Help your students reflect on what they are learning during remote, hybrid or in person learning during the 2020-2021 school year. Even though our school year is anything but typical, our students are learning. Read more about my thoughts on that here. Enjoy this freebie with your students and see w...
Get to know the different life stages of ants with these cute ant life cycle worksheets. How many parts of an ant can you find?
This is one of my FAVORITE art lessons for 2nd grade!! I LOVE each and every one of them!! (More info. and how they were created below! Plus a little virtual gallery walk video!) &nbs…
We love getting arty with the kids and are always looking for new Art Projects for Kids to do at home. Here are over 30 inspirational art projects for kids
This is a FREE Updated Charlotte Mason Planner. This year it includes two files, one with all the subjects included and one you can fill in.
Synopsis Expand/Collapse Synopsis “If we can get adult development right, we can change the world!” Adult development . . . in schools? Yes. In fact, understanding and sharing ideas—and implementing practices—that help adults explore experiences and assumptions is a powerful driver of school change. Eleanor Drago-Severson and Jessica Blum-DeStefano share expertise that has evolved from their many decades of research and work with educators and show you how to Deepen your understanding of adult development and its role in systemic and schoolwide change and educational improvement, Connect theory to practice with developmentally oriented structures and strategies that enhance collaboration, communication, and feedback, Support individual and organizational growth with a differentiated approach to leadership and capacity building, and Build trust, capacity, collegiality, and sustainability with developmental practices that meet adult needs. Whether you work in a school, district, university, educational institution, or other learning organization, you’ll learn how to infuse leadership, collaboration, communication, and capacity building with a deep understanding of individuals’ experiences and capacities—and how they influence our day-to-day work. Leading Change Together explains how you and other adult learners can effect tremendous change in schools and systems.
Use the Tug of War Strategy for making thinking visible: Over the last few years my teaching has been heavily ingrained with inquiry based learning, problem/project based learning and open ended questioning.
A SWEET spot to stop for activities, games, and lessons!
Reggie Laurent is a modern art painter who lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He often works on black canvas, painting his organic shapes a...
The first thing seen before entering an event is the entrance itself; make yours memorable with these influential grand entrance ideas.
Fun acid/base experiment for kids of all ages. Uses only common household ingredients. No heat required.
When a single platform lets you share and deliver materials, access student work, and allow students to work together, you can do some pretty incredible things.
INSTANT DOWNLOAD - All About My Teacher Fill In - Print Your Own: 5 x 7 or 8.5 x 11 JPEG & PDF digital files - Print and have your child fill in the blanks - 1 print per page. You can print as many as you want! - These files come exactly as shown and do not include customization or changes. You will not receive anything in the postal mail. **(any matching items shown are sold separately)** View our other TEACHER items here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaperEtiquette?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=21480486 ::: ORDERING ::: Purchase and upload your INSTANT DOWNLOAD! This is an INSTANT DOWNLOAD! After receiving your order, a link to this ©PaperEtiquette printable download will be automatically e-mailed to you within 5 minutes. It will be emailed to the EMAIL associated with your ETSY account. Begin printing as many as you wish right away! You can always access your file(s) under YOU - Your Account - Purchases & Reviews. *Please note that you cannot download a digital purchase through the Etsy app at this time. To download a digital file, you must be signed into your Etsy account on your mobile browser or a non-mobile computer. For more information on Instant Downloads read the article below: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013328108-Downloading-a-Digital-Item?segment=shopping ::: CUSTOMIZATION ::: Want the customized version? Use this listing instead: https://www.etsy.com/listing/815007127/custom-changes-to-digital-files-print?ref=shop_home_active_24&frs=1 ::: PRINTING ::: You can print through a professional printing company, through a 1 hour photo service (that would print on photo paper) or on your home printer. Visit our sister sites: www.etsy.com/shop/PreppyEtiquette www.etsy.com/shop/TinyBelievers ::: Copyright Paper Etiquette 2021 ::: Downloading this item does NOT transfer ownership of this file. Copyright remains with Paper Etiquette. You may NOT resell this item in any shape or form under any circumstance.
