Everything you need for a smooth school year.

Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...

How do you encourage positive student behavior in your classroom? I have tried too many behavior systems to count - clip charts, flipping cards, behavior contracts… you name it and I have tried it. What I have found over the years is that no matter what, students genuinely want to do well and

Everything you need for a smooth school year.

We are a Leader In Me School and talk a lot about using the 7 Habits of Happy Kids in our everyday lives. I love the idea of encouraging kids to act as leaders in the classroom and beyond. What I have noticed, however, is that sometimes "leadership" comes off as "bossypants" and that is not the route we want to take! I know you've probably heard of Sheryl Sandberg (of Facebook fame) and her campaign to end the word "bossy" (read or listen to an NPR story HERE), but I was hesitant to come straight out and use that word in our class. Instead, I wanted them to think on terms of "boss" and "leader" to recognize the differences between the two and to think about their own language choices in the classroom, in small groups, on their sports teams, and more. We first looked at this picture and talked about what we noticed: (source) This led to some discussion about leadership versus boss behavior. While the kids were discussing, I was passing out example cards to their table spots. Before I dismissed them, I shared this leadership quote from John Quincy Adams: They were then given instructions about our activity. I had printed example cards on two colors: blue for boss and green for leader (although they didn't know that yet) and they needed to read their card and find someone with an opposite color card and opposite example (good time to incorporate the word antonym, too!). I dismissed them to their tables and first had them converse with students in their table group to ensure they understood the word or phrase on their card. When they gave me the thumbs up, I told them to find their match and them meet to discuss why they went together and be able to give examples. We then began assembling our Anchor Chart. Each pair would come to the front of the class and would explain which card was descriptive of a "boss" and which was descriptive of a "leader" and why. They gave examples and I elicited a lot of help from the classroom for additional examples and language that both a boss and leader may use during that example. I would tape the cards to the Anchor Chart and we continued through each pair. There were two groups of three (with two leaders to one boss) and that worked out perfectly with my class (definitely feel free to adjust if you have lower numbers). Our completed anchor chart looked like: It was so powerful to see how often kids may think they are helping, but instead find themselves on the "boss" side of the chart instead of the "leader." I know several of the examples are repetitive, but we really talked through these and used examples from our own lives to recount when using "leader" words and language set us up for success. I also explained the "me vs. you" mentality of bosses versus the "we and us" mentality of leaders. Overall, it was a very powerful lesson and I look forward to referring back to this Anchor Chart this year, especially when "bossypants" behavior leads to conflict. I think these concrete examples can help guide the naturally strong leaders in my class to make better language decisions that can help grow them as leaders and really inspire others, just like the Adams quote! If you'd like a copy of these cards and quote, you can download this as a *freebie* HERE. How do you address bossy vs. leader behavior in your class? Share in the comments, I would love to build on this lesson!

