tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48165373218840902452024-03-21T00:47:21.352-07:00For the Joy of TeachingFor the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-29737453838862796842020-11-18T22:06:00.006-08:002020-11-18T22:34:01.451-08:00Distance Learning <p> I have been updating and creating more digital resources to help enhance my writing and social studies curriculum. Check them out in my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom/Category/Distance-Learning-455556" target="_blank">TpT store</a>. My most recent resource is a <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Digital-Thanksgiving-Writing-Activities-6243241" target="_blank">FREE digital writing</a> resource that is great for the month of November. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2r3LNLKRikWHto1tf2-2O2093KTRse0g0KqJ_pmSwKNejSM2D9iXx2emDPC_BrAP6He3fSbHPiGokyRWi9QfprXtQRvRFobYet8OgNY6KsMYVvz6CaNubupRShkpkb_Inqcn2y1nqYU/s720/New+Quote+Box.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="720" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2r3LNLKRikWHto1tf2-2O2093KTRse0g0KqJ_pmSwKNejSM2D9iXx2emDPC_BrAP6He3fSbHPiGokyRWi9QfprXtQRvRFobYet8OgNY6KsMYVvz6CaNubupRShkpkb_Inqcn2y1nqYU/w400-h127/New+Quote+Box.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><p></p>For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-38115746725615569072019-07-26T15:28:00.003-07:002019-07-26T15:28:43.861-07:00Prayer WallTeaching in a private Christian school has allowed me to combine my two loves...God and teaching! In 5th grade I wanted to teach my students the daily discipline of quiet time with God. We turn on one worship song and students can either read the Bible, worship, meditate on the memory verse, or write a sticky note prayer request. I also select one prayer warrior to pray over the prayers at the prayer wall. When a prayer is answered, they switch it to the praise report side. Once it gets full a praise warrior will take off answered prayers and put them in a bin to collect for the year. During the last week of school I distribute all the answered prayers back and we see the faithfulness of God.<br />
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-50722226933801203062019-04-01T23:14:00.001-07:002019-04-01T23:14:36.942-07:00Colonial DayI love to help students find a love for learning by bringing learning to life! Since I teach US History, I created a Colonial Day experience filled with fun lessons that bring history to life.<br />
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Students came dressed in colonial attire and I transformed the classroom into "Marinburg" since we live in Marin County. We started the day with a "town meeting" during our morning meeting time. Students greeted each other with a bow and shared what occupation they would be if they lived in colonial times.<br />
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Then I designed a colonial math lesson that taught students how they used commodities to buy items if they did not have money. They previous designed a a commodity poster that then they had to convert their commodity into dollar amounts. They filled in a worksheet I designed to complete their conversion math along with reflection questions.<br />
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Then it was time to rotate through different stations to try different colonial skills. I had three groups: Northern Colony, Middle Colony, and Southern Colony and three stations.<br />
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<b>First Station: Declaration of Independence Writing</b><br />
Students had to write part of the declaration of independence with a quill feather and black paint.<br />
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<b>Second Station: Marbles Game</b><br />
Students play marbles, which was a colonial game played by children.<br />
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<b>Third Station: Making Butter</b><br />
Students shook cream in a mason jar for 7-10 minutes to make butter.<br />
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After the rotations were done, we took at break for recess. Then after recess, we had "Tea Time" snack where we pretended that King George just enacted the Tea Act. I taught students proper tea etiquette and we enjoyed English tea and biscuits/cookies. We also had English muffins with our homemade butter. Students thought the butter and tea were delicious!<br />
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Our last event of the Colonial Day was reading a reader's theater of Continental Congress.<br />
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It was a successful day of learning and bringing history to life! To find more fun history lesson, check out my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom" target="_blank">TpT store</a> for other fun US History and CA History lessons.For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-47388673630906505492018-11-09T14:22:00.001-08:002018-11-09T14:22:36.541-08:00Reader's WorkshopI like to do a Reader's Workshop during my ELA time. It usually takes 2 weeks or so to roll out, but once everyone knows what to do, it is a great and effective tool to maximize learning time. I have 4 workstations in the Reader's Workshop: Reading Station, Guided Reading Station, Word Work Station, and Writing Station.<br />
