Back to School Tidbits

Hey everyone!! I hope that the beginning of your school year has been very productive. I, personally, feel like I am finally getting into a rhythm. It's amazing how much less stressed you are when things begin to settle down! Today, I wanted to share a few tips that work for me in my classroom that you can use to survive the rest of your school year.

1) Create a to-do list. I accomplish more when I write it down immediately and cross it off when completed. And you don't even necessarily need a planner for this! Sticky notes on your desk do the job as well. There is something thoroughly satisfying about marking through the to-do list. Without this, I truly believe I would feel constantly behind. The completed to-do list allows me to have some closure to enjoy my time off.

2) Use your conference period to your advantage. Too many teachers chat during their conference period instead of getting work done. I challenge you to spend at least 2 conference periods a week shut away in your room the entire 45 minutes and no chatting with peers. You will be amazed by how much you can get done. By making this guarantee to myself has increased my productivity tremendously. I do not take as much home as I used to.

3) Be sure to always plan ahead for what you will need next school year. In the spring, I created these supplemental aids rings for my special ed students. They were constantly losing the ones I gave them at the beginning of the year, and I spent the majority of my time before the state standardized test redoing them. I realized I needed a way to make sure they are always with my students when they need them. What better way to do that than by attaching them to their notebooks?! As you can see, the notebooks have already become well-used and not a single child has lost their supplemental aids. Given the fact that we are already 4 weeks into the school year, I will take this as a major win!!

I hope that I was able to give you some ideas for making your school year great. I am sure that these are things you are already aware of, but sometimes we teachers need reminders to save our sanity. I hope that you have a fantastic rest of your school year!!

Top 3 Back to School Wins!

This year, I am teaching an all special needs learning strategies class at my middle school.  I have 17 students each with their own specific needs and my job on paper is to teach them various skills like communication skills, executive functioning, and self-determination.  Translated, that means teaching organization to the students who are typically the most disorganized!

So I tried some new things this year for back to school and decided to share the top 3 things that worked the best for me!

Have you ever heard of or read this book?   It's the story of how soldiers convinced the townspeople to help them make "stone soup".  Everyone contributed a little something and the final product was a feast!

My students had not heard of this book and even though they were off kilter from learning new schedules, they were silent as I read this book.  Not just silent - they were into it!  This was perfect because of the message we were able to glean from the book - that we all have something to contribute and if we work together, we can make something great!  We put what we have to share on interactive notebook foldables and then I put them up on our "expert wall":

These activities and more were part of my new Back to School pack:

The first topic that we are exploring in class is growth mindset.  I wanted students to think about how they communicate to themselves before we begin to work on communicating with others.   So, after learning about not giving up when things were hard, we played this "cups" game.

Each group of students was given one "tool" - a rubber band with four pieces of yarn tied to it.  Using only the tool, the students had to work together to move the cups into pyramids and then stack the cups all into one sleeve.

They loved this game!  They cooperated, participated appropriately and did not give up!  This was a major win because up until this point all the change of a new year definitely had my students acting out.

Part of teaching organization is requiring the students to fill in their planner in all their classes.  As many of my students are 6th graders this year, they eat the earliest lunch.  They were coming to me the last period of the day and they were hungry!  

So I told them that if they had their planner filled out for every class, that they would earn a snack.  So, as I check planners, I pass out small dixie cups to those who have their planners filled in.  While the bell work is being completed, I fill the cups.  This week it was goldfish crackers.  You would think they were made of real gold the way the kids are working for them!  Almost all planners are now filled in and you won't hear a word during bell work as they are all munching away!

It's not all sunshine and roses, but I think we are off to a good start and I thank you for joining me to celebrate our success!  

Leave a comment to tell all about your back to school wins!

 

A Checklist Manifesto for Teachers

Have you read The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande?  He proposes that the simple checklist will help streamline complex tasks and reduce errors.

The primary focus and anecdotes of his book deal with the medical field, but the take away is that in the midst of a complicated, multi-step process, a checklist helps us avoid mistakes and omissions.

When I finished reading this book, I cheered.  I felt validated!  Yay!  I am not crazy for loving my checklists!

In this back-to-school post, I want to share my own "checklist manifesto" ... middle-school style.

When to use a checklist

• I use checklists whenever students are working on a multi-step task:  writing assignments, projects, book talks, or project-based learning.  Using the checklist helps me know that students are progressing in their work. 

• I also use a checklist to quickly mark daily homework that is completed, but might not be taken for a grade.  Since I don't always collect homework, the checklist helps me see who has completed the work and who has not.  

• A checklist helps me track when and how often I conference with a student during workshop time.  

• I can use it to record participation grades.

My clipboard, my friend

• I keep my checklist on a clipboard that I can easily use as I wander around the room monitoring students at work.  I use a simple shorthand to make quick notes.

