Smilebox Trial Run

Two posts in one day?  Are you trying to kill yourself?  Naw, I just had to give this new app of mine a dry run.  Enjoy! 

PS: be sure to turn your speakers on!

Shauna

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Group Organization and a Freebie!

So, this year I have decided to try small groups in both Reading and Math.  I am also trying my hand at a 2nd grade version of a homework planner.  In order to do this and have organization, Target has stepped up and provided me (at my expense of course) with PLASTIC 3-pronged folders!  Fabulous!  Now hopefully, they will last longer than the paper ones!  Let's see what I did with 'em!

First for the homework planner.  Nice bright yellow.  No hiding this in those backpacks!  

Here's what's inside:  (the pictures show a skinnier version, but they print out landscaped)

Click the link for your free copy! 

I printed about 5 of them back-to-back and placed them into the folders.  The students will be responsible for copying down the homework each day in each subject.  I will have them do this at the end of the day so I know everybody is doing it correctly.  I'll have my copy on the elmo for them to copy from.  

For the reading log, they need to tell me the date, the title of the book they read, and the start page and the end page.  Their parent needs to sign it each night.  For the past few years, I had a reading log that had the above information, plus a question for them to answer.  For example on Monday night it was: Tell about your favorite character in the book.  Tuesday was: What is the main problem of the part your read?  So on and so on.  I had parents complain that the reading homework was taking longer to complete than the rest of the homework itself.  I was trying to incorporate higher-level thinking questions into their homework.  But alas, I had to decipher the students failed attempts at complete sentences and I thought "There has to be a better way."  So evolved this.  Short, sweet, and to the point.  Just how I like it. 

For guided reading, it is a bright red.  Just because. 

Here's what's inside so far:  

A hot/cold reading graph for kids to monitor their own fluency.  More things will be added as I start reading groups and find resources and response worksheets as per the groups needs.  I found the graph on Teachers Pay Teachers and you can pick up your own copy here for free! 

For my guided math groups, I chose purple 'cuz it's my favorite.  What can I say?  There's nothing in it so far, but like guided reading, I plan on adding a graph for their math fact fluency, and other goodies that they'll pick up during group work time.  

Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll discuss all the great things I thought of procedure-wise over the course of this summer.  In retrospect, I did a ton of thinking this summer! No wonder I'm pooped!

Until then, I remain, always yours, 

Shauna

Back to School Tips and Tricks Part 1

My grandmother once said, "If you got something to say, say it.  If not, don't." Sound advice if I ever heard any.  Which might explain my absence over the last few days.  Apparently, I had nothing to say.  But, today is a different story.  I am going to share a few tips and tricks for going back to school in an easy, no stress kinda way.

I know, right?  No stress? Ha!  That's a good one!  No really - try a few of these tricks and maybe your transition from Summer Vacay to Back to School will be easy.  

Tip 1 - start early.  If you can, go in to your building before you are supposed to.  In my district, we are "supposed" to report for duty on August 20, and school officially starts on the 25th.  I am able to officially pick up my keys to my new digs on August 11 and I am going to make the most of it.  That whole week I've got planned - lists made and ideas in motion.  

Tip 2 - pick one thing and do it to completion.  Personally, on the day I get my keys, I am going to take a room inventory (because I still don't know what I am inheriting) and then I'll start on unpacking.  Here's what I'll put up probably on the 1-2nd day:

*Bulletin board fabric and borders

*Job chart

*Anchor charts (3-4 to start the year with)

*Rules and consequences 

Tip 3 - Make a list of what you want to accomplish that day. For example here's my list for the third day:

*Arrange desks into groups

*Unpack and store math stuff 

*Unpack and store small group reading stuff

*Post Math Rotation and Reading Rotation Boards

Once those chores are done, I'll feel like I've accomplished something, the room looks a little more like the room I want, then I'll feel like I can go home for the day.

Tip 4 - Break large jobs into chunks.  Just like teaching reading strategies, chunking can be done with huge jobs too.  If I spent 1-2 days from sun-up to sun-down I could get the room looking great.  But why?  Breaking the job of getting a room ready over the course of a few days is just plain smart.  

If you have a lot of wall space that you feel must be covered, take one wall per day.  If you have a lot of cubby-type storage spaces, tackle one section at a time.  Little by little and hour by hour your room will begin to take shape and you will have a space that only you can relax and enjoy your year in, but one that shouts to kids coming in that "This is a safe place! We will learn in here! We will have fun in here!" And really, isn't that what its all about in the first place? 

