The Myth of the Perfect Classroom!

The perfect classroom day! What does it look like to you? What does it feel like? Sound like? How did it "go down"? I think that it's absolutely hilarious when interns/volunteers come in and they actually see life in the classrooms. The wide eyed looks are taken in with much sympathy and empathy from me because I know how they feel.  It's NOT like those videos they show you in class, is it? Or like in the movies. Not AT ALL! The little ones talk and move around constantly and the big ones do, too! They just do it on a larger scale and with attitude! Not all of them; the majority of them are really good! 

As a 12 year veteran in the classroom and the ultimate perfectionist, I have learned to just go with the flow. Sounds like an oxymoron but those of you who suffer from my same affliction of perfectionism and who are in the field of education know what I am talking about...sometimes you just have learn to let some things things go. If you don't you will drive yourself into an early grave and have to be heavily medicated and imbibe in some strong spirits after school OR you will cause yourself unnecessary stress and ain't nobody got time for that.  You could also end up like me who deals with life struggles with sarcasm and humour, too! That gets me by pretty well! LOL!  We all know that in reality your days and how you perceive you lessons, your kids, and the flow of your classroom look nothing like this

but seem more like this

Are you nodding your head?? Let me share some humour with you! 

Last Friday, my room looked similar to the image above, except we were taking a test. I got a call from the office that a child was leaving. Child gets up and starts to pack while the walkers are waiting for them. The other kids at their desks are waiting for me patiently to finish the test with them.

Now comes a knock at the door. Two kids are standing there with a box and a note. 

Kid 1: "I don't know why my teacher is giving you this box. There's nothing in here"

Kid 2: (standing there twirling hair): Here's the note....

Then they start to walk away

Me: No! Wait! Don't go yet! 

**Mind you, I still have kids waiting for me to finish the test and the kids waiting for me to dismiss them to the office as I am still putting papers in the folder, marking behaviour folder).

I unfold the note and I learn that one of my fellow teachers needs feminine items and that I was to *discretely* place the items in the box. Gotcha! 

Ok... I got this. 

I run to my purse and place the items in the box and as I look over I see chaos start to ensue. The kids at their desks are getting restless and talking to the kids who are waiting for the feminine items and Kid 2 is STILL twirling her hair oblivious to the impending chaos around her, the kids are waiting for me to give them the folder that I still had clutched in my hands, and NOW I hear another knock at the door!!

OMGoodness!!!

I quickly get the office kids on their way (I'm buzzed again to see what the delay is!! They have NO idea!!!). 

I give the box to the other kids and threaten them to not look in the box in case they discover a new type of q-tip or something. Kid 2 is still oblivious and twirling her hair! It was so funny!! 

And I open the door to let the other kids out and another set of kids in!!!

It was chaos in the span of 10 minutes! 

At that moment in time, I decided that I had to stop the test as I had lost them at that point and that we would have to continue another day when they were more focused instead of having the constant carousel of children coming in and out of our door!! 

The perfectionist teacher in me would have tried to regain control and continued on with the test; however in reality I know they would not have given me their best given all he distractions of the afternoon. I had to cut my losses and move on. 

Please tell me you've had days like this! It was too comical not to share and I know you all feel my pain and can laugh at my day! 

The myth of the perfect classroom simply does not exist. And I am thankful for that! I will take my chaotic classroom where real teaching and situations arise any day!!! 

Valentine's Day Gifts for your Students! And no candy needed!!!

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share a cute idea I had when I walked into my local Michael's store! I had originally gone in there to buy some things for little kinder-baby's Valentine's day box when I got distracted! I NEVER get distracted there, I know, but I saw these cute 50% off holiday toys!! (I'd RUN now, if you are reading this post!! and did I mention they have a 30% off coupon, too?? Look at their website.  If you miss out, you can use your teacher discount of 15% off). I knew just the thing for them! 

I am not a huge fan of candy on Valentine's Day! I'll be honest and I did say it out loud. I rather give them something fun and non-candyish. So when I saw these items on sale, I had to make cute little gifts for my boys and myself to give out! 

(I used an exacto knife to cut a slit and then taped it to the back to secure it)

How cute are these and the dentist will love us for it!! And since I love you all so much, download them for FREE here!! 

                         

Click on any of the pictures to download! 

There are color and ink-saving versions. I had colored card stock and used the ink saving version. So easy and cute!! 

