Hey...it's been awhile!

Okay...so I have come to the conclusion that I may not be the best at posting consistently, but I promise I am working on it!  The flu has hit our school hard in the past month and despite my best efforts I caught it. So, today while I sit surrounded my tissues and tea, I have decided to create a little and show you all (and my blog) a little lovin'.

First off, WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE?! Maybe it's just me, but holy moly it feels like this year has just flown by!  I have found that every year there is something that stands out and makes it unforgettable. Some of these memories can be good and others can be ...well...not so good.  This year I would have to say that my engagement to my boy will definitely be a memory that will stand out forever, but I also have found an AH-MAZE-ING website that I use daily in my classroom (which I am going to share right now).

 I am a strong believer in brain breaks. They are life savers during my afternoon stretch (especially after indoor recesses..woof). I use to, and still do at times, use YouTube and look up fun just- dance videos for my firsties to wiggle and dance to while releasing some built up energy. That was all fine and dandy until my kiddos told me they were tired of the same old songs, so I started asking around.  I talked to our reading specialist (who I swear is fairy god mother) and she told me about a new website that Children's Hospital had launched called GoNoodle. The website was created to get students moving in the classroom to increase blood flow while still hitting academic material.  I immediately went back to my classroom and signed up for a FREE account. Let me tell you....these brain breaks are awesome and the kids LOVE them!  You sign up, vote for your class monster-mascot and work your way through the brain breaks! They have brain breaks that are both educational and not educational.
Here is just a short list: kids zumba, bodySpell (where you can add your spelling words and spell them with your body), mega math marathon (great warm up for math)...and much much more! When you complete a brain break the time you spent completing it helps your monster-mascot grow healthy and strong!  My firsties love it and I love it because it makes learning active for them!  I STRONGLY encourage you to sign up for an account...I would do it for you, but let's face it, I can't.

I also want to thank you for sticking with me in my long absence from blogging.  While I sat here today watching Downton Abbey episodes and coughing up my lungs, I realized Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. Valentine's Day always seems to sneak up on us and I always feel rushed, soooo to help ya out...

 .... I MADE SOME FOR YOU GUYS! Please post back so I can see how you used them in your classroom! 

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Teacher Week '13-Taming the Wild

Alrighty folks...this may be one of my shorter posts simply due to the fact that I still have a large mountain of papers to grade, but I figured this would be the perfect break! 
I am very happy to share how I tame my wild firsties on a daily basis. 

Let's get started! 

First off, you will notice that in this photos you see yellow or white punch-cards hanging above my students lockers. These punch-cards go along with our district wide PBiS (Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions). The idea is that you catch students "doing the right thing" and encouraging the behavior to continue. After they have successfully filled (up to 3) punch-cards their names are placed in a drawing and, if drawn, they get to go on a limo ride with the principal and the other grade level recipients for a yummy lunch! 

Well, how do we figure out if they get a punch or not?! This is where my classroom behavior comes into play. I use a Zebra-tastic clip chart (from First Grade Fever). My students have the opportunity to clip up  and clip down based on the choices made throughout the day. 




If  a student reaches the very top of our chart they get to go home with a 'Good News" note(shown in the photo above) to their parents (found on Pinterest) and they get to choose a color of puffy paint for me to paint a dot on their clothespin.  In my classroom my kiddos can clip off THE TOP of our chart! If this happens I wear their  clip proudly on my teacher lanyard and there sometimes is even a special treat! 

Oh, but wait...that isn't all! If all of our student clips are on or above green (ready to go!) we earn a classroom fish for our fish tank!

I used these fish last year for my 4th graders personal fish tanks and then at the end of each quarter I would hold a Fish Auction where I would auction off dollar store items, Gatorade and sports posters....THEY LOVED IT!! 

However, I don't think my kiddos are quite yet ready to keep track of their own fish tanks so we all work toward a goal together! 

 

Our current goal is to reach 10 fish so we can get an extra recess! We are getting VERY close to our goal and we are very excited!!! 

At the end of each day we have D.O.T time. This is where we fill our V.I.P (very important papers) folders and we fill in our behavior  calendars! I found these editable behavior calendars from one of my FAVORITE bloggers/TpT sellers...A Cupcake for the Teacher! I love these because I can edit them to keep parents updated on what's going on in the month and they can check what color of our clip chart their child ended on for that day! Teri is amazing! I have followed her blog from my very first day of teaching, so be sure to go check her out!

Well, I think my break from grading is about over. I hope you enjoyed this short little post on how I manage my crazy little one's everyday. I'm sure I will lay down in bed tonight and think of 10 other little management things I use, but for now, I think you have got the idea! Off to conquer my mountain of papers....woof. 

Thanks for stoppin' by!