iPad and Mobile Device Poster Set FREEBIE

I don't know about you, but lately I've seen too many of my students trying to treat my iPads like TV dinner trays.  They've gotten a little too loose with the rules...but it happens because we're over halfway through the year.

To curb these actions I've put together a simple set of classroom rules for my iPads (I know some of you use other devices).  You can grab a free set for yourself in my TPT store.

I kind of felt like I was rewriting the rules for Gizmo.  The last thing we need is more gremlins running around school.

Enjoy the posters!  Grab them HERE.

If you're wondering where I got the excellent clip art, look no further than Jen at Teaching in the Tongass.  She has excellent graphics!  I've gotten quite a few sets from her store.  Here is the link for the iPads.  She has tons of choices, which seems to impact my clip art habit.

...and if you want to check out my latest PBL activity that journeys through the rainforest just follow this link:  Discovery in the Rainforest.

Discovery in the Rainforest

This is a cross-post from Digital: Divide & Conquer.

           

Make Your Rotations ROCK!!!

Have you all ever had that moment in class when you had finally had enough?? If you heard one more student go... "Where do I go now?" or "I don't know what to do?"...you were going to lose it!?! 

Well, about 5 or 6 years ago, I had reached my limit!!! I never liked teaching whole group that much except for writing mini-lessons or science/social studies since we had very little time. However, even though I didn't like whole group, I found myself doing a lot of it until I figured out what kind of teacher I was. I'm constantly changing, but it wasn't until I got my master's degree and had 2 of my close friends (EL teachers) pushing into my room during the day that I realized the teacher I wanted and was born to be. From that day on, I was determined to create a classroom environment that flowed and was smooth like a well oiled machine. I know it might sound funny that I didn't figure it out until my master's degree was complete. haha BUT, you guys, I seriously grew a back bone and had some new found confidence! My 2 friends that pushed into my classroom also introduced me to all the small group work. This was the same year that we started putting majority of the lower level EL students in my room since I speak Spanish, and our EL population was primarily Hispanic. I love this!! 

With this new found confidence and knowledge of what type of teacher I was, I began using a rotation system for both math and reading time. It took a few years to get it down to exactly the way I wanted, but now, I seriously could NOT LIVE WITHOUT IT!!! My classroom runs around this system! 

I wanted to give my students chances to explore, learn independently, challenge themselves, work together, and grow as problem solvers. I wanted to empower them to take charge of their learning and to see how they are just as big a part of their education as we (teachers and parents) are. So, my rotations system was created!!!

With this system, my kids are given several different learning experiences between technology, partner work, and independent work along with the small group time with me. I even have different rotations leveled by writing their Lit. circle number on their post-it which corresponds to the container with the appropriate passages for their levels. I made sure to use lots of picture cues for my EL learners, but also my gen. ed. learners. EL teaching methods are good teaching methods that can be used for ALL students. With the picture cues, I've matched those labels with the areas and materials for each rotation. Here's a glimpse into one part of it. :)

As with any procedures you do in your room, they have to be practiced explicitly. It can also be adjusted and customized for your schedule and framework!! That's the greatest part of the whole system! It is constantly changing!! With the post-its, it's super simple to move around kids because you can see it all right there. AND...this also helps with partnering kids up to set them all up for success! 

If you'd like to learn more about my rotations system and how you can use it in your room, hop on over to my blog to read more HERE!!! You can also click on my blog button below!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!!! Have a great weekend!!!

Nicole :)

Using Hand Signals in the Classroom

Hi everyone!  It's Megan from Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade!  Today I'm here to share a classroom management strategy that I've used my entire teaching career.  I read about it in a great book that I was given at my entry year meeting my first year of teaching.  You may have heard about it.  It's called The First Days of School by Harry Wong.  I read it each year the few nights prior to the first day of school.  I really believe that it helped me develop a very strong classroom management system.

One way that I manage my classroom and students is by using hand signals.  No teacher wants to be interrupted during a lesson or while running a reading group.  The hand signal system was something I learned from Harry Wong's book.  You can develop your own hand signals, but below are the ones that I use:

1 finger-restroom 
*If I see someone with their pointer finger up, I nod my head yes or shake it no.  I may also use a verbal cuing to say "Go ahead" or "Not right now."  The child goes over to the door frame, where I have a boy and girl restroom pass hanging.  If the pass is available, he/she is allowed to put it on his/her desk and use the restroom.  Putting the pass on the desk allows me to see who is out of the room.  If the pass is gone, they must wait UNLESS it's an emergency.

