Does running a class store seem overwhelming and expensive? I've been using this hassle-free class store system for over 5 years and...
I spent a few years teaching gym as the formal “gym teacher” as well as teaching my homeroom class their P.E. I have to admit, I first went into the role thinking it was going to be com…
Hey, everyone! It's Deanna from A Primary Owl, are y'all gearing up for the end of the year? It's closing in on us really fast! Packing up, end of the year checklists, grades....all of this just piles up so quick! Plus I don't know about you but if you have your own children you also have chorus performances, dance recitals, coach's gifts and teacher gifts, etc of your own to get. So I thought I would put together some ideas of things we all could do now at the end of April (almost May) to help get a jump start on things and maybe, just maybe we can get ahead???? CLEAN OUT YOUR COPIES So this is a huge clutter area for me, my team sends so many copies and frankly I just don't do all of them. So last week, I organized. I figured out what I still needed to do before the end of the year. I also decided what might be saved for next year and then with all the left overs I asked a parent volunteer to make review packets for my kids to take home for the summer. Not all of them will do it, but I do have parents that appreciate a little work over the summer and I don't feel bad for wasting all that paper. START TAKING THINGS HOME I collect junk from home around my desk! Like coffee mugs, water tumblers, lunchboxes, sweaters, gifts from parents, you name it! Plus I always leave one winter coat at school just in case I forget my coat, so last week I took home a great big bag of all that stuff.....a more few things that I won't have to drag home the last week of school. What do you have around that you could take home now? CHECKLIST/SUMMER PROJECTS Start your checklist now! Or at least get ready to start it! Designate a basket for special projects that you want to work on over the summer. When you come across something as you are cleaning or organizing, throw it in there. I already got my school's end of the year checklist, so I put it on one of my special clipboards so I don't loose it. I also keep my own checklist of things I need to get done around my room. I love printing these off and putting them on my clipboard to keep me on track! {click the picture to get your FREEBIE!} INVENTORY ITEMS Does your school do a huge inventory? We do, so I've already started finding some bar coded things I know are going to be on the inventory list and put them aside on a shelf. I also started returning items to the media center that I have checked out that I no longer need. I also ask my media specialist for a list of things I have checked out that I need to start looking for. At least then, if I am missing something I can start looking for it now and not later! GRADING This one is huge! I start getting so burned out on grading papers! But if I get too behind then I can't catch up when grades are due. Make the important grades a priority (like I have stack of opinion writing that I keep shoving to the bottom of my pile) and figure out what papers you can just put some stickers on and call it a day! How do I keep my papers organized? I love my IKEA cart! MOVING Are you moving to a new classroom or a new school next year? Start looking for boxes NOW! I am moving a new school next year and I already asked our copy lady and our cafeteria manager to save me some boxes. Organize as much as you can before you start packing and it will make unpacking so much easier! END OF THE YEAR GIFTS This is the best time to start thinking of all those gifts you need to get, room moms, volunteers, the teachers on your team....and your own children's teachers! Starting early means hopefully you won't be rushing around at the last minute and forget anyone. Need some more end of the year ideas? Follow our Pinterest board! And pin this post for later:
Do you like to see other classrooms? Come take a look at these 7 different preschool classrooms!
Learn how to set up a classroom step by step with this clear and helpful guide. Your classroom set up game is about to get a big lift!
Sharing activity inspired by Should I Share My Ice Cream by Mo Willems! Perfect for homeschool, classrooms, or family fun. Includes a free printable!
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Setting up a math intervention class can be overwhelming. Here's how I set up the right mindset, design learning activites, and choose high-impact concepts.
For the past two weeks we were doing a unit study on Symmetry for Little Kids. I found that I could talk all I want about symmetry, but until kids got a chance to do a hands-on project there wasn’t a fire of understanding in their eyes. This project was super fun for all ages
Bring the thrill of camping to your home with our free coloring pages! Download and print to color campfires, RVs, and outdoor scenes.
After school activities are more important than you think. This collections of activities & educational games enhances kids' creativity & critical thinking.
What am I doing for Apple themed week in my preschool classroom? Oh, I am so happy you asked because I would love to tell you! I'm about to spill the beans on all the super-easy, super-fun activities that will light up your preschool classroom during Apple Week! Why Apple Week is Perfect for Preschool: Apple Week is a
How to set up and implement a classroom behavior plan that really works, with advice from Smart Classroom Management's Michael Linsin.
Hey, there, friends! It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade!
Dot marker printables and dot sticker sheets are such a fun and easy activity to do with toddlers and preschoolers. There are over 100 pages to grab!
Setting up a kindergarten classroom at the beginning of the year can be an exciting, yet overwhelming. Whether you are a student teacher, or this is your last year teaching elementary school, I'm here to share
Intentionally fostering interactions among teachers, parents, and community partners helped one school create a more inviting event.
Setting up an IEP work bin system can feel overwhelming! Here are some easy ways to do it so that your students can quickly work on goals!
Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!
