First Day of School

I can't help but think of the excitement Nemo had on the first day of school. I get the same way each year. Don't get me wrong. I do mourn the fact that summer is over, however, I crave routine! 

One of my favorite first day activities is a scavenger hunt. I reveal certain routines in the classroom through this activity. It is much more fun than having me stand in front of the class and lecture!

Editable Too!

Speaking of routines. I have a few that are new this year I am trying. Check them out below.

Working with Self Assessment in student learning!

The next one is a noise level chart. I have been wanting a visual for this and now I have created it!

In my classroom. I hope to get those lights next!

CLICK HERE!





Another thing I have to use in my back pocket is a check list for morning routines. I find my disorganized kiddos really need these. I'm thinking it will go on their desk or in their locker!

Morning Routine Resource HERE!

CLICK HERE!






We will begin discussing math workshop together! This is one of my favorite times of the day.

 

I can't forget to mention two of my favorite books to read on the first day of school as well. 

Looking forward to a good year and I hope you are too!

Can you teach Grit?

Can you teach GRIT?

            You can try to implement it into your “character education,” however, that is not teaching grit. In my opinion, grit is more of a performance value than it is a value. So how do we tackle teaching grit in our classrooms? Below is a list of ways to begin the process.

1.     Read books about GRIT- Read books and hold conversations about what it means to

Book List: Some great suggestions are “The magnificent Thing”, “Beautiful Oops,” “Fantastic Elastic Brian”

 

2.     Have a discussion about GRIT- You can give your students a GRIT SCALE TEST by Angela Duckworth. She also have a great TED talk HERE!  Show your elementary strategies this explanation. They will hopefully get the idea that every student can learn material if they work long and hard enough.

3.     Share Examples- I use a fictional character names GUS who overcomes some struggles. Then I use a sorting game to help students understand who has GRIT and who doesn’t.

Gus comes in a Lessons and Resource Bundle. You can find HERE

4.     Help Students Develop a Growth Mindset- Carol Dweck from Standford University teaches us that students who have growth mindset are more successful than those who have a fixed one. This is when I introduce my bulletin board We also do a grow your brain activity that we hang up. 

  

5.     Foster Safe Circumstances that Encourage Grit- One activity you can have students try is to have students through a grape and catch it in their mouth. OR to take an Oreo and place it on your face and try to get it to go into your mouth.- SEE BLUEBERRY TRIAL. This is after 5 tries!

• Ask Good Questions- try not to correct mistakes students are making. Ask questions such as, “What brought you to that decision?” One of the best ways to learn is to self-reflect.
• Emphasize your student's ability to grow- "I saw you write an entire page yesterday. A few weeks ago, you were only able to do 2 sentences."
• Choose specific actions to praise- "I see you sat and worked the entire time without stopping." 
• Help students create obtainable goals

6.     Discuss when you need grit and when you need to quit- There will be time in their lives when they will have to know it is okay to quit because the task is out of range for their talent or ability. For example: I used to be a runner. I ran a 25K two years in a row until experiencing knee trouble. After surgery, I tried to get back into running. I kept working at it and my knee continued to swell. The doctor told me that it was okay to quit and try something else. It was out of my range of ability now.

Now we as teachers will need grit as we plan lessons, work with parents, and grade papers. We need to live it out too.

The Power of Yet

I remember the exact moment my teacher handed me back a paper in sixth grade and it said "E" on it. In that moment, I promised myself that if I became I teacher, I would never put a grade on anyone's paper. I felt so little, so dumb, and worthless.

Have you ever felt that way in school before? I just finished my second round of "Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning" by Jan Chappuis. This book does not get old. Its one I keep referring back to. If you haven't read it, you should. It will change how you think about your feedback.

Today I am getting ready for a new school year! It will be my 11th year of teaching. As I get ready, I wanted to create a bulletin board that serves as a reminder to all who want to learn. I love it because the most power full words that could have been said to me in sixth grade was "NOT YET."

