Sometimes You Just Have To Laugh

Everyone knows that the kids get really wild just before a holiday. They tend to do things that they wouldn't normally do. This year was no exception.

I went through almost a dozen boxes of tissues because of runny noses. There were mysterious illnesses that cleared up when the work was done and free time was to be had.

We had wardrobe malfunctions and lost coats, hats and gloves but the best thing that happened was in one of my kinder classes.

The kids were working on their iStation program. It is a self paced pre-reading program. They work on it each time they come to class.

During this particular class I noticed a red dot on the ceiling. Normally this means that a kiddo has decided to turn the mouse over and use the dot to make designs on the ceiling. Not this time. 

I looked over to see a kinder kid licking the mouse. She was trying to lick the red dot on the bottom of the mouse and couldn't quite figure out why she couldn't get to it. Now remember, we are almost half way through the school year. They have had the lectures about how to treat the equipment and how germs work but still the lure of the red dot called her.

When I saw it I couldn't help it, I just started laughing. 

It was either laugh or cry...so I chose to laugh!

The Mouse in question...

Creating a Calm Environment in the Classroom

This year I am making a conscious effort to be as calm as I can each and every day. Most of the students I teach come from houses filled with chaos. I am striving to give them a place of tranquility when they enter my room. I want it to be an oasis in a sea of rushing lessons and tests.
To achieve this I have covered some of the harsh fluorescent lights with a calming blue material.

Years ago when I taught an ocean unit I wanted to give the room an aquatic feel so I turned to Reynold's Saran Wrap in blue and green. I alternated colors on the recessed lights and wow did it made the room feel cool and calm!!

In the new school I am using blue classroom light filters similar to these. They attach to the metal with round magnets that are sewn into the material.

I was fortunate enough to find them at 80% off when one of our school supply stores was closing so I got them for a song. Below is what they look like in my room. I chose to cover every other light.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money you can make them on a budget. Go to a fabric store and look in the sheer fabric section.  I like JoAnn's because they give teachers 15% off of your purchase.

You can get solid blue or you can get blue with nifty little clouds. These are the sheers that our RM lab teacher put up.

She used plastic covered binder clips to hang them but you can use just about anything. Hers let in a bit more light than mine but they worked just fine. 

I also have two floor lamps in my room. One is silver and has white lights in it. The other is multicolored like the one below. 

The kids LOVE when I put on soft music and turn out the lights and just leave on the lamps and the one safety light in the ceiling. It is amazing how quietly and efficiently they work when the room is serene. 

Good music for the kids are things like Yanni, Enya, James Taylor and almost anything that is elevator type music. They also like some classical. You will find what your kids like just keep trying!

The calm classroom works wonders for them and for me. I find myself fussing less and stressing less. It is a win-win for everyone!

Free Goodies are Good!

Morning!
As I was trolling my email I came across these goodies! Some have free downloads and others are ideas to use with the company's products. I posted all of them, free or not, because sometimes just the picture can spark an idea.

Dr. Seuss reading board idea

Fox in Socks rhyming word board

Color my world bulletin board idea

Color my world multiplication board

Peanuts birthday graph 

Snoopy's strawberry patch

Scratch off rewards 

Easter activities

Snowflake rhyming

Fishing for sight words

Ten Marks

Good Sunday morning!
As I trolled through my TONS of email and then jotted around Facebook I found this: Ten Marks. It is a free math program for teachers to use with their kids. Now I don't teach a regular classroom so all I am doing is passing it on.

The following information is from their website and Facebook page.

About

As an online adaptive math program, TenMarks is proud to be the trusted partner for teachers to help improve student outcomes across the country.

Mission

TenMarks’ web-based math program is used by students across 25,000 schools and 7,000 districts. Each day, students in all 50 states use TenMarks to solve millions of math problems, improving their math skills and confidence. TenMarks believes that students learn best when they're individually engaged, nurtured, and motivated. TenMarks aims to positively impact the lives of over 20 million students by 2016.

Company Overview

At TenMarks, we believe that students learn best when they're engaged, nurtured, and motivated, and that teachers are key to improving math achievement. To help maximize teacher effectiveness in the classroom and to make their lives easier, we've created a web-based learning environment that simplifies assignments, automates grading, and drives student learning through engaging videos and interactive lessons.

