Remind (101)

Here's another edition of Tech Tuesday...on a Thursday!

Our district has initiated a new copy policy this year. To help eliminate the number of copies I use, I have eliminated my weekly news letters as well as all "reminder' notes home. By doing this, I had to find a new way to communicate with families.

Luckily this year ALL of my parents/guardians have cell phones or email access. So I have implemented the use of Remind (formally Remind101).

At Open House last night, my parents were loving this new way to communicate. With today's tech savvy ways with smartphones, it makes it much more sense to use this app!  One parent said I always have my phone, so I can look at the reminders and add information to my calendar. Another parent was so happy to finally find a teacher who liked technology, used it, and tried to get parents/other teachers to use it as well.

The nice part about this app is it takes seconds to set up. I can use my iPhone app or the web page to end parents messages. They will NEVER see my cell phone number nor will I see theirs!

Some of the cool updates include scheduling notifications (I use for test reminders), attaching PDFs, documents, and even pictures. I took a class picture for on my Open House PPT and the parents commented on how cute it was...guess what...it took my longer to walk to my desk to get my phone then it did to use Remind to send the picture to all the parents!

Click here to learn more!

Make a Ten / Ten Frame Clip Cards

I love making my second graders independent because it allows me more time working directly with students one on one. Something new I am trying this year with my kiddos is clip cards. I will be making these primarily for Math, but if I see a need for ELA, then I will make them.

Here is my first set...Make a Ten/Ten Frame Clip Cards. It is FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers!

What I like about this idea is the simplicity. 

Here is everything you need to make your own Make a Ten clip cards...

I have a bunch of plastic pencil boxes that I purchase and keep in stock. Walmart, Dollar Tree, and Target all have them for less than $1.00 each.  You also need dot stickers (or any sticker of your choice) and clothes pins. I couldn't find colored plastic ones so I had to settle for plain wooden ones. You could paint these or even decorate them. You will also need card stock to print the file out on and lamination. I like using my Scotch laminator because it is heavier than the school laminator.

Putting everything together is easy. Once you print the file, hold it up to the light so you can see the answers. Place the dot stickers over the answer.

Now you are ready to laminate and cut out. Storage is simple...I use blue sticky tack to hold the box label on the front. This way I can change out the Clip Cards as needed.

Then I put the clip cards, clothes pins, and directions inside. I am not sure if I will use sticky tack to secure the directions to the lid or just put it in the box. I will see what works best with the kiddos.

Your Clip Card box is now complete and you have a self checking, independent activity for  your students to use. Students will read the directions, clip their answer, and check it.

Clip Cards can be used for early finishers, for review or remediation, independently, in pairs or small groups, by study buddies, and more!  I will be making more sets soon. If you have an idea for a set please let me know!

Wordly in the Classroom

I love playing word games on my iPhone and iPad. One game I came across this summer was Wordly. There is a free and a paid version.

The app is nice to play friends or you can play the "greats" which are computer players with cool historical names like Shakespeare and Einstein. The point of the game is to build larger words and capture as many letter tiles as you can. Your tiles come up in blue, your opponents are in red, and unused are white. Once all the tiles are colored, the game is over. See the picture below.

There are also daily achievements. For example, today's was to spell three ice cream flavors.

 

Right now my students are using my iPhone, iPad, and two really old iPods to play each other. Due to our district's web filters, they do not have the ability to connect to Facebook users. All of the devices use our room number. If a random person happens to try to start a game with them, the students know to decline because the name doesn't have 305 on it. 

They are really enjoying it and sometimes even work in pairs to compete against each other. Students play during indoor recess, bus time, and during Daily 5 Word Work.

Getting to Know You Game (M & M)

This year I was looking for a different type of ice breaker type activity. Something simple, inexpensive, and fun. Well, Downeast Teach had just what I was looking for....The M & M Game. 

The game is very simple...pull an M&M out of a bag and tell your group about yourself using that color. My students really enjoyed this and had a fun snack (candy is a BIG rare item in my classroom). I didn't use individual bags of M&Ms as suggested. I went to SAMS Club and purchased a bulk bag and simply put scoops in a paper bag for the students to choose from. This cut the cost in half. 

Classroom Procedures Task Cards

I have to give a big shout out to Rachel Lynette over at Minds in Bloom. I have used her Classroom Procedures task cards for the second year in a row and they are a hit! 

The question cards are awesome for classroom procedures. I use my set the first two weeks of school to help review all the classroom rules and expectations. I love independent second graders and these cards really help. I stuck mine in a jar (will post picture later). I even allow students to work on them in pairs to "quiz" each other on their knowledge of our classroom.

Rachel's task cards are always awesome...I actually have many, MANY (I may be addicted) of her task card sets. They are always excellent quality and well thought out. Here is a quick link to her TPT store.

Western Themed Clip It Behavior Chart

I loved using my Clip It behavior chart last year in my room. My students loved the idea that they could move up and down the behavior chart all day long. They especially loved earning "gems" and moving their clip to the hall of fame!

Well our school theme has changed to WESTERN this year, so I created my very own clip chart to match. Get it here at my TPT store!

If you have never used a Clip It system, it is WONDERFUL and so easy to implement. It is a great tool that allows students to be rewarded for for positive behavior, while discouraging negative behavior. Each student has a clothespin, or clip, with his or her name on it. 

Here is a before shot! BLAH! 

I had to keep the original Hall of Fame...I thought I used 3M to hang it, but when I started to take it down it pulled the laminate on the cabinet some, so I stopped. So here is how I dressed it up for our theme.

