December Currently!

It has been such a long time since I have sat down to my blog! Have you all been feeling this busy too? This is the time of year where we need to sit down and get a little creative so our students can stay engaged and not drift off to think about their up coming presents! I have been busy looking up ideas on TpT, any ideas from you?

It's that time already where I am teaming up with Farley and sharing my December Currently!

I am really excited for this holiday season and would love any ideas for some great holiday units for intermediate students. This is a challenging time of year and we need to keep our ideas fresh and ready for what our class throws at us. I hope this finds you enjoying life and ready for the holiday season.

November Currently

Happy Election Day All!! Get out there and get your voice heard. After hearing allllllll of those political ads I hope we all got out and voted. I am teaming up with Farley for this month's currently!

Currently I am listening to the recent episode of Bones. It is such a great show and I can still get school work done while watching it! Check it out.

I am loving Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte during this fabulous weather. I enjoy that I can wear a sweater and boots and call it good.

I am thinking, "What activities can I do with my class outside?" With this weather I feel we should spend as much time outside as possible.

I am wanting a stress free school day. This means I want one day with no meetings and no interruptions so the day runs smoothly. Does that exist?

I feel the need right now to cuddle up with a good book and sit on the couch to read. This would be a fun book and not an educational one. :-)

Last but not least I am listening to Florence and the Machine. If you have not stumbled across this band do so right now. Thank me later!

Happy Election Day and don't forget to have your voice heard!

Saturday Success (a week in review)

Where has all the blogging time gone?! Can you believe it is November already? With conferences and Halloween past we are looking forward to a full two weeks of school until Thanksgiving. This is the part of the year that flies by! Here are a few successful moments from the past two weeks.

1. Fall parent teacher conferences have come and gone and they went really well. Parents that attended told me their child loves being in my class and sometimes go home calling their mom by my name. It makes me smile knowing that I am having a positive effect on my students.

2. This year my district has started coaching teachers. This means each week we have someone from our leadership team pop into our room at an unscheduled time to find some positive things happening in our classroom. I like to keep all the notes that I get from my coaches but this week's note really changed my week. The first sentence on the note said, "I always enjoy coming into your classroom because your students are engaged." The end of the note said, "I am always impressed when I leave your room." It is necessary for us to hear that our leadership teams see the hard work we put in each week.

3. A couple weeks ago I called into my local radio station and won $100!! I have never won anything before and it was so what my day needed. I had a tough day and as soon as I got into my car the radio station played the sound for you to call in and win. Well this week I got to pick up the check and for some me time I will be purchasing some new fall sweaters and boots to wear at work. Its the small things in life!

4. My daughter has been a mommy's girl this week with lots of cuddling! She also got to trick or treat for the first time. She dressed up as a fairy and held her bucket. She was brave and went up to each house to say trick or treat. When her bucket started getting heavy she wouldn't let anyone hold it for her because they were her treats. Since Halloween she has carried around her "treats" everywhere in the house. She likes to go through them but never opens them. I can't believe how much she has grown!

5. This weekend is our annual craft show in my town and I each year I seem to cross off many items from my Christmas list. I find the best gifts for grandparents, siblings, and friends. I am excited to see the great ideas people have come up with and share. The classroom is always a big part of my time but today is for me!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween and made it through the week!
Happy November!

Positive Outlook/Penny Experiment

I have been listening to Jillian Michael's Podcast a lot lately. She is so inspirational and you can download them for free. You can listen to them on a walk or a workout at the gym and each one leaves you thinking. Today's podcast was full of inspirational quotes and having you connect them to your life. The one that hit home for me was "Don't focus on the negatives of the day, turn them into positives." How many times do you leave school thinking about how Tommy is become  a behavior problem or how that lesson didn't go as well as planned?? My goal for this week is to try and only focus on the positives from the day! I may even get my students involved in this weekly goal.

After thinking about this positive outlook I realized a week ago I had a tough week. My husband had to share some positives vibes with me because the week just felt loooooonnnnggg. Looking back at it I remember some great positives throughout the days. My students completed the penny experiment to practice using the scientific method and it went really well. We worked through each step of the process and then I had the students complete the investigation. Each group was so engaged and wanted to get the most drops of water on their penny. I love seeing them so excited about learning! Here are a couple pictures!!