I’m not sure if you know, but I started a new blog with some of the newer educational bloggers to help them share some of their fantastic ideas. Michael Friermood wrote this awesome post about starting the year out right. It’s a great read and there is a freebie to boot! Check it out! You ... Read More about Setting the Tone for a Great School Year!
Read about activities, lessons, and centers you can implement to help teach numbers. Download 6 free activities for your students.
Plan the new school year with these goal setting worksheets for kids. Use this goal planning printable to help kids plan and take action on their goals.
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Learn exactly how to take and edit inside the box pictures- what you need to prepare and how to edit them in photoshop elements.
Looking for fun, educational games for art class? Check out these three simple games you can put together in a few minutes.
This paper strip process art project is easy to set up and reinforces important preschool skills. And the little artists love it!
If you've been wanting to learn how to sew but don't know how to use a sewing machine yet, you need to check out Starting to Sew, a free self-paced online class for beginners.
These large 36 x 24 inch poster-sized data trackers are designed to spice up any data wall! Once they are on display, you can have student leaders graph the class average for reading and math assessments each week. These class data trackers can also be used to set quarterly goals and track iReady progress. Are you a Leader in Me school? These are perfect for implementing leadership traits with your student! They are designed to be printed as large 36x24 in posters. They need to be printed at a local print shop. (Instructions included!) I've also included a 8.5 x 11 in. version so that you can print & add to your teacher data binder! Goal setting and student data tracking are an essential part of developing leaders in our classrooms. While individual student leadership data notebooks can be very motivating for students, some children respond better to whole-group goal setting and data tracking. Having a visible data wall or bulletin board filled with class-wide data and goals is a great way to keep students accountable for their learning. ----------------------------------------------------------- RELATED TO THIS PRODUCT: ✭ Click here to READ MORE about Goal Setting & Student Leadership + Need these posters in neutral / boho colors? You can grab them here! + Looking to track INDIVIDUAL student data? Check out the Leadership Notebook ----------------------------------------------------------- This is a ZIPPED file. Make sure you are able to unzip files prior to purchasing. Once you unzip, you will find the following inside: Here's What's Included: Data Wall Letters (Data Wall & '#Goal Getters, and '#goals') Goal Setting Template- Four Quarters Goal Setting Template- Beginning of Year, Middle of Year, End of Year Goal Setting Template- Blank (Add student post-it notes with individual goals!) Class Data Assessment Tracker (Any subject) Class Data Assessment Tracker for Each Individual subject 'Our Class Reading Growth' Class Data Assessment Tracker 'Our Class Math Growth' Class Data Assessment Tracker Math Reading Science Social Studies Writing iReady Tracker- Diagnostic 1,2, & 3 comparison chart includes strengths, areas for growth, and time on task section for individual subject iReady Tracker- Diagnostic 1,2, & 3 comparison chart for Math AND Reading on the same page! Includes strengths, areas for growth, and time on task section. iReady Tracker- Diagnostic 1,2, & 3 comparison chart for Math AND Reading NWEA MAP Testing Tracker- Science, Reading & Math with blank spaces to add your own numbers! NWEA MAP Testing Tracker- Reading & Math for Grades K-5th (Posters with and without norms indicated) EDITABLE PowerPoint templates which allows you to change all text boxes + table to fit your needs! PRINT ONLY TEXT version of the posters (No cursive font!) **Printing instructions included inside! These poster-sized files must be printed at Office Depot or Staples. Poster cannot be printed in home printer.*** ----------------------------------------------------------- WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING: "These are amazing! My data wall using this resource is the best thing in my classroom. The students love getting to graph their class averages and then use that data to set class wide and individual goals." - Ellie J. ----------------------------------------------------------- BEFORE PURCHASING THIS RESOURCE: This is a digital file in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat to access the resource. All editable files come in PowerPoint format. You will be able to change and customize text, but keep in mind that images and colors cannot be edited. For technical issues such as downloading and opening files, please check out the Teachers Pay Teachers FAQ section. If you have any other questions related to the resource, feel free to email me at [email protected] ----------------------------------------------------------- Earning TPT Credits for Future Purchases: After purchasing an item on TPT, go to the "My Purchases" page. Click the "Provide Feedback" button next to the item you have purchased. You will provide a quick rating and comment for the item. By providing feedback, you will gain TPT credits to use towards future purchases. ----------------------------------------------------------- >>> Connect with Me! <<< SweetToothTeaching.com Instagram Pinterest Facebook Data posters | Data Tracking | Class-Wide Data Posters | Student Leadership | Leader in Me School | Goal Setting | Goal Setting Posters | iReady | Reading Data | Math Data | Student Goals | Class Data Tracking
Looking to create a calm-down space for your kids? Learn the must-have calming corner items that will help keep them regulated and content.
Download free Dolch sight words worksheets for pre-k or pre-primer. Learn to recognise sight words.
FUN Turkey Game that is both Thanksgiving activities, Fall STEM, and a physics science experimetn too! Try Turkey Races in November!
Kids love to be helpers, so give them some amazing classroom jobs for students that will build responsibility and make your life in the classroom easier.
