New Grade Level...New Classroom...New Adventure!

Here are some picture of my new classroom! I am moving to 5th grade Math in a portable! This was after everything was moved, but not set up! I also am still missing my student desks!
 You get to see the before...

 This is a view from my computer/teacher desk to the door. To the right of this picture in the adjoining portable door.

 Right wall of my classroom looking from the door.

 Parallel wall from my door.

The teacher desk/corner view from the door. One of those big cabinets is going to be donated to a team member.

These two are just a tease of my new decorations! That wreath was made by a parent! How sweet and amazing! I just finished this curtain for one of my windows! EEK! Its not even August yet!

Any recommendations on storage? What you see it what I got and trying to limit my spending to essentials!

Fact Quizzes: The Nitty Gritty

Like promised, after major icing my fingers from my extensive blogging last time, my tutorial on my facts quizzes of the 21st century!
First, go to the website here.

This what it looks like and here is where you will set up your account!

This is your dashboard! These are your main menu choices.

If you need multiples classes this is where you will switch back and forth between them.

This is where you will begin! TADA!

This is your Edit Class Page. I changed passwords to match everything else my kids had to use to login. Also be sure not to do last names. Some silly law.. FERPA, is it?

Common Tests tool bar is where you begin making your tests! I click on integers!

These are your first choices. Length - for 3rd graders, I made mine 20 at first and deleted some to have 15 total. The Level is the fact- x2 or x3... But it won't look like that at first, you have to click on the FOCUSED box further down.

As seen here. Be sure to rename your test and check the TO ALL CLASSES box if you have multiple classes. BUT... if you have to go in and edit the test I wouldn't assign it to all. You would SHARE the tests between the classes once your test editing is complete.

Here is a class view of tests once you have created them. To dive deeper... let's say you want to alter the test or go back and fix some criteria. You'll click the test you want to edit and the edit tab at the top of this page and...

You'll see this page. Now, all you see here is the criteria I set for my students. These criterion are key to helping you manage the quiz grades. It does not disappear until they pass according to your standard. If you don't set the "Save grade when score is ____" option, you will manually have to delete the grades if you want the students to keep testing until mastery.

I do a few additions to put in the 11s and 12s facts. You can just do an "insert" option while your still on this edit page.

There it is folks! Once set up, it will manage itself ALL year! Enjoy!

Facts Quiz Frenzy: No longer a time consuming and wasteful past time

Hi Everyone! Talk about a small hiatus from the blogging world! My district really shook things up and changed lots of things for us. I was so excited and thankful.. said no teacher ever! I barely had time for anything except sleep and possible those precious few happy hours!
So I am going to dip my toes and test the water on this post. Short and sweet.


So I was searching for a new way to manage those pesky fact fluency quizzes! I wanted to find a digital way to get them done and boy did I find one! When a colleague turned me on to this, there was no return for this girl!


What is it? thatquiz.org
Why is it amazeballs? Here are a few reasons...
1. Totally customizable. You tailor it to fit your students/class.
2. Set a time limit.. YUP no more 1800s stopwatches for you folks!
3. PAPER FREE.. yes you read that correctly! I don't know about you guys but our campus was threatening people with their lives because of some tree haters on our staff! :)
4. The site grades the quiz and logs said grades after you set criteria. OMG what will you do with your spare time? No more grading?!?! Cue waterworks.
5. Provides feedback to your students with showing them their answers along with correct answers. What do you know, a teacher is now worthless. You can all go home!
6. Student friendly! It does not require much navigation on the part of the quiz takers.


Tomorrow, I will post a tutorial on how I use it and some tips/tricks! My fingers are officially getting sore from the amount of blogging I have been doing. Whew! Workout!!! Until tomorrow everyone!

New SWAG POSTERS!!

I did a post on my swag poster and I made a few variations for ya'll! I might even have to use one myself! Here they are. You can get them here.

Speeding Tickets

I found an idea like this on pinterest. But of course I made my own version. You have lots of kiddos the first semester that rush through their work and make silly mistakes or just plain messy!

I found a fun way to tell them they need to go back over it without the public humiliation. I just simply staple a speeding ticket onto their paper and place it back in their not done folder. Their name will appear on the Ketchup Board and they will know exactly what I want done. :) We will see how this works! I might even work into my point system if they don't get any speeding tickets for the week! YOU CAN GET IT HERE!

Do your students have SWAG?

I found this idea somewhere out in pinterest land, of course. But I altered it a bit. I found myself last year saying things like: "Sit up straight" "Your brain doesn't work when its flat" ( laying head on desk) " Eyes on me" etc.  So I implemented this idea and my students really responded well. If I saw any student not following those expectations I would just remind "Remember, we have SWAG here" Or  "Aren't you SWAGALICIOUS" etc. I had to make it fun for them, not a rule. I am having a friend turn this in to a poster for me,... ( WE have a poster maker, but its only black and white... BLAH) When it is posted in my classroom I will post pictures.  Click the picture to get it at my TPT store!

