A List of Things I Really Want to Teach

I couldn't think of a really cool title for this random post of ideas I have, so I hoped that just being blunt would suffice.  I've had a bunch of ideas rattling around in my brain lately, but I've been so busy with helping my student teacher, working on data analysis, and trying to get Tier 2 of PBIS up and off the ground at my school.  …not to mention working on data and lessons for our Response to Intervention program.  :)

I've been seeing such super cool things on the internet and saving them because I eventually would love to fit all of this great stuff into my lessons.  My favorite part of teaching is that I can switch things up and change my lesson plans to add the new things I myself learn and find exciting.

Without further ado, here's the list of things I've seen and how I see myself teaching them.  They aren't in any particular order; I am just creating a list for easier reading.

1.  If Dr. Seuss books were titled according to their subtexts  What a great way to teach theme and main idea!  I am thinking I could show this page to my students and then we could come up with some new titles for the books/stories we have been reading in class.  For instance, we recently read Anthem.  I'm thinking a great new title could be The Dangers of Living in a Communist Society, or Really It Should Be All About Me.  Anyway, you get the idea.  And then the students could use text support to explain why it would be a good title.

2.  GoldieBlox Commercial 1 and GoldieBlox Commercial 2  Really, how great is this idea anyway?!  I would love to have my students watch these commercials and then do a writing about our society's portrayal of the sexes, especially towards children and whether or not this is harmful or helpful.  It would be really interesting if I could find some articles to add to this discussion; maybe one on the psychological implications of gender roles, an article on the positive side of gender role teaching, etc.

3.  Time Lapse of a Makeover  If nothing else, I think this is a great learning tool for my students to learn that first impressions are pointless.  It teaches about the importance of treating others with respect and dignity and how that can change people.  It would be a great way to start out a discussion of first impressions in my classroom; maybe I can connect it with the book Of Mice and Men or to my beginning unit on first impressions.

4. Colorized Historical Photographs  If you look at these photos, I hope you are amazed as I was.  These images really helped me to see how alive the people really were; it helped me to connect to history.  I began thinking about how easy it is to think of the past as "The Past" instead of a time with people just like me.  It would be great to show my students some of these as we read stories from the various time periods.

5.  Financial Lobbyists Draft Their Own Bill  How scary is this?!  And the scariest thing is, most Americans aren't even aware.  I want to make my students aware of the things that are going on in the world around them.  I have them read an article every week (an idea I stole from Kelly Gallagher), and this would be a great one to show them.

6.  Spoken Word Poetry: Women  This is a powerful poem, one I think would go really well with the gender roles discussion from #2 above.  Watch it; you won't regret it!

7.  The Wage Gap  Another powerful piece of information about which most of us aren't even aware.  It would be great to show this to my students and then have them write a reflection about it.

8.  Chipotle Scarecrow Ad  I think this is a really cool ad, but beyond that, I think my students could really have fun comparing this to "Harrison Bergeron" or Anthem, two dystopian stories we read in my class.

9.  Writing Prompts  I love this site!  There are so many great writing prompts, and the blogger connects it all to the Common Core.  I browse through this site whenever I want to find a cool writing assignment or journal writing prompt for my classes.

10.  OCD Poem Yes, I am aware that there is some language in this poem.  But it is so wonderfully written and so wonderfully performed that I might hope I could show it in my classes anyway.  It would make for a great way to start a discussion of mental illness and how it is viewed in our society.  Then I could connect it to Of Mice and Men or I could connect it with some nonfiction and have students write a problem-solution essay on how to help people with mental illness.

Again, these are just thoughts that have been floating through my head; I haven't actually planned out how I would use these things.  I've just kept them on my bookmarks bar in hopes that one day I will find a great spot and time to use them in my classroom.

Setting Classroom Goals

How many of you work at a school where it is required to set and post classroom goals?  I don't know how many teachers in my school actually do so, but it is *supposedly* a requirement at my school.  I always do it, and I find it really helps my students.  They have a target to shoot for and they have a measuring stick by which to see their individual progress.  I have an overall goal for them, and they set goals for each of their unit tests.

I teach almost exclusively sophomores.  As they are high school students and able to do so as a class, I actually have the students set their own goals.  Now, I do tell them that my ultimate goal is for ALL of them to pass the end of course exam.

How do you get tenth graders to set realistic goals for their progress on unit tests?  I share the class's overall average score and the percentage of students who passed the previous test.  I give a pre-test during the first week of school and I use that to start off the goal-setting.  Then I ask them what they think a reasonable goal is for both the class average and percentage of students passing.  They are surprisingly hard on themselves and choose steep goals.  (At least they do that first time around!)

I then ask them what they would like for a reward if they make their goals, and I give them some options like a homework pass or extra bathroom pass (I only give them six a semester) or I offer to dress up in an embarrassing/silly costume.

Then, when they take their unit tests and I have them graded and the data collected, we review as a class and see if we made our goals.  If we did, then they get their reward and we set new goals for the next unit.  If we didn't, we reassess and try to figure out why and shoot for the goals next time.

My students don't question "Why are we doing this?" any more.  They seem more motivated and they even like to compete with other class periods so that they aren't the "lowest" class.  I post their goals on a board in the room for them to see and I bring up their goals often as a reminder of what they are working toward.

