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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Classroom Makeover & an Unbirthday Celebration

I got a call yesterday from one of my mentors asking me how my summer went and inviting me in to see her classroom makeover. I couldn't resist. She is such an amazing teacher and each time we talk I learn so much from her. She has also become such a great friend!

Plus... she decorated in RED, BLACK, & WHITE!! Dr. Seuss theme... ahhhh! How could I not love it!

Wanna see pictures? 

 



So what did I learn from my trip in?

1 ~ Using the same type of bulletin border throughout the room provides uniformity and makes it less busy. I am not going to head out and purchase about 5 sets of my favorite border. I am not. I can resist the urge to shop. I can behave... I can. I can. I can!

2 ~ Using a slightly different border makes a great accent/focus piece.

3 ~ Changing the fabric on the bulletin boards is enough to distinguish them as different.

4 ~ Think outside the box when it comes to what you use on your bulletin boards. You can use the old stand-bye of butcher paper or try fabric, plastic or paper table clothes, wrapping paper, a tarp... the options are limited only by the size of your board!

5 ~ Its true.... glitter does make everything better!

6 ~ Every teacher needs at least 1 glue gun and a good one at that as well as lots of glue sticks. Oh and tape and modge podge!

7 ~ Pinterest is EVERYWHERE!!

8 ~ Sometimes something is merely for decoration and has no purpose. =)

9 ~ Shop the sales and ask your teacher friends to warn you about the sales as they come up.

10 ~ Consult with others for ideas on how to do something better. There are always ways one can improve!

I am heading into a friend's classroom on Thursday so will probably be posting more pictures on Friday! She is putting me to work. I asked to learn and so I shall have my first lessons on how to put together a class.

Monday is a big day. I am sooooo nervous. 

It is my first day back at a new school not "my" school. I will be finding out if I am in 3rd or 4th grade this year. I will help set up, attend meet the teacher night, and be in this classroom off and on all year long. I will complete my practicum and student teaching here.

I also find out about those test results FINALLY!

And the little two start school... my oldest still has 2 more days of summer while we are away at school. He has BIG plans. He is gonna sleep in, play video games all day without the advice of his little brothers, and eat junk food as his mama isn't there to tell him no.

Speaking of little ones - my baby just had his 8th birthday. He wanted no decorations, birthday songs, balloons, cake, or even presents. He wanted cash, to go swimming at Grandpa's, and a key lime pie.

WHAT??? 
He is 8 not 13! 
So wrong I tell ya.

I am not ready yet! 
I want presents and decorations!
I wanna sing the birthday song!

He told me I can have it for my birthday.
So we had an unbirthday birthday celebration.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

But I did break the rules just a weee bit!

I found a great idea on Pinterest and copied it... 


I didn't go all the way to the floor for fear of Piggy eating it. No worries she jumped up on her hind legs and did it anyways! The night before they were talking about how they wish they could tear into something so I figured they would have a blast with this. There is a sign facing in that reads "happy birthday."

Wrong!

The two little ones share a room.... they thought it was a decoration and so crawled under to leave their room. Hubby had to tell them to go tear it so as not to disappoint me. 

They took a trashbag!

To clean up the mess

Cuz 
this Mama doesn't do messes!

I came out about then and hubby was trying so hard not to laugh but I laughed hysterically! I had to explain to them how to do it. Now that the procedures have been laid out and the mess approved by Mama .... they want me to do it again!

I'll think about it....

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Part Classroom Website - Part Thesis

About six months ago, I began working on my thesis. In addition to the huge paper I have to write, I must also create a classroom website that supports my philosophy, meets all the requirements of my university and professors, and is designed to be read by parents and students alike.

It is no small feat. 

I began building in Weebly. I needed a lot of room to work and Blogger limits me to 20 pages per site. Weebly is unlimited in pages. I shared with you my original site. It was okay... I submitted it for a status review.

Results:

Content:
Satisfactory
Missing required elements

Design :
Does not meet expectations

So I went to my friend and business partner over at Honey Bunch Blog Design and said... 

WAAAAAAAAAAA!

yea... there was a lot of whining
complaining
more whining

Erika says shhh! I'll fix it!
LOVE HER!!

So she headed over to Weebly to see what she can do. She researched and played. She even took a design class but even though Weebly claims it is user friendly and customizable... its really not. Not to the standards I needed any way. 

After a few debates and much brain storming... we decided to move all the content to Blogger. 

WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!

There are over 80 pages of content
I am still moving it over

It was well worth it... take a look!

 
Isn't it beautiful???

