On-going Project Idea for High Achievers

Have you ever gotten an idea at night when you're TRYING to go to sleep and then you end up not being able to sleep because you can't stop thinking about it?!  Welcome to my world, people. Mowing my yard and trying to go to bed are prime thinking times for this girl apparently (the latter being the more inconvenient, of course). However, I'm super excited about what my brain and I came up with tonight. :). 

For a while now, I've been thinking about better ways to differentiate in my classroom.  One of the biggest challenges I have had is meeting the needs of my high achievers.  I'm not cool with "extra WORK".  I want learning to be fun and meaningful.    Every teacher's goal is to help children learn and to make sure that they ENJOY doing so. Oftentimes, students who are high achievers can get bored at school. We DEFINITELY don't want that. We also don't want boredom to stall their learning. So, thanks to Sesame Street, I have an idea!  It's a start anyway....

This year I have started each morning with a "Word of the Day" (an additional "juicy" word to boost our vocabluaries-separate from Our words to know for the week).  So far we've had words like: abdomen, generous, pounce, clever, and rambunctious.  I post the word on the board with a definition and some sort of challenge for the kids that involves the use of the word. I introduce it, we challenge ourselves, it goes on the word wall, we review it- the whole nine.  Well, if you've ever seen Sesame Street, you know that the show always starts with "What's the word on the street?"  The show always chooses one word for the day.  The character, Murray, then interviews kids and adults to tell about the word.  SOOO... I have decided to turn this into a weekly project for my high achievers. 

The general plan is to allow these kiddos to use the iPad to conduct short video interviews of staff members at school or students who can tell them or show them more about the "word of the day".  The kids will be given the word in advance (prior to the day it will be shared with the class).  They will then edit the video clips and make a short video segment for the class to watch when we introduce the next word of the day.  

Anyway, the idea is still in its infancy at this point. I'm really going to try to get it to come to fruition.  Stay tuned to see how it goes! Also, if you have any suggestions PLEASE share. :)

1st Day of School Tips Linky

Today I'm linking up with Fun-in-First to share one of my favorite survival tips for the first day of school.

One of the most important tips that I have learned in my teaching career I learned from my final internship teacher.  Before my internship was over, I was blessed to have been offered a first grade position half way through the year.  I was extremely excited and nervous beyond belief.  As we were talking and preparing for the transition, my internship teacher told me that one of the most important things to do on my first day was to "make sure they all eat lunch and get on the right bus home.  Everything else is a bonus."  That lesson has always helped me to stay calm the first day of each year.  So my tip for you guys involves a check-in procedure.

When students and parents trickle into the room on the first day, I always have something for the students to do or play with at their desk.  This gives them time to get comfortable and allows me a quick opportunity to check-in with the parents (it's a nerve wracking day for them too ya know?).  I always have a clip board at the front of the room with a first day information sheet attached.  It's a very basic chart with spaces for the following: Student name, parent name and contact #, way home today, and way home the remainder of the year.  I catch each parent as they come in and have them fill out the chart before they leave.  There are times when students will come in unaccompanied on the first day.  Sometimes they know how they go home and sometimes they don't.  EITHER way, I ALWAYS make a trip to the front office during my planning to verify their way home.  Things can get chaotic the first day so remember to make this a priority! :)

Reading the other posts that are a part of this linky are sure to get you ramped up for the first day!  What are some of your favorite first day procedures?

The Road to a Ship Shape Classroom (post 2)

It's finally Friday and I'm finally updating my Ship Shape Classroom post to show you guys what I've been up to. I've been to my classroom several times since my last post and it's really beginning to have a cohesive look! It's still a work in progress, but here's what I've done so far.

1. organized my manipulatives into matching bins and sewed new curtains

2. Swapped out my alphabet with a pirate themed version and changed my AR goal border.  I also made cute pirate hat magnets for my students to use to track their progress each week.

Isn't it adorable?!