I had three classes want me to dress up this last time.  It was a hoot.  They loved that I followed through and looked ridiculous for them.  Some even took their pictures with me.  I'm sure there are now crazy photos of me all over Facebook.  I even, sadly, had some teachers giving me weird looks, shaking their heads, talking badly about what I was doing behind my back (they thought I wouldn't figure that out), and saying things to my face like "I would never do that," or "You're too nice."  Umm...it's called POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT.  I am rewarding their GOOD behaviors.  That's what teachers do.  They MOTIVATE students in any and every way they can.  And dressing up like a ridiculous goofball is something I can do for FREE.  I am guessing some teachers are just jealous that I have the courage to be silly in front of my students.  But I'll tell you what, I have a great rapport with my kiddos and they love me and my silliness anyway.

                                                                

                                                                                 Clown/Caveman/Batman

Caveman

Rapper

What do you think about rewards for hitting class goals?  Would you dress up silly for your students?

A New Project

I realized I never did post pictures of my classroom.  I will definitely do that soon!!

I want to talk about a new project I started with my African American Literature students.  Have you ever had your students doing something in class and everything went smoothly and the students were learning at a high level and were super engaged and you just felt like SuperTeacher?  I am feeling that way about this project.

It's the end of our first unit (on Race and Identity) and I didn't want to give a test that had them regurgitating information.  I also had already had them write an essay comparing and contrasting their views about race before and after the unit, so I didn't want them to do an essay.  But I did want to see what they had retained from the unit.  What was there to do?

This summer I came across the RSA video project featured on Blogush.  I loved the thought, but I was terrified to try it out because 1) I've never made one myself so I didn't think I could teach the students how 2) I didn't think I had the necessary equipment to make the videos and 3) I figured it would take SO LONG to do it.  I just wasn't sure it was worth the headache or the time.

This semester I was lucky though.  I have a very small class (I started out with 12 and now have 15 students) of only juniors and seniors and most of the students I've had before so I don't have any discipline problems.  I don't think I could do the project with a super large class or with a class of students I couldn't trust to do the work.

I used the information from Mr. Bogush's site to create my own information sheet for the students.

I showed the students what an RSA video was by using the Blogush site and showing the videos on my SmartBoard.  The students got excited once they saw what they would be doing!  

I broke my students up into three groups (giving 4-5 students per group).  Each group had one of the questions from the sheet (What is race?  How do we combat misconceptions about race?  How should parents teach their children about race?).  These were all essential questions we dealt with in our readings, writings, discussions, and the videos we watched in class.  Once students were in the group, each group was given a piece of paper and told to break their answer into five distinct parts and to write those five parts down.

The next day, when my students came in, I had them create a staircase outline.  A staircase outline kind of looks like this:

Only my students were told to only have five stairs for their outline (for the five main parts of their answers).  Each "stair" had the main idea on the top of the stair and then they had to write out what three images they would use to convey the main idea underneath.

Once they knew what images they wanted to draw to convey their main ideas, I had them use white boards and paper to start figuring out how to draw.  At this point I realized they needed a little more structure.  I stopped the groups and told them to decide who would be drawing the pictures and who would be doing the voice-over for the narration portion of the video.  I also gave the option for one person to be the "writer of the narration," as a few groups had five people in them and that person ended up needing a job too.  With the groups of four, two were drawing and two would be speaking.

The third day, my students went through a "dry run" of drawing on the white boards and practicing for being video taped.  We got through two groups' videotaping.  I used my iPhone to video them drawing.  They only needed three whiteboard markers and an eraser.

The fourth day, I was going to be gone, so I made that day the "narration writing" day.  They had to figure out how to write out what they wanted to say to convey their five main ideas and to make sure that the images they decided to use would go along with what they were saying.

I went home and sped up the videos on my MacBook Pro using iMovie.  I sped up the film to 5x.  (There is the option to do so by clicking on the options button when looking at the video panes, then moving the scale away from the turtle and closer to the rabbit.)

Notice where it says clip adjustments.  You click that.  Then you need to stabilize the video:

This could take a while.  Then, do you see where it says speed?  Move it closer to the rabbit (I set it at 200).  You may also choose to reduce motion distortion on the video.  Also, click on the Audio tab and turn the volume down to 0% so that you don't have silly chipmunk voices in the video.  It is quite hilarious to listen to, though!

The fifth day I will be back, so we will finish videotaping the last group and we will do the voice-overs for the groups.  To do the voice-overs, the plan is to use a small microphone that attaches through USB to the computer and then to save each audio file.  I then plan to add the audio file to the video file on iMovie (much the same way you would add music to a video or slideshow on iMovie).  Then I can save the videos and we can watch them in class!  

I am hoping my principal will have them added to the school website for others to see :)

The students have been fully engaged with this project.  They have been having fantastic discussions about the content of the class and they have been working together to make the project work.  This project has been a dream.  I wish all of my crazy ideas would work as well as this one did.  

I don't recommend going into a project like this as I did; it's probably best to know what you are doing first.  I am not always the smartest and I don't always follow my own advice though.

If you do something like this in your classroom, I'd love to hear about it!  How did it work for you?  How did you set it up?  

**Once the videos are complete, I will see if at least one group will allow me to upload the video as an example :)

Open House Idea

I know many schools run an Open House Night for students, and that each school has a different definition of what Open House really means.

At my school, Open House Night means the teachers stand outside their doors and greet students and parents as they come by to see where their classes are.  We also help direct people to the right locations and assist with locker problems.  There is no specific plan or order to where the students/parents go and we aren't expected to sit down with anyone and "talk shop."  I think it would best be called a Meet and Greet night.

I came up with an idea for this year's Open House Night: I created magnets with my email, webpage, and directions for setting up Remind101.  The magnets were made using simple print-your-own business cards.

I hot-glued little round magnets (which I found at Walmart) to the backs after printing and tearing out the cards.

I would upload a picture for you, but my information is on them.  Sorry everyone!