It is due August 30 and I still have so much to finish adding to the site but the design is done. Erika is amazing and learned so many new things to create this site. 

All o f those page links are actually drop down menus. In Blogger! Amazing right?? 

Now while this site has the feel of one huge seamless blog... it's not. It is 5 blogs combined. It allows me to have up to 100 pages so I have room to grow if I need to.

I also need to thank Nikki over at Melonheadz Illustrating. Nikki has created all the additional graphics on every page of the design and is still working on more. She has completed at least 50 graphics at this point and counting. 

I have some truly amazing friends! 

The picture above is a link to the site. Feel free to stop in and take a look around. If you find any errors, please, please, please let me know! I am leaving this site open until I have my own classroom. 

Feel free to use anything on my site for your own classroom just remember to site your sources! (great I am starting to sound like my professors!) You can link directly to the classroom pages from another classroom and not violate district and federal policies. YEA! As I have done that quite often in my own site.

I am sending it off for a final status review on August first so you know what I will be doing for the next few days. I will be posting more about my site and my favorite pages in the coming days.

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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Bridging a problem


I spend my days primarily in a Title 1 school which is failing to meet NCLB requirements and has a 99% free or reduced lunch rate. These kids are tough; they come from unimaginable backgrounds, and have very little parental support. I was shocked when I found out that the school had special liaisons to go to a student’s home to collect documents (registration, field trip, etc…) as the parents have no car. My heart breaks for these kids as I grew up in a similar environment. 

Perhaps because I do understand their background, I have been able to successfully work with some of the most difficult students that others have given up on. 


I LOVE the agreement bridge. My favorite part is the fact that it uses “we.” All too often, I hear teachers state the student has a problem. This is wrong. It takes two people to create a problem, if the teacher was not requesting/imposing A, there would be no problem. These students need to feel like someone is on their side, that they are a team. Together anything is possible! The agreement bridge provides this foundation. 



While the agreement bridge provides collaboration, negotiation, flexibility, and infinite possibilities, I do feel that the time it takes to set up the game and the continual time needed to play it could be an issue. Working with younger elementary students, I feel that I could use this with my students in a one-to-one counseling session for the first meeting during lunch or specials (only time to meet alone).

During this time I would meet with the student to create a game board using a laminated file folder. The center of the game would have a picture of a ruler and a bridge. We could each make a marker that represents us. No words or anything else on it. Then we can hang it up in a special spot in the room. This would serve as a reminder that 1) we are a team 2) we are working on meeting goals together, and 3) would provide a daily visual reminder of how we are progressing.

This allows the teacher and student to move the marker closer to the goals without having a meeting. I also think that the student and teacher should be able to move the marker backwards. Sometimes this simple silent clue, will let the teacher know we need some special time together. 

One of the things I do with my problematic students is that I set a new goal with them at the start of each day. Today we will complete 5 more math problems. Today we will not interrupt Mrs. Poland during her reading lesson. Today we will complete bell work.

I have found this simple 30 second talk helps my students. We high-five when they accomplish it. I make sure that if they get done early with a project we have some “Hello” time.

I think the most important thing that our most trouble students need to know is that we see them, that we are happy that they are there, and that we are a team. Together… we can make anything possible.

The agreement bridge documents our possibilities and our success. It also great for meeting IEP and 504 goals. We can look at those together, pick one to focus on and added to our bridge. The ideas are truly limitless!

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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Vistaprints SALE & Classroom Poem

This blog post has been interuppted by an important announcement.... 


Groupon is selling an $80 giftcard to Vistaprints for $20!!! 
RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!
Only 3 days left on this sale. 

I am so excited!!!
Got my redemption code!
hmmmm....
What to make......

 I have received several emails asking me what this poem says. 


So I created a little something for you!


You can pick up this poster at my TpT store for free. For even more great poems from Brod Bogert -

I highly recommend purchasing his book for your classroom. It is one of my son's favorites. I will have to wrestle this book away from them in order to share it with my students. It really is THAT good!

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Friday, July 27, 2012

My First Bulletin Board

Since I am still home, I haven't really done any bulletin boards yet. I have a feeling that I will be done quite a few over the next few weeks as I am helping a friend set up her classroom and shadowing her for the first few weeks of school.

I should have taken a before picture but I didn't. I had a medium sized bulletin board at home that I used to use for homeschooling, then when I worked at home it was in my office, and now it just kinda hung out in the hallway collecting dust.

I decided to snag it for my classroom and created this:


I used the fabric I had that matches my banner for the center. I purchased it for a different project but it ended up being too dark for that. Then I used a red wavy border backwards and then the black and white scrolly border is hot glued to the frame.