One student 95 drops on one penny!!

Penny Experiment
Question: How many drops of water will fit on a penny?
Prediction: How many do you think? 
Experiment: Using water droppers and a cup of water, place as many drops of water on a penny.
Observations
Collect data
Conclusion

Students loved the "snow globe" look.

Using the dropper to place water on the penny.

A great experiment to get the students engaged and use the scientific process. Try it out in your room. Have a fabulous Sunday!

Saturday Success (A week in review)

Hey hey hey!! Happy Saturday to you all! It has been such a productive Saturday and I am so excited that the leaves are turning and we are falling into FALL!! Bring out the sweaters! Here are a few positives from this week that kept my head up!

1. My principal asked me to take on another student in my classroom, one that followed her from her old school. She told me I had great structure in my classroom and this student needs a room that is well organized and knows what is expected out of him. Super huge compliment from her since I am feeling the opposite! This definitely put a smile on my face.

2. This week marked the end of the 1st quarter. I can't believe that it was already time to do report cards. I completed them this week and have conferences starting next week. After seeing the grades, my class is really impressing me right now.

3. My mother met me Thursday after school to pick up my daughter. She will have her until next Sunday because it is conference week. I am at school till 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday so that makes it hard to see her. My mother is the best!!! This also gives me time to get ahead in planning and I am happy to say I have been very productive in that category!

4. I teach a multigrade but my 5th grade team and I have decide that for an hour at the end of the day we will be rotating our classes. This means one teacher will teach science for a week and then swap classes to teach science to them as well. During this time I will only be teaching my 6th graders science!! This will help out with planning a preparation now that I only have to focus on one grade level. So excited to see how this works out.

5. I completed a mean, median, and mode math journal entry this week. It is a standard in our curriculum but is not found in our math series. My students really enjoyed it because we used oreos to collect data but then we took the data and I taught them how to find the mean, median, and mode. Well this week for a quick math bellwork my students showed me how much they understood the concepts. We are making great progress.

I hope your week has been fabulous and you are all prepared for conferences! Happy end of the first quarter!

What was one success for you this week?

Independent Math Centers

Scrabble Math

Cube Toss

With teaching a multigrade this year I needed to come up with ways my students could practice basic math facts individually while I was working with the other grade level. I searched for ideas but couldn't find what I had in mind so I tweaked and created a couple of ideas for student practice. I created a product on teachers pay teachers with these great ideas that I use in the classroom almost daily! My students love the hands on learning as well as using something other than worksheets.

This product has three activities that could be used as an independent game or a math center. I have noticed that my students have become more confident in their multiplication and have begun to enjoy math!

Take a look at my product here at The Ever Changing Classroom.

Have a fabulous Sunday evening!

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

WOW! I feel like this week took all of my energy and then some. I may have looked at one blog and never had time to post on my own! I spent the week lesson planning, preparing experiments, and grading because first quarter report cards are due this upcoming week. Where did the time go? Here are my top five successful moments this week.

1. My husband and I had a date night! This rarely happens and he surprised me on Thursday with dinner and dessert. It was the one night this week I took a step away from being a teacher and focused on being a wife. Does that ever happen to you??

2. Reading ran smoothly this week to the point you could hear only a pin drop. I started a new reading block last week and we practiced and discussed what was expected. Monday through Friday this week was fabulous. Students were engaged in their work and reading their books because they were given a choice. I saw lots of learning!


3. We added to our math journals this week focusing on mean, median, mode, and range. To collect data my class got into groups and tried to stack as many oreos as they could on top of each other. Each member of the group would get an opportunity to try and in the end we wrote down each student's highest total. These totals will be used to find mean, median, mode, and range. They really enjoyed the challenge.

4. I have a boggle board up and running in my classroom. I loved an idea I found on pinterest to use my file cabinets as another bulletin board space. With the recent change in my reading block I have noticed I don't use it as often as I would like. How do you incorporate your boggle board into your reading block?

