15 Memes Only Art Teachers Will Understand Professional Practice % %
Teaching is so much fun, even more so when you have a classroom theme! And I don’t just mean your entire class theme is nautical or Dr. Seuss or rainbow, I mean each day of the week has a theme. #saywhat! YES! If this idea is new to you, I definitely recommend trying it out. […]
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Take time to ponder questions that go beyond the curriculum.
For my Publishing class, I get my students in the mood for writing by doing a daily journal prompt. So far, I’ve borrowed a lot …
This week's Monday Motivation is all about Daily Schedules! If you missed the last few weeks, you can click below to get caught up. Week 1: Classroom Library Week 2: Managing Centers Week 3: Word Walls Oh, My, Lanta. Daily Schedules. This is something that I feel like I JUST can't seem to make it work year to year, even if my schedule does NOT change. Isn't it funny how the group of kids can really change you do things year to year? I'm not sure what my schedule will be like next year (because I'm going BACK to 2nd grade next year!! woohoo!!), but I can show you what my schedule was like the last few years. (Wednesdays are different because they're early release.... and sometimes we had computer lab, etc...) (you can grab this schedule freebie in THIS post) We open our doors at 7:45, and students come trickling in until 8:00. At our school, it's been "a rule" that we stand at our door to greet the students (and sometimes parents that walk their kids) at the door... that way we start their day off with a smile! Even if it's not a rule, I really like to do it - there are times when I have things I have to get done during that time, but otherwise, I really like greeting my students at the door. Since they're trickling in, I have a list of things for them to do while they wait for the late bell. You can read more about Morning Buckets {HERE}, but next week's post is all about Morning Routines too! Once the late bell rings, we then do our Calendar time and math board... Then we moved into our Smart Time groups, which is our RTI groups. I usually taught a phonics skill, usually CVC words or Blends. That was a 30 minute session... Then we would move into our Reading Block. I always started with a quick phonics activity and then moved into our small groups. You can read more about those activities in THIS post. I teach whole group reading AFTER small groups, because I want to make sure I have all my time I need for small groups - it's my favorite part of the day and where most of my teaching in reading happens! You can read about what happens in my small group time HERE (it was last week's hot topic!). THEN, we'll do our Whole group Reading. That's when I teach from the theme or author for the week. The activities vary from week to week depending what we're doing. Then we would go to lunch...super early, I know - but I was always HUNGRY by this point. lol. Then we come back and do math - We'd start with our fact quizzes Then we would start in with our ICEE math, which is a great time for me to grade their quizzes. ICEE math can take a long time in the beginning of the year, but then it gets really quick because they really start knowing their strategies. Then, after we finish this, we head into our whole group instruction for math.... usually on the rug. Once I kind of saw who had it and who needed more time, I would start sending kids back to their seats to do their journal notebooks and centers, OR I would keep kids at my back table for more instruction on that days' lesson. I would keep track of who "got it" and with a simple informal assessment checklist on an index card, and keep that for the next day to recheck them. (this was a true/false question) Then we go to activity. We have 4 activities, but 2 days of PE, so we aren't on a rotations so we have the same activity on each day of the week, which is SO nice! We'd come back and have snack while I did a read aloud from a chapter book... Then we would start in on our writing for the week. I would always start our writing with a Sentence Imitation. Read more about that HERE. Then I would head into more of our guided writing for the week, whether it was a "research" writing or a narrative writing. Then it was out to recess!! We get about 20 minutes for Recess, and then we head back in. I know it says that we did silent reading after recess, but I change our silent reading time to a part of our center rotation, so I used this time to turn off the lights (I have HUGE windows in my room to let the natural light in), turn on the calming music, and they got to work on their writing, craft, or any other work for about 10 minutes...then it was time to start getting ready to leave. Because we are such a large school and only K-2 (which means we have to move 750 5-8 year olds around the school in a safe and organized manner - ha!!), we have to start dismissing at 2:00/2:10. So, there it is - our day in a nutshell. It will probably change next year, with a totally different schedule and a new grade, but there's the "usuals." Check out other bloggers' schedules - links below!
Motivate Like a Champion Today! What are some of your favorite Monday mornings full of? I saw this on a teacher site and loved the twist...
A few years ago, our school implemented "voice levels" as a way to help at assemblies, in hallways, and within our classrooms. This has really helped with consistency across the grade levels and made the first few weeks of school even easier when introducing these concepts. In our school, if a teacher needs to get students' attention, he/she will hold up our hand in the shape of a zero. If kids are working in small groups and are getting a little noisy, I would hold up two fingers to remind them it was "Voice Level 2". When we create presentation rubrics, we always include "Voice Level 3" as an area to focus on. In the beginning of the year, when we are making our Daily 5 Anchor Charts around expectations, Voice Levels 0, 1, and 2 always make an appearance. I have loved thinking of Voice Level 1 (whisper) as "Spy Talk"! In the past, I have used the fingers-on-the-voicebox trick~ if it vibrates, it's not Voice Level 1~ but the idea of talking like a spy is soooooo much more fun! This year, I ask my Teacher's Assistant to help be my Voice Level Monitor. If they feel it is getting too noisy, they will assist me in showing the appropriate voice level with our finger(s). Here is the file for the poster (I recently changed over my font, so it looks slightly different). **UPDATE: If you like this idea, you will love my new Voice Levels Management Pack available on TpT! Be sure to download the Preview to see everything that's included and read my updated post HERE for more info! Enjoy!
Merry Monday and a Happy New Week! Monday motivation will be easy all year long! What's included: *23 short stories and positive messages *23 posters Letters for bulletin board M-O-N-D-A-Y(letter size 9X7) M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N (letters size varies) How to use it: The file comes in PDF and Google Drive ready. The Google Drive file is editable in the short story section. This file is PART 2. If you haven't downloaded part one, you can locate it here. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monday-Motivation-Short-messages-and-stories-to-inspire-and-motivate-2933116
It’s here again… Monday morning. You may be tired and feel like this…