My inspiration was from Mrs. Noble's class. I am not sure what happened but her classroom site is gone now. =( So all you have is this picture and some others I have.


I love the idea of having somewhere to stick reminders for the students and extra copies of fliers that went home. This will reduce some of those "Mrs. Poland... what are we having for lunch? When is ....? questions.

Do you have a place in your room to place reminders and extra papers? If not, how do you manage these items? 

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Clipboards - Oh my!!

So awhile back I bought these cute little lightbulbs from Lakeshore to number my clipboards.  At dollar tree I finally bought 30 clipboards for my classroom. They are a cheap quality... I hope they hold up well!!


Simple plan -- on the back of the clipboard modge podge or use clear packing tape to adhere numbers. This way the kids can put them in number order, since the light bulbs are different colors I can assign colors to students, pick a color to put theirs away first, partner them by color, etc... Super simple and easy.

Then my third grader happened! This is him, do not mistake this picture as his version of helping. Oh no... this is him explaining to me my short-comings as a teacher and mama.


Ya see... my plan was missing the cute factor. It needed some ribbon or something to make them look more fun. Third graders like fun AND cute. My plan was simply not approved. So he got out some supplies for me...


and put me to work....  I thought about making them all the same but I was quickly informed that the same does not make them fun! He inspected everyone... I got to escape after making 10!


Now there are only 20 more to go. What I want to know is how long is the "cute factor" actually going to last? Kids love to pick at things... it took me 30 minutes to make 10 not to bad but not something I want to repeat multiple times per year either.

And while he was discussing my short comings... third graders love math. He has been deprived of math all summer. I have asked him to try other things out, read some new books and tell me how they are and such but no math. This is very bad I am told as it is the "most favoritest thing of all third graders". Did you know that?

Now my fourth grader... he says math is the worst invention ever so I can leave it out.

So for all of you teachers reading this here is there advice.... 
Remember ONLY teach math in third grade but not in fourth. PLUS you should teach math "like most of the day" and "some reading for when my brain needs a number break" but nothing else!

And in fourth grade you should teach primarily lunch and recess and then do a little reading when they are tired from too much running. Remember that "kids are growing and need lots of food and exercise to get big and strong. They especially need sugar as it gives them more energy to exercise." PLUS I am told that this is considered "brain based teaching" as it allows my son's "small box" to have time to process what he read.

Hmmmm... I don't think I will be sharing their advice with their new teachers on back-to-school night.

Mental note for next summer - get the teenager to help with classroom projects and leave the little two to pencil sharpening. They are bossy!! And no.... I don't know where they get it from and no asking my hubby either!

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Made it Monday - Posted Wednesday

I have been hiding from my blog this week. It is not my blogs fault --- it is my classroom blogs fault. That thing is making me so frustrated that I finally closed blogger and said "I am not speaking to you!" Then I didn't for 2 whole days. I am still not speaking to my classroom but blogger and I are on glancing terms now so I can post again.

So... what did I make this week?? Nope... I didn't make my bed. So glad some of you got my sense of humor on that one. I made my bed this year, we are over that now. =P

I made this:


Well, I supervised anyways while hubby did a lot of it. I am HORRIBLE at making straight lines. Even with a ruler.

What you will need... ruler, exacto knife, 1 magnetic white board (on sale for $5 at Wal-Mart), 1 roll electric tape, and 1/4 roll of fabric tape (the original idea used fabric and hot glue).


 Yes.. my razor blade matches! hehehehehe... so do the scissors if you are curious.

So he used the ruler to make the spaces even he just laid in down so it is 1 ruler width apart for each line. Then I put the tape on the silver part all around the edge. Wala - done! It took us like 5 minutes to do.

I forgot the puddles when I went to Dollar Tree (which is WHY I went) which I am going to use as magnet numbers. If a student doesn't finish something when I collect it, I will write it on a line and he/she will put his number next to it so I can see across the room who has work to do.

You can check out the original idea here:


I made a few other things but I think I will save those for another day. However, I am gonna wait for another day to post. Teachers go back on Monday!!!  Where did summer go?
What did you make this week? 

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Sunday, July 22, 2012

More Shopping

Round 2 of back to school shopping was just for me. 
Yippee! 

My little two STILL do not have a school supply list. Okay people...  it is 9 days until parents are suppose to drop off school supplies at the school and still no list. I will ask tomorrow.. again... when I am at the district office. All teachers were suppose to have them turned into Wal-Mart a week ago.

