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Hey, everyone! It's Deanna from A Primary Owl, are y'all gearing up for the end of the year? It's closing in on us really fast! Packing up, end of the year checklists, grades....all of this just piles up so quick! Plus I don't know about you but if you have your own children you also have chorus performances, dance recitals, coach's gifts and teacher gifts, etc of your own to get. So I thought I would put together some ideas of things we all could do now at the end of April (almost May) to help get a jump start on things and maybe, just maybe we can get ahead???? CLEAN OUT YOUR COPIES So this is a huge clutter area for me, my team sends so many copies and frankly I just don't do all of them. So last week, I organized. I figured out what I still needed to do before the end of the year. I also decided what might be saved for next year and then with all the left overs I asked a parent volunteer to make review packets for my kids to take home for the summer. Not all of them will do it, but I do have parents that appreciate a little work over the summer and I don't feel bad for wasting all that paper. START TAKING THINGS HOME I collect junk from home around my desk! Like coffee mugs, water tumblers, lunchboxes, sweaters, gifts from parents, you name it! Plus I always leave one winter coat at school just in case I forget my coat, so last week I took home a great big bag of all that stuff.....a more few things that I won't have to drag home the last week of school. What do you have around that you could take home now? CHECKLIST/SUMMER PROJECTS Start your checklist now! Or at least get ready to start it! Designate a basket for special projects that you want to work on over the summer. When you come across something as you are cleaning or organizing, throw it in there. I already got my school's end of the year checklist, so I put it on one of my special clipboards so I don't loose it. I also keep my own checklist of things I need to get done around my room. I love printing these off and putting them on my clipboard to keep me on track! {click the picture to get your FREEBIE!} INVENTORY ITEMS Does your school do a huge inventory? We do, so I've already started finding some bar coded things I know are going to be on the inventory list and put them aside on a shelf. I also started returning items to the media center that I have checked out that I no longer need. I also ask my media specialist for a list of things I have checked out that I need to start looking for. At least then, if I am missing something I can start looking for it now and not later! GRADING This one is huge! I start getting so burned out on grading papers! But if I get too behind then I can't catch up when grades are due. Make the important grades a priority (like I have stack of opinion writing that I keep shoving to the bottom of my pile) and figure out what papers you can just put some stickers on and call it a day! How do I keep my papers organized? I love my IKEA cart! MOVING Are you moving to a new classroom or a new school next year? Start looking for boxes NOW! I am moving a new school next year and I already asked our copy lady and our cafeteria manager to save me some boxes. Organize as much as you can before you start packing and it will make unpacking so much easier! END OF THE YEAR GIFTS This is the best time to start thinking of all those gifts you need to get, room moms, volunteers, the teachers on your team....and your own children's teachers! Starting early means hopefully you won't be rushing around at the last minute and forget anyone. Need some more end of the year ideas? Follow our Pinterest board! And pin this post for later:
A blog post about using Kagan cooperative learning structures within Computing lessons.
Kagan strategies are nothing new – if you haven’t been to a conference then surely you know a teacher who has. I was one of those teachers that absorbed all the information teachers could give me about Kagan Learning since I was never lucky enough to attend. While I pushed cooperative learning and being interactive, […]
Cooperative grouping is a simple way to increase student engagement. Kagan structures provide a variety of activities that promo...
Happy Sunday, friends! Tonight I want to share with you one of my favorite Kagan structures – Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up (SU, HU, PU). Kagan Structures are all about cooperative learning – no…
Happy Sunday, friends! Tonight I want to share with you one of my favorite Kagan structures – Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up (SU, HU, PU). Kagan Structures are all about cooperative learning – no…
Cooperative learning. Find out what it's all about and get some great resources to help you use this strategy well in your classroom.
