Classroom Management Projects

With 6 days left until my new class of 4th graders walk in my classroom door, it's becoming more clear everyday that summer vacation is just about over. Sad face.

But, I do always enjoy the start of a new school year! New people, new colleagues, new kids, new families, new supplies, new ideas--everything feels fresh and new. With that attitude in mind, I've been taking some of my recent Pinterest likes and pins and making them for my classroom. I've learned a couple things in the last couple weeks--
1. There are so many things you can do with duct (duck--the brand name) tape! I bought 3 rolls of the fun polka dot print and I just LOVE it!
2. The Dollar Tree has been a lifesaver in helping me snag quality, but cheap, supplies to make my projects! Without further ado, here are my projects and a link to the original post where I found it:

----Revamped File Box----
I've had these files boxes for over 10 years in my classroom with various uses over the years. Last year, I did not use them for anything so I decided to sell them at a yard sale but kept 1 for this project! I turned my old, drab, white, plastic box into a cute organizer! I found the idea at Fifth Grade Frenzies. I love it!

----Magnetic Student Boards----
I'm really impressed with how these turned out. I wanted a quick visual to see where students are located and help take attendance and lunch count. The original idea came from A Spoonful of Creativity. Dollar store cookie sheets and clear flower vase marbles + spare magnets + adorable numbers and labels from A Cupcake for the Teacher = These beauties!

----Brownie Points----
I'm using this as a whole class incentive for completed homework. I'm hoping that this idea will keep everyone motivated to get that completed homework in on time--everyday!! A brownie can be earned each day all homework assignments are completed by everyone in the class. For every dozen brownies earned, the students will earn some kind of reward. Later in the year, it will take 2 dozen brownies to earn the reward. I'm not 100% sure what the rewards will be yet--nothing extravagant--something simple and cheap but that the kids will enjoy. I'll share more ideas on that later. In the meantime, the idea came from What the Teacher Wants.

I'm looking forward to getting these into my room and finishing up all the prep work in there before the kids arrive next Wednesday. I hope to post some classroom reveal photos before that day. I'd love to hear about your classroom management tips and ideas. Also, be sure to check out my classroom Pinterest board for all the great ideas I've found!
Happy New School Year!

Bye Bye, July?!?

How is July over after today? This summer has literally flown by. I still have a few more weeks but I've been on the go everyday! I haven't done a whole lot for the upcoming school year yet but I will be getting a move on some things this coming week. I am attending the eVisionary Technology conference in Valparaiso, Indiana today and tomorrow and my head is spinning with ideas for the new year! In the meantime, can we please slow the days down just a bit??

Summer Vacation

We are 4 days into summer vacation and I am already working on things for next school year! I can't help it. I like being able to work on classroom things and having the free time to be creative! I am looking to revamp how I display my standards in my classroom so I have begun making new themed cards with the CCSS I can statements listed on them. This way I can laminate them and pop 'em into a pocket chart instead of writing them out each day. I'm hoping this saves time! Also, since I haven't yet chosen a theme for next year, I have created NINE different themes. All the backgrounds came from My Cute Graphics (you seriously need to check out her site because her stuff is so good!). I only have 4th grade completed now but I may look into doing other grade levels****3rd AND 4th grade sets are now available! Grades K-2 and 5 will be posted in the coming weeks.**** Here are some previews of the ones I've created along with a link to purchase that set in my TpT store:

Pretty, bold, diagonal stripes!

Colorful, diamond pattern!


Cute litte pink and brown flowers!


Fun pink & brown polka dots!


Fun pink and blue owls!


Pretty pink, white & gray polka dots!


Funky black, white and pink zebra stripes!


Colorful and fun retro circles!


Pretty red swirls!

Looking forward to sharing more about the end of the school year soon. Hard to believe it's over. Happy summer!

Egg-cited for Spring (break!)

