August Currently

Hey everyone... I have been MIA for a few days, but I am all set to get things done again. :)

So, I am linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade for the August currently...

Listening: Once again, I am listening to Gilmore Girls. I have restarted the series since the last "Currently". I don't think I will ever get enough of the Gilmore girls.

Loving: This past week has been amazing! I love having my husband home after 2 months.

Thinking: I have to figure out dinner because I thought we were having dinner on the boat, but he gets to come home tonight. While it's a good thing it throws off my meal planning for the week.

Wanting: We told our landlord that we were going to be gone Friday night and come home Saturday. He was SUPPOSED to have our new a/c installed and ready. Then we got home yesterday and my house is a mess and he's still working on it. Then, he has the nerve to say that we said we weren't going to be home until Monday! So I'm waiting for him to come back today to finish it...

Needing: I managed to buy a lot of stuff when we went to the store this weekend and now I need to buy spray paint and get working on some things I've been putting off. Can you say student clips for the behavior chart and hall passes? Plus, I want to spray paint my filing cabinet. And when I say "I", I mean my husband. ;)

B2S RAK: I havent' really thought much about this because I don't know any of the teachers yet... Or how many of us there are in 4th grade, something like 5 or 6 teachers?!

That's what I've got for now... I need to get my butt in gear this morning and figure everything out for the sewing class I'm teaching next week. (I'm having kids sew purses... Hopefully they turn out good.)

Morgan

Monday Made It - More Chevrons and Stuff

It's another Monday, which means another link-up with 4th Grade Frolics!

Now, before I get to the few made its this week, let me say that I thought yesterday was Monday when I woke up. I also thought all day Saturday that it was Sunday. I even went as far as to mark off Saturday on my calendar yesterday. It's been a looooooooong summer for me. With that said, it really is Monday and I am ready to share my made its. Hope you enjoy!

I normally tell students the voice level that I expect before I unleash them on the task at hand. And then continue to remind them, as a class, throughout the activity. I had thought about those noise level apps and then I stumbled upon noise level posters to put up in the classroom. So here they:

Students can easily reference these during their work and I can easily point to the board without saying a word as a reminder to students that are getting a little loud. I'm always happy when I don't have to shout and interrupt students who are actively working and working quietly. So I'm hoping these work well in the classroom. And they're bright, colorful, and chevrons... What more do you need?

Second are these student self-assessment posters.

It's an easy way to see who is understanding and who needs more help. I'm also thinking of making them smaller and putting them on a ring. Then students can flip to their self-assessment, put it in the right corner of the inside of their desk, and I can check it while I walk around. This way I can see if there are any students that were too embarrassed to show a 3, which I totally understand. But then I can still help them either independently or in a group setting with others that are also having problems.

Next, I didn't really make these, but I did color them. They are signs for the classroom. I'm always looking for inspirational things to post on the walls. I came across these on Pinterest looking for journaling pages and couldn't help myself. Plus, coloring is supposed to help with stress and stimulates the brain.

To check these out, click here.

Don't have time to color them yourself? She has them in color on her website, too. And I'm going to have the kids color their own bookmarks. Thinking this might be good for any downtime during the week I'm gone.

My last made it isn't teaching related, but I'm super excited to have made it.

My PT assistant was telling me she had already started on hers... So, of course, I had to get mine started! It's almost that time! :)

Happy Monday!
Morgan

Five For Friday - July 17

I'm doing my first Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

So first off, I have been doing more shopping for the classroom... You can see the .25 deals I scored at Office Max on my Some Savings post. I went back and grabbed some more today too. Including Sharpies, which were .25 each. :)

Secondly, I am almost done with physical therapy, for the third time since I've been here... Yay! Lol. I still can't run unless I'm in their AWESOME Alter-G treadmill, but I'm up to running with 70% of my body weight. What's that saying... Slow and steady wins the race?

