*Teaching Maddeness*

In celebration of my 1 Year Blogiversary, I'm holding a giveaway for some of my favorite things!!

Thinking back on this past year in the classroom, these are definitely some of my favorite things! There will be a different winner for each item!

1. Personal Scotch Laminator

Hands down. My #1 favorite new addition to my classroom this year was my Scotch Laminator. Let's face it, the ones at school stink! They're either broken, or peel right off. This baby is perfection every.single.time! I have one at home and at school - love, love, love.

So, one lucky winner will get his/her own Scotch Laminator shipped right to their house!

2. Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

In a very {and I mean VERY} close second is my Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener. I mean it made it through an entire year - that is quite a feat by itself, AND it still sharpens EVERY kind of pencil to PERFECTION every.single.time! Love, love, love! If you don't have one of these in your classroom yet, you NEED this!!

3. Classroom Theme - $50 Target Giftcard

My third favorite addition to my classroom was my new "MONSTER THEME" that I worked on all last summer. Click here to scroll through those threads if you missed that excitement. Since I can't personally come and decorate your room, I'm giving a $50 giftcard to Target. Let's face it, that's where a majority of my items (chairs, rugs, dollar spot items) came from anyway! Of course, you could always splurge on something just for YOURSELF from Target if you wanted. :)

4. Alex & Ani Apple of Abundance Charm Bangle

Another favorite of mine this year {not so much classroom related} is piling on the bracelets! I adore these Alex & Ani bangles, so I thought maybe you would, too! One lucky winner will win the "apple" bangle in choice of gold or silver - perfect for accessorizing any outfit for the classroom. :)

5. Teacher's Clubhouse Unit of Your Choice

Of course, I'll be throwing in some freebies from our shops! First up is a free unit of your choice from our TpT shop! Don't forget that we've recently added our Classroom Theme Units, so if you're looking to redecorate the classroom for next year, you could choose one of our theme packs!

6. Lightbulb Minds Unit of Your Choice

And, I'm not leaving out you intermediate teachers! If you teach grades 4-6 our Lightbulb Minds site has units for you, and the winner can choose the one he/she wants!

There are LOTS of chances to win! You can even enter some of the options DAILY to improve your odds! May the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

The SIX winners will be announced on Monday, June 24!

Oh, yeah! And, don't forget to go grab this week's 65-Page Freebie from our TpT shop in celebration of Teacher's Clubhouse's 6th Birthday.....today is your last day to grab it! Our Week 4 Freebie will be posted tomorrow!

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My week was spent in Louisiana - or maybe I should say the car to be more accurate. ;) I left early Sunday morning with a few of my best teacher friends and we set out for a 12+hour drive for the Whole Brain Teaching Conference.

1) On The Road

We spent hours and hours and HOURS in the car this week. A BIG thanks to Mr. Madden for burning us CDs for the long trip! The other girls may be just a bit tired of Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, and Flo Rida....just sayin'! :)

We traveled through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana....all to end up in a little town called Pineville, LA!

2) Welcome to Pineville

Oh, Pineville! We stayed at The Country Inn, which was also where "Coach B" and most of the others from the WBT Conference were staying. It was quaint and everyone we ran into was sooooo nice!

These are some "yarn bombings" we saw in downtown Alexandria....so cute!

3) The Conference

Each day we met as a whole group in the mornings and then had grade-level specific "break-out" sessions.

{Susannah (left) and I (right) waiting on the conference to begin!}

We were pumped and set for Day 1 - All About Classroom Management! We'll be teaching a Whole Brain Workshop later this summer for some teachers in our district, so I'll post more about it when we have prepared for that! Basically, on Day 1 we learned all about "The Big 7" {the scoreboard, teach/okay, class/yes, mirror, the five rules, hands & eyes, and switch}- and in fact, Jennifer and I created our own way to remember "The Big 7" that we think is much more effective {at least to us!} I'll share that soon, too!

Day 2 focused on Lesson Delivery and Day 3 was all about Writing. The conference was very informative, especially for those new to WBT. The conference was actually "WBT in action"...everything that was taught was mirrored and then taught to your neighbor - very high energy!

I can't wait to take the WBT strategies back to my school/district and show others how they work in my classroom! And, I can't wait to try even more components in my classroom this upcoming year.

I'm not sure how we got lost so much in such a small town, but we seemed to constantly be going in circles all week long, so it was ironic that we ended up in the middle of "shutter island" trying to get out of there...we were just joking about it looking like Shutter Island and then as we were finally leaving it, we saw the Mental Institution sign so I had to snap a picture out of the back window!

4) New Orleans

After 3 days of intense workshop, we were ready to drive on down to New Orleans! We were super excited to visit NO for the first time. We stayed at The Royal Sonesta which was right on Bourbon Street. It was the PERFECT place to stay!

We had lunch at Saints and Sinners, which just so happens to be Channing Tatum's bar. Unfortunately, we missed him by a couple of days, but the waiter said he is unbelievably nice to hang with! ;)

This girl does not eat seafood so New Orleans cuisine isn't really my thing. I had a nice grilled chicken sandwich - the food was better than we expected it to be.

Can you tell which is which?? Hahaha!

Later that night, we headed to Jackson Square. It was beautiful.

After relaxing a bit at the hotel, we freshened up and headed back out for dinner and fun!

{Me (left) and Kristen (right) posing with the statue}

We ate at Muriels....wouldn't be back on my list, but remember that I'm not a New Orleans cuisine girl...

...and tried a couple of dueling piano bars. I L-O-V-E dueling piano bars and am so stinkin' happy that we have one opening up in our town this summer!!!!

We fell in love with the tray guy at Pat O'Briens....and he fell in love with my friend, Susannah! ;)

We also fell in love with the town of New Orleans. Being from South Carolina, it was like the perfect mix of Charleston and the Myrtle Beach strip!!! So much to see and do....and not all of it was good! The BEST people-watching EVER!!

This may be the only "strange" picture that is appropriate to post on my blog, but trust me there were MANY strange moments. I kind of love Bourbon Street!!!!

After a great night of sleep at The Royal Sonesta....

...we were up early for beignets at Cafe du Monde. DELICIOUS!!

I certainly hope to make it back to New Orleans again in the future!

5) Giveaway & Freebie

Don't forget that you can enter my "Amanda's Favorites Giveaway" this week to be one of SIX winners for some great prizes! Remember, you can enter DAILY using the "share" option!!

And, you can also pick up our WEEK 4 FREEBIE still in our Teacher's Clubhouse 6th Birthday celebration!

{Click Above to Download - Types of Writing Signs Pack - Correlate to Patricia Polacco Books!}

If you haven't entered my giveaway, today is the day!! I will announce the SIX winners tomorrow! And, if you HAVE already entered, remember that you can ENTER DAILY by "sharing"!!

We had the BEST comment posted to our Teacher's Clubhouse Facebook page this week...

How CUTE is that?? It's amazing to think that we've been creating and sharing our resources with teachers for SIX YEARS!! We're so glad that so many other teachers are sharing their talent now and are glad that we joined the TpT community this year!

Speaking of TpT, our Week 5 FREEBIE is also up today! Our Reading Strategy Flippers were a big hit last year, so we have created Grammar Flippers - a set of 23 flipbooks to assess students' knowledge of parts of speech, compound words, possessives, and MUCH MORE!!

