L is for Lucy the Leadership Ladybug

Thank you to Simply Kinder for posting this great idea! It reminded me that I once had Freddy Fish, but Mr. TV had renamed him "Fricken Freddy Fish" and then the fish dissapeared from my desk when I had a substitute.



But really, it's a great short term strategy that helps {most} kids learn the rules. My class was completely amazing for the whole day after I introduced Lucy the Leadership Ladybug!

My students always somehow find out that I love ladybugs so I get completely random ladybug gifts throughout the year. I have 3 ladybug Beanie Babies on my shelf (Lucky, Larry, and Lucy). We used to do the FISH! Philosophy so I used a fish, but what's better than using an alliterative name that incorporates the 7 Habits?

My students got to hold Lucy today if I noticed they were showing leadership. The darlings even started to ask if they could pass it on to someone they saw doing the right thing. It was awesome. Even my little guy that needs extra love all day long was willing to give him up. Just one darling didn't want to give her up or "let her out of his sight" but we reassured him he'd get to hold her again soon.

Just some tips to help this idea runs smoothly:

• Try to make sure you find something to say about each child's behavior so they all get to hold the object you choose. Even if it's for a few minutes.
• Reassure them that they are still making great choices even if the object doesn't come to them as often as they want.
• Make sure to use positive language that points out the expected behavior (Oh I noticed how nicely Tommy is working on his task. He is being so responsible and putting first things first! Please hand him Lucy!)

Lucy got to wear a birthday hat from a cupcake today.

She also got to hang out on a shoulder on her field trip to the Science Lab.

So far this year (six weeks in...) I've used the Whole Brain Teaching scoreboard, but it stressed one of my guys out and it just wasn't the best choice with this group. I also started with no clip chart because one of my little buddies would be on red every day and that was never going to work out. Hopefully Lucy the Ladybug will help us to internalize the rules/habits and our days can focus on learning.

Thanks again Simply Kinder!

 

E is for Epic! (app)

So this was a conversation my sis and I had. She is new to teaching kindergarten. She seems to find all the things the cool teachers use. So of course I have to use it.

 

Yeah, my "never heard of it" was really "ugh! I don't have time to look at one more thing right now I'm trying to figure out how to make these stinking margins stop changing on Google Drive so leave me alone before I throw this computer across the room" but don't tell her that...

Maybe I really missed the boat on this and everyone knows about this app but me. It says it's been around since 2013. Maybe the free part is new? I don't know. But I am all over it now!

If you haven't heard of the Epic! app, read on...

If you have, then why the heck didn't you tell me about it sooner?!  What if my sister had never became a teacher and had never found it in order to show me? =)

So Epic! is an app that is free for educators, but also available for parents to purchase.

 You sign up and then can set up a class.

I set up my Pipsqueak cause she was sitting on the couch next to me. So now we can use it on my computer, my phone, and her iPad. Yeah. Super cool.

I think I'll use their Xtra Math pins as their pins for this, too. 

As soon as she logged in it had her choose her favorite kinds of books. Of course she picked them all! She's not a kid who reads for fun, but does get hooked by good books. We started browsing right away and I was amazed at all of the high-interest, current books they have! Scaredy Squirrel, First Day Jitters, Memoirs of a Hamster, several Big Nate, Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, and tons more.

I love the search feature because we typed in "rabbits" and we got both fiction and nonfiction choices. 

Pipsqueak started "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" over all the choices like it was a candy store. She kept saying she was earning all of these badges and unlocking more books. She was having such a blast.

On my teacher end, I could see how many books she had read and how much time she had spent reading. It will even show a book list of the types of books she's choosing. 

My brain started to think of how much my students are going to love this. And how much parents might love it. (They include a parent flyer in the resources section.) It certainly had the fourth grader next to me hooked. And who doesn't love seeing a kid asking to read more?  I can see kids begging to use the iPads during Read to Self time. We can even project under the document camera to view a book as a whole class.

I'm excited and I wanted to share in case there are other people like me who didn't know about this great freebie! Check it out.

