Taking Over.... Ain't for the Faint of Heart....

So - I've known for about two weeks now that I would be taking over a 2nd grade classroom for a teacher that had to leave early. I was overjoyed when my principal asked if I was interested.... 

Completely torn - but overjoyed...

I love teaching ESOL... but I love being in the regular classroom too...

Ultimately I wanted to be with my kids all day {my personal kids - in K and 4th} and not have to worry about schedule changes and driving between two or three schools...

So here is a sneak peak at my IN PROGRESS room redo. 

I was really lucky to walk into a completely decorated room - the teacher who was leaving was amazing enough to leave everything on the walls and tables [before anyone wonders - he bought almost everything himself]. 

So I have been able to go in and redo a little bit at a time. :) 

Here is my progress. 

FYI - I am using the World Traveler Kit from SchoolGirl Style [click here]

I already had these suitcases printed and laminated for my ESOL classroom - I repurposed them and added the luggage tags to use as my reading and math groups

My behavior board.... I had to add my Melonheadz Small World and World kids to the plain old color chart... 

I was SO excited about these editable pennants.... hung them up... and.... 

TOO BIG. 

Darn it!

So I ended up redoing the closet (pictured above)... wasn't planning on taking this on...

(In an 85 degree classroom where the air override button wouldn't work.) 

Can you say heat-stroke? Good Golly! But it fit PERFECTLY! 

Now I am waiting on my shop ticket holders to get here from amazon so that I can hang my standards :) Love it when a good plan comes together! :) 

Currently....August...

Not sure how it is August already...

Linking up with Farley for this month's currently

We started back to school already... Not sure how this summer has gone by so quickly. 

Still working on my room.... 

 

I found an amazing kit from Schoolgirl Style called World Traveler....

and I have been working on my room for more than a week. 

 and still making MORE MAGNETS! :) 

When do you guys go back? 

Senior Superlatives.... :) TPT style!

I am linking up with Christina over at Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for her B2S linky!

She thought of this uber cute idea to create a yearbook superlative page to advertise some of our favorite (personal) products! 

My Most Likely to Help Students Succeed is a freebie that you can download right here from my blog! :) 

Don't forget....

The Back to School sale starts tomorrow! 

TPT BOGO + SALE!

My bloggy buddy over at Diary of A Not So Wimpy Teacher is having an AMAZING blog hop!

She is hosting a buy one get one blog hop -


SO

buy Inventors #1

and get my inventors #2 unit
for
free!
:)
Inside my Inventors #1 unit - there is an extra picture with a link and a code to download the free unit!

Here is a picture of my free (after purchase) resource...

This is my 4th best seller! 

It is regularly priced at $7 - but you have the chance to get it free if you purchase something from my store during the Back to School TPT sale! 

{Who doesn't love a good deal?}

Check out some of the other people who are participating... I've been wish listing! :) 

AND DON'T FORGET......

My entire store will be on sale the 18th and 19th - 

Enter BTS13 for an extra percentage off!

Thanks Ms. Beth for this adorable graphic! :) 

Ready, Set, Teach!

Wow.... 

I've spent a few HOURS on my plans this evening. 

Correlating the Georgia Common Core for each grade with WIDA standards - gets a little overwhelming at times. 

BUT - I get to teach about the Civil War! {I am more excited than I should be... but you are also dealing with the girl who had a crush on Abraham Lincoln in the 4th grade} 

I still remember my first research report - The Battle of Bull Run :) 

I also get to work on basic alphabet identification, parts of speech, and writing! 

Here are my plans - 

I made the template myself - I searched for a while to find one I liked, and never was able to... So... I made my own. {typical OCD} :) 

Since I can't link a jpg with hyperlinks [or if there is a way... I don't know it]

- here are links to my materials...

Back to School Glyph - Glyph Girls {freebie}

Would You Rather - Rachel Lynette

I Know My Alphabet - Kristen Smith

Informal Phonics Inventory (google - curry schools and scribd will pop up)

Back To School Journals

It will be a busy week - but I am excited to get back into it. 

Are you all on break still? Why do you go back? 

Back To School Emag!

Last year A Modern Teacher and Schoolgirl Style put together an amazing Back to School EMAG. 

This year....

This year I got to be part of it! :) 

{Insert virtual happy dance here.....}

Go check it out!

Some of my favorite teacher bloggers and a bunch of my favorite things are in the magazine! 

Currently August {what, what!}

I am SOOOOOOOOO excited to be the sponsor for Farley's Currently Linky this month! 

I signed up forever ago - and it's actually my turn! 