{Click the image to grab our set of 23 flipbooks!}

Next week's freebie finale is already in the works...we're going to end it with a mega freebie that has been on my to-do list for a long while!

Also on my "to-do" list - blog every single day this upcoming week!! What have I been doing this summer?? ;)

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3941596/?claim=rrfrz4tb4hk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

As you know, I attended the Whole Brain Teaching Conference last week in Louisiana. I'm super excited about sharing more about these teaching strategies with my school next year!

The first day of the workshop was all about Classroom Management, which is definitely the key piece {and most used piece} of WBT! There are seven components to the Classroom Management piece, known as "The Big 7." I used "The Big 7" in my classroom last year and fell in L-O-V-E with each of them!

As they introduced "The Big 7" at the conference, they went through each letter of "T-H-E-B-I-G-7" with some sort of "visualization" that was intended to help you remember each component. I cannot explain to you how the letters connected with each component because it made ABSOLUTELY no sense to me.

I'm pretty sure they were trying to line them up in the order you should introduce them in your classroom, but the connection to the actual letters in the words "The Big 7" went completely over my head. In fact, the connections were so obscure that THAT was all I could focus on. My head was sitting there making its own connections and mnemonic devices that actually made sense {to me, at least!}

Within minutes, my friend Jennifer and I had completely revamped the "visualization" of "The Big 7" in a way that made much more sense to us! And, since we are going to be taking this information back to teach to our staff this year, we think it will make much sense to them as well!

This morning, I whipped up some signs to show the mnemonic devices we created. If you are interested in introducing Whole Brain Teaching to your school or fellow teachers, feel free to grab these signs and use them in your workshop!

{Click the image above to download the signs}

Here's an overview of "The Big 7" mnemonic devices that we created. I'll be doing a post on each of these strategies this week - starting tomorrow!

1. T - The Scoreboard {each side of the T represents one side of the scoreboard)
2. h - Teach! - Okay! {the tall stick on the "h" represents the teacher standing and teaching, the short hump of the "h" represents the students sitting and teaching each other what they have learned)
3. e - Class? - Yes? {the "e" is part of the word YES}
4. B - Mirror {the two humps on the "B" are mirror images of each other}
5. i - Hands and Eyes {the "i" is a play on the word "eye" - also imagine the "dot" of the "i" as an actual "eye'}
6. g - Switch {the two "circles" in the "g" could be "switched"}
7. 7 - The 5 Rules {7 is a number and there is a certain number (5) of rules for the classroom}

I hope these mnemonic signs help you (and your colleagues) remember these WBT classroom management strategies! I can't wait to start a discussion on how I (and you) have used these in the classroom! Come back tomorrow to start sharing!

And, CONGRATULATIONS to the 6 WINNERS in my Blogiversary giveaway!!! Emails are on their way to you right now!

Suzanne F. - Alex & Ani Wisdom Bangle Bracelet

Leann - Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

Elizabeth P. - TC Unit of Choice (Christmas Around the World Unit)

Francheryl - LM Unit of Choice (Word Choice Unit)

Sarah H. - Scotch Laminator

Denise S. - $50 Target Giftcard

Whole Brain Teaching: Classroom Management - Post #1

{Click the image above to download "The Big 7" WBT Classroom Management posters}

As teachers, we have a whole "bag of tricks" in our classroom management bag. Today, let's talk about those "attention-getters." Whether your students are playing learning games around the classroom or your in the middle of a class party with tons of visitors, there are always those times when you need to get their attention - and fast!

Some of the tried and true methods that most of us have used for years include:

1) {teacher} 1-2-3, Eyes on Me! {students} 1-2, Eyes on You!
2) {teacher} claps a pattern with hands {students} repeat the clapping pattern with hands
3) {teacher in a whisper} If you can hear my voice clap two times {repeat until all students are participating}

Those are all very effective, but let's face it. Sometimes, you need their attention NOW, not after clapping three different patterns.

This is where "Class? Yes!" from Whole Brain Teaching comes in. It's purpose is the same as all of the above, but it's SUPER QUICK! One word. You've got them.

Here's a video from Coach B himself about the Class/Yes technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRyMI8jRCaI

Of course, there's room to have fun with it. The whole trick is that however the teacher says "Class" the students have to repeat "Yes" using the same tone and expression.

Some of my favorite ways to use Class/Yes this year included:

Classity-Class-Class : Yessity-Yes-Yes
Classy-Pooooo : Yessy-Pooooo
Ohhhhh, Classss : Ohhhhh, Yesssss

Some of these super silly ones (classy poo) may not work as well with older kids, but you can come up with your own variations. A 4th grade teacher at my school, Jennifer, that went to the WBT conference with me shared her class favorite and I just may have to borrow it.

Think of Alicia Keys' song "That Girl is on Fire"....

She would sing, "Class Are you on Fire?" and students would say, "Yes We are on Fire!"

Love, love, love that one!! Do you use class yes? If so, what is your favorite way to use it??

Now, once students understand Class/Yes, I'm all about throwing those variations back in while you have the time. But remember, if you need them super quick, just a simple one word "Class" grabs their attention!

Here are some of the cute variations that we use throughout the school year once they've mastered the class/yes.

September {teacher} All Set? {students} You bet!
October: {teacher} Hocus Pocus {students} Everybody Focus
November (testing month for us) {teacher}Ready to Rock? {students} Ready to Roll
December {teacher} Ho, Ho, Ho {students} Off to Work We Go
January {teacher} 10,9,8,7,6 {students) 5,4,3,2,1
February {teacher} Heart to Heart {students} We're Ready to Start
March (testing month for us) {teacher} Easy Peasy {students} Lemon Squeezy
April {teacher} Abra (students) Cadabra
May {teacher} Holy Moly! {students} Guacomole

When students are active in the classroom and I want them to settle and be seated, I use this one and they should be seated by the end...

{teacher} Criss Cross {students} Applesauce

When students are scattered around the classroom with learning games and I need to give additional instructions or make an announcement where I want their hands off of everything, I use one of these...

{teacher} Hands on Top {students} That Means Stop (students put hands on their heads)
{teacher} Macaroni and Cheese {students} Everybody Freeze (students freeze)
{teacher} Zip Your Lips {students} Hands on Hips (hands drop what they're doing and go on hips)

When I'm looking to have a little more fun, I'll use some fun animal action ones, such as these...

{teacher} Alligator, Alligator {students} Chomp, Chomp (with arms stretched in chomping motion)
{teacher} Mouse, Mouse {students} Squeak, Squeak (with hands on face as whiskers)

I would love for you to share any attention getters that you use in your classroom. I will work on compiling these (above) and any you share in the comments of this post into a FREEBIE of cards to use in the classroom, so SHARE AWAY!!

{Click the image above to download "The Big 7" WBT Classroom Management posters}

If you find that your students are not fully focused on you when they say their response to your "class" (or other attention getter), immediately follow that with "Hands and Eyes." This command prompts them to fold their hands in their laps and look at you intently (even leaning forward toward you). All focus should be on you. This prompt can also be used when you're teaching and have a very important point to make.

These are probably the simplest of the WBT Classroom Management strategies to implement in your classroom and should be started on Day 1. Hour 1.

More on the other "Big 7" later this week!

Hey y'all!

You have probably heard by now that Google Reader is going away on July 1st. Well, Google Reader may be going away, but I don't want YOU to go away, so I hope that you will consider following my blog through bloglovin! I know that change is hard...so I thought I might sweeten it up for you a little bit!