When I look back to my first experience teaching five paragraph essays to fifth graders, I can remember how terribly unprepared I felt. I knew that the five paragraph essay format was what my students needed
At the beginning of last school year, I was excited to be teaching a new grade at a new school in a new district. I had made a big change, and it was just what I needed. To add to all of the "new", I was starting the year with 30 students. Thirty is definitely on the big size as it is, but we all know that new kids trickle in over the course of most school years...and last year was no different! By the time the school year was over, I was sharing my classroom with 34 awesome 5th graders. We all learned a lot, grew a lot, and had a pretty good time while doing it! It was definitely a learning process for me, and hopefully I can share some of what I learned to make your year better for you! 1. You've Got to Embrace It Here's the thing, your class size is your class size whether you like it or not, so you've got to embrace it. It's going to be crazy. It may get chaotic. It's going to be crowded. But your attitude will be a major determining factor in the kind of year you and your students have. Now, I'm not saying that my teammates and I didn't take time to vent about the added challenge we were facing; we're only human! But throughout the year, I'd joke "I'm mentally preparing for how I'm going to respond when [my principal] comes to tell me that I'm getting my 33rd/34th/35th student." You may have to "fake it till you make it" but having the most positive attitude you can will go a long way. 2. Room Arrangement While I'd wrapped my brain around having a big bunch of kids, I was having a harder time figuring out how all those desks were going to work in my smallish classroom. That might have been the part that was the most stressful for me. Luckily, my students were OK with all the experimenting I did while trying to figure out the best room configuration for us. I want to share with you guys some of things that worked for me. Push groups of desks together. I started the year with 8 teams of 4 since my district is a big believer in Kagan cooperative learning. That meant that there were teams and desks wall-to-wall. Then I decided to push the teams together so desks were in groups of 8-9. This made a HUGE difference. Kids were still in their teams of 4-5, but we gained a LOT of floor space which made it easier to move around. Find a way to give kids space to spread out. One thing I noticed as the year went on was that we were so packed in there that kids didn't have a lot of personal space and I could see levels of grumpiness increasing because of that. I let them work at my small group table, in a quiet spot on the floor, etc. You have to get a little creative, but your students will thank you if they have a place to momentarily "escape". Get rid of your desk. It's surprising how much extra space this will give you. Use your small group table as your "headquarters". Give flexible seating a shot. When I got my 34th student, I knew that I could either fit 34 desks into my classroom or keep my sanity. I couldn't do both. I'd used flexible seating at my old school, but was trying to not rock the boat too much at my new school. I reached out to my principal and told her I'd like to try some flexible seating. I know not everybody is ready to jump into flexible seating, but here are a few things you could try. Sweet talk you custodian like I did and see if any tables are available. They take up a lot less room than desks. Take the legs of a table and have a low table. It doesn't technically give you more space, but the room will feel more open. You can get rid of a handful of desks and provide some floor seating options like pillows, stadium chairs, or rocker seats. These all can get tucked away nicely at the end of the day. Move to community supplies and if you don't have cubbies, etc., provide bins (they can be cheap!) for your kids to keep their personal supplies in. 3. Have your students help! One thing that every teacher deals with is having about a million things at a time running through their head. Having a large class can make that even worse. There are just SO MANY moving pieces. And teachers (including me) often have a hard time delegating responsibilities. At one point, it really hit me - "There are 34 people in this room who are not me. How can they help me more?" I know that I am lucky in that I teach 5th graders who are pretty capable of having different responsibilities in the classroom, but I think that students at any age can do a lot more in the classroom than they may be doing. And I found that having students help with the little things honestly freed up some much needed space in my brain as well as making the classroom run more smoothly. Plus, kids of all ages LOVE having jobs to do! Here are some of the little "tasks" I had students help me out with: Changing the date on the board Being in charge of taking our library cards to/from the library Putting homework in student mailboxes Grabbing my walkie-talkie at recess time Turning on and/or connecting the projector when we were going to use it (I've got kind of a clunky set up) Taking tardy passes down to the office on the way to lunch or recess (without me asking!) 