They were a great little something to give the parents and students as I introduced myself.  One parent said that he could tell I'd been teaching a while.  I'm not sure if it was my confidence in introducing myself or the fact that I had created contact information cards.  Most parents flew right past me and stuck their heads in my door.  When I would go up to say hi, they would be startled and tell me they thought I was a student.  Looking young is going to be great for me when I'm sixty!

So if you are looking for a great way to impress people at Open House Night, think about creating your own contact cards.  They are super easy to make and are fairly cheap (100 business cards cost $13.00 and the magnets cost $5.36 for 50, so about $11 for 100).  Less than $25 for 100 contact cards; I have about 100 students and not all of my students took a card, so I'll have some left over for next year.

At less than 25 cents per card, it's much cheaper than having someone else make them for you.  They might look fancier, but the cards below, created by Purple Trail, cost .67 a piece!

Anyone else do something neat for Back to School or Open House Night?

Creating a Virtual Classroom Library

I have loved moving into the newly renovated school and having my new, beautiful room.  I will upload pictures to show you my classroom tomorrow.  One negative of being in a new building is that we aren't allowed to bring in any furniture.  As in, I'm not allowed to bring in my own bookcases that I bought at Target a few years ago.  They are nice; they are still new looking.  There's nothing wrong with them.  But the powers that be have said no.  Because of this, I can't bring in my classroom library.

For a while, this really, really bothered me.  I think it is VERY important that my students have access to books.  Students don't get better at reading without reading and they can't read without BOOKS.

I have found a way around the entire problem though (I think).  I found this program that will allow me to scan in my books using my MacBook's built-in camera.  It will visually show up on a virtual bookcase and, using Amazon, give me the price, a synopsis, basic info on the book (like page numbers), and the ability to check out the book to people on my contacts list.  The program is called Delicious Library and version 2.0 is only $10!  It is only available through Apple products, though.

I set up my actual bookshelves in my office with the books and I turned my list of books from the program into a PDF file that I uploaded to my classroom website.  This way students can see my virtual library.  I can electronically keep track of which student has which of my books.  I can even (supposedly) publish the entire thing to a website, but I haven't figured that part out yet as I am not technically inclined.

This way, I can still allow my students access to my books without having "clutter" in my classroom.  I'm hoping it will be a win-win.  I plan to give book talks about a few of the titles every few weeks so that my students remember that I do have books available for them to check out.  I also plan to make a poster to hang on my bulletin board that will highlight a few titles I think they will like.

Here's an image of part of the library:

How cool is it?  Any suggestions for me as I try the virtual classroom library?  I could take any help I can get!  Also, if you use this product and know how to publish to a website using v2, let me know.  I've gotten as far as putting it in a folder on my laptop.  I don't know how to do anything other than that!

Bringing Your Lunch

There's nothing like a teacher during lunch...racing around trying to make copies while simultaneously heating up your meal then running to the lunch room to eat and barely having time to hit the restroom before those twenty minutes are up.

When I first started teaching, I was naive and though that it would be easier to eat the school lunch.  WRONG.  First, it tastes awful--at least it does at my school, anyway.  They must not be allowed to season any of the food and I'm not just asking for salt here.  I'd be okay with some Mrs. Dash!  Second, I always have to elbow my way past a bunch of teenagers to get through the line.  As a teacher, I don't have to wait in line, but I feel like such a jerk cutting in front of the kids.  Third, whatever I make at home just HAS to be better than whatever mystery, overly-processed junk they serve.

To make my life easier, I've bought a few tried and true products that I absolutely need in order to have my lunch and eat it too.

This one is obvious--a lunch box/bag.  I like the ones by Built because they have such cute designs and they are made of this super-easy-to-wash material.  Everyone always thinks mine is a purse.  I must admit, I have two lunch bags--one for my breakfast and snack and one for my lunch.

And these little babies are snack sleeves.  They are reusable ziploc baggies.  They are made of the same neoprene food-safe polyethyline vinyl acetate material as the Built lunch bags and close with velcro.  I wouldn't recommend using them for long-term storage of your food, but to pack your lunch they are perfect.

I like these ice mats much better than the hard plastic ice packs that some stores carry.  These are less likely to squish my food.  Since the teacher's lounge with a fridge is fairly far away and I don't want to waste any of my precious twenty minutes with walking halfway across the building, I use these to keep certain lunch items cold.  We aren't allowed to have mini-fridges at my school.

I love storing my food in glass, as there is no chance of chemical leaking when I heat up my food in the microwave.  These are Pyrex brand and I love mine.  Just remember to be careful when removing these after being heated; they can get really hot!  I've had mine for at least five years now and they are great and don't leak.

Even though my Pyrex dishes don't leak, I don't take a chance if I'm bringing soup or stew to work.  Instead, I use a microwave-safe Thermos.  They are awesome.

I don't actually have one of these, but I saw them at the store and really, really wanted one.  If anyone uses these, let me know what you think!  It's cool that it comes with a spoon/fork (not a spork, those are different) and the thing is collapsible, which is great for saving space in my cabinets.  And I am big on my food not touching.  If I knew for certain this would fit into my lunch box, I'd already own it.

I must also admit that I keep a box of plastic spoons in my desk drawer. I don't know how many times I have brought some yogurt or pudding for a snack or as part of my lunch and then realized that I had completely forgotten a spoon.  It's so annoying!  Because I had done this way more often than I am comfortable admitting, I bought a box of spoons to keep at school just in case.

I am in love with my Tervis.  I own two and I keep them at school.  I fill them up at the beginning of the day and try to drink both of them by the end of the school day.  It keeps me hydrated.  Both of mine have my college and grad school (respectively) on them, but I thought this bird one was so cute, I had to pull it to use in my post.  Oh, and I made sure to buy the straws too.  It was very much worth it.  I am a notorious klutz and spilling would happen without straws.






