Room Update & Reading Apprenticeship

Wow, what a day. I think my summer has officially come to an end. My kiddo was up at 3am which allowed for many snuggles (and a few elbows to the side and some gnashing of teeth..how can such small teeth grind so loudly?) before my training today. Needless to say a coffee IV would have been appreciated.

Before I get to the Reading Apprenticeship recap I wanted to share some photos updating the work I've been doing in my room for this year. Enjoy! (and scroll past them if you just want the Reading Apprenticeship recap).

This is my new quiet corner. I hope that students will appreciate having a private space to work. It's also right beside my intern's desk so they'll be monitored for progress :) I hung up some Dr. Who quotes on the side of the bookshelf.

This is the front of my room, we have a super comfy chair that I do read aloud from, and generally becomes the birthday chair as well. My intern's desk is the one in the picture, mine is on the other side of the carpet.

I made these for school last year and they were awesome! They are just simple picture frames with scrapbook paper and stickers inside. I use wet-erase markers and write up our weekly objectives (I teach too many subjects to have daily objectives).

Brag Boards - kind of. These laminated poster board pieces are numbered and are designated for each student in the class. I'm prepared for 25 students. They are used for social studies. Since we study Ancient Civilizations the kids make a name tag in the writing style from each civilization. We put them up on our boards to show off, but also to view how writing has evolved over the years.

Homework folders! Each student will be getting one of these on Back to School night. If they take care of them I hope that they last most of the year. The next two pictures are close ups of the front and inside.

Alright - on to Reading Apprenticeship! I received a call yesterday asking if I wanted to join a 3 day training about Reading Apprenticeship. Well, I love reading (my masters is in library science) so I said sure! Then I hung up and Googled Reading Apprenticeship. If you want to know more feel free to head over to their site: http://readingapprenticeship.org/cs/ra/print/docs/ra/home.htm

So our training began today and will continue for two days next week, and then 4 more dates throughout the school year. The benefit of going to the training...swag! We each got a huge binder and two books to help us. Our instructor was from the IU and she is amazing. I haven't been to such a beneficial training in a very long time.

Some of activities included using 4-square, think/pair/share, pair reading, VIP, ABC vocab charts, and more. It was very interactive and very informing. And this was only covering chapter 1 in the book. Our district is going to implement this over the next year or two and I'm excited to be in on the beginning stages of it. If your district offers this training I would highly recommend it. Once I learn more about the process and how I plan to use it in my classroom (and maybe how it will look on my evaluation!) I'll update more. Happy Friday everyone!

And a final picture - my finished Tardis door...go Dr. Who :)

Piles of Papers!

It's fall! Okay not really but it feels like it around here at the moment. We've had the windows open, puffy vests on..where is August? I will be the first to admit it, I don't mind. I like fall, it's my favorite season, and this weather makes me want to cookout and watch football. It also makes me think of school.

With only a few weeks left of vacation I have officially stopped my 'summer mind' and have gone back into planning mode. My dear husband has lost his 'summer wife' which he lovingly refers to me as during my time off work. I do feel guilt about not being able to dedicate as much time to the house, the hubs, and my daughter during the school year, which is probably why I try to make it up during the summer. Regardless, I love teaching and have great faith that at some point in my career I'll find a happy balance!

Now, why call this post piles of paper? Well, let me tell you! My partner teacher and I like to end the school year by sending as much stuff to our print shop in the district as possible. The goal is to get important and frequently used items copied, made pretty, and returned in time to file them away. Well, the only problem this year is that they wouldn't make our copies until after July 1st (our fiscal year). So this is what I spent the last day doing:

Yeah...this is only 2 tables worth, I had all 5 tables in my classroom covered with items. It was a little overwhelming! I don't like having file cabinets in my room take up space for papers that get used and recycled each year so I use crates instead. Yesterday I spent the time to organize all of this mess into the bins with labeled folders, I feel so much better now! There will still be A LOT of papers coming back for spelling and social studies but this is a good start. 

