Today was a work day in my district, and since I am not ready mentally or "organizationally" to work on report cards, I cleaned and rearranged my classroom. When doing so, I first thought "Why am I such a slob?" (Seriously--organization is WAY not my strength) but then began to notice some of the really cool stuff I have. Below I have listed 5 of my favorite "nifty things" and why I love them ... Read the Post
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Reading Logs: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Tomorrow is a teacher work day for me...the end of the semester "work on report card" day that I always turn into "clear the piles and dump stuff in the recycling bin while eating copious snacks and drinking caffeinated beverages" day. Just thought I would follow up on my post the other day about how important I feel it is to take "status of the class" during independent reading. I love being ... Read the Post
Math challenge problems–another tip!
One thing that I always want to have easily available to my students of all abilities is work for them to do if they finish early or have some "down time"...they know they can always read or write, but I like for them to have math options as well. My students have "Personal Challenge" folders that have a variety of problem solving activities in them...some of which are introduced whole class ... Read the Post
Another classroom “tip”–adding life to bulletin boards!
Here is another classroom "tip" that I thought I'd share...if you are like me, you have less and less time to create bulletin boards as you spend more and more time on curriculum, assessment, and other key teaching duties. One quick tip that has added a little visual "pop" for some of my displays is simply to mount the letters I use on bright colored theme notepad paper...it only takes a few ... Read the Post
Math Manipulative Organization
It's time to talk math organization! I am a firm believer that students must be able to access manipulatives--whether they be counters, rulers, dice, or whatever--without an adult passing them out and saying "Today you will use these!". As mentioned in the Common Core, students need to be able to successfully "Use appropriate tools strategically", and helping them know how and when to select them ... Read the Post
Five on Friday! 5 great things to say to kids!
It's been a busy week...birthday excitement, finishing reading assessments, meetings. In honor of Friday, I am simply going to reflect on 5 great things to say to kids! I'd love to hear some of your favorite things...what makes a difference to your students? 1. "WOW! I am so amazed by your thinking! I never would have thought to do it that way..." 2. "I can see how ... Read the Post
Self Assess 4, 3, 2, 1! Assessment strategies to use any time, any place
Today in math we started to step up our problem solving and, especially, our EXPLAINING about our thinking...something I know I have not been modeling enough. I want to make sure we keep the climate open and honest, so today I introduced the self-assessment system we are going to use from this point forward. It is an easy system...kids can "flash" the correct number of fingers if you want to do a ... Read the Post
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