I am doing a giveaway for all of my fabulous followers that take the leap and switch over to bloglovin. You may have already switched over! In that case, this will be an easy entry!

If you have not yet switched or are not following my blog through bloglovin, then there are a few easy steps to follow. Just go into the Rafflecopter below and click the link in the first entry, and that will take you to my blog on bloglovin.

You will need to set up an account with Bloglovin' so that you can follow me. Please be sure to leave your Bloglovin' username in the Rafflecopter entry. Since I can't see the list of all of my followers (yet), I am asking that you "like" this post on Bloglovin' after you become a follower. I can see who has liked the post, so that will be a way for me to verify the winners!

If you want to go ahead and move all of the blogs you follow from Google over, you can go to this link and it will take you through the super easy steps. I moved all of mine over (over 1,000...YIKES...and it only took 4 minutes - super quick!)

BUT, please go to my bloglovin link in the Rafflecopter below and make sure that you are following me through bloglovin. To be sure, make sure that the blue button at the top of my bloglovin page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!)

So, if you follow me through bloglovin, please enter this giveaway!! I will be picking 2 WINNERS and each winner will get their choice of 2 UNITS FROM MY PRIMARY (Teacher's Clubhouse) or INTERMEDIATE (Lightbulb Minds) TpT STORE.....your choice! :O)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

get the InLinkz code

Let's start with the REALLY important stuff....

I fell in love with this little sofa the first time I saw it at Hobby Lobby. I thought it was perfect for me red and turquoise classroom. Can you imagine curling up and reading on this? I used to have a sofa in my classroom and love the "homey" feel of it. But, it was $500. Waayyyyy too much for the clasroom. Well, I just happened to be in Hobby Lobby today and it was 66% off!! Holla! It is now in my garage. They have a super comfy chair that is similar to it, too. It fit my tush perfectly. I think I need it, too, but I'm going to wait and see if it gets marked down anymore. It was the same price as the sofa. :(

Alright, now let's move on to the "other" important stuff. My last WBT post focused on Class/Yes and Hands & Eyes. Now, let's take a look at what you do with them once you have their attention! :)

After getting their attention, you TEACH. But, not in the way that most of us teach. The key to teaching with WBT is to CHUNK - or "mini" chunk. We, as teachers, talk WAY too long!!! We need to break down our lessons into mini-chunks (30 seconds to 1 minute) and then have the students do the teaching!!

Remember that saying, "Tell me and I will forget, teach me and I will remember, involve me and I will learn."

This is where my absolute favorite WBT component comes into play...

{Click the image above to download "The Big 7 Signs" to share with your staff}

Teach-Okay
This is the way Teach-Okay works. {If you don't want to read my ramblings, scroll on down for a great video that explains it to you!}

The teacher teaches a "mini-chunk" (just a couple of points) using hand gestures. Using hand gestures worked SO well for me last year...I tried to put a gesture with every single concept and it really seemed to help my students! Then the teacher claps twice and says "TEACH". The students then clap twice and say "OKAY". They turn to a partner and teach the concept to their partner. When the teacher feels they've had enough time to teach, the teacher then says, Switch and the students "switch" roles.

{Click the image above to download "The Big 7 Signs" to share with your staff}

WBT recommends that teachers assign students roles (student 1 and 2, or peanut butter and jelly) so that the teacher can say "peanut butters teach." However, I did not do that this year. I think that would work beautifully if your students are typically at their desks during your instruction and you partnered them with someone sitting next to them. In my classroom, students are typically seated on the carpet for instruction so they are not in assigned seats. If I assigned them a partner, it would take them too long to find that person. Teach-Okay should be a very quick process.

Instead, I taught my students that when I said "TEACH" they were to turn around and partner with the person closest to them. At some points in the year, I had an odd number of students and in that case, I instructed them that if they saw the person left without a partner near them, they should turn and pull them in (so there would be one set of three). It sounds like this may be chaos, but it worked BEAUTIFULLY all year long. Of course, we practiced and practiced at first to see how quickly they could get partnered up. If they did it super quickly and everyone had partners, they earned a point on the scoreboard (more on that later) and if it took them too long or people were left without partners, I earned a point on the scoreboard. It only took one day of practicing and they had it for the whole entire year!

I fell in LOVE with Teach-Okay. How had I not thought of this before? I mean, I did have my students "turn and talk" in the past, but teach-okay took it to a whole new level. After teaching a little chunk, I could listen and observe (because students should be teaching with those same gestures that I used to help them remember key words and concepts) to make sure students understood concepts. If they did, I would move on to the next set of small points. If not, I could reteach the concepts right then and there!

Why does Teach-Okay work so well? Students are involved. They are not just listening. They are hearing, seeing, saying, and doing! Plus, they are enjoying learning - all components of the brain are involved, which makes learning so much more powerful! And, SWITCH ensures that every single student is actively learning. Those students who like to do all the talking are forced to listen and the students who would prefer to sit back and listen are required to instruct. This technique gives every student the opportunity to be engaged in speaking and listening in the classroom.

A few small tips I learned from this summer's conference that I plan to implement with Teach-Okay next year:

* Have the student that is teaching STAND. That way the teacher can easily see who is doing the teaching and watch their gestures for comprehension.

* Have students HIGH-FIVE each other when the "switch" command is given, as a cue to switch roles.

* Have students reach up in the air and pull an imaginary {light}switch when the "switch" command is given to prompt their brains to switch roles.

Video Explaining Teach-Okay in detail: {sorry my video embedding is not working on this computer}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcZJ7tozYl0

This video shows the Teach-Okay technique (and others) working in this same teacher's 3rd grade class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxdj2Kf9Rjc

And, of course, you can see MY FAVORITE WBT Teacher (1st grade) put this in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaweXw03kQI

Finally, don't forget to follow my blog at Bloglovin' and then enter my GIVEAWAY!

Before starting my WBT post, let me just show you what I broke down and bought today...

THE MATCHING CHAIR!! I almost snagged it up yesterday but I really was hoping it would be discounted a little more. But it was the ONLY one. And, the hubs kept telling me to get it. He is NOT good to have around when shopping. But, he does know me and I always wait and "think" about things and then when I finally decide that I want them, they're always gone!

I resisted. I'm leaving for vacay tomorrow, and I thought that it would be "meant to be" if it was still there when we return. Do you ever do that? I always play these mind games with myself when I shop.

Then Rachel {The Tattoeed Teacher} sent me a pic of TWO chairs in her car!!!! WHAT?! Now, I would have to see pics on her blog of her allllll comfy in that chair and be mega jealous! It is THAT comfy, y'all. I'm pretty sure it was made for my tush - perfect match. Well, that pushed me over the edge. Not to mention that I was getting my nails done RIGHT BY Hobby Lobby at that time. I think that was a sign!

So now, the teacher has a brand new comfy, beautiful reading spot. I may do read-alouds ALL DAY LONG {it was tempting already}!

I really don't have much to buy {or make} for my classroom this summer since I revamped it all last summer, so I feel okay about this splurge. The one thing I wanted to buy were new rugs. I threw out my two mid-sized carpets at the end of the year so I certainly need to replace those, along with my{very} old, as in rescued from the dumpster years ago, primary-colored GIANT carpet since it is not going to match this chair AT ALL. So, now I'm on the lookout for giant carpets. Let me know if you see a deal on any....my main colors are red and turquoise/teal.

