Missing Lately and My Wonder Unit

Hello, friends! It has been A LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG time! I am trying to figure out how to best balance my teacher life, mommy life, church life, friendships, and wife life. It has been hard! However, with my new Happy Planner for this school year, I am already trying to create a plan to better update my website weekly.

This year I will be teaching my group for the final year! I will be in fifth grade with my sweet friends and it is certainly bittersweet. I can't believe it's time for them to begin their transition to middle school. I will be posting about my class and the trials we have had together soon. What I am most excited about this year is my teacher in residence. My alma mater has began the first Teacher Residency program in our state and I was chosen as one of the first mentor teachers. Therefore, I will have a teacher in residence for the entire school year....another teacher body in my room each day of the year, helping my babies reach new heights and fully be prepared for middle school, both academically and emotionally. This is going to be such an amazing experience, which will also allow me to blog more! 😁

In fourth grade last year, I jumped on the Wonder bandwagon. I was fortunate enough to have a Donors Choose project funded for a class set of the novels. I was going to wait to read it until fifth grade, but since the movie came out, we didn't wait. I uploaded my Wonder unit today to my TPT store here. So, we read the novel whole group, discussing everything as we went, but then the students received time to complete their Wonder Journal. It took a while, but was totally worth it! My students grew so much as readers and writers during this unit! To culminate the unit, we received a special donation to go see the movie in theaters with JUST MY CLASS. My students definitely enjoyed this trip, seeing as many of them have never actually been to a movie theater. Our local theater also did a special showing for just my class. They definitely were amazing working with me to plan this trip. We fully enjoyed the experience and time away from school! 

Check out the unit and let me know what you think!

Happy weekend!

~Kelly

5 Organizational Ideas for 2017

It's Friday 2 of winter break...sniffle, sniffle. I have two more days of freedom as we return to school on January 2. I am trying to remain optimistic though, as I have some new organizational ideas for my classroom for the upcoming year, plus I was fortunate enough to get into school 2 different days over break to get stuff done. So, here are 5 organizational ideas I have for the upcoming year.

1.  My classroom library has sincerely been a work in progress for the last SIX years. I have spent countless hours upon hours developing the system that works best for me. So far, each of my books is labeled with a sticker that has my name on the outside. Each book also has a sticker on the inside cover that has the Accelerated Reader information. All of my books are also sorted based on series or genre. I will add a picture on Monday...somehow I don't have a picture of my library anywhere. 

So. my update for the library is how to get my kids to know which book goes in which bucket. I was hoping that we would master our genres so well that the kids would know....maybe by fifth grade! The solution is washi tape. You know, that cute patterned tape that you use for scrapbooking?

I plan on cutting little pieces of washi tape to put on the bottom binding of each book in that bucket. Obviously, all of the books in the bucket will have the same tape. Then, I am going to put another piece of washi tape to "hold" the book label on the bucket. I have third graders-fifth graders. We can definitely match tape colors/patterns, which means my library is done! I will post an update when I am done with this process.

2. I am SO tired of reading a book to my students and coming to an example of something, like a simile. I read it, discuss it, and ask the students what it is called. Insert blank stares. I give a hint..."It starts with an 's'." Then I hear anything and everything under the sun that starts with the letter 's': 'soil', 'synonym', 'see'. So, I am adding a reading board. I hang up anchor charts for reading, but I have never had a reading vocab wall. I am extremely excited to start this and was SO thankful that Melissa O'Bryan had a matching ELA word wall to the Math one I already purchased. So, now I am laminating and cutting words out before the end of break to start creating this reference for my students. Now, we will stop and think before shouting out words that don't make sense. [fingers crossed!]

3. This week I also changed my work display in my classroom. At the beginning of the year, I had my student teacher put the work display up. However, I am WAAAAAYYYY to OCD to let someone do something like that. So, I redid it! I used cute scrapbook paper, which I have always done. It creates a cute border for the student work, with no mounting required! So, I laminated the paper and hung it up in a space that I wasn't utilizing. I added these cute clips to actually hang the work with and wrote each student's name on the chalkboard part.

Again, I will post a picture Monday!

4. With our mid-year testing finished, it's time to analyze the progress and see what path we need to take to meet and exceed our goals this year. I already have some kiddos that are moving leaps and bounds, but as usual, there are still some that need an extra push. Therefore, I am creating a template for the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test of the skills for each RIT band and then my kiddos will be placed in each group based on RIT. Here's a snippit of what I am doing.

5. The last way I am organizing my teaching life is with my new unit plans. I decided I was TIRED of writing weekly lesson plans. They take too much time and then I have to remember to post them for our admin team and it is just too much! I started/am starting to use unit plans. Because each unit is not the same length, I feel like I get plenty of weeks without writing plans and writing a unit plan isn't hard, once you get into the groove. I always look at all my files, my plans from the last time I taught the unit, Pinterest, TPT, and whatever resources I have for the unit. Then, I turn on some Pandora and get started! Here's a quick look at the start of my magnet unit:

I am actually compiling my Magnets unit into a pack to add to TPT soon! It's full of hands-on labs and pure excitement!

So, I hope all of you are enjoying your Christmas break! I know it seems as though I have done SOOOO much school work during the break, but realistically, it has only been two days. I limited myself, so I could enjoy plenty of cleaning and family time! I have fully enjoyed being a mom this Christmas. Here's a picture of my cutie pie from her one-year photo shoot.

But seriously, how can someone actually capture so much cuteness in one picture?? Happy New Year, friends!

~Kelly

New Year's Resolution = More Posts!