That's it.  4 tips to help your transition back a bit more easy.  Of course having a giant cherry coke from Sonic doesn't hurt either!  

In the coming weeks I'll post more tips and tricks as well as a classroom reveal and before & after pictures.  Next week I am going to focus on procedures for morning and afternoon seat work, and discuss Whole Brain Teaching that I am super excited to try this year.

Until then, I remain loyally yours, 

Shauna

S is for Spelling

I never was a good speller.  I remember having a list every week, studying oh so hard, only to fall flat on my tush come Friday and the spelling test.  Over the years, my spelling has gotten so much better due to couple of reasons.  1) I read.  And read, and read.  Did I mention that I read? If kids read a lot, they see the right way to spell words and how to use them in context.  All those experts who tell you that it's super important for kids to read at home and school - not kidding.  2) I write.  I write this blog (which you do not have to tell me how remiss I am about not getting back into since March), I write little stories that seem to impress the dogs, and I write poetry.  I know when I have misspelled a word because it doesn't look right.  Now, I know that I am not perfect - just look through yesterday's post and you'll find a word here and there that is totally wrong.  I love/hate my iPhone with its awesome (I say that with sarcasm) autocorrect feature.  But the point is, that I use the words that I am trying to spell everyday.  3) I got older.  Spelling is a developmental thing.  A first grader is not mentally equipped to handle a word such as "antidisestablishmentarianism." They would look at their list if that word was on it, and run to the hills.  I know I would've.  But now, I have skills that help me with big words like that: chunking, phonics, and digraphs.  Spellcheck.

I grew up in the time before spellcheck, SpellingCity.com, before anything dot com, or WikiStix.  All I had was a sheet of paper and a pencil, my mother grilling me at dinner time, a SpeaknSpell and alphabet magnets on the fridge.   Nowdays, we have a ton of resources that can not only help us gear our lists to children's' needs, but resources both online, and off to help them practice those lists and use them in everyday contexts not just for Friday's "BIG TEST."

Hot off the press from the following website I found a huge collection of task cards that I have printed, laminated and placed in a spelling center for Word Work. I didn't use them all however, so read through them all before tossing them into your center.  Check it out yourself and download your copy.  It's free.

Spelling Task Cards

http://www.teacherweb.com/VA/ThurgoodMarshallElementarySchool/MrsStamp/spellingcards.pdf

Teachers Pay Teachers

All you have to do is type in "Spelling Activities" in the search box and you will hundreds of hits to choose from.  Narrow your search by grade level and go to town.  You'll find a lot of sellers that have spelling activities for free to try out!

Well, my Bean has discovered my modem and all it's flashing lights that he absolutely must push.  So I'll sign off now and leave you wondering what tomorrow's post will be about!

Until then,

Shauna

Paperwork, Shmakerwork

So, you've got roughly 15,000 sheets of paper to pass out, collect, and now grade.  How do you mange all of that?  Easy.  This post is about how I do it, but if you've already got a system you are happy with, then skip on over to the next blog you love to read.  No hard feelings.

First, you'll gonna need some baskets, a empty filing drawer, and some hanging files, enough for each one of your students.  The baskets are for the papers coming IN to you.  I have one marked "To File", "To Copy", and "To Pass Back".  The file basket I'll get to in a minute.  Let's focus on the 2nd and 3rd baskets first. (Sorry you can't "see" these things in action, but it's summer and all my stuff is in one GIANT jumble in my dining room due to once again switching schools!)

"To Copy" is a basket that when I'm planning my lessons for the coming week, and if I find a worksheet that I want to use in my lessons, I'll put a sticky note with the following information on it: how many I need, what color paper (if I get a choice) and with front-to-back, or 1-sided.  My mom, who is a saint with nonexistent hearing and bad knees, comes in once a week to photocopy anything I need.  It's her way of staying involved and gives her purpose. All I do is cook dinner for her once a week and let her play around with the Bean.  Who am I to argue over a such a deal?  Anyway, it comes back to me all neatly paper-cliped together and ready for the week.  If you have a parent volunteer or a room mother, look into training them on the copy machine.  Saves a ton of time :)

"To Pass Back" is a basket of student work and notes from the office that need to go home to the parents.  The student work is work that the students have done, and I have checked, but is not for grade.  I'll put a check mark in the top corner to signify that I've indeed seen it, and sometimes if a sheet is full of errors or I see the students not trying his/her best, I'll make them redo it and indicate that on the paper.  Office notes such as "School will closed on Monday due to the holiday" and "Sign your kids up for (such and such activity)" or "Buy your one-of-kind, everybody else has them too, t-shirt for the month of October" handouts.  This basket is emptied daily by my student helpers.  They pass back all the papers in the basket when we are readying to go home for the day.

