Caring, Sharing, and Preparing: Advice from Amber

Anyone who knows me as a teacher knows that I LOVE to share!  I like to share my books (I have too many to count...my book app stopped counting at 1,000), my products, my resources, my ideas...anything that will be helpful to another teacher.  After all, none of it is any good if it is kept to myself.  Sharing is caring!

My hope is to share a teacher tip or idea with you each week.  I know this might not seem like much to those of you who blog often, but for me, it would be an improvement from the status quo.

Every morning, I greet each of my students at our classroom door.  Wherever they stand gives me a clue about how they want to be greeted:

number 5 = high five

heart = hug

hand = handshake

smiley face = just a smile (no touching)

After I greet each student, they get to do something fun.  Here is an example: the secret password.  They have to check the secret password and whisper it in my ear before they can enter the classroom.  (This week, I am using CVC words, but in the past, I have done numbers, equations, high-frequency words...)

Here are some other fun activities my students have done this year as they cross our threshold:

 * pop bubbles (I have done this from a wand and also from a bubble machine.)

* walk the red carpet (I have 3 red bathroom mats that I lay down.  In years past, I have also offered the students over-sized glasses, feather boas, and other fancy accessories.  Bonus - Pump up some music during this threshold activity!)

* crawl though a tunnel (I have one of those spring tunnels.) 

* answer a trivia question (I use a stack of 1st grade trivia cards that I found in Target's Dollar Spot.)

I used to have a slide for my Kindergarten students last year, but my first graders were too big for it.

I also used to have a blow-up limbo stick, but one of my Kinders popped it last year.  :(

Be creative with your threshold activities!  As long as your integrating that "joy factor" into your school day and putting a smile on your students' faces... mission accomplished.

Do YOU have any cool threshold activity ideas to share?  I would love to hear them!  Please comment below!

As always, thanks for stopping by!  :)

Five for Fraturday and Classroom Progress

Apparently I have the inability to join Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching on FRIDAYS for her "Five for Friday" linky party.  I always seem to do this on Saturdays, despite the fact that it is summer break for me still.  Fail!  LOL

Here we go anyway!

My husband works for a shoe company and was given two free sets of Lazy Laces.  He brought them home and I fell in love!  I cleaned up my Puma shoes and now I am ready to go back to school in style!  Hehehe.  I am guessing my new firsties will love them.

Do you receive Shutterfly e-mails?  I highly recommend signing up!  They frequently offer FREE gifts, like these playing cards I whipped up.  You only have to pay for the shipping and handling (I think it was $8.00).  I love how they turned out and they will get used often, as my husband and I play cribbage during almost every dinner at home.  Our playing cards from our honeymoon in Jamaica (April 2011) are looking beat up.

I've been at it again!  As a matter of fact, I have to run to the store to get more laminating sheets.  I ran out...again.

Mindlessly cutting out lamination isn't so bad when you get to sit on your rear end and watch your favorite movies!  (Love me some "Phantom of the Opera!")

I am going to my first ever Teacher Blogger Meet-Up in two weeks and I am super excited about it!  I wanted to help out in some way, so I put together a raffle prize: coordinating bucket, mechanical pencils, notepad, and paperclips (all from Target, of course) and a Starbucks gift card.  I hope it puts a smile on some hard-working teacher's face!

 I also snagged these cutie patootie notepads for the Swag Bags (gift bags).  I just cannot resist these colors and patterns!

I am still going into school (at least for a little bit) every weekday.  For the first time this summer, I finally began to see the light at the end of the tunnel this past week.  I still have SO.MUCH.TO.DO. but I am getting there.

I started putting up our whole group area stuff:  learning targets (which are hiding behind the anchor chart paper), weather graph and chart, days of the week chart, calendar, schedule, days of the year (that little lily pad card), and clips / numbers for visual cue cards (when giving directions).

By the way, I need help!  I need to hang my chart paper, but I have no clue how to do it this year because that wall is fabric.  Any ideas!?

I hung our math ABC mini posters above (what will become) our math wall.

