Almost December!?!?!

Can you believe it is almost December? I don't know about you, but I'm shocked we got here so fast! I know this time will fly by!

One thing I know for sure is how crazy behavior gets during this month! Kiddos are so excited for the holidays and we are all in need of a break!

One thing I do in my room to encourage positive behavior is Fun Friday. I know many of you do this, so I'm not reinventing anything, but this really works for me!

Each day students earn points for positive behavior. I use Class Dojo {click to read my post about Dojo} to give my students points all day long. I can give them points when we are on the go by using the Dojo app. All I have to say to my class is "I'm looking for someone... "and they all start doing what they are supposed to!

On Friday, the students are able to do self-selected activities for the last 15 minutes of the day. The student with the most points has first choice of activities.

 I printed these out, laminated them and hot glued them to ribbon. I pin a clip with the students name to the card of the activity they are going to. They chose their activity from the top point earner to the least.

Students fill out a form to show their parents their points for the week and I check off their behavior that week. I am able to show the parents what their child needs to work on as well, by circling the behavior area they need to work on.

My Fun Friday Freebie packet, with signs for Fun Friday and parent behavior forms are available for FREE in my TpT store. I hope it works for you!

Cyber Monday!

Thank you Ashley for the cutest latte drinking snowman ever!

I have been busy making last minute changes to a few products I have been waiting to post! My most recent product is Multiplication Sundaes. Considering I'm starting multiplication on Monday I thought it would be a good time to finish it!

This has everything you need to use sundaes as a reward for timed multiplication tests. The quizzes are included as well as the sundae cut-outs, end of year certificates, teacher grid, class graph and flash cards! They are all super cute and decorated with sundae. Talk about a constant reminder of the goal!

I hope all of you will enjoy the Cyber Monday sale!

You can browse my store here!

Turkey in the Oven... Time to Have a Sale

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm still stuffed from having Thanksgiving at my parents house and I am currently cooking for my in-laws to come over. So since the turkey's in the oven, I can talk about the TpT sale!

Ad courtesy of Mercedes at Surfing to Success

So I hope you enjoy placing stuff in your wishlist as you recover from the turkey coma or are waiting in the cold for Black Friday!

I've added a couple new items in my store over the break! Check out the good on sale at my store!

Check out other stores on sale at Surfing to Success.

Happy Shopping and Happy Eating!

Goal Setting

We are now in that time of year where the really big push before state testing begins. I know the students well and I'm ready to tackle the heavy duty stuff.

One of those things is goal setting. I think it is so important that students are aware of what they are striving for and how they are going to get there. The way I show them is by them setting goals and action steps for reaching their goals. I think the students are much more invested in their education when they understand the importance of the next milestone and how they will get there.

The first thing I start with is myself. I know I have to be strategic about what I teach and how. I have so little time, and I need to do the important things. I have a learning target poster that helps me stay focused on my mission that week or day.

 I made this into a poster and laminated it for my board.

The next thing I do is complete graphing of each students score with them. They color and label their graph. My school does NWEA Literacy and Math and DRA as our main points of data. The students graph their scores as well as their goal before and after a testing session.

 In addition to graphing data and goals, I am also having students complete weekly reflection sheets on their goals for the week as well as their action steps for completing each item.

On Monday they will make goals and action steps and Friday they will reflect on how their week went. I think this is an excellent way to keep students accountable.

I made up a packet for TpT that hopefully more than just me will be able to use!

It includes:
* graphing pages for DRA and NWEA as well as a blank template
*weekly goal setting sheets with and without cute pics for the older grades!
*Classroom posters of SMART goals and learning targets
*Bulletin board activity with goal t-shirts and conversation bubbles. Super cute! Trust me!
* I reached my goal class poster for weekly use
* End of year learning reflection
*Goal sheet specifically for testing with action steps for writing down all those good skills like rereading and showing work.
Click here to purchase {Student Goal Setting Packet}.

Do you use goal setting in your classroom? What has been successful for you?

Teacher Tip

I'm linking up with Miss. Kindergarten for her Teaching Tip Linky. I'm sure I'm not reinventing the wheel or anything with this one, but this has really helped me with group work. When students are working in groups each one of them has an assigned role.

Person 1 is the Materials Manager and is in charge of getting the materials for the group. This alleviates everyone running for the lined paper at once! I give this to the student that is not normally wandering the room.

Person 2 is the Recorder and is supposed to record the answers for the group. This job goes to the one with the prettiest handwriting.

Person 3 is the Leader/Volume Control and is in charge of keeping the group on track and quiet. This is the assignment you give to the student that has the most difficulty staying on track and having a classroom voice! :)

Person 4 is the Journalist. They are the ONLY one allowed to ask me a question. This alleviates the crowding around the teacher problem! I give this assignment to the student that is shy and usually doesn't ask questions.

My class absolutely adores this and will even assign each other roles when I don't!

Pic of Amy Lemon's badges from her blog post.

I also saw on pinterest a teacher gave each role a name badge on string. I think this would work great for younger grades. As I followed the pinterest link it was the famous Amy Lemons. Read about how she uses the roles {here}

Read more teaching tips on the linky!

Happy Veteran's Day everyone! Special shout out to my cousin who is currently serving in the Navy!

Hurricane Sandy Teachers Help Teachers

My heart goes out to all of the people on the east coast affected by Hurricane Sandy. I'm praying for all of you!

Laurah at the ESOL Odyssey is gathering resources for teachers affected by the hurricane. I can't even imagine losing all the materials that we all work so hard to create. I've donated my bucket filling packet because during hard times, I think it will be good for the children to find the good things in each other.

If you are a TpT or TN seller consider donating to the cause! Follow the link to find out more!

Click here to join in!