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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Tackling Behavior

Hi friends!  Recently I was lucky enough to attend the SDE I Teach First Conference!  Lucky, right?

I was able to hear Cara Carroll from The First Grade Parade speak. She taught a class called Interactive Behavior Management: Tools, Tips, and Tricks. I'm going to share three of my favorite tricks!



Trick 1:  Quiet Spray. I know, I know it is ALL OVER Pinterest BUT hearing Cara (we are on a first name basis now, hah) explain how she uses it had me cracking up. Quiet spray can be used two different ways. First way: if the class is being super quiet you can mist them with quiet spray for having good behavior. Second way: if one student in particular is having a hard time staying quiet you can lightly mist them directly in their face. HAHAHAH  Cara suggested as teachers we might often want to dump the entire spray bottle but refrain from that. Just give them a little spritzer and keep walking.

Trick 2. Behave Your Beans (behavior beans). Keep a small bowl of beans and a small container somewhere in your room. When a student does something great and displays good behavior you tell them to go and get a behavior bean and place it in the container. When the container is full you give them a treat. It does not need to be something you purchased. It can be extra recess, bubble party, dance party, or sidewalk chalk. Make sure you are using a small container or it will never become full.

Trick 3:  Happy Rocks. Saving the best for last because this is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. You know those clear rocks they sell at the Dollar Tree. Well, go buy them NOW!  Draw a smiley face on each rock with a sharpie.  When a student does something that makes you so happy tell them to get a happy rock. The rock is theirs to keep. Cara told some heart wrenching stories about students who kept them, cherished them, and loved them. A rock, people. We can make their day better with a rock!

Thanks for hanging around and for that I am giving you some free labels for your cute behavior trick containers!!

Click for freebie!

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Gobble Gobble

My kids love making "chickens" aka turkeys!  Seriously kids, why can't you call it a turkey?!  It is NOT a chicken. Anyway, if I can turn a skill in November into a turkey, I'm going to make it happen.

Turkey adddition..check
Turkey subtraction..check
Turkey sentences..check

It makes me happy. And rule #5 is all about keeping me happy. :)





How cute is that turkey?  Right?  They also wrote the sweetest Thanksgiving sentences. We have been practicing punctuation for WEEKS! This was perfect practice for them to write sentences using the correct punctuation mark. First, I gave students a Thanksgiving word list that I projected onto the SmartBoard. Second, I had students get out their journals and write 5 sentences in there. Next, I checked to make sure they were correct and then they began making their turkeys. It was a two day project but I love how they proud they were of them. I hung them up outside and they were SO upset they couldn't bring them home. 

Enjoy a freebie;)


If you love turkey time like I do check out my Turkey subtraction!  Includes task cards for around the room/scoot and a craftivity. Maybe your kids will have fun making "chickens" too.

Gobble Up Subtraction





Have a great Sunday!


Monday, October 19, 2015

Fluency, Fluency, Oh, Fluency

Yes, I know it is terribly important!  ESPECIALLY for my firsties. I know they should be fluent readers BUT what I also know is that fluency tests can sometimes be painful to give. It usually takes me an hour. I am not here to offer a magic trick on giving them but rather tell you what I do and then give you a freebie. :)

I list our sight words at the top of the page and I write each fluency assessment using our current and past sight words. This makes reading them MUCH easier for the student as long as they have studied their words.

This is an example of Week 4 and Week 5 sight word and fluency assessment. My rubric changes with each 9 week.

1st 9 week-15 wpm
2nd 9 weeks-30 wpm
3rd 9 weeks-45 wpm
4th 9 weeks-60 wpm

The first jump from 15 words in a minute to 30 is the most difficult one. I am always so nervous for them on the first test of the 2nd 9 weeks but as always they blow me away!

I hope you can use some of my fluency assessments!  I will continue to update them as I make them.

Click to download.

And just for sticking around I'm giving away a little Halloween freebie fun. You can download it from TeachersPayTeachers.

I hope you are having a great October!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Classroom Reveal 2015!!!

Come swim along with me under the sea in my beautiful classroom!  I didn't change anything in my room from last year, I simply added to it!  It has been so fun creating this theme. I hope I get five a few years use out of it. So Mr. B if you are reading don't go switching my classroom next year, please and thank you!

Alrighty folks, up ahead you will find way too many just enough photos!

Isn't this octopus to DIE for!!!!



Jellyfish hang above every group....I followed a simple tutorial to make these. Would you believe me if I said it's tablecloth?




I reinforce math facts by doing Gumball Math. The students LOVE it and not going to lie so do I. Please notice my third gumball machine at the top....the door had a malfunction and busted something so now gross oil is leaking all the way down my door!  Teacher luck.





I COULD NOT pass up this IKEA cash register.


Writing Center.






Thanks for sticking around!  Hope you loved it!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Slowwwwwww Classroom Progress....

Y'all what was I thinking when I decided I wanted to change my classroom up this year?  Thanks to my wonderful B.T.F.F. (Best Teacher Friend Forever )  :)  my classroom is beginning to transform into the under the sea theme I had dreamed of. Go easy on me guys...It's a work in progress and NONE of my ocean stuff has even been hung up.  Soon!



I have a  Fujifilm Instax that I will use for my Instagram board pictures. 

 Isn't this fabric to die for?!!

I so wish I had taken a picture of the teacher fail that was this wall BEFORE I put up the paper. I thought it would be a great idea to hang cork board from the roll. It was NOT. Do not attempt to do this. An hour to hot glue it to my wall and then 30 minutes to scrape my walls with a razor blade. NOT FUN!!  So paper with clothespins it. 


Excuse all of the hot messes everywhere. The computers have not been set up and Target bags are scattered all over.

