Technology Exit Slips = GAMECHANGER!

I'm so excited to share this with you today! This has been quite the labor of love and has already had some great reviews from students in my room this year! Starting a technology theme in my room this year I already had...

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I wanted a twist that would be more fit for my upper elementary students and then .....

     was born! This twist on exit slips can once again be used for ANY grade and subject and I put in plenty of ideas to help get you started! 

It contains: 

1. Complete Bulletin Board Set

2. App exit Slips for 17 DIFFERENT APPS

(full and 1/2 page versions)

3. Create your own app ideas for community building in your classroom and school!

Check out the bulletin board! Its hanging up in the hallway right now and it definitely gets some attention! I love how interactive it is and can be changed depending on what we are focusing on.  I even added an app for our school at the bottom - your students can design one to be included on your iPad (template included!) 

All these apps are included with ideas of how to use each with full and 1/2 page templates.  Let me tell you the tech theme is enticing! My students are immediately engaged and I love how I can connect it to each subject no matter what we are teaching.  

It is so easy to grab a template and go ... it truly is a product you can use ALL YEAR LONG!

Using the Trip Advisor page to rate a recent field trip location! Using the FB page to get to know students but could easily be adapted to characters, historians, or scientists! - so many uses out of each template. 

Using messaging, emailing, or Instagramming to show learning in across any curriculum area! Writing about math, reading, or science - doesn't matter because students are engaged in the process and you can see what they learned.  EXCELLENT FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT!

We first tried Mind Maps this year and it went over SO WELL.  One of my students even said "this is fun, can we do more?" You bet there is more coming! They had to document learning from last week across all subjects and then color code the map and make a key.  I love how creative some of their answers were and they had to think and provide examples and connections from what all they have learned!

Click any of the pictures to check out this pack for your room - it is perfect for upper elementary and middle school grades! With 100+ pages you will find TONS of templates to last you through the year! 

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QR code handout

I introduced QR codes to my class the very first day of school - showing them our class website.  They were all so interested and I can't wait to use them in more ways this year.

Many of my students were concerned and wondering what app you could use and how they could show their parents.  I whipped up this quick 1/2 page letter to let parents know what to do with a QR code since I have a couple on our newsletter and plan to use them in projects this year!

On my copy I put a QR code for our website just so parents can try it specifically on this page.  I attached this to our first newsletter in case parents want to try it out right away.

Hopefully this will be helpful in your classroom and help integrate technology even with parents!

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Last Chance Sale

It's another LAST CHANCE sale! One day only! Just in case you forgot anything last time ... or are like me and saw everyone else's awesome purchases and need now "need" that new thing for the start of school!

Promo code: BOOST 

28% OFF IN MY STORE - WEDNESDAY ONLY!

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Back to School ebook

The Back to School ebooks are here! There are options for every grade level and subject area.  Click on the picture above to check out this one! See if you can find me!

I have LOVED getting a chance to check out all the fantastic freebies that are available.  There are some great tips that I plan on implementing already this year - all in one place!

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Open House - Meet the Teacher

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Well today's the day....Meet the Teacher and we start on Thursday. I'm so glad to have the day off in between - this pregnant body needs it!

I'm excited for my students to check out our tech theme and all the goodies I have been working on!

First up are our iPhone Name tags  - you can snag yours here! They are complete with names, grade level, and their numbers (for easy grading reference and organization).  These are editable but work great for any classroom! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I picked up these bookmarks as a FREEBIE in the Brown Bag Teacher's Store! I love the color and the way they come with strategies on the back!

I picked up this flip book here!
I'm so glad to have all this info in one spot for parents! It will make it easily accessible and tons of info plus it's RAINBOW!

Made these AWESOME looking playlists for their desks as well! These were inspired by The Teacher's Chair and you can find her original idea  - here on Instagram! 

If you want to follow me for lots of sneak peeks at what is coming up - you can do that here. 

Here's a view from of the desks from afar: 

and one up close....

 I have a parent presentation ready and some stations for the students to do but the way our Open House is structured I'm not sure how much parent time, I'll have to fit it all in :(   If you want to see the rest of my room check out my post - here! 

