It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... for classroom behavior?!

I want to share an oldie but goodie with you today and I'm linking up with my friends at i Teach Second.  One that I just absolutely love.  We do "bucket filling" at our school, but to do this, you don't NEED to be using it to be successful!

So, the biggest challenge going back after Turkey break--is the impending excitement of December.  I mean, what kid DOESN'T get excited about December, no matter what holiday they celebrate?  There's excitement all around, and in little bodies it's just harder to contain than in our bigger, adult bodies.  ;)

This is a quick, easy idea to get students thinking about others.  I created a little pack for filling STOCKINGS.  The pre-made recording sheet makes it simple for even the littlest-little to complete.  One extra step that I do is that I type up a class list of names for each student.  They circle their own name, so we know who's list it is when I find it on the floor it gets misplaced.

I realize that I do not have an example of the writing the kids did.  {I was out on maternity leave last year and didn't snap pics, obviously... and I'm unable to locate any from 2 years ago.  BUT-this pack is free, so feel free to download and decide for yourself if you think it's something you'd like!}  Click {HERE} or on the picture below to download your freebie!

Make sure to check out all my other friends' great ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Currently-December!?

I can't believe it's December already.  I also can't believe that I'm linking up with this month's currently from Oh Boy, 4th Grade!

I'm currently listening to the dishwasher working... and it's not me or the hubs.  I'm excited because I just got all new dishes (a black friday "steal" for me!)  We are now a family of 5.. and had 8 settings that were starting to chip, crack and break.  With only 8 plates... that meant doing dishes almost every day!  

Loving-that it's December.  While it's crazy, chaotic and just plain tiring sometimes... it's my favorite month.  It's full of excitement and wonder.  It's full of family and fun and LOTS of traditions.

Thinking--there's NO way I'm getting everything done.  THREE kids.  What was I thinking?!  ha!  So much to wrap and do... plus there's that thing called SCHOOL!?  And we go to the bitter end of December 23... and that's even a full day.  I know it'll be here in a blink though.

Wanting-a maid.  Who wouldn't?!  My littles just aren't keeping up and would never make a good maid.  For that fact-neither would I.  I have a mentality that they are only little once and I'd rather not miss out on family fun because I was cleaning the house....  though.  A clean house is a happy one!  Or, maybe we could say a relatively clean house?!  {How clean is it ever going to be with 3 boys and a husband???}

Needing-SLEEP!  My littlest is not sleeping... Now, I always blame everything on teething.  But, I think it's true this time.  Tonight I saw what looked to be an outline of a molar ready to come through!  Poor thing has had fevers off an on... and just crying in his sleep, if he's not crying awake.  Add in that thing called school and I'm just beat..

Tree---REAL!  I used to always have a fake one... then we found a tradition about 4-5 years ago.  There's a local tree farm near us that takes you out to their trees on a horse drawn wagon...  We always go on Black Friday after lunch with my parents.  This year the weather was beautiful.  Here's a few pics from our day:

We FINALLY found the perfect tree after walking around FOREVER! 

Chopping it down!  My biggest Little actually cut most of it down, after daddy and grandpa helping him get started.

Getting ready to decorate... the littlest little was a bit drool-y... he also had a fever that night, but was in good spirits.  He loved throwing the ornaments like they were balls...

Rock Your Conferences!

Hi all!  Fall is such a busy time of year getting to know your littles, getting into a routine (both school and home) and lots of time spent planning and preparing for what feels like a never-ending to do lists.

How many of you cringe at the thought of parent conferences?  Years ago, my hand would be up.  I was always SO nervous to meet with parents and discuss their children.  I never knew what to talk about.  You don't have a class on that in college!  Mix that with all those comments others tell non-mommy teachers about how their teaching will change once you have kids of your own.  I NEVER believed that...  bam.  10 years later-oh my word.  They were right.

I have a few tips to have a successful parent conference-no matter how many hours you will be putting in...  (I put in over 14 hours in 1 1/2 days....  well, not even a half.  My first day is about 13-13.5 hours... and I will have about 2 hours the following morning)

Tip 1:
Don't just stick with "scores" or data.  Trust me.  Eyes will glaze over.  As a teacher, if my children's teachers went over data, I'd be fine.  My husband on the other hand---no clue.  In fact, stay clear of acronyms too!  Parents just want to know how their child is doing.  Are they on target?  How can they help at home to get them to the target.  Chances are, 99.9% of parents know how their child is doing.... telling them how poorly their child is doing doesn't help the home front.  This also includes going over standards...  With all the negative press around standards (especially that Common Core one! ;) ), you don't want to find yourself in a heated conversation over those!  

{Numbers are important---but shouldn't be a central focus of your conference.  Try having student goals and teacher goals to talk about too!}

Tip 2:
Make sure you have enough positives to tell parents!  This comes from a mama who has "difficult" children at home.  Honestly speaking, most nights/days I feel like I'm a failure of a parent.  I know my kids are good at school, with no discipline problems... but at home, they are quite opposite, as most kids are.  Sitting in a conference with my children's teachers and hearing about things they are doing well, such as being a good friend, or helping out in the classroom... makes my heart melt and reassures me that maybe I am doing a good job at being that thing called a "mom."  ;)  The last thing I want to hear is how my child talks a lot, which I totally know he does.  He's cursed, like his mama, being a verbal learner... We need to talk to process things!  Did you know there was such a thing?!  I didn't learn about it till I was in grad school.... and finally all of my life fell into place.

