5 for Friday: July 15

Happy Friday!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday linky party.

Have you heard of Hollar? It's similar to Dollar Tree. Most of their items are $2 or more, but I have seen a few things for a dollar. You know how you get to searching for one particular thing and end up on a tangent that is opposite of the original search? That's how I discovered Hollar. (I'm not affiliated with it.) I looked over their website and found a few things, so, I ordered. My order came today! Here is what I got:

Those cute butterfly notepads are going to be a part of introducing simple note-taking to my students. We begin the year studying life cycles. We observe caterpillars progress through their life cycle, so as the children observe the changes, they will write brief notes and draw a simple pencil sketch. From their "rough" notes, they will write more detailed sentences in their science notebook. We'll also use them for 'ticket out the door' in math or quick-checks for spelling patterns. These were in 4-packs for $2. 

The dotted and heart designed items are iPhone cases. These were $3! They aren't Kate Spade quality, like the one I have now, but they are a silicone-like material that will cushion a bit if when I drop my phone. I like them because I have a thing for polka dots and hearts. The selfie stick was a whim. I am not of the era to take a lot of selfies -- too self conscious -- but I can see my students using it. I might even get up the nerve to take a selfie or two. :-) The last item -- the lime green thingy with the propeller -- is a mini USB fan! How fun is that? I am a sucker for gadgets! This little baby will stir up some wind during our hot recess days. It plugs into the power opening on the phone and stirs up a decent breeze. I am wishing I had ordered more for fun gifts for my coworkers. 

I have loved my summer mainly because I didn't have to hold to any set schedule. That pressure that is always present, even on weekends during the school year, just fades away. It's pure bliss! However, when July 4th rolls around, my summer vacation begins its downward slope. It makes a bit sad, but I am starting to get antsy. I mean, there are only so many seasons (not episodes -- seasons) of Criminal Minds one can watch before complete paranoia sets in. WHY do they always get up to investigate that noise in the night??? For what it's worth,  I think it was a mistake for them to get rid of JJ, but I am only on season 6, so she might return! The real question is whether I will finish all eleven seasons before I go back to school! Talk about lofty goals! 

One other thing, or I should say two things, Walter Bishop  and SkippyJack, manage to keep me company. It's usually when I am trying to work. I love these guys. They are great friends and a couple of nutty playmates. Their favorite time to wrestle is first thing in the morning, when they realize I am awake, and at night when I go to bed. As you can see in the second picture, they sometimes decide they're BOTH going to hop into my lap. If you're a cat owner, you know that when a cat wants something, it is going to bug you until it gets it. 

Are you a cat person? Does your kitty insist on sitting in your lap when you're trying to work? Isn't it frustrating, but oh, so sweet? As the saying goes, "Dogs have masters. Cats have staff."  FYI -- Walter Bishop is the orange tabby. SkippyJack is the mixed-breed Ragdoll and Siamese.

You may be asking, "HOW can she binge watch all those episodes?" I ask myself that, too, sometimes.  I need background noise while I work. I've been creating new products for my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. So far, Drop Dead Diva and Criminal Minds have kept me company while I created an informational product on the life cycle of apples, salmon, butterflies, chickens and pumpkins. It has some super-cute craftivities in it. I'm really pleased with it, because it requires students to apply what they have read and experienced with apples. I have finished the one on apples. The others are coming very soon!

I have also created an August-September Narrative Journal Writing product. It has writing prompts and extension activities for monthly celebrations. I love the way it turned out. I created assessment tools, graphic organizers and informational texts explaining what a paragraph is and what a personal narrative is. Everything gets copied and stapled into a monthly journal. Yep, I included the journal covers, writer's checklist and a writing survey for each month. 

It's fitting that I put this next thing with two in my Five for Friday. This year, my teammates and I are getting two new teammates. One of our original teammates moved to a different grade and the other retired. Our administrators asked us to be involved in the interview process, which is an awesome thing! We interviewed four candidates (out of over 200 resumes my principal received). They were all awesome, but we narrowed it down to the two we thought would bring the best talents and fit well with our personalities. Great news! They accepted the jobs! I'm looking forward to working with these two ladies. I think our team is going to rock it this year! 