• Be sure to keep a cover sheet over your clipboard to ensure students privacy, and always return your clipboard to a safe place!  I keep mine in the same place on my desk.  That way, I never have to worry about losing it.

Other benefits

• When using a checklist for a project, you are really creating all the steps required to complete the project and you're creating a gradebook page.  This is a wonderful resource for student or parent conferences when you want to talk about work habits.

• A checklist is really a formative assessment.  You can see what areas need to be retaught -- even if you're just using a - or + notation on your checklist.

• Anecdotal evidence at your fingertips.  Your checklist can show behavior patterns that need to be addressed with your students.  Often, students don't realize they've been unprepared for class three times in a week, or they have missed turning in assignments on a regular basis.  The checklist gives you the data you need to conference with students to help them adjust their behavior.

• Checklists help you stay on track for a project.  You'll be able to see what the next steps are in completing a writing assignment or group project.  This will help you adjust the pacing of your class.  

Thank goodness my classroom isn't a (medical) operating room!

Obviously my checklists are academic rather than medical in nature.  But the outcome of using a checklist helps simplify my life.  As you're organizing projects for this school year, consider trying a checklist to help you organize and gather data -- stat!

Interested in more checklist goodness?
Check out the product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store:  Teacher-Checklists:  Making formative assessments easier.  You can download it for FREE for a the next week.  If you do download it, please leave me feedback!

A Cure for Interactive Notebook Chaos

Ok, so 'chaos' might be a strong word, but it took me an entire year to realize the classroom could be calm and orderly when working on Interactive Reading Notebooks (IRNs). Hello! Susie here, from Anchored in Reading, ready to talk about strategies to smoothly implement Interactive Notebooks in the classroom. 

Picture it: you have a fantastic lesson planned on prefixes. You are excited and your students are excited because they get to work in their interactive notebooks. The class starts with a short task card bell ringer which leads to an interesting discussion. Next thing you know, you're 20 minutes into class and have yet to start the IRN lesson. "Quick, I need this group and this group to grab three markers!" "Hailey, can you give everyone a pair of scissors, please?!" "Hurry, we have less than half an hour to get this done." "Mrs. Kline, you forgot to call our group to get markers." "Do we need tape for this?" "I hope we don't need highlighters because I didn't grab one." 

Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit, these are factual statements that were uttered in my classroom the past couple of years. Then, after we were finally settled with all of our supplies, we begin the lesson just in time to hear the bell ring. Markers are scattered about, scissors lie on several desks, and tape dispensers could be found all over the place across various areas of the classroom. The next class coming in has to tip-toe very carefully to their seats. Oh boy! On top of that madness, wouldn't you know it, since I teach two different grades, the next class didn't need any of these supplies littering the classroom! "Emma, Jake, someone, can you please collect all of the IRN supplies on the floor, and desks, and ledges, and . . . " Yes, another statement uttered many, many, many times last year. I knew there had to be a better way.

I tried various methods: this row first, this bucket belongs to this group, the class helper will pass out all supplies, and so on. None were really successful. Then, something magical happened. I thought, why not pencil pouches to hold all materials. Ah ha! That's it! Oh, wait, what about pencil pouches located in one specific area of the classroom where students will always know where to find them! Keep going, keep going . . . ok, how about pencil pouches in one area so students will always know where to find them AND some sort of visual to let students know if they will need IRN supplies that day. Oh. My. Goodness. Did I just really come up with a method that works?! Why yes, yes I did. My students now check the IRN board upon entering the room. If they see the red side of the sign, they know to just have a seat and start reading quietly. If the visual is green, they proceed to the pouch holder, grab a pouch, then head to their seats to read quietly.

FINALLY! This Interactive Organization just might work!

At the end of class, students then return pouches by rows (how I currently have my seats set-up now.) The last student in each row collects all pouches and puts them back in the pouch holder. 

The only two cons to this method involve clean-up and consistent use of the visuals. After the IRN lesson, right before the bell rings, things can still get a bit hectic. Also, you have to be vigilant with turning the signs to the correct side every day. These two cons are greatly outweighed by the instructional time I have now gained from the start of class. These interactive notebook visuals can be found in my store, Anchored In Reading.

Here are the pouches I use. I found these super cheap at Five Below. I found the containers at the At Home store. If students need supplies for their IRNs, they grab a pouch from this holder on the counter right below the IRN supply board. 

Thanks for reading! Here's to less time wasted!

One more tip . . . I use cheese ball containers to collect scraps during IRN lessons! Put some fancy duct tape over the label and you have yourself a cheap and efficient scrap collector! I only have two and my students know to pass them around as we are working on lessons to minimize the mess. 

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Back to School CRAZINESS!

Hello everyone! It's Megan from Snapshots of Sixth Grade here!

How many of you feel like this after your first day of school?

How about after your first week of school?

