Explosion book

Getting Organized Organization Tips from Mrs. McDavid I have had many teachers stop by my room to ask how I keep things so well organized. I have had other teachers to ask if I would consider teaching a staff development course at our school to help teachers become better organized. Truly it's the small details that make the biggest impact. Materials You Will Need ~ Back to the Top ~ Purge Unused Materials and Non Essential ItemsAs teachers we tend to hoard materials and supplies that we think might come in handy one day. Organizing the Teacher's DeskThe teacher's desk can become a dumping ground for paperwork, papers that need to be filed, correspondence from the main office, items that need to be read or evaluated, and papers that need to be held for future reference. The first thing you need to do in order to organize your desk is categorize the type of paperwork that crosses your desk: The next step is designating an area to file your paperwork. My personal favorite is the metal desktop sorter.

Love, Mouserella by David Ezra Stein LOVE, MOUSERELLA is a fun picture book of a letter from a little mouse to her grandmother. Mouserella's grandmother came to visit but left a few days ago. And Mouserella misses her so she decides to write her a letter. The letter is filled with happenings in Mouserella's life. From going to the zoo, to working on her posture, Mouseralla fills her grandmother in on all that is happening. The book opens vertically rather than horizontally which makes for some fun. I think kids will love this book and will relate to all that Mouserella shares. obSEUSSed Grade 2 Happenings Writer’s Workshop Anchor Charts I’ve always been a big fan of writing. I love to see the progress my kids make throughout the year…it’s always so remarkable!! No matter what stage they’re at when I get them, they always grow. Even a *little* growth is A LOT! I was excited to start Writer’s Workshop this week. Even though I love teaching writing, I always feel like this is an area where I can improve. My littles were excited to get their draft books on Monday. Then we read Click, Clack, Moo and talked about why the animals & farmer in the story wanted to write. We revisited our anchor chart today and made another. After I showed them examples of all of my writing, we made another little anchor chart all about WHAT writers write… I’m hanging all of these up in our little “Do you have a writer’s eye?” LOVING our Writers Workshop time so far!!! Tomorrow we’ll be creating a “What Can Writer’s Write About?” I’d love to hear about any fun activities you do to kick off writing in your classroom!! Happy Wednesday!!

British Library Music Blog On the 7th March 2016 ‘Time upon Time’, an exhibition of field recordings from Bengal curated by The Travelling Archive, opens at the Nandan Gallery in Santiniketan. The exhibition focuses on the work of the ethnomusicologist Arnold Adriaan Bake (British Library collection C52), and includes materials from the archives of the British Library, alongside materials from the University of Leiden, ARCE, Rabindra Bhavan, Visva Bharati and the private collections and field recordings of The Travelling Archive. Moushumi Bhowmik describes the exhibition in this guest blog: In the early twentieth century, a time when the discipline of ethnomusicology was still in its infancy, Arnold Bake (1899-1963) was among the first of the researcher-collectors who found their way to South Asia. Bake’s work very much constitutes the creation of an archive. The exhibition also draws attention to the future of archiving by commenting on the very concept of the archive. 7-15 March 2016.

The Hanleys Juice Boxes and Crayolas Best. Thing. Ever. I can't take any credit for this idea, but it is my civic duty to pass it along to you. It has rocked my world. And it rivals Find-it / Fix-it for the top slot of 'all-time best thing to grace my classroom.' I feel like there should be a drum roll and spotlights as I introduce you to..... The Clip Chart! I've used flip cards and tally charts and dabbled around in a whole bunch of other complicated behavior management systems. This was an interesting start to a school year. Our second grade teachers had started using a clip chart this year and spoke highly of it at lunch. Holy Cow! It was as if I had flipped a switch. Here's why.... In any given class you are going to have your talkers and your rule-breakers and you are going to have your good little doobies. Each student has a clothespin and they all start the day in the middle of the chart on "Ready to Learn." Here's the best part.... The good little doobies are rewarded for being good little doobies. Here's the mostest bestest part....