Staying Bright and Shiny

I love the beginning of the year- everyone is fresh, shiny and full of motivation! At this moment in time I'm full of optimism and excitement for the year ahead. 

Not so long ago I was dragging my feet through the last few weeks of term four, mentally counting the days until school holidays. My tolerance level was out the window and I was just a tad grouchy. I was ready for school holidays and so were my students. But school wasn't over yet! So onward we ploughed. 

Sometimes I think we teachers get so bogged down with ticking the boxes and getting things done that we forget to pay attention to the here and now... Celebrate the little things! So as a way of arming myself against the end of term tension I'm doing some of the following things: 

1. Positive Reminders. This gem came from my Aunt who has years of classroom experience and, to me, is the epitome of professionalism. She recognised the importance of positive communication within the classroom and how it can suffer when teachers find themselves in a rut. Sometimes for me the positive vibes definitely feel the strain towards the end of the year! So what she did to combat this was place small laminated smiley faces around her room. Everytime she noticed one of the smiley faces during a lesson she would make a point of identifying something positive happening within the classroom. According to her this had a huge impact upon not only her mood but also her interactions with her students. I'm going to use these grow mindset posters by Tales From Miss D as my positive reminders. Click here to check them out. 

2. Something personal/ from home in your room. This one is pretty obvious but I thinks it's an important inclusion. One of my favourite classroom items is a huge rainbow dream catcher that my mum bought me when I started my first permanent job. I've had some tough days and having it there to remind me that people have faith in me kept me going. And my kids love it! It's one of those classroom features that they make a point of showing to all our visitors.

3. Class photos. I take a million photos of my students to include in their yearly portfolios. Every dress up day or school event we take a class photo and celebrate just how awesome K/1 is. So this year I purchased some bright frames to display our class photos in. The idea of this is to remind myself and my students that we are a team and that we are awesome! Even when we're battling our way through a 40 plus degree day and a brown snake has just wriggled its way up the hall (this seems to upset me way more than it does them!). 

4. If all else fails put on Taylor Swift and Shake it Off. Never has my class danced it's way though this song and still felt tired or crabby. 

I'd love to hear what others do to get through those weeks or days where it's feels like your wading through concert just to get to Saturday! Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.

Back to School #2

As I organise my welcome to school gifts for students and introduction letters to parents there's one other person on my list who needs some attention- my wonderful teachers aide! I am fortunate enough to work in a school where I have a teachers aide in my room for most of the day. She is amazing and I can honestly say that my days would be duller without her. She sharpens the pencils, supports our students, provides an extra pair of hands to tie the never ending flood of shoe laces with… the list goes on! Whether they be new to my room or not, I like to set the tone and welcome volunteers and teachers aides with a small gesture to show my appreciation for all their hard work and commitment. Last year I made up a pencil case with  some classroom essentials inside. This is especially handy for teachers aides who move between classes as they can keep their supplies with them and save time searching in unfamiliar rooms. Since I will be working with the same teachers aide again this year I wanted to make something a little different.

This jar looks small in the photograph but it's actually an old coconut oil jar. It's about as tall as a pen. Inside I have: sticky notes, a mini stapler and refills, pens, sharpies, a pencil sharpener, hand sanitizer, a highlighter and lollies (of course!). In total this cost me less that $10 (thanks to Kmart & the reject shop). 

It's always nice for everyone to start the year on a positive note.

Beck xx

P.S If you'd like a copy of this label its available to download for free via my TPT store. Click here. 

Back to School Gifts

As I begin to prepare for that mammoth week known as 'first week back' I got to thinking about my own first days in a new class with a new teacher… I remember feeling overwhelmed and a little daunted by the prospect of a new year. Some kids come bouncing in on the first day ready and rearing whilst others take their time to warm up and participate. And that's okay! 
One of the ways that I want to help my new Kindergarten students settle into my classroom is to finish their first day with a little gift to let them know how excited we are to have them in our class and to let them know that we're going to have a whole lot of fun along the way!

Pinterest is full of great ideas for some such gifts. I love these lollipop tags by Miss Vericker (although I'm not quite brave enough to hand out lollies on the first day). She has a range of different themed start and end of year gift tags. Click here to have a look. 

I also loved her 'bubbling with excitement' gift tag.

So I think this is the direction that I'll be heading in! I've spotted bubble bottle in cheap bulk buy packs at Kmart (aka the motherland for teachers), so this is a nice affordable little way to say 'welcome to our class'.