Tip 3:
Include parents in the conversation!  Ask THEM questions.  Don't always send things home beforehand.  I like to interview them.  I have a few questions I ask, which also keeps the conversation going and in the right direction.

Tip 4:
Know something personal about each student.  Looking for this not only gets you to know your students better, but it also lets parents know you care.  I know when I sit in conferences, I want to know that the teacher is looking out for the best in my child.  I want to know a name or 2 of kids he plays with.  I want to know that he is OK in the social realm of things!  Now, knowing every little detail about each student is quite an impossible task.... so I usually ask the students a little bit about school and friends beforehand too.

Tip 5:
Be organized.  Spend a little time putting together information.  I put all of the above together on a recording sheet that I allow parents to keep after the conference.

I
 take the parents interview and take important notes on a special recording sheet that I created as well.  Click on the picture to check it out in my store!  I have included a "semi" editable file for you to type in student names and notes.  I hope it can help you rock your conferences like it has mine (and quite a few of my coworkers--who are excited about conferences because they could use the forms!) and has your parents leaving your room feeling a sense of pride of their child, no matter where they are in abilities and behavior.

 If you like my organizational tools, please check it out {HERE}!!!

Win an iPad!! {and a few other goodies!!}

Hi friends!  I'm so excited to tell you that I've been asked to blog over at iTeach Second!  You'll see me there a few times a month sharing some great stuff along with my other Second Grade buddies!

But, I have to tell you about this awesome give-a-way the girls are having!  You can win an iPad!  You can use it in the classroom with your kids, or use it for personal use.  It's a giveaway you can't miss!  {And, WHOOOOO wouldn't love that iPad cover?!  it's to DIE for!!!!  Right up my alley!!!}

To enter, you just need to pop over to iTeach Second and enter.  Super simple.  BUT-it ends SOON!!!!  So GO GO GO!

Don't forget to follow us over there!  I'm super excited to join this great team of teachers!!!

Questions~asking and answering

I'm so excited to share this with you today.  It's something I started back during the school year that I've finally got ready to share with the world!

When I first went back to school after my maternity leave, I had my big clinical review 2 weeks after I started.  My students were struggling with answering questions in complete sentences---not to mention just answering the question correctly!  So this packet was born.

I mean, what kid is a master of answering questions anyway?
"What was the story about?"
"I went to Disney World last summer!!!"  sigh......

I whipped up these posters that helped the kiddos realize what we were looking for in the answer.  If we ask a "who" question, there better be a person or character in the answer.  If we ask a "why" question, then the word BECAUSE better be in their answer!

They helped dramatically!  I was so proud of their work.  When we would answer questions from stories/passages, I would have them highlight the question word before answering.  They were instructed to look at the poster to make sure they answered correctly.  If a paper came in without highlighting---it went right back out.  Another thing we did is I found passages that I could print out for my students, so that they could write right on their paper.  The needed to highlight WHERE they found their answer, or if it wasn't directly stated, WHAT they used to support their answer.  {Now, we do our Language Arts curriculum a little different... we don't have a big box company curriculum but rather we have "themes" that we need to find things on our own---or create them.  So much of what I found were already made in books that my coworkers had, because it was my first year in second grade----and being back half a year made things a bit stressful!  This year I plan on creating more passages of my own, which will most likely be added to this pack!}

{I had these up on my board for a few weeks while we got used to searching and answering questions better}

I've added to this pack to have more activities and I imagine it will end up growing more as I teach the entire year.  There are matching cards where students are matching an answer to what question word they believe was used to get that answer.  I plan on using that in small groups-but as a whole group activity.  (We will work in small groups to find the matches, and then discuss whole group what the matches were and what questions could have been asked)

{This is just part of the page for memory}

There are around the room activities, which, if you have been following me, it's something I LOVE to do with my littles.  Getting up and working with clipboards around the room just have a magical effect on engagement!

The first activity has a question asked at the top of the card with 2 possible answers below.  They need to walk around and read the question and decide if A or B is correct as the answer.  They will also write what question word is used in the question on their recording sheet.

 {These are on half sheets-to give you an idea of how big they are; copyright info is only on the pictures for my blog-not on your download}

The second activity has a photograph and a question below.  Students will look at the picture and read the question.  They will need to write a complete sentence to answer the question as best as they can.

{Copyright info on this picture is not there on your download}

The third activity has a photograph as well (same ones are used), but an ANSWER is under the photograph.  Students will have to work in REVERSE to figure out what QUESTION was asked and write that on their recording sheet!

{Copyright info on this picture is not there on your download}

I plan on using these during the beginning/first half of second grade to work on our question/answer skills, along with having students use text to find answers as well.

This is how my mini bulletin board ended up afterwards:

If this is something that you could use, you can check it out in my store!