The Perfect Teacher Gift!

The Prefect Christmas Gift for the Special Teacher in Your Life!

I am not a fan of electric pencil sharpeners. They are noisy, messy, and they don't last very long. I have very strict rules in my classroom about pencil sharpening. My students are allowed to sharpen 1-2 pencils first thing in the morning before 8:00. They can also switch un-sharpened pencils with sharp pencils. The rest of the day is pencil sharpener-free.

That means I have to make sure our sharpened pencil can is always full. My old electric sharpener allows me to sharpen about 10 pencils before it heats up and stops. Now that I am using my Classroom Friendly Supplies Sharpener, I can sharpen enough pencils at one time to last several days! It comes with a mount that can attach to a table, counter top, or shelf so it stays put while sharpening. Best of all, it's VERY quiet!...no more frazzled nerves form the noisy electric pencil sharpener!

It's really easy to use too. Here is a how-to video:

Order today!

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The Original Seat Sack!

When I first set up my classroom a few years ago, I was looking for an inexpensive way for my students to store their whiteboard and markers. I discovered that jumbo stretchy book covers fit nicely on the back of the chairs and the whiteboard slid perfectly into the pocket. This was a great way to keep the whiteboards at their desks without getting chipped and scratched.

However, I soon discovered that this was all the book covers could really hold. If the students added books, workbooks, or folders the book cover would stretch and the pocket would flip over, causing all of the contents to fall on the floor.

Adding books and other items caused the book covers to stretch.  With added items, the book covers drag on the floor and the pockets flip, causing all of the contents to fall out.   

The stretched out pocket would sometimes cause the chair to become top heavy and tip it over. The added stress on the stretchy fabric also caused it to tear.

I decided it was time to look for something sturdier that would hold more items - particularly the books my students read every day for "Read to Self" during The Daily 5. Fortunately, one of my readers contacted me and told me about The Original Seat Sack. These sacks are made of durable denim and have a nice deep pocket that will not stretch, flip, or cause the chair to become too top heavy.

Now my students can store books, workbooks, and folders in the seat  sacks!

The blue denim fabric will match just about any classroom decor

No stretching, dragging, tipping, or tearing!

The Original Seat Sacks are designed and hand made by a 3rd grade teacher who was looking for a storage solution. To learn more about this product please visit The Original Seat Sack Facebook page. 


*UPDATE*
A recent blog post over at Pre-K Pages made me realize that the chair in my pictures looks like a full-size student chair, but it is not. It is actually a smaller chair (27" tall) used for 2nd graders. The stretchy book covers and The Original Seat Sack work nicely on any size chair.

Lysol's Healthy Classroom Sweepstakes

For teachers across America, LYSOL^® kicked off this week on National Teacher Day their Healthy Classroom sweepstakes, which will run through September 14 and offer 100 teachers across the country the chance to win a $500 gift card towards the purchase of classroom supplies for the 2012-13 school year.  All teachers have to do is visit www.lysol.com/schools to sign up. Additionally, given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) findings that children are a major source of flu transmission, LYSOL^® will provide each winner with a case of disinfecting wipes and access to online curriculum to help teachers instill healthy habits in the classroom.

 

Up to $50,000 and LYSOL^® Disinfecting Wipes Will Be Awarded to 100 Teachers!

 

The average teacher spends nearly $400 each year on classroom and instructional supplies, a majority of which is taken out of their own pockets. Beyond the usual paper, pencils and chalk, more and more teachers are requesting non-traditional supplies for the classroom, including disinfecting wipes. Recognizing the expenses and importance of keeping a well-stocked, healthy classroom,LYSOL, as part of their Mission for Health initiative, has introduced this nationwide campaign to help alleviate the strain on teachers’ wallets while providing disinfecting products that can kill germs in the classroom.

Make the Classroom a Place to Share Learning, Not Germs!

*No compensation was received for this post

Busy feet!

