So this happened... I was walking through Walmart, minding my own business, and these emoji beanbags threw themselves into my cart. Sort of. First, I saw that they were on clearance for $7 each. How could I resist? This picture shows them sitting in the back of my trusty minivan, waiting for the custodians to finish cleaning my classroom and let me in. (My need to begin setting up my classroom begins about mid-July every summer, because I report back the first week of August.) At first I thought they might be used by my students as actual bean bag chairs. Um, no. The fabric is thin, and the insides are pretty uncomfortable. So the flexible seating idea was out (more on that idea later). These babies are just for show. When I walked into my room, I saw that my old TV had been removed, leaving a very high corner shelf in the front of the room. Perfect. My walls were completely bare this summer, awaiting the installation of a new 70 inch smart TV that will take the place of my projector. So I got to thinking about the really important stuff that would be front and center in my room, our self-assessment rubric, class motto, and rules... and I decided to change them all. Here's the first emoji update: our growth mindset/metacognition posters. This is how I get my kiddos to start thinking about their thinking (for the original post on this subject, click HERE). These posters are free at my Teachers Pay Teacher's store, just click on them to download! The next part of my emoji update is the complete set of self-assessment tools, which you can also find for sale in my TpT store by clicking on the following picture. My new class motto is: GROW your brain (Growth mindset!) SHOW your stamina (Whole Brain Teaching - stamina is being able to do something for a long time, without getting tired or giving up.) KNOW how you're learning (Self-Assessment!) If you want to join me in my new emoji style, I'm working on editable class rules next! Happy teaching,