Our school has used quite a few Character Education programs throughout the years, but sometimes I find myself looking for more practical, concrete ways to help students deal with conflicts. These are not the larger, bullying-type conflicts that we discuss often in the Character Ed programs, these are the daily recess squabbles, the bickering/arguing, and the tattling that can occur throughout the week. With these types of conflict, I don't want to be the constant referee, negotiating both sides in every disagreement. I want to empower my students to choose between a variety of strategies and develop these necessary skills themselves. While looking for some of these online, I was contacted by Kelso's Choice and couldn't believe my luck. This program seemed to be addressing the skills I was looking for in a very kid-friendly, concrete method. I am excited to share this product review in case you are looking for a similar program. Disclaimer: Although Kelso's Choice sent me these items, all opinions are 100% honest and my own, and I never recommend something I wouldn't or haven't used in my own class. Kelso's Nine Choices The main character in this Character Ed program is a cartoon frog named Kelso. He is present in every K-3 lesson, but not in the lessons for grades 4-5, which I appreciate. He demonstrates all of the strategies that students can choose to solve a small (not big) problem. In grades 2-3, there is a wheel with all of the available choices and I absolutely love that visual. There are nine choices and lessons to introduce each one, along with a story from Willow Pond to help students role-play and solve these small problems for the animal characters. While there are nine choices, the program is very explicit that a student should try two and then get an adult if the conflict persists. There is an entire lesson at the beginning about small and big problems to help students differentiate what needs immediate adult intervention versus something they can work together to solve. The program also emphasizes that students are strong enough and smart enough to solve these small problems-- I love how much it is repeated throughout the teacher guide. Large posters accompany the product and I appreciated the ongoing visual. They cover each of the nine choices: Go to another game Talk it out Share and take turns Ignore it Walk away Tell them to (please) stop Apologize Make a deal Wait and cool off As you can see, these are common strategies that many of the students have used before, often in combination with each other. What I was grateful for was the common, explicit instruction around all nine of these to create a system in the classroom, on the playground, in the lunchroom, and beyond. Plus, the explicit instruction can do a world of good for our students who struggle with these choices and social skills. Working together as a class on each of these in a systematic way can let every single student be "in it together" and have a common language and framework to use as a group. Program Materials Included in the Conflict Management set was everything you could ever need to launch this with your classroom. There is a very comprehensive Leader Guide filled with grade-specific lessons, extensions, reproducibles, parent and staff letters, and stories. Lessons are in-depth, but quick, and encourage you to engage in some meaningful conversations with your students. Take a peek at the Table of Contents HERE. A CD helps with making copies for your classroom. Two frog puppets are also included: Kelso and Lily. Since I teach third grade, I offer these up as an option, but not as a requirement. My daughter is in second grade, and she is still loving any and all activities with a puppet, so I'm glad they were included for the K-3 group. Additional cut-out characters can help bring the stories and role-plays to life. There are also some great lessons provided to help use the puppets with your class. Inside the Leader's Guide are the Willow Pond stories, but they are also compiled in a full-color book that would be perfect for your classroom library. The font is large and these stories could even be used as a shared reading opportunity. The provided DVD has an animated Kelso reviewing all of the choices and how they can be used in students' lives. And, most importantly, there are huge posters to display in your classroom, hallway, lunchroom, etc. You can see the difference between the K-3 version and the 4-5 version above. There are five of each and they are BIG at 24x36"! If you are teaching grades 4-5, the authors knew that Kelso the frog would not be as big of a hit with the older grades, and the lessons are adjusted accordingly. There are photos of real kids and much more in-depth scenarios and questions. Even "Share and take turns" has been removed and choices are divided up into verbal and nonverbal. It's a nice jump and will keep kids engaged even if they've been learning these choices since Kindergarten. One of the components to this program that I really love is the inclusion of every staff member and family member in the program. They realize that a lot of these small conflicts arise outside of a structured classroom environment, and this program is designed to work for just those scenarios. Included are reproducibles that the on-duty adult can use to support and/or congratulate those students who used the choices to solve a conflict. There are letters and activities for students to take home to help educate the parents and certificates of achievement for every student as they complete the program. There's even a song they can learn and maybe even sing schoolwide? The authors, Barbara Clark, PhD and Diane Hipp, CPS not only knew what they were doing when it came to conflict resolution, they knew how to implement it into a schoolwide system and make it doable for teachers and staff. There is no extra fluff to dig through, nor are there scripted lessons that kill meaningful learning. The lessons are packed with goodness and could easily give students new experiences with these choices for their entire elementary experience. Overall Thoughts I really like Kelso's Choice Conflict Management program and could see it becoming a part of a successful school's character education collection. It is practical, simple in its use but effective in its strategies, and is a one-stop-shop for an entire elementary school. I can imagine School Counselors loving this program as a way to help give all kids common language and skills about solving small problems in an empowering way. There are plenty of activities to keep this a yearlong and elementary career-long program for students. Especially with its extensions into 4th and 5th grade, I can see how kids of all ages can use these simple, but powerful choices to solve their ever-changing conflicts. With every adult in their daily sphere reiterating these choices, it gives students a solid framework to address small conflicts and feel empowered instead of frustrated. Find more information at: https://kelsoschoice.com. There are free downloads and loads of extra information for you to peruse. There is also information about a 30-day Free Trial, if you think you would like to experiment before you make the schoolwide decision. Have you used Kelso's Choice in your school? I would love to hear about your experiences with it in a schoolwide system!

So, I invented a new game today. It was completely necessary at the moment. It requires zero prep and zero materials (other than a class list). It. Works. Like. Magic! The name of the game is 'Last Kid Standing'. How

Ideas for early finishers/fast finishers in the classroom to help keep them engaged. No more hearing “I’m Done Now What?” Improve classroom management with these activities, chart, and system.

Last summer I attended a GT training and was introduced to choice boards! I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! I think that students are more engaged and even challenge themselves more when they are given choices. The great thing is....they aren't just for GT students. Choice boards work similar to tic-tac-toe; the student completes 3 activities in a row {up, down, diagonal} They can be adapted for ALL students and actually lend themselves well to differentiated instruction. On Tuesday, I will be attending another GT training specifically on choice boards and differentiated instruction {I'm super pumped about it!} I can't wait to learn more about these learning tools! {I promise to share what I learn!} Choice boards can be set up in many different ways. You can base them off of abilities, learning styles, intelligences, and even levels of questioning. I have found it easier, if I focus on just one of these types. When creating the board, you want to plan out what type of activity each square will focus on. {You don't want to have 2 of the same type of activities in a row} The goal of the CBs are to have equally acceptable activities that you want the students to complete that are similar end products, but have varying ways to accomplish the final product. {For example, you are studying the Alamo. Students could choose activities from writing a diary from the viewpoint of being in the battle, recreating a model of the Alamo, creating a movie, etc.}The wonderful thing about CBs though...students can choose an activity they are willing to complete {taking into consideration their own likes/learning style/intelligence}, but they will have 2 other activities they will need to complete that will focus on other skills that they possibly may need to strengthen {but at the very least they're practicing other skills}! It's a win-win situation! I recently put the choice boards I created for my homework reader's responses in my shop. My students are required to read 20 min nightly, however I found that many of them weren't really reading every night! These choice boards give student's different options to respond to their books, while focusing on varying skills. I've also included 4 blank {editable} choice boards so that you can create your own boards! .....And I used the adorable sneakers clipart to jazz them up from KPM Doodles {love her stuff!} Here is an example template of how to begin creating a choice board based on Multiple Intelligences: Source: Dare to Differentiate Here are some great resources: Dare to Differentiate (AWESOME site for resources!) PVUSD Choices based on intelligence

I am always looking for new ways to tackle classroom management. What better way to get your students to buy into positive behavior than with some games?