Finally, I'll leave you with a bit of happiness. These beauties were grown in my parents' garden. Wherever you are in your summer journey, I hope you are happy, rested, and spending time with people and fur babies who love you. 

Our Second Best Ideas Linky Party

Our Second Best Ideas is a linky party for second grade teachers. Read below and link up your "second" best ideas, tips, or new resources! Don't forget to comment on others' posts! They're always appreciated!

Invite Your Second Grade Teacher Friends to join the linky. Feel free to share the linky image on social media. 

Find me on Instagram --  @grade2hullabaloo


To kick off this first Our Second Best Ideas linky, I'm offering a freebie. It's a set of writing process posters for your classroom. It is from my August Narrative Writing Journal product. I hope you enjoy these cute writing process posters! You can grab it here. It says August on it, because I start school on August 1. However, the posters do not have any reference to August on them, so you September starters can use them!

One of my goals for this year is to dedicate more time for the writing process. With the time crunch that we face -- CONSTANTLY -- it's so difficult to squeeze in a reasonable chunk of time to focus on the writing process. I am GOING to do it this year! I went through my first quarter scope and sequence to find all the writing skills. I created these posters to help with lessons along with a writing journal with informative texts about narratives, paragraphs, and other writing skills so that I can teach them effectively. There is a monthly survey for how kids feel about writing and an expert list. I believe children's writing topics should come from them -- not me. So, we'll use those expert lists! Note: The other August journal activities I mentioned are in the paid product found here. I'm now working on creating a similar set of materials for September, and then October, November...... You get the point. :-)

How do you fit in writing process lessons? I'd really love to hear how you do it! Leave a comment for everyone's benefit! 

Thanks for stopping by!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five for Friday - 7-1-16

Hi! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the weekly Five for Friday linky party.

Here goes!

Noooooooo! It can't be July 1st already! That means I have one month of summer vacation left. Yes, I am one of those teachers who goes back to school in August. That means I have to make the most of my free time!

My plans for my remaining 30-ish days (I have two PD days in late July) are to try to squeeze in one more beach trip. I am a total beach lover! Are you?

Speaking of beach trips. Here are two pictures from my trip to Aruba. They don't do it justice! Of all the islands I have visited, Aruba was the easiest in terms of airport, money, and people. The people were so very friendly! I'll go back as soon as I get the rest of the Caribbean islands stamped in my passport. :-) It's worth it to work three jobs in order to splurge on a big summer trip. 

Caption this!

This is the view from my room! Amazing!

I've begun thinking about adding more flexible seating to my classroom this year. If you'd like to read about my experience with flexible seating, you can read all about it here. I'm looking for more tray tables and lap boards.My kids loved those. I've seen some at Wal-mart. I may have to take a trip to the dreaded place to look for some. Do you always feel like you stand in line for 20 minutes every time you go? I do!  Have you found any great steals of bucket seats or tray tables? If so, please let me know in the comments section. :-)

Part of my summer PD is reading The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. I justify my pool time by taking my book to read while I'm there. Its an easy read filled with easily understandable examples of the growth mindset, building on strengths, and building a team focus (or schoolwide focus) related to encouraging innovation, which is using the tools we have to create new or better products or ways of thinking. I have scribbled and annotated all through the book! I have several ideas that I'm excited to try this next school year. 

One idea I have is to create a Wonder Wall. In the book, Couros urges the reader to allow students to create a learning task for themselves through questioning and wonder. We often create problems for students to solve. Couros believes that by allowing students to create a problem, they have an opportunity to become more innovative. I haven't fully designed it, but I have a picture in my head of how my Wonder Wall will look. What do you think?

Finally, I've been updating lots of products in my TPT store. I have a long list of new products, but refreshing current products has taken lots of my time. I am a bit of a perfectionist, which helps the products, but not my to do list! 

I hope your summer is going well. Rest. Relax. Have fun!