I also picked up a new planner (and made it sparkly) because I love my iPhone app to share events with the hubs but I am really a paper planner kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I actually have an electronic planbook through our district: http://www.hellmansoft.com/  but something is special about seeing the week in front of me on paper. 

And just to leave you with a fun note on this cool August morning, enjoy this Pin that I found the other day. It makes me giggle and I'm seriously considering hanging it in my classroom somewhere. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Homework & Rewards

It was a dark and stormy night...oh wait, it wasn't, I just couldn't sleep and it was 3am and I figured why not check out Pinterest to see what's going on. And there it was...a fun solution to a homework predicament that I've been having.

Back Story: getting 6th graders to complete homework is sometimes the most challenging thing in the world. They think they know how to play the system (i.e. my computer didn't work last night, I didn't understand, I think my mom threw it away...yep). Unfortunately they don't realize that they were placed with a teacher who doesn't buy any of those excuses, especially when I give them multiple resources for continuing to work THROUGH the problem, not give up on it.

Anyway, for those students who need a little more motivation I don't mind giving positive rewards. Yes, I believe that students shouldn't expect a  physical reward as a motivator to do what's expected, but some students really do need them in order to build good habits. This year I am going to do this:

The idea came from this pin from The Nest Effect and she has some wonderful ideas. Vistaprint.com is a site that I've used before but never like this. It took me 10 minutes to create my cute owl cards. You will get 250 for free (assuming you don't mind the website promo on the back, I don't and the kids won't notice). You just pay the $6 for shipping. I want to spend some time looking at her behavior cards too, with a bit of rewording they could easily work for 6th graders.

A few initial thoughts: I'll need to spend time explaining the process and procedures for using/losing/turning in. I also want the students to brainstorm rewards options WITH me so that I know what will help encourage good routines for them. And finally, I need to order more scratch and sniff stickers..yep, that's right, love them!

I hope that your back to school planning is going well. Don't stress, it all falls into place. But I wouldn't hold off until the week before school (especially if you want to order these, it does take about 2 weeks to get them in). Happy planning everyone, and if you need some encouragement or specific ideas I'm happy to help. You can also check out my Classroom Pins from Pinterest if you'd like.

Setting Up - Something Different Every Year

Hello lovelies! Where I live we are experiencing some amazing weather, it is 52 degrees here this morning...in July..in late July. I could not be happier. Okay I probably could if there was football on :) I hope that this finds you well and eagerly looking towards the coming school year.

Yea football season!

I've been thinking a lot about my classroom set up for this year. I tend to have a difficult time sticking with one arrangement. I like change and I think it provides some excitement for the students too. One teacher I work with would have her students create a floor design that they wanted to see. The class would vote and the winning submission would be the classroom set up for the month. It worked so well for her! I tend to be a little more type-A with  my classroom arrangements because I need to know that all of the students can see the board, I can see them, and everyone is on task (as much as they are able to be).

This year I am starting with 25 students, that number is flexible at this point and will probably go up a little. I currently have hexagon tables in my classroom. They come apart in half but at the beginning of the year I keep them together to help build community. Fortunately I have 5 of those tables so I truly have enough seating for 30 students (God help me if my homeroom gets that big!). This is also good because I teach the advanced math class and that can range from 28-34 students.

Another consideration this year is my intern. He'll be needing his own teacher desk so I am considering the best place to accommodate his needs (computer plug, etc) as well as making him feel independent but keeping him close enough that we can chat as needed. Here is what I'm thinking so far:

I'll post pictures once I get into the room and really arrange furniture so stay tuned! When thinking about your classroom don't forget to think about the space they will need to move around (6th graders tend to need more space than 1st graders), what they can see from their seat (keep that easily distracted child away from windows!), and how you can best interact and monitor them. Pinterest has some great pins for teachers using standard desks. I am looking forward to updating you on this! Happy planning everyone, and don't forget to take some time to enjoy your break! We still have a few weeks to go :)