Teacher Tricks Tuesday: Beuller? Beuller? Beuller?

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  It's a rainy morning here!  My son and I ran to the store to get something really fast and I ended up with 30% chance of rain all over my newly applied clothes. But we were desperate for rain, so I won't complain at all.  And an added bonus...it's COOL outside!  At the end of July!  God's little blessings! 

Anyway, for "Teacher Tricks Tuesday," I wanted to feature something that a dear friend and I came up with our first year of teaching.  She's more of the genius behind it, I just sort of said, "You know what we need? Something to make taking attendance and lunch count less of a time consumer."  And she, being the brilliant teacher/creative mind she is, took it from there! 

Our theory was this:  Taking attendance and lunch count in the morning, based on what we had seen through student teaching and subbing, turned into a 30 minute routine once everyone was settled.  What a waste of precious teaching time!  Plus, it was a classroom management issue.  Does this sound familiar?

     (Teacher taking attendance): "Joe Smith?"
     (Student, not Joe Smith): "He's sick!"
     (Another student, also not Joe Smith): "No he's not!  I think I saw him in the cafeteria!"
     (Another student): "No you didn't!"
      ...etc.

Well, we may have done a lot of stupid things our first year of teaching, but this was not one of them!  The concept is simple...

Here is the version I've adapted over my years of teaching...
1)  Make a clothespin for every child.  Put their names on BOTH sides.
2) Clip them to a long piece of ribbon attached to the wall
3) When the student enters, he'll find his clip and move it to the left side to show that he's here.  If he brought his lunch, he'll move it to the left, but he'll place it below the red line (not pictured here, sorry!) on the ribbon.  
4) Student unpacks his backpack and gets started on his morning work quietly
5) Teacher takes attendance by quickly glancing at the clips and marking it on the attendance sheet.  Students are not disturbed, enticed to blurt out, or make those silly (read: annoying) alternatives to saying "here" such as "president,"  "not here," or the more creative ones like, "salami."

*I used to put their numbers on the clips instead of the names, but I changed that for 2 reasons.  First of all, I moved down to first grade, and I just thought it'd be simpler from the get-go for them at the beginning of the year.  Second, when I had a sub, she didn't have to get a class list and figure out which student was what number.  I figured I could afford the 50 cents it costs to replace the clips each year.  And it's worked beautifully.

What do YOU do to save time and keep classroom management in the mornings?  That's always a busy time, and I'd love to hear any other brilliant ideas out there!  Have a wonderful Tuesday and stay DRY!

Teacher Tricks Tuesday- Whole Brain Teaching

Last summer was when I made my first pin on Pinterest.  My life, like many of yours, will never be the same again.  As I was preparing for the new school year, I found myself finding so many brilliant ideas on there that made me so excited to get started with my new group of firsties.  One of my most life-changing finds was a pin that led me to a YouTube video of a teacher using Whole-Brain Teaching.  Our school has not had this training,  but I used what I gathered from the videos in my classroom and it is AWESOME!  I have since registered for the WBT website and watched the videos, read the research, and applied other aspects of it in my classroom ( I highly recommend you do this...there's a lot more videos with detailed explanations of their philosophy).  I can't wait to start this next year with an ever better grasp of it!  HERE is the link to the WBT website.

I started to type out a long description of what I’ve learned from the videos, but then I figured it’d be much better for me to just give you links to some of these videos so you can see for yourself and take what you want from them!  WBT is full of lots of little "teacher tricks" that help with classroom management and engagement.  The best part?  You can start a lot of the concepts now- right here in the middle of the year!  Another great part?  These little "tricks" aren't time consuming at all!  In fact, all of these little things you can do are meant to be quick commands with quick responses to keep the students engaged and actively learning!

I hope they inspire you like they have me.  I really have noticed a difference in behavior management, engagement, and information recall!  If you watch these videos and like what you see, you’ll have to let me know what you try in your classroom and what works for you!  And if you already use whole-brain teaching, would you share with us other ideas that bring success to your teaching?

Here you go...

#1

#2

#3

**Search on YouTube for "Whole Brain Teaching" and you'll find lots of great videos for your grade level!

Happy watching!

