A Behavior Freebie

This year is the first year that our students are coming all day the first day of school.  In the past they have come for an hour and half.  Which made for a crazy first day, but I loved having the afternoon to put away all the supplies that the students bring to school.

So now that the students are coming all day I have been looking for more ideas what I can have the students do.  That’s when I came across a Jodi’s Linky Party from Fun in First.  I haven’t read all the links yet, but I’m getting some ideas.  So here at two activities that I plan on doing on the first day of school.

#1 First Day Jitters

Sometimes the students have heard this book before in 1^st grade, but most of the time they don’t remember what it is about.

The students complete these worksheets as we read the book from Joanne Griffen’s Website.

#2  Rules

We all know that going over the school rules are very important on the 1^st day.  Our school implements P.B.I.S. for behavior.  Our school has 4 rules that are the same no matter what classroom you are in.  The 4 school rules are:

Be Respectful

Be Caring

Be Here, Be Ready

Be Safe

The rules are in order so both students and staff members can remember them.  (R.C.H.S. for R.C. Hill School)

Many years ago I created a Student Behavior Handbook that goes home with the students.  When I made this booklet I didn’t create all my things on the computer like I do on.  So it’s a very basic booklet.  You can check out the link here.  It’s under the letter “B”. 

It’s that document that inspired this idea.  Why not have the students create their own that we can reference during the year.  If the students create it then they will have more ownership right?  Well I hope so.

There are two pages for each setting of our school to fit our 4 school rules.  Students can write and illustrate how that rule fits that setting.  I’m thinking students will work in pairs on this one and we will have one class book.

You can download this for free on TPT.

New (School) Year Resolutions

Hooking up with Teaching Maddeness again with her latest linky party New Years Resoltions.  I always have great intentions with New Year Resoultions (both school year and personal), but I always seem to end up failing at them. 

So maybe now that I have put my resoultions out here in bloggy land I will do a better job of it this school year.

#1  Being more organized
This seems to be on the top of my resoultion list every year.  I start off doing okay but then the students come with all their stuff, meetings, etc. and the organization goes out the window.  I'm sure by now everyone has heard about the Teachers Toolbox.  I have bought my toolbox from Lowes, and have my scrapbooking paper.  (Purple zebra stripes- my favorite color) So hopefully this weekend I will get that completed. 
I have two teammates that have super clean desks all the time.  So my teachers desk is the start of my organization.

So being organized leads into my next resolution.

#2 Putting everything away before I leave.
This will also help with #1.  So many afternoons when the bell rings I stand in the hallway and talk with the other teachers about our day.  By the time I'm done talking I look at the time and call it a day.  I tell myself I will clean up in the AM but that doesn't work.  So I have to make myself stay and tidy things up before I leave. 

#3 My Blog
Last June I started this blog.  My plan was to take pictures and blog about the activities that we do.  Well I didn't do a good job of that at all last year. 

#4 Try and stay positive
Last year our district/school saw many changes in Admin.  We started MAP testing with students for the first time last year, and have several Math changes too.  Yes, Math changes.  We started off the year with new pacing charts that were aligned to CCSS.  Then after 1st qtr. that was changed to something new called Complete Curriculum that didn't really fit our needs.  Now this school we year adopted My Math.  Hopefully math will go much smoother this year.
Now that is all in the past. I'm ready for a fresh start and dwell on what I can't control.

That should do it for my New School Year Resoulutions. Now that I put resoultions out here in bloggy land for all to read. That should help me to stick with them. 

I will be back later this week with a Back to School Freebie.  Maybe even some pictures of my classroom.  (Today I got word that my classroom has been cleaned and ready for teachers to come.) I didn't really want to go in until next week, but now that it is ready I'm not sure I can stay away.

A New Addition to My Blog

A few weeks ago I had someone suggest having things offered in Spanish.  Since I don't know how to speak let alone write in Spanish this isn't something I can do.  It seemed like a great idea. So I asked my friend Virginia Duran to come on board with me and create things in Spanish.  Virginia will be blogging here soon.  She has some great ideas to share.  Yesterday Virginia and I were going to take our picture to share on here, but I forgot all about it.  Since I was at Virginia's wine tasting party maybe that was a good thing.  I promise I will get a picture uploaded of the two of us so you can "Meet us".



In my general education classroom. I usually have about 5 families where English/Spanish is spoken at home, and there is usually a few that is just Spanish. Our school sends newsletters and things like that in Spanish.  But the things that I send home it's only in English. Usually an older brother or sister translate things for the parents.  Of course as a classroom teacher I always want all of my parents to read what I send home.

So now that I have Virginia on board I now have a back to school survey that I  send home.  Of course Virginia might have to read the survey's when they come back to me if they write in Spainish.

My Parent Brag Sheet is a two pages where I ask questions about their child.  This is the parents time to brag about their child; telling me about their child at school and at home.  You learn so much just from reading these.  I always tell my students this is homework for the parents.  They get such a great kick out of that.    I have to warn you though  you might need some kleenex when you read these. 

The second part I added to the file is a student survey.  This is for the students to fill out in class. (3 pages)

So between these two surveys you get a well rounded picture of the student/family.  If you are interested in purchasing this they can be found at TPT and TN.  I apologize if the thumbnails at TPT are not working. 

 In Spanish TPT   TN

In English TPT   TN

So what are some other suggestions that you would like to see in English/Spanish?  Any suggestions would be great.  Just leave a comment below and we will take your requests into consideration.

Rockin' Resources

There are so many great linky parties out there in bloggy land. Rockin’ Resources is a great one for this time of year hosted by Kelley from Teacher Idea Factory (BTW- I also love her dad, Ron Browns CD’s.  I have a few of them and use them all the time. )

 I couldn’t resist linking up to this one.   I’m finding lots of great ideas that are on my wish list now. 