2 fingers-drink,tissue,pencil
*Students show 2 fingers for drinks, tissues, or pencils.  They begin each day with 1 pencil on their desk.  If it breaks or is lost, they do the signal, I ok them to get up, and they get a new pencil.  I use a "SHARP" and "DULL" cup system for pencils.  I collect the pencils after school {from their desks} and sharpen them.  No child ever touches a pencil sharpener in my room.

This system has been amazing for me and I am sharing my poster with you.  I have several printed up and around my classroom.  The kids that forget can easily be directed towards the poster.  To snag the poster for free, click HERE.

I hope you found this post helpful!  Please consider following me below.  Click each image to follow. I do LOTS of giveaways on my Facebook fan page!

xo
Megan 

Classroom Management Grouping Freebie!

Happy Columbus Day everyone!

Today I thought I would share a fun & easy classroom management tool that is circling around the teaching world, and if you hang on until the very end of the post, a freebie awaits you!

I was asked a few weeks back on how I group my first graders for daily exercises.  I have used the even/odd numbering system for a few years now and it works wonders for me AND my kiddos!

We started at the end of August with using this board display to get introduced to our numbers and practice the even/odd (red/blue) patterns.

From afar, you can see a new "arrangement" on the front board.

Zooming in here, I use the even/odd groupings for our daily sight word fluency poem meetings.  The odd team meets at our pond carpet, and the even team meets at the library carpet.

A third favorite way to group throughout the day is for partnerships.

At this time of the year in first grade, I still need to "coach" and have some imput on making sure students understand the HOW and WHY of choosing a good-fit reading partner.

I simply use the best-fit teams to pair up and students stick with that reading partner all day.

I could make a second set and differentiate for math groups as well.

Now, I want to know how YOU group your kiddos!

Inquiring minds want to know so please leave a comment and share your expertise or links to great ideas!

As promised, a little freebie for you!

Click on the image above.

Have a wonderful week friends!

Julie DiBenedetto

The 5 W's of Exit Tickets

While in New Orleans at the Reading, Writing, Math and More Conference, I had a lot of questions about my Exit Tickets.  So I figured - Hey?  Why not do a blog post!   So Ta-Da!!  Here goes nothing! The 5 W's of Exit Tickets.  Hopefully I can help give you some new and fresh ideas and maybe answer some questions you may have lurking around as well.  :)

What:     What ARE exit tickets?

Exit tickets are a quick and easy way to gather immediate data at the end of a lesson.  They can be formal (something you found online, paid for, printed, etc) or they can be very on the spot and informal.  The exit ticket is like a snapshot of what the students learned from the lesson that is about to end (or begin, but we'll get to that in a bit!)  They can easily be differentiated as well.  My informal exit tickets are always on post it notes.  Students pull them out, I write a question on the front board, they answer and bam, we're done!  The great thing about exit tickets is that you can ask ANYTHING!  They can be used in any subject and can contain work or more open ended writing type answers.  Basically, there's no need for students to take more than 5 minutes to show you what they learned.  If they can show you in 1-4 questions or 1 open ended writing question, then they've got it and you've got the data to use to decide where to go next with your lessons!

WHO:     Who are exit tickets for?  

Most teachers think that exit tickets are for the teacher - which is very true, but I see them as being not just for me but also for the student.  How are they 'for the teacher'?    Exit tickets are a FANTASTIC way to get immediate proof as to whether or not your students have grasped the concept you just taught.  This give the teacher data to use as soon as they need it.  No more waiting until 'the test' to see if your kids understand what you've been teaching.  By then, its too late!  If I'm going to spend 20-30 minutes on a lesson, I don't want to move on or walk away from that lesson without knowing what they got and what they didn't.  So yes, they are for the teacher.  But - they are also for the students!  How?  What better way to open up a lesson than with showing the students their exit tickets from the prior day's lesson.  Boost some confidence by putting a few students' exit tickets under the document camera and 'review' the concept by showing their amazing work.  Or - do the opposite, cover up the name of a student's exit ticket who didn't do so well and review those mistakes that this student made to the whole class (not identifying the student of course).  Show the students the data you collected - they'll understand it.  It will help them answer the question of "Why are we still learning this?  We just did it yesterday!"  Another idea - pass back the exit tickets and have the students pair up to grade them.  Analyze the data together to give your lesson opener a meaningful kick!  So you see, they are for both the teacher and the student!

