Classroom Management and Birthday Giveaway Winners!

Hey everyone,
I'm very excited to share my new classroom management tool, that is working like a charm, and the winners of my birthday giveaways!

First I have to share this hilarious card one of my students made me for my birthday.  She knows I love Duck Dynasty... so she decided to make us part of the Robertson clan! :)

Okay... on to classroom management...

This year I quickly realized that some of the classroom management systems I have used in the past just aren't going to work.  At our school, every teacher uses the same behavior system.  Some teachers use moving clips, pulling tickets, or jumping frogs, but our colors and consequences are all the same.  In my classroom, students pull tickets.  They start each day on blue (because that is our school's color), green is a warning, yellow is a time out/reflection, orange is a time out/reflection and partial loss of recess, red is a time out/reflection in another classroom and partial loss of recess, and the next step is the office.  For the last few years, I used a sticker system.  If students did not pull any tickets all day, they earned a sticker.  After they got so many stickers they would get a reward.  This year, however, that is clearly not going to work.  So after doing some thinking, I came up with a new system!

Enter... Duck Bucks!
Classroom management with the Robertsons!  Because good behavior makes us happy, happy, happy!

   

If you can't tell... I LOVE Duck Dynasty! :)

Here is how we use them...

Every day, my students can earn a Duck Buck if they stay on blue all day.  We all know we have those kiddos that rarely stay on blue (or, like at most schools, green) all day.  But I still wanted them to be able to feel successful with their behavior and earn Duck Bucks.  So, I carry Duck Bucks with me all day in my special "wallet".  When I see a student that is setting a good example for their peers, being extra well behaved, etc., I give them a Duck Buck to go put in the "pocket".  

Each student has a pocket to keep their Duck Bucks in.  When I give them a Duck Buck during class time, they quietly and quickly go put it in their pocket.  I was afraid it would be disruptive but they are so excited to earn the Duck Buck and get back to earn more, they go quickly and quietly to put them away.  On certain days, students can exchange their Duck Bucks (5 ones for one 5, etc.)  They love it.  

So what do they do with their Duck Bucks?  Well, we have come up with different rewards that the students can save up for.  This Friday my students got to count up all their Duck Bucks and decide if they wanted to spend their Duck Bucks on a reward.  They had so much fun and were so excited to see how many Duck Bucks they've earned.  My students feel so proud when they earn a Duck Buck and all of my students have been earning a lot of them.  The Duck Bucks have been amazing for my kiddos that are a bit challenging in the behavior department.  

If you want to try Duck Bucks in your classroom, you can get them at my TPT shop!

Now for the winners of my birthday giveaways!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats ladies!  I will be e-mailing you soon!

Preparing for school...

Hey everyone,

It is already July, can you believe it?  We are starting school in just over a month!  Where did summer go?

To start getting ready for the school year, I've made a few resources to make your life easier... Who doesn't love that, right? :)  The first is a Classroom Emergency Procedures Handbook.  This handbook has basic classroom and school information, procedures for each emergency drill, and can be easily filled in by you for your classroom.  I have written out the basic steps for emergency drills and things like that, all you have to do is fill in the blanks for your specific classroom.  This is a great tool to have in your sub binder or sub tub (whichever you have).  I can't wait to get mine in my sub tub!  I am going to feel so much better knowing that any substitute that comes in my room will be better prepared for an emergency.

Click HERE to check this out in my TPT shop!

You can see everything that is included in this emergency procedures handbook.  

It comes with a few different covers, so you can pick the one you like best or the one that matches your classroom! :)

To help me be prepared for each lesson, I have created some 2nd grade Common Core student friendly learning targets!  Right now I just have Math done, but ELA is on the way!  These learning targets are not just the standards written over again.  Instead, I have taken each standard and broken them down for individual lessons and in student friendly language.  For example, 2.OA.1 says "I can use addition and subtraction to solve one- and two-step word problems."  Well, I don't know about you, but when I start the year I don't teach addition and subtraction or one and two step word problems in the same lesson.  So I have taken that learning target and broken it down into seven different learning targets!  And they are super cute!  Each domain is a different chevron color and they have adorable owls on them, made by the fabulous Crystal from The Library Fox.  I'm so excited to use these this year.  Check these out in my TPT shop HERE.