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Classroom Reveal - Take a Peek inside

I'm so excited to do an official classroom reveal! Last year I was on a one year leave and didn't really get a chance to decorate my room, although I just moved 2 states away so it would have been difficult to do in that time (that is neither here nor there!) .... I'm just thrilled I got a blank slate to make my own this year.

If you have followed me on Instagram you might have seen some of my sneak peeks making their way to you:

Now let me preface this by saying, I have no "theme" in the general sense.  Black and brights is a color scheme and I have some great tech themed goodies that I'm so excited to share with my students this year but other than that... its just what I liked.

Let's take a look around:

Beyond my desk lies this shelf with my Teacher Toolbox and my Birthday sticks for students

The Class of Awesome sign was just like lacquer_teach_repeat made from instagram!

My door sign: "Teacher of AWESOME, Awesome means 4th Grade" inspired by this pin!

• Objectives Board - right in the front of the room, easily accessible for everyone! I just slipped some colored paper into page protectors and added some labels! I did write our first objectives up there but they came out a little faint going to try a new marker before students arrive!
• Welcome Sign- This will be on the Smartboard for meet the teacher / Open House night! I have them FREE here - for K- 6 ! 
• Clip Chart - I made the chart before I fully decided to commit to using one this year - I plan on using Class Dojo but may need this or a variation for a few students....regardless I love the colorful clips (Sharpie...easy!) and the rainbow colors! I got it here FREE

• Schedule - FREE here just switched up the font. 
• Bloom's Poster - printed from this pin here
• Wonder Wall - I used Chalkboard Contact paper to create this on my white board.  The book "Ever Wonder Why?" was something my 5th grade teacher did each week, basically she had a place where the question was asked and we could guess the answer and we would go over it once a week.  It sparked such curiosity and was just a fun little thing...I'm excited to try it with my students this year.  

 Here's a tutorial if you want to make these rolled up paper decorations for your room! 

Here's the job board which is split with our Genius Hour bulletin board and off to the side is a flip flop holder to hold task cards! I love how it takes up little room but still displays everything.  I got it for $5 at Walmart but you can find them multiple places.  The jobs are from my pack - here. 

• Below is my small group area - I'm didn't have this all last year and I'm unbelievably excited to have it this year!  I have some dry erase circles at each spot for review or beginning questions! (Ignore all the shelving in back...no cover for that yet..)
• I got the soup can labels from Hope King during the BTS sale! For a first year decorating teacher - this was an easy buy, of course I have soup cans around so these will definitely get used!
• My AR board for the year is magneted to a file cabinet near the back but I love all the bright colors!

                 

Just a few whole room shots...last ones I promise!

From the door walking in!

View from back corner!

Stay tuned for what is on the student desk and what I have planned for Open House! I'd love to see your room - and gather ideas for next year (store them away, anyway).  Keeping the same room twice would make it easier to decorate right?!

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What's New With You: Caring Classroom

I'm starting a short mini-series on some things I want to try during this school year.  Join me on this journey by following along - I'd love to hear what new things you are trying this year!

Starting in an older grade, I wanted to promote a real environment of caring in my classroom.  I wanted this to be a classroom goal and thought of some great ways to make it happen in my room! 

I created this Caring Classroom: RAK Style pack to help you promote this in your classroom.  Using Random Acts of Kindness to create a caring environment that your students work towards.  This is a tool that can be used all year long and create great discussions in your classroom.  There are TONS of great printables for every need and to help you keep track of all the awesome things you are doing in your room! 

Here you can see some of the major components: 

*Kind-o-meter (printed across multiple pages - big enough for bulletin board)

*Class Journal - great to keep track

*journal prompts for individuals or class

* Personal tracker to know where you are in order to meet your goal. 

* There are TONS of ideas of R.A.Ks for your class, school, or community! 

*Kindness quilt blocks for you to complete as a class or school

and then of course you need: 

There are options for the whole class and for individuals.  I plan to keep ours in our data folder and display the class "Kind-o-meter" along with the class goal on a bulletin board in our room! This will hold students accountable and make sure everyone stays on track. 

I'm so excited and I really think this can spur great discussions about character in the classroom and how a little kindness can go a long way.  Be sure to check back soon to see our bulletin board in action!