This is what the chart looks like when it is hanging. I must have made it bigger than last year because it took a lot more room up than I anticipated it to!

Everyone will start on GREEN "Read to Learn" at the beginning of each day. Clips can be moved up and down throughout the day based on behavior. 

When a student lands on Super Student, they earn a cowboy foamy for on their clip. I got these cute cowboy foam shapes from Oriental Trading. There are six different shapes in all the colors below - horseshoe, cowboy hat, sheriff badge, horse, and cactus.

I simply hot glue these on the student's clip.  Once they earn 5 foamy shapes, their clip is retired to the hall of fame! Here is a picture of how one of my helpers did their own example clip. I had students put them all over their clip...front, back, stacking...whatever they want!

It is simple and quick. Once my students move their clip to the Hall of Fame, they get to go "shopping" in my reward catalog for anything they choose. See my Western Themed Reward Catalog here. Or if you already have one of my reward catalogs, click here for the punch cards. 

Thanks so much! If you have any classroom management tips or suggestions feel free to post them here!

TPT Back to School BOOST Sale!!!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Teachers Pay Teachers is having one day only sale on Wednesday, August 20. Everything in my store will be 20% off and use the code BOOST to get an additional 8% off! So get ready to stock up on any items you missed in the back to school sale! 

Click HERE to go to my store and save!

Thanks to For His Glory for the great graphic!

Western Pick A Stick

Every year I have my usual pick a stick with student names on them. I've read blogs about painting two different colors so you know who as been called on, etc. As I was sitting at my desk starring off into space instead of getting my room ready, I came up with this idea...instead of using names, numbers. Then I added sticks with TC (teacher choice) and boy/girl. Finally, I decided to add foam western shapes of all colors/types to the top. What I came up with is below.

What I like about the sticks is this...I can pull a student number to call on my kiddos or have a teacher's choice, boy/girl. What I liked better was the idea of quick groupings of students. I could pass all the sticks out and have students group by evens, odds, color foamy, shape of foamy, 1-5, etc. AND now that the sticks of numbers instead of names I can use them AGAIN next year!

Share your ideas, thoughts, or ways of being creative with your pick a stick and quick grouping methods. PS...I got these western foam shapes at Oriental Trading.

Western Wreath

Like I have said in a few previous posts, our school wide theme is WESTERN this year. I had a cute little zebra wreath outside my door from our old jungle door. I didn't take a picture of it because it got smashed and was all dirty and dusty.  

I was not looking forward to trying to create a new wreath to match the new theme...I just don't feel that is where my creativity is...so I didn't take any pictures of the process because I was stressing over the entire thing! But I can say, I LOVE how it turned out! Not my best work of art, but I'll take it!

I just took three red bandannas, wrapped them around a green foam wreath ring, and secured them into place with pins. The cowboy boots, hat, and stars are all left over bulletin board items I used to spice it up some. When it was all said and done, I was wishing I took pictures of the process!

Whisper Phone Make over!

Just a quick post about a fun idea I saw on Pinterest. We have classroom whisper phones made out of PVC piping for my kiddos to use during the year. They came home for their usual dishwasher cleaning and I have to say they still looked FUNKY after two rounds in the dishwasher! I enlisted the help of my daughter and her huge Duck Tape collection. The result...really cool looking and so much better than plain old white!! I wish I had taken a "before" picture, but I didn't. You can see the ends are still dingy (and if you think that is bad you should have seen what is now UNDER the cool stuff), but the Duct Tape did a perfect job covering up grime, marks, and old label gunk!

I will be posting a lot of stuff this week as I go back into the classroom! Be sure to check back soon!

Daily 5 Western Themed Anchor Charts

My school district started a modified version of The Daily 5 initiative last year. I was one of the "pilot" teachers for this initiative. We spent last summer reading and discussing The Daily 5 in depth and then all last year implementing it during our Title I / Workshop Time. I have to say even though we are doing a modified version, I LOVE the organization and terminology of The Daily 5. It really works well in my room. 

With our building theme change to Western, I created new anchor charts. I used a blank page from Mrs. Magee's Classroom Forms and Substitute Information - Western Cowboy Theme to create the pages. Click here to see it! Mrs. Magee has so many different options and the forms are all editable in word. I used the Western Cowboy Theme one for my teacher binder and substitute binder. 

I create the same exact chart with students on large chart paper first. Once students have mastered which area of The Daily 5 we are working on, then I remove the large chart paper. I put the small anchor chart on the focus wall along with examples of student work and pictures of students working in the center correctly. 

These pictures are from last year. 

So I really liked the basic anchor charts I used last year. I got those for free from Lori Evans on TPT and from her blog. I then got the FREE Stitched Star clip art from Ashley Hughes to create additional posters I needed.

Click both of their names to get the free stuff!

So I used the anchor charts from last year as an example for my new anchor charts this year. 

Get your FREE anchor charts here!

   

TpT Sale & Back to Blogging

Hi all! It has been a very long time since I have blogged...life just seems to get to be overwhelming. I'm not sure how much I will get to blog...between the start of school, working on my Mastser's, family, and all the other parts of life...but I will do my best to at least do a weekly post of something new or great I am doing in my classroom.

So first, things, first...Teachers Pay Teachers is having their annual back to school sale! I will have all my items at 20% off! Combined with TPT's discount, you will save 28% on all  your stuff for back to school. I suggest you get your carts ready and buy early...avoid the dreaded site meltdown that tends to occur with the sales. Check out all my items here!

Thanks to Mary Beth White for the free graphic. She is a brand new seller with just a few followers, so I couldn't resist this graphic and helping out someone new!