4. Delegate I know we're not all lucky enough to have parent or other volunteers, but if you do, USE THEM! It took me a while to get into the swing of the best ways to use volunteers, but I found that using them to both work with students and help me out with tasks was the best combination. I've always had parents who can't come in to help because of work, but say they could help at home. In the past, I never used them much, but once I realized that I could send laminating home to be cut or booklets to be stapled, those parents became a great resource. Even if students were playing a math game or something like that and were fine working on their own, I'd ask a parent volunteer to take them into the hallway or another common area to work just to free up a little space in the classroom. Let go of the perfectionism and have volunteers hang up bulletin boards or classroom displays. If it's not perfect, I promise you're the only one who will notice. Get in the habit of asking yourself, "Could somebody else do this?" and if the answer is yes, and you have someone that can do it, let them. That frees up more time for you to do the things only you can do like planning and grading. 5. Don't grade it all! It's hard to ignore the fact that you've got a big class when you have a giant stack of papers to grade sitting in front of you. Thirty plus math tests, essays, reading assessments, etc. is a LOT. One of my good friends is also a 5th grade teacher in my district and she only had 19 kids. I spent way to much time lamenting the fact that I had 15 more math tests to grade than she did! Grading those summative assessments is unavoidable, but really think about what else you need to grade. Do you need to take the time to look over 30+ homework assignments, or could you review them with the whole class? Do you need to grade every piece of classwork or can you quickly scan through it to use as a formative assessment? Can you give a short exit ticket at the end of class and not have to review entire pages of math to see if your students got the concept? This is one area where you can really save yourself some time and sanity. 6. Make time for every student One thing I found was that when you have so many kids in your class, it can be really easy to unintentionally let some kids slip through the cracks during the day. So I made a point to be at my door in the morning to greet everyone (while I let the students take on some of those beginning of the day tasks I mentioned above). All of my students have numbers, and those numbers are on popsicle sticks to make sure everyone is getting called on during the day, but I'd also write a few kids' names on sticky notes and stick them on my cart or my projector. That may make me sound like some kind of absent-minded professor, but if you've had a big class you know that it's easier than it should be for kids to "hide" when there are a lot of classmates around. I also did"lunch with the teacher" for small groups at the beginning of the year just for a chance to get to get to know all of my students a little in a smaller setting. Then it was a popular reward/incentive for the rest of the year - I think we all enjoyed spending time together with a little less chaos. Whatever system or structure you use, make sure you are intentional about making every student feel like they are seen and heard - even if you have to leave sticky notes for yourself! :) 7. Routines & Procedures I know that I'm not telling you anything new when I say it's important to have routines and procedures set up to make things run smoothly in your classroom. We all know that. But with 34 students in the room, I found that I had to run the ship a little tighter than usual. Normally turning your homework in when you come in in the morning is a simple process, but have you ever watched 3 dozen kids try to turn their homework in at once? Gets a little crazy. I added a second homework turn in location, and then gave a student the job of collecting both piles. (See Tip #3!) We ended up having to form two lines when lining up after lunch or recess because it's hard to get an orderly line when you have students waaaaaaay back at the end of the line. Each classroom is (obviously) different and those are just examples of two things I put into place last year to help me manage all my students and keep my sanity! I encourage you to think about ways you could put a routine into place where maybe things have been a little free flowing? What's making you the craziest? Can you change a procedure or make a "rule" to help out with that? It'll help you keep control of the chaos and your students will appreciate the structure, too! If there are some behaviors popping up in your students that you'd like to get a handle on before they get too out of control, click here or on the picture below to check out how I use Individual Behavior Goals in my classroom. Do you have a big class this year? Leave a comment to tell us how many students you have and any tips or tricks I haven't mentioned!