{Now start singing the what, what part from Thrift Shop} :)

So - here are my Currently's 

AND

Don't forget to hop over to Oh Boy 4th Grade and link up!

Listening

to Scooby Doo.... entertaining my two littles.... now that they are both with me after school! 

Loving

The Back to School Stuff! 

crayons, markers, pencils, notebooks.... gosh - it makes me so happy....

#littlethings

Thinking

Uh - where the heckito did my summer go? 

Today is my first day with kiddos in the building! 

And {sniffle} my little man starts Pre-K today! {sniffle, sniffle}

{more sniffles....starting to look like it's going to be an ugly cry}

My sweet girl is starting THIRD grade! 

{BOOOOHOOOO}

Where has the time gone? 

I put make-up on this morning - but don't anticipate having any left by the end of the day.
{But I do!}

I'm just hoping to make it through the day - in one piece - with NO embarrassing episodes {well, maybe one would be okay}.
{Made it.... only cried once....}

I mean, it feels like yesterday I was in the hospital trying to push that 10 pounder out! Now he's going to pre-k. OMGEEEEE. 

Wanting

Ice Cream

Lots of Ice Cream. 

'Nuff Said.

Needing

A way to be more productive! I'd prefer minions to clones - that way everyone would know which was really me {plus minions are way cuter}.... but heck, at this point - I'm not picky! I'll take what I can get! :) 

Back to School Must Haves
A new notebook, pens, and a new planner! I've already hit up Target, but I'm still on the lookout for a super cute planner. Maybe I should search on tpt - there have been a LOT of cute ones being made!

Thanks for stopping by!
And a BIG thanks to Farley for the opportunity to sponsor Currently!
{It's kinda a big deal for me...}
I hope you link up! 

What are you CURRENTLY up to? 

;)

classroom management series # 3

Tonight will be a post in pictures... :) 

I have talked a lot about positive praise in my classroom. I wanted to share some ideas I've picked up along the way to reward children - or to keep in touch with my parents. The following were made on Vista Print using their free deals and only shipping was paid. Here is a picture of my storage bin....

This bin is 5 business card boxes deep... 

When I had a big room - these were all in a hanging shoe organizer... Now they are in a bin...

On to the pictures...

I hope to pass along some ideas... and some things that made my day-to-day in the classroom a little easier. If you have ideas of other cards or positive ways to recognize students - leave a comment! :) 

classroom management series #2

Since I use so much positive praise in my classroom, I wanted a way to reward the children who were getting compliments! I’ve explained before that my behavior chart works differently than many. I believe that kids can learn from their mistakes and get back on track – I DON’T think one negative thing during the course of the day should ‘do them in’. I like to think of my behavior chart as more of a sliding scale.  –

Here is an example... 

Bay is out of his seat talking – I praise those who are in their seats, he still doesn’t get the hint… so I move him to yellow. Later in the day – Bay is the only one who put up his materials and sat quietly to line up for CAMP (specials). So he is praised – and he moves up to green. The Art teacher told me that a few students were just amazing – Bay is one of them – so he moves up to blue – We get ready to go home, I put a blue smiley face on his calendar…. At the end of the week – I add up all the blue smiley faces – at the end of two weeks – at the end of three weeks – after a month…. (you can determine the time – I usually did mine once a month so that it didn’t become a hassle…) ‘Cause ain’t nobody got time for that…. J

To reward my kids that were trying hard – I added a positive behavior reward chart. We all have a negative one – red – office and parent phone call – orange – parent phone call and time out – WHAT ABOUT THOSE KIDS WHO ARE ALWAYS BLUE?

What about those kids who try hard and behave all the time?

My goal is to get children to internalize their behavior and make an effort – on their own! I guess some people believe that always behaving is a reward in itself. Or the weekly trip to the treasure box covers it. Why not make it more fun? 

We do interest surveys to see what books the children like to read… Why not do an interest survey to see what rewards the kids would like! (I know face-palm)… So a few years ago – I did an interest survey with my kids for behavior rewards – I made a chart for you to have (FREEBIE ALERT!). J This is very simple, you are welcome to change it…. Nothing is ever set in stone! I have found this to be effective with many of my children. Not all children are motivated by the same thing – we know this is true with reading – Consistency is the key to everything!

And let’s be honest – who doesn’t love a reward that you don’t have to buy? Right!? 