How cute are these owls!!

Each domain is a different color and has a different owl on it so you can easily organize them.  They also come in grayscale!

Here are a couple of examples for what my student friendly learning targets look like...

 

And the standard number is written at the end of the learning target so you will know exactly which standard it addresses!

That's all I have so far... But keep watching for 2nd grade Common Core student friendly ELA learning targets.  :)

Enjoy!

Classroom Pictures...

Hey everyone,

I always love exploring other blogs that I love to see different things they are doing in their classroom.  I also love getting ideas from something cute I see on Pinterest and then "tweaking" them my own way.  I've decided to post a few pictures of my classroom to hopefully inspire others.  If any of these were your original ideas please let know so I can give you proper recognition!  Whoever came up with these ideas has been a life saver for me and my classroom and deserves recognition!  Enjoy!

Book Nooks

Our book nooks.  Each round label has a book nook spot on it (t-shirt pillow, reading buddy, whisper phone, crate seat, etc.) and each clothespin has a student's name on it.  Every other day I rotate the book nooks and the students look where their clothespin is to see where they will sit for read-to-self time.  They really enjoy reading in the book nooks!

Crate Seats

The most wonderful (and cutest) storage solution!  Not only can you store things but you also get more seats for your classroom :)... double bonus!  I love these and so do my kiddos.  I think every adult that has come into our classroom has also commented on them.  If you don't have any, make some ASAP! You will be so happy you did!

Where Are We? Board

Great idea for keeping track of where your students are throughout the day.  I always have kids coming in and out of the room and people pulling my kids for different thing.  I saw a board like this on Pinterest and decided to make one to help me keep track of where each kid is throughout the day.  It is just a while board with zebra sticky paper and vinyl letters.  The magnets are made from clear decorative rocks from the Dollar Tree, cute paper, mod-podge, and thick magnets.  Each one has a student's name on it and the kids move them to the appropriate box before they leave the room.

Calendar Area

In our calendar area we have the usual calendar things: calendar (I made mine on a white board so I could put little magnets on the backs of the dates), day of the week chart, hundreds, tens, and ones char, weather chart, etc.  My two favorite things in this area are... 

1. Our attendance chart.  Each day that we have every student there they earn a puzzle piece.  WHen they fill in their puzzle the class gets a special reward.  I made this puzzle to look like my little dog Paisley! :)

2. Our target behavior board.  Another wonderful Pinterest behavior management idea.  In our meeting area we pick a target behavior such as "shouting out".  Then each time someone "shouts out" I take one flower down (they start with 5).  The more flowers they keep at the end of a lesson, the more points they get toward a class reward.

Classroom Library

Our classroom library.  The books are organized by DRA and Lexile level.  I love how colorful it is and I love the tubs!  I found them at the Dollar General last year.  They come is large size and small size.  Books fit perfectly in them and students don't have to pull them off the shelves to look through the books.

My Desk... sorry about the mess!

Cute desk skirt made by a friend and they match the curtains she made for me too!  I then made some book shelf covers to match.

My new favorite hobby... painting furniture!  I just started painting furniture last year and loved it.  So I decided to make a few things for my classroom.  I made this little reflection chair, and I just love it :).  I also painted a chair for myself, one for Ms. Fretwell on my 2nd grade team, and a special pink chair for Ms. Ross who is the bravest breast cancer survivor I've ever met!

My pretty painted chair :).

I'll post some more pictures of my classroom later... and I promise next time it will be more pictures and less words :).

Enjoy!

Pinterest Inspired Classroom Management Ideas!

Hey everyone,

I love Pinterest!  I have found some amazing ideas for classroom management on Pinterest and decided to put some pictures up of some Pinterest inspired things I've made for my classroom to hopefully inspire others.  These are all ideas I found in Pinterest and  I've made my own version of them to work in my classroom.  I'm not taking credit for coming up with these ideas, I'm just showing how I've made them to work in my classroom.  If any of these were your original idea, PLEASE let me know so I can give you proper credit for them!

Hope you enjoy and can use some of these ideas in your classroom!

Ketchup and Pickle...