We recently completed our unit on Essay Writing, and for the most part it was successful! The objective of this unit was for students to understand and use a 4-paragraph organizational structure to support their opinion on a "big idea." You know....Common Core stuff. I also wanted students to use this structure to write several essays, so that they had enough practice to become fluent essay writers. This happened....with about 98% of my third graders. The "essay" organizational structure is a big one and students will be assessed on their ability to use this structure over and over again throughout their school career. By "essay organizational structure" I am talking about "Intro Paragraph - Supporting Paragraph - Supporting Paragraph - Conclusion". They NEED to be able to do this, without being told, EVERY time they put pencil to paper to write on a prompted topic. I know I am over-simplifying a bit, but the truth is...if they can do this, they have won half the battle. In our district their first big writing assessment happens in fourth grade (the state writing assessment). Our students flop on this year after year, and of course, I blame myself personally for this failure since I was their third grade teacher. So for the past two years, I have worked really hard to find ways to teach this skill in a way that students understand and can put into practice. "Chunking" my instruction has been extremely helpful in teaching how to write an organized essay. I put together these graphic organizers for the specific purpose of showing students how to write an essay, bit by bit. As I stated, this worked GREAT for most of my students! But..... I had about 3 kiddos that just didn't get it......at all. I worked with them rigorously throughout the unit, conferring and one-on-one-ing like crazy with these little ones, but they still didn't get it. This factoid left me with a giant pit in my stomach. If you are like me, your failures are way more shiny than your successes. I knew I needed to do something for these struggling writers. I decided to come up with an intervention plan for these students to help bring them up to speed on organizing an essay. I put together a very simple packet, that they now work on as part of their nightly homework. I had a conference with the parents of these students, and those parents enthusiastically agreed to help and support their child with this initiative. However, it could also be done during the school day, since it is pretty simple. Students begin the week by receiving a prompted topic and then completing a very basic graphic organizer to organize their ideas around the topic. Then, they spend one (or more if needed) day writing each part of the essay: the introduction paragraph, two supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. These reference sheets help them to see the "big" picture of their essay and gives them some sentence starters for each section (since I have found that my struggling writers don't know how to start). After they write out each section, they write out the whole thing on notebook paper and spend some time checking over their work using a checklist: At that point, they could (or not) write out their essay in a final copy format. The next week....wash.....rinse.......repeat. Students work with a new topic each week. This repetition has really helped my struggling writers to understand the organizational structure of an essay, while also giving them some much needed practice with their overall writing skills. They are actually beginning to get it and they have definitely shown improvement in their writing. Improved learning....that is truly the important thing...and why I do what I do!! But..... This has also given me some"evidence" to add to my teacher data notebook. Let's face it...when your principal asks you during your post-evaluation chat, "So, what did you do when they didn't get it?" You need to have your butt covered!! I will have a whole lot of evidence to show that I responded to my struggling writers with an effective intervention!! If you are looking for an intervention program for your writers who just don't get how to organize and write an opinion essay.....you may want to check it out. It includes 18 different writing prompts with graphic organizers (enough to last the whole year if needed). I also created one for informational writing. They are both available in a bundle. Love and peace,

Steal these for your writing unit!

Learn how to "stomp out" the bad words! Visit us for more!

Encourage kids to perform random acts of kindness during a classroom challenge or all year with these ideas and strategies for a kinder classroom. Grab the free printable RAOK list for your classroom!