5. Finally, my weekend is full of endless possibilities! I have lots of grading to do and lesson plans to write but today I am focusing on my family who I have not spent much time with these past two weeks. It is just my husband, my daughter, and I today and we are going to rock it!

Happy Saturday to you all!
What was one success you had this week?

Posting Objectives

This year in our school we have been asked to post student objectives for each subject. I did something like this last year but never in objective form. I would write reading - theme instead of in objective language. After using the amazing pinterest and fishing through some blogs I found a way I wanted to try in my classroom.

I purchased Dry Erase Sheets from amazon. These are just sheets that you can stick to the wall, cabinets, or paper and use them as a dry erase board. They are FABULOUS to use with your students as well! After decorating a bulletin board that I designated for objectives I placed the dry erase sheets on the board. I created subject cards that I printed on card stock and laminated. I LOVE how it turned out!

Sharing theme in objective language.

Each morning before school starts I switch the objective board and when I forget to the students remind me that they need changed. I think eventually it could become a student responsibility when they come in the morning.

I am also going to start having students write out the objective on their notes/work during that subject. This way we cover the objective and students know what we are learning.

How do you post your objectives?

My objective board!!

October Currently

I love this time of year for the fall colors and the amazing sweaters! I am linking up with Farley again for this months currently! Enjoy!

 

Join the linking at Oh' Boy 4th Grade 

 

 Happy fall to you all!

My daugher is three!

Yesterday my daughter turned three and we had a family celebration to make her day special! She has been talking about it for two weeks and helped me decide what kind of cake she wanted, balloons, etc. The day went smoothly and I wanted to share some photos! First, the cake was a big surprise. My daughter is a HUGE Dora fan and this year she threw a curve ball at us. The cake was chosen by her and we got it from the HyVee bakery! It was amazing!

The party ended up being outside because it was so gorgeous out and our house was way to hot to stay in. She received a polka dot chair from her amazing aunt and that is where she opened all her gifts. She got so many great gifts and our family was there to share the day with us. It turned out perfectly! I can't believe my little girl is now three but Happy Birthday Avery!

Saturday Success (A week in review!)

Happy weekend to you all! I hope your week brought some positives to your life. Here are my top five positives from this week... some school related and some not!

1. Ending the school week on Thursday was a big positive this week! Friday was full of teacher planning and curriculum meetings. It is always nice to have a catch up day when you feel so behind!

2. Updating my reading block. After looking into my reading block I decided to make some changes that will start on Tuesday next week. With the catch up day on Friday I got a chance to get things organized for my new plan and I hope it helps academically and cut down on some behaviors.

3. Our first field trip of the year was Monday. I wish I had brought my camera to share some pictures but I will say it went well! We went and watched a skit on the water cycle and ended the trip with a "hike" to the river. My class did a great job and enjoyed the presenters. It is great to start the year off with a successful field trip.

4. My mother and sister came into town last night to prepare for my daughter's birthday. I got to spend the evening catching up with their lives since teaching a multigrade has taken up a lot of my time. I am so thankful to have such a great family to support me during the tough times.

5. My daughter's birthday is today!! She turns three and has been so excited for her birthday ALL week! She keeps reminding me that she wants a birthday cake, party hats, and goody bags. I hope this day is memorable for her! I will post pictures of the fabulous day! Below are her amazing invitations that I got on sale over at Shutterfly I was so happy with them when I got them in the mail! Take a look!

What was one success you had this week??

Wedding Card Album

Have you ever gotten married? What did you do with that HUGE stack of wedding cards you received from loved ones? My husband and I got married in June 2011 and the wedding card pile stayed in a small wicker basket in our spare room. I felt that the cards were to special to throw away with all the wonderful notes written inside and the signatures from people we love. Anyway, I found a great idea on Pinterest that solved my card pile problem. I created a Wedding Card Album!

To begin, I ordered all of the wedding cards from smallest to largest. This would help with the stability of the album and it also looks nicer than a random order. Each card got three hole punch, some only two because of size, so that they would all be connected together. I used large metal rings that clasped all the cards together as the "binding" of my album.