Where?  Where to go after giving an exit ticket?

One problem I know a lot of teachers have is where to go after they've given an exit ticket.  Congrats - you gave one, now what?  Giving the exit ticket is just the first step of the process - its what you DO with the data afterwards that makes them meaningful.  I've ALWAYS said to other teachers - if anyone ever wanted to observe me teaching they would need to stay until I leave school because a lot of the 'magic' happens when the kids leave and I'm going through exit tickets for the day and revamping plans for the next day.  You can't just give them and walk away or let them go to the bottom of your 'to grade' pile.  Then they're meaningless.  The purpose of an exit ticket is to have that immediate data to use to guide your next lesson, whether that's the next day - in small groups - or in a few weeks when you revisit the skill.  Before I leave my room, you better believe my baskets are emptied out and I have sat and gone through them.  What do I do with them?  Before I found this GENIUS way to sort them, I simply used paperclips and post its to write notes on who has it and who doesn't.  But take a look at this amazing and easy way to sort your exit ticket (brought to you by Teaching with Simplicity).  Place a few paperclips and boom - you've got them saved, sorted, and ready to go!  Now you have your groups ready for small group lesson.  Now you know who to conference with.  Now you know who to push on and give enrichment lessons to.  USE YOUR DATA!!  

When:  When do I give exit tickets?  

99% of the time, exit tickets are given at the end of the lesson.  Makes sense.  But let's talk about a few other ways you can use them.  Why not at the beginning of the lesson?  I do this a lot more in math than I do in reading.  I'll post one problem on the board and give the students 2-3 minutes to complete.  As they bring them up to me I sort them.  Then, during my entire lesson I know who to ask specific questions to, who to give higher order questions and problems to, who and how to group the students during practice.  It makes the the lesson go so strongly and with a purpose.  And all data driven!  Or - what about in the middle of a lesson?  Who is to say you can't stop a lesson at about the 1/2 way point and ask a question, collect, and use the data to end your lesson.  Same process - just now end your lesson with a BANG!  

Once I have given the tickets (if at the end of a lesson)  I have the kids do a quick reflection on how they think they did.  This is simply added data to use and discuss with them once I've analyzed the data myself.  Check out this adorable and easy set up I plan to use this year.  

Here's what I did with my exit tickets last year.  Each child had their own square and a small magnet (not shown).  When done, they posted it to their space.  Easy peasy!  Click on the photo to grab the "Show What You Know" posters for free!  

You can also use this really fun and easy way to collect them!

Why:  Why?

I think the better question is - why not?  Why would you not use SOME form of an exit ticket after knowing all of the rhyming and reasoning behind them.  They are a part of that teaching 'magic' that takes place.  It's one thing to teach - its another to use data to drive your instruction and give each child their individual and meaningful education they deserve.

So there you have it.  Idk if you learned anything new or not - maybe I'm preaching to the choir?  I'm in the process of putting all of my new exit tickets in one binder (with a cute cover and tabs of course!) for easy access.  Download the cover if you'd like a copy!  Just click on the photo below.  

So if I've "Sold" you on the concept of exit tickets - I'd love for you to check out my new exit ticket packets I'm working on.  So far I have an entire set of Grammar exit tickets with over 30 different grammar concepts all in one bundle!  AND I just added my Number Sense Exit Ticket packet with over 50 pages of exits - great for grades 1-4 and they'll really help with differentiation! There are 4 (same) to a page so they're small and don't take a lot of paper either.  I LOVE them!!   Great for back to school!  Both have previews available with tables of contents so make sure to download the preview to check them out!  (I'm working on having ones for all of the other math concepts as well - computation should be up in the next few days so make sure to follow me on TPT so you're notified when they get posted!)

Well, that's all for me now folks - TTFN!

-Ciera from Adventures of Room 129

The 7 Habits, Behavior Management, and Data {with a FREEBIE!}

I am lucky enough to teach at a school that has become a part of the Leader in Me family. We are getting ready to enter our 3rd official year as a Leadership School, and I cannot wait to see the impact this program will have (again) on our students and staff.

When we made the transition and began to incorporate the 7 Habits into our daily routine, I knew it would have an impact on my classroom management strategy. You can read about that decision here.

