New Year New Blogger

My New Years resolution is to  post more often than every 6 months! We're almost half way through the year and a lot has been going on in 2nd grade. I'd like to share some of the big things we've worked on and then I'll try to keep up the rest of the year :) I'd like to give credit to some of the units I've bought on TpT because they have been AWESOME and I would love to recommend them to others. 

The kiddos have been using the ipads like crazy this year. I just discovered Kahoot, (I must have been living under a rock!) and my students love to make their own quizzes for vocabulary and comprehension with our weekly stories. I wish we had to chrome books because it would be a little easier to manage, but my students are learning a valuable lesson in sharing with our 5 ipads :) We also like to use padlet to ask questions and share what we've learned. It's similar to wall wisher that I used years ago where students post virtual sticky notes and they all start simultaneously popping up on the smartboard. The last app we're really a fan of is popplet, which is basically a bubble map/flow chart. We've used this for vocabulary a lot and the students at a table pass it around. Each child is responsible for either the definition, a synonym, using the word in a sentence, and a picture. Each table then presents their finished product and they're always so proud!

This year I've also gotten into grant writing. This came after seeing how much I spend in the classroom at tax time and I realized I need to be looking for free things! Haha. In April I moved into my first home and I knew right away that I wanted to be more self reliant and immediately got chickens and started with a small green house. I wanted to learn more and found myself reading a lot about hydroponics and thought "how neat would that be for my students to see?" In 2nd grade we learn about life cycles and the life cycle of a plant is the first topic we hit. However, there is a misconception among the students that plants need soil. Really, the plants need the nutrients from the soil for food, and what a better way to show that than through hydroponics! It also leads to discussions about the future of agriculture since hydroponics uses 90% less water than traditional farming methods. Just as I had all these ideas going through my head I saw a TV show that introduced me to aquaponics- A hydroponic concept that includes fish! So the fish waste gives the plants the nutrients, and the plants clean the water of ammonia which benefits the fish. WHAT?!?! THAT'S AMAZING! I looked up systems and seeing that it was going to cost roughly $400 to start up a small system I then started looking for grants. I applied for  the Bright Ideas education grant program, sponsored by North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives. I'm happy to share I got the grant!!

I'm getting the supplies for the fish tank this weekend. I can't wait to get it started and share it with the kiddos!

After this I thought, oh man, there's so many things we can do if only we had a little extra money! My next thought was bouncy ball chairs. These too I've read about and seen on the news. They're great for wiggly students that need to focus their attention. The chair allows students to balance and use correct posture. They can also slightly bounce or roll to get their extra energy out while working on a task. I've seen these balls replace all the chairs in a classroom but I didn't want to get too wild at first. I wrote up a proposal on donorschoose.com to put 6 bouncy ball chairs at my small group reading table. During the 15 minutes of small group time it is crucial that students are focused for that individualized instruction. We also meet in small groups for math, so we'd use them then as well. I posted the proposal on my facebook  and between parents of my students and my own family and friends the project was fully funded within five hours!! I was in shock and so incredibly thankful. I couldn't believe it!

Here we are enjoying our new chairs :)

Ok, so I better start being productive on this teacher workday. Back to the grind! Thanks for reading.

One of the things I wanted to do this summer was read some books on behavior management. Our school is a PBiS school where positive behavior is the focus and rewarded. My current system was that children would earn straws for good behavior and finishing assignments. After they have 10 straws they can trade them in for a coupon. The reward coupons are for fun things that are not actual "things" such as computer time, a good phone call home, lunch with the teacher, and read a book to the class. The system didn't reset each day so that kind-of kept the kiddos from comparing themselves to their peers. If someone didn't have any straws you just assume they just used a coupon and are now starting over to reach that 10 straw goal.

While this system worked for the majority of the class and was practically self-run by the students, there were a handful that needed more. I'd have a few take straws from others pouch, or find that they could still earn straws for doing low quality work. Why put in the effort if there was no real consequence? I couldn't really blame them.. I needed to tweak my system and I needed more concrete rules and expectations. What I mean by this is our class made the usual list of rules at the beginning of the year and they all signed them. However, those few little friends of mine could find a loophole.

And so, my mission this summer was to do some research and learn what's new out in the education world. I needed something to keep my class engaged and happy to follow the rules- what a concept!

That is why I started reading Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids by Chris Biffle.

"If you have kids who won't stay in their seats, or who talk out of turn, or who turn in sloppy work (when they turn in work at all), or who are openly rebellious, or who are locked in their shell, or who disrupt class with clownish antics, or who know exactly how to push your buttons, or who are a danger to themselves and/or others, then please read this book with a large hanky. When you are finished, you'll be sobbing tears of joy".

Uh yeah, I LOVE IT!!! The book covers the big seven, and I'm only halfway through so far.

1. Class-Yes
2. Five Classroom Rules
3. Teach-Okay
4. The Scoreboard
5. Hands and Eyes
6. Switch
7. Mirror

So far the book has offered a fun way to get your students attention, 5 rules that have NO LOOPHOLES, a way for students to practice their speaking while also explaining their thinking of new concepts, and a way to keep "score" of how well the students are following directions. I still have three to go and can't wait to read.

If you feel like you're in a rut with behavior management or just want a new engaging strategy to try please check out this book or their website. I can't wait to give updates during the first week of school to see how the little ones respond! :)

I'm off to read!

Wow.. so it's been a long time since my first post! I had no idea how much time I would spend in my classroom the first two years and by the time I got home I was out like a light.. no time for ramen even. I'm hoping to do a lot more online this summer and throughout the school year. I can't wait to share ideas and see what everyone else is up to. Talking with other teachers has been KEY for me these past two years to grow as a professional and allow my kiddos to discover a love of learning and reading.

Also excited to post about a new passion of mine.. CHICKENS! I've been inspired to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors and be more self reliant.. HA! Starting my flock and garden has been quite the learning experience. Can't wait to share that too.

I've got some work to do

My first post! I'd like to start with some "Before" shots of my classroom. I've got to get in there and get to work next week. School starts the 27th  but I have so much to do!