My father-in-law used to work for Nystrom (school materials provider), but when he left the company, he still had all these materials in his garage.  So once in awhile, he will surprise me with something he thinks I can use - like these awesome maps!  Well, one belongs to the classroom, but the two on the left are mine.

I found this cute window clings border at The Dollar Tree and hung it up this week.  Ooo - I need your help again!  What should I do with that frog?  My mom's friend gave it to me, but I am not sure how to use it in our classroom.  Ideas please!  Mr. Frog needs a purpose in life.

When I met with the Math Coach for my new school district at the end of last school year, she gave me lots of great information.  But one of the things that really stuck out in my mind was the importance of teaching our kiddos the concept of time and time lines.  I have seen other teachers use photos of things the students do over the school year in order to get them to understand time.  I always liked that idea, so I am going to try it out.

Anyway, the laminated scrapbook pages hanging on the wall with the month cards is what we will use as our time line display.

I have not yet finished it, but this is going to be our birthday board.  I took a picture because I was so impressed with how well I got the chevron lines to match up!  LOL

I am soooooo HAPPY to have this beautiful, black, and magnetic chalkboard in our classroom!  It is the most perfect backdrop for our Word Wall that I started hanging this week.  (There are smaller letter cards that match up with everything else on the Word Wall, but are difficult to see in this photo.)

That random polka-dotted canvas is hiding a big, ugly hole in the wall.  

I hung our Classroom Jobs display on the back of our door that goes into our supply closet.

My most favorite display went right on our main entrance door for all to see as they enter our classroom!  Love!

I am using a Bathroom Check-Out system again this year because it worked really well last year.  The one I made last year (out of posterboard and library pockets) got pretty torn up.  So I invested in a pocket chart that can be used year after year.  I am not fond of this color blue, but I put cards in my classroom colors that will go in the clear pockets, so it should look prettier soon.  :)

I was so stinkin' excited when I found those circular magnets in my classroom colors at a local teacher store during their Educator Appreciation Sale!  I am using that display on the right as our whole group seating chart.  My students discuss and learn from each other a lot during mini-lessons, so I like to change up their turn-and-talk partners occasionally.  This seating chart will help us keep track of where we sit, despite all the changes.  It will also help substitute teachers, I think.  Not that I ever miss school, but I suspect I will be required to go to some PD sessions this year, since I am a "new teacher" in a new school district.

Organization makes my heart sing!  I hung these mini posters in our supply closet and wrote what is stored on each shelf.

I only took the picture below because I was frustrated with my 3 year-old.  LOL  How am I to get work done when he is throwing things around and creating messes!?

Thanks for stopping by!  :)  Be sure to come back on Monday to see what I have been crafting!

Workin' On It Wednesday!

I am joining the party, Workin' On It Wednesday, provided by the lovely hostesses at Kinder Gals (which, by the way, was one of the very first blogs I fell in love with when I first discovered this oh-so-wonderful world of teacher blogs).

If I were to really explain to you EVERYTHING that I have been working on, you would fall asleep - seriously...boring stuff:  Staff Routines and Procedures Manual, Staff Handbook, Family Handbook, schedules, parent letters, lists galore...you get the picture.  I feel so privileged to be on a leadership team that is opening a new school, but let me tell you:  It is a tremendous amount of work!!

So let me move on to something slightly more interesting.  I found a great article from Edutopia this morning titled, "5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Non-Teaching Time" and it totally inspired me to create a plan for my non-teaching time, similar to what is described in the article.  Here is what I came up with so far:

Are you able to read that?  I know it is a small font (the font has to be small when you have a ba-zillion things to do and you have to squeeze it all, right!?)  Do you have any suggestions on what I should add?  Is there something obvious that I might be overlooking?  I have been out of the homeroom for two years, so I would not be surprised.  Obviously, there are going to be SO many other things that come up that I will have to deal with, but I wanted to stick to regularly occurring tasks on this plan.

By the way, I would be happy to share this document with you, if you would like it - though it is nothing fancy or special.  Just leave your e-mail address in a comment and I will shoot it your way.  As always, thanks for stopping by!  :)

P.S. - If you are a Morning Meeting classroom, be sure to check back in the next few days as I will have an amazing freebie to share with you!

