Classroom Organization = Teacher Happiness

Am I the only one that gets excited about classroom organization? I think that most teachers have a desire to be organized. And, that is what this post is all about!


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Teachers have stuff.  Lots of stuff.  Therefore, we have a never ending need/desire/nagging feeling to be as organized as possible. Organization looks like different things to different people.

To me, organization means that everything has a place. It also means that things are easily accessible and tidy. So, hopefully today's organizational tips are helpful in making sure everything in your classroom has a place (fingers crossed), thereby keeping your space tidy.

CRAYONS
Do you use crayons in your classroom?  Chances are, if you teach primary, well then, yes, you do.  Don't you just love it when there are random crayons scattered about the classroom floor at the end of each day? Didn't think so.

Rather than attempt to locate the owner of unmarked, abandoned crayons, we add them to a crayon tub. This tub is where all the little lost crayons go to live.


The students are free to use the crayons in this tub as needed. It's so much nicer than hearing random blurts of, "I don't have a blue!"  They know they can just get up and get a blue, or whatever.

NOTE CARDS
I love note cards! I keep several sets on hand at school because you never know when you might need to tell someone thank you, or decide that you want to write a special note to a student. Rather than have 5 different packs of cards floating around inside my desk, I keep my cards organized in a mini expanding file folder (coupon holder). They are perfect for holding all the cards and envelopes, and I can easily grab a card when needed!



REWARD TAGS
It's no secret. I'm a huge fan of reward tags. And, so are my students. These necklaces are only worn once a week, which means they have to be stored somewhere for safe keeping. This space below my whiteboard is perfect for storing our necklaces.


Each hook (push pin) is labeled with students numbers rather than names. I use calendar number cards. This allows me to reuse the labels year after year.

What I love best about this space is that the kids can easily get to and return their necklaces without any issues or the necklaces getting lost or damaged.

One more thing I do to organize my reward tags is write student numbers on the back of the tags (usually just the first tag they are given). This way, if we ever find a stray necklace, we know exactly where that set of tags goes.


Think you could use these calendar numbers to help keep your reward tags organized?  Click HERE to grab them.

Clipboards
Whether you have 5 clipboards or 20, it's helpful to put them in one spot that keeps them contained yet accessible. After all, we want the students to be able to access the materials intended for use. I store my clipboards in a metal tub. It's not fancy. But, organization doesn't need to be. The tub makes it easy for the kids to grab and return a clipboard throughout the day.


Tech
I hate cords. With a passion. We were given these devices in the past two years, and the cords were getting out of control. So, I found it necessary to contain them (because they gave me the heebie jeebies every time I looked at them). Having some sort of system to store your tech and manage the cords allows for ease of use and keeps the heebie jeebies away.


These bamboo stations are from Amazon. The quality is great. Each device plugs into a power strip which fits comfortably inside each station. Click here to learn more about this charging station option.


TEACHING MATERIALS
Let me start by stating that I am not a "binder person." Binders are not my go to resource for organizing ALL the things. BUT, I do find them to be the perfect tool for organizing specific lessons and samples. I have a binder for back to school, the holidays, special projects, etc.

Rather than store these lesson ideas, masters, and samples in a file folder, they are stored in page protectors and zipper pouches in a binder. It actually prolongs the life of the masters and samples (less creasing), and it is really easy to find what I need.

For example, I use a three inch binder to store all of my back to school lessons, samples, task cards, and so forth. This binder cover is from Learning in Wonderland.


I store craft samples in page protectors along with the masters that go with that craft.


And, task cards, around the room cards, etc. are stored in zipper pouches within the binder.


The binder set up allows me to easily go through all of my resources and quickly choose what I want to use each year.

NEW STUDENTS
I know I've shared this before, and I know it's a well known trick, but new student bags are a simple but highly effective way to stay organized. These are especially useful if you have a lot of movement at your school, as I do.


A new student bag is where you place all the items a new student will need into a plastic bag. When you are told that a new student is on the way, you grab a bag and it's very easy to prepare for that new student's arrival within just a few minutes.

