New Chairs? Yes, Please!

I HAVE NEW CHAIRS!

AND, I AM CAPS LOCK EXCITED 

TO TELL YOU ABOUT THEM! :-)

A few weeks ago, I was approached my my assistant principal with the news that there was some money available for some extra materials for the reading program I teach. Was I interested in selecting some things?

SERIOUSLY! When does that ever happen?!  Of course, I immediately screamed, "YES!!!!" smiled and said, "Thank you, I would love to order a few things."  While I ordered some usual items like folders and notebooks, I was really looking for some floor chairs for independent reading time.  I searched high and low until I found these on Amazon.com.  They come in a bunch of different colors.  I didn't get to select a color.  I would have loved the lime green, but it's probably for the best as the darker blue will hide more. The price on Amazon varies according to color.  I have seen that a few other times on Amazon with products and can never figure that out.  The prices range, as I'm typing this, from $33.03 to $59.99!!  Crazy expensive!

                                     

  

I also found them sold as "teacher folding floor seats" on the Kaplan School Supply site for $44.95. Crazy expensive again!  I don't' know where my school ordered them from or exactly how much they paid, but I do know that we use specific vendors that give the district a discount so I'm sure we didn't pay anywhere near those prices. If we had, I probably would have gotten just one! :-)

I will say they are worth the money.  I teach 4th and 5th grade students who range in size from fun-kid size to almost looking full grown adult size!  I need floor chairs that were going to be sturdy and withstand some weight.  The kids love them and say they are really comfortable.

The chairs are adjustable, but I haven't really told my friends that yet! The one rule we have is no rocking in the chairs.  They are very light weight and lay flat for easy storage.  Also, there is a strap if you are on the move.  I saw these chairs advertised as beach chairs on one site, perhaps that explains the strap.  They would be great to take outside for reading.  The chairs are covered in a wipe-able fabric that would clean up easily, too.

 

So, yes these chairs can be a bit on the pricey side.  But so far, they seem sturdy enough for my older friends and have inspired them to read more just so they can sit in them.  Let's hope the shine doesn't wear off too soon! While these may not be in your budget, if you do happen to come across some extra school funds, add these to your wish list.  You won't regret it!

As always, this is not a paid endorsement.  I just like my chairs!

Day 7 - Stockings

It's Day 7 of the December Photo A Day Challenge!

Day 7 - Stockings

Well, today's post has been totally thwarted.  I am unable to take the picture I had planned because today turned out to be, much to my utter joy, an unexpected snow day!  

The snow here in my area of NJ is just insane right now.  

But if you know me, you know that I love, love, love every snow day we get!!

Since my planned post isn't happening, I'm improvising!  Today's challenge is stockings so I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of some teacher-themed stocking stuffers.  Stocking stuffers are as much fun as actual gifts in my family.  I think they can be harder to buy than actual gifts, but it is always fun to see what's in there.  Some of these might really qualify as gifts rather than stocking stuffers.  So, here is a list of some fun, assorted stocking stuffers/gifts for the teacher in your life or if you are the teacher, ideas for your wish list!  Or, if you are a parent, here are some suggestions!  All pictures are from the linked to sites.

• Let's begin with that picture above.  It's actually a t-shirt from Zazzle.com. They have a lot of fun teacher-themed shirts, but I kind of love this one!

An Apple for the Teacher!  I've written about my apple cozy before.  It' silly, unnecessary, and totally cute.  I saw these on Etsy and think they are great.  They're from the shop KnoodleKnits and just $6 each.  Apple not included. :-)

• I would definitely be a lesser teacher if I didn't have my coffee each morning!  However, being a teacher usually means I have a cup of cold coffee on my desk because we all know it is impossible to just sit for even a minute.  I would always joke that every day was an experiment to see how  many times I could reheat my coffee until I actually poisoned myself. :-)  Then, I finally found the perfect thermos!  This is the Thermos Stainless King 16 ounce leak-proof travel tumbler.  It keeps my coffee hot for hours.  Honestly, not just warm but hot well into the afternoon.  It also is totally no drip or spill.  Once it is closed, you could twirl it in the air and not a drop comes out.  That has saved me a few times because I tend to throw it in my school bag where it tumbles about.  I got it on Amazon for $19.99.  Well worth every penny!  I have no idea why it is listed now for $39.99.  Not sure I would have bought it at that price, but I do love mine. It comes in black too, but I got the raspberry color.