Hello again! Today I am linking up with tons of great teacher bloggers for Five for Friday. I may be a day late, but hey, no judgements right? We just finished up week 5 and you know what that means- back to school germs are full swing. It amazes me every year how many gallons of hand sanitizer and cases of tissues we seem to go through in just a few short weeks. Now that my turn with with germs is done, I can finally see straight long enough to share about our week :) We began Monday with our school's annual Pinwheels for Peace event. Every student in the school creates and decorates a pinwheel in art class. The music teacher also teaches everyone a song about peace. Our entire school community gathered in a circle to watch the pinwheels and sing for peace. Something about all of the children dreaming about a peaceful world always brings a tear to my eye. It's such a powerful event and one I look forward to each year. Last week I got a little "Pinspired" and made a bunch of anchor charts for writing. Now like I tell my students, I went to teacher school, not art school, so they're not perfect. But, I do think they got the job done. I love using anchor charts with my students as a tool to help them recall important information. I usually end up creating basic charts with my students during my lessons, but occasionally I like to fancy them up a bit. Other times I start the basic frame (cute part) before the lesson and create the remaining part with my students. They love having ownership over the work hung in our room and tend to see more value in it compared to something like a store-bought poster simply hung on the wall. After using Pinterest as inspiration for my writing anchor charts, I decided to try my hand at creating my own. This week in science we continued our unit on Force and Motion. Our focus was on the difference between push and pull. We spent the week talking about real life examples while searching our classroom and playground. I introduced the concept of a hard and soft push/pull by having students pass a balloon, koosh ball, and kickball. They could see the amount of force needed to keep the ball off the ground differed.We also used an example of the amount of force it would take to push a baby on a swing compared to an adult. Their favorite example was when we pretended to be super heroes stopping the world from a meteor- they pretended to use a huge amount of force to push it away. The unit 1 theme for our literacy standards focuses on ABC books. We spent the last few weeks reading dozens of them. Who knew there were so many! My students are really enjoying the different books. The unit works well for reinforcing beginning letter sounds and brainstorming words for each page. I am also tying it into our writing standards by focusing on the concept of topic and details. This week we are using the ABC books as inspiration for our own class book. Students chose to create a class ABC book about animals. After brainstorming a list of animals for each letter, students each began creating their own page. I will add pictures next week once we get past the rough draft stage. They are also using informational texts to research additional details about their animal. Although I have enjoyed reading many of these books, I have to say one of my favorites is ABC of Jobs by Roger Priddy. Each page shares a different job description, the clothing required, and a fun fact. My students loved learning about the different career options and it tied in perfectly with preparing students to be college and career ready. I don't know about your class but my kiddos seem to go through pencils at an unbelievable speed. Keeping pencils sharpened seems to take up more time than it should each day. I set up a system where students put their broken pencils into a cup and take out a sharpened one. Now that I had a system in place it was time to find the perfect pencil sharpener. I heard about "the best classroom pencil sharpener" from Classroom Friendly Supplies. I placed an order for the cool blue one and it came in this week. I absolutely love how sharp it makes each pencil. The fabulous reviews are true and it was well worth the money. I am happy to officially welcome fall. In honor of the cool(er) weather, I created a new word problem set. My focus was on addition and subtraction word problems with numbers up to 10. What I love about this product is the ability to use a QR Code reader to self check work. My students are loving the integration of technology! I am having to read the problems out loud for now (lots of non-readers) but they still enjoy it. Thank you for following the randomness of my week. I hope you have a great Saturday!

I talk quite a bit about classroom management on my blog. I have to be honest here. I have tried so many different things. I have tried the clip chart, I have tried check marks, I have tried the “flip the card”. NONE of them work for me. The book Dream Class really changed my thoughts on...

My favorite classroom management strategy is easy to implement in the classroom and can be used all year long! Students love it!

How do you teach kids to gather and compare information on a topic from multiple texts? This is the challenge offered in Common Core Standard RIT 9. Last week my students and I attempted to tackle this standard and did a darn good job, I think! I thought I would share our process. Day 1 I collected grade-appropriate books on 6-7 different animals. I needed at least 4 books about each animal. Then, students chose an animal (based on the books that you have available) that they were interested in learning more about. My animal topics were: frogs, snakes, sharks, ants, whales, penguins, and spiders. Student groups formed based on their choices, trying to keep groups to 3-4 students, if possible. I then had them complete the first two columns of a K-W-L chart to get their juices flowing. That was it for the first day. Day 2 I modeled for students how to think of categories that they could use for sorting the information they will find when they begin reading. I scanned a book about bats, and as I scanned and talked aloud to students, categories began to develop. I wrote these on a large piece of chart paper: What Bats Eat, Where Bats Live, Kinds of Bats, Bat Predators, Endangered Bats, Echolocation, What Bats Look Like. Together we came up with 8 categories. Students then got into their groups and created their own chart paper of categories to go with their topic. That was it for Day 2. Day 3 I began Day 3 by showing students how they would collect facts to go with each category on their chart by writing the bits of information they could find onto sticky notes. We talked about how to choose the most important facts for each category and how they could combine facts that go together. They then got together with their group and they split up the categories on their chart, with each person collecting information for 2-3 of the categories. I emphasized that it would be important to use more than one text when doing their research, to make sure they found the most accurate and complete information and to compare the information they found in different texts. The set to work, gathering information for their assigned category. Day 4 Students got together with their groups to share the information from each of the categories. There was much discussion and the kids really enjoyed learning from each other!! The next step was for students to present their information on a poster. Gina, from Beach Sand Lesson Plans, had her students create posters using 3-4 vocabulary words, 3-5 amazing facts and some illustrations, diagrams, or maps. I loved this idea, so I created a simple graphic organizer to help students gather this information to prepare for making their posters. They worked together on gathering the information (since they were each experts on a different category), but completed their own graphic organizer. Day 5 They created their posters!! After completing the process, students revisited their K-W-L charts to finish that last column. My students had a lot of fun with this "project" and learned a lot about gathering information on a topic using multiple texts. I plan to have them repeat this process this week on a new topic, for even more practice. After that, the next step will be to have them follow the process independently instead of in a group. This skill...using multiple text sources to gather information....is so very important and one that students will use throughout their life. I've struggled with finding an effective way to teach students this concept, but I think I found a winning method!! I hope you try it...I would love to know how it works for your kiddos!! The K-W-L chart and the Sticky Note sheet are included in my Graphic Organizers for Informational Text Pack: Have a wonderful week...it's already Tuesday!!

