Labels

Each year kids come to school with unlabeled supplies. This year I've printed off small return address labels with their names on them. When they come Monday night to drop off their supplies, I'm going to have their parents help them label their supplies. Just a little idea I thought I'd share.

Good luck to those of you going back to school!

I know...totally great picture huh? haha!

Pinterest!

I love pinterest.com! Greatest idea ever. I am just crossing my fingers that I can access it at school because they block every.single.great.site! I found this cute poster that someone made based on a quote someone wrote. I got ready to print it out, and for some reason, sometimes Scrib'd (or however you spell it) makes some of the print into blurry boxes. So I just decided to make my own poster. I love making my own posters anyway. So I guess I am borrowing an idea from someone who borrowed an idea from someone else. Long line of borrowing here! Anyway, all that chatter, and here is the poster. Such a great reminder-for kids AND adults!

New Favorite Font

I've been using it on everything! It's easy to read, not overly cutesy-just cute enough! I can't remember where I got it though.

Homework

Homework is one area I have a lot of difficulty staying on top of. So this year I am trying to be super organized, and have a firm policy in place.

Students will have one sheet of math that is due every day.
They will have a weekly spelling packet that is due on Friday.

My teammate and I will be ordering these pocket charts to keep extra work in.If the students forget their work, we will record it on a sheet and the students will have to stamp their assignment notebook with a stamp that says "I forgot my homework". They will be able to turn in their homework late (we don't have grades for homework). On Friday, any unfinished work will be worked on during Friday free time. If they don't finish during FFT, they will have to do it over the weekend and return it on Monday. I usually give students ONE freebie each month, because we all have the occasional slip up! I will also be having the parents sign and return a sheet if their child misses 3 or more assignments.

I made a recording sheet to write down missing homework. If they turn in their work, the box stays blank. If they forget math, I write "M", spelling "S", and assignment book is "AB". Absent is "A". So that is the plan for this year. We shall see how it works!

Here is what my recording sheet looks like. Pretty basic. I will be typing their names in when I get a final class list.


If anyone has tips that work for them, I'd love to hear them!

Morning Work

The last few years, I've had morning work for the kids to work on when they arrive. The first year consisted of math sheets sometimes and journals other times. The last two years we made morning work journals each month with a prompt. Basically it was busy work. I never grade it and I find it to be a waste of time. After reading The Book Whisperer, it reminded me how important independent reading time is. I've decided to make reading our morning work this year. It'll only be about 10 minutes or so, and the kids will be able to read anything they want. I am looking forward to this because not only is it not busy work, but I also don't have to worry about having copies. The kids can't lose their morning work because there are always more books! So that is what they will be doing 3 days a week. One of the other days will be book shopping, and last day will be free choice. For free choice they will be able to read, draw, write, do word searches, etc. I'm hoping this goes well. I will be updating after the year begins! Below I am putting a screen shot of the rotation I made. I still don't know how to include something you can download!

The groups are just the tables. My fonts are "Grilled Cheese BTN" and "KidPrint".

Class Pass Tip

I was just looking around on blogs and saw a cute idea of using cones as passes. Those little orange dollar store cones- with labels saying where you went.

I wanted to share my bathroom pass idea. I used this last year and I think it went really well. When the students have to use the washroom, they grab a bottle of hand sanitizer from the front of the room and put it on their desk. When they come back to the room they use a pump to make sure their hands are clean and then return it to the front of the room.

I like this because then I know the kids' hands are clean!

New Blog!

A little about me:
I teach second grade in a suburb of Chicago. I did a lot of observations in second grade and student taught in second grade, so when it came time to get a job, second grade just seemed to fit! I love second grade-even though I think about switching grades from time to time, I always decide second is where I belong. This will be my fourth year. My first year was fantastic-but I only think I have fond memories because it was my first year. In actuality, the kids were huge tattle tales and didn't get along with each other at all! My second year was one of those years I will probably remember forever. They were amazing kids, and they were so well behaved...so well behaved that I got a little too relaxed and created a monster of a third year. This was the never-ending year that FINALLY ended! However I did have some pretty great kids, and I do think back fondly on them. Now I am heading into my fourth year with great expectations. I am excited to begin a new year. I am getting into the second grade groove- I have a good handle on behavior, and I am really getting to know the curriculum. I am excited to share this year!

I have another blog, but it's about more than just teaching. I've decided to start one just about teaching. I've been inspired by lots of other teachers, and I'd like to share some of the things I make and some of the ideas I have!

*One problem is that I have no idea how to share a document...so if anyone can clue me in, I'll start sharing!
**Look below for some education related blogs stolen from my other blog!

Head back shortly for some ideas!