A Modern Teacher Planner Giveaway!

I am 100% sure you know April from A Modern Teacher makes fabulous planners, but did you know she now makes PERSONAL planners too! When April sent me the info on her new printed planners, I knew it was something I needed! So, perhaps you will agree with me!

I've bought my fair share of digital planners (four to be exact) and I can tell you that they are all still right on my laptop.
Why?
I don't have a personal printing press. I have a great laser printer for prints and school stuff, but in a planner I need a tough cover and great binding. I'm not a dainty gal. I lug stuff in a back and forth in a big ole' bag from home to school to the ballfield and back again every single day.
I need a cover that can withstand me! And this one's super sturdy!
Plus April's personal planners merge TEACHER LIFE and FAMILY LIFE! Yes!
I'm sure y'all are way more organized than I am; but if you keep notes in a lesson planner, a data notebook, on stickies, on the back of your kids' work, or the back of your hand, then maybe this is our answer!

And if you are not a fan of everything bright like the Rainbow Chalkboard design I chose, April has two other more subtle options: The Sunshine and The Black and White Dot!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The VIP Table! A management idea for people without prize boxes!

I posted a picture of my new VIP table system a few weeks ago on IG, and well, got a lot of questions, interest in how to run it, and even concerns.
So here's a rundown of the VIP table incentive in my classroom.
What is the VIP table? a group of 6 desks! I didn't rearrange my room at all, just moved kids' desks around.
The Sitballs are normally at one of my guided reading tables. I got them from a donorsChoose grant a few years ago. You can check them out here. I have the small size.

This is definitely something you want to generate with your students. Of course, we all know you hold the key to what the guidelines really are! My only suggestion is that you keep it simple and only choose actions that can be "proven" so to speak.
This privileged seating isn't anything new, just something my hubs and I came up with on a drive one day as I was complaining about the yapping in my class. and the apathy. and the general lack of motivation. It's a great motivator! Will it work forever, no way! But I do try to change it up to keep it fresh. If I had velvet rope, I'd hang it around the table! Go all out! Make it something they want! Decorate the desks! Whatever makes it seem special will have them drooling!
I started 2 days before Christmas break and had no guidelines. Just moved them willy nilly. It built excitement and anticipation. When we returned, we made the VIP rules together.

so there ya go!
Feel free to leave any questions below and I'll get back to you!
and thank you to Creative Clips for the papers, KG fonts, Miss Tiina fonts, Annie Moffatt for the borders, and Graphics by Sarah Beth for the graphics I used!

wishlist wednesday: hand signals

My hand signal reminder posters are my 4th most wishlisted item! these come with fingers 1-5 plus a crossed fingers signal. They also include customizable posters just in case you want to use something different than I do!

hand signals may be the number one management tool that I've ever used. no kidding
I know we have all read in the two sisters new daily 5 book that they do not need any evil eye looks or hand signals-but I DO!
my kids come to me as puppies begging to be on leashes attached to my limbs
I don't do clingy, so hand signals have really helped out and cut roaming down almost completely. hey, nothing is 100%!

See! Even sweet Amanda Nickerson uses them!

this is my original set-bright colors

Last summer I made the set I currently use with Ashley Hughes' "Rachel" papers to match my theme. 

those are available here

and you still have til Friday at midnight to win a 10 drawer cart!

don't forget to visit the Owl blog today to see the rest of our Wishlist sales!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

bouncy bands to the rescue

Have you heard of Bouncy Bands?
We've all seen big rubber bands stretched across desk legs on Pinterest, and while they worked great-they slipped down when my kiddos rested their legs on them.
A few months ago I was contacted about trying out the new and improved Bouncy Bands! Of course I agreed! Now they feature loops already tied and secured with metal so they won't come undone. PLUS they have two PVC looking things that go underneath to prevent the bands from slipping! genius!

how sweet! they even share it!

what's so great about them? (besides being a North Carolina company...)

Students can release energy while they read and write. (who doesn't)Their feet can play while their hands work! (a teacher's dream!)Bouncy Bands recycle used bicycle inner tubes. (save the Earth!)They don't make any noise. (woo-hoo!)Students of all ages enjoy being able to move while working! (that includes me too!)

here's my opinion...

Interested? COntact Scott at Scott@bouncybands.com Check out the Bouncy Bands site!


