Primary Chalkboard: classroom management
Showing posts with label classroom management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classroom management. Show all posts

What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar

Hi friends, it's Emma from Clever Classroom.  I am so excited to share with you all the upcoming posts that the authors of the Primary Chalkboard have planned for you this August. 

What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar

Can you believe it's August? We are almost three quarters of the way through the year!  How did that happen?  

While you contemplate that, you might also want to think about what you have planned for this month?  Are you heading back at school now, or are you planning to go back soon?  Either way, this page will set you up for inspirational ideas from our experienced, and very dedicated teacher-authors. 

To receive blog posts directly, click here


Here's what you can expect this month. 

What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar


1  Sarah from Sarah's First Grade Snippets - Morning Arrival Routines

2  All the Primary Chalkboard Authors - Our Little Secret

3  Lisa from Growing Firsties - Parent Input

4  Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops - Teaching with Themes Throughout the Year

5  Christina from Miss Decarbo - The First Day of School

6  Casey from Second Grade Math Maniac - The Second Day of School

7  Valerie from All Students can Shine - Classroom Management

8  Greg from Kindergarten Smorgasbord - Names

9  Jessica from Second Grade Nest - Elementary Back to School eBook Tips

10 Terry from Terri's Teaching Tidbits - Intermediate Back to School eBook Tips

11  Monica from The Schroeder Page - Executive Brain Function

12  Katie from Teaching to the Core - First Day Freebies

13  Blair from One Lesson at a Time - MVP: Most Valuable Partnership

14  Autumn from Primary Techie - Family Journals

15  Susanna from Whimsy Workshop Teaching - Simple Art Tutorials

16  Laura from Peace Love and First Grade - Meet the Teacher

17  John from Created by Mr. Hughes - Back to School Night

18  Karen from Mrs. Jones's Class - Bulletin Boards Made Easy

19  Haley from My Silly Firsties - Dismissal Time 

20  Corinna from Surfin' Through Second - Sub Tub

21  Randi from Teach it with Class - Building a Classroom Environment

22  Stacy from Funky Fresh Firsties - Easy Hallway Displays

23  Anna from Simply Skills in 2nd - Classroom Rules 

24  Latoya from Flying into First Grade - Blended Learning Ideas

25  Meg from The Teacher Studio - Setting a Climate for Problem Solving

26  Matt from Digital: Divide and Conquer - Behavior Plans and Data

27 Jen from Out of this World Literacy - Spreading Kindness

28  Cyndie from Chalk One up for the Teacher - Math Games

29  Vicky from Teaching and so Much Moore - Setting Goals the First Daye 

30 Heather from 2 Brainy Apples - Integrating Social Studies & ELA 

31  Emma from Clever Classroom - September Chalk About It - blog Posts Overview


What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar Primary Chalkboard

To remember this post, you might like to pin it.  That way, you can come back to see the posts throughout the month. 

On the last day of each month, we will post this visual calendar for you to see what we have planned for you. 

If you have any suggestions that you would like us to write about, please comment below. 

To follow our blog, please click here. 

Here's a link to our July posts which are full of classroom organization ideas, tips and makeovers, back to school ideas, first day inspiration, writing conferences, behavior management.  We also blogged about tips for new teachers, integrating math, writing and art, techy ideas and even a post about our trip to the Teachers Pay Teachers conference in Las Vegas. Click here to see July's posts from the authors of the Primary Chalkboard. 


10 Things to Do BEFORE You Set Up Your Classroom

Hey, there, friends! It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade!

If it's summer vacation for you, enjoy! 
If not, live each day to the fullest and smile because it happened!

I'm here today to talk about getting your classroom ready for a makeover. 
Now, this is NOT my classroom reveal. 
That will come as I have time to get in my room. 
I'm excited to share that with you on my blog later this month!
Today is all about getting ready to set up your room!

Let me preface this by saying, 
I'm not trying to pressure anyone into decoration madness,
but I do believe a happy classroom is one that functions efficiently,
 and is well organized and attractive. 

This summer I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. 
Marie is a proponent of getting your house in order and keeping it in order. 
She suggests keeping only the items in your home that bring you joy and letting go of the rest.

I think we can apply the same principle to the classroom. 
Keep what sparks joy in you and let go of the rest.

ARE YOU READY TO SEE MY MESS? 
Here you go!
Want more? 
The good news is...it doesn't look that this anymore!
So, are you ready to get your classroom in order?


Great! But remember-this is not a one day job.
I like to think of it as ten days.
Already started school?
Take one task a week for the first ten weeks.


Day 1) Clean out your children's literature. 
Keep only the books that bring you and your kiddos joy!
I know. 
I LOVE children's books, too, but let's face it. 

Not all books are created equally. 
It's okay to let go of a book. 
DON'T THROW IT OUT. 
Pass it on to someone who will find joy in it.

