A Day (or 3) of Rest

Let the first long weekend of the school year begin!! I, for one, am very much in need of a break this Labor Day. Take a load of your feet and celebrate with this beloved pep talk from Taylor Mali. And while you're at it, keep it class-y, ya'll.

What Are We Using?

When there is more than one adult in a classroom, students have a way of pitting you against one another. "But Mrs. So and So said we could!" I've noticed the biggest problem with this happens with which art supplies we're currently using. My table caddies are super, but they do give students access to all of their supplies simultaneously. Today is a joyous day because I have crafted a solution to the sneaky supply switching! Behold, the visual supply cue:

I created a cue card for every supply scenario I could imagine--markers, glue (stick or bottle), scissors, pencils, and on and on it goes. Each card uses these darling graphics from The Chalkboard Diaries and The Hazel Owl. You can download your own copy on my TeachersPayTeachers store or adapt the idea to fit your needs. Let me know how it works for you! And as always, keep it class-y, ya'll.

Glyph it Up!

Glyphs are probably my single favorite math activity. Who doesn't love a standard-aligned activity that includes listening, following directions, collecting data, and graphing while simultaneously providing a showy hallway display? I created my very own First Day of School glyph using clip art from Karen's Kids. What fun!

I used black line clip art to create the coloring sheet. Sadly, I had to cover the clip art kid's sweet faces with white boxes because one of my directions was to draw how you felt on the first day of kindergarten. Each of my students received a gender specific coloring page. Then, we followed 4 directions.

1. If you are 5, color the shirt blue. If you are six, color the shirt red.
2. If you are a boy, color the pants green. If you are a girl, color the pants yellow.
3. If you are excited, color the shoes orange. If you are nervous, color the shoes blue.
4. Draw a face that shows how you feel about starting kindergarten. (One of my students drew spiral eyes--too perfect!)

I posted the directions in the hallway, along with the finished glyphs.

We were able to spend several days graphing our data. Each kid got a unifix cube which they placed in the correct column to form the two bars for our graphs. I made sure the draw the scale so that one unit was equal in size to one unifix cube. This made it really easy for the kids to see how the scale on a graph tells us what the bars mean. It was such a fun way to start our new school year...not to mention an adorable addition to our hallway!

It's that time of year again, friends. Get excited and keep it class-y, ya'll.

Class-y Clip Ups

Our school is implementing School-Wide PBIS, a positive behavior plan that promotes consistency throughout the building and gives students incentives for making good choices. There are many aspects to PBIS and I'm not interested in detailing them here. The important part is this: Clip Chart!

In my classroom, I have a behavior clip chart. The chart consists of seven colors. Green (Ready to Learn) is the neutral middle color. Each student's clothespin is on green at the start of the day. Moving up from green, students reach yellow (Good Day), blue (Great Job) and purple (Outstanding!). Students can also move beyond outstanding to various places around the room. For simplicity's sake, I refer to this as being Off the Chart. Of course, as much as we'd like them to be, our kiddos aren't always angels. Below green, you will find orange (Think About It), red (Consequence), and black (Parent Contact).

My favorite thing about the clip chart is that clothespins are bi-directional. Making one poor choice doesn't mean you are downwardly mobile for the rest of the day. Making several good choices doesn't mean you are upwardly mobile for the rest of the day. Every choice is a new chance to make your behavior the very best it can be. Another nice feature of my clip chart management is that students only move in either direction one color at a time. If you are on blue and you choose not to listen to directions, your parents won't be getting a phone call. On the other hand, if you are on red and you make a good decision, you still have a ways to go before you earn a reward. The last asset I want to mention is the use of the word "Consequence." This gives me a lot of flexibility to choose a disciplinary measure suited to the problem at hand.

Communicating with parents about student behavior is important. I do this in the form of a weekly paper that is sent home in Friday Folders. The paper has a picture of the clip chart for each day of the week. I highlight the student's end color and write a note to parents if necessary. (If a student lands on Parent Contact, I send a note home that day instead of waiting til Friday. For ideas on parent notes, click here!) Parents then have the option to write a note back or to simply sign and return the chart so I know they saw it. Take a look!

As always, keep it class-y, ya'll!