Bad News: 
I will be shopping when everyone else in town is. 
Just imagine Christmas Eve shopping.
Its like that every weekend as there is only Wal-Mart & Fry's here. 

Good News:
That means there is still at least one more trip coming up!

Okay... whining over
Let's get onto the good stuff!

TARGET!!

I heard through the blog vine that Target was carrying some Lakeshore style teacher products... namely the book bins (ya know the set of 5 in a different color for every day of the week) and the heavy duty page protectors. So I ran over there first AND... nothing. =(

But I did find red pocket charts, yellow plastic folders (those are for spelling), monster lunch bags for ummm... I don't know, and Dr. Seuss Stickers.

3 Prong, 2 Pocket folders... paper or plastic? I know most supply lists want the regular paper ones but I say no way. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the plastic ones. They wipe clean. They last longer and look better while lasting longer. Why do they still make the paper ones? Am I the only one obsessed with the plastic ones?


Time and Math Bingo (centers), black and white frames (family photos), black and white paperclips and sticky notes, clear bins divided into 4 areas (ear bud holders?), and tape. Grand Total:  $18.23! The duct tape was $4.50! Ouch! 

I have this 100 hundreds chart that I was gonna outline in the black and then use the green to turn it into a rounding chart. However, when I got home and finally opened the hundreds chart, I realized it was a 200 chart. So that is why some teacher gave it to me. Now... do I keep the 200 or chop it down to 100? The green tape is see-through so it won't work for my plan either. I can buy some red for it. It would match better but now... I don't know if I still like this idea. 


Do you all recognize this picture? It is Dandelions and Dragonflies classroom with the shelves that I have been drooling over forever it seems. Well... they are on sale at Target right now for.... $24.99! RUN... HURRY... BUY SOME!!! I would but then the kids would have to go to school naked this year and I am pretty sure that it is still against the rules. So sadly... they did not come home with me. 

Moving on.

I stopped and had lunch with my amazing husband. Shopping is hard work and a girl gets hungry. Besides, if I go with hubby he will pay and I will have more school money to shop with. Shhh! Don't tell him my secret!

Next Store. 
DOLLAR TREE!!

I happened to pick the exact right day and moment to venture into Dollar Tree. So much so that I had to call and tell hubby all about it on my way home. The district manager was there and was planning on surprising a few teachers with 50% off their shopping for the day. WOO HOO!


Now if I had known this before I had reached the register I would have gotten more but alas I bought 5 puzzles (race on the first day of school), 30 clipboards (its how they knew I was a teacher), 4 sets of ear buds (in red & black!), checkers (for a center), and state capitals (another center?). 

The one thing I went to town for... glass pebbles. I FORGOT! Oh and I wanted to go to Michaels and Home Depot and I FORGOT! I was so excited about my other finds and I spent less than $40 between both stores that I figured I should hurry home before my sweet husband realizes what I am up to. 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Mr. Eyre = Incredible Teacher!

A few weeks ago, my oldest son received a package in the mail from a school he hasn't attended in years. Not only has he not attended there, we have moved several times, and his name has been changed. My husband adopted him in November.



But here was a package addressed correctly to my son from his old teacher, Mr. Eyre. Inside was a journal he had written four years ago in class about the Presidential election. It was his record of the issues, his thoughts and opinions.

On the front, was a simple comment: Are you ready to finish what you have begun? Take a look inside, do you feel the same? Use the blank pages to document this years election.

For four years, this teacher stored this journal. He then took the time to challenge his former students. He had to research and dig to find my son. It wouldn't have been an easy task. His records are all sealed. Yet he took the time to do it.

IMG_8120
Mr. Eyre with his family
There are truly some teachers who make a difference. Mr. Eyre has always been his favorite teacher. The lessons he taught and the time he took to teach them went beyond the classroom. He taught my son life skills that he will hold onto forever. He reached him when many thought he was unreachable. He took the time to understand him in a way no teacher ever has. My son has succeed where so many thought he would have failed because of Mr. Eyre. 

I will never be able to say thank you enough. I have often said "when I grow up I want to be just like <insert name of teacher here>." Mr. Eyre is another one of those incredible teachers who has challenged me to be the best I can be, both as a parent and as a teacher. 

As we prepare to head back into the classroom, what will you do to affect your students not just in the coming year but to continue to challenge them long after they have left your classroom? 

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Friday, July 20, 2012

Back to School Shopping!

It's that time of year again... back to school shopping is in full swing here. Teachers head back on Monday. Open House is August 2 and kids will be pouring in on Aug 6! Where did the summer go???