3. Updated my bulletin boards

This one is going to be my classroom jobs board.  I still have to add my little pirates and their job tags around it though.  I found the pirate ship at a local party store.  YAY for not having to create one from scratch!

student work display

AR promotion I'm trying out this year (still needs pockets added beneath each card)

Word Wall

Pre-planning starts next week so I plan to finish up then, but I'm excited and relieved to have most of the decorating finished.  It will be nice to use my pre-planning time to actually plan ;)

Welcome Message in a Bottle

Every year, before school starts, I send each of my new students a postcard welcoming them to first grade. While I was searching Pinterest for pirate classroom ideas, I came across a post that mentioned sending messages in a bottle. I jumped on the idea and found out that you can actually mail a plastic bottle by just slapping a label on it. That was enough for me! I immediately began searching the web for plastic bottles and found these beauties at www.coloredsand.com. They were only 89 cents a piece (and that includes the cork)! That seemed fairly reasonable to me so I ordered 20 and got to work!

I typed my welcome letter (3 to a landscape style page due to the bottles being small) and rolled the individual pages tightly around a pencil. My wonderful husband helped me with this tedious task :). After rolling them up we applied a small piece of tape to secure them and tied around a piece of jute to give them a nautical touch.

Finally, I slid them in to their individual bottles and popped in a cork. I decided not to add any additional elements such as sand, etc. to save on shipping costs (I am a teacher on a budget after all). I'm in love with them just as they are! I can't wait to get my class list so that I can put these puppies in the mail!!! I hope the kids like them as much as I do! :)

The road to a 'ship shape' classroom: Day 1

Ahoy there, Mateys!

I'm so excited about transforming my first grade classroom over to a pirate theme!  I went to my room today for a few minutes to get started "swabbing the deck" and decided to take some before pictures so that I could share the step-by-step process with you!

Goal of the day: set up desks!

We'll start with these two pics....

These are just a couple views of the main seating area of my classroom before I got started. 

And after.....

I decided on an 'X marks the spot' formation. I felt that it fit my pirate theme and still allows for small group assignments so I'm pretty happy with it! :).  I'm love rearranging my desks as the year goes on to keep things fresh and discipline problems down (sometimes all kids need is a swapped seat). What are some desk arrangements that you guys like?

Putting Students in Charge!

Is it sad that I'm already thinking about action research projects when school hasn't started yet?  I know.  It's crazy. I just can't seem to help myself!!  Anyway, I've decided to center my action research project around student data binders. I keep seeing them on Pinterest and in blog posts so of course I couldn't resist making my own.  I'm decorating my classroom in a pirate theme this year (more about that later- prepare yourselves for some super cuteness!) so naturally I chose a pirate theme for my student data binders.  I packed every possible tracking device that I could think of into this binder creation and couldn't be happier with the outcome.

I'm so excited about putting the students in charge of their own learning!! I'm hoping that my students will enjoy charting their progress and competing against themselves.  I can't wait to get started!  

Keeping Jill Bean Busy! (keeping the kids busy & happy linky)

So this week marks the 4th week that we've been out on Summer Break!  WOO HOO! Summer break is awesome....until the cabin fever sets in....and you start to realize that you and your child have watched every bit of  "Mim-me" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and "Mel-Mo" (Elmo) that you can handle!

Luckily, I planned for this likelihood before we got out for summer break and I'm linking up with Teacher to the Core to share what I've been doing to keep my Jill Bean busy!

I decided to try my hand at making a summer advent-(ure) calendar and wound up using sticky notes on my dry erase kitchen calendar.  I found that this version allowed me to easily make changes if necessary.  I scoured Pinterest and compiled my own list to come up with the events I thought would be fitting for my 15 month old.  

Here are a few things we've done so far!

Salt Dough Footprint (going to try to do one each summer)

          

          

Water Exploration

Basically we just filled some bowls with water and threw in some toys and scoops.   She LOVED it!!!

visited a local splash park on a playdate (for FREE)

made and played with fingerpaint (recipe here)

I didn't get a picture of her playing it it...we were both a mess by the time it was all said and done. LOL!

collecting things of one color

                   

 

We used her shopping basket to collect everything.  This baby loves to "shop"!

Here are a few of the other things we've done to stay busy!

• dance party (cranked the music up and danced in the living room)
• Teddy Bear Tea Party: This is now her favorite game to play.  She walks around giving all her 'babies' some tea and makes the sipping sound for them.  SWEETEST THING EVER!  
• sidewalk chalk
• balloon badmitton (just blew up a balloon and tried to keep it up in the air)
• learned a few new songs and nursery rhymes
• went on walks
• played at the park
• painted the sidewalk (with water and a paintbrush)

So what are you guys doing to keep busy?  We still have a good bit of summer break left and I'd love hear some of your ideas!!!