Welcoming Walls

Last year, I had a blast with my nature-themed hallway display. I created a tree from brown craft paper and changed the decor to suit each season. My favorite part of the tree was a charming heart carved (or drawn) into the trunk that said First Grade. (I taught first grade last year. Now I teach kindergarten. Consistency is overrated!) In the fall, we started with red, orange, and yellow leaves that said each student's name. Alas, no pictures are readily available of the fall tree.

The winter tree was devoid of leaves, but it was surrounded by unique snowflakes. Again, each said a student's name.

In the spring, each girl's name was on a butterfly and each boy's name was on a leaf.

As you can imagine, this became a bit time consuming. This year, I decided to go for something more straightforward and less seasonal. While browsing Pinterest, I stumbled upon the slogan "Twinkle, twinkle little stars... Look at this neat class of ours!" I decided to run with it.

I wrote each child's name on a yellow star and attached it to the wall outside my classroom. Above the stars, I hung typed pages with my fun new slogan. Naturally, I glued these to scrapbook paper to make them pop! I also hung metallic stars among the yellow stars to make things more twinkly. On the first day of school, I took photographs of all the kids whose parents gave permission. Then, I hung each child's photo on his star. Since I can't show you a picture of the finished project, here's a look at the work in progress.

I love this display because it's low maintenance and fun. The kids feel very special seeing themselves on the wall. All in all, it's a sparkly way to keep it class-y, ya'll.

I'll be Hanged!

As you may remember, my Wall of Learning was tragically sacrificed earlier this month to the more powerful force known as the AppleTV. I still had my heart set on displaying my anchor charts more effectively, though, so I set out to make that happen.

The first anchor chart to go up this year was our new edition of The Learner Fish Song. (For more on this lesson and why I love teaching it, click here.) I was feeling adventurous and decided to experiment rather than just taping the paper to the wall.

Scrounging around in my desk revealed a large bag of hooks and some Command strips. I then set to work. Embarrassingly, I tore straight through the existing holes in the anchor chart and had to punch new ones. Should you find yourself in this dilemma, I suggest folding the chart in half so you can punch two holes at once. This guarantees that the holes will be at the same height, which is important for hanging things on hooks.

With careful planning and some strategic launching of things over my head, I was able to attach the hooks to the wall. Then I climbed up on a chair to hang border. Here's the finished product:

The beauty of this arrangement is that I can switch out the anchor charts at will throughout the year without using copious amounts of tape. Woohoo! Just another way to keep it class-y, folks.

Decisions, Decisions

Each morning, my students have choices to make. Lunch Choice 1 or 2? White or chocolate milk? Asking individual while taking attendance is a great way to make sure your morning round up doesn't get to the office in a timely manner. I avoid this problem by using clip charts where students can move a clothespin to show their choice. This is a part of our morning routine that falls between putting away backpacks and starting morning work.

My Lunch Choice clip chart has 4 ribbons. From left to right, these represent Lunch Choice 1 (yellow), Lunch Choice 2 (red), Brought My Lunch (blue), and Absent (green). I have index card sized pictures of each lunch choice thanks to my irreplaceable paraprofessional, Miss Joyce. She's the best! Those are fastened to the chart using small binder clips. Velcro would probably work just as well. The lunchbox is glued to the chart since that doesn't change.

Each student has their very own clothespin that says their name. They move the clothespin to the ribbon that matches their choice. That makes lunch count quick and easy for me as well as giving the kids a tiny bit of fine motor practice to start the day. After school, I move all the clothespins back to the absent ribbon.

In case your interest, here's a How-To! (No pictures this time--sorry, I forgot!)

Step 1: Acquire foam board and ribbon to your taste.

Step 2: Slice foam board in half. I used a kitchen knife. Any sort of razor blade or box cutter would work well. Don't try to use scissors on foam board. Just don't.

Step 3: Using the knife/box cutter/razor blade, stab the foam board to create 2 slits about 3/4 of an inch apart. The slits should match the width of your ribbon.

Step 4: Thread ribbon through slits and tie in a bow. For an extra secure hold, stick and extra sturdy pin through the knot and bend the point backward with needle-nosed pliers.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3-4 until you have the correct number of ribbons.

Step 6: Label each ribbon according to its purpose.

Step 7: Write each student's name on a clothespin.

