Okay, I'm lying. I'm still stuck in the first category but I'm trying to fight my way out, okay??
In the meantime, here's a couple things going on at my end of the school:
I stole/combined several ideas from Pinterest (I can quit anytime I want, okay?) and made this classroom pledge with my kids. Everyone signed it and then added their hand to it (kind of like how people do at the end of a huddle right before you yell, "BREAK!")
I had a sub on Friday while I was out on our SST team. I found this idea somewhere out there in blog land and it's FANTASTIC! So if it was your idea, please pipe up and let me know... The kids get to brainstorm where they think you are and then they write a quick story about your adventures there. One story contained some unfortunate mis-spellings that had me liking "acid in the park"... I kid you not.
I've used these before but I'm bringing them back after an extended hiatus. These are my "Listening Ears" to use during UA/Guided Reading groups. My kids know that if I'm wearing them I'm listening to the group at my table and I should not be disturbed. It's super cute to hear the kids say, "No! Don't bother her! See! She's LISTENING!"
I think this may be my favorite thing going on in my room right now. Have you heard of this guy? His name is Oscar Pistorius. Basically, in a nutshell, he was born with no legs and now he's qualifying for the 100m dash in the Olympics. The OLYMPICS, people!! Not the Special Olympics. The Big 'Ol Real Deal Coming Up This Summer In London Olympics. So anytime I hear my kids say, "This is too hard!", I just point to the wall in the back of the room and they shut their mouths real quick. I love it. I hear them tell each other all the time, "Don't you remember? We can do hard things." And I got that quote off of Pinterest too. =)
OH! Also. I just bought this RAD file from Lesson Plan S.O.S. It's all about how to be a Guided Reading Guru and in my quest to become Teacher Extraordinaire I thought that $9 for an 80 page document that will change. my. life. was worth it. So far, I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to get started with my reading groups and try out some new things!
aaaaaaaaaaaannnnd.... I love links. =)
I started doing the start of Daily 5 in my class from t-f and I love that my class just reads for the 10 minutes we are up to. I think that the Reader's Workshop thing will fit right in :-)
ReplyDeleteSAM! Thank you for having this post be just what I needed to keep up the energy in my classroom! I did the exact same thing with the rules/ hand thing....it was a combination of stolen/combined ideas from Pinterest too! We turned it into "Room 8's 5 finger contract." AMAZING! Also, I am going to be out Friday and I am SO stealing your writing idea. Thank you!!! Loving your blog girl.
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