The front and back of the album was where you get to be creative. I took an old cheerios cereal box and cut it apart. Once you have the front and back covers you can use scrapbook paper to make them stand out. I used scrapbook paper that also ended up on my wedding invitations as well as ribbon and flowers that all appeared somehow on my wedding day. To tie it all together I used some black ribbon to tie the metal rings together on the binding to make it more appealing.

The end result is an album my husband and I can go through during significant anniversarys! It looks great sitting on our bookshelf and I am proud that I can say I made it! Did you keep your cards?

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

My oh my, time sure does fly! The first couple of weeks have just flown by but this last week was full of challenges and went by rather slowly. Come on October! I have high hopes for that up coming month! Here are my successful moments or events that happened this week. I hope some of you can relate.

1. My daughter is turning 3 next Saturday and I FINALLY got those birthday invites sent out. Now it is only family coming but I still like the idea of sending out invitations for a friendly reminder to our relatives.

2. Science class has begun and we started our science notebooks this week. I am trying out a new way to complete science vocabulary and the class is pumped that it involves illustrations. I will be blogging about this strategy soon.

3. The monthly teacher pay day arrived and it was so necessary! My husband and I have spent some time deciding what to get our daughter for her birthday but with a birthday comes the party accessories! We had to order a cake, balloons, and what soon to be three year old doesn't want party hats!

4. I have over half my class benchmarked and can't wait till it is through. Our district has us find individual reading levels by October so that we can see the progress throughout the year. It is a great program but a long process to complete. When the day was over Friday I looked through my completed benchmarks and realized I was farther along then I thought. What a nice surprise!

5. I purchased the Interactive Math Journal from Runde's Room and started it Monday. My students loved creating a math tool and gluing it into our math journals. My plan is to complete one a week and watch the progress. I love the layout so check it out at her TpT store!

I am praying for a wonderful upcoming week and hope yours were fabulous! What was a success in your week this week?

Descriptive Popcorn

When Open House was approaching I wanted something to share with the school and parents that popped! My students needed some review with parts of speech and I found this amazing idea on pinterest that would hit all the needs I wanted. The pin has been taken down since because the blog was no longer up and running so I improvised.


I started with an outline of a piece of popcorn. As a class, we brainstormed adjectives that described popcorn. Things that would answer the question of taste, smell, see, etc. Students wrote their adjectives on the outside of the outline. We then began talking about a descriptive paragraph. Our whole class created a paragraph describing skittles to someone without telling them the food. At the end of the paragraph we told the object/food we were describing. I had my students use this format to write their popcorn paragraph.

Once the paragraph was written, the student and I had a conference about revisions and edits then the student wrote their final draft on the popcorn paper. This popcorn became a big feature of our adjectives display in the hallway. My class and I were very excited how it turned out! What do you think?

How do you review adjectives in your classroom?

Fiction Fun!

It is always a great idea to review the genres of fiction and non-fiction. I have taught fifth grade for five years and still have noticed that students need a review to remember if fiction is made up or true. I started the week with a genre review. What is fiction? What is non-fiction? Students did a reflection write after deciding if a book of their choice was fiction or non-fiction.

On Thursday, I gave my students a picture book that was fictional. Before they read the book we discussed the different genres found under fiction. We talked about what historical fiction meant and why realistic fiction is a popular genre to read. After that they were given the task of reading their given book. I made sure to include a variety in the class so that when we shared all genres were discussed.

Once they decided what the genre was, each student was given a post it and wrote their title, author, and a sentence explaining a clue that helped determine the genre. Students took that post it and placed it on that genre. Each student was also given a genre sheet that shared the genre and a descriptive sentence so that they could have a helpful reference tool.

The start of reading the next day was fabulous because everyone wanted to share the book they had recently read and why they placed in the genre they did. I also saw students help one another out when the post it was placed in the wrong genre. They coached one another through the genre descriptions to place the book in the right genre.



How do you review genres?

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

My oh my! This week has been tough! Our school has officially put a month underneath our belts and it has been a busy one. It is interesting how many assemblies and pep rallies my school has when we are trying to set a routine in our room. This week had some great things happen in the classroom and at home!

1. A member of the Harlem Globetrotters came to visit our school. It was an amazing experience. I have never seen the fifth and sixth graders so engaged at an assembly. This globetrotter showed us some amazing basketball tricks and talked to our school about saying no to drugs. He even had the students come up and try out some cool tricks. What an experience!