I cannot remember where I got this idea.  I know it was from one of the amazing blogs that I am always looking, but I can't remember which one.  I had to cutesy it up a little bit though.  I saw the idea for Pickle and Ketchup and decided to make my own to use in my classroom.  This is a great classroom management tool.  Students that didn't get their homework done, do their reading, or weren't working in class write their name under the Ketchup.  They will then "Catch Up" on their work during recess time.  In my classroom, we use the Pickle as a reward.  The students will vote on a Pickle each day and tell the class why they think this person should be the Pickle (it can't be themselves).  They pick someone they saw following directions that day, being a good listener, etc.  The Pickle then gets to "pick" first at recess that day.  We usually have one girl and one boy Pickle.

I put them on my whiteboard so students can easily write their names and we can erase them for the next day.

Microphone...

Here is another great classroom management tool that I found on Pinterest.  It is our class microphone! :)  We use this in our meeting area during share time.  Only the student holding the microphone is aloud to talk.  All it is made out of is a foam ball painted black and an empty paper towel role stuffed with tissues to make it stronger and wrapped with duct-tape.  The kids love this and it has worked wonders on our share time and morning meeting time!

Blurt Chart...

One last classroom management tool also inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest.  Last year I was having a big problem with kids shouting out and talking constantly toward the end of the year.  So I saw this wonderful idea on Pinterest for a Blurt Chart.  If this was your original idea please let me know so I can give you proper credit for it!  It is a wonderful management tool!  These served as "warnings" in our class for talking out.  The kids could see that they got three warnings before they would have to pull a ticket.  When they were told to pull a warning, they just pull one of their stars down and put it in a basket.  After they pull three, they pull a ticket then put their stars back up.  I love that they can actually see when they get a warning and they can change their behavior before they have to pull a ticket.  (We do the "pull a ticket"/"flip your card" system in our classroom).

These are just a few of my Pinterest inspired classroom management ideas I made last year.  I'll have to take some pictures of all of the Pinterest inspired things I have made for my classroom this year!

Enjoy!

Cute Common Core Headers

Hey everyone!

I started looking for some cute headers to use in my classroom for my I can statements.  I wanted some that I could put in a picture frame, had the subject title, and had an area where writing would show up.  I couldn't find any that I thought were cute, so I decided to make some.

With these headers, just put them in a picture frame and each day you can erase your I can statement and they are ready for your next lesson.  The white frame leaves a perfect area for you to write your I can statement and have it show up so your students can easily see it.  I made these in three different backgrounds, so they will fit different classroom themes.  Each set has an I can... header and a header for each of the following subjects: Reading, Math, Writing, Social Studies, and Science

You can purchase them at my TPT or TeachersNotebook shops.  Hope you enjoy them!

Striped Common Core Standards Headers

Polka-Dot Common Core Standards Headers

Chevron Common Core Standards Headers

Some Freebies!

Here are some freebies from my TPT shop.  If you like them, please check out the rest of my shop and follow me!  I would love any feedback and comments too!  Enjoy!

Primary Vocabulary Page

Find it at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Primary-Vocabulary-Page

Posting a different vocabulary word each day or each week is a great way to expand students' vocabularies. Being able to look up a word in a dictionary is a skill many young learners do not have but will need. This worksheet is simple for younger students to follow. They write the word, the definition, draw a picture of what it is/means, write one synonym and one antonym, and they write a sentence using the word correctly. Could use this in a literacy center.

Fact Family Poster

Find it at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fact-Family-Anchor-Chart

Use this anchor chart to help introduce what a fact family is. It can be printed to make a 18x24 poster.

Building a Graph Assessment

Find it at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Building-a-Graph-Assessment

Aligned with 2nd grade core content. Students use the data provided to build a graph.  Students can use a piece of graph paper if needed.

Two-Digit Addition Without Regrouping Assessment

Find it at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Two-Digit-Addition-without-Regrouping-Assessment

This is a great assessment for 2-digit addition without regrouping. The first few problems help students line up their equations in vertical form by given them a "guide line". The last two problems don't have the "guide line" so students must show they can line up their addition equations in vertical form. You are looking to see if they line up the tens and the ones places. This assessment aligns with 2nd grade core content.

Compare and Contrast Countries Graphic Organizer

Find it at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Compare-and-Contrast-Countries

This document is great to use for a country study. Fill in one side with the name of the country you are studying. The other side says United States. Students can compare and contrast different cultural aspects of the country being studied to ours.