Whole Brain Teaching

I'm a little late to the whole brain teaching party but I think I'm going to try it next year, at least a modified version of it.  I read a little about WBT last summer on many of your blogs but I had enough on my plate with a new, very different position.  As I'm wrapping up my first year as a classroom teacher, I realized that using some of the WBT ideas may have helped eliminate some of the we-had-spring-break-and-now-it's-summer behaviors I'm seeing now.  Here is how I'm modifying WBT to fit my special education classroom.

First, I'm not a fan of all of the whole brain teaching rules like make smart choices & keep your dear teacher happy.  Those are not specific enough for my students.  I changed them around a little and here is what I came up with: 

1. Listen when someone is speaking

2. Follow directions quickly

3. Raise your hand to speak or stand 

4. Work quietly (with all of the adults talking to kids during independent work time, it gets noisy - this way I can remind everyone to work quietly)

5. Be kind, be safe, be honest 

I am going to have the class recite the rules each morning with hand motions.  When the class is getting noisy, I'll call out "Rule 4" and they will recite rule 4 with hand motions as a reminder.  This year, we don't really revisit the rules a lot and there isn't a system for doing it.  I think that the repetition of the rules will help keep the kids in line throughout the year.

Next, I am also adopting the Whole Brain Teaching class-yes call and response as well as the "hands and eyes".   I like that the students have to respond with the way I speak so if I whisper, they whisper.  

I think that Mirror would be too hard for my students.  They would be so focused on copying my hands that they would have a hard time listening.  I'm also not doing teach-ok, switch, or the scoreboard.  

 

I've made posters for my rules in a few themes (all editable) if you are interested.

                                        Cats                         Super Heros                      Dinosaurs

                                                Wild Things/Monsters         Frogs in a Pond

Click the pictures to be taken to the items.  If anyone wants a different theme, let me know!  I'll be adding more as I get free time.

Is anyone else trying WBT next year?  What classroom theme are you thinking about doing next year?

Mother's Day & Getting Ready for Next Year

Mother's day is tricky in my room.  Many of my students don't live with their parents.  They are in foster care or live with grandparents now.  I don't want to make a huge deal about mother's day and make any of them feel bad so I combined it with a science unit. Mid-April we planted flower seeds as a part of our plant unit.  I made these super cute clouds/castles to go along with our Jack and the Beanstalk read aloud.  I used them to label the kids plants.  One of my students with Autism sat and waited for her magic beanstalk to grow.  She was so disappointed that the seeds didn't immediately produce a giant plant! Now that the sprouts are growing nicely, the kids are taking them home to their moms (or just home) for Mother's day.  (The blue planters I found in Target's dollar spot)

(These pics were taken a while ago, they are bigger now!)

I know that this year isn't over yet but I'm getting SO excited to start getting ready for next year!  I have so many ideas for Monday Made It! I'm glad that I keep seeing posts about all of you who are doing this too!  Next year, I will have ANOTHER new position.  I will either be a 1st-3rd grade 12:1:1 teacher OR a 4th-5th 12:1:1 teacher.  (For those of you who don't know, a 12:1:1 room means there are 12 special needs students, 1 teacher, and 1 aide).  Not knowing is driving me nuts!

If I had known which class I was getting, I would have bough soooo much more during this sale (I'm hoping to find out next week-fingers crossed)!  

I can't resist getting ready for next year so this is what I bought (click on the pictures to go to the product on TPT): 

Umm...this is actually for this year.  I love the memory book & awards!

I used a prize catalog last year but then this year I inherited a giant prize box so I decided to go with it.  Next year, I'm going to do both...they can choose the prizebox or a prize from the catalog.  Of course, I HAD to have the rules to go with it:

This unit looked like so much fun so I couldn't resist!  I figured it could work for whatever room I get.

If you've made it this far, I have a question for you: What position would you rather have:  1st through 3rd grade or 4th and 5th grade?

Free E-book

Happy Teacher Appretiation Day!  