2. My students took their Reading and Math Acuity tests this week. These tests show us an overview of what standards they need or have mastered so we can prepare them for the state test in the spring. I was very impressed with how my class did.

3. My husband was home this week! It is amazing to me how much easier things are when he is in town for the week. He helps me relax and make my tough days better. I appreciate him so much!

4. My school had open house this week and the turn out was amazing! The parents that came to visit my room were really excited about the things we have happening there. This is the first year my school has had a multigrade and even though I am the guinea pig it is starting to become something parents are excited about!

5. I got my materials prepared for interactive math journals so I can start them next week. I have been reading up about them a lot and keep popping over to Runde's Room for some great ideas. I am excited to see how this helps my students starting next week.

Although life is getting busier it is nice to sit and write about the positives. It makes you realize what great things are really happening! Happy Saturday!

What was a success for you this week?

Character Counts/Respect Activity

My class has been focusing on the six character counts pillars. These include fairness, respect, responsibility, citizenship, trustworthiness, and caring. Students took time last week to work with their groups on how we share these pillars and wrote a definition for each. This week we took it a step further. As a class, we discussed what we wanted to show for each pillar in our classroom. These points were put on a character count poster that a fellow colleague gave me.

These posters served as the backboard for the rest of our project. Students were to pick a pillar and create a poster with that word. The poster would include an illustration as well as a paragraph sharing ways that they show that pillar in school. If the student chose respect as their pillar one side would say, "Respect looks like." The other side would say, "I show respect when..." Even for my struggling writers, this activity was fun. They got to think outside the box and enjoyed having both illustration and writing. I had students show what the pillar looked like using animals or pictures from their own lives. I did a gallery walk to have students show off their work. They enjoyed walking around compared to presenting their work in front of the class.

Here was some of the finished products!

Sorry for the bad light! This was taken in the school hallway which had no electricity at the time!

 
What do you do to share your classroom work?

 

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

This week was the third week of school for me and it is still as busy as ever. When does that busy schedule stop?? I had a lot of success in my classroom this week and here are my top five, some school related and some not.

1. I started BUILD in my math class. This is similar to the Daily 5 in Reading. My students have been introduces to "L" - learning about numbers and "I" - independent work/reading. Even as a 5th/6th grade teacher my students love to read books about math topics and play with dice. If you have not heard of Build visit Adventures in Teaching which helped me get some ideas!

2. Reading has begun to smooth out and I have started word work with my class. This was a huge goal for me this year and I spent a few summer days preparing for this part of reading. My students have enjoyed working with magnetic letters as well as boggle!

3. I started going back to the gym!!! Let me tell you that this was a difficult task for me even though I worked out DAILY over the summer. The first two weeks of school took all my energy but now I am back in my workout routine and I feel great!

4. My mother is in town this weekend and that means a lot of shopping ahead. I have been looking forward to her arrival since last Sunday and my daughter and I are both ecstatic that she is here! So I am off to the stores today.

5. My husband was home this week. He was actually out of town for the first two weeks of school and that took a lot of energy out of me. You never realize how much easier it is when there are two parents at home. All I know is I appreciate him more than ever and I was so happy he was home with us this week.

Well I am off to start my day and take a short break from school work! Happy Saturday!
What was your success for the week?

Two GREAT Positives in my life!

Positive #1: I LOVE to work out but I feel that I get into a rut and stop the process for a week or two. Well I just got out of one of those ruts and went to the gym today. I had a rough day at work and almost skipped out. I left late from school because of a quick meeting with my principal and almost talked myself out of heading the gym's way. I really just felt a need to travel back and before I knew it I was in the parking lot. Let me tell you, leaving was a whole other feeling.

When I left the gym my mood had done a complete 180 degrees and I was pumped. I felt good about how the school day went even with the bumps in the road I came too. I was excited about how my body felt after the workout, like it had missed it. Why had I stopped for these first weeks of school? My stress level would have been down!