Just a quick post, as I have a couple more assignments to finish for my Reading Endorsement class. At the beginning of the year, with my older students (1st & 2nd) or with my kindergarteners' big buddies, I use Kagan's Find Someone Who... as an icebreaker. This is a fun way to get to know more about our friends in our class. Each child gets one ditto, and finds a friend who can answer one of the questions in a box. Then that friend signs the box. This structure fills the need for movement and social interaction with peers. Below is a slide from my set of Kagan posters that I created with various clipart, the main picture being from Kagan's Powerpoint Pals. These are posters to help guide the process of the cooperative learning structure. Kagan has their own on their site. Click below to go to Kagan Online. If you put in a search for Find Someone Who on TPT, there are certainly many resources. Here are a few of my favorite freebie finds on TPT. Find Someone Who With Pictures Find Someone Who Back to School Packet Other educators have taken this and applied it into the academic area. Amanda Pauley from Mrs. Pauley's Kindergarten and Sheree Peterson from Peterson's Pad have offered freebies using this structure while tying in the Common Core standards. On a different note, I feel honored to be awarded the Liebster Award. I feel I am not a new blogger... been around the past year... I'm just slow like a turtle. :0) The turtle did finish the race though. (The turtle is my running mascot- random fact.) Thanks to Amber from School is a Happy Place, Stephanie from Polka Dot Palace, and Sara from The Primary Buzz for this recognition. I am happy to be part of the blogging community, and having an opportunity to share and learn with others. To accept the nomination I must: 1. Link back to the blog that nominated me 2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers 3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator 4. Share 11 random facts about yourself 5. Create 11 questions for your nominees 6. Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them There are a plethora of blogs that I would love to nominate... but I am limited with the guidelines and my time spent here today. Here are a few that I would like to nominate... Mrs. Shelton's Kindergarten Smart Kids Now to the 11 questions (I'm cheating here... as I am picking the 11 I want to answer.) 1. Why did you start blogging? Last year, I began discovering TPT and teacher blogs. I didn't think I had the time to devote to a blog... and I am a private kind of individual. However, I wanted to share and learn from others, so I went for it. 2. What is your favorite outdoor activity? I love the outdoors!! Downhill skiing is my all time favorite... not something I can do where I currently live. 3.Where do you like to vacation? I love to travel. I wish I could go to Greece or to Peru. I haven't been to those places yet. I want to see the ruins and beauty of Greece, and in Peru, I want to hike up to Machu Picchu. 4. What is one goal you have made for yourself this year? I want to spread kindness. I want to help my students find ways to spread kindness through Random Acts of Kindness. I think this goes well with the filling buckets classroom management system I use in my classroom. I also hope to do this outside of school. 5.6. Are you married? Do you have any children? I am married and we do not have any children. Instead we have two little dogs. 7. What is your favorite childhood memory? Riding my tricycle, munching on a pickle, and laughing with my friend. Don't remember his name... we were like 4 years old at the time. 8. Are you a coke or pepsi person? If you don't drink soda, then what is your drink? I love coffee! I associate warm fuzzy feelings with it, as I get together with friends to drink some coffee. I didn't drink coffee for over a year, but back to it again. My other drink is water... I typically have a water bottle with me. 9. What is one teaching tool you can not live without? Lots of books! I can teach anything as long as I have a great book to use. Books open a world of possibilities. 10. Favorite quote? When I had a classroom website, I posted this because I truly believe it goes with my philosophy of teaching: "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” ― Henry van Dyke 11. Best moment/experience while teaching? Everyday in the primary grades brings wonderful experiences. I can think of quite a few stories. However, I will always remember my very first class. A few of their faces pop up immediately, and I think of a time. I remember the shy Vietnamese girl, I tried connecting with through our culture. She drew and wrote about pho, a type of Vietnamese soup. I was very excited trying to explain to the other children what it was. She smiled at me so proud. I even spoke Vietnamese to her. One day she looked up at me, and asked why I spoke Vietnamese funny. That cracked me up... I have an accent. My relatives like to laugh at me, and they say it's cute... Which brings me to some random things about me... 1. I used to speak enough Arabic and French to get by. I didn't have an accent in Swiss... many thought I was a native. 2. I love shopping at Anthropologie. Here is one of my favorite dresses I wore to my friend's wedding last year. That is the Mr. Brinn with me. 3. I have inspired my husband to come into the classroom to help me out. He is great help, and the kids love him. 4. Click here to an earlier post to learn more... and it has more pics. Thanks again to Amber, Stephanie, and Sara. I feel fortunate to be able to have met and learn with educators all over the place! I hope to have an opportunity to meet up one day. :0) Whew!! This was not a quick post with the awards!! :0) OOPS- For my questions, please pick any that were asked by my nominees... thanks!
I wrote a post last year about how I use Kagan structures in my classes . I also use Rally Coach. After some refresher sessions and observi...
