Carpets? Pillows? Squares?

If you have spent any time in the elementary classroom you are well aware of the problem that arises when you consider how kids will sit on the floor. Do you have pillows for all of their precious bottoms? Or maybe you spent millions to buy a huge classroom carpet. Maybe you are like me and you have carpet squares. This has always been a hassle for me. I want something that is easy to clean and move around. I had this for a while. I was given industry grade sample squares that I pieced together to make one large rug. But, now my kids have picked it apart and ruined it. So, now comes the current problem, what do I do now? Do you have any ideas? What do you have your kids sit on?

Book Whisperer Resources

I don't know if you are like me, but, after I read The Book Whisperer I was dreaming of sitting down with Donalyn for my own personal Q&A. I still had so many questions. Is that you? Well, I have some suggests for you.

 First, I'm sure most of you know about TeachingBlogAddicts' Book Club, where we as readers have been able to ask and receive answers regarding what we've read.

Second, follow her on twitter. I've found many different book suggestions for BookaDay that way too!

Last, check out her power point presentations on SlideShare. I found the one on how she breaks up her workshops to be very informative.

Do you have Book Whisperer resources to share? If so, please do!!

Google News for Reading

If you are like me you are weary of allowing your kids to just hop on the computer and search stuff on Google. Admit it. Even if you are watching them, you are also watching their classmates which means that the computer search does not have your undivided attention. You've probably taught them proper search procedures and you're praying they have not only heard those but implement them as well. I have good news for you though. Google has now added reading level to their advanced search options.

Say I have an intermediate student who needs to search. I can now limit that search here. So, try it out! Go Google yourself with new advanced search criteria that is safe for our little ones.

Graffiti Splash

   A good friend of mine who is a reading coach, soon to go back into the classroom,  and I have been brainstorming ways to increase student ability to discuss what they are reading. I stumbled upon a graffiti tool from Read, Write, Think. For high school age students this interactive is called a Literary Graffiti interactive. For elementary students the same thing is called a Doodle Splash.  The student draws within the box to depict something from the book--something they learned, something they think, a connection they made. There are also summary and explanation and significance boxes to assist in explaining the student graffiti work. This handout gives you examples of the possibilities in the classroom How else could you use this in the classroom?

10 Things About Me Linky Party

Mrs Owen's over at Go Fourth! With Mrs Owen's is having a give away to to read 100 followers and will be giving away a 31 Gifts All in One Organizer. You can get to the give away here.

She is also hosting a Top 10 Things Linky Party. Here is a Top 10 list about me...

10. I drink Coke Zero the way some people drink Coffee.

 9. I should own stock in Amazon, especially since I started using AmazonPrime.  

 8. My Kindle is a permanent item in my purse.

 7. I live 15 minutes from the beach

6. So, for two months out of the year I only wear flipflops.

5. I graduated from UF this past April with my Master's Degree

4. I have been sky diving.

3. I love spending quality time with others.

2. I love teaching intermediate grades.

1. I am a follower of Jesus and love spending time at church and doing things for Him!

Please, join the linky party and tell me about yourself!!

Tweet!!

With the increasing amounts of technology it easy to become obsessed with all of the social networking capabilities at our fingertips. From facebook to blogging to Instagram the possibilities are endless. As teachers we are always trying to find ways to learn more and utilize new tools of the trade in the classroom. I am not a newbie to the world of Twitter, but please if you don't have a Twitter account I beg you, please get one!     I started using twitter specifically in the classroom two years ago when I created an account for our room.

1. I had the students summarize what they were learning in 1 tweet (correct grammar, puctuation, etc)
2. I posted homework reminders, projects etc
3. Because the account was secure I posted pics from school activities and field trips
4. We have asked experts in a variety of fields questions and received many answers.

Later, I created an account for myself. While I follow friends and famous people of personal interest to me, a major benefit is that countless teaching professionals use twitter to tweet about professional development, tools they are using, and neat projects they are trying. this has been a life saver and eye opener on more occasions than I can count. 

Do use Twitter in your classroom? If so, how do you utilize this amazing tool?

How to organize so many books...

I have about 16 bins full of chapter books. For most of my teaching career my books have been organized by AR book level. then two years ago our school started utilizing Lexile levels as well so, that is how I organized my library. But, after reading the The Book Whisperer I realized I needed to once again reorganize my library. And this time I want catalog my books so I will know what I have and where the holes in my collection are so that I can increase the quality of my collection. For this reason, I am excited to start using GuruLib. Yes, I already have a Goodreads account for my home collection. But, I have found that GuruLib is kid friendly. I have the students log onto our classroom catalog when needed. And, they can look at our catalog from anywhere they have internet access, in case they want to look for a book at night before returning to school each day. You can check out a teacher's sample here.

How do you keep track of the books in your library??

Folding Laundry

We all have chores we don't like to do, even at school. This is the way I discuss the fact that there will be topics and things the kids need to learn that they don't want to. Now, hear me out, I'm all about finding ways to motivate students to learn, but sometimes it comes down to students accepting that they need to complete an assignment whether they want to or not. I created a document that meats kids right where they are when it comes to this topic. I call it my learning agreement. As always, feel free to use it and please let me know what you think!!