                                                  

• Lanyards!  These days we all have to wear an ID, so lanyards are a given.  I like these Vera Bradley chain lanyards a lot.  They are breakaways, so if a friend happens to catch it, it will pull apart.  The best part is that they are now on sale for 50% off on the VB site.

• Every teacher needs a good bag to tote around the million plus papers we need to grade.  I couldn't not post about my Thirty-One Organizing Tote.  I won't go in to detail as I just posted about it in Day 5 of the December School Day Photo Challenge.  

• Okay, I had to add this one.  I so wish it were a sign, but it's actually a cross-stitch pattern.  The perfect gift for any teacher!  If it were a sign, I would hang this in my classroom in a heartbeat.  I can't begin to tell you  how many times I've had the, "A lot is not one word!" conversation.  If you cross stitch, please buy this pattern from nerdylittlestitcher on Etsy and make it for me!

• Flash Drives!  If you search for them on Amazon, you will find a million options.  I really like the bracelets.  There are all kinds of fancy ones available.  Amazon has some that look like real jewelry in gold and silver, with rhinestones and engravings.  They have fancy necklaces that are flash drives, too. 

 I opt for the cheap rubber bracelets like those below.  It is easy to throw it on your wrist and go.  I having to dig through my pocketbook to find it.  Also, if I'm on my way to the copy machine, it is one less thing to carry. Plus, they just are un-stylish enough that I remember to take it off before going home!

• Let's not forget the obvious teacher gifts, gift cards!  My favorites are Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks.  Truthfully, I like any gift card I get! I don't know about you, but I always save mine for the summer. In my district we are only paid ten months of the year, September to June, so no paychecks over the summer.  It makes it nice to have some gift cards to treat yourself with over the summer.

• Finally, if you're the teacher, here's a little something for your husband! A "Real Men Marry Teachers" t-shirt.  This link will take you to Zazzle.com again where they have a number of different variations on this shirt.

So, that's my improvised "stockings" post.  

Hope your stocking stuffers are all you want them to be this year!

Day 5 - Favorite Things

It's Day 5 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

Day 5 - Favorite Things

One of my favorite school related things is my school bag.  Or, in this case, school bags.  I actually posted about this bag in an odds and ends post I did in March of last year and I still love it.  The black and white bag is from last year, and I got another one for this year in a different pattern.  It's the Thirty One Organizing Utility Tote.  It seems to have gone up a bit in price from last year.  In the post I did about it then, it was $25.  If you click over to the current Thirty One site, it seems the bag is now $30.  Still worth it I say! My post from last year explains why I like this bag so much, and all the reasons are still the same! Definitely one of my favorite things!

An Affordable Ikea Classroom

 So, let's start with some blog business.  

• My apologies for the lack of posts.  Teaching summer school and a serious family illness has essentially eaten up all of my time.  August promises to be just as hectic on the family front, but summer school will be over after the 8th so I'm hoping to be a more productive blogger soon!
• Yes, I am still looking to redesign my blog.  I know that header has been up there for ages, but it will happen people!  

I know many of you are getting ready to head back to school in August.  I've seen lots of blogs with teachers already crafting, creating, laminating, and decorating.   Honestly, I can't even think about it yet!  We don't head back to school until September 3rd, and students don't start until September 9th.  My head is not yet in back to school mode. Having said that, no serious academic post here today!  :-) 

But, here's one on classroom decorating.