Next, I haven't done much work teaching wise.... BUT, I did manage to make my chevron noise check signs, student self assessment posters, and I did some reading of 4th grade books. I've had a few books sitting in my filing cabinet and never got to reading them so I took the time to start a few: When You Reach Me by: Rebecca Stead, A Wrinkle in Time by: Madeleine L'Engle, The Cricket in Times Square by: George Selden, and Tuck Everlasting by : Natalie Babbitt. All of which I've never read.

I decided to try out this Stitch Fix craze. Since we don't live near any great stores I thought, why not see what they choose to send me. What I was NOT expecting was how expensive their clothes are! They sent the most amazingly comfortable jeans, but it's so hot here I couldn't even try to talk myself into spending the $77 for them. I only kept one shirt, which is super cute and was still expensive, in my book. But I don't have any polka dot shirts so I decided to keep it.

Lastly, I would just like to share my condolences with the Marines and their families. Knowing things can happen here is always hard, but when they actually do happen, it's heartbreaking. I know it's in the news a lot right now and everyone is going to choose to spin it into pro- or anti-gun propaganda, but in the end it's about the lives that were lost and our security at home. So here's to them and waiting on my husband to come home safely.






That's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by and reading, sorry to end with a downer.

Happy Friday,
Morgan

Some savings...

As a teacher, I often spend a lot of my own money to buy things for the classroom. I don't think people really realize how much of their own money teachers spend. It's a good thing we don't have any kids yet because I probably wouldn't have as much to spend on my classroom...

So, I was telling my husband about the crayons and markers I had bought and he assumed I got them from Office Max, which then made me look at their ad because we actually have one here. And I saw their .25 deal. So, I got some steals!

I made 3 trips into the store because it was a "limit 3" deal (the cashier just laughed when I asked and then proceeded to make 2 more trips into the store). Everything here was part of that deal. I ended up with 45 highlights, 9 pencil cases, 9 scissors, and 36 glue sticks for less than $10 plus tax! *I still need to make more trips for more scissors and pencil cases, but I didn't want to seem too weird.

Next, I went to Publix because they had Crayola crayons on sale 2/$1. Not sure if that's a great deal, but I will only use Crayola crayons and figured I might as well buy some for the class. Their crayola markers were also on sale BOGO, but I am hoping I can find them a little cheaper. More like $1 each... Is that wishful thinking?

I still need to buy some expo markers to add to their baskets, but these are pretty much their table supplies. I want them to keep the highlighters and scissors and expo markers in the cups so they can't fool around with them when they're not supposed to... You know those kids that like to highlight anything and everything while you're talking or they're just sitting there. And I'm making "whiteboards" to tape to their desks and really don't need them drawing on those during lessons.

Just thought I would pass on the news for some deals, if you didn't already know.

Happy Wednesday!
Morgan

Monday Made It

It's Monday again and I have been working like crazy... And yet feel like I've gotten NOTHING done. I fixed my printer all by myself, which means I've been printing like crazy! So, here is another Monday Made It with Fourth Grade Frolics.

My first Monday Made It is A LOT of stuff, so bear with me. I realized I needed something for my early finishers to do instead of me say, "Read silently". So I scoured the wonderful internet sources and found quite a few ideas.

So first off, I made something that I put up in the classroom for students to easily reference when they finish tasks early. I provided many different activities so that students don't just have to silent read when they get finished. I hope this provides them with enough choices and will keep them busy without bothering me. Once these are laminated, I will take a ribbon and put all the choices on it.

So, the following are the choices on the early finishers list: Math It Up, Silent Reading, Journal, Where Am I?, Book Project (which is a different take on book reports that they should also be working on at home, but why not let them work on it in their free time), Research Project, and Daily Reflection. Too many choices? What do you think?

I saw Math It Up on other blogs and had to take a look for myself. I love the idea and plan to add fractions and decimals later. I, unfortunately, have to make sure everything matches; therefore, I had to do everything in chevrons. So here's my special chevron ones...