Putting together a new student bag takes very little effort and saves you from scrambling the morning a new student arrives. I always set mine up before school starts as I'm preparing these same materials for the students on my beginning of the year roster.

I store my new student bags in a crate on my storage shelf. When I get a new student slip in my box, I grab a bag from my shelf and set up a desk. Easy peasy.


What you put in your new student bag is up to you, but here's what I put in mine:

  • Writing journal
  • Writing folder 
  • Poetry folder
  • Unfinished work folder
  • Homework folder
  • AR folder
  • Back to school forms and letters
  • Desk nameplate
  • Blank name stick
  • A small gift
I hope this short sampling of ways to be organized in the classroom was helpful. For more organization ideas click HERE.

DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT!

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Penguin Palooza

It's been a penguin fest in my classroom the past few weeks!  We have been reading about penguins, learning key vocabulary, classifying information, gathering fun facts, and more!  I love seeing the kids get excited about these goofy little birds. And, I was super excited to bust out lots of fun activities from my Penguins unit!

Last week, we kicked off our unit by reading The Emperor's Egg. This story is part of our reading series, so the students all had access to their own copy of the text.  The students then used the book to create this adorable fact hat.  It was so fun seeing them parade onto the playground at the end of the day.  They looked like a line of penguins waddling out to sea.  Hehe.
That same day, I read another book to them that gave lots of penguin facts.  Then, the students used the information in the read aloud to complete a can/have/are organizer.  I usually task them with writing more information than shown, but by the time they were able to sit down and do this assignment, we only had 10 minutes left in the day! Our late afternoon "period" can be a very tricky time block to work with sometimes.



I also read Penguin Chick to the class.  During the reading, I stopped to discuss key vocabulary terms as they were encountered in the text. Then, we made these fun vocabulary mini books.  I love how they turned out!



We also made these cute art projects!  The whole project was directed, but the penguin was created separately from the background.  We simply cut the penguins out and glued them to the painted backgrounds.



My students love mini books, and so do I! So, of course, we had to read this little interactive mini book about how an Emperor Penguin cares for its egg and chick.  Each page of the book prompted the students to do something related to the text.




By the end of the week, the students were experts in caring for a penguin egg.  After all, we read The Emperor's Egg in our basal about 4 times, and we read the mini book shown above, so the students were well equipped to write some how to directions explaining how to care for a penguin egg.  I encouraged them to pretend they were a penguin writing to another penguin.  They did great!


We also practiced our fact and opinion skills by making this adorable flap book after reading a book about our flightless friends.


I love, and completely agree with, the second opinion below.  Everyone should have a penguin as a pet.  Hehe.


Once the students had acquired lots of penguin knowledge, we played a game of True/False I Spy.  They read the statement on each card and determined if it was true or false.  I Spy is such a great way to promote individual engagement within a whole group setting, and the kids love it!


Finally, we did some penguin research.  This was extremely guided for two reasons.  First, it was our first official research project and second, all of the penguin books were checked out of the library (school and public).  I found some information on the internet, but the printout was a bit much for the students to handle in this capacity on an independent level.


I let the students complete the last page of their reports independently because at that point, they just had to locate anything that stood out to them.  I love how they turned out!

That was it, our Penguin Palooza 2015!  We had a blast learning about these little guys.  There were lots of other activities I would have loved to do, but there is only so much time (and we were in the midst of report cards and assessments)!  If you're interested in these activities, be sure to check out my Penguins unit on TpT.

Toodles!



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Activities to Practice Telling Time

Hey everyone!  Do you teach time?  If so, you know just how tricky this skill can be, and that it needs to be reviewed frequently.  So, how do you keep your practice and review fresh, fun, and engaging?  That is the topic of today's post.


The following is a collection of some of my favorite activities to pull out when we review our time telling skills.  I'm not sharing these in any particular order.  They are all meant to be used for the purpose of review, so pick and choose what you like!