Well here at my Top 5 Rockin' Resources.  (In no particular order.)

#1  The Scotch Laminator

I bought this at Target for about $27 a few years ago with a gift card from one of my Christmas presents from a student.  Even without the gift card it was one of the best purchases I have made!  I keep this at home.  I actually like using this more than our school laminator.  Plus we don’t have to hear about how much laminating we used or how the laminator keeps breaking.  Which BTW the teachers can’t use anymore since we kept breaking it, but it still breaks down all the time.

#2  Dry Erase Boards

Dry erase boards are great to use with students.  I have one for each of my students.  I love how it saves on paper and it makes for a quick and easy assessment.  I use it every single day.

#3  Chair Pockets

Well you won’t find this one at the stores. My mom made these for my class.  I’m always telling her she should sell them.  There isn’t a lot of storage in the student desks, so this helps store light things like folders or spirals.  It also helps keeps the students organized. 

#4  Nametags

I love how you can reuse them.  I use them for student lunch numbers in the beginning of the year.  Also good for field trips.

#5  Paper cutter

I have one of these in my classroom and at home.  Our school is huge.  So when I need to cut some paper it isn’t always easy to make it down to the teacher’s lounge.  It makes it so easy to have in the classroom.

Well that's my Top 5 Rockin' Resources.  It was much harder than I thought to narrow it down to 5. 

Happy T.G.I.F.

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Let's just say cooking isn't one of my hobbies.  I don't hate cooking.  It's just a lot of work for one person. Plus there is the clean up.  That's the part about cooking I dislike the most.  It is so much easier just to make a quick sandwhich, salad, or just eat out.  (Which this summer I have done way too much!!)

Well every once in awhile I don't mind cooking as well long as it is something simple to make.

 The other day I had a friend over for dinner so I thought I would link up with Susan from T.G.I.F.  Linky party it's her first linky party. 

I actually had all the ingredients for this recipe so I made it for the very first time.  (Minus the shredded cheese, but it was still good)

Taco Pasta

1 pound ground beef
8-12 ounces medium pasta shells or other small dry pasta shapes, cooked and drained
1/2 cup pasta water
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, drained (if making this for kids, you might want to use just plain diced tomatoes)
1 packet (4 tablespoons) taco seasoning
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Add in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit if it is still too thin. Toss in the cilantro right before serving. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and serve. 

Last year when I first started my blog I had a cooking linky party.  I believe I only had 3 people link up.  So if  you missed that you can check out the recipes.

Last year's Cooking Linky Party

Then during the past school year I had also posted another recipe.

Easy Dinner Recipe

Coming Soon to my blog-  I will be having one of my co-workers joining me.  Virginia is a first grade bilingual teacher. I look forward to blogging with her. Virginia has lots of good ideas.   So check back soon to meet Virginia.   

One more thing.  Courtney from Swimming Into Second is having a 1000 follower giveaway.  Today one of the items she is giving away is from me.  Check it out!

Construction Theme and Giveaway Winner

This summer our school is under construction.  Two new classrooms are being built, kindergarten classes are being redesigned, and a bunch of outside work.  So when our school leadership met to discuss a new theme for the 2012-13 school year Construction theme was the winner.

I've been trying to find construction theme ideas, but haven't found that many.  Most construction theme rooms are pre-k.  So far I haven't how I am going to decorate my room.  Usually by now I have my room planned out, things purchased, and ready to set up my classroom.

I'm starting to get nervous about what I'm going to do, and when we will be able to get into our classrooms.  On Thursday I did purchase my first 2 items for my construction theme.

 I purchased a blue construction hat.  (One of our school colors is blue.)  I'm thinking I might add a label to front- R.C. Hill Construction Worker or something like that.  On the first day I always take their picture so I thought this would be perfect.

I also purchased the fancy dangling construction cut-outs.   I know I still need to buy the yellow caution tape.  Other than that I am having trouble finding things that I like.  I guess it's time to be creative and make my own things.

And the winner of my 600 Follower Giveaway is  . . . .

Liz Langhoff  Congratulations!  I will be emailing you after this post to talk about which 6 free items you want and your TPT gift certificate. 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homeworkopoly

When I first started teaching 2nd grade about 10 years ago.  (I can't believe I've been teaching 2nd for that long.)  I started playing Homeworkopoly with my students. I haven't done Homeworkopoly in awhile since I changed to rewarding students with PAW tickets.  This was a part of our school wide PBIS program.  Students could earn PAW tickets for following the school rules.  One of the school rules was to Be Here Be Ready (which includes having your homework completed.)

So I did not want to compete with our PBIS school store so I put away my homeworkopoly board.  Well of course times change and PBIS is still part of our school, but now we can have more freedom to incorporate our own things. 

That got me thinking of bringing out my homeworkopoly board again for homework.  Then out of the blue I had a customer asking me about my homeworkopoly board.  So I got my old file out and I started to take a look at it.  Of course I had to revamp it.   There are so many more graphics out there I had to do some tweaking. 

Well here is a picture of it.  The picture is kind of dark since the board is sitting on my kitchen table.

A closer look at some of the spots on the game board.

Homeworkopoly is  a great way to motivate students to complete their homework and turn it in by Friday.  (I have weekly homework packets.)  I only played on Fridays.  Once the students got the hang of playing it really did not take a long time. I would do this on Friday mornings when students work on the morning journals. 

If you are interested in my School Kids Homeworkopoly Board Game you can purchase it for $8 at my TPT and TN stores.

No promises, but I hope to do a couple of themed ones as well.  It does take a lot of time to work on.  I'm thinking of a sportsolopy as my next one.


Of course if you enter my giveaway.  This could be one of the items you may choose.

Stayed tune for some an exciting news about my blog.