PBL Focus Wall FREEBIE!

It is SO COLD here in Wisconsin!  School was cancelled today AND tomorrow, due to the dangerously low temperatures and wind chill.  That will be four cancellations (just caused by low temperatures) in total for this school year!  Part of me is bummed because we have to make up these days during our breaks.  But the other part of me is ExCiTeD because I get to work on some things that I want to work on!  In comes a FREEBIE for you!

 

Click below to snag 'em:

PBL Focus Wall Cards

 

Are you a teacher in a Project-Based Learning classroom?  Do you want visitors to know exactly what your students are doing and learning when they enter your room?  If so, I suggest you create a focus wall for your PBL projects.  At a glance, anyone who visits your classroom will understand WHAT the activities are that your students are engaged in and WHY they are working on those particular activities.

 

I plan to put these PBL Focus Wall cards on black butcher paper or black fabric, as that particular color will really help the cards "pop" off the wall.

 

If you use these in your own classroom, it would just make my day if you took a picture of them on your wall and e-mailed the picture to me!

 

Do you have a Project-Based Learning Focus Wall in your classroom?  Are there elements on your wall that I am missing?  Do you have pictures to share?  I would love to see them!  (I was not able to find many online.)

 

P.S.  My sweet hubby reminded me this evening that the month of January is almost over and I had not yet written a blog post for this month (one of my New Years Resolutions).  Isn't he the best?!  <3

 

Thanks for stopping by!  :)

 

 

 



Optimum Organization Linky Party!

Yes, yes, YES!  When I saw that the amazing Kristen and awesome Elizabeth were hosting a Linky Party called "Optimum Organization," I just knew I had to join the fun!  Anyone who knows me knows well that I live for organization...it is what keeps me sane.  Without to-do lists, Post-It Notes, and my computer, I would go absolutely bananas!!  And really I cannot hide it, I LOVE organization!  (Does that make me a nerd?  I think so.  But I'm alright with that.)

My plan is to share with you several organizational "systems" that I use frequently.  None of them are unique or particularly amazing, but they work for me and my hope is that you might pick up a organization strategy or two.

(Update:  Yeah, so I started this blog post on Monday and here I am, almost a week later, finally finishing it up.  Such is life!)

1 - Post-It Notes:  No joke, I do not go anywhere without them.  You just never know when you are going to need to write something down.  For example, if I run into my principal in the hallway and he asks me to do something, but I am on my way to teach a class, I can simply write myself a reminder and then I do not have to worry about remembering the task.  I like that you can stick the notes where they are needed and you can rip them up when the task is done - man, do I LOVE that feeling of accomplishment when I rip that little paper in half!

2 - Photos Embedded Into Lesson Plans:  I am mostly definitely a visual learner and I know I do not stand alone in this.  This year, my first year as an ESL teacher, I have been handwriting my lesson plans.  Long story short, what I can do with students in a 30 minute (or less) period of time is minimal and, therefore, I do not need to write much.  Furthermore, my lessons depend greatly on the needs of my English Language Learners.

 

However, prior to ESL, I typed my Kindergarten lesson plans.  Anytime my students would create something or if I got a great idea from Pinterest, I would actually copy and paste a photo of it directly into my lesson plans.  This helped me SO much, especially when I would pull up my lesson from the previous year and try to remember what we did.

 

 

(See the picture of the raccoon paper bag puppet?  We made those after reading "The Kissing Hand.")

 

3 - Days of the Week Bins:  I have been using these bins for a couple of years now.  I used to put photocopies AND books in them, but my copies were getting crushed and the bins were overflowing, so now I only put papers in them.  (I put my books that I am using for the week in seperate bins.)

 

 

I bought the bins in the dollar bins at Target (though I think they were a bit more than a dollar) and I used foam stickers to write the days of the week on the front.

 

 

4 - Book Organization:  If you did not catch my post about the app called "Booksapp," be sure to read about it HERE!  This app will change your life!!  Okay...well, maybe that is slightly extremely dramatic, but no joke - it is amazing for organizing your books.