When we entered this year I found myself with a rather (ahem) challenging group of kiddos. They kept me on my toes and taught me a LOT about patience, love, and perseverance. I also got to know a lot of parents very well, very quickly. :) One of the tools I used when I was talking with parents was this editable clip chart data form.

I filled in the dates for each month across the bottom of the page. At the end of the day, my clip chart coordinator would shade in the box beside each kiddo's name. The clip chart coordinator brought it to me to check after they were finished. This let me keep track of how everyone ended their day.  It also became a great conferencing tool when I sat down with parents and kiddos alike. The kids kept track of their personal behavior on a calendar that went home each day.

When we needed to, I sat down with kids one-on-one at the end of the month and helped them set goals for the following month. We checked in with each other once a week (in the mornings, before school started) to see how they were doing in making progress to meet their goal.

You can grab either of these freebies by clicking on the pictures above or by visiting the 7 Habits page on my blog!

Enjoy!

Need a Reminder? Remind 101

Please tell me I'm not the only one.......

Notes go home. Newsletters go home. Still several parents "didn't know about.........picture day was yesterday....field trip permission slips were due 4 days ago....it's library day today & library books are due....."

I'm NOT the only one, right?! Please say it isn't so! Some kiddos' backpacks are like a blackhole...notes go in, but they never come out. Somehow, notes and newsletters just never make it home. Hey- I'm not passing any blame or judgments here. 50% of my own children had that very same issue. It's frustrating both as a teacher AND as a parent. This year, my teamie and I tested out Remind 101. LOVE it! Have you heard of it?

It's a super handy FREE little online program that lets you send text messages to parents. The cool thing? There's NO exchanging of phone numbers! Parents don't get your number, you don't get the parents' numbers, & the numbers aren't visible on a list for any of the other parents to see, either. We really appreciated the features that made it a safe way for us to communicate with families via text.

So - how does it work? It was super easy. You are given a class code (mine was @mrsfrady), and those who want to sign up just have to text that code to a certain phone number that Remind 101 will give you. Once they send that text, they're on your subscriber list & will receive all the messages you send via text.

To send a reminder message, you log into your account, type in your message, click send, & you're done! You can also schedule messages to go out at a later time. I actually set mine up to message parents each week the evening before our library day to remind everyone to get those books back in their backpacks!

We loved the convenience of being able to text families notes & reminders:

• Library is tomorrow - Remember your books!
• Permission slips for the museum trip are due Friday.
• Gym day tomorrow--- Don't forget to wear sneakers!
• Field trip to the farm tomorrow. Dress for the weather & remember no sandals.
• Remember reading logs are due Friday!
• Don't forget our Poetry Coffeehouse is next Tuesday. Hope to see you there!
• Our class is collecting paper towel rolls. We'd appreciate any that you can send in for us!
• Picture day is Wednesday. Look for order forms to come home. Get ready to smile!

I'd love to hear any other ideas you have for ways you could use Remind 101. Please share in the comments below!

The Quiet Game

In our classroom, we like to play "The Quiet Game."  It's a very simple, yet engaging game that keeps kids accountable for their own actions and behavior.  We play during whole-group lessons, during centers, and during seat work time.  We try to play 2-3 times per day.  Here's how we play:  divide your class into groups; you decide how many you want in a group.  When we play during whole-group lessons, I have the kids sit in rows on the rug.  When we play during seat work time, they play in their tables, which are made up of groups of 4-5.  Keep track of the teams on your board or a sticky note.  For example, if you are playing on the rug in 3 rows, you would have this on your board:

1-
2-
3-

Set the kids up for success.  Talk about what things you should see them doing during the game/lesson. Talk about what things you shouldn't see during the game/lesson.  You will decide what you want the negative behaviors to be.  I do talking, shouting out, getting up without permission, and touching someone/something. Tell students that each time you see one of the above behaviors, you will mark a tally next to their team. Tell them they need to get __ or less tally marks during the game/lesson to win a fun activity.  I do 3 or less but you can do more if you are just trying this...you want them to win the first few times to get them excited!

As you teach your lesson, any time that your students do any of the above behaviors, mark a tally mark.  At the end, whichever teams have __or less tally marks win a prize!  Select a prize from your prize bucket and have the kids enjoy!  The prizes are mostly free, simple activities that take 5 minutes or less.

For a free copy of the quiet game directions and prize cards, click below!

xo
Megan