********************************************************************************

Whole Brain Teaching:
If you have questions about WBT, feel free to leave them in the comments. At the end of this "series" of posts, I'll try to answer all of the questions that have been asked. However, know that I am in NO WAY a WBT expert. I just watched a ton of YouTube videos, downloaded a ton of their FREE RESOURCES, and jumped right in last year!

Yesterday, I posted about Teach/Okay and Switch. Today, we'll start with MIRROR.

Mirror is a great technique to have your students repeat what you say or your hand gestures so that they are involved.

When you want the teacher to mimic your gestures, you just hold your hands up {elbow bent, palms facing out, forearms straight up} and say Mirror. Then students hold their hands up ready to mimic your gestures. If you want them to mimic your words, you just say "Mirror Words" when you make the mirror sign.

When students imitate your motions, their motor cortex is activated, which is the brain's most reliable memory area. If they mirror your WORDS along with the gestures, FOUR parts of the brain are activated at once - seeing {visual cortex}, saying {Broca's area}, hearing {auditory cortex}, and doing {motor cortex} so the chances of the information "sticking" increases greatly. When these four parts of the brain are all active it is known as "Teacher Heaven" in the WBT world. :)

Check on this video on Mirror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeAUmiobvmc

Pretty cool, huh? So, now we've talked about 1) Class/Yes, 2) Hands & Eyes, 3) Teach/Okay, 4) Switch, and 5) Mirror. These techniques are all super easy to implement, it will just take a day of modeling and practicing.

A day? ONE day? That's it? Yes! Especially if you incorporate The Scoreboard!!

The Scoreboard is a very simple "motivator" to keep students on track. Basically, you just need somewhere to draw a T-chart. One side has a smiley face and the other side a frowny face. This is what my scoreboard looks like:

I wanted a portable whiteboard so that I could carry it around the classroom with me, take it to lunch {I totally recommend this}, etc. I found this one at Target last summer and it was perfect since it had a pen attached and came with two magnets. I just covered the magnets and edges of the board with turquoise duct tape and used my Cameo to add vinyl letters to it and it fit my room perfectly. :)

When students are doing procedures really well, you reward them with a tally on the smiley side. You can involve them with "one-second parties" by letting them clap their hands together (once) and saying "Oh, yeah!" They love this!

On the other hand, if students do not complete procedures as expected (not quickly, with talking, etc) you put a tally on the frowny side. You can also involve the students on this side {it lets them get a little energy out} by saying "Mighty Groan!" when you tally a frowny. When you state this, students lift their shoulders to their ears and then force them down quickly with a grunt {ugh!}

The key to having the Scoreboard work is to use if often and never let the difference between smileys and frownies be greater than 3. If that starts to happen, FIND SOMETHING to reward or improve upon!! This is called the +-3 rule. This rule is in place because if the teacher rewards too much the children will become lackadaisical and if you punish too much students will become resentful.

I was SUPER consistent with The Scoreboard at the beginning of the year last year. It was so great when the students were just learning procedures. I was tallying like a mad woman! :) Later in the year, once they were sooooo good at those procedures, I feel like I became a little slack with the scoreboard and I noticed a difference in their behaviors! I definitely had to pick it back up!

Students' goal with The Scoreboard is to try to have more smilies than frownies at the end of the day. If they do, they are rewarded, but not with candy or trinkets or prizes. The reward could be 2-minutes of free time, a two-minute brain break, or two less problems of math homework, etc. TWO?? Yes, you will be surprised at what students will do for a two-minute or two-problem reward!! :)

Now, if students do not "win" on the scoreboard, I would have them practice The 5 Rules for two-minutes. That doesn't sound like much, but trust me.....2-minutes is a long time to practice 5 rules!
{5 Rules Post will be tomorrow!}

*** NOTE: For grades 5-12, WBT recommends using STUDENT/TEACHER on the scoreboard rather than SMILEY/FROWNY***

At the WBT conference, I learned that there is a Scoreboard App. While most things with WBT are absolutely FREE {I'm still not sure how they've managed that, but I'm not complaining!}, the APP does cost. It's $4.99 - anyone that has used it has said it is fabulous! I have not used it. I think it would be fantastic for when I'm not in the classroom, but I like using my little whiteboard in the classroom and I wouldn't like that I would then have TWO scoreboards going. But, if you carry your iPad or iPhone with you at all times, it might be worth checking out!

If you try it out, let me know what you think. I am easily persuaded. :)

Do you already have a routine for coming up with classroom rules that you LOVE? I know I did. I used the Rights/Responsibilities in my classroom and had my students create our classroom rules with me. I felt like this gave them more ownership in the rules.

However, after reading about Whole Brain Teaching last year, I decided to dive in as much as possible, which meant trying out their rules in my classroom as well!

Whole Brain Teaching has a set of 5 universal rules.

1) Follow Directions Quickly
2) Raise Your Hand for Permission to Speak
3) Raise Your Hand for Permission to Leave Your Seat
4) Make Smart Choices
5) Keep Your Dear Teacher Happy

I loved them. Hook, line, and sinker! They had me from the start. Really with these 5 rules, you don't need anything else. These rules cover the bases! The great thing about them is that if your school uses a school-wide system that requires certain rules, they will most likely fall into these categories!

What I loved most about the rules were the hand gestures that went with them. You can read a description of the gestures and see WBT's visual cues of these rules at their website HERE. As students were taught the rules, they were taught the gestures and those really seemed to make the rules "stick." Think about it, if the rules are just posted on the wall somewhere, the students don't really think about them. But, by reviewing them daily WITH hand gestures, the rules are now running through their minds! We would practice the rules DAILY for the first month of school, with a different child leading us in the rules.

Take a look at this video to see a 1st grader leading her class in the rules -

Throughout the day, if students are not following a rule, the teacher can just say "Rule Two" and the students should state the rule and complete the hand gesture as a reminder. There is no need to call out the students who are breaking the rule, just give the whole class a reminder.

It's important to note that Rule #5 is KEEP my dear teacher happy - not "make" my dear teacher happy. At the WBT conference, they emphasized that it is not the students' job to make us happy! However, they should KEEP us happy and they can do that by following the first four rules!

I tell my kiddos that I am happy when everyone is learning. So, if someone is doing something that stops them or someone else from learning then that does not keep me happy!

Remember also that we talked about The Scoreboard yesterday and that if students do not "win" on the scoreboard then they practice the rules for 2-minutes at the end of the day. I must say that I really didn't have any big behavior problems last year. I definitely had some "potential" there, but I really think WBT helped with much of that. Soooo many of my parents who had children with ADD loved WBT and the fact that students had to teach other students and use hand gestures during lessons. I even had some parents to ask if it could be noted on their child's 504 that this particular type of teaching made a huge impact on their child's progress so that next year's teacher could consider using it! That was huge!

I displayed the rules in my classroom in frames right above my behavior clip chart. I will keep my rules their this coming year, although I'm going to try to trade out my clip chart for the WBT "Super Improver Wall" so I'll let you know how that goes!

Here's a look at my rules. I have a monster-themed classroom so I created these monster-themed subway art rules. Just click the image below if you'd like to download them to use in your classroom.