You'll be amazed at how much room this gives you AND you'll know what you have when you need something.

Day 2) Clean out your Math manipulatives! 
You don't need 6 bins of pattern blocks or 48 Judy clocks.
Keep what you need and pass the rest on to someone else. 
It's okay.

Day 3) Clean out your art supplies. 
If you haven't used those foam Easter bunnies in the last 3 years, get rid of them. 
Pass on the joy to someone else! No hoarding!

Day 4) Clean out your office supplies. 
Look at each one. 
If no joy comes from having them and they serve no purpose, 
pass them on to someone else or donate them. 
It's a good feeling!

Day 5) Clean out board games, puzzles, and other activities. 
If you don't use them, someone else can. 
If Czechoslovakia is still on your globe...you get it.
Share your treasures.

Day 6) Do I dare say it...Clean out your paper. 
Oh, it's tough! I know it is. I've done it. But the feeling is just so great! 
If you haven't used it or it turns your fingers purple...you don't need it.
Recycle that paper!

Day 7) Decide how you will store supplies.
Once you decide what manipulatives and supplies you are going to keep, choose how you are going to store them. 
Then label your supplies. 
Labeling makes supplies easier to find for students and other adults who may visit. 

NOW-
The next two may not be popular, but I'm going with them.

Day 8) Get rid of your filing cabinet OR scale down to a smaller one.
The more room you have for stuff, the more stuff you'll acquire.
If there's no where to put the stuff, you won't be as likely to hold onto it.

Day 9) Get rid of your teacher desk OR scale down to a smaller one.
You can do it! I did and I had a lot of stuff in mine, too.
I never sat there (not even after school), and it took up a great deal of space. 
Now, that space is used by my first graders, and I don't miss my desk one bit!
I use an over-the-door shoe organizer for my office supplies. 
Space saver!

Day 10) Plan your classroom design.
Once the clutter is removed and you are ready to set up your room,
 go online and play around with a classroom set-up tool. 
You can design your whole room as many times as you like.
You'll need your room measurements for this.

Here are a few good ones:



This is the one I use. 


Now you are ready to think decor! 

Let me tell you, if I can do it, you can do it?
Did you see my mess above?
It doesn't look like that anymore.

This week, I can get in my building to work and I plan to make the most of it. 
Pics to come on my blog!
Happy Tuesday!!


Don't forget! We're blogging every day this month at Primary Chalkboard! 




Helping students keep track of their pencils!

I don’t know about you, but kids not having the supplies they need to do their work drives me CRAZY! Crazy, I tell you.  The problem is that I GIVE them everything they need. EVERYTHING and they lose it, eat it, leave it on the floor, claim, “It’s not mine!” and let their neighbor take it. So one kid has 6 pencils and another has none.

Enter Vodka.

Actually enter this brilliant idea! I flag my pencils with masking tape, write the child’s name on the pencil flag,  and reward the child for keeping track of their pencils until they are all used up.

No more lost pencils

So what are you waiting for? Grab some masking tape and let’s do this. Simply wrap tape around the pencil and fold the tape back in on itself. Trim the edge for a nice clean finish.  This is a great job for a parent volunteer. I have used many kinds of tape to make the flags. I have found that masking tape works best. It’s easy to work with, write on, and though it can rip, it is pretty durable! I keep about 100 at the ready all the time.

100 pencilsYou can hand out the awards in many ways. I like to give a child an award when they use up a pencil. You can also surprise the class with a pencil check. Anyone who still has their pencil gets a responsibility award.

reward them

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Behavior Management Idea


 Hi Friends Anna here from Simply Skilled in Second!  I wanted to share with you my classroom management procedures that I have set in place within my 2nd grade classroom.   A few years ago, I felt that my classroom management techniques were a bit antiquated and I wanted to spice things up a little bit within my classroom and I am 100% sure I figured it out!  
I don't know about you, but I love shopping around the dollar store and the $5 or Less stores around the neighboring towns...so I figured...If I enjoyed that so much maybe my students would to.

In came....

The DiGilio Dollar Store!

I purchased a small pocketchart and got right to work.  This is what my pocketchart looks like...

classroom management

I downloaded an image of a dollar bill and added my face to the center of it!  The kids think they are GOLD!  It is so funny!

classroom management
Each of the clear pockets has one of my student's name on it.  Every Monday, my students start their week with $3.00.  If they make good choices and work hard throughout the week, they will get their payday on Friday.  I also hand out DiGilio Dollars for doing something nice for a friend, when I hear a nice comment made to another child, and I pick Mystery Walkers in the hallway.  If my Mystery Walkers walk through the hallway nicely without talking, they also get a DiGilio Dollar!  About every 6 weeks, the DiGilio Dollar Store opens its doors!  My little kiddos get to go shopping in our store.  I have fun pencils, cool sharpeners and erasers, bookmarks, extra recess time, computer time, lunch with the teacher {that's me..this is probably the most popular choice}...well let me just show you....this is my DiGilio Dollar Store Choice Board.  I buy all of my fun little prizes at the Dollar Store ;)  My kiddos LOVE when my store is open for business!

classroom management

I started this behavior management plan a few years ago and I have seen a VAST improvement in the overall behavior in my classroom.  I love my new plan and I am sure you will too if you give it a try!