Get More from Morning Message Time

Morning Message

While cleaning out my classroom, in order to move to a different one, I found a whole bunch of chart tablets the children had used for morning message this year. True to my TPRN (Teacher Pack Rat Nature), I shoved them behind a bookcase and forgot about them. I thought there might be a time we could use the paper for something!

As I flipped through them, I said, "Wow!" I was amazed by the progression of the children's writing skills. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy... and proud. I was reminded of how versatile morning meeting, specifically, morning message time, can be.  All those mornings, we had worked on grammar and writing skills in those ten (or less) minutes while reading and discussing the morning message each day. 

Disclaimer: The chart photos you will see here are NOT Pinterest worthy -- not by a longshot, but they will help me to explain how this successful meshing of grammar and writing mini-lessons on voice, editing, and word choice helped my students. The daily reminder to indent a paragraph, or add a closing and a signature to a friendly letter, worked. In small, daily doses, our conversations influenced my students' work in ELA content areas AND social skills.They learned to wait their turn, give constructive criticism, and to wait their turn.

NOTE: Morning Message is attributed to The Responsive Classroom and is detailed in The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete and Carol Davis. 

Our 10-Minute Process

Each morning, the stars (one girl and one boy helper for the day) put away their things, get organized, and begin writing the morning message. Before I turn students loose with morning message, I model this for a couple of weeks by having the message written when students arrive. The first few messages that I write are error free. 

After I teach the process and expectations for our dialogue, I include intentional mistakes. This helps me teach editing and revision along with the thought processes associated with each part of the writing process. Examples might include every sentence beginning with the same word, omitted words, misspelled words (grade level or easily decodable), tired words (good, bad, sad, glad) or incorrect punctuation. 

NOTE: In my district, we are not allowed to teach writing skills during the ELA block. Students may respond to reading in a reading journal or practice page, but the deliberate teaching of writing skills is not allowed. This is a big no-no! So, I must squeeze in a few grammar skills at the beginning of my daily writing block or other subjects -- just not during the ELA block. Occasionally, I will use an entire writing block to introduce a grammar skill, and follow-up work is completed during RTI time. That is IF students aren't coming to me for RTI. It gets a bit hairy trying to juggle it all, sometimes!

Turning it Over to the Kids

One way that I build in the probability of a great start is to make sure I begin the independent writing on a day that at least one capable leader is the star. This ensures we'll have a confident writer in the pair of scribes for the message. It's gratifying to see a student help another one while drafting the message! On the days the stars have their turn to write the message, they are excused from the morning warm-up work. 

We gather on the carpet and read the message. THEN... we sing part of Kool & The Gang's Celebrate. 

"Celebrate good times, oh yeah!

Hm-Hm, Hm-Hm, Hm, Hm, Hm, Hm,

Oh, yeah!"

By the time we have finished singing that portion of the song, I have had time to write 'Celebrations' under the message (see the first example below). I ask for volunteers for celebrations (compliments). I list these as the children point out the great things the authors of the message included. It could be indentions, punctuation, or capitalization. 

You'll notice in the first message, we discussed author's voice. 

Here is Teaching Point Number 1 -- Author's voice helps us experience the author's thoughts through his word choice and phrasing.

I may need to remind students that author's voice simply means that the author wrote in a way that we can imagine "hearing" them saying the things they wrote; in other words, they wrote very much like the way they speak. Author's voice is a tough idea, so lots of repetitions and examples are necessary.

Sometimes, a word will come up, which leads to a quick mini-lesson on vocabulary, syllabication or vowel sounds. You'll note that 'lozenge' is written on the chart. I had been reading Because of Winn-Dixie and one child pronounced legible with a hard /g/ in the first syllable. I used lozenge as an example of the soft /g/ sound to help the child make the connection. (If you haven't read Because of Winn-Dixie, you MUST! When you do, you'll know why I used lozenge. :-)

Teaching Point Number 2 -- Connections to our reading help us to use richer, more descriptive language.

After the celebrations are listed, it is time for suggestions for improvement. This is where the kiddos get super nit-picky, and I sometimes have to reel them in a bit. However, the peer-to-peer feedback is more powerful than any I can give. If the cool, smart kid suggests a classmate should indent next time, you can bet that kid will indent! 