Step 8: Tell your students what this new device is and put it to use!

I hope this directions make sense to you. Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. Feel free to post any questions in the comment section. And as always, keep it class-y, ya'll.

Speaking of Binders...

I am so happy with my teaching binder this school year. In fact, I have shoved it under the nose of most of my coworkers to show off my pride and joy. Even the cover is pretty!

I created the cover by trimming a piece of scrapbook paper to the correct size. I then used pre-cut letters from the same scrapbook paper packet (Wal-Mart, ya'll. They've got everything!) to punch out the letters for my name and room.

 Inside, I have adorable tab dividers from Target. They were a bit of a splurge, but they're simply irresistible! I have five sections in my binder: Roster, Data, Calendar, Curriculum, and Plans. Last year, I only kept my block plans in my binder. Bo-ring!

 In the Roster section of my binder, I have a copy of my class roster as well as a list of how each member of my class gets home (which bus, walker, pick-up, etc.). My favorite part of this section, however, is pictured above. I have each student's name with space to write the name of parents or guardians, a phone number, emergency contact, the child's birthday, and any important notes that need to be recorded. I copy this vital information from my Getting to Know You sheet which parents complete at Open House. This makes it easy to access everyone's information quickly in a pinch. I even have a couple fill-in-the-blank pages so I can add new students throughout the year!

Using a ribbon to cover student names in a photo? Class-y!
Keep your eyes open--that ribbon may re-appear in an upcoming post!

In the Data section of my binder, I have pre-made data collection sheets for each of the assessments we do at the start of the school year. Being the nerd I am, I typed these up on my own so the fonts would be consistent between assessments as well as being...cute.

The Calendar section of my binder contains, well, a calendar. I printed this darling generic calendar printable from Organizing Homelife. You should definitely check out this site. She's thought of everything!

My Curriculum tab is home to my Scope and Sequence for the school year. (The label says Curriculum because that fits much more neatly into the tiny space.) Each month's CCSS are delineated under a heading stating the month in which they are to be addressed and the subject area they cover (ELA or Math). That gives me quick access for planning purposes as well as providing an easy reference when administrators need specifics.

The final section of my binder, Plans, is home to my block plans. I have more than enough copies of these block plans for one school year. You probably use these in your own classroom--add a few notes and you've got a quick and easy way to see what's coming up on your agenda without having 18 lesson plan guides floating around. Ain't life sweet?

I could not be happier with my binder for this school year. I hope you can incorporate some of these ideas into your own personal organization system! Keep it class-y, ya'll!

Building Binders on a Budget

One of my goals for back to school prep was organizing my filing cabinet. This was the kind of serious deep cleaning that included sorting everything from tubs of craft supplies to micro-organizing each of my binders.

Last year, my Guided Reading binder was a mess. Even though I won't be using it until second semester, I decided to get it prepped and ready. One less thing to worry about later is always a good thing!

My binder has a section for each guided reading group so that I can easily access records for a particular student. Having a pocket on the section divider gives me a place to store my copy of the book we are reading as well as lesson plans and any small manipulatives we may use. So to start my binder makeover, I began by creating pocket dividers from paper folders turned inside out. I used packing tape to bind the outside edges of each folder together. (Last year, I did this was staples. I was constantly slicing my fingers open while turning pages, so I won't be doing that again!) Since the folders had holes punched on the inside crease, I used those to put the folders into the binder. This was in large part related to the fact that my 3-hole punch was too short for the folders.

In the front pocket of my binder, I keep small copies of our alphabet and blends chart. I also have reference guides to taking running records and strategies for struggling readers. Just in case! 

In each section of the binder, I have small tab dividers to create a personalized section for each student. In the section, I have several pages of notebook paper to use for anecdotal and running records throughout the year.

Here's my finished product!

Being prepared and sticking to your budget? Always a great way to keep it class-y, ya'll.

In Case of New Student...Open Box

Some school districts just have that magic quality. You know the one. It causes families to materialize out of thin air, enroll in your class, and then leave just in time for another family to appear. Remarkable, isn't it? Several times last year, I was caught off-guard by this phenomenon. Once, I even got a new student while I was out sick. Talk about a mess!