Description

TenMarks has just launched the most robust online adaptive math program for practice, instruction, assessment, and intervention, EVER - one that helps teachers reinforce classroom instruction, easily assess, grade and intervene based on CCSS learning trajectories, and drive automated differentiation. Completely redesigned from the ground up and built for Common Core Math Standards.

Here is a Youtube video talking about TenMarks.

I would LOVE your feedback on the program so I can update my information.

Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)

From their website: Commonly referred to as "TpT," TeachersPayTeachers® is the world's first online open marketplace where teachers buy, sell, and share original educational materials in downloadable formats. Additionally, teachers can buy/sell hard goods, both "teacher-created" original works as well as used educational resources.

You can get all the facts HERE.

I am working to create my TpT page and am finding it is very exciting!
You can follow me as I create more and more items to help others. Find me HERE!

My things will feature the work of the very talented Jeff Perryman. I couldn't be more pleased that he has agreed to team up with me on this project. You can see some of his artwork HERE!

T3

You may be asking, 'What is T3?'
Is it Terminator 3? Is it a glue or a code of some kind?
The latter is closer to anything. In my classroom T3 stands for Time To Think. I have found that a simple quiet place can go a long way in helping the kids who have issues of all kinds.

My classroom has an adjoining door to the library. This door is my T3 corner. It is a quiet place for a student to calm themselves. It can be used after a melt down or before one starts.
There is a purple carpet for them to sit on and they can lean on the wall or in the corner as they regain composure. Under the table by the door is a box of stuffed animals for the children to use as well. Sometimes the kids are just exhausted and will curl up and go to sleep. Since my class is a "specials" class like art and music it doesn't matter if the kiddo misses one day.

In the hectic world of public education we are often forgetful that children don't come from and Ozzie and Harriet household anymore. Gone are the days where mother and father were in a loving and committed marriage. The largest portion of the children are from broken and/or dysfunctional homes. More and more grandmothers are raising children. These children just need a break sometimes. They just need some T3.

Bulb: an app to publish what you know and learn what you don't.

I started using bulb after I got a free trial from TCEA. It is still in the beta stage so there have been a few bumps along the way. I have to say that I do enjoy it immensely and the response time to questions is lightning quick! Heck, I even got a phone call from one of the developers when I couldn't figure something out. Now that is amazing!!

For me bulb is like my very own repository for all the things my teachers need.  If you are interested in my bulb click HERE to see it. Sign up may be required.

Now I won't lie. It can get a bit convoluted if you are like me and tend to get a bit sidetracked (think Dug from UP) but with a bit of planning you can have a very nice, well laid out set of pages.
I am still working mine out. I started to just have the pages for my teachers at school but found that it might be better to do it on a larger scale. Heck, I might just move some of my crafting stuff there....

I reached out to the folks at bulb to see if they had anything they wanted to add to my humble blog and my new friend Maggie quickly replied with a few basics about bulb.

A lot of people ask us about pricing. Bulb is forever free, but we have bulb Pro accounts which allow you to create groups for private publishing (great for classrooms of all ages), and adds more storage to your account. Our teacher price is $4.95 month, which includes all of their students. 

We also get asked about commenting fairly often. We've gone with a Q&A feature instead to allow the account owner to have total control who posts on their account (questions don't even appear unless the author has approved and responded). This is to encourage learning communities to engage with each other in a positive and appropriate way. 

One of the things that separates us from most portfolio creation tools/sites is that we are also a publishing platform. While it sounds like semantics, it really is quite different. Rather than provide a helpful storage tool (like Google drive) or a website builder (like Google sites) we provide a place for students to publish their work, and start proactively shaping their online persona. One of the most frequent comments we get from teachers is that because their students are publishing their work to the world rather than just to the teacher or storing them somewhere for later, they are putting more time, energy and effort into them. They are learning digital citizenship and the importance of contributing to the world's knowledge.

Pretty awesome if you ask me!

Here is a little additional press on bulb.

Bulb Named Top Education App for 2014

Northern Colorado Business Report

Built in Colorado Keeping an Eye on Bulb

Testing.....bleh

It is that time again. Time for those pesky end of the year state tests. We have been running toward the finish line and everything else has ceased.
I hate it.
I know I am not alone.

At the end of the day we are all exhausted and just want to go home. This feeling encompasses kids, teachers, cafeteria workers and custodians.
The kids have Spring fever and don't want to work on testing.

I have found a little something that is helpful. Please, feel free to share it with others!

