Positive Pinterest

My classroom dynamics this year is not a good one.  We have been having a lot of bullying, selective friendships, and just peers being really mean to each other and misbehaving.  So I did something I haven't done in awhile and I took down my writing wall.  We don't have a lot of a space in my classroom and that was the largest most visible bulletin board we had.  I am going to dedicate this new board into creating a more positive peer climate in my classroom.  All weekend long I have been searching for "good ideas" to help me with this.  Here's are some pins I've really liked...

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I really like the message behind the classroom promise.  I am going to type it up like a constitution and make all of them sign it.

Source: keepcalmandteachon.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: tupelohoneycaro.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I think it's also important that I will make a promise to the class as well.  This will be my promise to them to create an all around good climate.

Source: simply2ndresources.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Really like the idea of this one, but it may be too much to implant right now.  We are going to be earning positive peer points (I'll explain more about that one), our school is earning PRIDE awards, they are still collecting Hoorays for good behavior and we are tracking those to earn a party.  I think this one might be an over kill if I add it.  I would like to keep it in the back burner though and maybe start with it at the beginning of the year.

Source: thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Love this one, but I may change the wording so it goes with our positive peer theme.

 

Source: allthingskatiemarie.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

This is the one poster I really need.  My group has a TON of tattlers, the worst part is that the tattlers are the ones who are also misbehaving.  It's so silly and it takes up too much of my time.  I am also going to have a tattle box so I won't have to hear it throughout the day.

I don't want the board to be too "cluttery" but I love all of these ideas.  I will post the final product tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes. 

A Perfect World

For MLK Jr's birthday we had a little talk about how Dr. Martin Luther King had envisioned a world where everyone was treated equally.  Then I asked them to think about what kind of perfect world they see.  Yes, this was kind of a thrown together project created in my morning shower, that's where I get my best ideas, but I really liked the outcome. 

I sketched out the eye in the morning and they just had to color it in with the world that they see.

Here's the template they started off with

I see a world where people do not smoke.

I see a world without bullying (yes, this is a 4th graders art)

I see a world where every animal has a home.

I see a world where there is no world hunger.

This one couldn't decide her stance and she sees a world where people recycle and there are no stray animals.

Project Koi Fish

For Chinese New Year I really wanted to do a new project.  I found this Koi Fish art project from Blue Moon Palette.  I loved the idea of it and I wanted to also take it up a level.  We started with the basic sketch after watching a you tube video on how to draw the basic shape of the fish.  Then they added the seaweed and lily pads. Some of them also added waterlilies to their painting.

The next day we used liquid watercolor for the water and added salt to add that water effect and texture.  The only colors we used were blue, turquoise, and purple.  Students really had a hard time with the liquid watercolors.  Combining the water and the paint was hard for them.  Some of them also don't make wise decisions on what size brush tips they need.

We let the water dry and then students filled in the rest of the painting with watercolor using just palette paints.

Since students are not allowed to use Sharpies, I did the final outlining for their projects.  Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the final project and the bulletin board display.  That will have to be on a different post, probably a month later knowing me.

Catching Up

Ok, this blogging thing is a lot harder then I thought it would be.  Here's why:

1) Taking photos without kids in it when there's always kids around.
2) There just isn't enough time in the day.
3) I have been living on my iPhone and not on my laptop, which makes blogging way more difficult.

Enough with the excuses.  Here's what we are up to in the classroom...

Blues in the School

This is the second year in a row we've had this group come into our school.  They have several Blues musicians come into the grades 2-5 classrooms and they have mini lessons for each group.  I have to say that this year I was a little disappointed with lessons.  Almost all the lessons were exactly the same as last year's lessons.  For our older kids, this was way too repetitious.  It was also less interactive compared to last year, most of the time the kids spent sitting and listening to someone talk.  It would have been nice to have them move around, listen to the music, and play instruments if possible.  Even with those complaints I have to say I do appreciate what this group does.