"To File" is the one that needs the most attention.  That's where your filing drawer and hanging folders come in.  Each student has a hanging folder where I place all the work that I have used as a graded work into.  Every two weeks, usually on a Friday, I'll print out progress reports and to the back of them I'll staple everything in the student folder.  This serves a few purposes: 1) the parents can see exactly how their student received the grade they did 2) eliminates parent-teacher conferences where the parents are not happy about their student's grades.  It virtually has made those angry parents all but disappear.  I'll still get one or two whiting to see how Student X can raise their grade and I will not only give them a second chance on some of the assignments, but resources that they can use at home (websites and links) to practice with their child.  Most are just lip service on the part of the parent, but I'm careful to document everything and my life with stressful parents has evaporated like Lake Mead.  I must warn you though - I carefully laid all my grading steps out in a powerpoint presentation that I give to parents at open house.  This way, they know upfront that not every piece of work their child does will be for grade.

I also grade twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Those are the days that I have nothing going on in the mornings or prep periods at school (no staff/RTI/Grade level meetings) that could divide my time elsewhere.  As soon as a piece of student work has ben entered in the grade book, it goes in the "To File" basket.  When I get a few extra minutes here and there, I file them away.  No fuss, no mess.  If it ends in a pile, at least it's in a basket and looks like I'm on top of things from an administrator point of view!

Well, that's it.  Easy paper management for beginners.  For years I struggled with the mountainous hills of paperwork stacking up in not-so-neat piles on every flat surface of my classroom.  I felt like a hoarder or better yet, Ebenezer Scrooge with his piles of money laid out everywhere.  Only my piles were getting me nowhere but down.

Now, no more piles here and no more piles there.  A few simple baskets, clearly labeled and the paper clutter has disappeared like birthday cake at a Weight Watchers meeting.  (Apparently I am into smilies today.)

Coming up on tomorrows' broadcast:  Spelling Activities! Y-A-Y!


S-H-A-U-N-A :)

The Paper VonTrapp

Last year I was on a paper ration.  For those of you who are a paper ration, I totally feel your pain.  For those of you who are NOT on a paper ration, count your blessings.  Here's a basic rundown on WHY some schools have a paper ration.

Some second grade math:  a pallet of paper, roughly 50 cases, is around $1300.  That's a lot of dough that comes directly out of your schools operation budget.  Back to math class: A case has 10 reams in it which in turn has 500 sheets of paper in a ream.  So 1 case = 5000.  I was given 3 cases of paper to last the whole year.  That's 15000 sheets of pristine white, unlined paper to use for 180 days worth of instruction.  How can you conserve paper and still deliver the type of quality instruction that you are excepted to deliver?  How about INTERACTIVE JOURNALS!

Try typing in the term "interactive journals" into teachers pay teachers and you will have a list longer than Rapunzel's hair to get through.  There are IJ for just about every subject and every grade level.  I'm going to tell you about a few of my favorites. (Since I teach 2nd Grade all my favs oars geared toward the primary sector) If you want to snag yourself your own copy of any of the ones I talk about, just click the link that is in the caption.

Math:
I love Tales from a Traveling Teacher.  She has great math journals that cover every standard of 2nd grade.  Print off two pages instead of 24 and the kids paste the heading, the activity, and the follow up reasoning and they are off and practicing what they learned in small group.  Fabulous!

Tales From a Traveling Teacher

I also enjoy using this one by Over the Hills.  Same principle as the one above yet more flip-flap book format.  Both are highly enjoyed by the kids.

Over the Hills

For Reading/Language:

I LOVE Nicole Shelby.  Her format is so cute, the kids love the pictures, and introducing each standard and concept is so easy.

 

Nicole Shelby

I also really like 247 Teacher's notebook as well.  Easy to implement, the kids love the pictures, and you save a ton of paper!