In all seriousness the testing season is horrible for everyone. We are all stressed out and it rolls down hill. It starts at the government and ends up on the shoulders of the poor kids.
Let's try to remember that even though we are being pressured that these are just children. Most are not even old enough to tie their shoes and we are already shouting about standardized testing and graduating high school and college.
I believe that this cartoon sums it up...

Teaching Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Teachers at 8am

Teachers at 3pm

"WHAT was I thinking to become a teacher??"

It happens to all of us. You sit in your chair at the end of the day. You look at your room and the chaos that is left from a day of teaching and you think that perhaps a job as a cat wrangler might be a bit easier.
I think this often especially after certain fifth grade classes come through my door.


When things get their worst you get that little boost that you need to keep on truckin.
A couple of years ago I had reached the end of my rope. It was just before Christmas break and the kids were out of control. I decided that I couldn't do it anymore. I started looking for jobs and preparing my resignation letter. I figured that I could use Christmas break to get another job.
A darling little kindergarten child came into my room. She handed me a paper from her teacher. I read it, responded to the question and handed the paper back to her.
She said something that I couldn't understand so I leaned close and asked her again. In the sweetest voice she looked at me and said, "Merry Christmas teacher."
I hugged her and as she left I looked heavenward and said, "OK Lord. I'll stay."
I truly believe He sent that little one to keep me where I am because there is something that I have yet to do.
So the next time you feel like giving up take a step back, grab a soda or some chocolate and evaluate just how important you are in the lives of the kids you teach.

Music While You Work

Teaching technology has its perks. No longer do I have to grade stacks of papers and for that I am eternally grateful. Teaching technology does require time and effort creating lessons, writing lesson plans and surfing to find the correct information for a given topic. 

While I work I enjoy listening to music. I am known to go to Youtube to listen to my favorite groups but with the annoying advertisements that now precede every song I started looking for an alternative.

iHeart Radio was the first one I tried.
I have to say that their format is not what I like. You cannot choose a genre. You have to choose a musician and it puts together music. If you want to change you have to create whole new stations.
All in all I found it a pain.

If you try it and you like it you can get an app for it.

I tried Pandora and fell in LOVE! They have a free version and I used it for a while but I liked the format so much that I paid for a year subscription. It is $36 a year and worth EVERY penny!
I can listen to just what I want and the station learns as you use it.. When you choose a like it brings up more songs like that one. If you don't like a song it makes a note of that too.

My current music of choice is The Piano Guys, Two Cellos and music of that genre. It is contemporary music done in a classical style. Very soothing but still upbeat.

Spotify is my newest love... Thanks HUBBY!
It has all of the features of Pandora but can be customized more.
The cost is $9.99 per month. That is a bit steep for a poor school teacher.

Can You Smell That Freedom?

Knowledge is Power 

and  

Learning is a Lifelong Journey. 

This is true for students and teachers.
We can't teach what we don't know and even if we do feel that we know something there is always room for improvement.

Lately I have been working to improve my grasp of the workings of our government so that I can be an effective teacher and leader to the next generation.
I have looked to men and women like Tom Woods , Judge Andrew P. Napolitano and KrisAnne Hall
I have been reading sites like Mises dot org  and Wake Up and Smell the Freedom.
The learning is never ending and I am glad for that! : )

There are many excellent sites out there! What are some of your favorite ones?

Simple Ways to Keep the Kids in Line Part 1

Classroom management......we have all been to the workshops. They give you all kinds of suggestions and statistics as to why this or that works but we all know that the real issue is the chemical make up of a class.
Add one kid and the room goes nuts.
Take away a particular kid and the room goes nuts.
In the end it is up to the teacher to figure out what makes her class tick and what they value.

In this little series are some suggestions that I have used, I have seen used and that just looked good to me. You can try one or all of them until you find out what works with your group of kids.
When I taught in the regular classroom I was always given "those kids" because I could handle them. One year I had a class that was out of control! I tried everything that I could think of. This particular class was very street smart and the stickers and other little goodies I had just weren't cutting it. I thought and thought and thought until it occurred to me that these kids weren't soft. They needed the cold hard facts and the cold hard cash to back it up.
Since I teach at Caldwood Elementary I created "Caldwood Cash" that the kids could earn. The idea was that just like their folks worked for a paycheck they would too. They could earn cash for any job they were assigned. Everyone was eligible unless they decided that they didn't want the cash by not doing the job or not following the directions.
The beauty of the system was that I was NEVER the bad guy! I was always there with the cash ready to give it to them if they did their job.
Friday was shopping day. Last period I would set out my store and they would count up their money. The kids with the most money would shop first.
My store consisted of little items from the dollar store, garage sales and any give aways that I could get. The prices were high. A pencil might cost five dollars but the beauty was that if they followed even the simplest directions and did the simplest jobs they could make lots of money!
I treated the cash as real money. If they lost it or destroyed it there was no replacing it. This also instilled some responsibility.
It was always interesting to see how the children handled their money. Some of the children would buy for themselves, their friends and family. Others would buy it all for themselves and still others would spend only a small amount and save the rest of it. I had one child save about $150 in a year and that is with spending some each week.