I was in Ikea the other day and found a lot of items that would be great for the classroom.  Thought I would share a few and some ideas for using them.  I'm limiting this post to things that are on the smaller side and affordable. Yeah, I would love to buy all new Billy bookcases for my classroom, but that's so not in the budget! Mine or my school districts!  So, here are some smaller items that can add a little color, fun, and function to your classroom without busting the budget.  See if you can guess which is my favorite item that I may have just purchased more of than I will probably ever need!  By the way, all images are from Ikea and this is not a sponsored post.  Just some things I like and think you will, too!  But, Ikea if you are out there and want to throw some Billy bookcases my way. . .Just kidding!!! 

Okay, here we go. . . 

This is the Hopplek rug.  It's 2' 7" x 5' 11" and only $12.99.  I think this adorable for the younger grades, but the measurements on the side make it great for upper grades, too.  This would be great in front of a math center area.   Kids could toss one or more bean bags and then create a math story using the numbers or measurements they land on.  I also think it would be a good game rug. I'm sure you can think of even more to do with it!

This is the Hampen rug.  It measures 2' 7" x 2' 7" and is $9.99.  These rugs would be great partner rugs for smaller friends.  You could have them rolled up in a basket, and when it it time for partner reading they can just grab a rug and find a spot.  For your older friends, it might fit only one.  It also comes in a couple of other colors.

This is the Fargglad chair.  It's a child's chair, so it is a bit on the smaller side.  It's $14.99.  The chair back and seat are woven plastic, so easy to wipe down if needed.  It is also stackable, so if you get some for a guided reading table you can easily stack them and move them aside when not in use.  But, in keeping the affordable in mind, I was thinking of what could you do with just one chair. It would be a great author's chair, special seat for the student of the day, a birthday seat, etc.  You could even doctor it up a bit with some ribbons to make it extra special.

This is the Tolsby frame.  It holds a 4" x 6" picture, and they are only $0.99 each!  There is no back, so you can put two pictures in each frame.  They are made of plastic, so perfect for the classroom and clumsy people like me!  These would be great for classroom signs, activity directions, library labels, and a ton of other things.

The Rigga clothes rack is $12.99.  When I saw this, I thought it was an inexpensive answer for anyone in need of a chart stand.  All you would need are the rings or some clips to hold your charts on the top bar.  I even like the rack on the bottom because you could put a few baskets on it to store materials for your charts. That would probably also help make it a bit more sturdy.  And, it's on wheels!

Here is the Dokument wastepaper basket in pink.  It is $3.99 and also comes in silver.  I actually bought this last year for my desk.  Our school does a great job of giving us those big, round, gray, plastic trash cans and recycling trash cans, but I wanted something smaller by my desk that wouldn't be filled with students' tissues and other icky stuff!  It is made of steel and fairly indestructible.  Ikea doesn't give its measurements, but it is on the larger side as far as wastebaskets go. For $3.99, you could also use it for holding project materials, books, or a few of those Hampen rugs. :-)

These are the Kvissle clip-on bookends.  You get a set of two for $4.99.  I love these because they clip on to the shelf.  No more falling over books and bookends when someone takes a book and the bookend moves.  What I love even more is the wide bar that faces you once you clip it on.  It's just made for a label. You could print out genre, alphabetical, or leveled labels to put on the bookend.  It would not only separate the books, but it would help in organizing your library while giving your friends a clear visual.

These are the Kusiner storage baskets, and you get all three for $4.99.  I have a similar set of baskets, but they aren't as nice as these.  These baskets have a soft coil in between the fabric, so they collapse for easy storage.  When you need to use them, just unhook the loop and they will spring right back into shape.  They are about 7" high and are great for handing out small materials to groups.  Unlike mine, these have numbers on the front that helps with identifying the groups just by having the basket on the table.  If you needed more than three baskets, you could always get two sets and put an A and B on the numbers with a Sharpie.  They are also great scrap baskets for the table when everyone is cutting and you don't want a constant parade to the trash can.