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<b>Reading Station: </b><br />
Students read the text of the week from our curriculum (we use Hughton Mifflin). They read together as a group out loud. This allows them to practice their oral reading fluency.<br />
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<b>Guided Reading Station:</b><br />
After students read text, they come to me at Guided Reading. I work with them on comprehension tasks, decoding, fluency, and vocabulary skills all based around the text of the week. This allows me to give differentiated instruction based on the group and what skill they need extra help with.<br />
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<b>Word Work Station:</b><br />
Students work on their Spelling and Vocabulary words for the week. I have created a few different spelling tasks for them to do at this station. I have a set of Spelling Task Cards or Roll It Spelling. Students love practice their weekly words with these activities.<br />
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<b>Writing Workstation:</b><br />
Students practice their writing skills and handwriting at this station. Students either write in their morning journal using these Writing Center Prompts. I have made several different task cards for writing, including seasonal prompts. They also work on their cursive handwriting with different handwriting packets I create. Check out my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom" target="_blank">TpT Store</a> for more easy literacy centers to set up.<br />
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-49399072730581430372017-08-31T10:23:00.000-07:002017-08-31T10:23:10.816-07:00Weekly Parent Letter<br />
As the school year starts, it is important to have good communication with parents. I accomplish this by sending home a weekly newsletter that gets sent home on Monday (one hard copy and one sent through e-mail). Each weekly newsletter includes spelling words, vocabulary words, upcoming events, subject focus for the week and what their child will be learning that week in school. I also read through this with my students at the end of the day Monday before dismissal so that they can always know what to expect for that week in school. Upper elementary students really enjoy knowing what to expect in school that week and they also use this newsletter to help with studying their weekly words. I have created an editable parent newsletter in my TpT Store: <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom" target="_blank">Mrs. Kearsely's Classroom. </a><br />
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-31062569330153696862017-08-17T14:46:00.002-07:002017-08-17T14:49:07.681-07:00Back to School Writing LessonIt time for Back to School!! One of the first week activities that I do with my students is to learn about their summer through a writing lesson. I start the year with doing a paragraph writing lesson to ease them into the school year with something simple and it allows me to review the basics of good writing structure with "paragraph writing." I use a paragraph song that I learned a few years ago. It is to the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" melody. Here's the Paragraph Song:<br />
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<i>First you introduce the topic in a general way</i></div>
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<i>Next you add three details of what you want to say</i></div>
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<i>Then you add the clincher, put that sentence last</i></div>
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<i>Now you have created your great paragraph. </i></div>
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<i>(Source Unknown) </i></div>
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We brainstorm all the activities they did in the summer and adjectives to use in their writing. I believe in teaching writing in a real structured way. I always have a brainstorm time, outline, and a guided writing of paragraph structure. I have the complete lesson including brainstorming and outlining worksheet in my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom" target="_blank">TpT Store</a>. This also turns into a cute bulletin board when done. </div>
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"T-Shirt" theme "Have a T-rrific Summer" </div>
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*This could be used as a beginning of school writing or end of the year writing.</div>
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To get this lesson, click <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Writing-Lesson-Back-to-School-Writing-Lesson-3320103" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </div>
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Happy Back to School! </div>
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-79731904994108135102017-07-12T15:05:00.003-07:002017-07-21T21:36:08.605-07:00Check out my new TpT store!!<br />
I love creating lesson plans, ideas, and teaching resources for my classroom and thought I should start sharing them on Teacher's Pay Teacher's. If you teach upper elementary and want quality, low cost...even FREE resources...follow my TpT store. I will posting new products all year. Enjoy!<br />