I have been picking up things here and there over the summer but have yet to share with you all of the amazing things I have gotten lately. Yes, I know I have posted quite a few but I have been holding out on some others.

I apologize. I was just simply too lazy to get the camera out or the stuff to take a picture. BUT since I am avoiding my paper... AGAIN... today I thought now would be the perfect time!! =)


This was a totally frivolous etsy find. I thought it would be so cute on top of a file cabinet in my classroom. So I ordered ti up and here it is. It is actually sitting on my dresser in my room at the moment. It matches so well!


These are hard to see in the picture... one is red, silver, and white the other is black, silver, and white. These were a gift from a friend when I was freaking out over THE test. She sent it to me with a card that says "we already know you are a graduate and a teacher, now you just have to prove it." So sweet!

Black One
Charms read: 
Believe ~  Success ~ Achieve
Poem says:
 Follow your dreams 
As you strive to achieve
The key to success 
Is to always believe.

Red One
Charms read: 
Teacher ~ Wisdom ~ Inspire
Poem says: 
A teacher has unique qualities 
The gift of wisdom to share. 
With patience and understanding
To inspire many with special care.

There are two as together they are black, white, and red
... LOVE her!!


Have you heard of the Polka Dot Market? All things polka dotted... love it! =) I heard about it from Schoolgirl Style. Picked up some fabric tape, paper daisies, and pom-poms for my classroom. These will look amazing with my new couture Schoolgirl Style items.


All of these items were found at Wal-Mart in the $0.88 section. LOVE it! I got name tags (matches nothing in my class, I will use these as a sub), Large stamps, Magnet Words (in 3 colors), Scentos Monster Markers, and binder clips that say to file, ASAP, to do, and something else.


These also came from Wal-mart but not super great buys. The polka-dot pencil pouch was $4 AND it doesn't fit pencils!! Only pens (shakes head in wonder)! The expos were $11... I love having lots of colors so I splurged.


This was my sad... sad Target trip. Three whiny boys + one whiny husband = no funness for me! That's okay I am sneaking off later tomorrow for a trip to Target and the Dollar Tree. Shhhh! I bought the flashcards for a possible center ... don't ask. I don't know yet. Then I looked over and saw red glitter glue. It was red... it was glittery... it was coming home with me. Now the only thing is what to use it for......


This was a surprise in the mail from another teacher friend. It came with a card that says "for your first set of keys to a classroom." I gave one of these away months ago and thought about getting one of my very own and alas... here it is!

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Zebra Quests Revisited

Good Morning Everyone!

I thought about showing you all of the goodies I have purchased for the upcoming year but instead I decided to share a secret with all of you. Several people have purchased my Zebra Quest materials and noted that way back in February I stated that the answer guide would be coming soon.

I slacked off. 

Then I got an email asking me if it would be ready by the beginning of the school year... summer has been insane! Who knew I would be busier over the summer than during the school year??

But its true. I have been. 

I haven't even been able to "blog in advance" like I normally do. Its been a daily effort to get something up here for ya'll to read. My current grad school class is offering very little in terms of ideas to share with you.

US & Arizona Government
Anyone interested? 
I thought not!

Two more weeks and the class is over then we can move onto more interesting topics. My final project - 15 page paper is due tomorrow - I haven't started it yet. Instead, I have been reviewing my list of requirements for my thesis and student teaching application. Its daunting but more exciting than government. 

But then I received MORE requests for the Zebra Quest Teacher Guide. So I decided to try and get that finished and up for sale for all of you by this weekend. When I began working on the project, I realized that a "web page" would be a better teacher's guide than a printable version. As there are so many possible answers to these questions. 

The teacher's guide will be part worksheet, part web page. The links can double as assistance for helping students locate the information to study. Remember, most of the quests the students present the answers to you orally. 

Now here is the secret... go up two paragraphs. There is a link to the answer guide. Shhhh! Don't tell! It is a work in progress and it will be a hidden page in my classroom blog. Don't share this link. The site is not ready for sharing and this page will be part of the information given to those who purchase the packet but since so many are waiting... here it is! I will deactivate the link sometime in the future. 

If you notice the pages changing... don't be alarmed. It is just getting a makeover. Speaking of makeover... check out my new Zebra Quest logo... 


It is a boy and a girl zebra heading off on a quest. I wanted to do away with the Dr. Seuss type hat for fear of the Seuss lawyer people. And I am still working on Family Quests. It also has a new logo... a daddy zebra!!


My oldest son said he needed an Indian Jones type hat. The mama zebra looked like she was wearing a turban so has been exiled to the trash can! Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrating designed both of these for me.  

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Bring back the Seuss hat?

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