Hello Everyone!! Happy New year to all of you! The end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 have been very emotional for me. We started off our winter break visiting my son, Jordan in Indiana. He has made his way into the hearts of the people of southwest Indiana with his amazing storytelling and reporting for the local news station. And...He just bought his first house. We are so excited for him! We loved spending time with him over Christmas. --- On our drive back home, we kept getting texts, phone calls, and e-mails from friends about the 12 tornadoes that ravaged their way through the towns around our home in Texas. Oh my goodness---our emotions went from bliss to absolute heartbreak. So many of our friends lost everything, including a couple of teachers from our district. One of the elementary schools was hit and is now deemed unsafe. And sadly, 11 people lost their lives. The past few days have been filled with helping school and church groups gather needed supplies for those affected by this disaster. Texans do tend to jump in and help whenever needed!! The cleanup and rebuild will take years, but the support will be there. If you would like to help those in need during this time, here's a link to the red cross donation sight. Thank you in advance for sharing your blessings! http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/2015/12/28/how-to-help-tornado-victims/77965462/ These events really put things into perspective for me. What is important? Where should we put our passion? So many of us are blessed beyond measure. We take for granted who and what we have in our lives. Herein lies the resolution. Giving. The more you give, the more you receive. Throughout the coming year, I will continue to share things on this blog for anyone who can use them to help teachers, parents, and kids get excited about learning. Teaching is sharing. Teaching is giving. I will give the best I have. It may not always be perfect, it may not always fit everyone's bill, but, if what I share can help even one person, It is worthwhile!! So, having said all that, I am sharing a new unit. This one is all about Opinion Writing. You all know how much I love Lucy Calkins. This unit is based on her "Writing Reviews" book for first graders. When we get back from winter break, our firsties will be learning all about opinions and how to share them through writing. This unit is a precursor to one we will do on writing book reviews and other type of persuasive writing. It includes everything you need to print and go! Here are a few pics. The unit is about 32 pages. If you think you might be able to use any of this, simply click HERE for the printable download. As always, thanks for taking time out to stop by and read this little blog. I appreciate you! My New Year's wish for you is that you are surrounded by love and joy, and that you are blessed to be a blessing to others. If you are heading back to school next week, have a wonderful reunion with your littles. Give them the best you have!! Joyfully! Nancy

We zoomed in more heavily on inferring today. Inferring was a 'thinking code' I introduced earlier last week, but it definitely is a skill that needs more attention. I used this chart to anchor what it means to infer. Textual evidence and background knowledge are essential for inferring. To help students remember to include both when writing about their inferences, I used these sentence stems as prompts. You'll see on the chart that it says "word-for-word support" and "paraphrased support" which are ways to cite text that I taught last week. Refer to this blog post for those anchor charts! Students did a practice activity on the computer in which I sent them the following passage that I found on this website: Screech! Karen stomped on the gas pedal the moment the light turned green. She looked over her left shoulder and zigged past a semi-truck. She zoomed ahead and looked over her right shoulder and thenzagged past a motorbike. She glanced at the clock on the console of her vehicle and darted into the parking lot. Whipping into a parking spot, she grabbed her suitcase and ran through the lot, up the escalator, and into the terminal. Her heavy suitcase was smacking and bouncing the whole way. As soon as entered the terminal, she heard an announcement over the loudspeaker, "Final boarding call for flight 205 to JFK..."Karen looked at her ticket and then at the line to get through the security checkpoint, which wrapped around several turnstiles and slithered like a lethargic snake. Karen sighed and then slowly walked to the customer service desk. I asked two questions that required students to infer. They were: 1. Where is Karen? 2. Why does she walk slowly at the end of the passage? Here are two student responses for question 1: * I infer that Karen is at an airport. I think this because the text says she heard an announcement that said it was the final boarding call. From my background knowledge I know that airports will go on the loudspeaker and announce one last time before the plane takes off These are called boarding calls. Therefore, that is how I came to infer that Karen is at an airport. * I infer Karen is at an airport. I believe this because in the text it says that she was rushing through the terminal and she had a suitcase with her. It also talked about her boarding a flight. From my background knowledge, I know that at airports they have terminals to separate flights and a suitcase is often something people bring to the airport to take on a plane. Therefore, I infer that Karen is at an airport. Here is a student response for question 2: * I infer that Karen is walking slowly at the end of the passage because shse probably missed her flight! I infer this because it says the line went all the way down the hall way and "Karen sighed and then slowly walked to the customer service desk". From my background knowledge I know that if someone sighs, it usually means you're disappointed and a line that goes down the hallway means it will take a while to get to the front. That's how I came to infer that Karen missed her flight!

Financially savvy kids are future leaders!

The best classroom management ideas for online learning, your daily routine, helping kids manage emotions and setting classroom expectations. Plus, fun new ideas for rewards!

Simple, yet effective social responsibility strategies you can try today to teach kids to be more responsible, make good choices and set attainable goals.

Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...

Is your kid having trouble with contractions? Try out this simple memory matching game.

Teach responsibility in your classroom through the use of intentional activities. Continue refining what responsibility means to your students all year.