I have loved bringing my lunches (and breakfasts and snacks) to school.  It keeps me eating healthier, it makes it easier for me to count my calories, and it tastes better.  If you have something you use that makes taking your lunches to work easier, let me know.  I'm always ready to use new ideas!

Planning My First Unit of the Year

Planning is hard.  It takes a long time, but doing all the work up front keeps you from running around like a chicken with its head cut off later on.  And trust me, you do NOT want that!

I always start my planning by listing my units, typically on a piece of paper.  Then, I look at how long those units typically take.  For new teachers, you are going to have to guess on this one or ask a colleague.  Always leave a few days as leeway--you never know when you're going to have a snow day, an unexpected pep rally, or you may just take longer on a particular lesson one day.

Once you know how many days each unit is going to take, you can make a rough pacing guide.  I had been using a calendar and I would just write the dates on the piece of paper next to my list of units, but then I read Stephanie's post at Eat.Write.Teach and I loved how much prettier it looked!

I had to try it of course:

This is just a rough draft of my first semester in one of my classes, but now I know about how long everything should take.  Now that I know this, I need to break down each of my units.  I usually take this one unit at a time, as this part is the most time consuming.

First, I list all of the skills I plan to cover in the unit.  Based on this list, I can create my Big Idea and my essential questions.

Then I list all the activities I do in the unit (or plan to do).  For example, in my first unit, I plan to: teach the plot chart and the terms my students should know regarding short stories (characterization, setting, point of view...); read Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets, The Leap, The Bass The River and Sheila Mant, The Pedestrian; plot chart a movie and a short story; analyze point of view; use textual support to answer questions over the stories; use context clues to figure out unknown words and make inferences; analyze author's choice in terms of pov, words, character actions, etc.

Finally, and this is where my philosophy regarding grading kicks in, I put it all together and make sure I'm adequately giving my students a chance to practice and have plenty of formative feedback.  Here's what that sheet looks like:

Let me explain the method to this madness!  Using my pacing guide, I plug in all the classwork, homework, quizzes, and tests I plan to give for the unit into a calendar.  I just make a table in Word.  Then, I color code it.  Blue is classwork or homework; Green is a formative assessment; red is the test.

I add up the points and then I list how it would be entered in my gradebook.  Yes, you will notice that even though one activity is listed as a formative assessment, I enter it as a classwork grade and not a quiz.  This is a philosophy of mine: not all formative assessments are quizzes.  Sometimes I just need to know where a kid is at in a particular unit and I don't want to count it as a quiz in the gradebook.

I set up my gradebook with 20% of the grade going towards classwork (aka practice); 20% going toward quizzes (aka What do you know right now?); and 60% going toward tests (aka You should know this now).  For each unit, though, I will have more classwork than what is listed in this chart.  That's because I grade things like bell ringers, articles of the week, and other in-class writing and participation that doesn't necessarily fall into the skills I am teaching for the unit.

But back to the chart.  I then list the Big Idea and essential questions.  Then I list the learning targets I have for the unit.  Finally I list how I plan to get the students there.  It ensures I don't accidentally leave out a skill I *thought* I was teaching.

I've only done this for a few of my units, as I started this process late last year.  I want to wait to finish it as I have a student teacher this year and I want her to walk through the process with me as she will be helping me teach my classes.

I feel like this post was more rambling than helpful.  If you got through this whole thing and need me to explain anything, please ask!  It makes sense in my mind, but I'm not sure if it will make sense to anyone else.

For THOSE Days

As teachers, we all have THOSE days.  You know, the ones that make you want to bang your head on your desk, cry uncontrollably, or tempt you to turn in your resignation letter.  Those days where you question why in the world you ever thought you could teach.  Don't worry, we all have those days.  And if you are new to teaching, those days will (unfortunately) come.

I happened to have an awesome cooperating teacher for my student teaching experience, and of the myriad things she taught me, this one little tip has helped me over and over again.  Ms. P, you probably will never read this, but thank you.

Ms. P suggested I start collecting all those little notes from students, parents, administrators into a binder.  I opt to call it my Warm Fuzzies binder.  Whenever I find a little note on my desk, a grateful email, or a hand-drawn picture, I keep it.  I put it in a plastic sleeve and I place it in my Warm Fuzzies binder.

Over the years, this has become more than one binder, but I still go back and look at some of the original notes written by my very first students that semester of student teaching.  There's nothing that warms this teacher's heart more than re-reading notes like the one from a particularly shy student saying, "Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself."  I tear up every time.

So here's a look at my original Warm Fuzzies Binder.  I suggest you make one for yourself.  You won't regret it!

**My name and the names of students, parents, etc. have been smudged to protect identities.

If you do something like my Warm Fuzzies binder, please share your idea!

Summer Cleaning

I didn't realize how much I had accumulated until I was forced to move my classroom.  Twice.  And I will have to move it one more time before school starts.  Ahh, the reconstruction of a school.  It did show me how much I was holding on to that I really, really don't need.  In an effort not to lose a lot of what I owned, I took it home.  Boxes and boxes of it.  Now, as the school year looms ahead, I am realizing that I need to go through and weed out things I don't need.

It's amazing how we teachers (normal, sane people with neat, tidy houses) can end up with three boxes of pens with no lids, or some such nonsense.  But how do you know what to throw away and what to keep?

This is the set of guidelines I have been using in an effort to de-clutter and simplify my teaching "stuff":

For reading books:

1.  Did at least one kid read it last year?  (That weeded out quite a few books! I kept a few books that kids didn't actually read but I thought a kid would like.)

