A Chance to Catch my Breath!

You would think after doing this for 25 years, it wouldn't still seem so overwhelming...however with writer's workshop, reading workshop, Words their Way, math workshop, and my own 4 children, IT IS!

I really do love the challenge of trying to meet all of my students' needs through the differentiation these approaches offer, but I need a secretary to keep track of all of the other "teacher stuff" I have to do.  If I could just plan, teach, and assess, I think I could handle it all.  It's all of the extras that have kept me away from my blog for the last month and a half.

Tonight, I am going to try to catch up on my blogs, and hopefully I can post some of the things we are doing later this week. (If anyone is still reading this blog.  :))

Classroom Reveal!

This year, I have been going in to my classroom little by little, and it has seemed to be less stressful!  Today, I got to a point where the room is pretty much done. I am still waiting for my class list.  That will be more things to complete, but for now, here is what I have.

 

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Math technology for the new school year!

I am starting to get into the mode of preparing content for school rather than just thinking about what my room will look like and organizational materials.  I know those are important, but they tend to require less thinking than writing lessons.  I am slowly trying to gear my brain up for lessons...

Anyway, I have come upon some fun math technology tools that I am hoping to use this year.  I have posted before about math websites.    Most of these are new ones that I have recently found.  I thought I would share with you!

You know I love SUMDOG, so I'll just give them another quick plug in case someone out there still hasn't been to their awesome site.  My kids love Sumdog!

McGrawHill has a great work site with math tools that you could use on your SMARTBoard or have students use on individual computers.  Parents might even like to be able to use them from home.

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

Everyday Math has a very similar work site, too.  Both have their tools setup by grade level.

  http://everydaymath.com/EM_eToolkit_Demo/eTools_v1.html


This site from the UK has a puzzle each day.  Love it!

The MathFacts CAFE is free and gives you access to math worksheets, factsheets, and flash cards...

Finally, I liked this resource from Teacher LED will  help students visualize the process of multiplication.

I know there are so many great sites!  It is hard to pick which ones to share!  If you would like to share your own math technology sites, I would love to learn about them!

Another Monday Made-It!

I have to give it to Tara...I certainly would have had a hard time staying motivated all summer prepping my classroom if it wasn't for her Monday Made Its!  Thanks so much!

This week, I made some stools for my guided reading table.  These six little guys are going to give my crowded classroom a lot more seating options!  I am very excited about them!

Here they are!  I don't know why I decided to surround the pole in the dining room with them, but....

To make them was very simple, and pretty cheap, too.  I bought the paint tubs and lids at Lowe's.  4 of them had permanent labels on them while the other two had removable labels.  Because of the permanent labels, I decided to use the duck tape to help hide the imprints.  They helped a little...thankfully, the labels are only on one side of the bucket.

I removed the handles from the paint tubs, and I used the lids as my pattern for cutting the material.  (I used canvas. I alreday had the blue, and I picked up the bright plaid at JoAnn Fabrics.  They will both match my room wonderfully!)  I cut the material in circles with a 6 inch bigger diameter than the lid itself.  It doesn't matter if it is perfect....just leave about 3 inches around from the lid to the size of the circle you cut.

Finally, I stuffed the lid by stapling the canvas to it and filling it.  I decided to use a duck tape trim around the bottom edge of the seat cover.  It helped to conceal the staples, and I liked the finished look it gave to the stools.

What do you think?  As I said, I really like them.  My sons have already tried them and decided that they were sturdy and comfortable.  I can't wait to use them around the table, for partner work, and for just extra seating around our gathering spot.

Go check out all of the great ideas over at Tara's linky party!

Welcome to Success!

What do you do in your classroom to help all students feel successful?

For many years, I used to have a banner in my room that read WELCOME TO SUCCESS! (a la Harry K. Wong)  I really do believe that all of my students have something to offer our class.  I want them to feel comfortable with themselves, and I want them to feel like they are contributing and growing in our class.

It has been a couple of years since I hung that banner.  I may have to do it again this year.  I wqant them to know that I believe that they are special and talented.  I try to show them this in my language, by offering a variety of choice activities, and by pointing out my strengths and weaknesses.  They need to know that very few of us are full of only strengths.  We all have areas that are more difficult for us.  When we work in groups, we try to "play to our strengths."  We do it as adults, so I think they should learn to do it some as children, too.  That doesn't mean we avoid trying to strengthen our weaknesses...

What things do you do to help students feel talented and successful?

Monday Made It!

This week, I worked to make a tool that I can use in the classroom to know where students are all of the time.

I had seen one of these on Pinterest, but I didn't want to make one that was quite so big.  I bought a pizza pan at the Dollar Tree, and used some cute scrapbook paper, a little Modge Podge, some buttons and magnet strip, and here we have it!

It is ready for 30 students. (But I am hoping to have a few less than that!)  The kids will start each day in the classroom section, and then we will move the kids who are absent at the beginning of the day, and as students continue to move in and out throughout the day they will move their magnets as necessary...

 This is what it would look like with 2 kids absent, a student in the bathroom and one at the nurse.  With so many kids in my room and so many in and out for various things, it will help me to keep track.  I like the pizza pan because it will not take up much space.  I placed little carets after each location to show students where to place their number.  (I know that makes it slightly more confusing, but I think they will get used to it quickly.)  The others I have seen are made on square cookie sheets, but I was just a little concerned for space.

I used the remaining paper to cover this cute little friends sign that I am going to place in my room.

I may still have to recover the paper holder I made last week so that it all coordinates better.  :)

Go check out all of the other great creations at Tara's blog!

QR Codes, Book Choice, and a freebie

Last year, my students created QR codes to share their products with the class.  This year, I am hoping to continue this, but to also find other ways to use QR Codes into our classroom.

What is a QR code?  QR codes are the little boxes with black and white design that you sometimes find in advertisements or on products.  They can be read by a smartphone or other devices (like an Ipad) when you have a QR reader app.  (There are plenty of free QR reader apps.)

I have one outside my door of my classroom which directs parents to our class website.

My class's website

One of the ways I have decided to use them this year is to attach them to some of the books in my library so that kids can find out more about the book before they read the book.  The QR codes I created take the students to websites, book summaries, or a book trailer (FYI--some are from YouTube).

I am excited about trying this with my students this year, and I hope to continue to "grow" my number of codes.  I teach 3rd grade, and I tried to create codes for a wide range of books.  The one thing I haven't done yet is create any for non-fiction books.  I will have to work on that next!  :)

I use the site called QR Code Generator.  I find it very easy to use.  Just paste in the URL for the site that you want the device to go to.  For the document I am sharing today, I used my snipping tool to take a picture of the QR code and then I pasted it into a word document. 

If you would like to have a copy of the 17 codes I have created so far, you can either scan the QR code  or follow the link at the bottom of the post!  Leave me a comment to let me know if you have other ideas for how to use these codes or other QR codes in your room!

Enjoy...I think your students will!

QR code link to Google doc

OR.....link to Google Doc.

You still have time to join the Find your Voice Linky party for mentor texts to use when teaching voice.  C'mon...I know you can think of a picture book you use to cover this skill...