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

Plickers: A Great Assessment Alternative

 

I am always on the lookout for new technology and new apps to better enhance my classroom. I am a 1:1 IPAD classroom and I use my student computers in the my classroom (they are super slow and can be frustrating!!). I do use my iPhone for some apps for teacher management like the Kagan Student Selector but I was on the lookout for an easy way to assess my students, use some technology and get instant, real-time results.I also didn't want for my firsties to be bringing in ipods, ipads, and such of their own. Its so hard to manage all that and a classroom, too! 

Plickers is the answer! I love that I can give a quick assessment after a lesson (if I am not doing an exit slip) and the kids love it. I can say I am in LOVE with it. It is SUPER easy and the best part is that only the teacher uses a technology device (my kids get plenty of technology use with our Interactive Board and IPad) and did I mention it's FREE for teachers??

 

So, just log into www.plickers.com and sign up.  I found that opening Plickers in my Mozilla Firefox browser works much better than in the Google Chrome. When I use Chrome not all the features work. Another thing to keep in mind when using this. You also have to download the app to your phone or device. 

 

Once you do that, you  have the technology part down, now get your students logged in. 

 

I really love the fact that each card is different. How many times have you asked an answer and the kids have looked around at their peers and choose their peer's answers and not their own. Or have asked a question and not everyone gives you their non-verbal response (a thumbs up or down, 3-2-1 fingers, etc...)? Again, this tool makes sure that everyone is accountable.

 

I have a numbered system in my class so this worked out beautifully. It displays the name and number. After you assign the cards, you can start inputting your classes or subject area.

 

Once you click on your "Library" you will see all the questions you have typed for every subject area. 

 

The only drawback here is that I cannot display a picture.  I guess I could also toggle screens to a picture and have my question match. Hopefully that is a feature that will come up in the future.

So, now that you got the app installed, the classes made, and questions typed, you are ready to get your Plicker on! LOL! 

 

I always display the Live View on my projector screen. It's a nice big visual display and the students get to see the instant results, too!  Seriously, it takes about 5 minutes or less for you to scan and see the data populate.

 

Now, here is the part I love. I can see on my  little screen above who is answering correctly and not. It also tallies how many students have answered and it shows who I am waiting for to respond. 

 

I really do not show this screen above because I don't want kids to feel bad or those who like to shout a big "YES!" to get all hyped! We do celebrate on participating by giving each other a high five or a "Whoop-Whoop!". 

 

For my classroom use, I have used this for math centers and science/social studies. (I have not ventured into ELA yet but will soon!)  After each whole-group lesson, I do a Plickers Poll and see how they did. Then I form my groups from there. As you can see, you can use this for any subject area and use the data to help you manage groups or reteach or enrich. Again, just another tool in our teacher assessment arsenal-- besides good old fashioned paper and pencil exit slips-- just digital! 

Hope that you will try out Plickers with your classroom! I'd love to hear how you used it and how your class has responded to it! 

Florida Snowy Days are here!

Happy New Year Friends! Long time no blog! We've been super busy getting into the swing of things and chugging along! These past 2 weeks we've been studying winter and snow. Kinda funny, right, when I love in Florida but Florida kids need to have some winter fun, too! We started with The Snowy Day and followed Peter on his snowy day adventure. I even found a read aloud online. You can check it out here. I loved the sound effects! We also did a writing and art project. The kids loved the art and painting a snowy scene.

I LOVE how they came out! So adorable! If you'd like to make these, click on the pictures below to download the tracers and writing paper!

Of course, we had to have a snowball fight! Florida style! They had no clue what we were doing! 

I made some buckets of fake snow. 

Then I let them get a handful and off they went! I was only able to get one shot since I had bucket duty but I assure you from the snow covered hair and squeals of delight and laughter, they had a blast! 

This week we started talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. and I don't know about you, but sometimes, I do have difficulty talking about this difficult time in our history. I am not saying that we shouldn't talk about it or discuss it but sometimes kids just don't always understand. I hate having to explain that there was a time when people were segregated and I always get the question, "Why?" Good question, sweetie! It is a good topic for discussion and we always talk about how we should love and treat each other with respect. I always take this time to talk about how Dr. King inspired others for greatness. For my bulletin board display this year, we talked about how they can inspire others in the future. We talked about how our dreams can shape the future. The responses were so sweet (yes, even the one about being Batman! We all need superheroes! ha!). I just posed a few but I loved how it came out. I think I need to change the letters so it pops out more but I love the messages behind their words! Kids are my inspiration!

Click on the picture to download this freebie writing paper! 

The kids loved about about their dreams. They are so important! They love to share their ideas with you and each other! 

Hope you got some great ideas (and freebies!) to help you this week! Have a great week!