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Getting Started With STEM

I'm starting a short mini-series on some things I want to try during this school year.  Join me on this journey by following along - I'd love to hear what new things you are trying this year!   Make sure to read all of this - there are TONS of FREEBIES linked up to help you get started too!

Getting started with STEM! 

First, I want to say that I am in the same boat as most of you - I am a beginner.  I started doing research when I saw this coming up more and more and since I will be teaching 4th and 5th Science, I thought this would be a great addition to help meet our state standards. 

STEM challenges are small problems that students solve with specific materials.  Through this learning with little or no direction they learn the engineering process.  This align with almost all state standards and NGSS to some degree at every grade level.  I love the open-endedness of the challenges and how students get to really explore and share how the process works.  Students essentially get in groups (for most challenges) and have a limited amount of time.  I require that during that time they document their learning through a recording sheet so they have information to share with the class when finished. 

Here are some amazing blogs/posts that will give you a better explanation:

1. Sunny Days in Second Grade: Our First STEM Challenge
2. Teachers are Terrific, She has a great store as well TONS of stem resources. I love the way she says what she is working on for each grade - so helpful and you can differentiate activities without changing process to make it work for different grade levels and from year to year.

1. Smart Chick - Growing a STEM classroom - she has tons of challenges in her TPT store.  

My STEM Pinterest Board.  Click the link to be taken to it - click follow at the top to make sure you see any new pins being added (closer to school there will be plenty)

My links and where I got resources: 

Stem Rules Poster = FREE (see below)

STEM Challenge Role Cards - FREE from Smart Chick

Engenieering Design Process Poster - FREE from Bethany Baptiste

Design Cycle Organizer - FREE from Smart Chick

STEM lab Reflection - FREE from Pepper's Picks

STEM Engineering Starter Kit - FREE from Ivy Taul - Excellent resource about starting STEM guidelines, rules, and timeline!!!

Here are the FREE cover and rules pages! (click the pictures to download!) To make them editable you lose the cute fonts in Google Drive, so you'll have to use some of your own. 

Challenge Ideas:

Use this list to get some resources.   To me the important parts are materials, and any guidelines that they might have.  Leaving them open-ended is great for students to explore.  I plan to make notes for next year about what could be included or what worked best!


Homemade Toys - make a toy for younger children explain why it works and what it does.
Marble Track - 4/5 Learning about angles
STEM Crazy teachers - TONS OF great briefs!!!
Spaghetti Tower STEM Challenge - Great for younger grades or to start out
Saving Fred - great beginning activity to work together! + it uses candy!
Roller Coaster Challenge  - pretty wordy but you can use Pinterest pins to fill in the gaps
Zipline Racers - this one looks really cool!  Not official STEM plan but could easily do with a little modification
Design a Car - this is versions of this that use editable (food) items, they look fun too!
Design a Boat - fun challenge
TONS of challengs and lesson plans - eGFI (look on left column to search for specifics

In my binder, I have 3 sections: Back to School, Challenges, and Projects.  Projects require more effort and multiple parts along with a challenge and really integrate the learning across different subject areas.  I compiled my list of challenges and you can download for FREE - here OR click the picture below.  You can google the name of any challenge to get the gist or lesson plans and those are what I have printed in my binder for reference.  Because I'm teaching 4th and 5th, I only included those grade levels and these are NOT editable (sorry!) but you can get your ideas there and fill out the blank ones at the bottom!


How I plan to implement:

I plan to do 1 STEM challenge or experiment to start every new chapter.  Currently, I just don't have the funds and resources to do them once a week although I would love to!   I plan to start with the Saving Fred activity for both 4 and 5.    I want the students to get the feel starting with a fun activity before moving forward.

During the first couple sessions, I plan on introducing the role cards (crossing my fingers) they will be able to utilize them.  I think it will be good but since not working with this age level before, I'm willing to just go with teamwork on the challenges.  I will also explain the rules before every challenge and make sure each group has paper to document trials and be able to explain once finished what worked and what didn't  -  a HUGE part of the process.

Getting all of that in place, will make it easier for the continuing challenges the rest of the year. 

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