 

Another tip:  Organize the books you use for teaching purposes by topic by sticking rulers (or other stick-like objects you have laying around) between each topic.  As you can see by the date at the bottom, this picture is super old - but you get what I mean.

 

 

5 - Keep Your Cabinets Clean:  Yes, this is something I am striving to do myself.  It has been an ongoing project for me this year.  Here is something I just did this week...

 

 

This was a Pinterest idea - shocking, I know!  I poured my tubes of glitter (which the kids were dumping all over their projects) into small salt and pepper shakers.  I found them at a local odds and ends store called "Nelsons" for $2.19...each - which was more than I wanted to pay, BUT I am glad to have my glitter more organized and easier for the kiddos to use.

 

 

Side note:  I love to reuse.  Do you have any creative ideas for how I can reuse these leftover plastic glitter tubes??

 

I am totally bummed as I had taken a bunch of pictures this week and left my school camera in my classroom!  Oh well.  I guess I will have to write another blog post again soon.  :)  As always, thank you for stopping by!

 

 

Most Amazing FREE App...EVER!!

So, I cannot hide it - I was TOTALLY excited to log on to my blog this evening and find that it has reached 200 followers!  Yippee!  (Yeah, yeah, I know that's nothing compared to so many of you out there, but it makes me feel special.)  Thank you to those of you who take the time to read my posts...that I randomly write, hehe.  :)

 

Anyway, I have 1.5 hours to post something new before April officially concludes.  One of my New Years resolutions was to blog at least once a month and I was doing well...until April came around.  So here it goes!

 

 

There are many things I would love to share with you right now, but the one I am probably most excited about is a new app that I recently came across called "booksapp."  You can click HERE to read more about the app on its website.  There is also an introductory video for those visual learners out there.  (Apparently, there is also a "booksapp2," but my phone does not seem to have that version.)  It is an app for your phone that allows you to very easily and quickly organize a list of your classroom library and/or personal collection of books.  There are so many AMAZING features about this app, but I will share my favorites:

 

1 - The app is on your phone, so you can access it anywhere...school, home, Barnes and Noble...you name it!

 

 

(This is what the "home" screen looks like...very simple.)

2 - The app does all the work for you!  Seriously...it has a built in scanner and all you have to do is scan the bar code on that back and all the information for the book pops up, including the title, author, publisher, number of pages, the dimensions of the book, a picture of the front cover...anything you can think of!

 

 

3 - You can tag each book by subject area.  Now this part I LOVE!  So when I am unit planning and I am wondering, "What books do I have that teach...say...numbers 1 through 10?"  I can go to the subject area that I have called "Numbers" and all my number books will pull up.  A-MA-ZING, I tell you.

 

 

(These are some of the subject areas I have created so far.  Haha!  Nevermind my reflection in the phone.)

 

4 - Do you lose track of what books you own?  I sure do.  I often find myself browsing at Half Price Books, spy a favorite book, and then ask myself, "Do I have this book already?"  You can type in the title of a book in the search or "filter" feature and it will let you know if you have that book or not.

 

 

(This is my book list so far.  I have lots of books to scan yet!  Do you see that white rectangle at the top?  If your eyes are good, you might even be able to read "Filter" inside the box.  Anyway, that is where you search for books.)



 

5 - Do you see that link that says "Lend book" in blue?  If you borrow a book out to someone, there is a feature on this app to make a note of that.  Someone was definitely thinking here!!

 





 

 

6 - It is 100% FREE!!

 

Seriously...I am in love!  <3

 

Okay, one more random picture.  Last month, I wrote about some things I was doing for Spring Open House and I talked about the raffle I was having for kids who showed up with their parents.  I noted that one of the prizes was a t-shirt that said, "Proud Student of Janes Elementary School."  Well, that cool t-shirt now has an owner and I asked him if we could take a picture together.  This kid is a superstar for sure...I wish every teacher had a kiddo like this guy in their class.  :)  (If only I could show his sweet face...)

 

 

And I am done...with 1 hour to spare.  ;)  As always, thanks for stopping by.