All the opinions in this post are mine. I was not compensated. I received a Bouncy Band to try out in my classroom in exchange for a review.

changing class dojo avatars

I am actually sitting down and enjoying hubs making the boys dinner! So why not blog!!
I'm linky up with Kacey @DoodleBugTeaching!

we had new students this week. We added 2 finches. Still nameless, but aren't they cute!

we started time in math. I love teaching time even though it feels impossible in the beginning. Here they are putting together a clock then I have them scramble it up and do it quick.  Free and easy! Just add sentence strips!

I love playing games around the room, but I have found second graders have a gard time moving from desk to desk. I literally wanted to shoot someone last time we played a "scoot" game, so this time I drew arrows on their desks so they'd know where to go when I called time. We are using lots of @teachingmaddeness roam the room freebies! 

each December, my teammie and I do The Grinch as a readers' theatre. I can literally read the book without reading it! They think I am the best reader in the world now! But seriously, I love the book, the cartoon, and having to practice every day! 

our elf is in the building. I don't do a big to-do. Mainly because I am lazy. But they came in Tuesday to find some of the ClassDojo avatars were changed to elves...whaaat!? Then we found him drawing in our Early Bird book that we check with each morning! and today we was hanging out in the fish tank!

SO after I posted our dojo picture on instagram, I had lots of people asking how I the elf did that. So here goes! It's actually easy, you just cannot change avatars if the students have already changed them. I have about 5 students that haven't, so they are the changed ones. Which actually works well because when they were questioned if they had done it, of course they said no!

Just a note I was unable to find where to upload new avatars in a new ClassDojo account I have emailed their customer service and I'm waiting on a response back. However I have had my account for over a year and I am still able to upload new avatars so if you have an older account this should work!!

setting boundaries in the new year

we returned to school Thursday
truthfully, I appreciate coming back to school on a Thursday. Those two days feel like a whole week!
We did manage to fit in a New Year resolutions and goal setting.
I think this is the perfect time to review our rules and set some new ones!
I have come to the point where these kiddos really need boundaries.
it’s my fault
I allow it to happen
but I do not like them just getting up and getting new supplies
you see, they are lazy!
rather than put their hands into the depths of hell to find their board marker or glue stick
they get up to get a new one!
thus, we have no extras and it is only day 92
so boundaries!
we use Class Dojo for points. {in case you didn’t know}
I love it!

they’ve made lots of improvements
I sent home amazing 2012 year end reports
it told them which days were their most positive and negative
it breaks down earning and losing points into pie charts
it is just awesome! they loved seeing all the data!

awesome right!?
what does this have to do with boundaries?
well, as a class we changed a few ways to earn and lose points


they think “dilly dallying” is hilarious! they used it all day! Don’t dilly dally…don’t dilly dally
if only they knew how much of it they do!
I convinced them that leaving a messy desk in the afternoons will indeed cause lightning to strike them down!
no homework? no problem! you just get punched!
okay, we just thought those symbols were hilarious!
so my resolution?
make sure I keep up with giving and taking points
I have the app, it is just quirky sometimes, but I will stick to my guns!
I was lenient with homework-no more!
I was not giving as much as I should have for helping out others without being asked or raising your hand rather than blurting-no more!
so go for it! Signup now!
and here are some helpful hints-I have found that in order for my iPhone to communicate with my ancient computer at school and for the points to change on the screen, I have to be in IE on the computer.
parent reports are sent each Friday automatically now! I was searching everywhere the last Friday we were in school to send them-well, no need!
and, you can assign avatars from either the critters or the monster library! I always thought it was one or the other. So we now have a nice mix!
happy Saturday!
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Mac Book! Of course delivery was attempted yesterday at 2pm! Who's home to sign for a package at 2pm?! in the meantime, here is how I am working!

a disturbance in the dojo {freebie}

So, have you seen the new features on class dojo! Awesome!
It’s funny that the kids noticed them right away!

My fav is printed reports to pdf! yes! I have 4 parents without email, thus I cannot email the weekly report. Now instead of copying and pasting or printing from a webpage…ugh…I can print the report!

 

So since I first posted I’ve had a few teachers email me questions, but one teacher is really having a hard time with parents so I thought I’d share her woes since they may be yours too

“…They are thrilled to receive points and no CHILD has cried, whimpered or complained about a lost point.  Did I mention the kids love love love Dojo?

The parents, a different story.  Three have expressed concerns.  Two because the child lost a point for not doing homework and "after all it was not the child's fault but the parent's and can I please just give the child back the point?"  The third is concerned because her child is so worried because other kids have lost points and she feels so bad for these kids. …

So my questions are~Do you have parents like this?  Do you have any suggestions? “

so here are my thoughts…

No. My parents that have had an opinion love it because they can see it anytime they want. My argument would be that any system you used would have the same rules, consequences, and rewards. The website just makes it manageable. Would the child have lost a ticket or moved a card for not having their homework? yep. SOooo what's the difference. 