{Click the image above to download the WBT Monster-Themed Subway Art Rules}

If you don't want Monster-Themed Rules in your classroom, I understand! Stephanie over at Third Grade Thoughts has some cute WBT rules that you can download - see this post.

I hope this helps if you're looking to implement Whole Brain Teaching next year - definitely give "The Big 7" a try. It's very easy to implement all of these classroom management strategies your first year!

Remember, if you're interest in sharing "The Big 7" with other teachers at your school, you can pick up the signs I'll be using in my workshops to help them remember all 7 of these strategies using mnemonic devices. Just click below!

Also, don't forget to follow me at Bloglovin' and then enter my Bloglovin' Giveaway!!

See ya tomorrow for our FINAL freebie and it is a MEGA MATH freebie, so don't miss out! If you didn't pick up our Grammar Flippers yet, today is your last day....click below!

THANK YOU to everyone for celebrating Teacher's Clubhouse's 6th Birthday with us! We've enjoyed giving out 6 weeks of new resources!

This week is our final FREEBIE - a 315 page Graph-a-Week {Bar Graph Edition} for your classroom! This resource has been on my "to-do" list FOREVER!! I plan to do a graph-a-week during our morning meeting each morning.

My plan is to have students submit their data on Mondays, we'll sort and analyze it on Tuesdays, we'll complete the graph together on Wednesdays, students will create their own independent graphs on Thursdays, and we'll ask/answer questions with the data on Fridays.

This file contains 5 graphing questions for each month of the year (that's 60 questions in all - plenty to pick-and-choose for the school year). Each graph comes in FOUR different formats - a bar graph counting by 1's, a bar graph counting by 2's, a double bar graph to compare boys/girls, and a blank double bar graph to compare in other ways of your choice (perfect for teachers teaching multiple classes).

I plan to create a Pictograph Edition and a Line Plot Edition before next year so that I can focus on a different graph type each quarter and then mix it up the last quarter of the school year to review!

If you download this freebie and enjoy, please share the link on your blog or Facebook page to spread the word to others!! And, leave us some feedback love!

I hope you're able to use this in your classroom! Oh yeah, and we're throwing a 20% off sale in our store right now as well, so while you're there take a look around and stock up! Remember that we have TONS of classroom themed units to help you prepare your classroom for the new school year!

If you recall, last summer we had an awesome Carolina Bloggers Meet Up in the always fabulous Columbia! The amazing Hope King set it all up for us and we enjoyed lunch at California Dreaming.

It was an incredible day, but honestly I was a ~~little~~ lot overwhelmed. I had JUST joined the blogging world and didn't really know many of the people there. I was so excited to get to meet everyone, but unfortunately I left without even getting to talk to most of the fabulous bloggers!

I'm always so jealous of the Vegas blogger meet-ups, but those are ALL the way on the other side of the country!! {sad face}

I thought we could pull off another Carolina Blogger Meet Up this year....maybe only a little earlier? I know we met up in early September last year, which was a super busy time of the school year....not to mention college football season (for you other fanatics, like me) ;)

While I L-O-V-E Columbia (Go Cocks!) I thought, it might be good to have the meet-up right here in my hometown. Greenville (in the upstate of South Carolina) is right-smack in the middle of Charlotte and Atlanta and it oozes charm, if I might say so myself. :)

When this post goes live, I'll actually be sitting along the Carolina coast, but I'm always anxious to get back home to G-Vegas {that's right, Greenville is known as G-Vegas...maybe we'll get our Vegas meet-up anyway Carolina bloggers!}

Recently, our little town has been making BIG Headlines:

Falls Park was named one of the Top 10 Parks in the Country

The Boston Globe Spends 3 Days in Greenville, SC

Southern Living Names Greenville one of the South's Tastiest Towns

Favorite Unexpected Vacation Destination - O Magazine

Greenville has become known as a "small town with big city amenities." So, I was thinking maybe bloggers might want to spend a little MORE time together to get to know each other. I mean, no one goes to Vegas {or G-Vegas} for JUST dinner, right?!

If you're a blogger around South Carolina {NC, GA....heck, you could really be from anywhere....we would LOVE for you to travel and meet-up with us}, or a blog READER {you don't have to actually have a blog of your own} and would be interested in a meet-up, fill out the form below!

Once, I see what kind of interest we have, we'll get the ball rolling! In the form, you'll see your choices for the meet-up:

1) Lunch Only - if you're just interested in lunch, that's fine too! I know many people can't get away for too long, but we'd love to include you!

2) Lunch and Shopping/Hanging Out - we'll probably have lunch in our downtown area so that we can "hang out" afterwards. We can stroll along Main Street which has cute boutiques and shops (even an Anthropologie now, girls!!}, visit Falls Park, etc. Make a day of it!!

3) Overnight Blogger Meet UP - if anyone's interested in a real blogger getaway {think Vegas}, we could book some rooms downtown {we have the Westin, Hyatt, and other hotels in the middle of it all} and we could do lunch, shopping, and then enjoy the nightlife! We could enjoy a nice dinner downtown, possibly do dessert and a show at Cafe and Then Some, and we have a new dueling piano bar, Jack and Diane's, that is supposed to open mid-July - how fun would that BE??

Fill out the form and let me know what interests you! I'm thinking one of the first two weekends in August would be best....before the school bustle really starts for most of us! I'm so excited for a meet-up that would let us really get to know each other {outside of the blogging world!}

Spread the word and SHARE with any other Carolina bloggers you may know!

First off, congratulations to my Bloglovin' Giveaway winners:

Cathy V. and Nick R.

I've sent emails your way! :)

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If you missed it yesterday, we are going to have another Carolina Bloggers Meet-Up - click here to read about it and fill out the interest form!
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It's been a while since I did a "Budding Bloggers Showcase." I was so good about this weekly series throughout the school year...until the end of the year craziness set in - you understand, right? I'm ready to kick it back into gear though! If you're interested in participating and have a "new" blog (less than 400 followers), send me an email at amandamadden@me.com
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  Hi my name is Bec and my blog is Books, Bugs & Boxes, named after many, many attempts to find a 'different' blog name! My teaching so far can be summed up in those 3 words, along with "lots & lots of glitter"! I use 'lol', 'so', smiley faces and exclamation marks way too often so please stay with me!














Ever since I started on Pinterest, I have been stalking reading a ton of blogs by many talented people who's clever ideas have helped me out alot! Early this year I finally worked up the nerve to start my own blog and store which I am loving! 













I live in Australia in what we call a 'rural city', about 2 hours from Melbourne, with my wonderful hubby of 3 years. I moved here as soon as I finished Uni and am slowly finding my way around- after 7 years lol. I have absolutely no sense of direction- give me a street name and I'm hopeless but a landmark and I'm ok. 











I grew up in a small country town but am a city girl and beach dweller at heart. We are 3 hours from the beach and 2-3 hours from my husband's camping spots so we call it a good compromise. I love to travel and have worked really hard to get to go to lots of places. Would love to go to New York or back to Europe next.






This is my 7th year teaching, it's kinda scary to think it's been that long! My first year I taught 3rd and 4th grade but I have taught Prep/1s (Kindergarten & First Grade) for the last 3 years. Moving down to the littlies was a HUGE shock but I absolutely love it, although I swear I'm 10 times more tired then I used to be :)




Owls are our theme this year, can you tell?