Remedia Publications is giving away a free ebook (up to a $7.99 value) with the coupon code: EBKTHX

I love these Wonder Stories books.  They are full of high interest reading material written at lower levels.  Head over to rempub.com to get yours!  Offer ends at midnight tonight.  

Everything in my Teachers Notebook store is also on sale until Friday.  Stop over and check it out :) 

Sub Prep {Freebie}

The last few weeks I have been grading state tests and going to CSE meetings.  This means prepping for a substitute.  Since all of my students have special needs, I always end up leaving a ton of notes for my subs (medical needs, behavior plans).  I was in desperate need of a sub binder.  I looked around at different sub binders online but they all had extra info that I didn't want my sub to have to look through - we don't have tornados so I don't need a spot for tornado drills but we do have a 3R drill.  I decided to create my own and I made it completely editable.  It only took me about 20 minutes to put mine together.  I felt so much better once it was done.  I knew that my sub had all the information he/she needed to get through the day.  Here are a few pics: 

    

Editable cover (section dividers also) & a Class Roster page with room for pictures

     

Pages for class management, routines, and schedule have open text boxes so you can completely customize it to your room.  If you need more pages, just copy & paste that slide.  The transportation list is also editable so you type in the different types of transportation your class uses.  

     

 There are also pages for important student info, student modifications, where to find materials, directions to school locations, and emergency drills (again all customizable).  

I've also included a classroom tour page for a picture tour of your room & a how was your day sheet.  

I cut these out and clip them to the binder.  The sub can then clip all of the papers he/she collects throughout the day with these labels.  It makes it easier for me and them.  There are also blank/editable labels.  

Click here to get this for yourself :) 

I was also tired of trying to come up with tasks that I feel comfortable with a sub doing but that still fit in with my curriculum.  I scoured the internet for activities that my students could do  pretty much throughout the year.  That way, I can prep materials for a few sub days in September and not have to worry about having outdated, irrelevant activities.  I put together some generic lesson plans - just check off a few things and add any class-specific notes you want to leave for the sub!  Of course you also have to print out the materials but I've even found them for you (all free online)!  My sub plans are completely free...stop by my Teachers Notebook store to grab your copy! 

I used these last week even though I knew I would be out ahead of time.  It was so much faster than writing the crazy sub plans I used to write.  If you haven't already made a sub binder & emergency plans, I highly recommend it!  I felt so much more prepared having these two things set up. 

If you need a binder, this one is a great deal (77 cents!) on amazon right now! 

Thanks for Visiting Happy Teacher Appretiation Week!

{I'll be having a sale in my store this week to celebrate all of you wonderful teachers!}

*This post contains affiliate links

Independent Reading

I LOVE teaching reading!  I love watching the kids as they read their first book by themselves.  I love seeing students who didn't like reading get sucked into a series.  The only thing I don't like is managing the rest of the class while I have a reading group.  If you look back over my posts this year, I have shared the different systems I've tried. I like to set up systems with little to no maintence in my room.  Things need to stay consistent but challenging.  None of my previous systems did that.  Enter "Indpendent Reading" activities.  

I slowly created and introduced independent reading activities to my kids.  As their needs changed, I created new activities.  My kids love doing independent reading because they aren't always doing the same worksheets.  They now choose between 5 things: 

1. Tic Tac Toe

2. Buddy Reading

3. Weekly Book Study

4. Response Letters

5. Think Marks

Because of the wide range of abilities in my room, EVERYTHING is differentiated.  I tried to make the worksheets so that you could have students draw or write on them (when possible).  The activities work for books at almost any level (a-c level books don't have a lot of substance to them).  The fonts are easy to read and there are very few distractions on each page.  Besides the title page, everything is in black and white for easy printing.  There is lots of space for students to write (great for students who have poor handwriting).  

Now while I meet with reading groups, my students choose an independent reading activity to do.  When they have finished that, they work on (in any order): 

Spelling page or test

Sight Words (with an adult)

Activity Pockets & other "games" from Fcrr.org and TPT, stored in work drawers for pairs of students.  The games are sorted to work on targeted skills for each child.  