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Click HERE to go to my TpT Store: <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom">Mrs. Kearsley's Classroom</a></div>
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<br />For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-12008374886275962042017-07-10T15:22:00.004-07:002017-07-18T20:25:00.728-07:00"All About Me" Back to School Project!Back to school is just around the corner and I wanted to share my favorite project for the first day of school. I created this simple "All About Me" flag pennant for the students to fill in information about themselves. It not only allows you to get to know them better, but it doubles as a great addition to my Back-To-School bulletin board. Just cut it out and string it together! You can download this <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-Flag-Banner-First-Day-of-School-Project-3249740">project</a> and more at my TpT store <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Kearsleys-Classroom">HERE</a>.<br />
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<br />For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-50849688919246551082017-07-07T13:08:00.000-07:002017-07-07T13:09:48.222-07:00Free Time Friday<br />
It's Friday!! I thought I would share about how I do something called "Free Time Friday" in my classroom. Every Friday I carve out 20 minutes at the end of the school day for my students to enjoy themselves for working hard all week long. It is basically a free choice time for students to do whatever they like (within reason of course). Free Time Friday allows you to reward students who have behaved well and completed all their work. However, if students did not have good behavior that week and/or did not complete all their work....this time allows for them to make up for that. My students love it and it helps me reinforce classroom management and make sure all my students stay up to speed on all their work.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Who Does Not Participate in Free Time Friday</b></span></h2>
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For students who cannot participate in Free Time Friday because they have incomplete work, they can join in on the fun once their work is complete...talk about high motivation....all of a sudden my slow working students become very quick! If a student cannot participate in Free Time Friday because of behavior I sometimes send them out of the room...either office or a team teacher's room depending on their behavior, with approval of course. Give them something to do like incomplete work or a book to read.<br />
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How to Establish Free Time Friday</h2>
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When I introduce Free Time Friday, I do an anchor chart of what it looks like and what it doesn't so I set clear expectations: volume level, behavior, and the choice of activities. We discuss what types of activities they can do during this "choice time." Some examples are: computer time, play a game, read a book, draw, etc. Some students even choose to be a peer tutor and help those who have incomplete work to finish.<br />
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Free Time Friday is a privilege and not a right...remember you are in control and if they don't deserve it one week because as a class they were not good....you can do that.For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-37036466928801155922017-07-06T15:31:00.001-07:002017-07-07T12:45:16.569-07:00Classroom Jobs<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">When you teach upper
elementary, having classroom jobs not only is good for the students it can make
your life easier! Over the course of my years teaching I have finally found a
smooth hassle-free class job system that works for everyone.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 18pt;">What Kind
of Jobs to Create?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">First establish what kind
of jobs/roles your classroom needs. Each year I had a different number of
students, so determine how many jobs you need to fit the size of your class. Remember
that some jobs can have two or more students in charge, ie. material master. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">If
you need help with a list of jobs and posters for your classroom, </span></b></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">please visit
my TpT store, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><u><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Jobs-Chevron-Themed-3242055">MrsKearsley's Class</a></u></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">, for a
freebie!</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 18pt;">Job
Bulletin Board<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Create a bulletin board in
your classroom with job titles....I'm so bummed that I never took a picture of
my job bulletin board...sorry. Then get wooden clothespins from the dollar tree
or wherever and label them with student numbers or names. Clothespins with
student numbers can be used for so many things and reused from year to year!