If your admin supports it, then there is no argument for the parent. However, I know this isn't always the case. There will be those admin who cave in or parents who simply look for something to complain about. 

As for the child who feels bad for the others, that's just part of life. Applaud her for having compassion! But really, wouldn't she feel bad for them losing a ticket, a chip, or moving a card, or moving down on a clip chart?! {insert eye roll here!}

Sounds like the parents just need a good little explanation letter. They need to be reminded that for the hours the kids are at school, there are consequences for their actions. If the kids love it, the parents need to get on board too!

so I was wondering if anyone else out there is having these issues?

and in other dojo news…I’ve officially had my first bad days with my kiddos…They drove me batty yesterday. So much so, I took away their Snazzy Snack {after they’d written up the recipe} and cut out planting in the garden day. errrr. Good thing it was Friday! Look at these sad point totals for the WEEK!

On a happy note, I always spotlight my point leaders in my newsletter. But I wanted a little something to award the kids for being leaders! I made this little Class Dojo Award Pack freebie, so scoop it up! It doesn’t reference dojo in case you do not use it. Just all karate-fied.

welcome to my dojo {a tutorial}

ok, have you heard of Class Dojo and just didn’t feel up to it? Dive on in! The water is fine! I heard about the online management tool last year from a fellow teach who thought it would be up my alley. I was reluctant. I liked my card flipping. I didn’t do it.

this year. I was all set for clip chart with my Whole Brain teaching scoreboard. Used scoreboard very successfully the first 2 weeks on school. I planned on adding more individual management with my clip chart {or practice cards} the coming Monday. Threatened rowdy students with it!

Then my middle Lamb comes in after school and says “why aren’t you using class dojo? Your kids would be better if you did!” {my kiddos are great fyi-he just wants to be better than us!}

Then at our staff meeting, my teammate {who had been using it all year and is my son’s teacher} presented it to us. I was hooked! Oh.EM.GEE. The number one feature that got me was the parent reports. Ugh. Can I tell you I hate writing behavior reports in our Thursday folders! I have just slopped something down since I write anything major in the daily planners. Just a waste of my time.

Here’s a little rundown for you. I am sorry it’s not a catchy, appealing video tutorial. I still am not sure where CamStudio saves my stuff…

go to classdojo.com

here’s my class

 

Now for the management during class. Little Jake is grabs his book box and gets to reading at his own little spot right away. I need to let him know I noticed because the rest of the kiddos are still roaming around.

 

not that it ever happens, but if little Jake wasn’t following directions, I’d just go to negative instead.

and here’s what’s on my tv screen. DING is the positive sound. Enter the Pavlov dog experiment period. Serious;y, everyone is on task now and I never said a word. My fear with this was that I want kids to physically go and MOVE something positive or negative. That’s why I like clip charts and flipping. But I can still get that! I can have kids award positives for themselves, or negatives. They just go and click the mouse.

Now for the reports. I use 2 at the moment. First is the class report I share daily with students. If we beat the number of positives from the previous day, we earn a paw. {our mascot is a bear cub-We are a PBIS school and we have to hand these out schoolwide for good behaviors}

but I can also print or email individual reports to parents!! yay!! I can add daily notes too if I want

 

 

But the BEST feature BY FAR is using my iPhone as a remote! Holy smokes!

the first day I used it I was in the hallway as they were unpacking. Suddenly they hear the dreaded DONG on the negative…all eyes are sweeping the room. How’d she do that??? I shared that my phone is right here with me all day, I can award from the restroom, cafeteria, lab, hall, anywhere! If I’m in the room, they see it on the screen, if we are out of the room, they notice their totals. They are very focused on these.

and fyi-you must be in IE on your PC to get the smartphone remote to work. Who knows. quirky technology!

Here’s what it looks like

Why? Every other Friday, they buy coupons with their points.

Our first store is tomorrow. Points will be cleared and spent. I am using Christie’s prize pass catalog because they are not tangible items I have to buy and they love them. We added a few specific things, too. Nothing is over 30 points or under 10. I am choosing to clear them out because I do not want them to get to 30 and just quit.

And my parents love it too. They can {and do} go online anytime and see what’s up.

well, I hope I have at least convinced you to visit the site, or even give it a try! And I am still using wbt rules and other features. I normally stop using scoreboard in September anyhow.

Happy managing!!