I love reading EVERYTHING from picture story books to chick lit :) I'm a very 'emotional' movie watcher and reader, to the point where one of my kiddos now goes to get me a tissue if she knows we're reading a sad book lol. My fav ‘work’ books are: 'Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge' by Mem Fox, 'Harry High Pants' by Tony Wilson and 'Too Loud Lily' by Sophie Laguna. 





 I love teaching English, Art and Maths.






A few years ago I was extremely lucky to get to train as an EMU (Extending Mathematical Understanding) teacher- basically Maths Intervention- which I taught for 2 years. I love hands-on learning, particularly in Mathematics and finding out how kids work out problems. My favourite maths resource is a huge tub of pop sticks for place value- there are about 3000 pop sticks in our tub and they are used almost everyday.





In general, I am an extremely unorganised scatter brain, so in a classroom this can cause chaos but I am always working on trying to be more organised- there's only hope :) If you popped into my classroom I tend to stick with






Since I have always taught composite grades I have always had a few of the same students two years in a row which gives me ample time to train them up to be my 'finders' as I am extremely forgetful.





I find first term is always the toughest but I am slowly learning to look after myself both physically and mentally. Teaching is a job that is really hard to leave at the end of the day with the relationships you build with parents and students and there is ALWAYS work that can be done. I put my whole self into my work and sometimes I find it really difficult to let work be work and home be home. If anyone has a fix-it solution for this I would love to hear it! So far exercise (Body Combat is my favourite and walking), cooking, hot chocolate or a good Chai latte, reading, singing really loudly to whatever is on the radio/my ipod, chick-flick movie watching and art gallery wandering are my fix-its after 'one of those days'.





The best part about teaching is that I am always learning from 'experts', my teaching buddies and the kids. My aim in life is to never stop learning which is another reason I started my blog. Thank goodness for google! My blogging goal this year is to make 100 followers and meet some new blogging buddies. I love that I can get ideas and help from people all over the world, hopefully my blog can be a help to others as well.


I'd love you to stop by for a visit,

Happy 4th of July to all!!

Just a quick post to remind you that BOTH of our shops are throwing a sale!

Primary teachers, click below to go to our Teacher's Clubhouse shop. This is where our classroom decor units are, too!

Intermediate teachers, click below to go to our Lightbulb Minds shop.

Happy Shopping!!

I feel like I've been on the road and away from home all summer so far. I can't believe that it is JULY already!! Geesh! Slow down summer....seriously SLOW DOWN!

I better buckle down this week and get to workin'! There's a TON on my "to-do" list still, including preparing for a week of teaching workshops in late July! {ahhh....so much to do!} Anyone else know this feeling??

I totally wanted to link up with a Monday-Made-It this week, but it looks like I'll have to aim for next week....again.

I was super excited to have so many responses to the Carolina Bloggers Meet-Up!! If you want to spread the word on your blog, just grab the button below.

You can even link it up to the Google Doc Survey so your followers can express their interest. Here's the link for that - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lBEmKmzdwKYE80m7wTcd2z0eYIM-PSqeZxlRZULSM_8/viewform

I also started a Facebook Event page for us, so if you're interested in attending, you can get updates there - https://www.facebook.com/events/387704414674522/

I can't wait to meet all of you {or see you again} and have a little FUN before starting a new school year!

And, look what else was waiting for me when I got back from vacay....

My Melonheadz mini-me!!!! I am in LOVE with it {especially with my little Chloe and Sampson}!! However, my husband said it was "too country" for me, so I may or may not have ordered another one! :) It's good to have options! :)

Must get started on some of my projects now, but I'll be back to share a few things tomorrow!

I am so excitedto get this series started up again! Especially with a fellow South Carolinian {and Gamecock}! You will LOVE Brandee...read on to find out more about her and then be sure to keep up with her by clicking the "Bloglovin" button at the bottom of this post! Hop on over to her blog and show her some blogging love!

Hi Guys! I'm Brandee from Creating Lifelong Learners.

Amanda and I are both from the great state of South Carolina and we share a love for our GAMECOCKS! She is such a sweetie for featuring me this week. I'll try to be brief as I tell you a bit about what you'll find at Creating Lifelong Learners, and just a touch about me. :)

Me:
My husband and I have two, not so little, boys. A spirited, to say the least, 8 year old, and an adventurous 10 year old that will be in my class next year! I know, say a little prayer for us, but we are both looking forward to a wonderful year together!

What I teach:
I currently teach two blocks of ELA with fully integrated Social Studies standards. I have experience in all grade levels, first through fifth. Although I am currently a fifth grade teacher, I would have to say that I actually teach all levels of readers. Let's be honest, kids come in all shapes, sizes, and ability levels. It is our job to meet them where they are, and to find what works for them, no matter what it takes. This leads me to my philosophy as an educator and why I do what I do. You will see that I post a great deal about integrating content area standards into my literacy workshop, but it is safe to say that our BOOK TALK time (independent reading) is truly the heart and focus of my classroom and my instruction! Most often my posts are about creating the love of reading, writing, and learning. I truly believe, that if we as teachers, can get kids to develop a love of reading, then they will not only learn, but they will develop a learn of learning, and all other subjects will fall into place.

How I teach:
If you popped into my classroom unannounced, there is no doubt that you would see kids reading everywhere! I have a motto in my classroom. As long as you are reading, writing, and thinking, I am a happy teacher! My workshop is structured so that kids move around often, not necessarily freely, but often. I have discovered through many years of experience, that most kids loose their ability for optimum focus after about 15 minutes. Therefore, I take that knowledge and run with it. They are fully aware that there is no time to waste. They are productive and engaged at their stations, and before they have time to get bored, they are shipped off to a new task. So if you walked into my classroom, there is no doubt that you would see movement and activity!

Things I couldn't live without:
As much as I love what I do, there are always a few days here and there that I need a pick-me-up! For those days, there's always a COKE and/or some chocolate somewhere in our building! We've all been there, right?

Amanda asked me to share one resource that I couldn't live without! That's a hard question from me because there are so many things I couldn't live without in my classroom. I'm going to list my one thing as my IPAD! I am a huge fan of technology! It's the way of the world friends, and the kids are using it with or without us! I say if we can't beat them, join them! This theory, and the help of my little kiddos, has led me to many wonderful and effective apps that have become irreplaceable in my instruction. If you are interested, I have blogged about many of them at Creating Lifelong Learners.

In a nutshell:
Given what you've already read about my classroom, you can probably guess that I am not a very traditional teacher. "Sit and get" instruction simply isn't my style. I truly believe that it is my job to facilitate learning rather than demand it. Students will retain information, be more engaged, and develop into lifelong learners if we motivate them to do so. Through non-traditional methods, I try to inspire my students to develop a love of learning and the desire to gain information for themselves. An example of this might be our study of Dr. Seuss. Did you know that he did not start out as a children's book author? Would you believe that Yertle the Turtle just might have been written for political reasons, rather than for the reading pleasure of children? How about The Butter Battle Book? Would you believe that it was written to express his political feelings about the Berlin Wall? Re-reading these old favorites through critical eyes does two things for my students. First, it teaches them not to take a text at face value, but to read more deeply and critically. Secondly, it inspires them to research and learn about the different connections made between these texts and history. Before you know it, the students know all about the Berlin Wall and will have learned to read more critically, all thanks to our old friend Dr. Seuss! If you are interested, you can read more about this unit in my post titled Dr. Seuss in fifth grade? I think YES!