These clothespins can be easily attached to the job titles and transferred when
jobs get changed. Having a board helps you and the class know who is
responsible for what.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 18pt;">How to
Assign Jobs?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The first week of school
and introduce the class jobs to the class. I handout a packet that describes
each job and their responsibilities along with a job application form. Both can
be found at my TpT store, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Mrs
Kearsley's Class.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">By the second week, I assign the jobs. In my class, some
jobs have more responsibilities then others. To make it fair, I have high
paying jobs that require more work and responsibility and low paying jobs that
don’t require much work. The high paying jobs are things like: Teacher’s
assistant, Banker, Homework Monitor, etc. These jobs pay more because they are done
frequently and have a high-level of responsibility. They also require more
training up front, so these jobs are held the entire year of half of the year
so that they become proficient and you don’t need to consistently be training new
students in that role. I tell my students that all have the ability to lose
their job if they don’t do their job or perform it correctly</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">…</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie"; font-size: 13.5pt;">.just like the real world. This allows some students to
have two jobs potentially; however, most of the time this never happens because
students want the money. The lower paying jobs like: pencil master, door monitor, light monitor, etc. rotate once a month. All you do it switch the clothespins and announce the new roles for those students. </span></b></div>
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<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjuly"; font-size: 18pt;">Class Economy and Class Jobs</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie";"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">At the end of each month, students get paid for their jobs. Students have bank accounts (account sheets in a binder) and get a "direct deposit" each month. All high paying jobs get $100/month and low paying jobs get $50/month. However, they are not </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">guaranteed</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> to get the full amount if they have not done their job for the month. Students can get a cut in their pay if they do not perform their job. </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "littlepiggysjunie";"><b>Hope this helps give you an idea of how to implement classroom jobs into your classroom. It takes a month or two before your class starts running like a good oiled machine. </b></span></div>
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-88260835862388959222017-06-29T14:40:00.001-07:002017-07-06T16:07:22.575-07:00Class Dojo Economy System & Classroom Management <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was introduced to the <b><a href="https://www.classdojo.com/" target="_blank">Class Dojo App</a></b> a few years ago at a Education Tech Conference in Silicon Valley. My students are absolutely in love with Class Dojo and are really motivated to get "Dojo Points!" I decided to come up with a new classroom management system that combines the old school "economy system" with this new modern classroom management app. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Class Dojo is really easy to set up and can be used with multiple devices: laptop, ipad, phone, etc. This allows you to reward students and keep track of their behavior wherever you go....Great for field trips! After you set up your class, the app assigns each students their own avatar monster...but can later be changed and personalized (this becomes an incentive and reward to earn). Students love this program because it is colorful,fun, and makes a fun noise every time someone earns a positive point. It has both visual and auditory ques to entice students to want to earn more points. Sometimes I just allow them to only hear the points being earned, that way they don't know who is getting the point and it gets them all on task because they are hoping to get a point next. You can also project the app onto your smartboard to allow them to see their progress...the only downside is that it shows everyone's points. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-b2c2eefc-f5b8-2111-3168-b1caf7b6da03"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="147px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/BV_eNLAz4SL8i_XuHHoai-HLZpZLH4aCzfyQhXzesddIrxr4GsBFCkCec3CVqrsMEx8WyOBVeJXO8uv_tTGUsvMPQNyfbvo4vmddklsj9YaGCf_4gy_PrwpjIwIQtiB7RSkLsTUQXqM" width="193px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As the teacher you decide how you want to give out points. You can customize what types of behavior earns points and they even have negative points for unwanted behavior. My first year I used both positive and negative points, then the next year I only used it for positive reinforcement which seemed to work out better. Either way, you use it to fit your classroom needs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not only do students and teachers love Class Dojo, but parents love it as well. At <i>Back to School Night </i>I explain the system and print out parent codes for them...this allows them access to their child's individual report. This gives parents a peek into the classroom to see what kind of behaviors their child is doing. One of the reasons I stopped doing negative points is because it sends an immediate e-mail to the parents of the negative behavior...however, it doesn't not allow any kind of explanation. So I found myself explaining a lot at the end of the day when parents pick up. In my opinion, not all negative behavior needs to be explained to parents (ex. talking to a neighbor, off task, etc.) However, it is good to use for behavior that you want parents to know about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I created a classroom economy system based on Class Dojo. You can get the full system including posters, coupons, and more at my TpT store by clicking <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Class-Dojo-Reward-System-and-Coupons-3240098"><b><u>here</u></b>.