  

Integrating Technology Into Your Everyday Lessons



Hi friends! It's Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops and I'm here to share with you some easy ways to incorporate technology into your everyday lessons. I have always loved technology and incorporate it as much as I can! I use it in so many ways:

*supplement my learning targets
*provide a learning hook 
*give exposure to content area
*life skills
*cooperative learning
*literacy/math skills
*research skills

The list goes on! The best part is that your class doesn't have to be a blended learning class or have multiple devices. You could work off your teacher device, your smart phone, BYOT (Bring your own technology), student computers, an iPAD, or any technology you have in the classroom. Of course, it is always best to check on your school and district's computer use policy as I know some are more strict than others. 

Before I begin, let me start off by saying that I am a 1:1 IPAD class. I have 3 computers in my class and at best 2 might work on a good day.  Although some days I feel like they work like one of these:



I have a Promethean board that I LOVE and would die if I couldn't teach with it. I had a Mobi-board but the Promethean board is the best thing ever. I am not a blended learning class though I really have hopes and dreams to become one this year. 

Integrating technology into your every lessons really is simple and just takes some time and resourcefulness on your part. I want to share with you the ways that I use it and how it has been successful in my room. 


I love Sharesafe TV. It is perhaps the best way for me to share videos with my class in a safe way. I use videos as hooks for my lessons and will set these up on my computer the day of my lesson. Sharesafe takes off all the inappropriate ads and such. You could also use Sharesafe on the student computers by placing a short-cut onto the student desktops so that they can view the video to follow up on the lesson, write a review, summary, or whatever you'd like for them to do. I've also found "online" books or songs via youtube and have used them in my listening center. I've used my IPAD as a listening center and placed a Sharesafe shortcut on the screen and my students just click that shortcut and "listen" to the story, video, or song in listening and then do a response sheet there, too.
Sharesafe is free. 


Blendspace is similar to Sharesafe in the fact that you can upload videos in a safe manner. However, it is unique because you can group your lesson into one page. As you can see from my screen shot, this is a lesson I did for short /a/. In blendspace it allows you to search for youtube videos that suit your need or topic (you can view to see if it is appropriate!) and then group them together. You can also link to a game that will follow-up that skill or a follow-up activity. In this case, my students had a make words tub next to the computer that they had to do after they viewed all the videos on short  /a/ words (really it was at, am, and an words). That way there is always application of the skill. You could link to a game, worksheet, or in my case, a center skill. OR you could use Screenchomp (next topic!) for an assessment. You can make a blendspace for anything!!! If you don't want to create a blendspace, there are so many blendspaces already created that you could also search for. It does work on the IPAD as well. Blendspace is free. 


Screenchomp is an app that you can download (free) for your IPAD or tablet. I am sure you could use it for a handheld device but the screen would be just too small. I like it because you can capture the "now" and use it like a whiteboard or activboard without having one.  It also has the feature of students communicating with you at home *in case* they don't quite understand something with the homework. They can snap a picture of it on their phone or IPAD and circle the problem or record their voice and then send it to you. You could also give feedback.




You can then respond back to them in writing or voice recorded message. Kinda neat. I am not sure on how this would work in a primary setting but the applications for upper elementary, middle and high school are fantastic! 


Edmodo is new to me. I have yet to attempt it as a classroom teacher; I have experienced it as a parent. I know many teachers who use it and like it as a forum for their class where they can post assignments, quizzes, post interactive questions, use sharesafe to post videos for lessons. It also tracks data for you.


Plickers is a great tool for assessment. The teacher is the only one who uses the technology-- you use your smart phone, IPAD, or any handheld device. The kids love it. Basically you enter the questions you want to ask; you can choose MC or T/F and the students hold up their "Plicker" card to choose the answer. Each card is unique so you avoid the "he's looking at my answer" agony. 



  You can read how I use it {HERE}. Simple set up and I love the real time data. The students see it, too. It is customizable by you and you can use this data as an alternative to exit tickets. I do recommend using Mozilla to run this website as it doesn't work well in Chrome. The other alternative to Pickers in Kahoot! I love a great Kahoot! You can think of Kahoot as an assessment tool with bells and whistles-- literally. It has fun sounds and is more colorful that Plickers. With Kahoot, each student will need their own handheld device. I just never had enough devices so I never used it. I have used Kahoot with other teachers just not with my own class. Plickers and Kahoot are free. 