Summer is in full swing! I am loving the flexibility of time to get my hair cut, catching up with friends, going to a couple workshops, getting a facial... I am feeling refreshed! For my Thursday's Cooperative Learning, I wanted to discuss how I use RallyRobin in my classroom. Sometimes, I group my students in pairs or in small groups of 4-5 students. I am also joining Collaboration Cutie's Science Mentor Text! :0) When integrating science into my reading curriculum, I love using Pebble books. These books have great photos and simple text great for my little ones. Not only are they high interest books, but they are also good for those older students who need simpler text for reading. I got mine through Scholastic Books. Click below to check Lions out at Amazon. Before reading one of these books to my kinderkids, I have them get their materials (whiteboards, pencils, & tree maps) and meet me to sit in groups of 4. I put a grouping mat on the floor, and my students pick a number to sit by. Some groups may have 3 or 5 students. Either #4 is missing from a group or I have two #4's in a group. Here is a picture of a small group of 4... The whiteboards are flipped over and used as a writing surface for their graphic organizers. My wonderful kindergarten assistant made the grouping mats for my team and I to use with our students. Before reading the book, I ask my students to brainstorm words that they think will be in this book. In each group, starting with the number 2's, they keep going around and around sharing their predictions until time is called. That is a RallyRobin structure. We continue the discussion with what we know about lions, starting with the number 4's. Then I begin reading the story, stopping at various points. I help them make connections to the book by asking if they saw a lion before. Starting with a specific # they share within their group. Sometimes, I call on a particular # in each group to stand up and share something from their group. The tree map comes into play while I read the story to my students. The above picture is not the lion tree map, but I did use this one from Kim Adsit. (My kinderkids loved this project! We also made the lion king of ing.) I would ask my students to tell what lions are starting with a specific #. Then I would call upon some children to share something that their group shared. After that, I gave time for students to write their responses on their tree maps. They helped each other and wrote down the different ideas. After reading the book and completing the tree map, they went to their seats to complete their art project. This lion project came from KinderGals website. Links are in above paragraph. RallyRobin is a simple cooperative learning group structure easily adapted into any curriculum. I love how it gets each student talking. Kagan has posters, technology, and clipart about their structures for sale at their website. Last winter, I bought the Powerpoint Pals to make my own cooperative learning structures posters. I show them on my IWB. Click on the picture to visit Kagan Online. I also use Kagan's Timer Tools to help with timing. In the lion tree map activity, I did not. Instead, I had my students show me they were done by putting their hands on their heads. This gave me an opportunity to check and monitor my students. To draw interest, I used a student selector tool to pick students to share information. This helped made them accountable for the information they were sharing with their groups. I liked it also for the ones who had a difficult time brainstorming ideas, because they got information from their groups already. Kagan also has Student Selector tools. Instead, I use two free ones that I got from Mimio Connect and Smartboard Exchange. If you have an interactive whiteboard, these are great resources to use. It is free to use. If you do not have an IWB, you may be able to use, I did before I wrote my grant for the Mimio. :0) I used my big screen tv to display the information and used the keyboard/mouse. Not the same, but it works too! I did not use the grouping mats at my tables last year. Instead, I have my students name on a ring. Each student had the opportunity to be the team leader for one day, and then would start all over again. I called on my team leaders to get group supplies or help when needed. With a new classroom, and new furniture, I plan to use these mats at the tables. I will print one for each group, trim off the credits, laminate, and put on my students' tables. Click here to get it for your classroom. Click above button to visit Collaboration Cuties and their Science Mentor Text Linky. There are lots of great ideas and freebies being shared there every Sunday! Join me in sharing how you use cooperative learning in your classroom! Link up your thoughts of how you use cooperative learning structures in your classroom or comment with your thoughts or questions. I will be in a 2-day workshop, Got Mimio? Advanced next week... so next Thursday I will be there. I am hoping to have something special for you! An InLinkz Link-up
Cooperative grouping is a simple way to increase student engagement. Kagan structures provide a variety of activities that promo...
Cooperative learning. Find out what it's all about and get some great resources to help you use this strategy well in your classroom.
Well, 10 days away from Christmas Break {note…I initially wrote this last week and I never finished it…yikes!} and I feel like I have finally hit my reading-teacher groove. After months of training…