We have a lovely school counselor this year who came to visit each of our classrooms and explain a common "Peace Process" for conflict resolution. I loved this for so many reasons and can't wait to share it with you! For one, common language across all grades is invaluable, especially when kids experience conflict at recess, in the lunch room, or even in the hallway when they are away from their classroom teacher and intermixed with other grades. Also, the fact that this process is broken down into such simple and manageable parts gives kids the confidence to go through it themselves, complete with sentence starters and all. I want to share this Peace Process with you in case you are looking for a way to help manage conflict and empower your students to problem-solve with one another. Feel free to download the freebie to share with others in your school, or even send home to parents... this can work with anyone in any situation! Step 1: Breathe The first step is the most important: make sure your body is calm enough to engage in the process of making peace. In the heat of the moment, the "fight or flight" response is in high gear, anger may be driving the show, and there is no way the rest of the process can be successful. By stopping to breathe, everyone can get back into a more calm state. How you breathe is just as important. Start by "smelling a flower" by breathing in through your nose and counting to three slowly. Then, hold for one count, and exhale our your mouth as if you're "blowing out a candle" for four counts. Practice this with your students and see how it changes the feel in the classroom. Some may be silly for the first breath or two, but after practicing for several breaths, the whole tone of the class will be calmer and more subdued. It's a good practice to keep on hand for other times during the day, too! Remind kids to take as many breaths as they need. This process can't be rushed, so even if they need some time alone to compose themselves, that's a-okay. I would still encourage a few common breaths together at the start of the process to be sure there's lots of fresh oxygen in the brain! Step 2: "I" Statements This is the first back-and-forth conversation that takes place. The person who feels harmed begins with a statement about how they felt. The framework of: "I feel ____ because ____" always gives kids a good place to start. During this time, the other person must stay silent and practice listening. This is important, because the second part of this step is to repeat what that person said. When the first person is done with their "I" Statement, the second person repeats what they heard, including all of the important parts, not just generalities. "I heard you say you felt ___ because ___" is a perfect launching point. At the end of their retell, they need to ask if they got it right. Person 1 needs to feel confident enough to say no, if needed, and retell the parts that were left out. This may need to happen a few times, especially at the beginning. The inclusion of "I heard you say..." is also crucial because it reinforces the idea that this is a listening exercise, not just an airing of grievances. Step 3: Repairing the Harm We want to encourage kids repair the harm, and sometimes "sorry" is enough. Other times, they may need an apology and an additional follow-up about what will happen if this occurs again. There may be something that they need or can do for one another, like get an ice pack or take turns with the item in question. There are other alternatives, too, and usually two or three actions are needed to repair the harm that was done. The important part is to make sure they are reasonable, and that both are agreeable to the ideas. Person 1 should feel that the harm is indeed repaired, or on the way to being repaired as best as possible. Step 4: Moving Forward While a physical touch may not always be appropriate, it is often a useful and effective starting point for moving forward. A handshake, high five, or fist bump can be powerful "wrap up" gestures that solidify the discussion and resolutions discussed. The important part, like the rest of the steps, is that both parties agree on the common gesture. Even a thumbs-up or peace sign can work. ... Always be sure to offer your presence and guidance, especially at at the beginning, as kids are working on practicing and internalizing these steps. After a while, you will not need to be as present, although you should always need to be available to help. Some conflicts go beyond the Peace Process and will need additional intervention by you or others to be truly effective and safe. However, I think you will find that this can be an excellent tool for navigating issues throughout the day. * As you introduce this to your classroom, have kids role-play through the Peace Process with common conflicts and/or issues that you have been hearing about. Extend the areas beyond the classroom and onto the playground, bus, neighborhood, and lunchroom. This activity will also get them more familiar with the steps and language in real-life scenarios. * An even more powerful way of incorporating this schoolwide is to have older student be "Peace Aides" and help younger students work through the process. How powerful for all parties involved! If you're interested in the freebie, click HERE to find it in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Have you used a process like this at your school? Do you have additional steps or any feedback? Please leave a comment and share your experiences!

I was recently in a third grade classroom and was struck by the presence of rules that were posted for how to have a conversation. Having visited many middle and high schools, I think these same rules could -- and probably should -- be posted there as well.

Managing Your Independent Reading Time I know CAFE and Daily 5 are very popular now, but I used a different independent reading system in my classroom. The ideas came from a book called R5 in Your Classroom by Michelle J. Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace. I tried the Daily 5 and loved the concept but found it to be a lot to manage and difficult to fit into my choppy schedule. Then I found this book and loved the way it got my students involved in their reading and talking about their reading. When I was working with small groups or doing individual conferences the students would be reading, relaxing, reflecting, responding and rapping. The book explains in detail how to implement each step in your classroom, but briefly, here are the R5 steps; Read and Relax: Students find their designated reading spot and read. They are responsible for having enough reading materials, their journal, a pencil and sticky notes. Their reading materials might include books at their level from the class or school library, e-books on a reader, magazines or nonfiction texts, or assigned texts from literature groups. Reflect and Respond: Students take a few minutes to think about what they've read that day. They may have sticky notes to look at again, or notes in a margin if they've read a printed article. Then they write a reading response in their journals. Rap: This part was different from any other independent reading process I've tried. During Rap students sit with a partner and talk about their reading. The partner listens and makes appropriate comments or asks questions. Then they reverse roles. We also chose a few students to rap with the whole group. I feel strongly that students in grades 3 and up need to be given more time in class to read. By implementing R5 in my classroom I knew my kids were reading at least 30 to 60 minutes every day. The time depended on their stamina and our daily schedule, but I never skipped R5. If the day got complicated with crazy activities I always made time for R5. Whatever program you use in your classroom, Daily 5, Cafe, literature studies or a basal series, give your students the one thing they need the most....uninterrupted time to read! These Reading Chat Cards, from my TPT store, worked well when my students were discussing their books or writing in their journals. How much time do your students get for independent reading?