2.  Is it grade-appropriate?  (Notice how I snuck in that CCSS jargon!)

3.  Is it ripped or torn up?  (If so, toss it and replace it later.)

For curriculum binders:  (If you don't know what that is, I keep all the handouts, notes, etc. from a particular unit in a binder all together so I have at least one copy of what I did in the past.)

1.  Do I still teach it or plan to teach it in the next year?  (If no, then donate to another teacher or toss.)--Let me tell you, this step was PAINFUL.  All that blood, sweat, and tears in the trash (okay, not blood, but you get the idea).

2.  Do I have multiple copies of anything?  If so, toss the extras.

3.  In terms of handouts, is there an entire class set or just 2-3 extra copies of something?  (If not a class set, toss)

School Supplies:

1.  Will you use it in the next year?  (If no, find it a new home.  Best thing to do is write "FREE" on a box and put it in the teacher's lounge.  At most, give it a few hours and that stuff will be GONE!)

2.  Do you have more than one of these and really only need one?  (No, you do not need 2 staple removers.  Yes, you do need 3 boxes of dry erase markers.)


I am halfway through this process now.  It is taking me a while because a few things I know I should get rid of I'm having a hard time letting go.  I just have to keep reminding myself that I won't use it and if I keep it, it will make it harder to find the stuff I really DO need.  Anyone else have this problem?  I'm not like this with my stuff at my house!

Book Review: Using Common Core Standards to Enhance Classroom Instruction and Assessment

As if I didn't have enough to do, I ordered about five books for my Kindle.  The first I read was this one.  I don't really think it was worth my money.  Not to say it was a bad book, though.

The thing is, if you know anything about the common core, then this book will rehash everything.  If you, like me, were thinking of buying this book because you wanted to use the advertised grading scales that were made for each standard and included in the book, don't bother.  If you own Marzano's Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work, all the Common Core version does is put the standards into the four-point rubric.  That's pretty much it.  I'm pretty sure I am able to do that myself without spending about $20 to have someone else do that for me.

Now, the one saving grace of the book is the chapter that teaches the processes for various cognitive strategies.  These would be helpful for me in the classroom.  I liked reading how Marzano and his team suggest breaking down how to teach a cognitive process such as generating a conclusion or presenting and supporting claims.  They would make excellent lessons and mini-lessons in the classroom.  These are the strategies that are truly helpful for my students.

Overall, I would give this book a D.  The only helpful part of the book for me was the section on cognitive processes.  The rest was a rewrite of many of his previous books and research.  As a busy teacher (and I quote), "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Five Items You Need in Your Classroom

I realize that title sounds really pushy.  It just didn't sound as powerful if I had written instead "Five Items I Really Like" or some such.  These really are five items that I absolutely love and use all the freaking time.  If you have stumbled onto my blog, let me just say that I am not getting paid nor am I getting any sort of compensation for discussing these items at all.  There are no endorsements over here.  And I'm pretty sure you might be the only person reading this at all.  :)

Let me start by saying that teachers, as a general rule, are expected to buy a LOT of supplies out of their own pockets.  It's ridiculous actually.  I can't imagine someone with a similar career (think lawyer, doctor, upper management) being told to do their jobs without any supplies.  "Oh, Dr. Awesome, you have to buy your own surgical tools.  We don't provide those here.  If you are a really good doctor, though, you won't even need those tools to begin with!"  That's kinda how I feel as a teacher sometimes.  But I suck it up because, despite all that, I love my job.

1.  The most expensive item you just need in your classroom is this:

It's called an Ipevo Point 2 View.  It's a very handy, very small document camera.  It is amazing.  And it's only $69.00.  If you don't have a document camera at your school and you are told there is no money for you to get one, then you should buy one of your own.  It really did change my teaching.  Or at least it used to....until some little ungrateful brat not-very-careful teenager broke mine.  Seriously wrenched the thing off the stand and then somehow got it to LOOK like it was still attached and working.  And never freaking fessed up to it.  I'm still so mad thinking about it.  Technically I'm supposed to get a big document camera for my new classroom this year, so I'm not going to buy a new Ipevo unless I have to.  But you should.  Because there is seriously so much you can do with a document camera.  

These next two items are classroom management tools that I absolutely love.  They are very inexpensive and they help teach my students procedures in a concrete way.

2.  Call Bell

This little baby is less than six bucks and it really helps me in the classroom.  Even if I weren't a diminutive female teacher, I would still use this thing.  I use it to get the students' attention.  And I use it so often the kids know that when they hear the bell they should stop what they are doing and pay attention.  I use it the first day to reinforce this idea to them and then it just seems automatic.  It's great when the kids are doing group work and there's no way I would otherwise be heard over thirty noisy teenagers.  Who likes to raise their voice, right?!  My students are so ingrained to look up and listen when they hear this thing that if one of my students walks by and hits it, they STILL all look up at me.  LOVE.

3.  Timer 

Similar to the call bell is the timer, which I use to time all sorts of activities.  It keeps me honest.  If I say the students only have five minutes left for reading, then gosh darn it, they only have five minutes left!  Teachers have only so much time to cram everything they need to do into a lesson, so this little device, at less than $3, is a lifesaver!

