I remember when I first started teaching...  I bought a Behavior Management Pocket Chart ( click to view ) and used the card system.  Students misbehaved and moved colors.  I wrote their colors in their agenda and most parents signed. I used this system for about two years...  I then started searching online and saw that other teachers were using something called a clip chart.  I liked this so much better.  The idea is that each student starts on green and has the opportunity to move up or down depending on their choices.  I liked this so much better, because I could reward and draw attention to the students making good choices.  I made my own and loved it!   Click here to download a Free Behavior Chart :). Then one day I came across something called Class Dojo .  I tried it one year when it was fairly new and still had many bugs and issues.  It seemed like more of a hassle than a help, so I decided to stick to my clip chart.  I sadly forgot about Class Dojo until this year!  One ...
I remember back in the day when I would sit quietly with folders on my desk to block my "neighbor" from looking at my paper.  My teacher would distribute the multiplication timed tests and start the clock for a minute.  I'd race to get as many problems correct as I could, but honestly, I've never been very fast at solving multiplication facts, despite my ability to answer them correctly.  On a good day, I could get through most of the problems, but the rest were left on the page unanswered. So, now I'm obviously a teacher.  My first year of teaching, I did the timed tests the same way.  I would project a countdown timer on the board, set it for a minute, and allowed the students to start.  As a teacher, when observing my students as they worked, I noticed that many students didn't even finish the first few problems.  How would they ever finish the rest?  Now, it was probably unlikely that they would take this paper home and have parents require them to f...
I am seriously like a big kid when it comes to holidays!  Some people dread this time of year... Where this is what I am doing when I hear my first Christmas carol... Every year, so many of my "Upper Elementary" colleagues decide not to do anything related to the holiday because "The kids are getting too big for that stuff".  Well, as a big kid myself, I believe you are never too old for a little holiday fun! Here are my 5 favorite holiday traditions for my classroom... 1) Book Exchange I ask each of my students to bring in a book that they have already read this year.  On the big day of the book exchange, students place their books on a table.  One at a time (random order), students get to come to the table and pick any "new" book of their choice.  I even give my students some time to meet with the original owner so they can talk a little about their new book.  You would not believe how excited my kids are for t...
I've been doing this teaching thing for a long time...23 years to be exact.  The world and the world of teaching have changed a great deal.  When I started teaching we didn't have email.  I had no computer in my room.  I taught whole class for almost everything--and that was the expectation.  We didn't meet as grade level teams.  We gave letter grades at all age levels and those grades were based on percentages obtained from work done as homework and on tests.  My, how my educational world has changed. That being said, there are certain things that remain constant.  Students come to school with a variety of needs and strengths.  We have certain content we are expected to cover.  There is never enough time to do it all. As I have tried to figure out how to maximize my time with my students, I can't help but feel like we might be missing the boat as we try to pound in content. I've decided to try to deliberately slow down and work on some things with my s...
Happy Sunday!! Today I thought I would share a little bit about one of my favorite classroom tools!! There is no other strategy or tool that I use in my classroom that I cherish and value more than “Status of the Class”. I have been using this tool in my classroom for the last four years, to engage, reinforce, and monitor my students’ reading habits. Four years later, I still find it to be one of the most rewarding parts of my day. Status of the Class is an idea that came from The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Along with the many other ideas from this life-changing book, Status of the Class is an amazing tool for engaging readers in your classroom. Here’s how it works my classroom... I keep a binder full of “Status of the Class” forms for each of my students. At the top of each page I record their names. During our independent reading time, I flip through the pages and call out each student’s name, one at a time. When I call their names, they pause thei...
One of my most favorite Thanksgiving books is Thank You Sarah, by Laurie Halse Anderson.   The main character, Sarah, is one bold, brave, stubborn, and smart woman who saved Thanksgiving!   This story is inspirational, historical, and teaches perseverance.   If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it!   It’s an all around great book, and perfect in many ways!   To top off this personal review :), I have created a few printables to go along with the book.   Within the printable, students identify character traits, describe cause and effect relationships, and write a friendly letter.   You can download the Thank You Sarah activities by clicking the image below. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving book?  We would love to hear about it! Mandy ...
Hello, everyone!  It's Deb from Crafting Connections . I still remember my first formal teaching evaluation.  The principal wrote several positive comments about my lesson, but naturally, I remember the suggestion she gave me for improvement.   Checking for understanding.  Yep, it was the classic case of simply running out of time.  The class ended before I had time to complete my "closure" activity (as it was called back in 1998!).  Well, you can bet that I nailed the "closure" part of my lesson on my next formal evaluation the following spring!  :) Ever since that day seventeen years ago, I have tried hard to always leave time to wrap up the lesson.  Has it always  happened?  Of course not!  But more often than not, I am able to follow through with my closure plans. About three years ago, I read the book Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam. He discussed the concept of "exit passes", and I was immediately hooked!  To me, it was basicall...
Out of all of the million strategies that we are asked to teach for reading, this has got to be one of my favorites. I love reading passages and analyzing how they're alike and different and I think it's fun for the kids too.  Whether it's a paired passage narrative or a set of informational texts, there are so many things you can do with this concept, that it's hard to narrow it down to just a few. But, narrow it down I did and here they are...6 tips for teaching Compare and Contrast: 1. Use Real Life Examples One of my favorite teaching strategies for reading is to show the kids how they are already doing this in real life, practice that (without all of those pesky words), and then once the kids are comfortable with the process, we connect it back to reading. For example, if I asked them how a hamburger and a hot dog were alike and different, I bet they could tell me right away! How about cats and dogs? McDonald's and Burger King?  Even bette...