Last week I wanted to Link Up with Just Reed's Ten Pin Linky Party.
But, we spent the week...
Swimming at a Waterpark and...
Making a Campfires. How many teachers does it take to make a campfire? 4.
Yes, it took 4 women to make this campfire...but we loved it and even more, our kiddos loved it!
I have to be honest. I haven't always had great classroom management.
With experience, I learned it didn't have to do with the quality of my teaching.
It had to do with my lack of "systems".
I knew I wanted to do centers, but I simply didn't know how.
I knew I wanted to have a way to track missing homework, but again, I didn't know how.
I've been departmentalized for 8 years of my 10 years.
Classroom Management in a Departmentalized Classroom is
VERY different from a Self-Contained Classroom.
I don't have to have a system for 24 kids to learn,
I have to have a system that works for 65ish kiddos and 3 different classrooms.
Plus, my students have 3 different teachers and have to learn 3 different systems...CONFUSING!!!
I need to organize my Centers (maybe this summer).
Shhhh....I've never had a Teacher Binder. I had Data Binders, Student Info Folders, a Sub Folder, Meeting Folder, PLC Binder,a Lesson Plan Book and a Grade Book. Yes, all of this in different places! This year...1 Super-Teacher Binder!
My tables have buckets already, but I need them to be organized so students can keep up with my classroom supplies. I had to replenish every 6 weeks last year and I refuse to do so.
I like this idea (mine will be on chalkboard). I did this at a previous school and it worked well.
You might not think this is a classroom mngt. tool, but it is. I got rid of my desk last year in an effort to de-clutter my classroom. It worked...sorta. As the year wears on...teachers run out of things. They send kids down in the middle of my lesson to ask, "Mrs. Rogers wants to know if you have staples or Ms. Kelly needs stickers, do you have any?" Well, instead of me having to stop class and look...I can easily send a kiddo back to grab it.
This really helps my students and it's FREE from http://firstgradeglitterandgiggles.blogspot.com/!
This was my classroom library and I must admit that I loved it. This year my goal is to use QR codes to label each book and check them out to students. I ordered over 500 free books from Scholastic and I had a ton of them that students would borrow and not return. Not this year!
My team uses the clipchart for the first semester. Second semester we get bogged down with test prep...maybe table points or brownie points?
This is the ONLY WAY I will ever do homework AGAIN! I do Monday Homework Packets. Let's be serious with 64-67 kiddos at any given time, it's very hard to remember who was here what day of the week and what they missed. I used to DREAD Homework. I would hear, "You didn't give me mine." or "I forgot it at home." This way, all students get a homework packet on Monday. If they are absent, they get it on Tuesday. It is due on Friday and we grade in class. Check out my post.
This Little Piggy is water-logged from too much swimming!