Hey friends! This school year so far has been ridiculously busy, as I suspect has been similar for each of you. My New Years Resolution is to do a weekly post, if not more. I plan on posting a classroom tour this week and sharing my upcoming organization ideas for different areas of my classroom. I will also be counting down my favorite lessons of 2016 next week, so stay tuned! But for now, let's get winter break started!

Going Back to School

Wow. That's all I can say. I have totally forgotten what it is like starting over. The last two years, looping was a breeze at the beginning of the year. Now, with a new class, I have spent hours making technology log-in cards, journal labels, analyzing data (from soooooo many sources), getting to know my students, teaching and reteaching procedures and expectations. 

But seriously! I will be posting a real post either tomorrow or Saturday to catch you up with everything going on, including a classroom tour! Check back later to see how everything turned out after hours and hours of decorating and organizing! It's almost Friday, friends!

~Kelly

[Sort of] Made It Monday: Chalkboard Style

I LOVE chalk paint. I think it was a fabulous invention and finding it in a spray can opened even more opportunities for the juices to flow. I finished two projects today with my chalk paint for my classroom. Well, actually, both are for outside the door of my classroom, but same thing, right?

Project 1:

I did not actually make this with my Chalk paint. It was a find at Target. It fits in with the Chalkboard motif though, so I thought I would include it. I needed something to declare my room as mine. We have so many visitors and volunteer that come through our school each day that they get confused or lost. This will help people know where I am! *Side Note: I think I am actually going to paint the chalkboard again on this sign. I used a chalkboard pen on it and had to erase what I wrote because I didn't like it. I feel like you can still see remnants of what I originally wrote. I think I will be spraying it this weekend in preparation for school on Monday. Also, the ribbon that is overlaying the board is the one I am going to use to hang it on my door.

Project 2:

We are always in different areas of the school, whether it's time for related arts (specials), lunch, recess or we are in the science lab experimenting, the computer lab working on a project, or outside doing an activity. I made this board to help others locate us when they come to our room. We are only required to notify the office if we go outside at an unusual time, so at least with this sign, if my teammates are buzzed, they can check and see where I am. I am going to make little cards that will be stored in the pocket and hung up on the clothespin. I'll include the link when I finish it!

Project 3: 

I also spray painted a blank canvas. I want to use this on the first day of school to take pictures of my kiddos with the whole "What I Want to Be" board. I am still deciding how to decorate it, so I will probably update later when that is done. 

Thursday will be my first day in the classroom. My husband is coming for a few hours to put together my new rolling chairs and desk. I will be finishing my filing cabinet then, so will post those pictures when I am done. 

What projects are you doing in preparation for going back to school?

~Kelly

Donors Choose and Target

Donors Choose is AH-MA-ZING! If you have never heard of them, check them out! They are a non-profit organization that allows teachers to post projects filled with their classroom needs and people from across the country donate money to help your project come to life. Personally, I have had 46 projects filled throughout the last five years, totaling over $14,000 in materials, and our school has received over $156,000 in materials and professional development.

Now is the best time to try it out because Target is fully-funding projects that deal with Health and Wellness. Target has $5M they are giving away through funded projects, so your odds are great...at least for now!

Here's the low-down on Donors Choose:
1. You set up an account for your classroom. You have to have permission slips signed by parents to allow the release of their child's picture on the website. I usually have them ready at Meet the Teacher and have parents sign them as they are filling out their sheets of information.

2. Set up your first project. Donors Choose does a point system. Each project costs at least 1 point, but as long as it is funded and you complete a thank-you package, you can get up to 3 points for each completed project. The thank-you package includes a letter from the teacher, pictures, and 6 letters from kids for each donor that requests them.

3. When starting up a project, think about what you don't want to have to buy for yourself. I have done plenty of projects on books and exponentially grew my library as a new teacher. I have also received colored paper, bean bags, regular school supplies, an iPad, science supplies, a field trip, seat sacks, ear buds, and most recently, a karaoke machine and bookcase. My first project was small-for two book sets. Since then, I have written many projects. Some get funded and some don't. Realistically though, this is the best time to post projects. I would definitely recommend a project that's $100-300, with shipping, taxes, Donors Choose donation, etc. They are more likely to get funded. With Target fully-funding projects, those projects can be more. The ones I wrote ended up being $700-800. Hey, if they want to fund the whole thing, you are saving me time finding donors!

4. State your plea. Make sure you make a case as to why you need to supplies. Create a clever title, and submit your project. Donors Choose will then read/approve your project.

5. There is a match code for the first week your project is online, so share with friends and family and say a prayer! I always share my projects on Facebook and personally send a message to family. The match code for the first week will double any donation when the code is used during checkout. I have had several projects funded this way. It's amazing!

With Target funding projects, there is a special way to complete with project with specific details, etc. The directions are here. They even have great examples of what they are looking for when you write a project. It's very user friendly, too!

Just note: Donors Choose does add in fees and shipping. There is some sort of mathematical equation, I am sure.

If you have any questions, just ask! I am not an expert, but would love to help in any way I can!

~Kelly

How I'm Feeling Right About Now

I am working diligently today getting stuff done for school. I took a bit of a break to check out Pinterest and found this gem:

Can I get an AMEN? I have postcards, name tags, banks, mailboxes, etc. to complete. With that being said, I do laminate EVERYTHING then write names on it, because I work at an extremely transient school. My first year at this school started with 14 kids in my class (we are Title I before you throw rocks). By the end of the year, I had 15 kids, but only 7 were in my room all year. It has definitely gotten better though. With this last group of kiddos (who I kept for 3 years), I had 14 kids that I kept for all three years. I had a few that came and left during the years, but overall it wasn't bad.

~Kelly

P.S. TeachersPayTeachers is having a sale on August 1 & 2. My store will have an additional sale as well, so check it out here.