Hey y'all! Over the past couple of weeks I've had some questions from teachers about how I use Class Dojo in my classroom and utilizing my Class Dojo Super Pack. I had done a blog post back in February when I first ditched the clip chart, but I've changed a few things since then and didn't quite explain it all clearly the first time, so I'm back to try again! In the past, I've kept all my behavior charts and/or Class Dojo materials on the closet door at the back of my room. This year, I've moved it to one of the square bulletin boards at the front of my classroom. Here is my new bulletin board: This Class Dojo bulletin board houses pretty much all of our Class Dojo "stuff". In the bottom left corner, you'll see my Dojo Store. I chose 12 items (tangible rewards and experiences) that my kids will have to choose from at this time. I will change these out every few weeks - take some off and add some other rewards - there will most likely be some that will stay for at least 2 "cycles" in a row, if not more. The reward tickets were printed and are housed in regular sized library pockets. The library pocket covers fit just over top of the library pockets and I used some velcro dots to attach them to the library pocket, as well as put a staple on each side of the pocket cover so that it would lay flat. My plan for the tickets is for the kids to bring them to me when they want to purchase that item/experience so that I know what they are purchasing as well as take it off of their Dojo Credit Card balance. I will then put the tickets back in the pocket to be reused later (saving some copies!). Above my Dojo Store, I have my Class Dojo Leader of the Week. Each Friday when we are packing up, I will see which child had the most points during the week and they will get to be the Leader of the Week for the next week. I have printed out little Class Dojo monsters from Class Dojo's online resources - the Leader of the Week will get to choose one of these monsters and I will use a sharpie to write their name on this monster and add it to our bulletin board. The Leader of the Week also gets a Brag Tag and a certificate - if they are LOTW multiple times, they get a brag tag each time they are LOTW! Going up the right side of the bulletin board, as well as kind of taking over the top, is my Class Dojo point club. This is something new that I'm adding this year! Every couple weeks I will check on my kiddos' total points in the Class Dojo Reports and use printed mini Class Dojo monsters to show which club the kiddos belong in. For each level of the club, they will also receive a Brag Tag! 100-1000 point club certificates (printed on colored paper) and brag tags. Their Class Dojo credit card is a laminated card with their name on the front and their signature on the back - like a real credit card. I have them sign their cards before I laminate. Since it is laminated, that allows me to use a sharpie and a Mr. Clean eraser to write their balance and erase to change the balance as they add to or take from their balance. When I give my kiddos their credit cards, I explain to them that this is like a real credit card that their parents may have and that they have to be responsible to take very good care of their card. I explain to them that if they lose their card, they can't just "get" another one. There is a penalty for losing their card. I know this isn't quite how it works in the real world, but they have to learn some responsibility sometime! When I find credit cards laying on the floor in the classroom, I take them and hide them from the student until they come to me and ask for their card. When I give them their card back, I explain to them that it is very important to take care of their card and that there is a monetary penalty for losing their card and getting it back - I usually take 10-15 dojo dollars for returning credit cards. Call me mean - but I want them to treat their credit cards just like real money. I also only let them spend the money that they have loaded on their card - no racking up a big credit card bill! **Note - Clipart on credit cards IS NOT included on the set in my TPT store. You will have to download the clipart and add to the credit cards if you want the look I have above.** Q&A: When do your students cash out their Dojo points to add to their Dojo Credit Card? I have four tables in my classroom and I have assigned each table one day of the week that they are allowed to cash out their points. I allow them to cash out their points during morning arrival and morning work time and then again during lunch (we eat lunch in our classroom so this works for me). So, I should have around 6 students cashing out each day. When they cash out, I quickly add/subtract the points they have on their behavior graphing sheet, total them up, and use a sharpie to add this amount to the back of their credit card. This takes about 1 minute per student, so it really is not taking up much time during the day. If a student (or myself) is absent, I either use our extra day during the week, or let them cash out on a day other than their table's assigned day. When can your students purchase items from the Dojo Store? I let them purchase items/experiences any day of the week - but it has to be during morning work time or lunch time. I don't want this to be interrupting instruction, so I restrict it to these times of the day. If your kiddos stay in our room during dismissal in the afternoon, you could do this during that time while they wait for their bus or car. Why do you reset your students' points daily? This is something I have always done. Previously, when I had my 7-layered clip chart, my kiddos would start out each day on green. Once they had 3 positive points they would move up to blue, 6 points they would move to purple, and 10 pink. So, I would reset to 0 daily because of this. I also like the idea of a fresh start each day. I know that all my kiddos aren't going to be perfect and there are going to be some that are not going to have a great day once in a while. If they leave with negative points, I want them to come in the next day with a fresh start back at zero. Otherwise, they already feel defeated before stepping into my classroom and that is NOT how I want them to feel about school. Class Dojo is all about noticing the positive things that your kiddos are doing rather than just focusing on the negative, so I try my best to do that as well. If you reset your points daily, how do you check their totals for the 100-1000 Club and Leader of the Week? Class Dojo is super great for reports! First, click on the Reports page at the top of our Class Dojo screen. That will take you to this page. Then, you'll want to change the date to your desired date. For LOTW, I change it to that current week. For 100-1000 point club, I choose All Time. Then you'll want to go over to the student column on the lefthand side and use the drop-down box to choose Highest Combined. This will take into account both positive and negative points and will sort them from most points to least points. This way you can see who is the Leader of the Week each week and check the total points for each student for the 100-1000 point club. How do you get your parents and students to set up online accounts? You may (or may not) know that Class Dojo will send out weekly reports to your kiddos' parents each Friday to parents who have set up an online account. Fortunately for me, I am at a great school with lots of parental support. This year, I had every parent set up an account. Did all of them monitor the accounts on a regular basis? No, probably not. All but one of my kiddos had their own account as well. It was much easier to get the kiddos to set up an account because they want to be able to personalize their monster and that is the only way they can do it. I also encourage my parents to set up accounts and will pester email them until they do so - haha! They don't have to set up an account online, but it is very beneficial for them to be able to track their students during the day and get the weekly reports - in addition to seeing their child's daily graph that I send home in their COLLEGE notebook. Yes, I've had parents who monitor their child's behavior during the day and send me messages on Class Dojo messenger about what their child is doing and messages that I need to relay to their child to straighten up! What other questions do you have? Please ask them below and I'll add them to the blog post! How did you get the Class Dojo Monsters on all the items you have pictured above? The set you have on TPT doesn't have the monsters? The set I have listed on TPT includes editable parts. I had to remove the monsters from the set after I originally posted it because of copyright, so I made the set so that you can add the monsters if you wish. There is a set of pages in the pack on TPT that does not have the monsters and then there is an editable file that has space on the items to add pictures directly from the Class Dojo website. The link to these items is included. So, you have the option to add the monsters or not. Now, I'm giving away one of my Class Dojo Super Pack sets to one lucky reader! Complete the Rafflecopter below to enter! a Rafflecopter giveaway Be sure to check back on July 21st, August 1st, and August 5th! I've teamed up with Class Dojo to share some new features that they will be releasing on these three dates - they're going to be great!!

