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