  

Next are journals. Students can use their journal to write a story, or anything they can think of. Anything to get the juices flowing. For those that are a little more reluctant or don't know what to write, I will have a container of journal prompts and also journaling papers they can fill out. I'm also thinking of buying (*shocker*) some Minecraft journal prompts since I know that's a big thing right now.

Lastly, the daily reflection board. Students will have time at the end of the day to add a post-it to their number at the end of the day, but they can do it anytime throughout the day when they have some extra time.

It's really bugging me that the circles are crooked...

My second Monday Made It are my class jobs (I'm missing my purple set of class jobs because I want to make sure I have enough jobs before I print out the last page) and desk name plates. And you guessed it, they're in chevron. Now, I just need to get everything laminated so I can cut everything out.

Then there are my mod podge projects for the classroom. I made my own mod podge because it's so expensive. I bought a pack of 2 bottles of glue from Dollar Tree and added 2 bottles of water and it's done.

They were still drying...

So, I decided that I want each table group to have their supplies together in a basket. So I picked up 5 baskets at Dollar Tree (sadly they didn't have any pink) and also a few folders. Unfortunately, my early finishers folder didn't stick.. I may not have used enough. I'll either have to try again or just tape it down.

That's all I have for you all this week. I'm loving getting ideas from other people's blogs!

Happy Monday!
Morgan

Monday Made It

I'm doing my first Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics.

So the first thing I made was a magnet board to keep track of students... I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to make one of my own. It is still a work in progress. I have blue ribbon that needs to be hot glued to hang it on the wall. I also, need to buy and glue magnets to the back of the numbers. There are also two extra spaces to be labeled, but I need to wait until I know exactly what programs there are in my school.

So here are my supplies:

pink duct tape, painter's tape, cookie sheet, glass gems

Grand Total: $4 plus tax!!!

*I don't have a Walmart, Target, pretty much any good store close by... Literally, the closest Walmart is over 100 miles away and 2 1/2 hours away!!! Same with Target, and every other normal, good store. So I went to Dollar Tree and bought the supplies that I could.

I started with the pink duct tape and meticulously placed it around the outside of the cookie sheet. I suggest using a crappy pair of scissor to trim the excess because it's so tacky and I know I hate ruining my scrapbook scissors. Then, I took the painters tape and made the bottom boxes (I swear they don't look that crooked in person). Next, I took a Sharpie and wrote the numbers on the little glass gems. Lastly, I printed up the labels on card stock. And it's done!

This is the finished product

Let me know what you think! I know it could have looked a little better with a magnetic white board or a flat cookie sheet, but like I said I only have limited shopping opportunities. Oh and those magnetic white boards (at least at OfficeMax) are EXPENSIVE!!!

The second thing I made was a document with parts for a banner. I'm going to hang them from the ceiling... Assuming I can hang things from the ceiling. I feel like I'm in limbo right now.

Anyway, they're nothing fancy. So, here they are...

I'm hoping to make some hall passes this week once I find all my clothespins. I know my college professor gave me a bag of them, but that requires moving heavy boxes!

Happy Monday!

Morgan

Currently... July 2015

Ok, I am brand new to this, but found this linky party and I needed something to do. So, I hope I am doing this right...

Listening: Gilmore Girls is my all-time FAVORITE show! I don't even know how many times I have watched the series all the way through... I have the DVD's and thanks to Netflix I watch it all day through my Wii U.

Loving: My animals have been keeping me company today. Even Lexi, my cat, is laying on the couch instead of in the bedroom. They're the best!

Thinking: I have to work daycare on Wednesday. I HATE daycare! Technically it's "summer camp", but let's be real, it's daycare. I have gotten out of working all summer, so I shouldn't be complaining...

Wanting: My husband has been gone over a month. Still got a ways to go, but summer makes me miss him more. That's the only downside of not working during the summer and being in a new state (I can't use that excuse much longer, we've been here almost a year).