4.  More of an organizational item than anything, the next thing you absolutely must have is a giant case of these: 

Page protectors.  The most awesome way to make a worksheet into an erasable activity ever invented.  Let me start by saying my school does not own a laminating machine.  And taking stuff to Kinko's or Staples can get expensive.  This is an inexpensive way to "laminate" stuff.  I also use them to create curriculum binders for each of my units.  I save all the notes, handouts, worksheets, tests, quizzes, and keys in these and put them all into a binder for posterity (aka so I remember what we did the next year).  You can't have too many of these in the classroom.  I seriously buy two or three of the 'economy' size boxes of page protectors at the beginning of every school year.  If you want to have your students use a worksheet, but also want to save paper and use that worksheet again the next year AND you plan to have the students grade it themselves, you can put the worksheet in a plastic sleeve, use a dry erase marker, and voila: reusable, wipeable worksheet.  PS--if you have the students clean off the sheets right after they use them, you can get quite a few activities out of a set of these.

5.  And the last thing on the list is an item that blew my mind when I saw it in the store.  I am a nerd for school supplies, but these little babies made my teacher-heart leap with joy, excitement, and wonderment.  What kind of magical unicorn pooped these things out???  I am talking about.....

These are erasable gel pens.  And no, they do not suck.  You probably remember those 'erasable' pens from way back, the ones with the crumbly erasers that never actually worked, leaving your paper smeared and covered in holes.  NOT with this product!  These pens have a rubber end that, because of friction (thus the brand name), erase completely.  These are the ONLY things I use in my paper grade book/attendance book.  I can't name how many times I would mark a kid absent only for him or her to walk in the door fifteen to thirty minutes after class started.  Or how about those kids with zeros who finally get in their missing work two months later (more about being required to take late work from kids at another date).  With my handy-dandy erasable pen, I can fix that.  Plus, since it's not pencil, I don't have smeary pencil lines all over my grade book.  They are kind of expensive at 6 for $10.50 and the pens don't last as long as I would like (probably because I use them all the freaking time), but I won't go back.  You can't make me. These are the kind of pens I hide in my desk, refuse to let my students borrow, and pray that the company doesn't stop making.  

So there you have it.  Five items I have a strange addiction to that only fellow teachers can truly understand.  What items could you not live without in your classroom?

Before the First Day of School

 I only have five years of teaching under my belt, but nowadays the first day of school has its own routine that I have perfected figured out.  It works for me and it works for the students I work with.  Before I got to this point though, I had to do a bit of trial and error to find out what worked for me.  Here are some things teachers should think through before starting the first day of school.  If this is your first year teaching, Congratulations!  Good luck!  And seriously take some time to think through the things on this list.  If this is not your first rodeo, hopefully this list is a good refresher.

1.  Know your core values as a teacher.  This sounds like a bunch of new-age hooey, I know.  But if you don’t seriously sit down and think about what it is you believe your role is, what the role of education is, and what you want your students to walk away from your class with, then everything you do will seem (and probably will be) random.  For instance, one of my deepest convictions as a teacher is that teachers must care. Before anything else, a student must feel like the teacher cares about him/her.  If you can show your students kindness and caring, you will get a lot more from them.  Another of my deepest convictions is that I should have high expectations for ALL of my students.  Last year, my goal for my classes was 100% passing rate on the state exam.  My principal guffawed at me.  Seriously.  When I said, yes it’s my GOAL, and shouldn’t it really be an expectation?  His reply was something along the lines of my goals being a little too lofty.  I sat in my chair seething.  How dare he assume too little of my students!  And no, they did not reach 100% passing this year.  But they were at 83% as a whole.  I believe it is because I had high expectations for them. 

Every single lesson, activity, and decision I make in my classroom comes out of one of my core values.  Knowing these, I can explain all of my educational decisions with conviction.  Which is important when you have the principal/department chair/ well-meaning colleague/not-very-understanding parent wanting to know why you do things the way you do.

2.  Know your class expectations.  What rules/expectations will your students have every day?  Start simple.  For example, at my school we already have some general expectations set up (Be safe, be responsible, be respectful, be your best).  Then, from some of the general expectations, you can create more specific ones.  Ask yourself, what does it LOOK LIKE to be safe in the classroom?  Figuring out your expectations is the easy part.  Enforcing them can be the difficult part.  Know what kind of behaviors will get “the look,” which ones will require some time in the hallway, and which ones will be a ticket to the principal’s office.  Because consistency is key and students will try to figure out where those limits are.  Teachers aren’t’ too far off when they say, “Don’t smile ‘til November!”  They are saying, stick to your guns and don’t let the students push you around.  Know what deserves a trip to the office and send students out when that time comes every single time. 

3.  Have a plan.  When I was mentoring a new teacher last year, I don’t think I could have said this enough.  Plan for each and every class.  Know EXACTLY what you are going to do on any given day.  Plan the whole unit in advance, or at LEAST plan out the full week.  Plan it so you know about how long an activity is going to take.  And then plan some more; plan extra activities just in case you get finished early.  There will be days when you fly through the lesson and have 15-20 minutes left.  There will also be days when the lesson takes 2 whole class periods and you are then left re-arranging the rest of your week to make it work.  Just don’t be that teacher who walks in to the classroom and realizes that you have no idea how you are going to teach a concept.  That’s got to be the worst feeling in the world!

4.  Ask for stuff.  I realize the term “stuff” is vague; I meant it that way.  Don’t be afraid to ask for actual stuff, like “Where can I get a projector because I was told one would be in my room but it looks like one isn’t there and everything I am going to be doing this year is going to be computer-based.”  Or, “I was told I wouldn’t have to buy my own Expo markers, but I have no idea where to find them.”  Or, “How do I get this copier to turn on?”  Or “How do I fill out this form?”  Trust me, every single one of those questions has been asked.  By me.  In my fifth year of teaching!  It is definitely okay to tell people you don’t know how to do something.  I STILL go into the office and ask the lovely secretaries questions that I’m pretty sure they think I should know the answers to.  But the secret is asking super politely and doing it with a smile on your face and then being super thankful afterward. 