Classroom/behavior management is one of the most important things to master in your classroom. Having solid behavior management helps maintain a positive classroom environment, while enabling teachers and students to accomplish LEARNING! Here are TEN tips and tricks for behavior management I use in my classroom: Greeting Students at the Door The way you start
These classroom art activities inspired by artist Romero Britto are a great art project to help students join the Happy Art Movement.
As a teacher, there is so much to do when it comes to setting up the classroom, that it is hard to know where to start! Over the course of my first six years of teaching middle school math, a few of these classroom projects have become staples in my classroom. In this post, I plan to share a few of these ideas. (1) Assignment Notebook Board The first thing my middle school students do (or should be doing!) when they come to class is fill out their assignment notebooks. With some ruler tape that I found at Office Max, I created this assignment notebook board. The number 1 on each day is for what we do in class. The number 2 on each day is any homework that is assigned. For example the 1 might be "Multiply Fractions" and the 2 might be "Pg 232 hw (due tmw)." (2) Math is Everywhere Board I have written about this project in a few other posts, but it is one of my all time favorites to start the year! I have two bulletin boards in my classroom. This one gets filled with these tiles. Students must show how they see math in the real world on their tile. On the back of their tile, they must write a paragraph explaining how math is seen in the topic that they chose! You can click HERE for a free set of the bulletin board letters! (3) Challenge of the Week Many of you have already seen or tried out the Challenge of the Week in your classroom! I have loved seeing the pictures! Each week, I put up a new challenge problem. They are optional and students have until the end of the day on Thursday to turn it in. Anyone who gets it correct gets a small prize on Friday when we go over the answer! Both the 6th Grade Challenge of the Week Problems and the 8th Grade Challenge of the Week Problems are FREE in my TpT store. Enjoy! (4) Teacher Book Shelf My teacher book shelf took on some major changes recently. I started with this new way of organizing all of my math workshop materials. I decided to organize them more by the type of game, rather than by the topic like I had done in the past. I cleared these shelves off and organized them in these containers that I had ordered a few years ago. If you are looking for the materials and resources that I use for math workshop, be sure to check out my Math Mega Bundle (Upper Elementary/Middle School) and my Math Mega Bundle (8th Grade Math). Below these containers, I have two shelves with labels for Monday through Friday. This is where I put all of my plans and resources that I will be using for the coming week. This has been a useful way to stay organized and prepared throughout the week! As you can see, I am not quite ready for the first week of school... On the bottom of these shelves are my task cards, which very well could be the hardest resource when it comes to organization! I found these containers at Michaels. They have worked out pretty well. I have two sets of task cards that I use throughout each school year for each grade level. I have a regular set of task cards and then a set of enrichment task cards. Each set takes up two of these containers. Teaching two different grades means I end up with 8 of these containers, which is pretty manageable! Check out the links below if you are interested in the task cards for each grade level! 6th Grade Math Task Cards Bundle 6th Grade Math Enrichment Task Cards Bundle 7th Grade Math Task Cards Bundle 7th Grade Math Enrichment Task Cards Bundle 8th Grade Math Task Cards Bundle 8th Grade Math Enrichment Task Cards Bundle (5) Bulletin Board (Number 2) My second bulletin board is filled with some routine-oriented and expectation posters. I made these the last few years. The colored math workshop poster shows where students of each group should be at any given time. The homework data chart is where we record our homework data. As a class, we figure out what percentage of homework we turn in on time each day. Over the course of the year, we graph these and look at trends. It also becomes a fun competition between classes! (6) Bobblehead Collection I started my bobblehead collection a while ago and it has just grown ever since! Students enjoy seeing them and it is a fun way for students to get to know me and my interest in baseball! My wife and I are trying to get to all 30 MLB stadiums, and recently made it to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Luckily it was a bobblehead giveaway, so the Kevin Appier Royals bobblehead is the most recent addition to the collection!
Check out some easy DIY classroom mailbox ideas for your students and for you too including ideas that you would not have thought of!
In you special needs class, do you have any behavior issues? Any kids that are over-responsive or just the opposite, under-responsive? YOU.NEED.HEAVY.WORK. I cannot stress enough how much of a DRASTIC change we saw in some of our special thinkers when we began implementing this work system into their daily routine. Here's some info on
There are so many ways to approach self-portraits with children: observation, inspired by a particular artist, symbols of interests and activities, the list goes on. This time, I wanted to create an engaging, multi media
This post offers practical tips and resources for setting up and using a sound wall effectively in your kindergarten or early elementary classroom. Learn how sound walls support phoneme-grapheme correspondence, enhance reading and spelling skills, and organize sounds by articulation. Discover space-saving options, lesson ideas, and the importance of professional development to maximize your sound wall's impact.
Being a special educator means you have a lot of tasks to manage. First, getting everything organized can be a task in itself! The Special Educator's Everything Binder will help you keep all your information in one convenient place. Here are some essential pieces for your SPED caseload binder! Calendars First, start your binder with
Take a brain break and work out the wiggles!
Visual boundaries are a vital part of classroom setup. Let me show you how I utilize these visual boundaries in classroom!