The Riso chair pads come in assorted colors for $3.99 each.  These would also make great floor seats for your friends if you don't have a carpet.  They are non-slip as the underside has anti-slip dots.  These remind me of the sit-upons I made when I was a Brownie back in the day.  In fact, the Crafty Texas Girls blog has a tutorial on how to make a sit-upon using newspapers and a vinyl tablecloth.  That's how I remember doing it!

Tins!  These are the Nidelva storage tins, which come as a pair for $3.99.  No grand plans for these, but they are cute.  And, who couldn't use a cute storage tin for erasers, paper clips, or anything else you can think of?

And finally, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention the Flyt magazine files!  You can't beat 5 for $1.99.  I use these as book baskets for my friends' independent reading books.  I actually picked up striped ones from Ikea a couple of years ago, but I like the plain white.  As a back to school activity, you could have your friends decorate and personalize the box to tell about them as a reader.  They could draw pictures of their favorite book characters and book covers or pictures of things they like to read about.  It just might be a fun way to get them excited about filling their book box.  I have reused my striped files/boxes for a couple of years, but for the price I wouldn't having a problem letting my friends personalize one for their own.  I did find putting a strip of book tape on the bottom of each to be a good idea.  Sometimes they can get a bit heavy once all the books are in, and the tape helped them hold up very well.

If you look closely in the picture below, you can see my boxes lined up by the windows. This picture is from a post I did back in 2011 on how I set up my classroom that year.

In looking at that picture, I think maybe one of the reasons I liked all those Ikea items above so much is that they are (almost) all very colorful.  My classroom is usually a colorful place!

After all that I can only hope you have an Ikea near you. :-)  If not, I would bet you could find similar items in craft stores or home goods stores. By the way, my favorite item?  Those Tolsby frames! Love em'!

What has been your favorite back to school purchase so far?

2 Picture Books for Writing Lessons

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

I could not be any happier to be on break this week! 

There is a serious case of  Spring fever bouncing in my brain. My plan is to enjoy the heck out it.  Having free time is such a welcome novelty when you are a teacher.  Sadly, we had a snowstorm yesterday.  Who asked for snow on Spring Break?  Whoever you are. . . STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  It turned out to be more annoying snow than accumulating snow.  But, what to do on a Spring Break Snow Day?  Head to Barnes & Noble!

As you can see from the sign, they too have Spring fever!  I headed over to the children's section to see what was new in picture books.  I saw many familiar favorites, but there were two in particular that caught my eye.  Both books seem perfect for writing lessons.

The first book is Exclamation Point by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.  Before I tell you more, let me just say I find it ironic that two people who write a book about punctuation choose to have their proper noun names in all lowercase letters on the cover. Thankfully, all the writing in the book follows the rules.

Exclamation Point is a dual purpose book.  It obviously teaches end marks, but it is also a great book about being yourself.  This little exclamation point tries to be a period and a question, but in the end it must be itself - a loud, proud exclamation point!  And, it is only once it decides to be itself that it is happy and admired by the other end marks.  What a great lesson to pass on to our friends.

I like the book as a good way to introduce sentence types and end marks.  For those friends who continually leave off those end marks in their writing, it would make a fun mini-lesson on how important it is to include them.  Below is a snapshot from the book.  Every time a certain end mark speaks, their sentence ends in their end mark.  Another cute point about the book is that its pages are ruled like primary writing paper.  Something our friends are very familiar with.

I might love this book simply because I am notorious for overuse of the exclamation point.  I'm also very guilty of using more than once even though I teach my friend that just one does the job!!!!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

The other book I found and loved is One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo.  Since my pocketbook limited my purchase to just one book, I had to make a choice between the two.  This is the book that won my heart and my cash. :-)  I must have been living under a rock where this book is concerned because not only is it a 2013 Caldecott Honor book, it was on the New York Times best seller list of children's picture books back in February of 2012.  Where was I when all this was going on?

