Data, Data, & MORE Data!

Hello Bloggy Friends!!

I have officially made it to the end of the first quarter, finished report cards, and had conferences with all my parents! 

Whew...that was super quick!

In this post I want to show you something that made mid-terms, report cards, and conferences a lot less painful/stressful/grueling/etc.... 

Here goes nothing...

One of my MAJOR goals this year is for my kiddos to take accountability for their own learning & behavior. I wanted it to be something that would:

1. Be extremely easy to manage. 
2. Be kid friendly.
3. Give me good data.

Enter the data folder...

 Each kiddo has one of these and having them on the file folder saves me a lot of paper clutter & paper shuffling when I need to find a certain page or student. Disclaimer: I am super OCD when it comes to clutter! 

 I just go here to my handy dandy hanging folder pocket thingy. Each kid's folder is bright & easy to find (and in ABC order...did I mention the OCD?). I just grab the folder & the kiddo & we get down to business.

So, do you wanna see inside the folder????

Heck yeah, you do!! 

Here is the front of the folder. It has the BIG skills that I will teach in math this 1st quarter. This is not all I will teach in 1st quarter, it's just the meat of the quarter that I think is the most important. I pre-assess them at the beginning of the quarter & I will assess again in the middle & at the end so that they can see the growth that they made! 

It's so cool! 

This sheet will change by the quarter. 

Inside the folder is literacy. Reading on the left & writing on the right. The reading sheet will stay in the folder the entire year. There is no need to change it. The writing sheet will change with each new writing unit. Right now we are doing personal narratives. At the bottom of the writing sheet we write in the goals that the student needs to work on. She decided on these goals by herself based on her own data...now, that's what I'm talking about!! 

 The weekly behavior page is on the back. On Friday, each child comes to me really quick to look at their behavior for the week. The STUDENT decides which face he deserves. Then, we talk about ways to improve. That's what I write in the comments so we can remember from week to week. 

 Now, that's accountability for ya! 

The pictures are from the 1st 4 weeks of school. When I got to the end of the quarter I had all the data right there to make filling out my mid-terms & report cards a breeze. 
Mainly, I LOOOOVEEE the fact that the students are super involved in this process. Anyone can come to my room & ask one of my students about reading, writing, math, or behavior goals & the students can either tell them or they can show them the folder. It is awesome!! 

So here's the packet...my sweet friend Kim from Mrs. J's Jitterbugs created it! 
She said that I can give one away for FREEEEE!!

OMG..you could win this baby!!

1. Just follow her TpT Store 

2. Leave me a comment on this post to tell me that you followed         her.

3. You can win one of your very own!! 

There are pages for CCSS standards in math for the year. There are also pages for writing- narrative, opinion, & information. You saw the reading & high frequency words & behavior pages. Seriously check it out...you will LOVE it just like me!! 

Show my friend some love!! 

Fun With Social Studies

 Hello Bloggy Friends! 

We have been in school for 3 1/2 weeks now & we are finally easing in, following procedures, in the swing of routines, and just ready to rock & roll our way through first grade! 

One of my favorite Social Studies units to teach is neighborhoods, communities, & schools. We talk about what each one is & who the leaders are for each one. 

I start the unit with a little "All About Me" tie in. We make our self portraits to introduce ourselves as part of our classroom neighborhood. I looovvve the directed drawing portraits that are in the packet from First Grade Blue Skies. You can find it here.

 Aren't they just too cute! They always turn out awesome!! 

Then we make our classroom neighborhood. This is also a little geometry tie in because it uses so many different shapes. I just love the way that these turned out. They add so much color to the back of my classroom.

We have been working through this Authority Figures  packet from my friend Cassie at Adventures in Teaching. It is perfect for teaching them who the leaders are in the community, at home, & at school. It is packed with awesome activities! 

Here is our bulletin board for leaders in our school & leaders at home. 

I hope you are having a great start, or are getting ready for a great start! 

2015-2016 Classroom Picture OVERLOAD!!

Hello Bloggy Friends!

The 2015-2016 school year is off and running! My students scampered in bright & early on Thursday morning. 

Here is what they saw...

This is taken from the doorway looking in.

This was taken from the back of the room to the front. My door is just to the right out of the pic.

It all look a little naked right now until I get some student work up!

This is where the small group magic will be happening!

My window with the cutie pie curtains that my mom made for me! 

My writing & science boards that hang above the small group teacher table. You can't tell here, but they have polkadot border & solid colored border. I love the layered look! 

My math board...I LOVE the pennant banners! So much cuter than the boring old die cut letters!

