Ugly Workspaces Do Not Equal Happy Teachers

 Hey y'all! You know how you have a million and one copies to make and a mailbox to check everyday? Well do you smile when your doing those tasks on a daily basis? I started to find myself feeling really drab when I had to go make copies or check the mail.  I felt like our tiny copy room needed a little   drastic makeover!!! As you can see below the color of the wall was purple and the counters were lime green..... who would have know someone would actually put those colors together?? Anyway, I started thinking about smiling while I was at the copier and what in the world would put a smile on my face?? A bright and cheery room of course!! Now I know what your thinking, that looks like it took forever! Well, with the help of my dad, we knocked it out in 3 short days.

Here is the room before..... need I say more! 

I decided to go bright and bold on the wall color. (the color is from Sherwin Williams- tantalizing teal) I thought the wall color could be toned down with grey and white accents.  I used an old cork board and covered it with fabric from Hobby Lobby for both pin boards.  

This wall greets you as you walk in.  I purchased all these items from Hobby Lobby.  I almost died when I saw the flower pom pom balls.  I remember spending hours making these 2 years ago for my classroom. Thank you Hobby Lobby for making life easier! 

I thought a lamp would add that soft, cozy feeling to the room.  Remember that hideous lime green counter? I painted over it with white primer then 2 coats of white high gloss paint. 

I can't wait to stand at the copier with a little smile and a whole lot of happy!! 

Accountable Talk even in Early Childhood Classrooms

It's been so fun giving PDs for the last two weeks!! We've had so much fun laughing, thinking together, and working on mapping for next year. I'm missing more and more the idea of not setting up a classroom of my own this year. Have y'all seen all the cute ideas on Pinterest?  I mean that can get seriously addictive! In our early childhood pd this week we spent some time talking about accountable talk in the classroom. We looked at how we could add it in even in PreK3, PreK4, and kinder classrooms.  It's so fun to be a part of interactive learning and thinking.  Do you use a specific model or schedule to introduce different prompts to scaffold accountable talk in your classroom? In our early childhood classrooms we thought it would be neat if each classroom PreK2- Kinder were working on the same phrase all month long.  This allows kids to get comfortable with using that phrase, hear it modeled over and over again, and any outsider can walk in and be an active participant in discussions using the accountable talk for that month. We built a schedule for a phrase a month.  The teachers will hang that phrase on their board and refer often to it during lessons and discussions. Each month, the phrase will change and they'll add a new phrase to their accountable talk bank of vocabulary.  Here are some pics of the phrase cards to hang in their rooms.

You can click here to download the file of all the phrase cards for the month.

Accountable Talk Phrase Cards and Schedule

PD day one- mapping science and social studies

Hey y'all! We're off to a fun week of PD! This week I kicked our PD week of with curriculum mapping for each content area.  Today the amazing science and social studies teams came in for a day full of fun and getting A.......L....O....T done! We looked up and it was already 2:00! Anyway, here's the big idea of what we did.... first, we looked at what goes into writing a curriculum map. Then, we took the standards and mapped out the entire year.  After that, we worked to build lessons for each unit including: anchor charts, poems, songs, anchor texts, interactive notebooks, and so much more. The teachers made mock anchor charts and put everything in one binder. They were so excited that the stress of planning will be lessened in the fall.  We also carved out some time for laughing, joking, and catching up of course!

 These were the binder covers we used for each new unit.

These charts were guiding the teachers while they built their curriculum maps.  We looked at what the trends of every purposeful science lesson were and the trends in social studies. Then we compiled a list of where to pull when building a unit. They had a blast finding so many things. 

This was our weekly plan page for the lower grade levels.  They were able to take their unit and write plans for a week. They also included any sample anchor charts, content vocabulary, anchor texts, and materials needed.  Click on the pic to get a copy 

Summer Reading in an Interactive Way

I've been thinking of how summer reading at our school can be more accountable, exciting, and meaningful.  What about an interactive summer journal.  It would be a place where students would write, draw, and interact with the setting they travel to, characters they meet, and authors they discover.  I wanted all grade levels to have a similar journal, but with different targeted teach points.  Here is my latest project.... Sumer Journals

This bundle includes a summer journal for students entering grades PreK-4 all the way to 3rd grade.  Each student receives a take home letter, journal, reading list, and calendar to mark days read in the summer.  The idea is to interact with the text while at  home on summer break.  In the lower grades, students will be drawing setting, discovering new characters, finding sight words, alphabet letters, and much more.  In the upper grades, 2-3, students are comparing characters, finding similarities in authors, and noting setting changes. 