This year, I decided to start out ahead of the game. When I prepared name tags and other goodies for my students who were already enrolled, I laminated at least 5 extras of everything. I also made extra copies of my beginning of school newsletter, student data sheet, and classroom expectations. I use a lot of clothespins in my classroom (lunch choice, milk choice, behavior chart), so I gathered up several of those, too. Then, I placed everything into one small box, like so:

I placed the box strategically between my Sub Binder and my weekly planning files. This keeps it easily accessible for me as well as plainly visible to a substitute teacher in a pinch. 

I'm looking forward to having this New Student Kit on hand this year. More efficiently welcoming students to kindergarten will be a major improvement. I'll let you know if it's all it's cracked up to be. For now, keep it class'y, ya'll!

Manipulate It!

This year, I decided to jazz up my math manipulatives and math centers. I acquired a yellow shelf from another teacher which was the perfect size to meet my needs. Then, I went to Wal-Mart and found clear Sterilite boxes to fit in each compartment. Each set of manipulatives went into a box. Since the boxes are clear, I opted not to label them. There are 12 tubs of manipulatives on the upper shelves. On the bottom row are four more tubs that I'll be using for individualized math centers.

Beside the shelf, I have a small table with a few chairs. My objective for this area is to have students freely access manipulatives as necessary to help with math comprehension as well as to have a comfortable place to work on math activities.

The jars on top of the shelf have one, two, or three counting items. I plan to use these for counting, skip counting, and counting on throughout the school year. I'll eventually add jars going as far as ten. It will be a fun addition to our classroom.

As always, keep it class-y, ya'll!

Pencil Me In

Last year, I wrote our daily agenda on the board every morning. As we accomplished a task, I would erase it from the list. The kids enjoyed having a visual representation of where we were in our day and it was very helpful to me to redirect the "what next" questions. I love having a visual representation of the schedule. I don't love writing and re-writing said representation.

This year, I created adorable schedule cards to use in my classroom. I printed, cut, laminated, and hot glued the cards to clothespins. Now, I can hang them on a ribbon at the front of the room and take them down as the day passes. I store the cards in a basket so they're easily accessible. Changing them out is easy and far less time consuming than schedule writing. Check it out!

I posted the finished product on TeachersPayTeachers so you can enjoy it in your room, too. Let me know what you think!

As always, keep it class-y, ya'll!

The Good, The Bad, and the Leaky

As I got my classroom ready for the new school year, I had a brilliant idea. I would take the previously ill-used wall space between my windows and create a Wall of Learning. Perfection!

The Good:

I rounded up three very loooong sheets of butcher paper and hung them, one by one, on the wall. I then surrounded the perimeter with my beloved black, starry border. For a finishing touch, I hung the phrase "We are learning..." at the top. As the school year progressed, my plan was to attach 3-M hooks to the paper and hang anchor charts there. This would allow for me to easily switch the charts out as necessary and make the display much more attractive than my previous strategy of taping them to the wall. Wasn't it lovely, folks?

This brings us to...

The Moderately Bad:

This set up looks lovely now, but the gruesome truth is that I am short. And so, I managed to hang the top paper at a pathetically droopy angle. Now isn't that the picture of disappointment?

Fortunately, my favorite gentleman promised to come in and straighten it up for me. But before he got the chance...

The Good:

My principal sent me a text message at 9:30 two days before Open House to let me know that my new AppleTV was being installed, so I would be able to do my Prezi presentation for parent orientation. Woohoo!! Except...

The Really Rather Bad:

The projector could only be pointed toward the Wall of Learning, and the blue paper would make it nearly impossible to see a projection. And so the wall had to come down. Oh well. Because then I got...

The Leaky:

Wednesday, I tore down the Wall of Learning. Thursday, I came in for Open House and discovered a giant leak running down the middle of said wall. And so, everything worked out for the best. Which brings us full circle...

The Good:

I turned the projector on and put my border up around it, along with the words "iPad Learning." And the wall lived happily ever after!

And the moral of this story is: No matter what monkey wrench flies into your best laid plans, keep smiling and keep it class-y. Even when things get leaky!

Class-y Caddies

Art boxes, school boxes, supply boxes... Call them what you will, they drive me cRaZy!! Rattling, rolling, popping open at inopportune times, generally causing a distraction. I just can't stand the things. If you enjoy using them, congratulations on your phenomenal levels of patience. Feel free to completely disregard this post. If you, like me, want to pull your hair out every time you see an art box, read on--there is hope!