Oh, and my lovely Year Ones will get one each too!

I'm off to print, cut and ribbon some goodies!

Beck xx

Communication Book

I have a returning student this year who I arrived in my class in term three last year. He is high needs and requires a lot of one on one support, motivating and structure. I'm fortunate that his parents are super supportive and work with me to achieve the best learning outcomes for their child. We communicate regularly, often after school when they come to collect him. We had discussed the possibility of establishing a communication book for the days where contact and communication between us is not possible. A communication book would allow his parents to inform me of any at-home issues he may be having, whilst enabling me to provide them with a quick overview  This will better prepare me for the day and thus making him more comfortable and settled within the room. 

In the past I have noticed that communication books are one of those funny things that can turn a chance to establish positive rapport with a parent or carer into a tedious daily tasks. With this in mind I wanted something simple that was was quick and easy to use. I would also like him to participate in filling in the book so as to develop his autonomy over his learning and behaviour. So I created the layout below. I have printed and bound this in an A5 size that that it fits easily into his home reading folder.

If you'd like to download a free copy please visit my Teachers Pay Teacher store here. 

Oh, and one last thing- 

Don't forget to take the time to sit down and explain the purpose and structure of your communication book to the parents. Such an obvious step but I've been guilty of overlooking it in the past.  :)

Beck xx

Plain and Simple Desk Strips (NSW Foundation Font)

At the beginning of 2015 I planned my classroom decor meticulously. It was my first time teaching Kindergarten and Year One from the start of the year and I was determined to fill my room with beautiful things. I loved my classroom (and I still do) however as the year progressed I began to realise the significant impact that the decor that I used had on my students learning. I had a number of male students in Year One who were very easily distracted and had some difficulty scanning. This made it hard for them to use some anchor charts and their desk strips as there was simply too much happening on them. For this reason I have created my own (very simple, very plain desk strip).

I've included the four things that my students need prompting for the most: letters (capital and lower case), consonant digraphs, word endings and numbers.  If you would like to download your own copy for free click here. 

Beck xx

2016 Classroom Planning

I've been thinking about how easy it is to get out of control when it comes to making purchases for your classroom (out of your own pocket) and since we have recently purchased a house I am spending more time than ever thinking about how I can provide my students with tools for their learning…. whilst not breaking the bank (or stressing out my other half!).

As I began my L3 training last year one of the first things that I noticed at the core of all planning and programming was the setting of learning intentions & goals. I was constantly asking myself what do I want my students to learn and how am I going to get them there.

This got me thinking that although cute labels and pretty manila folders make me ridiculously happy, do they really help or motivate my students to learn? In some instances, they do! But not always. So this year, as I've wandered around Officeworks, K-Mart, Aldi and Ikea I've constantly asked myself…. is this necessary? Will this help my students achieve their goals? If the answer is no, nine times out of ten I will put it back.

I am fortunate enough to teach a composite K/1 class in a small school, meaning that I have already taught my year one students for a whole year. I know them, their learning preferences and their strengths and weaknesses. I know what motivates them and what engages them. This gives me a big advantage when I am planning and organising my classroom for the new year ahead. And because these students have had me for a year already I really like to change the classroom around, give them something new and exciting to return to in their second year with me.

So there's my two cents worth on classroom purchases. Now on to the more exciting part- my classroom wish list for 2016. Some of these things I have already purchased (or my school has) and some of them I hope to pick up along the way. I've don't my best to include links in the titles to each item.

1. Ikea Childrens Tent ($19.99)

I have a few kids in my class who need their own 'space' to sit quietly away from noise and distractions. I had considered buying a tee pee last year however I don't have a very big classroom and I didn't want anything too imposing. This tent is perfect for little people as it doesn't take up to much space, whilst still providing students with somewhere to be on their own. K-mart also have cheap children's tents if you don't have access to an Ikea. 

2.  Kmart Woven Storage Container (small $5, large $8)

These storage container are available in small and large. I recently removed my desk from the classroom (more on that in another post) and transferred all my desk items to a large storage cupboard in my classroom. To keep things in the cupboard organised I purchased a range of these containers in small and large. I chose grey as they'll be tucked away in the cupboard. They're available in grey, orange, aqua and white.