I love so much about this book!  First, I love that the author, Toni Buzzeo, is a former English teacher and school media specialist.  I also love that  David Small, is the illustrator of this book, but we also know him well from his many, many other illustrated books.  The Gardener, The Library, and So, You Want to be President? are some of my favorites.

One Cool Friend is a fun and surprising story of a little boy, Elliot, and his father who visit the aquarium.  While there Elliot asks his father, "May I please have a penguin?"  Thinking he would like a stuffed souvenir  the father hands him $20.  Little does he know that Elliot means a real penguin.  The story is wonderful.  I promise it will engage your friends of all ages.  There is even a surprise ending that tells us Elliot and his dad have a lot in common. :-)

So, where is the writing connection?  It comes in how the David Small chose to illustrate the dialog.  Take a look at a couple of pages.

Notice how the dialog is bubbled.  Perfect for teaching how to punctuate dialog.  Notice that the second line shows connected dialog. In the picture below, what Elliot is thinking is bubbled differently from actual dialog.
A great way to show the use of internal dialog to your friends. Notice the tags in both pages are different.  In one the father "announced" while Elliot "said."  You could easily use this to teach how to use different tags for dialog, even having your friends change the ones in the book.  This would be a good book to use with a document camera so your friends can get the full effect.

Right before I was going to publish this post, I thought to do a quick search and see what was out there on it.  I found something wonderful!  Toni Buzzeo has a six-trait writing guide available for free for  ALL of her picture books.  I guess once a teacher, always a teacher!  You can go directly to the download via THIS LINK, or you can get there through Toni Buzzeo's web site.  As I looked over her writing guide, I found that her idea for a convention lesson is exactly what I wrote about, the dialog bubbles!  However, her guide gives you a bunch of other good lesson ideas to use with the book.

I would say One Cool Friend is a must buy.  If your pocketbook allows two, don't forget Exclamation Mark.  Both books would serve you well as teaching tools, but both are also just great books to read and enjoy.

Personalized Sticky Notes for Reading

I've been working with my small group friends on comprehension skills.  I know, who hasn't been doing that! :-)  One of the areas they needed a great deal of help with was monitoring their thinking as they read.  They would often just read through without any real understanding of what was happening in the text.  Or, they read on thinking they get it, yet when we discuss their reading they have significant misconceptions or have totally missed the important points of the text.  They simply did not self-monitor as they read. 

To help with this in their independent reading, we have been working on Stop! Think! Jot!  It is literally what it says.  Stop after reading a certain amount.  Think about what you are reading.  Do I understand what is going on?  Jot down a thought about it.

To begin, we worked on Stop! Think! Jot! as a tool to "check-in" with our mind to make sure we understand the text.  The "think" prompt was simply; Do I understand what is going on in this part?  Can I retell it in one or two sentences?  Those one or two sentences would be the Jot! part.  To help with this, I placed sticky notes in strategic spots in their independent reading books.  When they hit a sticky note, they had to jot down that one or two sentence retelling.  Having to put it in writing really stopped many of my friends in their tracks at first.  I would see them start to write, stop, put their pencil down, and go back to reread.  This shows me that they really didn't have full comprehension of their reading the first time. Most of my friends have improved tremendously with monitoring their understanding of the text.  Most now do it without the prompting of a sticky note.

We then moved on to making connections, asking questions, making predictions, or just noting our thoughts about the book, interesting words, etc.  In guided reading, I select the sections we read and where we stop to think and discuss.  However, when my friends are doing independent reading, they still need some guidance on when it is time to stop and think.  Even at this point in the school year. (insert sigh here) They are getting better, but  I still have a select few who will read through the text without ever stopping to think about the text.  I know that they are mentally stopping to "check-in" and make sure they understand, but then they just keep going.

