at all!  Don't you love days like that where everyone is so engaged?   I think I forgot to take a close up of a student table, but I love keeping them in collaborative groups with community supplies. 

 

We are lucky enough to have four student computers; unfortunately, one is out of order right now.

My small group area…I had a tall bookshelf behind my small group area in my old room.  I liked it much better than that beastly cabinet.  The middle shelf is nice and tall, but the storage space behind the cabinet doors is awkward and useless since it has a ton of vertical dividers (for file storage I guess).

These are my student mailboxes.  I love them.  It makes it so easy to pass out papers and write notes throughout the day.  I guess I’m a hog, because all of the top spots belong to me!

This is our kid closet.  We keep backpacks, coats, and recess toys in here.  The white sack holds shopping bags for students who forget backpacks.

One of my favorite spots in our room, our “listening closet.”  The kids love to squeeze in there together to listen to books.  It even comes with it’s own built in headphone storage. ;)

Our job chart and weather frog.  Each student has a bee with a number that sticks with Velcro to the job they pick.

We are required to have a focus wall in our county.  I have yet to feel completely happy with the way I design it.  CD pockets worked well for the big first grade vocabulary cards, but not so well for the little K cards that we demote to our word wall when we’re done.  I need to get another small blue pocket chart.  (My L and U fell off the wall today… I guess that’s a sign spring really is on it’s way!)

This is our whole group area and it’s the hub of our classroom.  We use the smartboard CONSTANTLY.  I don’t know how I ever taught without one.

Our “Today we will…” board is another piece that comes with teaching in my county.  We are required to write objectives using blooms taxonomy for each lesson and post it where it is visible for the kids.  I have a love hate relationship with this requirement.

This is our classroom library and another one of my favorite areas.  We keep books sorted by author and genre.  I do love that the K kids are MUCH better at keeping the library clean than my firsties were!  (I promise I didn’t clean for the picture!)

I need to get more bins, I used to buy mine at walmart but they stopped carrying them.  Ekkkkk!!!!   They are carrying stackable ones with handles that flip now instead.  Does anyone know where you can still find the old ones?

*UPDATE*  I've had questions about where my library labels came from.  I made them myself and you can get them from my TPT store here.

 This is our centers area.  We have five main stations, one for each domain (phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency).  Each center has a tub with folders that correspond to a table.  They get their own buckets (each bucket has multiple folders because we are required to differentiate each domain for 3 levels) and folders at the beginning and are wonderfully independent.  One of the biggest helpers are the folders I make and bind together each year.  I buy wax coated folders at Walmart during back to school.  This year I found them for 1 cent each (they are usually 10 cents).  I then bind five of them together, with a heavy duty page protector on the front (that holds their center contract), using a comb binding machine.  This makes it so easy for them to keep track of their work since everything is color coded (center buckets, tables, folders, etc.)

This is our cool down station.  Kids go to this desk to fill out a reflection log if they change their color twice.  I find that looking out the window helps students cool down faster. (This picture makes it look like we have a beach outside our classroom... unfortunately we don't.  That's the K playground.)

These are our cubbies.  As you can see we have a ton of workbooks.  We rarely use any of them.  If students finish all of their centers for the week one of their choices is to get out their reading workbook, this is really the only time we use them.  I don’t know why our district spends so much money on them.

 Aren't these faces super cute?  We make them the first day of school.  I pass them every day on my way out of my room and they make me smile so much that I leave them up all year. 

What a wonderful day of giveaways!!!

Takara from thirst for first is pairing up with Abby from The Inspired Apple to host a giveaway.  Great ideas!

 Diane and Kelly over at Made for First Grade are having an awesome giveaway for a unit of Laura Numeroff story activities.  Wish me luck!





Is offering a giveaway for a $10 amazon gift card.  Who doesn't love amazon!!!  Head on over to her blog and follow it to be entered.





What the teacher wants is also offering a fabulous giveaway.  $100 to the container store... and what teacher doesn't LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEE containers???!??!??!?!?!?  Why are you still reading this.  Go enter already!!!!

Barns & Noble Give Away

A few weeks ago, while I was planning for our Dr. Seuss unit, I stumbled into the teacher blogging world.  Lindsey's blog the teacher wife is one of the inspirational blogs that caused me to catch the bug. 

She is currently offering a $10 Barnes and Noble give away.  Head on over and start following her blog to be entered in the giveaway!  She will be announcing the winner on St. Patrick's Day.

*Update* Another great giveaway: 
Ms. V's First Grade Fun is celebrating 200 followers by giving a way a Dr. Jean's CD of your choice.  Give away ends Monday, March 14th.