Click on either picture and you will be linked to my dropbox - where you will be able to download the above rewards posters in a pdf format! :) 

classroom management series #1

I used to be a yeller – then – I worked with one – Here is my story of how I changed…

This was a hard transition for me. It might be for some of you too…. Take a step back, take a deep breath, and find ONE child who is doing the right thing…. Then another… When I started teaching – it was 4^th grade… the kids were bigger than me, and meaner than me… I felt like I had to yell to get them to pay attention and respect me. I figured out that they just tuned me out, and didn’t respect me… One day I was walking around the room…. And I leaned down to whisper in a child’s ear. The class FROZE. I mean – you could hear a pin drop – I was amazed! Of course they assumed that I was telling this student that they were in trouble – BUT I WASN’T!

After I had talked with the student, I explained to the others, that I was merely thanking her for working so hard and so quietly.

They were amazed – I was amazed –

at the impact that little compliment/whisper had on my kids, my classroom, and my sanity.  SO – I used this – and I used it like crazy.

Reward the kids for the behavior you want and you will see more of it… even if you have to praise someone for staying in their own space for one minute! It works…. I will tell you that I still have my share of behavior issues – so this is not a magic classroom trick – but it does help!

Children are naturally pleasers AND they want attention – so give them attention for what you want to see and the outcome will be amazing. I can’t stand hearing teachers yell or belittle children.

I have worked with teachers that yell… ALL. DAY. LONG.

I used to yell. I ended up yelling all day, being miserable, and having simple things that were an issue – all year.

 It makes my heart hurt now to hear children being yelled at – for simple, fixable things.

Pretend you are a child – walking to line for lunch – what would you rather hear?

1.     Teacher yelling, “Get in a straight line, close your mouth.”…

2.     Teacher telling those that are quiet – ‘Thank you for lining up quietly. That makes me happy!” “I love how nice and straight Jimmy, Grace, and Ben are…. They are right behind one another!”

Guarantee – Number 2 – will get a lot more attention and results. PROMISE.

Not only are you praising the children, but you are also telling them what you expect and how they are meeting those expectations.

This will by my 12^th year teaching – there are times where I catch myself ‘going back’ to yelling…. (especially when I am having a bad day).  Then I often think about how I would want someone to talk to me, or to my children… and that usually straightens me out.

Here is a link to another article that talks about whispering and not yelling :) 

 Here is a link to a poster that I have hanging in my room -
I love this poster not just for the kids, but me also. 

Ice Cream, Mommy Melt-Down, and Trouble...

Happy Saturday! :) 

We've been stuck in the house yet again due to some terrible weather. 

But today - today we needed to get out! 

(Cause I was starting to twitch)

So - I took the kids on a little lunch date!

We went to one of my favorite spots to eat - dd let me pick because she knew my favorite yogurt shop was right next door.

...and chances are, if you give ma some barbecue - she'll want some frozen yogurt to go with it...

:)

I shoveled politely ate my salad as I thought of what toppings I would put on my extra large small frozen yogurt. The kiddos were on their best behavior - let's face it - I am a mean mom. I will eat my ice cream/frozen yogurt in front of you if you choose to misbehave (consequently losing yours). 

While we were waiting for our barbecue (salad with barbecue on it...) to arrive at the table the kiddos started to get a little antsy. 

(I really wanted ice cream but didn't want to hear two kids crying, when I remembered... I had stuff to keep them busy!)

Saved by tpt! :)

I have been working on some back to school journal prompts this week. I must have gone through an entire ream of paper trying to figure out how to get them to print double sided on a printer - not a copier. It doesn't seem like it would be that difficult - BUT IT WAS! (for me anyway - I'm not a spatial thinker)

SO - I had some of those mistakes in my purse! My dd loves to write and little man loves to pretend he's writing [and R2D2 was in there]

- so this folks, was a win-win. 

<<<< G1 continued to work on these little prompts through lunch and onto the car... 

We had to skip ice cream to make it to her hair appointment

(minor melt-down)

But we headed back after the hair had been trimmed and everyone was happy!

Then. 

Then I got into trouble. 

{insert very sad face and wringing of hands here}

How did I get into trouble you ask? 

Well - It's a really funny story [not really..]

I needed ink for one of my printers - and didn't want to go near wally - so we went to Office Max. 

 I swear - those doors open - and I feel like a 5 year old all over again. They were setting up for back to school! hehe, hoho...

Completely intended to go in for a $12 ink cartridge.... walked out with a new book bag, pencils, stapler, ink.... {GAH!}

[Worst part - I wanted that bag - but G1 saw it and fell in love.... and I didn't think it would be *cool* to match my 8 year old, plus the other one had a big ink stain....sadness]

Being an adult is tough some days. ;)

We are back home - about to eat one of G1's favorite foods.... 

Hope y'all are having a fantastic day! 

I'm still wondering where my summer has gone! :)

If you click on the journal picture - it will take you to my tpt store. The journals are at a reduced price for the next few days - go grab them! :)