As I journey into this next year I plan to use some activities too. SEE THE LINK from previous post on Growth Mindset Activities and Parent Guide. about what you can do in your classroom to cultivate growth mindsets right from the start.

Great Song to go another with this board HERE!- the teacher in this video made this song to encourage his students and lead his school!

Set SMART goals with your students

Make a flip book using a photo album

 

Welcome to a New School Year

FIND POSTCARDS HERE

Start your school year off right by mailing welcome post cards to your students! Students will be so excited to get “real mail” from their new teacher and it makes a wonderful first impression with parents!

This download includes a fun kidlette design front of the post card (grade levels K-6). It is EDITABLE for you to customize with your own name. 

Several options are given for the back of the post card. Templates are available for:
-Handwriting a message
-Typing a message
-A ready-to-go typed message (just edit with student name & teacher name). 

Print back-to-back on heavy cardstock, or send to a print shop. Many print shops have a “postcard” printing option.

Hope your students & families enjoy this warm welcome to your class! 

Post card you can customize with your name.

 Backside of the card with a prewritten message or blank for you to put in your own message in. 

Another backside option that is prewritten or blank for you to put your own message in.

School Supply Must Haves for teachers

15 SCHOOL SUPPLY MUST HAVES

I think most teachers love school supplies. For me it is a new set of fresh flair pens! I have complied a list of my favorite must haves for the school year. These are all the supplies that I have found useful in my classroom.

1. Electric Pencil Sharpener- The manual pencil sharpeners are so messy to me. I enjoy the electronic type, but you need to buy one that will last. This is why I recommend the X-acto school pro electric pencil sharpener. This is the only one that I have bought that hasn't broken.

2. Mini-White boards- I love using these for spelling practice, math groups and quick practices, and for review games in class.

• TIP: You can buy a whole sheet at Lowe's or Home Depot and they will cut them down into the size you need.

3. Dry Erase Markers- A teacher can never have enough of these! I ask for my students to bring their own from the back to school supply list and then I buy a special kind so they kids know which ones are mine and theirs. These are teh ones I use

4. Flip chart paper- I use flip chart paper a lot. I use it in math, reading, and writing workshop. These charts stay up all year and I hang them around the classroom.

5. Sharpie Flip chart markers- These are some of my favorite new markers. I love that they do not leak through the paper. If you make anchor charts, you will want them.

6. Colored Card Stock Paper- Another favorite item that is great to have is colored card stock paper. It is nice to have a pack or two around.

7. Binder Clips- I have these to clip to my mailboxes. This is how I label my student's names.





















8. Magnets- I use magnets all the time. I have a magnet board by my file box, I use my whiteboard and I have students stick their work on their lockers with them.

9. Timer- You can use that phone of yours, but if you are like me, you will set it down and lose it. These are the best for keeping you on track with group work, conferring, student work time, and more. I could not live without one in my classroom.

10. Plastic Caddies- I use plastic caddies for book bins. This is where my 3rd graders store their reading workshop books and materials.

11. Blue Tooth Speaker- I love using the blue tooth speaker because I can transfer the sound to come from my phone rather than my computer. This frees up my computer for other uses if needed.

12. Two-Sided Tape- I use 3mm two sided tape on everything. That sticky putty does not hold up when the walls become humid or too cold.

13. Command Hooks- Command hooks allow me to use more of my wall space to hang things. I hang clip boards, charts, hall passes, my purse, and jacket using these. They are so handy!

14. Sticky Post-it Notes- Post it notes are a must! Did you know that they make them where the whole back is sticky? If not, you need to try them. These notes do a much better job sticking around when you want student responses to last.

15. Sandwich size Zip Lock Bags- Buy a box of these right away, add it to your wish tree too. I find myself pulling these out for students when they loose teeth, need to put a broken piece of jewelry away, or have left overs from lunch. I also organize small pieces to different activities in them.