I am a Conscious Discipline classroom so I have to have a "Safe Spot". This is where they come to chill out, calm down, & just collect themselves so that they can  focus on learning....

I had the art teacher paint this tree for me. I took pictures of all the families that came to Open House & I will add them to our class family tree. It hangs above our safe spot so that they can be comforted by seeing their families! <3

My naked word wall...

A closer shot....

The other side of my board...I know, boring! It will get filled up!! I promise!

My calendar board...again, LOVE the polkadot layered borders! 

Here is my cutie pie rocker that my mom painted & made a pillow for! Just love it!!

My counter/ sink area. Yep, my mom made these cutie curtains, too! I love them. They hide my construction paper & read alouds! I hate to see clutter!

I got these awesome pencil containers & inspirational sign from Target. They rocked the dollar spot this year!  

This is my door!

This is my job board that also doubles as a name chart. You can get the job cards here.

My reading board...excuse the nakedness!

Social Studies...

This hanging file will hold their personal data folders...they will be tracking their own data. I'll blog about that later! 

My class leveled library...The rainbow carts will hold unfinished work.

These signs hang over my table groups. They all have a different color & shape. I love to squeeze in learning whenever I can. I may call them by color, by shape, or by attributes of their shapes...oh, the possibilities....

My mini lesson area. The red step was made by my stepdad because my board doesn't go up & down and most of my littles couldn't reach the board! Problem solved! 

I put these on my mean, harsh flourescent lights...the lighting is so much softer now. It made a HUGE difference! 

This sign hangs outside of my door with my class list.

I got this banner from First Grade Blue Skies & it is SUPER cute!!

More banner...

The whole wall leading up to my door....excuse the trash can! 

This is leading up to my door from the other side of the hallway...

Well, that's it!

I'll post again when I get more stuff up & you can see the cuteness!!

Thanks for looking!! 

Reflection Post #4~ Teacher Clothes!

Hello Bloggy Friends!! 

Well, it's that time in the program where I have to retire the yoga pants & t-shirts during the week and bring out the teacher clothes! 

Yes, I am officially back to school! Ahhhhh~ where did my summer go??

Today I am blogging about my favorite teacher clothes! 

You should know that I do not dress super fancy at work & I NEVER wear heels!! I am waaaay too uncoordinated for that! 

I do try to dress professionally while still being as comfy as possible. There is never a time that you want to be up there teaching & have on that one pair of pants that give you a constant wedgie! 

Am I right???

So, here are some of my go to's for comfort...

I loooove a maxi skirt. They are the most comfortable things EVER. They look nice, can be dressed up or dressed down, and you can still sit on the floor with your kiddos- which I do a LOT. 

My sparkly Toms are some of my favorite shoes...they feel like you're wearing slippers. Although, my friends tell me that they are out and Tieks are in. So, I may need to snag a pair of those! 

On Fridays we get to wear jeans & teacher shirts....it is AWESOME! 

I wear tons of cardigans- I have them in just about every color! They are so versatile & look nice. Not to mention that my room is like an icebox & I am FREEZING without one! 

I also love to jazz things up with a cute little scarf. I don't usually end up with it on by the end of the day though because they always seem to get in the way when I am working with the kiddos! That's ok...they are still super cute & add a nice touch to the outfit. 

And who doesn't have their go-to pair of khakis. You know that pair that you put on when you have HAD it! You are bloated, you just want to be comfy all day, and well...you know....

Throw these babies on with a polo & your Nike's & all is good! 

So, that's it! I'm all about being COMFORTABLE when I am teaching! 

What about you?? 

What's your teacher clothing must haves??

Calm Down!!

Hello blog friends!

Many of you know that my school switched to Conscious Discipline last school year. One of the big components is teaching students how to calm themselves down so that they can think before they react & do something that may not be the best choice.

One of the things that I do is to use calming items.

 I have made plenty of these...

 (this is a 12 oz water bottle)

    This is before shaking.         

This is after shaking.

Glitter storm!! 

While I was at the beach I found these fun little calming toys~

This is before the flip...

This is after the flip!

BUBBLES!!

I also found these...

This is before the flip...

This is after the flip! 

This is one of my faves because you have to try to get all the sand down to the bottom! 

I think it will be super calming! 

All of these items settle after about a minute to a minute & a half. 

**REMEMBER... if you are using things like this in your class you will have to teach the procedure for each one! 

I will not put any item out until my students know exactly how to use them & what my expectation is for the item!! 

What about you? 

Do you use calming aids with your students??