Tweet Me!

Every September we charge into our classrooms armed with brand new ideas we are convinced will change everything.  Some of them don't work out as we planned, but some do.  And they do... change. Everything.

I made this bulletin board in hopes of helping my closure of lessons.  It has done that and more.  At the end of lessons, or during independent work time, I tell students to "Tweet me!"  Depending on my direction, they can tweet anything from one math problem to a question they still have about the lesson or something they learned and are excited about.  They stick their post it note to the board and I can check at a later time (or right then) to see who needs extra help or who still has questions.  It is a great informal assessment and helps me to make sure I am checking on all 27 students in the room.

Tour My Room

I know how much I love seeing pictures of other people's classrooms, so I figured I'd post a few of my own.

For The Love of Reading

I pride myself on creating a classroom of kids that love to read. Nothing makes me happier than when I see my students carrying books with them everywhere. We get excited about books... and want everyone to else to feel the same way.  I made this poster of one of my favorite sayings to use in the center of my Journey to 40 Books interactive bulletin board. Enjoy!

The Seven Habits: Subway Art

Since I've been on a subway art kick, I thought I would make one of my own inspired by Laundry is My Nemsis.

Birthday Bouquet... For the Lazy Teachers Like Me

I fell in love with the idea of the Birthday Bouquet.  It's adorable and something I think the kids would really remember.  I saw this idea originally on More Time 2 Teach.   I love creating things for my classroom... once.  I am not one to have to do it every single year, especially something like that that requires this much cutting.  Yes, I'm lazy.  Hats off to all the teachers who do it, you are much more ambitious than me! 

So I modified the system a bit to make it a little less labor intensive for me.  (Did I mention I'm lazy?) 

I made my own flowers that I cut out and will have laminated.  The students will pick a pencil and attach it on the first days of school.  They will write their name and birthday in wipe off marker on the back of the flower they choose. 

Then on their birthday they will turn their flower in for a little certificate that they take home.  

I realize the point was not to have to give a certificate, but to me, it is a fair trade off to not have to cut these bloody flowers every August! Want them? Click here!

Inspired: Subway Art

So spraining my ankle feels a lot like a death sentence. So much of what I love to do revolves around dancing, and so I'm out of commission.  Luckily, all it takes is a great computer project and I'm completely occupied and engrossed. Still in pajamas at 4pm engrossed.  

I found a few posts on subway art and decided to have a go at it.   I absolutely love them!  A special thanks to Eighteen25 and RemarkableHomes for their inspiration. 

Here is a sample of the collages I made.  The reading and Harry Potter ones are for my classroom.  As you can tell, I love to share. If you'd like any of them, just shoot me an email or comment and I will send them along.  Maybe you'd even think about following my blog too?  Thanks!

I made them square and got 8x8 frames at Michael's to make them look extra trendy. :-)

Nothing Like Accountability

Each night my students are required to read for twenty minutes at home.  This reading log helps me monitor what they are reading and how much progress they are (or aren't) making on their books. As you can see, I like to make my stuff look a bit edgy.  Click here to download.