**Disclaimer: A criticism I have read by from some of the video comments on YouTube is that kids aren't really "learning" this way...that they're just using repetition to recall information.  Let me say, before I receive similar criticism, that my understanding of WBT is that it is meant to be used as an effective management tool and teaching aid, not the sole means of instruction.  Of course, all teachers want their students to think critically and comprehend deeply.  But they need a foundation of basics in order to do that.  I think WBT is a great way to establish that while keeping the students on task. 

Teacher Tricks Tuesday- Push Lights

Ok, I found this great management idea via Pinterest, which is originally from The Lesson Plan Diva. 

This picture is from The Lesson Plan Diva's blog.

You get one of those cheap push-lights from Wal-Mart, the dollar store, etc.  When the light is on, students are not allowed to come up and ask you questions. This way you can devote your time to the kiddos you're with and not have to be interrupted during that precious, minimal time you have in the small group setting.  As soon as I saw this idea on Pinterest, I bought a light and used it the very next day. I love it!

Then that got me thinking...I have a classroom that has bathrooms in the room- one for boys and one for girls.  It's a one-toilet closet-style restroom.  I can't tell you how many times I've had quiet work time interrupted by someone yelling "I'M IN HERE, CLOSE THE DOOR!!" (which is kind of funny, to be honest, but very disruptive!)  So I recently thought about purchasing two more push-lights to hang on the wall, one by each door, to use as an "occupied" sign.  When they go into the restroom, they push the light to turn it on.  When they leave, they turn it off!  It's a quiet, easy signal that shows when a restroom is available or not.  I can't wait to try it! 

I'm starting to see lots of other great uses for these cheap little push lights.  What are some other brilliant ways you have seen them used?

I've Got the Power(point)!

So I was lying in bed this morning and I had an idea for my literacy centers.  I decided I would make a PowerPoint presentation to help manage the rotations and hopefully provide a silent cue for the transitions.  I used the same icons as the labels I have in my classroom, for consistency's sake.  And although I have their names in a pocket chart in my classroom already, I decided to use their numbers and put them on the slides as well, just as one more reminder of where they need to be.  

I decided to have each slide display what group should  be with me at guided reading, and where everyone else should be.  I have it set to automatically switch slides after 18 minutes so that I don't have to do a thing!  Then there is a different chime that occurs after a one and a half minute delay, and the words on the slide blink.  This will indicate that they should be finished with their transitions and beginning the next center.  I like having the buffer time to ensure that they clean up correctly and have time to get where they're going...but not too much time ;)  I have the whole slide show set up so that I don't have to touch a thing once I get it started!  It will (hopefully) be a great tool to have to keep me focused on my kiddos and their reading and the kiddos focused on their jobs.  I can't wait to try this!  

Click here to see the PowerPoint!

By the way...

Here's an explanation of how my literacy centers work.  Each student goes to two centers a day.  They start out at one and it lasts about 2 of my guided reading groups.  Then they switch with the center whose icon is right next to it for the last two rotations.  Of course, during part of that time, they will be pulled back for their own guided reading time, so that averages them at each center for about 30 minutes.  During those centers, they have some sort of work that they have to complete in order to keep them accountable.  They turn this work in at a designated spot in their center folders.  I check it every day and they have a sticker chart where they will get a "happy" or "saddy" depending on the quality of work turned in.  When their chart is filled up with mostly "happies," they get to pick out of the treasure box.

Also, to keep them busy with purposeful and productive activities the whole time, I copied an idea from Renee Edwards, a great teacher who provided an inservice for us this summer.  I created a task chart like this:

Then I prioritized the activities for them to do in that corner.  Of course, the items in box 1 and 2 are the ones I want they to finish and turn in by the end of centers.  Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are less important, but still equally as purposeful.  They might be things like targeted literacy games, activities they've previously done for review, or other activities that don't require a written answer. This way, students who work quickly will have an itemized list of what to do next and keep busy.  The students who take longer to work have the time they need and they know what to work on first to make sure they have the most important work done in time.  What a great management tool!