247 Teacher

And for Science, check out The Science Penguin.  They cover each strand with interactive foldables, flip-flap books, and diagrams that make putting science concepts in bite-size pieces just right for 2nd graders.

The Science Penguin

Now that you've saved a ton of paper in your journals and notebooks, how do you keep from burying yourself under a mountain of returned work like a hoarder on one of those awful tv shows?  Simple.  By spending a few minutes each day managing the paperwork.  Which leads me to the topic of tomorrow's post.  Exciting stuff I do declare!

So, tune in tomorrow, Same Bat time, same Bat channel! 

See you tomorrow!
Shauna

Dollar Deals

Do you have a deep-seeded love for The Dollar Tree?  Can you walk into a Target and not check out the Dollar Spot every time you go?  If the answer to these two questions is "yes" then you and I are on the same track!  Check out my latest finds and how to use 'em!

Item No. 1: The "Facial Scrubber turned Individual Whiteboard Eraser"
At 3 to a pack, you can outfit a class of 24 students with their own whiteboard eraser for $6.  $6! No more kids rushing to use a tissue or my spending my nights cutting up old kitchen sink towels.

Item No. 2: The "Pre-made Coordinated Paper Cut Out sets"
Perfect for centers, games, or something I need in a jif.  Think contractions, compound words, math facts, nouns and verbs, antonyms, homonyms, synonyms, or pairs.  Endless possibilities, only $1!

Item No. 3: The "Kids Can Clean Up Their Own Mess at the End of the Day" Dustbin and Broom Set

Found at Target's Dollar spot, I bought one in blue, pink, and white.  The sheet of white paper behind it is for scale.  Small enough to use, big enough to do the job.  Kids will be climbing over each other to clean up now!

Item No. 4: The "Can't Tell It's Really Me" Superhero Mask set
Aslo from Target, these were actually $2 but you get two masks, so that's $1 apiece.  Last year, I took a first day picture of my students wearing a cape and mask (to go with the whole SuperHero theme) and made a bulletin board out of it.  This year, I'll just have different masks to choose from since I'm staying with the same theme for the classroom.

Items No. 5&6: Brightly Colored School Supplies
I didn't really NEED them, but I love the colors.  Who could resist?  Besides, I'm always looking for pushpins and rubber bands, so… at a buck apiece, they came home with me.

That's it for my shopping spree.  In all, I spent about $17 and got some cool new toys that are sure to please.

Tomorrow I'll blog about ways to escape the paper trap that all teachers fall into, myself included.  Should be fun.  Same Bat time, same Bat channel!  Hit the link for a special treat!

Shauna

I've Been Robbed…in a good way

The commercial claims that they are "poopy little thieves."  It's totally true.  Kids are poopy little thieves.  They steal.  They steal your iced tea, the last spoonful of your ice cream, the last bite of that most delicious sandwich.  They steal your time.  They steal your heart.  And Bean is no exception.

So what?  That last bite of that sandwich would've gone straight to my hips, not to mention the ice cream too.  The iced tea? Well, I can make more.  The point is I'd rather play with him than do the stuff I'm supposed to do.  Stuff like mop the floor.  Take out the garbage.  Dust.  Bean is only going to be this little today.  Tomorrow he'll be bigger and older, and I only have today with him like he is.  So, poopy little thief? Yes.  I'll take him, poop and all.

It's because of this little cutie pie that I've been remiss in blogging since, gulp, March.  My goodness gracious, March?  At the end of the school year I decided to leave my present school to go to another school close by.  I'll miss the few friends I made and the students for sure, but I need a school that's a good fit for me.  My new school is about 10 minutes away from home, and I'm hoping that I have found a school that I can call home.

Along with my newfound school, this summer has been a journey for me as well.  i've been doing a lot of retrospective thinking about the way that I have run my classroom and the way that I have taught for the past few years.  Neither have I been truly happy with what I have learned.  So, I'm changing things around.  Enter Whole Brain Teaching.  Chris Biffle (google him and watch his amazing videos on youtube) has given me new insights as to what I want my classroom to sound like, look like, and be.  I really can't wait to give his ideas a try,  I will try my best to keep a detailed account of what my hopes are this coming year here at Edison and Bean.

I'll be back later this week with some exciting new things that I've found at the Dollar Store!  See yuou Monday!

Shauna