It seems like every year I have a student (usually a boy) who can't sit still or needs to be fidgeting with something in order to pay attention. It took me a long time to realize that when a student is twiddling with something in their desk, doodling, tearing up an eraser, or turned upside down in their chair, they are not just playing or trying to ignore me. In most cases, they are actually listening better than if I had made them sit quietly with their hands on their desk! Of course, all of this activity can be distracting and disruptive to the rest of the class, so the vice-principal at my school came up with an ingenious solution that requires a bungee cord with hooks on each end and a PVC pipe. Slip the pipe over the bungee cord and hook it to the desk leg.  The student has a place to keep his feet busy while keeping his bottom in the chair. I started using this with a student this year and it has really helped him stay focused and on task. Every once in a while I have to ask him to not be so noisy with it, but most of the time it is barely noticeable.

The feet stay busy while the student is engaged and on task!

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!

I love using manipulatives for hands-on learning! We are currently using patterns to gain and understanding of skip counting and multiplication. Students are using manipulatives to model and describe repeating and additive patterns. I placed stations around the rooms for pairs to explore and create patterns. Manipulatives included: 2 sided discs, foam stars, foam leaves, 1" colored tiles, connecting chains, geometric shapes, and firefighter action figures.

Pristine Classroom vs. Environment for Independent Learning

I was looking back at the pictures I took of my classroom at the beginning of the school year. It was so pristine! Now that we have been in school for over 100 days it has a more lived-in look! Using the daily 5 and giving my students time for independent learning has allowed them to really USE the classroom. They have access to what they need when they need it.

Our Daily 5/CAFE board has been put to a lot of use since the first of the year...

Comprehension Strategies

Accuracy Strategies

Fluency Strategies

Vocabulary Strategies

Before: Conference table, math centers, book display

After: Added anchor charts and all the stuff we need to learn!

Before:  2 student computers

After: 3 student computers!

Before: A library full of good-fit books

After: more books and other learning materials

Our First Skype Session and What We Learned

My students sharing an excerpt from MLK's "I Have a Dream " speech while the other class watches and listens via Skype.

What a fun day we had Skyping with a 3rd grade class in suburban Chicago. My students read their reader's theater excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the other class shared some of their writing. Afterwards, the students asked each other questions. We learned that a Chicago Dog has a bunch of stuff most second graders don't like and that deep dish pizza sounds really good. My students shared their favorite sports teams and their ancestral heritage. During the call we also discovered that both classes have blogs so we made a plan to read and comment on each others' blogs! My students really enjoyed the experience and asked if we could do it again!

Flattening the classroom walls through Skype and more!

Skyping with Mr. S of Living Maths in Cape Town, S. Africa

Since the beginning of the year, I have been working to incorporate technology into the classroom in many different ways.

• Blogging - We got started on this right away. The first few days on the portable laptop stations were quite challenging, but the payoff has been a classroom full of students who are motivated to write and post on their blogs on a weekly basis (more than I can say for myself ;-) Our blog is password protected, but we allow guest comments. The students are so proud when they get positive feedback on their work.
• Edmodo - We joined an Edmodo group through the Global Classroom. Students from all over share and ask questions about seasons, holidays, school, and their favorite things. This is a lot of fun and a nice extra for the kids to do in the computer lab or when they have free time in the classroom. 
• Voicethread - Again, through the Global Classroom we joined the "Seasons Around the World" project and "Kids Speak". My students have enjoyed adding slides and their voices to the Voicethread and hearing kids from other places tell about themselves.
• Skype - I intended to start much earlier, but this week I finally unwrapped the webcam I received through DonorsChoose and hooked it up! I immediately called Ms. Naugle's class in New Orleans to make sure we had a good connection since I have signed up to Skype with her this coming Friday. We were so excited when she answered and we got to say hello to all of her students. When we join them again on Friday they will be teaching us about Mardi Gras.

I have a feeling we will be adding a few more stars to our global project map now that we are Skyping. This afternoon I set up Skype sessions with Mr. S of Living Maths in Cape Town, S. Africa and another teacher in suburban Chicago. During these sessions, my students will be learning new things from students and teachers from far away places. How cool is that?

Spin, Roll, and Slide!

Using Doodletop markers helps us see the pattern of movement for spinning.

Dipping marbles in paint and rolling them helps us see the pattern of movement for rolling!

Pushing and pulling chalk across black paper helps us see the pattern of movement for sliding!

The finished product!

Awesome!