(Sorry for the terrible pic)

Reading Skills Book which have worksheets that fit their needs pulled from different places...some are working on vowel sounds, some on blends, some have word families, some have inferencing pages...it all depends on their needs.  

My students, aides, and I all agree that this is the best system we have done all year.  It is flexible for students who have many therapies (and aide breaks), everyone is working on targeted skills, and it isn't dependent on a set time schedule so I can deal with meltdowns without disrupting the center rotations.  You can grab my reading activities here!  

Also, if you haven't heard, Teachers Notebook is having a May Teaching Tips Event.  When you sign up, you get over $100 in products for free!  Click the picture below to sign up!

I'm still here!

What a year this has been!  I'm not a first year teacher but this was my first year in a self-contained classroom (previously I was a resource room teacher) so I certainly felt like a first year teacher!  This quote describes my year perfectly!

I have learned so much this year through trial and error.  It has been a balancing act between not changing routines too often but still figuring out what systems work for me & the students (and the aides).  I'll be sharing everything I learned this year (soon) so you can learn from my mistakes :) 

Numbers

Every day I teach 3 different curriculums. I have 2 students who are at a kindergarten level. We have been working on learning numbers 1-25 all year! There are only so many ways to go over these numbers! Today, I had one of my girls work on a counting cats activity. She first had to put the numbers in order 1-25. Then she had to count each cat card to match it to the number card. By about half way through she was no longer skipping any numbers while counting! Now she asks to use the cat cards every day! It seriously made my week to see how far she has come this year :) {cards are available in my teachers notebook store}

Behavior Management Tip

Do your students start acting up around this time of year?  The kids at my school definitely are!  Maybe it's all those indoor recess days along with 3 months of school with no breaks.  One day last week, my students came into the room bouncing off the walls so before we started morning work I told them that I would pick someone who clipped up that day to choose a prize before dismissal.  Suddenly all most of the kids were focused on doing everything they could to get clipped up.  It worked so well that I decided to do that every day.  They really needed a more immediate reward for good behavior.   The kids are better behaved and I'm actually giving out less prizes because only 1 person a day gets a prize instead of most of the class getting 1 a week.  Now I don't have to remember to give them a sticker or stamp every day and there is never a line at the prize box on Friday. 

Oh Life

This is not teaching related at all but it's something I wanted to share.  Have you heard of Ohlife.com?  It's an online private journal website.  After you sign up {it's free}, the site will send you a daily email asking you about your day.  You simply reply to the email and it is saved to your journal.  Occasionally, they will send you an old post you made.  You are the only person who can see your journal so you can write anything without judgement :)  There is so much going on at work that I can't share publicly so it's nice to have a place to "vent" privately.  Here is a picture of the homescreen...click it to check out the site!

100th Day of School

Tuesday was our 100th day of school!  I had the K-1 class join mine to do activities all day.  I finally remembered to take pictures!

Here a student is making a picture using cut outs of 100.

This group of littles are making a castle using 100 cups.  It fell down so they made a tower instead.  Hands down, this was everyones favorite activity!

These guys are building something with 100 legos.

We put 10 dots on 10 strips of paper and attached them to a sentence strip for our 100 day hats.

This student is working on her 100 book.  The prompts were: I wish I had 100, I wouldn't want 100, I could eat 100, I couldn't eat 100, and If I had $100 I would buy...

We also did skip counting to 100 puzzles, made strung 100 cheerios onto string, and did a making words sheet with the words "Hundred Days".  

This was a fun day for the kids {and for me}...we all needed a break from the regular routine and stress from upcoming annual reviews.