This year, I made a groundbreaking, earthshaking, mind blowing decision. Kindergarten will have community supplies. After convincing parents and co-workers that this would not in fact signal the end of the world as we know it, I began executing my brilliant plan. For starters, I acquired 5 medium sized kitchen caddies (97 cents at Walmart!) and 5 small cups. (I use 4 tables for seating in my classroom, but I opted to have spares on hand.)

The cups are standard on my classroom tables. Each one contains 6 pencils--enough for each child at the table with two extras just in case. The caddies stay behind my desk unless they are in use. In each caddie, there are 4 pairs of scissors, 2 sets of markers, 4 sets of crayons (only basic crayon colors first quarter--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, white, and pink), 4 pink erasers, and 4 glue sticks. See?

I added labels to each caddie that show the table number for easy distribution and collection. I just love having ways to micro-organize things in my classroom. Tada!

I'm looking forward to minimizing clutter and distractions and increasing opportunities to practice sharing with these table caddies this year. I'll let you know how it goes! Keep it class-y, folks.

Making Paperwork Work

In our school district, enrollment paperwork etc. comes to the teachers in large manila envelopes which we then distribute to parents. This can get confusing when some papers need to be completed immediately, some need to be returned within the week, and some can stay at home. To alleviate the confusion, I created Open House Folders this year.

Each family received a bright green folder with all the annual paperwork inside. The folders were placed at student desks so parents could easily locate their paperwork and complete it. I decided to set up the folders like our standard Friday Folders to familiarize parents with the routine. This gave me two pockets: Left at Home and Right back to School. I ordered the papers by importance within their pockets so parents saw the most critical things first.

I needed parents to complete three papers before they left for the evening. I placed these at the front of the Right back to School pocket. I placed a brightly colored sticky note on the first page that didn't need to be completed right away and marked it "Stop here!" Take a look!

The parents who made it to Open House appreciated this arrangement and it eliminated a lot of questions, which gave me more time to get to know my future students. A winning situation all around! And that's how we keep it class-y for Open House, folks.

Seeing (Kindergarten) Stars

My classroom theme this year is stars, so I'm referring to my students as "Kindergarten Stars." As Open House approaches, I just can't wait to see my stars! One way I'm getting ready is by preparing a fun hallway display to welcome them.

Each child in my class has a square of scrapbook paper in the hallway where I display their work throughout the year. For Open House, I clipped a "Secret Message" to the scrapbook squares. I then posted directions on my own scrapbook square beside the display.

The students each get this short poem, which I addressed to them and signed with love.

I think this easy kickoff is loads of fun and an easy way to get students excited for the new school year. How do you keep it class-y for Open House?

P.S. Unfortunately, I forgot to remind parents to take these notes when they left, so very few of them actually went home. If you decide to do something like this...remind a grown up! :)

Make it Spiffy

My classroom craft for today is very similar to yesterday's idea. I used the process for decorating the filing cabinet to create a comfortable writing space for my young authors.

I keep my classroom library confined to two short bookshelves so it isn't overwhelming for my kiddos. (Don't worry, I switch the books out from time to time to keep things interesting!) The bookshelves are pushed together at a right angle. Inside the angle, I have a small round table where a few students at a time work on writing.

Looking at the back of cheap bookshelves is not exceptionally cheery, so I decided to spruce it up a bit.

I covered the backs of the bookshelves with fabric and border. Then I hot glued two page protectors to each bookshelf. As the year goes on, we will add idea lists, writing prompts, and work samples to the page protectors for inspiration as students work. 

I'm very excited about this cozy way to keep it class-y.

Filing Fancy

As I promised yesterday, today's classroom project is a prettier filing cabinet. I've seen this idea on Pinterest a few times but never been able to find directions, so I made my own. Check it out!

Step 1: Pick and purchase fabric, border, and letters. I recommend broadcloth for this project because it is fairly thin and works well with the magnets.

Step 2: Cut fabric to match the size of your filing cabinet and heat up the hot glue gun.