Click on the above picture to check it out. 

A High Five for All Teachers

Let's celebrate the best job on Earth!!!

A Kinder Teacher for the Day and lots of freebies.....

Yea.... you could say I was just a little bit excited to step in as a kinder teacher for the day! Our school held a $100,000 raffle to help boost teacher salaries and we worked to sell as many raffle tickets as we could.  Well, I thought it would be fun to challenge the teachers.... I told them whoever sold the most tickets would get the day off and I would plan and teach their class for the entire day!
Well..... let's just say I think I might have been more excited than they were! I miss having a classroom to call my own! So anyway, a kindergarten teacher won the ticket sales. This week was her day off and my day of FUN in her classroom!  Kinder babies are so awesome! Here is what our day looked like.....

When they walked in, they played sight word spin. These were their targeted sight words for the week...

They loved working with a paper clip and saying their sight words out loud.

This kinder class is right in the middle of their non-fiction unit of study.  Our teach point today was looking closely at how nonfiction authors use details in their writing.  We read Koalas and collected new details about koalas. As we read, we added to our koalas can, have, and are chart. 

After we read, we moved to writer's workshop.  As writers, we wrote using details in our text.  It was interesting to see the many details about koalas come out through their illustrations.  In this pic. the child was showing the detail of koalas having long arms to wrap around the a tree. She also noted that  they have sharp claws for climbing trees. I love their sweet illustrations. 

Math was way to much fun! We worked on counting by tens and adding tens together. We started by using small ten frames and counted to 100. Then we worked with the unfix cubes, using each cube as a ten.  Our final step was introducing the idea of adding tens together.  I used the part part whole machine, pictured below, to show them. This is made out of 3 pieces of PVC pipe and I glued the labels on.  It's awesome because you can actually put the tiny ten frames into each part and the whole comes out at the bottom. They were captivated! For reinforcement, we repurposed the old lady math mats I made in my first grade unit 2 math workshop. We added the cubes to her belly and each side of the pipe cleaner was a part. Then we used the math language 10 and 20 is 30. It was great! They loved filling her belly with tens. 

 For a wrap-up and quick assessment, minders worked in pairs putting the 100 chart puzzle back together by looking at the 10s.  This was good insight to see who still needs more reinforcement in their road to mastering the tens.

It was such a fun day! 

Click here for some freebies from the day!

Teacher Pajama Party and Game Night

 Pizza.....games......laughing.....drawing on easels...... cupcakes......pajamas....no makeup... so much fun for teachers!  We had a blast on our pajama party night! I thought it would be fun to get all the teachers together just for fun and laughs, so I hosted a game night.  We wore our pjs, ate pizza, and played games.  I don't think I've laughed so hard in a loooonnnnggg time! We played Ellen's version of headbands! SO FUNNY!!!

Here is a free file of the pajama party banner incase you want to throw a teacher party! 

Click here

Wearing the Alphabet

Working with our PreK and Kinder classes, we wanted something they could use all day long to master letter sounds and take home.  I created these fun letter necklaces!  They are a kick! My 4 year old can't get enough of making and wearing them.  Our kiddos at school look so cute walking down the hall dressed in the weeks latest letter necklace. My favorite thing about them, is that they are a conversation starter for anyone who walks down the hall.  Our principal can chat with them about what they are wearing and how it works.

In order to meet each learner at their point of need, the necklaces have 2 versions. One contains just the picture with letter and the other includes the traceable word that begins with that letter sound. Click to view product

Don't Break the Ice.... Alphabet Style

So Tyler and I were having a lazy kind of morning..... drinking coffee, cleaning, and playing games.  We've been working on letter sounds so he's ready for PreK4 in the fall. We decided to add letters to each ice block in the game don't break the ice. As each player hits their letter out, they have to say the sound of the letter until the block drops! Not sure who had more fun playing this game.  This would also be the perfect game to put in word work during stations in PreK4 and kinder.

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