A Quick and Quiet Writing Activity

Hi Friends!
So...I don't know if your cuties have been behaving a little bit like mine lately, but Oh. My. Goodness.  Spring has definitely sprung...for everyone and we're all wound a little tight right now.  (Teachers included...'tis the season for uncertainties and changes for next year...if you know what I mean.)  So we had an afternoon this week where I just needed a few minutes of peace and quiet.  I know...I'm asking for too much in a first grade classroom, but I would have been happy with just 5 minutes.  It was our intervention time and since we're still having a very hard time writing complete sentences (in March...insert frustrated tone), I believe God intervened and put this idea in my head...and actually made it work for us.

Here's what you'll need if you want to give it a try:
Dry Erase Boards
Dry Erase Markers (of course)
Eraser
Kiddos with a buddy or a small group (2 kiddos working together worked better though)

All we did was this...One child wrote a question on their dry erase board and the other had to answer the question in a complete sentence.  Now, if either friend didn't understand what was written, they had to shrug their shoulders, or make a face or some other action that let their partner know that they didn't understand and then some revision would take place.

We couldn't communicate with our voices at all.  Sure...it may sound a little harsh...what 1st grade classroom shouldn't have a constant hum happening inside it, but again, we needed a little peace on this particular day.  I was only expecting this peace to last maybe a moment...but we went a full 20 minutes without a peep and as I walked around the room, everyone was on task and when our time together was done and I asked them if they liked doing it, they said, "Yes!"  So if you're in the mood for a little quiet or need something to fill a bit of time so you can catch your breath, give it a try!

This coming week is our last week before our Spring Break...thank goodness.  We're overdue for a bit of a break I think!  :)

Did I tell you that my first graders are tweeting?  I'm hoping to connect with other first grade classrooms next year to develop some friendships so if your class is tweeting, give us a follow and we'll follow you back!

https://twitter.com/1stGradePirates

Have a great weekend!

A "little" Catch-Up!

Hello Friends!

It's me...I know...it's been awhile...but honestly, it's just been all kinds of crazy and exhausting at the same time and I know I should use this blog to share and express my thoughts and ideas, but I have this horrible habit of keeping everything in and then one little word, thought, or experience can open my mouth and everything comes falling out...

But I won't do that to you...only my inner circle of trust gets to see that fiasco!  :)

Oh...and don't think it's bad news or that something awful is happening on the home front...I'm totally fine...just a lot to think about lately...and possibly the winter blues.

So...here's a real quick catch-up:

Winter Blues...I'm really tired of the cold and snow and not that we've had a lot at all, but enough is enough.  I need some milder temperatures where at least I can get outside for a little run in the early morning before school without thinking my lungs are turning into ice cubes.  Plus, I think I glow in the dark...time for some sun!

Departmentalization...Our math teacher is on maternity leave right now and although we're missing her, her sub is top notch!  We used to have 70 minute blocks, but now we've extended our blocks to 90 minutes for 3 days a week which being the reading/writing teacher, I totally appreciate!  I was getting a bit overwhelmed.  Note for next year...I want...no we need 90 minute blocks right from the start...if we get the okay to departmentalize next year.

Student-Led Conferences...I've been doing these for a few years now, but we decided to do them with our departmentalized classes this year too...so worth it!  Our parents seemed really impressed and it was great to see everyone interacting.  We even started brainstorming ideas for future events.  We need our families to feel more involved in what's happening in our school...we do a good job with newsletters but I think we need to do a better job of informing our families how they can help their child be more successful.  We have a few kiddos who are struggling a bit right now, but if they were just getting a little more reinforcement on the home front, they'd be more successful during the school day.

Last week my partner in crime and I went to Ohio's Educational Technology Conference in Columbus, known more commonly as E-Tech.  I really like going to this conference because it pushes my thinking in a different way rather than just thinking about the academic part of first grade (and feeling like I'm not doing enough).  I feel that my school district is very technologically advanced compared to the other districts in our area so this conference exposes me to new technologies that I can bring back to my classroom and share with my building.  We sat in on some very cool sessions...one of my favorites was an Ohio Blogger...Mindy Newell!

Oh my gosh...if you have iPods or iPads in your classroom, you MUST check her out!  She's actually organizing her apps how they correlate to the Common Core Standards (and more...her blog is incredible)!  And...(I know, never start a sentence with a conjunction) she holds her kiddos accountable for the activities they do on their iPads.  This is a big deal to me, because to be honest, I have only used my iPads to reinforce skills (maybe)...but mostly the kids just play on them.  So, needless to say, I brought home all of my iPads this weekend to set them up so that my kids can email me their work from their iPad!  Sure, this means more e-mails to check, but AMEN!  I'll be able to see what they're doing...and even forward the work to their parents if needed!  I also sorted all of the apps our tech team has put on our iPads into folders based on the content of the app which was a job but I hope it will make things a little easier.  I also saw all of the pictures and videos they were taking of each other in Photo Booth....ummm...expectations are needed in this area of our iPad usage.  :)
This little catch-up post of mine is getting a little long...so hold on for one more thing...
I also sat in on a session for a FREE behavioral management tool called Class Dojo.  I know I've heard about it somewhere...maybe on Pinterest...maybe on someone's blog...but it is going to rock my world!  I'm so excited to start using it tomorrow!  