Clock Crowns
Hats are kind of a big deal in my classroom.  We make them often.  I mean, you get to wear and show off what you know. How cool is that?  These clock crowns (hats) are a fun project that let kids do just that-show off their time telling skills.
The crown has a large clock in the front and four smaller clocks around the back.  Students draw clock hands on each clock.  For the smaller ones, they drew hands to show the time that the specified activity takes place each day (lunch, bedtime, etc). For the large clock, they picked their favorite time of day (sports practice, dinner, the time their favorite show comes on, etc.) and wrote that activity down and then drew clock hands to show when that event takes place.  They loved this project!

I was out of sentence strips when we made this, so we pieced strips of construction paper together to make the hat.  Click HERE to grab this freebie.

Structured Whole Group Engagement Activities
Scoot
Scoot is such a fun game! It get the kids moving and they forget that they are even learning.  To play, set some task cards with clocks on them at each of the desks in your room.  On your cue, your students will scoot from desk to desk, writing down the time shown on each desk.  You can read more about Scoot here.



Flap Book (Sorting the Time)
Let your students play the role of the teacher as they complete a sort where they identify correct times from incorrect times.

Bingo
What I love about Bingo is that it is a game that can be played over and over again.  I like to have my students make their own game boards. Then, I laminate them for reuse.  We can then play a few rounds of Bingo when we have a bit of extra time on our hands, or as a Fun Friday activity.


I Have, Who Has
This is another activity that is great for review when you have a few minutes, or when you are conducting your daily math warm up.  It doesn't take very long to play, but it makes for great practice.


Telling Time Mingle
Let your students make their own watches and then mingle around the room to read the time shown on each others watches.  The kids love this because they get to move around and talk to their peers, and you will love it because the kids are practicing an important skill.  It's a win-win.



You can find these activities, and more in my What Time Is It? pack.

I Spy
This Super Time Tellers I Spy activity is a great way to get your students moving around the room as they practice telling time.



Place the cards around your room and give your students a recording page.  You can tape the cards to your walls, place them on the floor, or both.  Students go from one card to the next and record the time shown on each.  You can read more about I Spy here.

And, you can grab this free I Spy activity here.

Assessment
Sadly, it can't all be fun and games.  I have to assess here and there as well.  I like to use quick and easy assessments, like this one from my assessment pack.  


Time Check
Finally, time checks are a quick and easy way to make sure your students practice telling time daily. Simply print some time check slips, cut them out, and tape them to your students' desks.  Whenever you have time, call out "Time Check!"  That's your cue that the kids need to stop whatever they are doing, check the time, and write it down.  My kids looooove it when I call out, "Time Check!" randomly.  You can grab this freebie HERE.


I hope you can use an idea or two.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!



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Brand New: Common Core Math Assessments

A new year, a new blog.  A new year, and a new product!  I have spent the past two months working on this pack, and I am thrilled to be able to finally share it with you!  Introducing my Common Core Math Assessments pack for second grade!


I am always looking for quick and easy ways to assess my students and their understanding of each of the common core standards. Sometimes, I need to revisit a topic and take new/more grades.  Sometimes, I want to assess more than one standard at a time.  Regardless, I'm all set, now!


This pack includes three assessments for each of the second grade CCSS standards.  And, every single assessment comes with an answer key!  I also threw in a few data tracking forms.  In all, you're getting 171 pages of assessment awesomeness!

Psst, here's a little secret...you can also use the pages as practice pages in class or for homework, if desired. The student pages aren't labeled as assessments, so you can use them however you'd like!

Here's a look at each section of assessments.



When I designed each and every page, I made sure the layout was clean and easy to read.  After all, these pages are designed for student use.  The students shouldn't be confused over formatting and overly fancy fonts.  I kept it simple and clean, for the students.



I also included a variety of assessment types.  Sometimes the students will answer multiple choice questions.  Sometimes they will answer free response questions. And, sometimes they will complete a task (dividing shapes, drawing hands on a clock, circling, etc).



And, to make your life easier, I included an answer key for every single assessment in the pack!

You can find this pack on TPT by clicking {HERE}.  I hope you love it as much as I do!


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