This week, kindergarten continued their exploration of line, and started these fun line paintings! We used a new medium, to them, oil pastels and tempera cakes. 😄 Here's how we did it! Materials: Sax 90lb paper Crayola Oil Pastels Jack Richeson Semi-Moist tempera cakes First, we reviewed the different types of lines. Then, I showed them how to draw the lines from side to side of their (vertical) paper. I also talked about how you need to make the lines dark with the oil pastels, or they won't show up as well,when you paint. After that, I went over each color with the tempera cakes paint. I used rainbow colors, but told them they could use different colors if they liked. Many of them have not ever painted before, so we discussed how to hold a paint brush on the grip part of the handle, and to not get on the metal part of the brush. (As Cassie Stephens says, "the DANGER ZONE!") We go over the process of DIP, WIPE, and SWIRL, in the tempera cakes. We dip it in the water, wipe it on the rim of the cup, and swirl our brushes gently in the paint. We wanted our paint to go side to side as well, and try to stay in the lines we created. Here's some great artists from Mrs. Garcia's kindergarten class! Stay tuned for more awesome art! After the kids get done painting, we're going to use shapes (another element of art) to turn them into monsters! inspired by Georgetown Elementary's blog! I'll get them to draw the monster shape, on the back, with me Then, we'll draw the shapes out on black and white paper. If they want to go a step further, they can add accessories! Ms. Placha's class has some super cut and scary monsters!! Great job Mrs. Garcia's class! Here's some scary cute little monsters from Mrs. C. Campbell's class! Here's some super spooky, and precious monsters from Mr. Gonzalez' class! Here's Mrs. Kerr's adorable little monsters! “Lauren Stacey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
Backwards planning and curriculum mapping for school year success are an essential part of being organized and making your teacher life easier.
Today was the day. I was about to utter the dreaded words “peer editing.” As I began class with my eighth graders, I told them we would be editing each ...
The latest in the phenomenally popular series introduces children to the life of John Lennon, the boy from Liverpool who dreamed of peace. When John Lennon formed a band while still in school, he couldn't have known they were about to change music forever and today, he is remembered not just as a musical icon, but as a champion of world peace. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the legendary Beatle's life. Details Author: Vegara, Maria Isabel Sanchez Publisher: Aurum Press Imprints Format: Hardback Publication Date: 17/11/2020 B-Code: B051601 Illustrated: Colour illustrations throughout Pages: 32 Dimensions: 240x195mm Read more
As virtual learning continues into the 2020-2021 school year, we are in NEED of digital assignments that have the ability to meet each individual student's needs. This product is intentionally designed with this specific learning model in mind! The product has the flexibility to be used as instruction, for review of prior knowledge and for independent practice for middle school students. Included in download: Google Slides to be assigned to students through Google Classroom Digital counters with color changing features to represent canceling out Your own copy of the Google Form answer checks for customization Answer Key Directions for linking Google Form to Google Slides + a link to my tutorial video
Scheduling for special education is a DAUNTING task. Just like our kids we THRIVE on schedules (( and pretty much need them to survive)). One tip that I’m going to drive home throughout this post is that we HAVE TO be ok with CHANGE. Why? Because change is completely inevitable. It WILL happen. and […]
A Reading Graffiti Wall is a great way to build your classroom reading community. Students find inspirational quotes from books they are reading to share.
En parallèle avec Dédale et Icare, nous avons aussi beaucoup apprécié Thésée et le minotaure! Pour s'amuser un peu, chacun a réalisé un minotaure des temps modernes... (Désolée pour la brillance des
After years of teaching using the principles of standards-based learning and grading, I encountered two findings that radically changed my perspective on assessment, grading, and reporting. The first…
So this year we are using a new core vocabulary board and in my current classroom I have limited storage. I have been trying to organize all my stuff to make it accessible and easy to find. I was tryi
INFO : Pour ceux qui connaissent déjà, les grilles de suivi des ateliers pour 2020/2021 sont en ligne en milieu d'article Pour les autres...BONNE LECTURE ! ET SI VOUS CHANGIEZ ???? Commentaire reçu sur cet article : Bonjour à tous et toutes. Je reviens...
A unique, cleanly formulated cream based formula for cheeks and lip that can build in color intensity, or blend out to a soft wash of color. Dries down to a natural matte finish on lips. Choose your level of color payoff by dialing up the intensity with a few bold swipes or blend out for a soft haze of color.
Use these pictures and ideas to create and use these awesome Classroom Management Anchor Charts. Teach rules and procedures for all classroom supplies.
