Classroom Decorations- Jungle

It's almost school time and I started decorating the classroom.  I am having a lot of fun this year with the monkey/jungle theme.  Here are some of the things that I have already started (not finished).  A great friend and co-worker of mine helped with the tree :)  Most of these are pinterest inspired!

I decided to use the caddy's again, even though it's third grade! Each caddy has a space for 5 glue sticks, 2 packs of crayons, a pack of colored pencils, and a pack of markers for each table to share in case someone doesn't have those supplies!  I am very crafty in my room so they definitely need it.

 This is my math cabinet.  I have everything organized using tops from the cardboard boxes and labeled with what the subject is for math.  I keep all my games and manipulatives in there.  These are some charts that I made last year for my class.

 I love having a student of the month and felt this really made it POP with the theme.

 Last year we had a French concert, because my students learned French from an awesome parent that I had, and my husband had to make an elephant.  He made that from paint and puffy poster board :) AWESOME!  I hung that up next to the mailboxes for giving work back.  I also have above the mailboxes, an excellent work area.  If a student does phenomenal work it gets hung here for everyone to grab ideas of what I am looking for off of :)

 This is my reading tree.  It is not complete yet, but I thought it would add to the wonderful Jungle theme I have going in my room.  Plus it looks cool hanging over the computers.

 This is my word work and small group seating area where I work individually with either groups or just a student at a time.

 If you look closely over on the right group of desks there is a small box in the middle.  That is my Word Wall.  I decided not to take up cabinet space and instead do a filing card system.  I have one for each side of the room.  The students asks how to spell it, I tell them, and then one student writes it on a blank index card and files it in this container.  First time doing this so we will see how it goes :)  Teaches alphabetical order too.

 I used these pockets for my math centers.  Just glued magnets to the back of them, and laminated the monkey cards inside.  I will write the names of the kids in each group on the cards and just switch them out according to what they are doing.  I laminated the cards so that I could change names as we go if need be.

 I used the basket as a place to store reading cubes and balls.

 This is my CAFE board.  I used the monkey pockets once again as a way to store cafe cards so all I have to do is grab what I am looking for and post :)

 Here is a better picture of the monkey holders and cards.

 This is my AR wall.  Every time the students test on a book they will put a sticker on their chart.  There is a girls side and boys side.  I am still working on the this one :)

I had to add this one! I have such a supportive husband.  It is not easy putting in the countless hours it takes to prepare for school.  I went to a math convention and came home to this beautiful basket of welcome home school stuff that he KNEW I needed for work the following day!  What a great man!

Missed Work Helpers!

Last year was my first year teaching, and I think one of the biggest challenges (among many) for me was being able to keep track of students who were missing work due to being absent.  There is just so much going on these days.  I found this really cute idea from Pinterest on creating homework help folders, she even has the print out for you! I used this idea and created 6 of them.  Since I teach a seperate math class, I wanted to have 3 for my homeroom, and 3 for my math class. 

Each table is assigned a helper to help students that are absent that day.  These students are responsible for grabbing a homework folder and placing all missed work in the folder.  That folder will be placed into the students desk for completion the following day they return.  I typically allow until the end of the week depending on the assignment we did.  

This is a great way to stay organized, keep parents informed, and students responsible for their work.  We will see how this goes!

Here is a link to this wonderful blog and print out Missed Work Folder

Table Numbers- Jungle Theme

This year I decided to carry on with the Jungle theme in the classroom.  I couldn't find any good free table number patterns so I created my own.  This is how I did it :)

• Target (Zebra print small plates 10 pk) 1.50  Great deal
• Construction paper made into a fan paper rosette
• Hot Glue

I simply used the construction paper pattern for the fan that I found on the website above.  I made 4 of them in different colors.  Then I glued one paper plate to each side.  I also hot glued the fans together (it worked much better this way). Then I put one whole punch in the top of these and strung ribbon through.  I did tape the ribbon after stringing it through to make it much more stronger and resistant to breaking while it's hanging, these are a little heavy.

VOILA!!!  Table numbers in a cute jungle theme to go with the monkey room!  Super quick, cheap, and easy!

Teaching students with ADHD

http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-teaching_pg3.html#introducing
How to teach students with ADHD in a comfortable and inviting environment.

This site is great because so many students need a little bit of extra confidence and sense of welcome when entering a new classroom.  Being a mother of a child with ADHD it is important for teachers to understand that these children don't always do great with transition and expectations.  You can't offer too many expectations; you have to keep it short and sweet.

Offer these children the same guidelines as you would your others, but allow it to be in a more simpler context.  Sometimes offering multiple warnings before transition is what it takes in order to maintain a state of calmness for them. 

I have learned the power of the 10 min, 5 min, and 2 min warning, even going as far as to say okay your time is up, finish this last bit and your done :)  This has worked wonders on my son and I am hoping that next year the transition process will be just as smooth as it has been at home.

I found this article and it really shed some light on how to deliver the expectations to the children.  Remember: When one child hears quietly raise your hand, another one hears raise your hand and then get up and ask the question.  Not everyone gets the information delivered in the same manner, which is why teachers have to get creative.

Applications for Classroom Assessment

http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/07/11/assessment-app-roundup.aspx
Great apps to download to bring technology into the classroom, and to help assess student progress.

Teaching Ancient Rome?

villa-rustica.de/tour/toure.html
I found a site that uses virtual tours of museums and ancient ruins from Rome.  Great tool to show students first hand what still remains today. 

Great Behavior Management and Game Ideas

http://www.superteachertools.com/
This site is awesome! They have great ideas on class games, review games, and behavior managements tools to help you in the classroom!

NEW ADDITON TO THIS YEARS CLASSROOM

I loved when I had a gerbil last year, unfortunately he died of age over the summer.  I decided to get 2 more for next year.  The students loved watching them burrow, and play with the paper balls they would put in the cage.  Last year I let them take the gerbils home; this year I decided against it because of how difficult it was to plan with parents, and some parents didn't want to so the students got upset.  I always let the students name the gerbils on the first day of school.  I have everyone write down their names and then I pull 3 from the pot, the students then vote on the three that I pull out. 

I found that for some children that didn't have pets, or suffered some type of emotional instability, having the the gerbils served as a warmth for them, and a kind of refuge from everything that was going on.  They loved petting them when I held them.  I didn't allow them to hold the gerbils because I didn't want them to get bit and parents to get upset. 

It is proven that pets bring a sense of peace and calmness to ones self.  Having them in the classroom can add light to some children when they are sad or overwhelmed.  You never know what a student is going through each day, but having something to put a smile on their face when they walk in the door, is a start to good bonding relationship in your classroom community. 

Daily 5 Reading Mats

Here is a really cool idea!  The students need comfortable mats to sit on for Daily 5 and CAFE so that they have freedom to sit around the room.  I found some outdoor carpeting that I liked and duct taped it with zebra tape.  I learned my first year that the carpeting easily frays when the students play with it, this completely stopped that.  Very stylish too!

It's starting to look a lot like a new school year!

Great idea for the beginning of the year during open house night :)  Glow sticks for the kids that say we are going to have a bright year in third grade!  Got this idea from pinterest, not sure who I tagged it from.  I got the glowsticks and the cute star basket from Target (1$ section).  Then I just printed off these tags from online using free printable tags, and whole punched and tied them on with ribbon.  I embellished them with star printables that I just googled from online.