Centers {Finally}

I feel like I've talked and thought about centers for MONTHS!  I've actually done 2 different systems.  This post is my first system.  I started with a Daily 5 type set up.  I made each student a laminated card:

The read to self center is self explanitory.  I also had students listen to a story and do a response sheet.  They could build words at the word work center.  In the work on writing center, students could write recipes, comics, letters, or make their own books.  The last center was sight words where they worked 1 on 1 with an adult on learning their sight words.

On the back of each card, I velcro-d the students picture.  Students could choose the order they wanted to do the centers in.  They just stuck their picture to the center poster which were hanging around the room.  Only 2 students were allowed at a center so I only put 2 pieces of velcro on each poster.  When there are no more spots to stick your picture - move to a new center!

I had an aide at each center (expect read to self) to help the students.  I gave each aide a binder describing exactly what to do and tracking sheets to monitor students work/progress.

I really liked this system because it gaves students a choice and they rotated who they were with.  The problem I had with this was the aides left their centers to take breaks and to take kids to therapies.  At that point, there was nobody to assist the students with tasks like reading sight words so I changed things up again...stay tuned to see what I did! (I promise it won't take a month to post again!)

12 in 12

I'm linking up with Miss Kindergarten and A Teeny Tiny Teacher for the 12 in 12 linky party!  Click the picture below to link up too!!

My 12 favorite things!

12. Favorite movie you watched: 21 Jump Street - I think movies should make you laugh

11. Favorite TV series: New Girl & The Mindy Project

10. Favorite restaurant: Mogul's - a local Indian restaurant - SO good!

9. Favorite new thing you tried: Teaching a self-contained classroom instead of resource room...I LOVE having my kids all day, even the days they suck all the energy out of me!

8. Favorite gift you got: My new humidifier: 

It's the round white thing...Waffles was not pleased that there was steam coming out of it.

7. Favorite thing you pinned:

Probably this...it gave me inspiration for making my own bulletinboard sets....so adorable!

6. Favorite blog post: My Favorite blog post(s) are the Peek at My Week posts...I should probably do them more!

5. Best accomplishment: Finishing Grad School!!!

4. Favorite picture(s):

My two new neices!

3. Favorite memory: Road Trips this summer with Dave

2. Goal for 2013: Have more fun!

1. One Little Word: Relax

2, 4, 6, 8!

I've been dreading introducing multiplication to my class. I have been using Touch Math in my room...well by "using Touch Math" I mean I printed off some packets from the touch math kits.  I only taught the touch points to 2 students.  I told the rest of the class to just ignore the touch points and add like they usually would.  They didn't listen.  As I walked around, I noticed that EVERYONE was using the touch points without me teaching them!  When it was time for subtraction, I let them choose which packet they wanted - touch points or no touch points.  They all picked touch points.  One day instead of doing math, we just talked.  I asked them why they wanted touch points, because all but 2 of them could add without them.  Their answers surprised me....the touch points took the anxiety out of math for them!  They said things like: "I don't need a number line now" "I lost my place on the number line" "I don't have to think as hard".  They LOVE touch math.  

I decided to go find the upper touch math kits to see how they teach multiplication.  They use skip counting...students have to skip count by 9's to multiply by 9.  To me, that seems incredibly hard BUT last year, I had a student who learned to multiply that way.  He taught himself to skip count quickly....like insanely fast.  So I figured I would focus my multiplication instruction on skip counting and see what happens! 

As I said in previous posts, I am starting centers when we get back from break.  Since I'm also starting multiplication, I decided to make some simple center activities (and posters). 

Here is a sample of the posters (Sorry the edges are cut off a little): 

 Here are some center cards...students can either skip count and put the cards in order (2, 4, 6, 8) or match the problems to the answers. 

I made 2 different sizes for these cards...below is the larger version: 

Finally, I wanted to give my students the visual of hopping over numbers down a number line so I made cards with numbers 1-100.  I also included a frog game piece that students can make hop by 3's (or whatever number).  

I have a few other activity ideas for these cards but I'm saving them for when I can take pictures of them in my classroom.  If this is something you could use in your room, check it out here!  Remember, everything in my store is 20% off until January 1st!!