Circle time. Bravo board/trophy. Number who am I. Cable tie desks together. Have you ever tried to have first graders sit in rows of 3 facing forward?
I tried it *briefly* my first year teaching first grade. I found out the hard way that first graders move all day long and so did their desks. Where did my neat little rows go? With 23 students this year, desk logistics have been a source of irritation. So, I decided to wrangle these desks into submission and take charge. You can even put a mark on the floor so students know exactly where to realign their rows. Sound Cards Phonics Dance. Line Up Sing Alongs. Teacher tip of the week!
Class coupon ideas. Whole brain teaching site. Whole brain teaching. Are you familiar with Whole Brain Teaching?
I discovered it online last fall while I was exploring information on how the brain learns. This is the first video I saw on the topic: You may notice in the video that the instructor (Coach B from WBT) keeps the students totally engaged, and uses many of the important brain based learning strategies: talking, using emotions, visuals, movement, teaching chunks of information, giving immediate feedback. Class a vs. class b. Meacham Bee Books. True story 3 little pigs. Every year, no matter what grade I teach, I read the book, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.
Wake up work. Dry erase with pompom. Brain breaks. Tattle Tale Tips. Have you ever had a class where you feel like they couldn't get along with their own shadow?
In reality, it's only a handful of students who want to "report" every infraction, but it's exhausting when you get this group. Pickles and Ketchup Printable - Teach A Roo. Attention grabbers. Weekly chart for clip chart. I had read on Jodi's blog The Clutter-free Classroom that one of the best things she had ever done in her classroom was start a behavior clip chart.
Well let me quote her BEST. THING. EVER. Flipping Cards-Sign the Book- Name on the board- no system at all. Back to school. Working levels. Many kindergarten teachers are afraid to attempt Cooperative Learning!
It's really easy and the kids have so much fun while they are learning! Here's a game called Quiz, Quiz Trade (Taken from my Kagan Cooperative Learning book!) This game will reinforce any skill you choose! It's great for review too! Students are each given a card. You can use flashcards or any sort: alphabet, rhyming, numbers, addition facts. Play music for about 30 seconds. When the music stops, the kids all find a partner. Voice levels. Clip chart weekly communication. Coupons for rewards. I'm joining some of my blogging bff's over @ our collaborative blog, Freebie-licious for week #5 of our summer linky party series.
I believe it was my 3rd or even 4th year of teaching when my former principal, Mr. Ja**a** had the nerve to mark me off on an evaluation because my students were talking when they transitioned into a the line to leave. Oh, they also were too loud while adding dice...really???? Don't even get me started. Well, I don't take criticism well at all but my kids were good!
In college we were taught the red, yellow, green light management by Lee Cantor. Honestly, my kids were pretty well behaved considering there was no consistency, no rewards, no positive or negative consequences for behavior...they just behaved...well I thought they did. Tic tac toe against teacher. Behavior note home. Journaling Tips. 1.
Write in your journals EVERY DAY! We start on the very first day of school and we continue every day after. Facebook In Your Classroom? About a month ago I got this idea to bring Facebook into my classroom.
Is that weird? Actually . . . it's just the idea of Facebook status updates that I wanted to bring in. Behavior chart. [roll and spell] Anyone else feeling overwhelmed/swamped/behind?! We have parent conferences next week and I'm freaking out just a little. With recess duty this week, ILPs tomorrow during prep, 4 piano lessons to teach tonight, math class tomorrow night (with an assignment due that I haven't started yet), and a district PLC on Friday that I get to lead, I'm kind of in a "Piglet" state - you know, where every.little.thing makes me stutter and twitch?! Clearly I need to plan better. :) Work with Words Menu. Word Work Center etc. Whew! It's been a crazy-hectic day! I spent a ton of time in the classroom labeling books, laminating, setting up centers, and completing a plethora of other little odd jobs. Spelling task ideas.
Meacham word work ideas. Word work for us consists of VOCABULARY, SPELLING, PHONEMIC AWARENESS, and PHONICS. Each day I try to have three separate minilessons whole group. We also do a lot of word work during Guided Reading/Writing, Modeled Reading/Writing, Shared Reading/Writing, and Independent Reading/Writing. We use the White Board, SMART Board, and Pocket Chart. We use magnet letters and letter cards. Math word wall. Daily 5/centers. Literacy Centers {free printable} Last year my district started using McGraw-Hill's reading series. While the station ideas for each week's main selection are good, sometimes I find myself spending a lot of time explaining the directions. After reading The Daily 5, I decided to create some generic literacy centers that could be used with any story/selection.
5 finger phonics. Centers signs with clothespins. Poetry Task Cards. Here's a set of Free task cards for your poetry center. It includes 24 cards with various levels of tasks and a template card page so you can create your own cards. Along with the cards, I'm starting a new series to share with you: A Poem a Week. I feature a poem a week with my students and place the poem in the poetry center for the week for students to work with. Most of the poems I use are from unknown or anonymous authors that are virally posted online.