Click here to visit the website!

If you haven't looked at it yet, give it a peek!  It actually generates reports on the behavior data in your class and you can share it with parents.  My explanation here doesn't do it justice, but I introduced it to my kiddos last week and we're going to start it tomorrow.  It was easy to set up on all of my devices and will be accessible to my parents once I send home their invitation to join.  I'll post more on it as I use it more...I just had to share it with you today!
Oh...and since I had some "free time" without papers to grade or lessons to create, I was finally able to set up my class Twitter account.  It's been something I've wanted to do for a very long time and it's sole purpose is to tweet about what we're up to in our classroom.  If you're interested in following you're more than welcome to find us!  

Here's the link to our feed!

Okay...so thanks for sticking around for my "short catch-up"! Here's what's coming soon...if I don't get swamped and overwhelmed with everything else!

Take Care!

"A Moment" and Tech Thursday

So my hopes for a calm day yesterday didn't really happen.

My kiddos are just a "little off" this week...maybe the past two weeks. We had to have a little heart to heart yesterday afternoon where I told them that they have two jobs right now...listen and do. That's it! Listen and do. I think I'm going to make a t-shirt that has "Your Job: Listen and Do" on the front and "My Job" on the back and I can list everything I need to do, have to do and should do. I'm still feeling overwhelmed with everything I need to be doing with my cuties (yep...they're still cute...we just drive each other crazy sometimes). At the end of "my moment" yesterday, I said, "I think we all need a little vacation." And one brave soul blurts out, "No kidding!" I had to duck down like I was looking for a book on my bookshelf because I was cracking up! I mean, in the midst of my rant, he still has the confidence and feels comfortable enough in my room and with me to "talk back". But he's right too...we do need a vacation! We've been going full throttle since January 2...no snowdays, no delays...well we had a 3 day weekend in January but first grade is hard this time of year! Thank God for a 4 day weekend! I don't want to brag, but today is our Friday! YIPPEE! No PD tomorrow...and I'm pretty sure I have all of my ducks in a row so that I don't have to go into my classroom this weekend. I'll be working on things from home...in my comfies with my coffee made from my amazing Keurig! :)

Oh! Today is Tech Thursday! Here's a safe site for kiddos that has tons of videos on just about everything. Think of it as You Tube for kids. I've used it several times and so far so good! :)

I'm hoping to use this site next week when we have the mobile lab in our room. The plan is to have the kiddos choose a video and then create a graphic organizer using Pixie that will tell me the main idea and supporting details of the video they chose to watch.

Well, I'm off to finish my week...but wait! Are you following Traci @ Dragonflies in First?

She made the cutest George Washington bulletin board using her kiddos faces with George Washington's hair and hat! With a cute writing prompt to go with it...talk about ADORABLE! I'm going to be squeezing her project in next week! Maybe that's why I'm feeling overwhelmed...I'm finding all of these amazing teachers who share the coolest stuff...and instead of filing their ideas away for next year, I make myself do them this year! Oh well! I can't help myself! I'm so grateful to be in a profession with new blogger friends who share so much! Hoping to share some things I've been thinking about this weekend!

Have a super Thursday!

Jen Wagner's Online Projects

Hi Friends!

I wanted to introduce you to Jen Wagner of "Projects by Jen". She hosts several online projects throughout the year that involve lots of different topics! Each project I've joined has been a lot of fun for the kids. Click on the picture below to visit her website.

You can find a complete list of projects she has created by clicking on the Projects tab of of her website. I just registered for Jen's St. Patrick's Day Project! We'll be using a box of Lucky Charms to sort and graph the shapes in our box and we'll then submit our data to Jen's Google Doc and be able to compare our data with classrooms all over the world. If I choose to, I can even collaborate with a teacher and connect our classrooms via Skype. Cool!

Projects By Jen is the easiest way to bring a little technology on a global level into your classroom. We've loved participating in her OREO Project, Pumpkin Seed Project and Christmas Card Exchange this year and are looking forward to her St. Patrick's Day Project. Her Guess the Wordle "game" is fun too...but pretty tough for my little friends.

Head on over and check her out if you're looking for a little fun!

Oh...and don't forget to enter my first give-away! I'll post the winner on Valentine's Day...so you have through tomorrow evening to enter!