**This was supposed to have been posted back on 3/30 but I just noticed the draft never posted! Oops! Better late than never, I suppose.**

March 30th--Today is the last day of school before spring break and boy, are we ready! It has been a busy couple of weeks with the close of ISTEP+ and moving straight into Acuity. The final trimester of the year is in full swing and the last progress reports go home on 4/26. As a small break from the hustle and bustle, we skipped morning work one day last week to color and cut paper eggs to display. They turned out pretty cute!


As a math activity, which will slide us into our graphing unit after break, we spent some time using jelly beans in math. They had a ball sorting, graphing and comparing the different colors of jellybeans.



Finally, some students in the class created puppet shows to retell a fable or tall tale. We invited a primary class in to view the puppet shows this afternoon and they really enjoyed them! Here is a photo:

ISTEP is a good time!

This week was ISTEP+, Indiana's standardized test. It can be a stressful time but I try to make it a little less stressful in my class. Of course, our preparation for ISTEP+ begins on Day 1 of school but I found a GREAT idea on TpT for doing some test prepping in a new way. We tried it a few times in recent weeks and the kids blew me away! The discussions I overheard and the answer defenses I observed were exciting to see! I highly recommend giving Laura Candler's Buddy Test Prep activity a try. It definitely took some conversations to a deeper level and I was really impressed and encouraged!

Pinterest ABOUNDS with ideas for test treats. Last year, I went with the "smart cookie" idea.

This year, since we tested for 3 days, I opted for a small treat each day.

Day 1: Andes mints

Day 2: Smarties candy

Day 3: Fruit Roll Ups--Last day!!

Yay! It's over and we survived... well, until Part 2 in April. In the meantime, here is a cute little video to get the kids excited about ISTEP, put together by another Hammond school, Lincoln. Enjoy!

Purdue's "R-Dub" Club

Since 2005, my class has been a participant in the Purdue University Calumet's "R-Dub" Club (Reading and Writing...as in "dub-ya"! Get it??). We are one of three classes in the entire district to participate and the only class to have participated since the first year! Every spring, athletes from the men and women's basketball teams visit our classroom once a month to introduce a new chapter book. They read a few chapters out loud together and then discuss what was read. Finally, the students have the opportunity to interview the athletes to learn more about them. The students make notes from the interview in their writing journals. After the visit, we spend a couple days in writer's workshop, putting together articles about the athletes. We make the articles into a book and present it to them at the next visit. In January, the featured book was The Mouse and the Motorcycle. In February, it was Frindle. The last two books in March and April will be Stone Fox and Dear Mr. Henshaw. As participants in the program, the students and their families also get to be guests at a home basketball game in the late winter. Here are some photos from a recent visit:

Athletes from the women's basketball team read from the new chapter book as the students follow along in their copies.

The first book we created and presented to the team in February.

Our next visit on March 22nd and we can't wait! We enjoy being a part of this program every year and look forward to many more years in this partnership!

Catching up...

I'm playing Saturday morning catch up--lots to share about what we've been up to the past month. Life has gotten in the way and I haven't been able to post recently. So expect several posts from me today!

First up? Valentine's Day! We did a few things that week to celebrate the holiday. To start, I found a cute idea from Laura Candler on TpT for a cinquain writing activity. The students interviewed each other following her format and created very sweet Valentine's for that person. They turned out pretty cute!

I also remembered finding a cool idea for making Valentine mailboxes on Pinterest and I thought I pinned it but cannot find it. The only idea I actually used from it was having students use empty cereal boxes for them. We then tore pieces of construction paper to create a mosaic look to the boxes. The students took them home, decorated and returned them on party day.

Lastly, I was excited to share my Valentine's for the students with them. I borrowed an adorable idea from The Teacher Wife as part of it. I found the cute V-Day pencils and gift bags at the dollar store and filled a couple little other goodies from Oriental Trading (bought during a free shipping weekend!). They turned out really cute!

It was a week of love in C107!