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for lesson ideas, feedback on a unit/lesson you planned, or handouts/tests/activities from your colleagues.  I don’t know how many times my first year I popped into the room of my colleague across the hall to ask questions.  She probably wanted to shut and lock her door a few times to keep me out, but she was a wonderful resource and I do not regret bugging her getting the help.

5.  Make your copies in advance.  If there is any way to make the copies you will need a week or two in advance, do it.  I have a love-hate relationship with the copy machines at my school.  I love them when they work and I hate them when they don’t.  I end up hating them more than loving them.  It will be inevitable that you will forget to make a set of copies of something, whether it be the answer sheet for the test you will be giving or the text that is pivotal to your entire lesson for the day.  It will happen.  And when it does, it will also happen that every single other teacher in the building also needs to use the copy machine.  And the teacher in front of you is using it to make 500 copies front and back of an entire lab packet.  Or all the amendments to the Constitution.  Or ten pages of notes.  And you will be screaming in your head that they should HURRY UP.  Finally it will be your turn.  You will run the paper through that you want to copy, and, I’m not kidding you, it will JAM.  Or you will run out of paper and there will be none in sight.  So, don’t be surprised when these things happen, because they will.  But if you make a habit of making copies in advance, you won’t be in a rush when all of these things go wrong.  It just so happens that when I’m not in a hurry, there is no line at the copy machine and it magically works.  Just sayin’.

I’m sure there’s more information I could tell you/warn you about.  Those are the top five things I would suggest.  Oh, but I do have one more.  Let’s call it a Bonus.

6.  Eat with the happy teachers.  If your school is one where you get to choose where you eat your lunch, then kudos to you!  I suggest you try out a couple of different locations before you find the place you will call your “lunch spot.”  Don’t promise yourself to one group too soon.  That group of teachers may seem super friendly during the meetings before school starts.  You may find out that the same group of smiling teachers become fire-breathing, angry bitter-monsters at lunch.  And that is NOT the energy you want to be around.  Some teachers always say, “Don’t eat in the teacher’s lounge.”  I’ll tell you, that’s not where the bitter-monsters sit at my school!  If you take the time to find a group of teachers you can sit by without anyone calling a student a bad name, griping about EVERYTHING that is wrong with the school, or some such bad-mood-inducing behavior, then you will be much happier the rest of the afternoon.  

Here's to a wonderful start to a wonderful school year.  Leave a comment if you have another great suggestion or have a question to pose.  

--Mrs. Teacher Ma'am

Keeping Kids in the Know

High schoolers, I have found, are extremely forgetful.  It never failed that I would tell the students something would be due or that they would have a test not only at the beginning of the unit, but almost every day until the day it was due, but there would always be a handful of students who were like:

Find It Here

To try and alleviate some of the headache that comes with convincing students that you did, in fact, remind them of a particular due date the day before (and months before), I started using Remind101 last year.

The students must sign up for it on their cell phones (so can parents) in order for it to work, but the program will send text message reminders to students on the teacher's behalf.  The students never see the teacher's number (THANK GOODNESS) and the teacher never sees students' numbers (because we wouldn't want a lawsuit).  Last year I found out that if I used my computer instead of the app on my phone, I could pre-set reminders to be sent to my students.  This worked out much better than me remembering over a weekend to remind my students of a big paper due on Monday.  Yeah, there were times that kind of a reminder didn't get sent until Sunday night.  That didn't help anybody....except maybe some of the major procrastinators.

I want to use the program in my classes a lot more this year.  Some of my students complained that I only used it for the more major projects.  They said it would be helpful for all the homework.  Since it's easy enough to use, I don't see why I can't do that for them.

Another problem I came across last year was getting my students to sign up.  In one of my semester classes, only three students signed up.  THREE.  It felt pointless to send out reminders to that class.  I'm thinking that for next year, I will have my students sign up for the reminders while they are still IN CLASS.  I know, I know, it's taboo to let the kids get out their phones in class, but I'm also thinking of using this program in my classroom too.  And I'm debating on giving a negligible amount of bonus points to the students who do sign up for the reminders.  But then again, I truly hate extra credit.  I really, really do.  I'll have to post my why for that at another time!  

Remind101 is kind of genius.  Too bad I didn't come up with the idea myself.  

The Notebook

No, I'm not talking about the movie or the novel.  I'm referring to what many call "interactive notebooks" or "readers' notebooks" or "writers' notebooks," depending on how they are used in the classroom.  I have used notebooks for the past few years now and I really like how they help the students keep everything together.

The notebooks in my classroom would best be defined as interactive notebooks more so than readers' or writers' notebooks, as they become a catch-all for everything we do in class (which includes reading and writing--I am a language arts teacher after all).  I first heard about using notebooks at a conference and that started the seed for how I might use them in my classes.  I ordered some books on using notebooks in the classroom, notably Aimee Buckner's Notebook Connections and Notebook Know-How.  But I didn't want my students having separate notebooks for reading, writing, and note-taking,  so I combined them together.  That first year, my students' notebooks had two sections: a bell work section (as bellringer assignments are a requirement at my school) and a unit work section (which held all notes and practice work for the class).  I graded them once a week.  It was a pain carrying them back and forth every weekend, let me tell you.  I ended up buying one of those giant laundry baskets on wheels (see below) and using it to pile the notebooks into my car.  I lived over half an hour away from the school at the time and couldn't come in every weekend to grade.  Thank goodness I live less than five minutes away now!

My notebook conveyor

For the last two years, my notebooks have been different.  First, I require my students to buy a composition notebook.  They may not have a binder.  They may not have a regular notebook. It must be a composition notebook.  They are sturdier and the pages don't fall out (unless you tear out pages, as they are sewn in all together).