Positive #2: My mother text me today and gave me some wonderful news.... Jillian Michaels is returning to one of my favorite shows, The Biggest Loser! Watching that show and listening to her podcasts have helped me stay active and remember to take care of me. When I was younger I was very overweight until I hit high school. My mother and I started walking every night and we began reading books by Jillian and watching her on The Biggest Loser. She is so motivational and helps me keep a positive attitude.

What are some of the positives in your life?

September Currently

It's the beginning of the month and I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th grade! Here is the September Currently! Enjoy!

 

Want to link up? Head to Farley's page Oh' Boy 4th Grade Remember to follow the rule of three!

Happy Thursday!

Team Building with Anchor Charts

My school using the Character Counts system which means we watch for students who show the six character traits throughout a school day. This year I wanted to have my students get a better understanding of the six traits (respect, trustworthiness, responsibility, fairness, citizenship, and caring) by doing a team building activity. I found this great idea over at Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher. I tweaked it to fit the needs of my character counts lesson so I could hear everyone's idea. Students in my classroom have learned about these traits since they were in Kindergarten and I wanted them to share what they know!

I started with talking to them about what the six character counts (six pillars) are and then posted up a question about each pillar. Examples of the questions include "What ways do you see trustworthiness in our school?" and "Write a definition for caring." Groups were given one marker and placed at a character count question. I set the timer for three minutes and teams were to list as many answers or examples they could come up with together. After the timer stopped, teams would then rotate to the next question.

My students enjoyed this activity because they got to move around and write on anchor charts with smelly markers. I saw more engagement with this activity then if I would have had a whole group lecture about the character counts. Students will then pick one of the pillars to represent on an individual poster. I will have the student choose one pillar and then create an illustration and a paragraph explaining ways they show the pillar. A great way to get students up and working together!

Student Posters

For the first week of school I wanted to try an art activity since I knew that so many of my students loved illustrating. Last year I had each student complete an individual profile and then cut out adjectives that described them from magazines. The biggest thing with this activity is that creating the profiles took longer then expected but students loved finding words throughout various magazines and newspapers. Here is what they looked like last year.




This year we went more artsy. I had students begin by tracing their hands and adding detail to them. After that they stood on their paper and traced their shoes which they LOVED! Most of them took off their shoes and added the detail to the poster. Next came the tricky part. In the middle of the feet and hands came the rest of our body and my students made their own art here. I never gave specifics here so that I could see where they wanted to take it. I got so many different ideas and students got to see those with amazing illustration skills, those happen to be the ones who needed positive attention. Check them out!


What activity do you do to introduce your students?

Reward Chart to the Rescue!

By the second week of school you already know who in your classroom is going to challenge you the most. I knew mine by the second day this year. Teaching a multigrade has already had some major challenges (lesson planning, meeting with the other grade level, etc.) so I knew that behavior would have to be the least of my worries. I talked with a great friend of mine who is a 4th grade teacher in my building and got a reward system to try. I wanted to share to see how you guys keep your behaviors to a minimum in your classroom! I introduce you to the rewards chart.


I know you what you are thinking! What is that? It may be the largest BINGO chart you have ever seen! The white paper is actual chart paper so there are 520 squares on the chart. At the top of the chart lies the alphabet and the left side is lined with the numbers 1-20. Here is a closer shot on the right!




How it works is rather simple. I carry around a clipboard where ever I go and when I see a student going above and beyond they receive a star next to their name. A student can also receive a star for bringing back a signed agenda daily or homework, you get to decide! At the end of the day we do a signing celebration where the students who received stars get to initial a box of their choice. 2 stars = 2 boxes. Once the chart gets full, rewards are next! The teacher gets to draw a letter and a number to determine who got the reward. I plan on pulling at least 5 boxes the first time we complete a chart. As a teacher you decide what the rewards are and how many boxes you pull.

 My students LOVED this as soon as I introduce it. When I call out number of stars at the end of the day many of my students clap for one another. It sets a positive environment and sends them home in a positive mood too!

What do you do to promote positive behavior?

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

Here are my top five things that made my week. Some classroom related and some not!

1. This is definitely the top of my list.. I survived the first week of school!!! This year is unlike any of my previous first weeks. Teaching a multigrade is very different and students are still adjusting to the new setup. I can only hope next week improves.