Much like I did in the beginning of the year when we worked on monitoring comprehension, I strategically placed sticky notes in their independent reading books reminding them to jot down a thought.  I ended up writing a lot of sticky note reminders!  Now, I know there are tutorial and templates on how to print on sticky notes.  That link will take you to a great post on the blog Ladybug's Teacher Files that shows you just how to do it and includes templates.  I think that's great, but I have this fear of jamming my printer.  And honestly, I just don't want to print my own sticky notes. If you want to, great!  It just wasn't for me,  I needed a better way.

I ordered these personalized sticky notes from Vistaprint.  Vistaprint allows you to personalize just about anything for very reasonable prices.  The pic is a little fuzzy because I took it off a screen shot of my order form.

I created a sticky note that reminds my friends of exactly what they need to do and provides a spot to write the page number.  This is great for when we "write long" from a sticky.  I ordered ten pads of 50 notes each for $22.49.  Not a bad price for 500 personalized sticky notes.  They should last me a while as I only need them for a select few friends, don't overload their books with them, and use the printed notes to graduate them into doing it using their own blank sticky notes when they find a "sticky worthy" spot in their book.

This might be a good time to point out that while I do place these sticky notes in their books, it's important to just do a few.  My main goal is that they read with understanding.  If I overload their book with sticky notes it becomes more of a writing assignment.  It also steals some of the joy of reading. 

When I worked with my enrichment students, they would actually Stop! Think! Jot! to death.  I have  had some of my lower ability students do this as well.  Their books would look like a peacock in full plumage with sticky notes bursting out.  For them, one of the big lessons I would always do revolved around the idea that when everything is important, nothing is important. However, some of my friends this year still need the prompting that sticky notes placed by the teacher provides.

I love that Vistaprint allows you to personalize so many different things.  In the past, I have ordered thank you cards for my classroom, punch cards for rewards, and more.  In fact, with my sticky note order I also got something fun and motivating for my friends that I will share in another post.  By the way, Vistaprint is in no way sponsoring this post. They don't even know I exist other than to bill me and send me the goodies I order! :-)

Have Cart, Will Travel!

One of the things I realized is that in September, as a push-in teacher, I am going to have to travel with materials I need.  Since I am not co-teaching with any one teacher all day but instead working in several different classrooms during the day, I am going to need something to haul my goodies around in.

Some of the teachers in my building who travel use a cart.  I totally jumped on that bandwagon!  Before I left in June, I ordered one of these.

Yup, that will be me next year! 

 No, that's not really a picture of me.  The pictures are from the School Specialty catalog that I ordered it from.  The pictures show two different versions they sell.  They are essentially the same except that the configuration of the compartments is a bit different.  I got the one in the picture below.  The organization freak in me is beyond excited to fill all those little compartments!

I know if I were to ask the teachers I will be working with for a spot to leave some materials, they would be more than willing to do so.  And, I might do that for some basic items I will be using.  However, I was thinking about my prep periods, when I will be in my room.  I don't want to have to run around from classroom to classroom every time I need something for planning or need to see what my small groups have done. Plus, there are things that will always have to travel with me like my plan book.  It will be much easier to have the cart with me.  I can just check it each morning to make sure I have what I need for each class and be on my way.  

Now, if only it had a cup holder! :-) 

Just kidding!  

Kind of. . . 

Does anyone else out there use one of these?   

If you have a push-in teacher come to your classroom, how do you make it work?

Any tips? 