 

Classroom 2013-2014!!!!!!!

Howdy! It is T- minus 4 days until we begin staff development week. I have spent over three weeks off and on getting my classroom set up. OF COURSE, I changed a lot of things this year so I took tons of photos and I'm giving you a sneak peek!

 This is the view from the door. We have suites so my room is the back room. You have to walk through my suitemates room first. The pictures are going to go counter clockwise around the room.

This is what I put on the wall in between our suites as well. It is my multiplication graffiti wall. The kiddos get to sign each section when they have mastered that fact!



 

 

Word Wall! 

If you notice I have a blue sparkly board to the left. It is my no name board!Here is a close up of that! Those are clothes pins I painted black and stuck to the sparkly paper I got from Hobby Lobby!

 



 

My Class Jobs Clip chart .

 

Next is the Turn in Table. Highlighters to help them remember their name. Box Tops can. Electronic Stapler. Both Math and Science turn in baskets. If you were absent box where I place extra copies. Construction paper and their privacy folders are in the little cubbies. Off to the left side is my "Drop Box". This is if they have any forms/notes/money/etc. to turn in.

Under the Turn in Table are the table baskets where I am going to store their notebooks and folders for Math and Science class. This way I don't have to worry about it not being brought to the room. It is already here. The clipboard is used to separate the different classes. the supply manager for each table will be in charge of grabbing it when they enter the room.

 

My Outstanding Work wall.

My teacher area.

 

My filing system behind my kidney table. I use the 10 drawer cart for copies of any worksheets/materials I will use that day. The bottom drawers have copies for future weeks. The smaller cart is my student files and teacher material files.

My Anchor Chart bulletin boards.And the mobile whiteboard is for when we do whole group instruction on the carpet ( which is not in the correct place, I'm just now noticing! It would be centered with the white board and Anchor chart boards.)

 

My Ticket out the Door poster. I will use sticky notes for quick assessing what they got that day. It is behind the mobile white board. The stars have the students numbers on them.

My station cabinet along with important binders that will need to be accessible. The bins I got at Walmart for 3.50 a piece.

My document camera area. The black hanging file thing is used to hold my class notebooks we do and any other items I expect the kiddos to have.

The camera area is right next to my teacher computer but we are going to skip over that. Next, is my Learn Bingo Board. For more information on how I use that, see this behavior management post from April 16,2013.

This is where my class pet Leopard Gecko will be located. The board behind him is for Anchor charts we use year long. The cabinet beneath it is used for extra tissues, sanitizer, construction paper, etc.

Next is my wonderful computer station! :) The table I did myself with DUCT TAPE YA'LL!

 

This is my whiteboard that I will use for my SWAG poster. ( Posting that when I have it made). MY objectives, and my instruction board.

Here is a close up of the instruction board. This was an idea off pinterest that I found really helpful!  Those are the questions or instructions  I constantly answer/repeat. Sooooo, I just check either side of the instruction before they get started so they know!

Moving counter clockwise still, my final wall. The lovely cabinet space we have.

 This Star Student display is for my 6 wks honor roll and Super Bobcats!

These are our Whole Brain Teaching Rules. I created a sixth one that our school might be adopting.

KETCHUPS AND PICKLES display! Another pinterest find! If they owe any work a clip with their name will be under Ketchups. It even specifies what subject because they have two teachers.

My Weekly folders. This is where I pass back graded papers and they pick up on Wednesdays to go home. I also keep extra forms/informational flyers in the bottom pocket in case they need another one!

And we are all the way around the room, walls atleast. Here are my desk arrangements. This view is from the front of my classroom.

 Another from the front. I have four tables.

This a view from the entry.

Now I know you noticed those lovely storage carts in the middle of every table. This is my first year to do supplies in this way so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Here is a look at those.

 

A view of what sits on top. From left to right: trash can, pencil container. If you notice the toilet paper roll in the center that it where the SHARP pencils will be and the dull ones will be outside of it. NO MORE PENCIL SURFING! ( searching for a sharp pencil.) Then we have the tissue box and sanitizer behind that.

This is the labels on each drawer so it is a no brainer where the materials are.

Top drawer. I put colored tape around some of those supplies BECAUSE, they are only there to RENT. It is emergency supplies if someone forgot their stuff at home.. grrrrrrrrrrr. I will know if they are using the EMERGENCY stash because of the tape.

Middle drawer. Those great erasers are at the dollar tree. The big one is for whoever is the supply manager that week. ONLY THE SUPPLY MANAGER can access the entire supply cart. That way if it is messy, I know who to speak with.

Bottom drawer. The empty white bins are for our Goals Journals that you can see about in this post.

That's it for now guys! Have fun getting your stuff ready. Let me know if you have any questions and I will be sure to post more soon. What do you think so far?????