Composition notebooks come in all colors and designs!

Then I have the students all set up their notebooks the same.  Once that first week of school is over and students have had plenty of time to bring in their notebooks, I make them set their notebooks up.  We do it as a class.  It's elementary but so necessary.  I can explain what each section is and my expectations for their work in their notebooks.  I had three sections set up last year: bell work, article of the week, and unit work.  I give each student two small sticky notes so they can count out pages for each section.  The number of pages for the bell work section equals the number of weeks in the semester.  Same for the article of the week.  They place the sticky notes in between each section.

For the handouts and articles my students get, I keep LOTS of tape in my room for the students to tape their sheets into their notebooks.  Handing out tape and taping things in is something I have to teach my students and practice with them.  By a few weeks in, they know the drill!

This summer, I have been thinking of adding a separate section into their notebooks.  I'm not for sure if I want to do it yet or not, but I might add a writing section.  One specifically to help them track their various drafts of writings.  I'm not 100% sure I want to do this.  One big reason is that it raises a few questions I can't answer: How many pages would I need to allot for this section?  How would these notes really be separate from their unit work?  If you are going to have a separate writing section, then why not a separate reading section too?  It becomes confusing.

I do know for a fact though that I am going to become more strict about how my students write in their notebooks.  I really like some of the information floating around out there about interactive notebooks.  I have added a few links below for anyone interested.  I like how the interactive notebooks separate one side for the notes the teacher gives and the other side for the student's reflection or practice with those notes.  This would also help make grading a little easier since (in THEORY) every student would put their graded work on the left side of their notebooks.  I wouldn't have to search a notebook for a good five minutes looking for a particular assignment.  And yes, in the past, I've had to do this.  It makes grading notebooks a very frustrating experience for me on some occasions.  

Here are the links:

--Interactive Notebooks on WikiSpaces: This is a link that contains many more links!  It has lots of different ways to use interactive notebooks in a classroom and even breaks the info down by subject being taught.

--Everybody is a Genius: How this math teacher uses interactive notebooks in the classroom.

--How to Set up an Interactive Notebook: A Slideshare for how to set up a notebook.

--Interactive Notebooks: How this teacher uses interactive notebooks in the English and Social Studies classroom.

I will share ideas on how to use the notebooks as I go through this year.  If anyone is willing to share any lesson ideas or ways you use interactive notebooks in your classroom, please comment!

--Mrs. Teacher Ma'am

Hey, I Could Use That!

I can't be the only one who trolls the internet looking for awesome ideas to use in my classroom next year.  My bookmark bar is filled with different pages of lesson ideas, classroom set-ups, and cute organizational strategies.  I also have an entire section for the stuff on Evernote.  If you haven't used Evernote, I'll explain more about it later.  But what to do with all those ideas?  I'm definitely NOT going to go through all my lessons in order to find the *perfect* place to put an idea.  Not now, when I should be on vacation!  Usually that kind of inspiration happens as I begin to (re)plan a particular unit.  Soooo.....what to do with those ideas in the meantime?

Messy, messy files

I'm a bit scatterbrained when it comes to holding on to this kind of stuff.  I have a Pinterest page, an Evernote account, and my bookmarks bar.  And that's not even counting the random handouts and packets I receive from well-meaning administrators, friends, and speakers at awesome conferences.  How does one keep it all together so as not to forget it when planning a unit in, say, November?

One way to help this is that I've seriously been considering sticking it all in Evernote so it's all in one place.  You can clip whole pages or parts of pages from a website into Evernote.  You can scan documents and put them in Evernote.  You can share your resources with other people in order to collaborate.  You can sync it all with your phone or any computer you use.  It's very versatile and I've just started to use it.  Here's another blog from a teacher who used it all year for everything, including his lesson plans!  If anyone has used it for a while and wants to share some advice on it, please share!  I'm not what you would call tech-savvy.*

Any other ways you keep up with the clutter of ideas you come across?

--Mrs. Teacher Ma'am

**I am in no way getting paid for talking about Evernote.  I just think it's really cool.  

Meeting My Student Teacher

This week is supposed to be a "staycation" for the hubby and me, but we didn't end up going to Colorado for various reasons.  Instead we've been going to the movies, swimming, and generally checking out new things in town.  "Town" being a good half-hour away, it kind of becomes an all-day adventure!

Today, we didn't go out and do much.  I had a lunch date with my fabulous, awesome student teacher for the fall.  She and I got to chat and get to know each other and I think this year is going to be really great having her in my room.  I did have to warn her that "my room" is kind of non-existent right now due to construction at the high school.  But no worries and fingers crossed that it is finished by August!

To help my new student teacher feel loved and welcome, I created her a little binder.  I went to Target and found a cute little binder similar to this one:

Then I bought some tab dividers so she could figure out how to break up the sections of her binder.  I *almost* did this for her, as I have a bit of a need to control everything, but I figured that she's a big girl and can do that herself! :)

Then I tucked into the back flap a school calendar, this letter to first year teachers, a weekly lesson plan helper, and a "week at a glance" planner.  Thanks to Stephanie at Eat. Write. Teach. for the awesome ideas in her blog!

The ST (as I will now refer to her because I am lazy) and I talked about our personal lives and I didn't go into much about my classroom, as I figured that could come out later.  I was a mentor to a first-year teacher last year, so I will probably use a lot of the materials from that to help me guide those later discussions.

But I need help.  What things would a ST need to know before coming in for beginning of the year meetings?  Anything I should give her a heads-up about?  We already talked about dress code.  Anything else?

--Mrs. Teacher Ma'am