Needing: I have so many projects I COULD be doing, but I'm so much of a perfectionist. I have made so many first week of school activities and then not liked them. I just need something that is a cut and dry project.

All Star: Sewing is my latest favorite hobby. And I really need to finish that baby quilt that I started for my sister-in-law... She is expecting in August, so I should really finish it. Maybe that should be my project. The hard part is even done!

Ok, that is what I've got for now!

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for my blog...

This linky party is from http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2015/06/currently-july-2015.html

Classroom Behavior Management

Classroom management is always so much fun...

The school-wide theme this year is LEGOLAND. I wish I was here last year, the theme was Disney World. I mean who doesn't love Disney World? Especially those of us missing the second week of school for a Disney World vacation. Bad timing, but I'm so excited! Did I mention I'm from Southern California and, therefore, spent many days at Disneyland? And now we're in Florida and I'm so excited for Disney World. This is actually my second trip to Disney World, but my husband and mother-in-law's first. I got to go right after we moved here with my parents because what else do you do when you're in a new state and your husband is underway/deployed? I guess I'm just a big kid at heart because I love it!

Anyway, I'm coming to terms with LEGOLAND and trying to figure out how to incorporate it into my classroom. I've never been a fan of legos and I've never been to LEGOLAND. I have recently looked at their website many times a day to get ideas. Of course, my husband was ecstatic when I mentioned that I needed to figure out lego themed ideas. He wants me to do my whole room in Star Wars legos, but I'm not on board with that idea. So right now, I'm just trying to slowly integrate legos into my classroom decor.

With that said, I have seen many people use Mr. Potato Head as their class behavior management system. And then it came to me... Lego Man!

I'm really hoping this works with PBS, since I know PBS, but have never taught in a PBS school. I really like positive reinforcement, in place of negative reinforcement. That was really ingrained in my mind when I worked in the special needs classroom. You'll get such a better reaction from your class when you compliment those on task, instead of calling out the same students for not being on task. I want them to work extra hard for compliments from other teachers in the school to earn pieces of Lego Man. Also, I'm going to introduce him before I leave for vacation to give them incentive to listen and behave for the substitute while I'm gone. Cross your fingers that it works. :)

Morgan

I Can Statements

It's summer, which means lots of planning for the upcoming year! That's normal, right?

I have never taught these new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) because I went to school the year before they were implemented and introduced. Also, the private school I subbed at didn't use CCSS. So, I thought I would look up the standards and start working on the infamous "I Can.." statements. Little did I know that "Common Core" doesn't mean that all states have the same standards.... We're supposed to be doing this to streamline the standards throughout the United States right?

Anywho, my school gave me a website for the Florida Standards (Florida CCSS?) and then I found a site that already had the CCSS separated into "I Can..." statements. Then, I rewrote them all and cross-referenced between the two sites. Yes, I could have just copy, pasted, and changed all the CCSS number to Florida numbering, but what better way to get acquainted with the standards than actually rewriting them?

After two days of sitting on my butt, watching Gilmore Girls (the best show ever!), and rewriting all the standards I finished the language arts and math "I Can..." statements. Now, it was a lot of work and a lot of sitting and typing, but I feel like I actually know the standards now.

This is the site I got the generic "I Can..." statements from:
http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thecurriculumcorner123/2014/10/22/everything-ccss-i-can-for-k-6-grades/#_a5y_p=2686901

I would add my copy of the millions of "I Can..." statements that I made align with the Florida CCSS numbering, but I'm not that talented yet. Maybe I should use Tpt? Here are pictures to show that they are the same as the above, but with Florida CCSS numbering and the few extra standards from Florida.

I know some of you noticed that I only said I had finished the language arts and math standards... Well, I'm still looking into the social studies and science standards because I haven't found any free sites to check the wording and I refuse to pay for teaching resources. So, I have been looking at the wording of the standards and trying to cut them down into more manageable pieces.

Well, that's all I have for now. Keep following for more on my crazy adventure.

Happy Summer!
Morgan