Library Pass Organizing, Oreos, and Journals....

Here are library card pockets that I hot glued to the back of my door - I stuck labels from Schoolgirl Style on them and put the kiddos library paddles inside. Easy for them to grab and a quick glance tells me who is out :)













Spent an hour or so at karate practice working on my data sheets. My friend Stacy over at Funky Fresh Firsties made these cuties for me.... my new melonhead is in the corner :)

We have been reading Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space - I have been using their daily journals to gauge interest and as an informal assessment of sorts - see what they are learning - how much they are retaining.... but this one was for fun. And I love the responses they gave me! :)

One of my 'Race' math games from my tpt store. I redid this one and made it really basic ... with just some stars to race to. There were two boards .... 2-12 and 10-20 for those that need more of a challenge. They begged to stay in from recess to play - WIN!

Last - our culminating moon phases activity - an Oreo moon phases chart! :)

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

What Does a Real Classroom Look Like?

I am linking up at Teaching with Grace today to show pictures of what a real classroom looks like. I know I post pictures at the beginning of the year, when everything is fresh and new.... but this is what my room looks like 52 days into the year. I am not, by any means, a neat freak....I do have OCD - but it's only with certain things...

I will go ahead a say this - I am only in this classroom from 7 am to 11 am - then I travel to two other schools, where I do not have my own classroom.... so this tends to be my dumping ground once I make it back to my home school....

{hanging head...onto pictures...}

BE KIND! :) 

My desk area is my home base. I have a kidney table for my small groups which usually stays pretty clear. When I was a regular ed. teacher the kids often sat at my desk (positive reward) and I never really used it... NOW... so many files and crazy amounts of paperwork....The black rolling file cabinet is where my case files are stored.. The ones on the top are ones that need attention. The colored bins are to help my sort and organize my activities for each grade level K-5... and there is my coffee pot - that has never brewed a pot of coffee... I use it to make tea. 

So - piles and stacks abound... one day it will be cleared off - but today isn't that day! :) I hope you enjoyed a peek into my mess - I will call this an 'action shot' :) Link up and show us your real classroom! :) 

That pin it to win it was fun! I might have to do another soon! :) 

Don't forget to check out the original link! :) 

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! :) 

There's High Tech... and Then There's Me...

Here is an example of a Low-Tech thing I implement in my classroom... Nothing quite like a notebook and a pen for me - call me old school! :) 

I put all examples onto one page, but this method can be used a million ways... 

I'm not saying this is the best way - but I am saying - this is MY way...

My Gradebook/Planbook:

After half an hour of searching online to see what the ‘real’ name of it is…. I use a Legal Notebook… I love these!

WHY?

1.If you are used to numbering the children – like I do – this is a great way to write down anecdotal notes… just write a sentence or two next to the child’s number that you are observing!

2.This keeps your observations and grades private! I always have a volunteer, parapro, student teacher… someone in my room!

3.In the age of accountability – this is a great way to note items to refer to later!

4.There is a handy little space at the top – write your CCSS or your state standard, and flip back anytime you work on that to see how the child progresses!  

Below is a snap of the same notebook being used for planning. 

I need everything in writing and mapped out. :/

This shows my group rotations and group names. We were the 'Wranglers'

last year - so I came up with  new names for my groups. :) 

Check back in a few days - I am working on a post about positive behavior rewards and positive praise - with a FREEBIE! :) 

Classroom Library Organization....Time Savers!

I am a hoarder. I will admit it. I hoard books. Children’s books. I have thousands of them. {Most are packed away in my garage right now since I don’t have a ‘homeroom’ and a place for a classroom library} BOO.

About 7 years ago I moved to a new school, new district, new grade… and I figured that was my chance to really work on having an organized classroom BEFORE the kids got there. My administration let us work in our rooms all summer {as long as we stayed away from the freshly waxed floors}. So I took that opportunity to sit and come up with a plan. I have followed Jessica Meacham’s blog for a very long time. I kinda adore her. <3 a="" in="" non-creepy="" span="" way="" weird="">…} Well, she had a post on her blog about organizing a classroom library that I really connected with. I would be teaching firsties again, so I wanted to make a system for the books to stay organized AND would be something I wasn’t constantly keeping up with – SO I took her ideas and made them work for me. Mrs. Meacham has these cute bins that she put on O-ring on with a badge protector, and put a label inside the badge protector. GENIUS!  This way my books weren’t ALL out at one time, they weren’t overwhelming, and I could somewhat keep track of them.

SO – I borrowed Mrs. Meacham’s idea of the book bins....

{If you haven't checked out her website.... DO IT!}

(I found all of mine at the Dollar Tree) and labels, O-rings, and badge protectors…. I set about sorting, labeling, and organizing all my books. Which was such a blessing – it started in my classroom library and moved onto my teacher library. I have hardback books of many paperback books that I use when I do book walks or whole group… So I organized the books the kids looked at and I organized my ‘teacher’ children’s books too. The funniest thing to me…. I actually contributed some of these labels to her site when I was working on my classroom library! {So – my name is on her page! Go ME!}

{screen shot of her book bin page... Yes, I am a DORK!}

Here is how I made this work for me… I put a label on the book bin AND I put one inside the front cover of the book. This way my littles only had to match a picture to put the book back into the proper bin… No more hours spent organizing! Voila! The kids did it for me and kept it up!

As I moved to different grades… I would change the system as needed. In second grade, the genre of the book was important – so I took out my bins and changed the labels around – all the green bins held my fiction books, that were also organized one theme per bin. The blue bins held my non-fiction books. The red bins held my author studies (all my Audrey Wood in one red book bin, Eric Carle in another…) All my series books would be in yellow bins – and so on.  When I moved back to first – I just put out a few book bins – maybe 10 – and I would change them every month – While I was back in first – I would have a special book bin dedicated to the ‘theme’ for that month {October – Halloween books, Pumpkin non-fiction…} After I completed a read-aloud – I would put that book in the special book bin for the kids to look at during the week, then I would remove it at the end of the week and add it back to MY teacher book bins. Making sense? I hope so! 

How do you organize your classroom library? Any tips? :) 

Fonts - Hello Handprint - Jen Jones, Hello Literacy, Hello Fonts

Graphics - Ms. Tiina