Boogie Reading

This past week I was subbing in a third grade classroom. The classroom teacher had such a creative classroom and great plans! One thing she had me do, that her students seemed to love, was a Boogie Read. Basically, Boogie Reading is musical chairs for reading. The students start at their seats. When the music starts they have to move from desk to desk until the music stops. When it does stop, they sit at that seat and start reading until the music starts again. How fun! This teacher had them read each others' Weekend Diaries. Weekend Diaries are notebooks full of journal entries regarding their weekend affairs. This way the students do not have to carry a book with them. However, I think it can be done with any book and the students could carry that book with them. This seems like such a great way to put a positive light on reading when so many students dread the subject. I can't wait to try it in my own classroom!

Bathroom Breaks

Do your students constantly ask you to go to the bathroom? I think this happens to both regular classroom teachers and substitute teachers. Well, I have found a dynamite solution! I was subbing in a third grade classroom when I found this, so I'm not claiming this idea, only sharing. I noticed the students putting a green piece of paper in a basket every time they went to the bathroom. Finally, I asked one of them what they were doing. This is the good part: At the beginning of each week, every student gets seven slips of paper. Their names are written on each slip and each slip is good for one trip to the bathroom. Each time they want to leave the room to go to the bathroom they have to turn in one slip to the teacher's basket. I absolutely loved this teacher's idea. What a great way to teach the kids responsibility and to keep the bathroom trips down to a minimum. 

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

I have been having a blast subbing! I have been in a bunch of different grades and have had so many different experiences. I know the school year has only just begun, so I'm looking forward to what the rest of the school year has to bring. (Hopefully a job!!) Even though I love just about everything I have been teaching, my favorite part so far has been calendar time. I remember loving this as a kid and I still love it as an adult. I have thought of different ways to do it and have even made and bought some materials for my own future classroom. I have decided to share one of them. Here are arrows for the yesterday, today, tomorrow part of calendar. If they are used as arrows you can point them right to the specific day. Enjoy! 

Miss Nelson Is Missing

Well, it seems I will be joining the sub club. I can't say I'm not upset that I didn't get my very own classroom, but I am grateful for the extra time God has blessed me with to better prepare myself for when I do get my first teaching job. Going into schools as a substitute teacher has me feeling nervous and I know the best way to combat this emotion is to prepare myself. I have been searching the internet and God's gift to humankind, Pinterest, high and low for emergency plans and any advice I can find. One link I found led me to a great post by www.whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com. Rachelle and Natalie had a great idea to read the book Miss Nelson Is Missing by James Marshall and then have the kids write about why they think their teacher is gone for the day. This would be a wonderful welcome back for the teacher and a great time filler if the plans left don't take as long as anticipated! Here comes the bummer...I couldn't find any writing page template for the great idea. No problem! I made my own and decided to share my creation. You can use this as a substitute teacher, or as an actual plan for when you will be expecting a sub in your room. I hope this activitity makes your life a tad bit easier! Click here for the page :)

Give Me 5

I have been incredibly busy this summer going after any and all jobs I can find. This led me to the constant thought process about the best answers to questions that schools could ask. The one thing I am most proud of during my student teaching is the use I got out of the classroom management method, Give Me 5. I try to work this in as much as I can when I talk to principals and teachers interviewing me. This is not something I came up with on my own, however, if I had never found it I don't think I could have gotten through the rest of my student teaching. My university mentor (wonderful woman!) explained it to me on a tough day. Basically, it is a quick way to get your students' attention. First, you need a stop watch. I just keep mine around my neck so that it is handy at all times. Next, put one hand up in the air with all five fingers extended.  As you say each expectation you have of the children to be good listeners put a finger down. The expectations are: eyes on speaker, ears are listening, hands to yourself, feet are still, and mouths are closed. These can be altered to meet your specific expectations. By the time you are done saying the 5 expectations you should have a fist in the air and all of the students should be ready to listen by doing all of the expectations. Unfortunately, not all of the students will be ready to listen. This is where the stop watch comes into play. Hit the start button as soon as you are done saying the 5 expectations. When all students are listening, hit stop. You can use the accumulated time as an incentive to listen. I used the accumulated time as time away from my students' second recess. This made the students want to listen so that they can have the most amount of time to play. Usually I feel bad taking time away from recess because I feel strong about giving them plenty of time to release their energy. However, it does not take much time for the students to realize that it is time to listen, so the stop watch typically ends up with between 1 and 3 minutes. Now that I will most likely be subbing for the upcoming school year I need to find a better way to get student attention that is more flexible. 

Story Mapping

In the second grade class that I am student teaching I have been assigned an intervention group. This quarter we have moved from working on fluency to working on reading comprehension. I have started using a story map graphic organizer. I started reading stories to the whole class and then having them write down their thoughts on the story map. After, we would write down answers on a post-it note to then stick it on the class story map. I got that idea from a great blog called Growing Kinders. I have now moved to having the students independently and partner reading Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. They have a better understanding of the story map, so I see them adding the bits and pieces as they go. We are making text-to-self connections and character mapping as we read, too. It makes me so happy to see that they are learning something and are truly excited about what they are doing. I have included the story map I made for you to use in your own classroom.

Student Portfolios

As I have been working through my student teaching experience I have come to realize that keeping a good record of the ongoing assessment is crucial to student performance. This may be something that veteran teachers would already know. However, I am just learning, as I'm sure other teachers are doing, as well. I have been to multiple Response to Intervention meetings that end with one of the team members asking for student work examples. In order to prevent looking unprepared I think it should be routine for a teacher to file away important pieces of work for each student in a student portfolio. I have provided the link to a cute cover I have made. Fell free to use it at your convenience! Not only are student portfolios helpful in making the most of an intervention plan, but they can be a great set of notes in a parent-teacher conference. Just be sure to include just as many positive pieces of work as you do negative. I hope this cover helps you or adds to your already wonderful collection of resources!