Lakeshore is like teacher heaven to me. I could seriously spend lots of money there. One of the best investments I ever bought there were their interactive games. I love them! My favourite is the Interactive Calendar, which I think now they call it Circle Time Software. Mine is waayyy different. I have the interactive calendar part since calendar is still an integral part of our morning meeting where we talk about the days of the week, upcoming events, we talk about number sense, etc... I have other interactive software games that I project onto my board and play, Plinko Non-Fiction and Language Adventures.  I plan on purchasing more math interactive games as I love their graphics and skills. Most games are around $20. I know that I could always pull up math games on the web but these are nice to have without the ads and such! 

I use these technology applications at least once a day if not more. They are constants in my classroom and my kids leave me pretty tech savvy. Like with anything in the technology world, it does take time to research it all to make sure the content is what we want for our students and what our students need. 

Technology will never replace good teaching. EVER

Students still need that human connection--a smiling face or warm embrace. They need those teachable moments that only we can give. Technology just gives them that extra push or incentive that we can't because let's face it, today's kids are born with instant screen time. 

I hope you will integrate more technology into your classroom lessons if you've been a little tech-shy or weren't sure where to go! There are TONS of great resources out there! Don't forget that we have a whole month of fantastic topics to help you prepare for the upcoming school year! 


Lots of love,
Leslie








Back to School Tips and Ideas for New Teachers

Hi there friends, it's Emma from Clever Classroom

Recently I asked my Facebook fans what tips they would give a new teacher to help them save some money and get organized for back to school (see post here). 

I wasn't surprised to read that so many of them knew of different ways to save and get organized. 

Here are ten tips for new teachers, well any teachers. 

Back to School Tips and Ideas for New Teachers


1. Be prepared to spend money. Most of our Facebook fans mentioned that they spend between $200-$1,000 per year. 

2.  Join Scholastic to get discounted books. Try their Teacher Express store by clicking the image below.


3.  Visit yard sales and second-hand stores to find discounted books and games. You can search Craig's List or your local paper for the ones in your area. 

4.  Visit discount stores like The Dollar Store or The Dollar Tree for storage containers, games, craft, stationery and even furniture.

Try Dollar tree's online store here.

Dollar Tree Online Tips for Teachers Starting the New Year

5.  Save your receipts for taxation purposes.  You might like to use the new app; Expensify to scan your receipts. Here's a link to their website.  Here's a link to their FREE app.


Expensify app for teachers


6.  Ask your school if they have a budget for teachers to purchase consumables and or resources for the classroom. 

7.  Find a veteran teacher that is willing to help you. You might be able to borrow items. 

8.  Decide on a theme or even a color theme and shop for those items. 

9. Look for sales online and in catalogs. 

10.  Shop on Teachers Pay Teachers, there are so many resources that are bundled to help you save



Find 20 more tips over on my blog.

Back to School Tips Primary Chalkboard blog


Check out even more tips and ideas from the authors here at the Primary Chalkboard. 

Primary Chalkboard posts for July



Be sure to follow us here at the Primary Chalkboard to see more tips and tricks from our authors. 

Primary Chalkboard blog

Thanks for dropping by. 



Classroom Management Ideas

Aloha friends!  Corinna here from Surfin' Through Second. I hope everyone is ready for a new month and Spring just around the corner!  Spring Break is in two weeks and before I relax and get some surf time in I will be setting up my class for the last quarter.

We all know the last part of school can get a little crazy.  The kids are getting anxious and so are you! Here are a few ideas for classroom management from some of our PC  authors to help keep your class running smooth.


Every year around this time I change up my classroom management.  The students all get a new job, and they get paid in Beach Bucks each week for doing not only their job, but classwork, homework and just being a good citizen.


Using Beach Bucks in my class the last quarter is always so helpful and the kids absolutely love it! Who doesn't love getting paid for their hard work?  To find out more details Click Here for my original post.

Here's a fun idea from My Silly Firsties for  getting your class a bit more quiet.

Check out these amazing activities from The Primary Techie.


This is a fun idea from Teaching and Tapas


Kindergarten Smorgasboard uses journaling to keep his kiddos on track


Do you have tattling troubles?  Vicky has this pack to help.


Susanna from Whimsy Workshop has some great ideas!


Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops has a fun and simple idea using Hair Bands.


The Schroeder Page has a great post with lots of tips and freebies!


Here's a great idea from Miss DeCarbo.


Mrs. Rios Teaches has some great ideas over at her blog.


How About some Volume Level posters from Growing Firsties?



These Reward Coupons from Peace, Love and First Grade are great incentives!!


Created by Mr. Hughes has this fun Bingo Game for promoting good behavior.


And one last fun item from Chalk One Up For The Teacher.


Hopefully you will find a tip, trick or product to carry you through the end of the year with ease!