2. I  survived a week without my husband. He was out of town this whole week and it was just my two year old and I and everything the first week of school brings!! I am happy to report that my daughter and I made it.

3. Scooter's coffee on Thursday made my day! After such a long Wednesday I earned myself an extra shot of espresso too!

4. My principal sat down with me and helped relieve some stress for the year. My goal is to leave the school building smiling everyday no matter what happened.

5. I had dinner at Village Inn. This is usually a Sunday ritual with my family but after surviving the week my husband felt that we should celebrate. I love having breakfast at anytime of the day!

What successes did you have this week?

Team Building Wednesday

Today was our third day back at school and I am completely exhausted! Why is it that the first week of school is so exciting and tiring at the same time? I am teaching a multigrade this year for 5th and 6th. We will be doing a lot of small groups and working in teams so I did a team building activity. I split the class into groups and each group received 20 note cards. They were given 7 minutes to brainstorm and create a tower. The tallest tower was declared the winner! Here are the towers some of the groups created!

After the creating the towers the class discussed the strategies they used and how they worked as a team. We talked about what worked and didn't work. As a whole I think that they built some team strategies and ways to brainstorm as a group. I hope this helped prepare them for future activities together.



What do you do in your classroom to build teamwork?

Toddler Collage

My two year old was always bringing home new craft items from daycare. I loved them all but didn't have a way to display them anywhere. After pinteresting (that's a verb, right?) for ideas I found myself liking the collage idea. My husband and I had received a few cute art gifts for our wedding that I never found a place to hang so I created this collage.

I shopped a couple of Hobby Lobby sales for tiny clothes pins, frames, and spray paint. I spray painted the clothes pins so they stood out with the frames and this is where I hang her artwork! When she brings home new artwork she decides if she wants to put it up on the wall or not! She loves seeing her work on the wall and I love the way it is displayed! The collage took me maybe 10 minutes to create and then hanging it was a breeze!

Hope your Monday was fabulous!

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

Here are my top five things that made my week. Some classroom related and some not!

1. My daughter started wearing big girl pants to daycare! She is two and my summer goal was to have her potty trained by the start of school! Way to go!

2. My classroom is all set up ready to go with owls everywhere! I even created desk tags and schedule cards to go with it.

3. My class list has changed three times since Tuesday and I am happy to say it is permanent and ready to go for Monday.

4. I have become more confident in my teaching abilities and decided to take on the school newspaper as well. Getting my name out there.

5. I found a cute new hairstyle to use during school from The Small Things Blog. Check out her hair tutorials! Saved my hair!

What were some of your successes this week?

Back to School

Teachers are back in session as of yesterday and I got to spend a much needed amount of time in my classroom. This year I will be teaching a multigrade for 5th and 6th so most of my time was spent bringing over 6th grade books into my room. Two different curriculum/standards for the year and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. So here are two things I was very excited to get done in my room!

My daily schedule cards are owl themed just like the rest of my classroom! I created these cute cards and laminated them so I can use them next year. Really excited about them! You can find these great schedule cards on my TpT store - The Ever Changing Classroom!

Check it out: The Ever Changing Classroom

The one I was most excited about to get posted was "The Early Finishers Board." I got the materials from Shelley Gray at Teaching in the Early Years She created this board for primary and intermediate classrooms. All you need to do is set up the seven folders and your students do the rest. Each activity has multiple sheets so the student can take their own card and glue it in their "Early Finisher Notebook." I am excited to try this out in my classroom because I had a problem with students telling me, "I'm done, now what?"

What are you most excited about in your classroom?

Are you ready?

Monday, August 13th

School is knocking at our doors telling us summer is gone. I have been looking at my calendar each weekend thinking, "I can get this done before summer ends." I kept adding to my list until I realized that school starts back tomorrow. How can I finish painting my basement or take my daughter to the park every morning at nine? I have now hit school mode and I hope all you teachers are getting there too!

I started preparing for my classroom and decided upon an owl theme this year. Who knew owls were so cute? I will be sharing pictures of my classroom this week as it all starts coming together. I love the feeling of starting with a blank canvas each year and getting different results!

Teachers, are you ready for school?