The Power of the Sun

Oh my!  I can almost taste the end of the school year!  Only 43 days or, as I like to think of it, only 8 more Fridays!  It has me thinking about blogging over the summer.  I've not carried this blog over a summer.  I really started in this past August.  I was able to do a lot of posts about getting ready for school and then the school year sort of generates its own topics.  I have to be honest, I'm sort of wondering how I am going to do this over the summer.  Do any other teacher bloggers out there have any suggestions?  I might do a post later requesting some ideas!  For now, I'm sort of thinking along these lines:

1.  I want to do a lot A LOT summer reading of kid books.  My friends read more than a lot, and I haven't been keeping up with their books so well.  This should give me some book related posts.
2.  I applied to teach summer school this year.  Over my 15 years teaching, I've probably taught summer school eleven out of the fifteen years.  I like it because it runs in the morning, so I am done by 12:00.  The school is also about five minutes from my house, so it's an easy gig in those respects.  Experience tells me summer school will provide plenty of topics!
3.  Okay. . . stumped!  I usually do some revision of my curriculum over the summers, but I am so done for this year.  I don't even want to think about curriculum over the summer!  Having said that, there are two professional books on my shelf that I just haven't gotten to, so I might tackle those over the summer.

I'll have to see how it goes.  I always have a slight panic that I won't have a topic to post about, but something always pops up.  :-)  I just know I want to enjoy my summer this year more than ever!

picture source

How funny is that?  I really am planning to do a lot of "what I think I do" with a good deal of "what I really do" thrown in!  I honestly believe that summer vacation for teachers isn't a perk but a psychological necessity!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Does your classroom get a lot of sun?  I have to say that my classroom does.  I'm on the second floor of the school.  If you look out my window, there is a really pretty courtyard below, but when you look across you have a clear view to a pretty area of woods.  I have a really nice view.  However, in the afternoon my classroom is flooded with sunlight.  In the winter it's really nice, but in the summer it makes for a very hot room. 

One thing I haven't really paid attention to is how much it fades the posters in my room.  I think I don't notice it much because all my bulletin boards are covered in Fadless bulletin board paper.

Do you use this stuff?  I love it!  It truly never fades.  I can go years without replacing the paper as long as I haven't put too many holes in it. :-)  I think it's well worth the money.  I know some people like to use fabric, table cloths, or other things for bulletin boards, but I'll stick with my Fadeless.  They even have many different patterns if you are looking for more variety.  The only other time I switched it out was to use newspaper to cover a current events bulletin board.

Anyway, this is the job chart that hangs in my classroom.

I made this after looking at prepackaged job charts.  I wanted something smaller and something I could customize to the jobs in my classroom.  Here's a closer look.

 I just made a two column chart in Word and typed in the various jobs I wanted.  Then, I found clip art that matched and stuck it in.  When I was done, it came to two and a half pages that I just glued to two pieces of 12x18 construction paper.  Then, I laminated it all and stuck on some magnetic tape.  We just write on it with a wet erase marker.   Notice that pledge is crossed out?  It was a classroom job, but our new principal decided morning announcements to now include the pledge so we all say it at the same time.  Nice, I guess, but it took a popular job away from my friends.   You might also notice that I left some blank spaces at the bottom.  This works out great if you decide to add a job at any time.  It's also great for special jobs that may only be for a period of time.  For example, when our Student Council runs a special collection, the job of collecting the supplies becomes a job.

Anyway, I really bring up my job chart to say that is how I noticed how the sun has been fading my posters.  Here is glimpse of the back of the job chart.

See that bright blue?  That's what color the chart was in front, too.  Not any more!  I need to redo my job chart.  I'm thinking I might use the Fadeless paper this time.  It will be sort of flimsy as the Fadless isn't as thick as the constructin paper, but I think the laminating will help it hold up. 

By the way, see the big X next to the job of Plants?  That job is to water the plants once a week.  The X?  Yeah, we killed them this year.  I hadn't really paid much attention to them until one day I noticed all our plants, with the exception of one, were dead.  Seems I had two forgetful friends take that job two months in a row.  Not good for the plants.  I told them it was surely a good thing we didn't have a class pet! 

See you next post!

Odds & Ends

The odds and ends of my day, otherwise known as an unfocused blog post.