Teaching Point Number 3 -- Peer-to-peer feedback helps classmates fill in gaps in skill sets.

One thing I encouraged ( a lot!) was for the scribes to venture out more with their messages. Below is an example, albeit a messy one, of how these two students made an attempt at avoiding the typical, "Today's special is art. Do you like art? Art will be fun." I explain to them that the same message every day becomes gets boring and predictable. 

From this example, you can see that I didn't agree that they were on track; they didn't stay on topic. We discussed it, and we agreed that it was mostly on track (which is generous). You can also see that these two got a little messy with the editing marks -- scribbles to mark out unwanted or misspelled words instead of straight lines. So, I modeled how to correct a misspelled word ("anywhere"). I also modeled how to change today into a possessive noun as in "today's."

Teaching Point Number 4 --  Introduce or review editing marks.

Teaching Point Number 5 --  Review singular, possessive nouns. 

As you can see, in about ten minutes, I reviewed possessive nouns and editing marks and discussed connections between what we have read and how those connections help us with our writing.

In looking through those charts of all the morning messages, I formulated a plan for next year:

I will still model morning messages for the first couple of weeks. I am going to start with the basics: sentences, subject/verb agreement, punctuation marks, 7UP sentences (7 or more words), and move to more complex skills after I have introduced them during writer's block. 

How do you fit grammar skills into your day? Do you integrate skills similarly to this? Do you have a dedicated grammar block? Is it separate from writer's workshop?  I'd love to hear how you fit it all in in your classroom. Leave a comment!

Five for Friday - June 3, 2016

Thanks to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting this linky party!

I am currently sitting on my patio after a fantastic thunderstorm. My plants have received a great watering, and I am settling down after a busy day of moving about half of the things in my classroom -- Beverly Hillbillies style! I was determined to get as much moved as possible! Thank goodness for the grocery cart (AKA "buggy" in Tennessee) from the grocery store in our neighborhood. 

I decided to listen to some music while I was working, and I decided on some old school Brian McKnight; it's funny... His Back to One is playing, so he is counting down while I am writing my 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Brian is helping me. What a guy!

Straight Outta Beverly Hillbillies!

My neighbor-friend called on me to help her with updating her resume. She had her son's Mac and didn't know how to update on it. She couldn't find the blue W for MS Word. Bless her! So, we spent a couple of hours updating her resume on my laptop. Afterward, we went to dinner at a local place called J. Alexander's, and boy, was the entire meal delicious! My neighbor-friend had never tried guacamole, so I ordered their fresh-made guacamole as an appetizer. She was hooked after the first bite. After seeing this picture, wouldn't you be?

YUM!

The king of the house, also known as SkippyJack (cousin to Skippy Jon Jones), has once again, placed himself on his throne. No words. 

The King

\

I have a confession. I am a grammar snob. I think all teachers should be. (Praying there are no grammatical errors in this post!) As I was cleaning out a cabinet, I cringed at the mistake I saw. You can see that I am on the cutting edge of technology with my collection of VHS tapes! Find the error, and I'll email you any product -- FREE -- from my TPT store. First one wins! Leave a comment here, or on my Facebook page. You HAVE liked my Facebook page, haven't you? And Instagram (@grade2hullabaloo)?

Find the Error! Receive a Prize!

Finally... I am counting down to ARUBA! I leave in 12 days! Canceling cable TV and working two extra jobs made it possible for this trip. I am going to R-E-L-A-X... read, people watch, go on a snorkeling trip, and go to a couple of nice dinners. One of my coworkers told me about a restaurant that has beds in it! For eating! It's on the list. 

Mostly, I'm looking forward to recharging my batteries with learning about the culture, salty air, calming waves, soothing breezes, and giving thanks for my many blessings. 

What are you doing to recharge this summer or if you're down under, how are you relaxing this weekend? Leave a comment and let me know. Curious minds want to know!

Many blessings to you!