The amazing thing is that the kids who were in this particular class are in college now and when I come across them they STILL remember the Caldwood Cash! : )

Xtramath.org

Xtra Math (xtramath.org)
From their website: XtraMath is a Seattle-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to math achievement for all. Our goal is to develop effective, efficient, adaptive and intrinsically rewarding supplemental math activities and make them available for free.

This is a self paced program that my students enjoy. They can work on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The program can be used at home or at school. If a teacher is using the program parents receive a flyer from the teacher with instructions on signing up at home.If a teacher is not using it parents can still sign their children up.

This is a very quick overview of the program.

When the program begins students take a placement quiz that sets their level.

Here you see Mr. C as he speaks to the kids.

Once their level is set they practice the rote math facts that are so important in building a solid math foundation. One session lasts about 10 minutes. The problems appear on the screen and a count down begins.

If a student does not get the answer correct or they do not answer in the allotted time the correct answer will appear on the screen so they will know it the next time it comes up.

At the end of the lesson students can quickly see how they did. 

Students can also "Race the Teacher" to see if they can beat his score which they love!

Students have the option of using the keypad on the screen or the keypad on their keyboard.

 

I believe that Xtra Math is a great program. It helps with the rote learning that is missing in today's classrooms. With the standards set higher oftentimes the most basic things are overlooked.

TCEA 2014

The theme of this year's event is "Get Inspired" and as always, I WAS and still AM!
I love going to TCEA. It is the highlight of my year because it is a time to see what is out there to help prepare the kids for the future. Now I would be lying if I said that there wasn't fun for the teachers too but we don't talk about that when the administrators are around! ; )

Click HERE to go to the official TCEA site.

So what is TCEA?
From their website:
TCEA is a member-based organization devoted to the use of technology in education. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-12 environment and providing our members with state-of-the-art information through conferences, workshops, newsletters, the Internet, and collaborations with higher education and business

I am always lucky enough to go for the week. I get to see all of the events unfold and take part in as many as my time and wallet will allow.

WORKSHOPS!

TCEA Workshops
I love the way TCEA sets up their schedule. The events are color coded so you know if you need to pay or can just see the session for free with your entrance fee. They even have it set up so that they will send you your schedule each day so you can keep yourself on track and never miss a workshop. This can be very helpful especially if you are in the vendor's area. You can easily lose track of time.
After the event there is a section on the website that allows you to view and download some of the information from the workshops. You can see the TCEA 2014 Handouts here. You might want to go and take a look because I don't know how long they will be there.

If you are the type who likes to volunteer they are always in need of people to help. The volunteer section is not open yet but it will be so keep checking back!

You can also present. My cousin was chosen as one of this year's presenters (nah, I'm not proud!) I figure if he can do it then maybe I can too! I am going to give it a shot for next year. If you think you might want to present you can find that information HERE.

Photo from the TCEA website.

There is an exhibit hall that takes an entire day or two to view. There are vendors of every kind and lots of goodies, give aways and chances to win things like iPads. You can get a feel for the vendors HERE.

All in all TCEA is absolutely worth every penny and every minute. I would suggest it to anyone! : )

Flipping the Classroom

The new trend emerging seems to be the Flipped Classroom. No longer are there long boring lessons with little time for hands on activities. Students do the learning on their own. There is a whole dialogue on the subject and below are some websites that will give you a background on the subject. This is by no means a comprehensive list and I don't necessarily agree with everything on each site but it gives an idea of what is trending. As always doing your own research is the best way to make things work for you.
Flip Teaching - Wikipedia
Educause Learning Initiative: 7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms (pdf)
Flipping the Classroom: Educational Vodcasting
Flipped Learning Network

How I Flipped My Classroom
I teach technology five days a week. I see one set of classes per day so these kids pass through my doorway only once a week. This can make it very hard to teach difficult subjects in a way that doesn't bore them to death. I read about flipping the classroom and liked the idea but I had to adapt it to what I do in an elementary classroom.
Currently my 3rd - 5th graders are learning PowerPoint. I have taught it in the past and found that in the end the kids learned but the level of frustration felt by me was mirrored by the kids. I tried to force them to follow my subject and make slides with little room for personal touches. I was wholly focused on getting the kids from point A to point B. They were bored and felt a bit stifled. It was too much information in too short a time with little practical application. I was frustrated too and I wanted to do better.