1. Resignation: See the papers in this bag?  All need grading.  This is what I am doing tonight.

Yup, I have fallen behind in grading. . . again.  If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that this is my Achilles heel.  It is the one responsibility of teaching that I just dread doing.  However, tonight IT'S ON!  Which translates to I've put it off as long as I dare and have to get most of it done tonight.

2.  Peeved:  Every Day Math Tests!  Yes, they irritate me.  The tests tend to have "creative" questions.  Things that ask the kids to create a problem that involves x, y, and z but equals less than this but more than that.  Great for higher level thinking, but a nightmare to grade.  I literally have to solve 25 different multi-step problems to grade these tests.  Each friend creates their own.  What's worse it that many of the tests have more than one of these types of problems.  They take forever to grade!  And, yes, there is a nice stack of them in that bag. :-(

3.  LOVING!  My new Thirty-One school bag.  That one stuffed with papers up there?  I love it! I just got it last week.  It is the perfect size for school papers. The fabric is a laminated nylon, so it cleans easily.  It has four room pockets on one side, two on the other, and mesh pockets on either end.  The handles are also long enough to sling it over your shoulder comfortably.  This one is the "organizing utility tote." On their site, it is $25. I love mine!  I have no connection to Thirty-One, but I will tell you to go buy one of these for yourself.  You will love it!  I'm thinking of getting another in a more summer-y pattern.

4.  Munching:  Since I have all that paper grading to do, I've decided on the dinner of champions.  Peanut butter toast!

5.  Sad:  One of my little friends was badly hurt in an accident this week.  Tomorrow we are going to make get well cards in class to send to the hospital.  Isn't it funny how attached you can get to your students?  I really want to cheer my little friend up.   I was thinking of maybe taking some silly pictures of the class with get well signs to also include with the kids' cards.  Anyone have any other ideas on how to cheer up my injured friend?

6.  Itching:  Just itching to check out all the blogs that linked up over at the upper elementary linky party!  I haven't had a chance to visit most of them yet.  It is supposed to be a rainy weekend, so it will be perfect for curling up with my computer and blog colleagues!  I see that some of you have stopped by here.  Thanks so much for visiting!

7.  Wow, Really?!  Just found out that we have an assembly next week.  It is a motivational assembly.  For some reason, this just makes me laugh.  I'm thinking when I was in 5th grade, nobody worried about motivating me to do my work.  It was just expected.  Now, we have motivational assemblies for ten and eleven year olds!  I have nothing against it.  Hey, anything that works!  I just think, my how times have changed! :-)

8.  Reality:  It was fun taking a break to blog with you, but I have to stop and get back to grading now.  See you over the weekend!

Teaching it "Old School"

The power went out in my building today.  
It was a dark day. 
And, it totally didn't help that it was raining all day. 
The skies were gray, and little sunlight was filtering in.
The kids had lunch in the darkened cafeteria. 
Then, it was time for math class.

Let's just say no power = no technology.

I hadn't realized just how much I have come to depend on my Promethean board. So, in the "old school" spirit, I dragged the chart stand from the back of the room, grabbed my scented Mr. Sketch markers*, and rolled with it.

Turns out I can still kick it "old school!"  The lesson went on, the kids participated (probably more from the novelty of how we were using and then flipping through reams of chart paper like crazy) and they learned.  Even though they are up at the Promethean board all the time, they were loving coming up to the chart stand and using a good, old Mr. Sketch.  It was a good, dark day!

That is if you don't count my now magic marker multi-colored hands.  It must be one of those "you know you're a teacher when" things.
Q:  Are you a teacher?
A:  Yup!  And, I have the multi-colored hands to prove it!

*By the way, how much do you love Mr. Sketch scented markers?  They are my favorite!  The color is true, they last a long time, and they smell good.  Seriously, forget the kids, I have to stop myself from sniffing them in class!  If you don't have them, go get some!  And, as for the multi-colored hands?  Mr. Sketch washes right off.
(Just my personal opinion.  The Mr. Sketch people don't even know I exist!)