My Students' Report Card to Me

The end of our school year is filled with pages of documents in which teachers provide feedback on student performance -- report cards, progress reports, and printouts of standardized tests. The feedback teachers receive is from formal and informal observations by administrators. Parents write sweet notes of thanks, and students write them, too. However, I have learned that it is important to allow students to give ME feedback on my teaching. Yes, a teacher report card!

When I passed out the report card forms to my students, I had two expectations. First, I figured I’d get the “all A’s” version from those sweet students who think I’m great and always give me precious notes and cards. Second, I figured there would be one or two zings from kiddos who had had some discipline bumps in the road. I was prepared for these. I also hoped that I’d get some honest feedback about how I did this year. Here's an item analysis of the scores for each subject.

Wow, my kiddos took this so seriously! I loved the feedback they gave me, even when some of it stung a bit. Reading was my highest scored subject, with science being my lowest scored. I’ve compiled some of the comments below. 

What I find amusing about some of the comments related to science is that I showed fewer videos this year than in past years. Of course, the children didn't know that. In reflecting on their comments about having more experiments instead of videos, I realized science was the subject in which I used videos the most for note taking. And to be totally defensive, we DID do experiments! My takeaway from this is that even more experiments is a good thing in science. I will take this to heart in my science planningfor next year.

The other puzzling piece of feedback was about multiplication. We worked on arrays in the fall, and then came back to them in the spring. We worked on ‘rows and columns’ activities, made arrays with manipulatives, and labeled them with multiplication facts. Hmmm… A couple commented that we should do more with multiplication. I suppose the student who said, “I love how you taught us to do multiplication without us knowing it!” said it best. A few of them didn’t KNOW they were learning multiplication. Yikes!

This feedback is valuable! It tells me the insecure children need more encouragement, and I need to touch base with them about things they aren't confident about. It also tells me I need to be even more deliberate in stating learning goals and objectives. I need to make sure the children understand what they're learning. While my administrators gave thoughtful, constructive feedback on my teaching techniques through formal observations, the children were candid. Do more of this. Do less of that. I love it!

If you’d like to use this end of year report card with your students, you can grab a copy here.

Happy summer!

Hello, Flexible Seating!

Flexible Seating...

It's all the rage! Or is it? Honestly, I am not sure what the current rage is in elementary classrooms (aside from counting down the days until summer break). That moving target, swinging pendulum thingy called educational trends is a slippery sucker.  Nevertheless, I am guessing flexible seating would rank in the top ten.

Never being one to jump on the first bandwagon, I pondered the idea for a few months. I thought about how my control freak structure-loving self would handle having kids sitting everywhere. I decided to jump into it with a level of commitment and flexibility knowing that if it didn't work for the children (and me), I could always go back to my traditional seating. Here's how I made it work in my classroom.

Start Small

I already had a few things to allow for some flexibility in seating -- a couple of beanbags and another beanbag-type chair. I also had two upholstered chairs that a family gave me when we opened our new building. 

My next purchase was a small mesh and metal stool from At Home. Red, of course! This turned out to be too high for kids to sit on at a desk, and too low for kids to sit on and work anywhere else. So, my TA and I use it to sit by children who need help. 

Next, came research on yoga balls. I also looked at Hoki stools, but these really didn't appeal to me. I found Cando exercise balls at Allegro Medical for $9.85 each. Since I was anxious to get them, I spent my own money so that I could put them to use before the end of the school year. I got eight balls for $78.58. In my research, I learned that exercise balls are sized according to height, so I got the 45-inch, yellow balls. These are a perfect size for my second graders. 

Establish Rules

We established three rules for the yellow hoppers. Yes, we named the exercise balls. The first was no sharp objects around them. Second, no bouncing. Okay, there was some gentle bouncing in the beginning that I ignored as the children tested them. The smiles on their faces were priceless as they bounced and looked around at their classmates. After everyone had a chance to try them, the no bouncing rule went into full effect. Finally, and this is kind of where my 'can't-stand-grating-noises-sensitivity' comes into play, no screeching. Some children would roll them forward and backward, and they would make this groany-screechy noise that drove me nuts when everyone else was working quietly. Looking forward to next year, I am going to put a carpet under them. I think this will reduce the noise. 