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I decided to give out weekly rewards and monthly rewards to encourage student behavior all month long. This work great for 4th and 5th grade levels. It might need to be adjusted for younger grade levels. I came up with percentage rewards (if you are using both positive and negative points) and point rewards. When I only used it for positive points I had students get different rewards/coupons to redeem prizes at different point levels throughout the month and then the big incentive was that all their points get turned into cash at the end of each month. Instead of wasting a bunch of paper to make "teacher money" I just created bank account sheets for every student in a binder and did "direct deposits" of their total amount each month. (One of my <b><u><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Jobs-Chevron-Themed-3242055">class jobs</a></u></b> is a student banker who did all of that for me...someone who is very responsible of course.) This made the economy system "electronic" and all withdrawals and deposits were recorded on the bank account sheet in <u>pen</u> so no forgery can happen. Students can then spend their money at the class store every Friday during Free Time Friday. Click here for more information on how to implement <u><b>Free Time Friday</b> </u>or <b><u>Class Store</u></b> in your classroom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At the end of each month, the student with the most points earns the <b><u>Class Citizen Trophy</u></b> that they get to put on their desk. After all points have been accounted for, clear the points and start again fresh each month! </span></div>
For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-63650921745382979672017-06-28T13:57:00.001-07:002017-06-29T14:41:57.734-07:00Bucket FillersOne of the best ways to create a positive classroom community and environment is to implement <b>Bucket Fillers</b> into your classroom routine. During the first week of school I introduce bucket fillers to my class by reading the book, <i><b>Have You Filled a Bucket Today? </b></i>by Carol McCloud . <img alt="Image result for have you filled a bucket today" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NYppzf%2BaL._SY380_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /><br />
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I teach a lesson along with reading the book about my expectations for the year about how we are going to treat one another. I lead them in a discussion using an anchor chart to write their ideas about what classifies as a <u>bucket filler</u> vs. a <u>bucket dipper</u>. Then I introduce the bucket filler board and how they can fill each others bucket all year long. This becomes an activity to do when they finish their work early. We also discuss how to try to fill every ones buckets and not just their friends.<br />
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To make the buckets I got popcorn bags from Party City and stapled white pipe cleaner to the top for the handle. Then I labeled the buckets with my students names and hang them on the board with a push pin so they could take their bucket off and on to check it weekly.<br />
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To get bucket filler papers to print and cut for free, visit my TpT store: <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bucket-Fillers-3226562" target="_blank">Mrs Kearsley's Classroom</a>.<br />
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This is one of my students' favorite activities and helps create a positive classroom community throughout the year. You can even make yourself a bucket as well! Positivity is contagious and can make your year great!For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816537321884090245.post-85067322418188454872017-06-26T13:41:00.001-07:002019-07-26T15:29:15.680-07:00Classroom RevealI took last school year off to raise my baby boy, Landon. Now I want to make sure I don't forget anything while I stay at home with him so I decided to create a blog of my last year of teaching. It was my best year yet and I can't wait to share all that I did! I hope this blog will not only help myself remember all the great things in the classroom, but help other teachers get creative ideas to use in their own classrooms. I will be taking the summer to blog about the school year. While the post won't be what is currently happening in the school year, it will be more of a look back on the school year.<br />
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August 2014: New year, new classroom. Here is the big reveal. I decided to set up student desks in cooperative learning groups because I knew I wanted do more cooperative learning this year and teach them right from the get go how to have self control and not talk all the time just because they are close.<br />
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Then I spent a lot of time organizing and setting up our classroom library. I used book bins from the dollar tree and binder rings to attached labels onto the bins. Non-fiction books were labeled with green border and fiction books were labeled with a blue border. Labels were created based on different literary genres or book sets that I had in my collection, for example: Mystery, Humor, Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Boxcar Children, Fantasy, etc. <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Library-Labels-3222043"><b>Click here</b></a> to get my library labels from my TpT store...I have recently updated them and they are super cute! I found this cozy rug at Ross for $15 and bought a few comfy pillows to make the space feel comfortable and inviting. </div>
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For the Joy of Teachinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602949442756419229noreply@blogger.com0