3. Kmart Stool (available online for $12)

I actually got mine on sale for $8 each. I have set up a listening post in my classroom for 2016 and I needed a smaller seating option than our usual chairs. Originally I had planned to use milk crates and sew cushions for them, however they are surprisingly hard to get a hold of these days! When I went to buy these I wanted aqua but they only had two left. My OCD need to have four the same colour outweighed my love of aqua so I went with yellow. These fit perfectly around one desk, which suits my space poor classroom. 

4. Kmart ABC Self Ink Stamps ($5)

Are you sensing a theme here with Kmart? I'm sure any L3 teacher that has seen these at Kmart threw them in their trolley (I say trolley, because really, who can fit their Kmart goodies in a basket?) straight away! There are a million and one independent activities that these could be used for and for only $5 a set they are an awesome investment. I've already considered that when they run out I'll just throw some ink pads into the set and off we go again. 

5. Kmart 3-Tier Bathroom Trolley ($19) or Ikea Raskog Utility Cart ($29.99)

I have both of these. The Raskog I bought when they originally came out for my office at home and I love it. I considered using it at school but I just didn't want to part with it. So it was happy days for me when I came across something very similar at Kmart. The Kmart bathroom trolley is listed in the online store for $19 however I purchased mine for $12 in store. I am going to use it to store classroom materials that are used on a daily basis (glue, pencils, scissors etc). This is something that I desperately needed. Last year I found myself wasting too much time searching for materials in different places. Not to mention the time my students and I wasted packing up and tidying work areas. So this will hopefully jump start a more organised, less time wasting system!

6. Fluffy/ Novelty Pens (various prices)

I've been slowly collecting different fluffy and novelty pens to go along with Fun Friday L3 activities. On Fridays my students can select a novelty pen to complete their writing with. This is in response the general lag that I noticed every Friday, where everyone (including myself!) was just a bit weary and a little less motivated. I'm hoping these pens will excite my students enough to engage them in independent writing on Fridays and hold of the Friday slow down. 

These are just a few of the bits and pieces that I have collected for my 2016 classroom. I've also been fortunate enough to have received a large number of toys and books from friends and family who answered a Facebook callout for unwanted bits and pieces. This not only saves my school and myself money, it also gives my returning students some new bits and pieces to engage with.

(Oh and I did fall of the frugal wagon once or twice, a few fluro manila folders could possibly have found their way into my trolley).

Happy shopping and planning!

Beck xx

L3 Guided Reading Planner (beginning of the year).

It's been a long time between posts! As I slowly begin getting organised (who am I kidding, my classroom is more than half way set up) I thought I would share what my guided reading pro forma looks like at the beginning of the year. I'll be using the pro forma below for my kindergarten students who are reading Magenta and Red level texts. Click here to access a free download of this pro forma via Teachers Pay Teachers.

Familiar Read: This is the text that students have read in their previous guided reading lesson. Once they have read this text with me a second time it goes into their Familiar Reading box (more on this later!).

Learning Intention: I usually draw this from the literacy continuum and the English syllabus. My first learning intention for kindergarten students is 'crisp finger pointing'. The prompting that I use is  'when I see a word, I can say a word'. I always refer to the learning intention in my feedback to students e.g. 'I can see your crisp finger pointing under each word, well done'.

New Read and Level: This is their new text. Depending on previous guided reading lesson this may be a new level or the same level as their familiar text. I follow the L3 guided reading structure to introduce this text. This text then becomes their familiar text in the next lesson.

Word to Find: This is a high frequency word from the text. I identify the word to my students prior to reading e.g. this says 'at'. They then repeat the word. I ask them to find the word on another page. Students work their way through the text finding, pointing to and saying the word as they go. This is very quick!

Post Read: This is where I ask questions to clarify meaning. The depth of questioning develops as students move from Red to Magenta and beyond.

Word Work: Here I select a word from the text for students to manipulate using magnetic letters. I use the Phonics and Phonemic Awareness aspects of the literacy continuum to guide my planning. Red level text word work is the simple reformation of a high frequency word from the text using magnetic letters. Beyond red level students begin substituting initial, medial and final sounds to make a new word.

At the bottom of each lesson plan I keep any notes about what words or skills may need to be revisited in follow lessons. I also keep a separate sheet of paper with student names on it to record observations, new learning intentions and any other important information relating to guided reading groups.

This is a very basic overview of how I use this pro forma. The L3 program support folder will give you much more in-depth information about the structure of an L3 guided reading lesson.
I am only in my first year on L3 training and am definitely not an expert, however if you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them.

Thanks,

Beck