When I started reading about flipped classrooms I thought that I could adapt it to my classroom.
This is what I did:
I took one day and for half of the class I talked and demonstrated. Then I turned it over to the kids. We started mucking about in the program. I was just a facilitator. I encouraged them to help one another when a discovery was made. The level of excitement was high and even my slow or reluctant learners got with the program and were wildly successful! They found the ins and outs of the program on their own and their retention was amazing. Those who wanted to race ahead could do so and their new found expertise in Power Point led them to teach those who were lagging. The kids did the teaching and learned along the way. Everyone was asking questions sometimes of me sometimes of each other No one felt stupid and I was never frustrated. The noise level was a constant and pleasing hum punctuated by excited voices when they found something new. The individual creativity of the students floored me! Talk about a way to learn about your students! Kids that were shy and reluctant were bashing out PowerPoints that were filled with what they were passionate about. I had one child who rarely speaks put together a powerful program that spoke of her love of sharks. Who knew?

Another perk of doing a flip is that YOU, THE TEACHER, LEARN!
I am not ashamed to admit that I don't know everything and I encourage the kids to share when they find something.
I had a student teach me something about how to skew a preset rainbow background as we worked through slide layout. I showed them one part and with a bit of experimenting they showed me something. I was excited to learn and they were excited to teach me something!

There will always be times when I have to deliver information and they have to sit and receive it but any time I can figure out a way to do a flip I will do it.

Anyone out there have a flipped classroom? What works for you?

Feeding Your Appetite For Books

Image from: cinderellainrubbershoes/tumbler

I admit it. I am a book hoarder. I can't help it. I love to read.
I have a Nook, a Kindle and an iPad that I use to read as well as a metric ton of books made of paper and ink. If you are like me you spend WAY too much money on books.
I have a few ideas that might help you get your fix without breaking the bank!

If you like books you can hold and feel and smell check out these resources.



Paper Back Swap
My awesome mother in law saw the Paper Back Swap on TV and suggested that we try it to feed our reading addiction. I snagged a couple of paperbacks that I didn't want anymore, opened an account and here I am 400+ credits later still swapping away! It is easy and free.
Here are the basics of how to swap.

Goodwill
My local Goodwill has an amazing stock of books! Paperbacks are usually about .79 with cookbooks or specialty books priced anywhere from $1.99-$3.99. If I am very lucky, sometimes I can catch the 10 for $1.00 sale. When I come across that I stock up!! I get books for myself and books to put on Paper Back Swap. It is a win/win situation!

Garage Sales
Ahhh garage sales. I can't begin to tell you how much I adore garage sales. When I go the first thing I look for is the book section. There is nothing better than hitting a sale where all the paperbacks are .25 and the hardbacks are .50!
I have been known to clean out a garage sale!

If you have an e-reader you can check out some of these resources.





Book Basset
Book Basset's logo is Always on the Hunt for the Best Kindle Deals! Free to sign up and free to use. It is sort of a one stop shop for all things Kindle. The folks who run the site troll Amazon to find you the best book deals. I take them up on the free and under a dollar books. I always assume that if the book is less than stellar I am only out of a dollar.

Amazon dot com
I like to go through the free section of Amazon dot com to find books I might like to read. The authors will give away one of their books in an effort to draw you into their series. I have to admit that I have found some amazing books for free that lead me to make an actual purchase.

BookBub
This site caters to all types of ebooks. It allows you to use all book sellers and platforms. The sign up is free and you get only a few emails suggesting books. I give it a glance when the emails come through. Sometimes I find things sometimes I don't.

The Public Library
I am ashamed to say that I completely forgot the public library! Thanks to P. Run Around for reminding me of this valuable resource!

Go online and find your state and how to get an elibrary card from them.

Borrowing books from the library for Kindle. Info here.
Borrowing books from the library for Nook. Info  here.
Borrowing books from the library for iPad. Info here.