Blogging Goals:
Although I have been teaching for 15 years, I've only been blogging for around 3 months! I have made some wonderful connections and I learn innovative teaching strategies from these fabulous teachers each and every day! My goal as a blogger is simple. I want to continue to make these connections, learn from others, and share my experiences in education so that others might learn a little bit from me too!

Thanks for reading a little bit about me! I'd love for you to come over to visit and let me know what you think. It would make my day if you found a little something there that might help you as you create lifelong learners in your classroom!

So, I might not be blogging as much as anticipated in the next couple of weeks. There's nothing like thinking you're teaching a week of workshops in a couple of weeks only to find out that you're teaching them NEXT WEEK! Yikes! It's a good thing I work best under pressure! :)

I will be popping in to show you my daily finds. I really don't have much to make {that's a good thing because I have not hit my crafty stride yet this summer} or buy for my classroom this year. I totally revamped it last year {and I did purchase that new sofa and chair this year}, but I do NEED new rugs for my classroom.

I have one large {8ftx12ft} rug that we LIVE on during instruction. It's old. It's gross. I rescued it from being taken to the dumpster at my last school. I've wanted a new one for years, but can't find any that size for under $300-$400! But, now I HAVE to get a new one because that one will clash with my new furniture. :) And, I have to purchase two new mid-sized rugs (5ft?) because I threw both of mine out last year. Ugh!

Long story short, I *mentioned* this to my husband and he has been on a MISSION. I swear we have went to every single store that would sell rugs in our city. NO LUCK! I am so bummed. :(

But, I did score a few little finds...

You know, I love my genre studies! I have quite a collection of fairytales, but they're mostly versions from other countries or fractured tales....I actually don't have the "original" versions of many of them. Well, I do now! I found these high-quality hardcover books at Garden Ridge for $4.99 each. I love that I now have a matching set of these originals!

I also got this cute little heavy-duty {rhino} stool that will match my room. Love the polka dots, too! It was $9.99 at Garden Ridge. I LOVE the fact that it just folds in half with a ready-to-carry handle. :)

And, last but not least, I found these cute little broom/dustpan sets that match my room. I have used these brooms with a matching long-handled dustpan in my room for years and they really come in handy to have around. They also work great for a two-student classroom job opportunity! :) I think the set was $12.99 and they had TONS of cute color/pattern options.

{Excuse the mess already piling up on my cute sofa in our garage!}

As you can tell from the pic above, I've also made several trips to Target. I bought all of the plastic folders my students will need (yes, I'm THAT teacher that needs them to match so just buys them herself!).

But, while there I also found...

monster water bottles again!!! I thought last year was a one-time find, so I was thrilled to see these little fellows back in the dollar bins! They are PERFECT as part of the welcome pack for my new little Mon-STARS since I let them keep water bottles on their desks. I use vinyl to add their names and voila! :)

I also picked up a set of these from the dollar bins. I think I have a dry-erase board addiction, but I thought these would be PERFECT for cursive practice! :)

And, of course, I couldn't leave without these little non-fiction books that were 70% off in the dollar bin...that's right, books for 30 cents!! That just might be the deal-of-the-day, folks!

Now, the search for rugs continues....while I stock up on everything else along the way! *sigh* Isn't that how it always works??

Before I leave, have you heard about this NEW BLOG?

It's a new collaboration blog for 2nd and 3rd grade! I'm so excited to be a part of it and I know you will NOT want to miss the grand opening tomorrow....there *may* just be some goodies for the followers, so head on over and get a jumpstart by clicking the "follow" button!

Oh yeah! Hop on over for this fabulous JOINT giveaway that I'm helping out with today.

I am so happy to be a part of a new 2nd/3rd grade collaboration blog....

It is going to be full of ideas, freebies, and products geared JUST for grades 2 and 3! Over the next few weeks, the authors of the blog will each be taking a day to introduce themselves and offer an exclusive freebie - that means you will not be able to get that resource ANYWHERE else! You do not want to miss out on those, so hop on over and start following TODAY!

Since it's the Grand Opening, we're hosting a HUGE GIVEAWAY where you can win resources from over 20 of your favorite 2nd/3rd grade bloggers to help you kick off the new school year!

What are you waiting for?? Click below to enter and follow. I'll see you over there! :)

I'm looking for a class to partner up with for my Pet Pal Project for the 2013 school year. I blogged about this last summer (see below). I'm looking for another 2nd grade class who lives in a different part of the country (midwest or west preferably since we're on the east coast). If you're interested leave a comment or send me an email!

{Throwback Post from Summer 2012 Explaining the Project Below}

What is a Pet Pal Project?
It is a mix between pen pals and a class mascot. Two classes will pair up for the year. Each class needs a class mascot (stuffed animal). The classes will trade class mascots for a couple of months, allowing students from the other class to take the mascot home and document his travels. When everyone in the partner class has taken the visiting mascot home and "helped" it write about its adventures, it is sent back home so that each student in its class can take him home for a night and READ about its adventures!

I love this project because it is a mix between reading, writing, AND social studies!

How do I select a class as a partner for a Pet Pal Project?
I think it's best to select a class from another region of the United States (or another country!) This really pulls in the social studies aspect and allows the children to learn about another area of the world. My partner class is from Kansas. It is in the Midwest region, so their weather, landforms, and industry is much different from ours. The students love to find Kansas on a map and they perk up each time we learn a new fact about it throughout the year (tornadoes during our weather study, farming during our regions study, plains during our landforms unit, etc). I'm sure it would be super easy to find a willing class in Bloggyville! :)

What materials do I need for the project?
You will need the following materials for a successful project...

1. A Class Mascot - This can be any type of stuffed animal. I started out using just a teddy bear. Then I moved on to use Schmooney, our city's mascot (and state's reading mascot). But, this year I've decided to use a MONSTER to match our new class theme. In fact, sometimes in the past, I've let the children vote on the mascot (after a persuasive writing project...see below). This year, since I've selected the mascot, I think I'll let them vote on the name for the monster. The more ownership they have in the project, the more excited they become about it!

Traveling Mascot Resources from Teacher's Clubhouse

2. A Bag - The mascot will be going home with students nightly, so it will need something to travel in. I have used just plain canvas bags from a craft store previously. You can decorate these with markers, paint, or iron on a transfer (available in the set above).

3. A Journal - Since students will be writing about the mascot's adventures, it will need to arrive with a journal. I've used composition books, spiral notebooks and binders in the past. This is really the teacher's preference. I find that the compositions books usually hold up the best for me.

Those are the only items that you MUST have for this project, but if you really want to have some fun with it, keep reading!

Optional Items to Include

4. Book(s) - I like to send my pet with a book (related to him or our state). I've sent the South Carolina Alphabet book in the past, and since I've kept my pet pal partner class for years, I just asked the teacher to keep it for future years. This year I will be sending Monster Boogie to accompany our little monster. I always write a letter to the class in the front of the journal (from the pet) and I am sure to tell them that he LOVES to have the story read aloud to him before bedtime each night. (Sneaky, I know...but just another way to throw some more reading in there!)

5. Camera - I sometimes include a disposable camera in the bag, also. This is great because students can take their picture with the pet at their home or at other places throughout the city. The only downside to this is that sometimes the camera is lost, or one family will take lots of pictures (not leaving enough for other students). So, I have left this out in the past and opted to take pictures of the students with a digital camera at school. Either way, we print the pictures off and glue their pictures beside their journal writings.