Be back soon for a full classroom reveal!  Happy Summer you guys!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Tell All Tuesday-Summer Flashback


It's Tuesday, y'all and I am linking up with some lovely ladies for my first Tell All Tuesday-a Weekly Summer Linky! Thanks Jayme from Teach, Talk Inspire and Diana from My Day in K for organizing this!

I LOVE Summer. After all, name a teacher who doesn't. Spending the summer with my little family I created is just perfect. We aren't a family who has the need to constantly stay busy with summer camp after camp and activity after activity. We seriously can stay at home all day and have a great day. We've spent this summer with the perfect mix of activities and lazy puzzle days at home. My kids are super easy going, go with the flow type kiddos.

With that being said, my summer flashback memory is to last summer. My mom and I brought my boys to Biloxi, MS. It isn't the prettiest "beach" but it's close to our house and we needed a quick getaway. My mom had just found out her cancer that she had just finished chemotherapy for had not gone away like we had hoped. We didn't know what her options would be and we were devastated. This beach trip saved us. We got away, cleared our minds and my mom had a blast. I flashback to this memory not to be sad but to be thankful that we went. My mom is currently taking a treatment once a month and is doing so good!  I look forward to our next happy getaway under better circumstances. Just not this summer because I like my limbs and with all that nasty in the gulf, I'm staying put in Louisiana. :)




Thanks for checking me out and make sure to visit the Linky Party over at:

            
This week's Tell all Tuesday is Summer Flashback.  Pull out your photo albums and find your favorite summer flashback memory.  We can't wait to see everyone's photos and read about your summertime adventures.  Thanks for linking up with us.  
Here's how to join in on the fun:
1. Grab the picture and banner above and use it to link back to this post on your blog.
2. Write a post about the topic of the week.
This week is: Summer Flashback
3. Add your link below.
4. Advertise your post using any social media of your choice.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

Are we there yet? Fraction craftivity

We are down to 8 days and the kids and I are hanging on by a thread  having so much fun!  We just finished up our fraction unit in GoMath (anyone else use this?) It's the last chapter in the book and there are 8 more days of school!  So, craft anyone?  This was super easy!









Download this craftivity on TPT now.


I'm thinking I'll review double digit addition and subtraction these last few days.

Grab this freebie while you're there!  So cute for end of the year gift.

Mini Jenga Gift.


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Winner Wednesday: Spring 100 chart Mystery Picture

I am linking up with A Dab of Glue Will Do for a new monthly linky where each blogger showcases something in her TPT store and then raffles it off!

Mine is nothing fancy but it's a perfect time filler and great for practice identifying or writing their numbers. I know May is a super busy month and sometimes it's necessary for the teacher to have a few minutes of quite time so that you can complete paperwork (or drink that very necessary glass of coffee). :)

And enter...100 Chart Mystery Pictures with a Summer theme!

There are 11 pictures, all with a summer theme. My favorite part is that some of the mystery pictures are blank and students must write all of the numbers in themselves before they can color it!   This option makes it easy to differentiate because not all students are able to do that.

This week is PARCC testing (Thanks Louisiana, during Teacher Appreciation Week, really?) so we needed something fun yet educational so I pulled one of these out.




I love to see their little brains thinking about ways to fill in the hundred chart. Some of them went straight down and counted by tens, then fives, and even twos. I could see their thinking!

Don't you love it when that happens?

Thanks for stopping by and please enter your name in the Rafflecopter to be entered to win!

Winner is Cherie Mae Ong-check your e-mail!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Mother's Day *a little love for mom* Part 2

Tagxedo...anyone?

My firsties are knee deep in adjectives so ANYTHING I can do to encourage them to use adjectives, I'm all in. We love word clouds!

We start off practicing word clouds on ABCya.

That way, when it's time for my Mother's Day craft they are well practiced with them.

Tagxedo makes such a cute Mother's Day gift.

My kids always start off by writing their names. Then I have them write whatever they call their mom. Mom, mommy, etc. Next, comes the adjectives. I have them list as many as they can.

Once they are finished they can change the color, shape, and theme. Some pick high heels, hearts, hand prints, and a banana(?). It's 100% their project.

After, I print them all out and I laminate them. I've always said I would buy frames from the Dollar Tree but every year I laminate them instead.

We are fortunate to have a computer lab at our school so that makes this process very easy and can be done whole group.

What mother wouldn't love this?




Thanks for dropping by!

Monday, May 4, 2015

Mother's Day *a little love for Moms* Part 1

A couple years back I stumbled on one of the thousands of hand scrub recipes that live on Pinterest.

Here is the original link:

Mary Kay Satin Hands DIY

I love making these for Mother's Day because it is a gift that:
a) Moms can actually use
b) students make this COMPLETELY on their own
c) It's so inexpensive.

First things first.

Print the labels.

Hand Scrub Labels

I cannot claim credit for the adorable poem. It came from Hanging By A Silver Lining.

Once the labels are printed you will need small snack size containers. I like to use Tupperware to keep with reason C. BUT I suppose you could always go to Dollar Tree and buy glass containers or use Mason jars.

These are the containers that I use.



You will need a large bottle on Dawn dish washing liquid.  The pink kind with Olay Beauty.



You will also need a large bag of sugar.

There really is no recipe for this. I let the students fill their containers about 2/3 of the way full with sugar and then they add Dawn until it is creamy. If they add too much I can always add more sugar.







I give them a plastic spoon to stir. When they think it's finished we pop the lid on. I'd also like to mention we do this outside on the playground so that as students finish they can go and play and I can work with others.

Once everyone has finished we head back inside. The next step is all me and it's done after school.

I use a hole punch and a lot of arm strength to punch holes in the tabs of the plastic lids. I string both labels through. Like this.




Ta da.  Mother's Day Gift #1.

But that's not all they get. Stay tuned for Part 2.