Here is a quick video that sums it all up.


 

S is for Somehow

Somehow teachers make setting up a classroom happen and live through it.

I know this year I needed a lot of help from my man, my sister, our school's custodial crew, my fantastic teacher friends, and Donor's Choose angels. I'm positive I even got some my help from my new in heaven angel Mrs. Burns. The supplies parents bring during registration are also a great help to making our classrooms begin smoothly.

Somehow, with all that help, I turned a bunch of furniture, walls, books, supplies, and other assorted very important things into a functional classroom.

 I'm super excited to begin my 11th year tomorrow with a crop of new second graders. Happy Back to School!
 

B is for Book Boxes

Do you have the Mainstays ice bin buckets for your book boxes?

Have your darlings decorate their own labels before you tape them to the front of an ice bin turned book box. (Yes, I'll probably laminate them first.)

Click the pics to get them for free.

 

T is for Temple Grandin

You know those times you come across something and you're like "where has this been all my life?" Well, that just happened to me with the work of Dr. Temple Grandin. A good friend/coworker sent me a facebook invite to this autism presentation.

I was like "who is this lady?" but it looked like fun. I googled her. I decided it's stuff I should hear about. I mean, any of you who've been following me know I started this blog to share the wacky things Mr. TV said/did.  And I'm sure I'm going to have many more autistic darlings in the years (and years and years) I have left.

So I went. And I'm so very glad I did.

She was great! Her TED talk basically covers the same things she presented to us, but the question and answer session was quite informative and meeting her was beyond cool. We actually passed her in the hallway and my friends had a fangirl moment.

 I had to buy her book The Autistic Brain to go along with my Mindset and neuroscience reading.

 My next step it to watch the movie in which she is portrayed by Clair Danes. Apparently I've been under a rock and missed it!

I'm super exited to learn more about her life and the things she suggests for children with Austism.

(Thanks for taking me Mrs. Kessler and Mrs. John!)

 

O is for Olaf

                                      

You've most likely seen this adorable idea floating around pinterest.

And you might have downloaded Mrs. Lirette's awesome sign like I did.

Well, I went to Target today to find myself a Mr. Potato head and they did not have him. But guess what they did have! (On clearance with an additional 20% off with the Cartwheel app this week! Woohoo!)

This guy!



And I couldn't find anything already made for him, so I made one. Just click the pic and you can have it too!

I just love summer!

S is for Susie Sunshine

If you are really lucky, you have a friend and fellow teacher in your life that makes a lasting impression and helps shape you into a better person.

That's what Susie did for me and many of my coworkers who knew her.

This was a woman who went back to school and got her teaching certificate at 60. She had already worked many years with students, but followed her calling to her true dream job of teaching. She was a natural.

She loved each and every single one of her students unconditionally. Even when they were bouncing off the walls and doing their best 2 year old impressions. Even on field trip days when she pretended they were driving her crazy.

She loved them through their insecurities and boosted them into a confidence that helped them grow to love learning. They enjoyed coming to school each day and being surrounded by her love for them. You could tell by their deep respect for her and their ever-present smiles.

She loved me through my moments of craziness. She loved me even though I was always trying to prank her. She loved to make me feel special. She loved me through my diva teacher of the year phase. She especially loved me when Mr. TV was literally making me crazy (and helped me see his humor and love him through it).

She loved us all when she was sick and we tried to make her take it easy. She hated when that stupid, stupid cancer forced her to retire way before any of us were ready.

And despite that stupid, stupid, STUPID cancer, she recognized every day as a gift and took the knocks as they came with a smile on her face. She is one of the strongest women I've ever known.

If you are really really lucky, you have this kind of person in your life. Hug them tight. Tell them how amazing they are. Make sure they know how much you appreciate their friendship and support.

And try your very hardest each and every day to be someone they would be proud of.

You will be missed, Susie. Go rest high on the mountain.

Susie Brown Burns       July 15, 2046 - June 4, 2015