I take a ton of pictures! Not only for the blog, but also of my kiddos and things around my home. It can be very tiring trying to find new places and backgrounds for photos, and sometimes I need a quick change without going far. I had seen so many tutorials for DIY backdrops …
Open House Ideas {Fab Ideas from the Weekend Warriors} 5 comments Tips and Tricks, Weekend Warriors It's time for Weekend Warriors! I love our monthly link up. I really do! Our goal has always been to share great ideas with you, but we are always striving to make things better. Over the past month we've made some exciting changes to Weekend Warriors. First, we have a new look! Eek, don't you just love it? Another change we've made is to open up the linky! That's right, if you have a blog and some ideas to share that go with the current month's theme, then grab the buttons, post away, and link up! We'd love to check out your ideas! So, let's get started with this month's theme! This month, we are linking up to share our favorite Open House ideas, and more! We hope to share some fun ideas that you can use at your own Open House, or whatever annual nightly event your school might host. Warning, you are about to be photo bombed. My apologies in advance. But, I have lots of ideas to share with you. Each of which helped make our Open House a successful event. I truly hope you can take an idea or two away from this post! We recently had our Open House, so I thought it would be fun to take a peek at what we did. This year we spruced up the inside of our classroom by displaying new work on our bulletin board. It's always so nice to hang fresh work up for these kinds of events. The kids had a blast making this adorable display from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. They wrote about why their future will be so bright. The parents loved this display! I kept our self-portraits up so the kids could play a guessing game with their families (you may recall from a few posts ago, that I never take this board down, or change it out). A few weeks ago, I removed the name tags that were on display with their artwork. With the names gone, the kids asked their families to figure out which portrait was theirs. It was a fun to watch this! If you're looking for a fun way to get students interacting with their families and their work, this is a simple way to do so. Just have your kiddos complete a self portrait, put them on display, and watch the fun unfold! Look for quick and easy projects to fill smaller spaces in your classroom. We put together this quick and easy little "board." This space is actually where I hang my anchor charts, but I didn't need those on display, I wanted student work on display. The students finished the prompt and colored their iPod. Easy peasy. You can grab a copy of this quick project here. Another idea is to spruce up your desks or table groups. That's exactly what we did! The students wrote letters to their parents thanking them for attending and noting the things they wanted their families to look at. We set these out with newly decorated name tags and bouquets of tissue flowers. I had the students hide their well loved name plates in their desks and they made new ones. I simply cut some white card stock into strips (2 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches) and wrote the students' names on each one. Then, they used colored pencils to decorate! This is my sample (and I really should have colored a bit darker...oops). I will be laminating their name tags so that they can use them as bookmarks. They are very excited about this! The finishing touch? We made some fun tissue paper flowers to set out at our table groups. Aren't they amazing? The following Monday, I sent them home with the students (they each took home a mini bouquet). My sweet colleague suggested this idea, and I am so glad she did! It made our room look super cute, the parents were really impressed, and the kids had a blast. And, they are super easy to make! To make these beauties, you need some tissue paper circles (I used 4 inch circles that I cut out on our die cut machine), pipe cleaners, and some "vases" (I used the small Mason jars). Fold one end of the pipe cleaner over (twice). Stick the opposite end through a mini stack of tissue circles (3-6 pieces). Gently slide the circles up to the folded end. Then, take your whole hand and scrunch the circles upward. Then, open the layers one at a time and rescrunch each one. Finally, trim the stems and stuff them into some Mason jars! Another fun idea is to set out any class books you might have. My students were so excited to show these to their families! Finally, to create a calm and welcoming environment, make it smell nice! I can't be trusted with a Scentsy, but I love the Air Wick plug in air freshener. I found a great tropical scent the other day and plugged it in. Our room not only looked great, but it smelled great! I realize this is soooo not necessary, but it's a nice touch. DON'T FORGET IT: PIN IT! Don't forget to visit these fabulous ladies to grab some more great ideas for Open House and more! And, if you've got some great Open House and More ideas to share, feel free to link up! An InLinkz Link-up Share It:
Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).
When a single platform lets you share and deliver materials, access student work, and allow students to work together, you can do some pretty incredible things.