One year, I bypassed the pictures altogether and recorded my students saying goodbye messages to the pet. I made those into a DVD to send along with him.

6. Souvenirs - We also love to include fun souvenirs from our state!! We always find Kansas on a map and talk about it. One of the first things the students notice is that it is a landlocked state. Since they do not have an ocean nearby, we always decide to send them some things from the South Carolina coast. Each summer, I'm sure to bring back a large bag of sand, plenty of sharks teeth we've found, and shells that I've purchased or found. I create little bags so that each student in our partner class has a "little piece of Myrtle Beach, SC" and can dig through their sand to find a shark's tooth and a shell! I also include a postcard with the different types of sharks' teeth so students can use it to discover what kind of shark their tooth is from. In addition to this, I include other SC postcards with facts about our state, salt water taffy from the coast, a South Carolina license plate, some palmetto (our state tree) items, and usually some peach rings.

Other Tips:
* I require my students to write in the form of a friendly letter in the journal....just another great opportunity to review this skill!
* Sometimes I choose who takes the pet home by going through number order, but usually I let the pet "help" me choose. It sits on a shelf or cabinet in the classroom throughout the day "looking" for someone who has done an exceptionally good job that day. ;)
* I do not send the pet home on Fridays since that person would get the pet for several nights. Instead, the pet stays to guard our classroom over the weekend (often trying to get a glimpse of the Clean Desk Fairy for us!)
* I usually take the pet home first so that I can model my expectations...I provide lots of details and maybe even an illustration.

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So, I am WAY out of actual work mode. You know, where you have to set an alarm clock and actually get dressed and drive to work. Ugh!

That's not a good thing since I'm teaching 7 workshops this week! As much as I dread the act of actually getting up early and going, I am excited to share how we teach reading with other teachers!

Most of the workshop are on teaching reading through genres in the primary classroom, but one is about Whole Brain Teaching so I finally got those attention-getters into a printable file and thought I would share them with you!

Just click the image below to grab them. :)

Oh yeah! And, those sweet instagram friends who have been helping me look for a rug...I found one!! I bought it today...it's a very neutral berber rug (8ftx12ft). I'll take a pic soon! Still need two smaller (4x6 or so) rugs - one bright red and one turquoise, but I am relieved to have found the large one! Whew!

Also, thanks to everyone who offered to partner up with me for the pet pal project! I have found a partner, but if you were interested, feel free to comment away on that post - there were several others interested in partnering up with someone else!

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First off, I need help. Haha! As if most of you didn't know that already! ;) But, seriously, I really do need help....with Blogger. I have tried since the birth of this here blog to schedule posts, but they NEVER work! I write up the post, have it ready, click on "schedule", select the date, choose the time (and make sure it's EST), save and click "publish". Then that date and time comes around and NO POST. When I go back and view the post, it still seems to be "scheduled" but just never actually posts it! Has anyone ever had this problem? Can you think of a step I might be missing?

I finally got an Instagram button on my blog, too! Look to the top-left - see the social media button with the camera on it? Click it and follow me there...it quickly became my favorite form of social media!

Today, I'm thrilled to showcase another budding blogger who can also claim to be a "Carolina Girl"...just a NORTH Carolina girl. :) I'm super excited that she will be coming to our Carolina Bloggers meet-up in a couple of weeks. She just started blogging in June and is moving to a NEW school and a NEW grade level this year. That is a LOT of new, so read on to find out more and then head on over to her blog and show her some blog love, friends!

Hi everyone! My name is Kris Poole and I teach 4th and 5th grade ELA and Social Studies in North Carolina. This is my first year with my very own classroom (yay!!!) and I'm SO excited to have my own space to create into a comfortable and inviting learning community. You can follow along and see how it goes on my new blog, The Poole Pages. I started this blog to share moments from our classroom with the parents and families of the children in my class, and to share ideas with other teachers. I've gotten so much inspiration and encouragement from other teachers' blogs and websites and I want to pay that forward :)

I'm a 'second career' teacher. My first career was as a business analyst for a major retailer. When my hubby and I started a family, I left the corporate world behind and spent 10 years as a stay at home mom. Then when my children were all in school, and I was praying about what to do next, I had 'a God moment' when I knew without a doubt that I was being called to teach. I had dreamed of being a teacher when I was a little girl, and I feel like God brought that dream back to me when I was ready for it. My Christian faith is a huge part of who I am and drives much of what I do, and for me, teaching is a way to live out that faith.

My husband and I have been married for 19 years (woah!) and we have 4 great kids! We also have a beloved Goldendoodle named Maia (she has the SWEETEST nature of any dog I've ever met...I'm a little biased though). I grew up, and spent most of my life in Southeastern Wisconsin and moved to North Carolina in 2011 when my husband changed jobs. We miss our family and friends in WI, but love the new people and places we've been introduced to in NC!

My favorite subject to teach has to be reading. I love to read and spend a lot of my free time with a book in my hand (I was one of those kids with the book and flashlight under the blankets). One of my goals as a teacher is to instill my love of reading in my students. I really enjoy introducing them to new books and series. Last year my second graders took one look at the Boxcar Children's book that I was about to read to them and made comments like, "That looks lame." and "It's really old!", but every one of them was sitting SILENTLY with their mouth HANGING open by the end of the first chapter. The next week when we went to the library, a lot of Boxcar Children books got checked out!

As far as my teaching style, I'm happiest when my students and I are working together toward a goal, and I like to make learning as authentic as I can. One of my FAV classroom projects reflects this...Measurement Murals. This project was the final assessment for our 2nd grade measurement unit. We started out by talking about the project and what the kids needed to do to be successful. Then we formed groups and had planning meetings where the kids decided who was going to be responsible for what. Each group had to agree on their plan and write it down so they would be accountable. After that, they got to work (and I got out the camera)!

They read the directions for their part of the mural...

talked about their ideas...

measured...

and drew the shapes they needed.

They estimated...

and used resources to help explain their ideas to others.

They worked together as a team...

each person adding their part to the final project.

Everyone worked so hard, and finished their pieces of the mural right on schedule. I was SO happy with the final result!

The ship...

The train...

the garden (don't you just love the crumpled up paper that they used for lettuce?!?)...

the tree...

and the race car!

The kids were COMPLETELY engaged the entire time, and were really demonstrating what they had learned. This was definitely one of the best classroom projects that I've ever done :) BTW, this is not my original idea. You can find it in Jill Joy's shop on TPT...click the link below:

Measurement Murals Project

Those 'best' days are awesome, but we all have 'those' days...the days when we feel like Viola Swamp on the inside, but need to look like Miss Nelson on the outside. Those are the days when I try to remember why I teach.

That it's not about me...
It's about the kids.

And when one of 'those' kids is really trying my patience? I try to remember that the kids who are the hardest to love are the ones who need our love most of all. That's when I turn to my “can’t live without” teaching resource...prayer. He always seems to show His strength in my weakness. My other "can't live without" is Teachers-Pay-Teachers. Its one of the first places I go to look for ideas and inspiration from all of the amazing teacher authors! I hope to be one of them at some point :)

Thank you for staying with me through this LONG blog post. If you're anything like me, you could talk about teaching and your classroom FOREVER! I'm looking forward to getting to know you through your blogs, and your comments on my blog!

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