I always start of the school year with so much energy and then forget how crazy the first week of school is. I absolutely wouldn't change it for the world, but I do love once all of the routines get a lot faster!

Here are some of my favorite back to school activities:

1.  Since I am a middle school Language Arts teacher, I always try to incorporate Language Arts type activities for the beginning of the school year. One of my favorites is using the book, Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. You can find that book here. I read the book, which talks about 'making your mark!' and how are you unique. This is especially perfect for me in sixth grade because they are coming into school with new people and have a chance to completely start over. I have them then create and decorate their own exclamation mark with specific things that are special to them. Here is the exclamation mark ready to go for you ready to download.
2. I also found this at the beginning of the school year, which I thought was great for my sixth graders. It is a middle school survival kit, which has so many great tools for the beginning of the year. What a great product! Totally worth the money! I used it a lot this year. 
3. I think it is so important to document their first and last day of school so I do it with a picture frame.
   
   Here is me with our frame for the last day. I then, put both their first and last day photos together and send it to them over the summer! It's fun summer mail for them and a great keepsake. The three links next are what I use to display their first day of school photos. Here is the instagram symbol. Here is the #firstdayofschool and here is the instagram words.  

I hope you are all having a great start to the school year or will have a great start to the school year, if you haven't started yet! Happy back to school! Enjoy it, it will be the end of the year before we know it!

Back to School Tips and Tidbits!!!

Back to school is upon us…some of you (myself included) have already started, while others may be enjoying their last few days of summer break!  As I prepared to start the year, one area I wanted to focus on was being more consistent with my expectations and routines, starting on day 1.  Over the years, I have learned just how important this is.  

Here’s an example of some of the expectations I require of my students:

• Line up outside the door in a straight line until I invite you in (this allows time for the current class to get all of their belongings, or for a quick chat w/ a student in b/t classes).

• Immediately grab warm-up notebook upon entering the room (or whatever you have them use) and begin warm-up.  Having students begin work as soon as they come in sets the tone for the rest of the class and gives you time to do attendance, etc.).  

• Bathroom Use- I found a great way to prevent the constant interruption of having students ask to use the restroom by using “Potty Passes.”  I found this great idea on In the Middle’s blog, and you can access them here.  Students get 5 potty passes per quarter.  Of course, if it’s an emergency and they’re out of passes, I would still let them go. 

As I stated previously, it's so important for students to have a warm-up/bell ringer posted on the board and ready to go as soon as they enter the room.  I felt that it was important to hold them accountable for this, so I decided to choose a group leader (or row leader, depending on how your class is set up) each week to check each group member's warm-up.  Each student can get up to 20 points for completing the warm-up, and then making the necessary corrections once we go over it together.  If they don't correct the mistakes, they only receive partial credit.  Then, on Fridays, I collect the charts and give them each a classwork grade.  You can access the chart for FREE here!

Also, during the first couple of days of school, I give each group or pair a set of Student Interest Task Cards.  The task cards allow me to get to know my students, which is extremely important in building that relationship from the get-go.  Check these out here!

Being prepared is key to having 

successful year, and this is the best 

advice I could give to any teacher.  Best 

of luck to all of you, and I hope you have 

fabulous 2015-16 school year!!! 

I Dare You!

Hi all!

Jen from Teaching Teens in the 21st, here! Have you gone back to school yet? If you're like me, you've been back for a few weeks, and you may already be feeling the pressure to have your room, lessons, everything perfectly prepared and ready each day. I'm here to tell you, as a Type A personality with anxiety, what I'm about to tell you will FREAK you out at first, but stick with me. Here's my dare for you...

Tomorrow, as you start getting ready to leave work, leave your teacher bag behind. Yep, I said it.

Take your keys, take your purse, take your lunch bag, but leave everything else at school. All of it, don't try to sneak your teacher planner into your bag. I see you. That's cheating. :) Get in your car and go. Roll the windows done and crank some music like it's Friday!

Go home. Spend time with your family, your dog, cat, gerbil, television, whatever. Make dinner. Load the dishwasher. Heck, even play Candy Crush for awhile. Then look at the clock and realize it's not 10pm like it is when you come home and work on school stuff.

This week I vowed not to bring anything home with me, and it has been life changing. I've made dinner, done laundry, caught up on tv, snuggled with my puppy, cleaned up so our house looks less like a frat house, and relaxed! I actually drove to school with a smile on my face today, which was new because I'm usually overtired and exhausted on the way to work!

Are you thinking, "I never bring my teacher bag home, this doesn't even apply to me!" Then congratulations, because you are already awesome and enjoying your life the way you should.

Please don't let yourself get burned out in the first month of school, enjoy the sunshine before the days get too short, and live it up. Work will be there in the morning, and you will find a way to get it done. Enjoy the holiday weekend, and tell me on our Middle School Mob facebook page me if you took my dare! :)