Free checklist and tips for developing classroom procedures that build character in students

I've been reading the book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and just finished chapter 3. It was a real eye-opener. Through all of my years of teaching, I thought I was differentiating by planning and implementing reteaching and enrichment lessons and activities as my class worked through a unit. But in this chapter, I learned how important it is to start the differentiation before the unit even begins! This process begins with the preassessment. So much valuable information can be gathered before you begin teaching a unit. The purpose of the preassessment is to find how much students understand the content before you plan and teach the unit. Do they have a complete understanding of the content? Then they will need enrichment and/or accelerated activities. Do they have a partial understanding of the content? Then you need to make note of the gaps in their learning so you can plan accordingly. Checklists are a great way to keep track of the objectives and student mastery. From this checklist, you will also see students that need to be grouped for instruction. Keep in mind that this grouping will change as students master the objectives. Another insight I gained from this chapter is the different types of assessments used in a classroom. I put together this graphic to sum up the three types of assessment you should be using in your classroom. Click on the image to download the pdf version. You can also download this free packet with three quick and easy formative assessments you can use 1

Cultivate lifelong reading skills.

Click through to find great ideas you can use to improve student behavior half-way through the school year in your 2nd-8th grade classroom.

When I was a student teacher, I remember being asked what my classroom management would be. Having little to no experience at the helm, I looked around the room, fixed my eyes on the famous stoplig…

Looking for 3rd grade anchor charts? We put together some of our favorites to use in your third grade classroom this year!

We had another class Monday night with our new dual/ELL staff members, and this time we focused on differentiation and what that may look like across the subject areas. As we have done in the past, we had the teachers participate in a gallery walk and thus rotate around with their groups to add to a series of posters focused on this topic of differentiation. Yet again, our wonderful staff did not disappoint and came up with a wide assortment of ideas as to how instruction can be differentiated for our students! I typed up their ideas on a nice one page spread for them, and thought you all may find it useful as well! Click on it to grab a copy for yourself or a friend. Graphics/Fonts: Scrappin' Doodles, Rowdy Fonts, My Cute Graphics Also, (as if you haven't already heard ;)), I wanted to let you all in on the big secret. TpT will be hosting a "3 Million Teachers Strong" sale February 27-28th. In using promo code TPT3, you can get up to 28% off at my store along with so many more! How exciting is it to see this community of teachers growing and working together :)!