Step 3: Make a thin line of hot glue at the top edge of the filing cabinet and press the fabric down. Remember to only do a short strip at a time so the glue doesn't dry before the fabric attaches. Continue this all the way around the cabinet. (Glue the bottom, too, just to be sure.)

Step 4: Repeat the process with border. Be sure to get it straight before you attach it--if you have to take it off it will be pretty hard on the border. It looks a little like this:

Step 5: Decide what you want your filing cabinet to say and attach letters accordingly.

To add a little sparkle to my filing cabinet, I finished it off with some star magnets. I'm excited about using this to display student work this year in a fun and organized looking way. 

Happy adventures as you get your room ready, buddies! And as usual, keep it class-y!

Show Up and Show Off

In my school district, the biggest hallway trend is displaying student work by attaching it with clothespins to a laminated sheet of scrapbook paper. This is probably related to the fact that our building has only 2 hallway bulletin boards. Nevertheless, it creates a charming affect, so I would love to share it with you!

Creating this display is really quite simple to create. Simply laminate one sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper for each student in your class, hot glue two clothespins to the top, and then staple the finished product to a tack strip or bulletin board. After that, I put a name tag (about the size I use for cubby labels) over each sheet of scrapbook paper to designate it for one specific student. In the space above the display, I add a slogan pertaining to our great work. Obviously, this year's slogan is "Kindergarten is the time to Shine!" 

I have expanded on this idea just a bit. I know have a separate sheet of scrapbook paper near the display which I use to post an explanation of what is currently on display. See?

On this sheet of paper, I use a page protector instead of clothespins. It's very easy to attach using double sided tape or hot glue. (I prefer double sided tape because I tend to burn myself with the glue gun, but it's really up to you!)

You can even expand this easy background throughout your classroom! I'm using them in my room as improvised blinds and to spruce up my hopelessly dull storage cabinet. As the year goes on, I can use the page protectors to display student work or learning concepts. Take a look!

More on the enchanting filing cabinet decor tomorrow. Until then, keep it class-y, ya'll.

Keepin' It Class-y with Class-Warming Gifts

I was overjoyed when two of my friends who graduated recently were hired to work in my building. When they got to work on their class, I wanted to give them a gift to celebrate the momentous occasion. I considered several options, but what I finally settled on was a Class-Warming Basket. It looks a little something like this.

Putting together a class-warming basket is really easy and (depending on what you buy) not too expensive, either! Here's what you need:

• a small basket
• tissue paper (for lining the basket)
• pens
• Sharpies
• desk accessories (paper clips, push pins, staples, etc.)
• tape (whatever type works best on the walls in your building)
• sticky notes
• extension cord (outlets in our building are pretty sparse--if that's not a problem for you, leave this out)
• scissors (I didn't get any, but I wish I had)
• clothes pins
• chocolate
• ribbon (to attach your note with a cute bow)
• index cards (for writing a note...stationary is also appropriate)

Line the basket with tissue paper, stuff it with surprises, tie on an adorable note, and slip the basket onto your unsuspecting friend's desk while she's out of the room. It's always fun to get a special treat, and it will encourage her to know you're rooting for her as she gets started.

What other things have you done to welcome new teachers in your building? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Keep it class-y, ya'll.

You Name It!

It seems that at the start of every school year, there is one student whose name is misspelled on the roster and therefore on everything else. This is very frustrating, especially when you waste a perfectly good name tag for no good reason. My friend Kaitlyn has come up with a very clever solution for this problem!

Step 1: Laminate all your name tags before writing on them.

Step 2: Write names on said name tags with a Sharpie, so they'll stick.

Step 3: Realize a student has moved, a name has been misspelled, problem problem problem... You get it.

Step 4: Color over the name using a dry erase marker. (Expo works best, of course!)

Step 5: Wipe the writing off with a tissue or a paper towel.

Step 6: Correct the name and display the name tag!

This has been a remarkably helpful tool for me. I hope you find it useful as well!

Keep it class-y, ya'll.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Back to School We Go!

To celebrate the start of a new school year, I've decided to mix up my normal routine. I'm going to spend August posting ideas and how-tos for getting those classrooms ready. Keep your eyes peeled for fun decor, organizational ideas, and other fun surprises over the next few weeks! A wonderful time will be had by all!

Keep it class-y, ya'll.