Scavenge and Repurpose

You may be surprised to find things in your own home that will work well with flexible seating. I went through my house to see what I had that might work at school. I found a breakfast tray table that I never uses, so off it went to school. It has a flip-up stand to hold a book, and let me tell you, after the initial interest in the yellow hoppers wore off, this was THE most popular workspace choice! I wish had had a few more of these, because they are GREAT!

How many tubs or storage boxes do you have in your classroom? That many? Me, too! Here's one that I covered with a felt tablecloth. I simply hot glued the felt pieces into a pattern and used it as a tablecloth. I used a box of tag board as the flat surface, and covered it with my homemade tablecloth. This was a popular spot. It was the perfect height for little ones to work. I also did the same thing with one of my field trip coolers. I used some leftover fabric and draped it over a flat, cardboard piece for an instant tablecloth! Another popular spot!

Claiming a Spot

I thought this would be the biggest headache of flexible seating. Wouldn't everyone want to sit on the yellow hoppers? As it turned out, all I needed was a system to help the children start the day with everything they needed. The expectation was to unpack first. They had a classwork folder, a POP binder (Perfectly Organized Panther), their handwriting workbook, and their Panther Paw Keeper (PBIS rewards). These were the items they were required to take to their spot for the day. They could only claim a spot once they had these items in hand. So, if someone really wanted a specific spot, he had to hustle to get organized to grab that spot. There were a few times that I sent friends back to get everything they needed, and that resulted in losing a spot. 

There was never an argument or power struggle over a seat. I always stressed to "choose a learning spot where you can be the best learner" and this seemed to work. Best buddies didn't flock together just for the sake of chatting more. I was amazed. Interestingly enough, some of my friends tried out the alternative spots, but ultimately went back to traditional desks. I learned a lot about my students' needs and preferences simply by letting them choose. This was the biggest benefit of flexible seating for me. 

Kid Choice = Kid Happiness

One Caveat: For some friends with attention challenges or other needs, I did sometimes have to assign a seat. The yellow hoppers were too much because of distractions or physical challenges. The beanbags were used to lounge instead of doing one's best work. We had some talks about how our best buds may not be our best school partners or how a fun seat may not be the best learning seat. The bottom line is that YOU are the boss of the room, and if you feel someone isn't in an optimal spot, YOU get to make the change. My students knew this. 

Storage

The second thing that I was afraid would be a nightmare was storage. This one is tricky, because I have LOTS of books and shelves. Therefore, finding extra storage space was a bit of a problem -- albeit a good problem to have! First, we put glue sticks in a basket. We also put zippies of crayons on a basket. Each desk/table area had a basket with cups for scissors, Sharpies, sticky notes and markers. Math books, science notebooks, writing folders, and handwriting workbooks went into baskets stored on a shelf. When it came time to pass out any of these items, I would say, "Odds, grab two math books and share with a friend." This meant that all of the odd-numbered students would grab two math books and take them to their owners. At first, they would sort through to find their own book, but after a few times, they understood that someone would bring their book to them. This worked really well for grabbing scissors, crayons or anything else we needed. I have repurposed a cheap book shelf at home with a pretty coat of ocean blue paint. It will house most of our supplies for this coming  year. 

Looking Forward

Next year, I'll begin the year with flexible seating. That means I'll have to have a solid plan in place for training my new second graders. Today, three days after school is out, my plan is to assign seats for the first couple of weeks. I'll rotate children to different spots each day. At some point during the day, we'll check-in to see if kids want to switch spots. I am the only teacher in my school who has tried flexible seating, so my sweet second graders' minds are going to be blown when they walk into a room with beanbags, yellow hoppers and laundry baskets (I'm adding a few of these over the summer). Patience and flexibility will be the key for me. 

If you have questions, I'll do my best to answer them. If you've tried flexible seating, how did it work for you? Do you have any great finds for seating? Any suggestions for organizing supplies? 

Thanks for stopping by to read about my adventure with flexible seating. I hope your year-end countdown is over or very close to over!