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??

Reflection #3 Now Hiring!

Hello Blog Friends!

Today I am blogging about classroom jobs.

Work it!! 

I have always had classroom jobs for my kiddos. They LOVE to have a job & contribute to our classroom community. To be honest, I LOVE to have the extra help with things around the room.

I don't usually have a job for every student...but, now that we are using Conscious Discipline, every student gets a job so that they will feel like they are a part of the school family. 

Now, managing 20 jobs can be a bit cuh-ray-zee overwhelming! So, I picked jobs that I genuinely need & that are VERY important to the functioning of my classroom.

Here's a rundown:

1. Line Leader- duh, someones gotta get us where we're going.

2. Door Holder- don't let the door hit ya....well, you know!

3. Trash Helper- This person helps with trash in the room & in the cafeteria.

4. Chair Stacker- stack those chairs at the end of the day!

5. Snack Helper- our school provides snack. This person goes to get it & passes it out.

6. Recess Bag- carries out the bag of balls, chalk, jump ropes, etc...we gotta play!

7. Lights- another fave...who knew flipping the light switch could be so exhilarating!?

8. Computer Kid- turn 'em on, sign 'em in, & at the end of the day shut 'em down!  This one takes a very responsible kiddo!

9. Teacher Helper- this kiddo is at my beck and call! There's no telling what this kiddo will have to do! I do make sure that this kiddo has stuff to do every day! 

10.Table Washer- washes those lunch tables...also wipes down class tables when we have spills & such.

11. Fork Collector- collects everyone's forks at lunch & gives them to the dishwasher...gross but they LOVE this one.

12. Sweeper- sweeps the cafeteria after lunch & sweeps the classroom at the end of the day. 

13. Paper Passer- another fave...passing out paper to everyone is AWESOME!

14. Mailbox Manager- this one gets everyone's agenda & homework folder out of the mailboxes & puts them on student desks so that I can fill them out before Operation Pack Up! 

15. Calendar- before the bell rings in the morning, this kiddo puts the new date on the calendar AND...wait for it...gets to write it ON. THE. BOARD!! WOWZA!!

16. Heart Helper- This one passes out the class hearts before morning meeting. Read about that HERE.

17. Cubby Kid- This kid takes care of one of my biggest pet peeves!! He makes sure that everyone's backpacks, jackets, etc are IN the cubbies...not on the floor, not on the counter, IN the cubbies! 

18. Sink Cleaner- We eat breakfast in the classroom so the sink gets GROSS! This person cleans it, strains all the cereal (gross, right?!), & makes sure that the soap & paper towels are stocked.

19. Librarian- I am super picky about this job! This kiddo makes sure that the leveled library is on point! She has to re-file all the books that are re-shopped everyday back into their proper place. 

20. Caboose- Someone's gotta close the door when we leave the room, right! :)

So, that's a run down of my jobs...

I rotate the jobs each Monday so that everyone gets a new job each week. It's really simple, works really well for me, & it is STRESS free! Before ANY jobs are assigned I make sure that I have REALLLLY taught the expectations & procedures for each job. If I see that a job is not being done to my liking I stop the presses & reteach it right then & there! 

So, that's it!! 

If you've hung around this long you will be glad to know that there is a FREEBIE in it for you!! 

Woo Hoo!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave feedback & click the " FB Share" button or "Pin it" button in my TpT store! :)

Reflection Post #2- Math

Hello Friends!

Here I go with another reflection post...look at me!

Today's post will be about math. 

Math is my favorite subject to teach & I think that I do a pretty good job getting my kiddos on grade level. :)

Here are my reflections:

1. REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION is the key!
2. Kids LOVE to play math games!
3. I am not great at spiraling, but I did get much better this year.

To address the above I started to create my own math centers that were based on the CCSS, but, more importantly, on the needs of my classroom. Since I change my math centers pretty frequently I knew that 2 things had to occur...#1 they had to be centers that could be printed using NO COLORED INK & #2 they had to be centers that were completely independent (repetitive). I make VERY small changes, but the centers remain engaging & stimulating to the students. So, I came up with these math packets...

*I am making more of these! I wanted to make sure that they would meet the needs of my students! 

The activities in these packets are engaging, fun, competitive, independent, spiraled, and REPETITIVE! I used them in my class this year & they were always a hit. I think that the kiddos liked the fact that they looked new each time, but were played in the same way. Once I taught the activities my kiddos were good to go for the rest of the year. It was super-awesome for me to be able to work with my small groups & not have to worry about the rest of the class goofing off being off task!

My centers & my homework are spiraled to ensure that my kiddos are keeping all the math strands fresh. I have worked hard to spiral this year & I know that I will have to work even harder this next school year! :) 

Reflection Post #1- Conscious Discipline

Hi Blog Friends~

I am doing a series of posts on my reflections on this last school year (2014-2015).

I am doing it mostly for me, but I thought that some of you may benefit from it as well.

So, reflection #1 has to do with BEHAVIOR...

My school started Conscious Discipline right after the Winter Break. Here are my thoughts:

1. It is a LOT of work!
2. I like the philosophy of CD & I think it will be a good move for my school. It's just going to take a little time. My principal keeps reminding me that it is a marathon & not a sprint.
3. It has some very valuable components that are perfect for my Title 1, high poverty, high ESL population school. I LOVE the problem solving skills that I am instilling, morning meetings, rituals, school family, & building a safe environment. My kiddos need ALL of these things. 
4. It is a LOT of work!
5. I am glad that I will start it at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year instead of in the middle of the year because I think that it will be easier to start with them from Day 1!

That being said, I have been thinking (& searching Pinterest) for things that I would like to incorporate to support the CD philosophy in my classroom. Here are some that I especially liked.

(You can click any of the pics to be taken to the original Pin)

I am thinking that I will have a tree similar to this in my SAFE PLACE with pics of my kiddos & their families. That way when they go there to calm down or to just feel safe, they will have something comforting to look at. :)

The 3 parts of an apology! I worked REALLY hard to instill this in my kiddos this year. I am definitely incorporating it next year! It is a SUPER skill for all of us to have!! 

I am planning on making lots of charts like this- mine will need more pics! They just need to learn HOW to solve problems. They have never been taught & I think that this is a valuable tool not only in first grade, but for their entire lives! :)

So, there you have it!
 If you have any other suggestions, comments, information...PLEASE leave me a comment or shoot me an email! 

Thanks friends!! :)