Chinese New Year

Being Chinese American I always love to celebrate Chinese New Year in my classroom. It's a chance for students to understand the cultural differences and to respect those differences.  It always pains me to hear a student say something like, "that's a Chinese cut".  I'm always like, "Really, did the Chinese invent that cut?  Why would you say that?".  Of course they never have an answer.  During this time of the year, I get to show them what it really means to be Chinese.  They always enjoy this time of year.

The Friday before Chinese New Year we did our craft stations.  Students rotated to 5 different stations.  At one station they made a bamboo watercolor painting with me, at another station they tried to solve a variety of tangrams, at another station they made panda masks out of paper plates, at another station they learned Chinese phrases from a CD while coloring in picture, and the final station was coloring a sheet that would later be turned into a three dimensional lantern.  Of course I couldn't do this without an army of volunteers.  I had 6 of them so they could help man the stations.  This year the stations felt very crowded and it also felt like we were climbing over each other.  Not as smooth as I would have liked.

On Monday, Chinese New Year, we had a special guest speaker talk to us about her travels to China.  Our special guest was a great grandmother of one of my students.  She did a fabulous job.  We also made won tons in class.  I had a small group help me cook the filling, which was made possible because my principal watched my math class for me.  Then we had the whole class learn how to fold won tons.  Then we cooked it up and I had also purchased Chow mein and potstickers, which a parent dropped off.  To add to our meal we had made rice and torn up some oranges.  Of course, a Chinese meal isn't complete without a fortune cookie and some lucky candy. Overall it's a spendy meal, but it's so worth it.  I added up the cost of the meal and it came out to only around $2.50 per child, which doesn't sound bad but times that by 28 students and it wipes out my non-existent classroom budget.

They also had to learn how to use chopsticks.

 Valentine's Day at Skateworld

Yes, that's how I feel about Valentine's Day!  Just kidding.  It actually was a smooth day for us.  We went to SkateWorld from 9-11:30, ate lunch in the classroom, recess, 30 min. of reading groups (the only academic thing most of us did that day), then it was the Valentine's exchange with pancakes (I know it's an odd combination but it works), and then we did a Valentine's Bingo.

It's funny how students will not remember to get you something for Teacher's Appreciation Day or the last day of school, but I always get showered with gifts for Valentine's Day.  My husband also did good showering me with gifts that day :). 

Now you are all caught up!
 
 

Tuck This Away

If your classroom is anything like mine, then your kiddos are usually VERY hyper before winter break.  I also work at a school where you are NOT allowed to celebrate Christmas.  Back in the day, I remember having a tree in my classroom and we got to decorate our classroom door.  Gone are those days. 

I got this GRAND idea last year, when I searching on-line fun winter activities in the classroom.  It didn't take a lot of materials, time, and it seemed like fun so I thought I would give it a shot.  The kids, and I, LOVED it!!!

Snowman Creations

Split the class up into 5 or 6 groups (there should only be around 5-5 kids within each group). 

Supplies for each group:
- A large piece of construction paper in black, orange, red, and green.
- Scissors
- Roll of masking tape
- 2 rolls of toilet paper (doesn't have to be an expensive brand, but you don't want it too cheap that it breaks when the kids are using it).

Give groups 2 minutes of planning time when they don't have the materials.  They will need to decide who is the person who will be wrapped up as the snowman, who will be cutting out materials, who will be taping, and who will be wrapping. 

Then they will get 15 minutes to go at it.  You can probably stretch it out to 20 minutes but you don't want to give it too much time because they will lose focus.  You will also want to have enough space in your classroom so groups can spread out.  We used an empty classroom this year, but last year we just pushed our desks to the side. 

Our guest judge is always the principal.  She always does a good job walking around and complimenting each group's snowman and then she announces the winner.

It's a ton of fun and it's neat to see their creation.  This year we had a group create a snowman with "bling" on it.  I would have to say this is an upper grade activity for sure!

Welcome to Room 20

Helllllooooo there!  Glad you could make it.  I'm going to take you on a tour.  First, we are going to star with my school.  This is what I am talking about when I said that our school is a California Pod style school.  We are separated into 4 different pods and there are around 4 classrooms within each pod, not including the office/library and the gym/cafeteria/computer lab which are 2 different pods.  

This is the view from the drive in.

This is my specific pod.  It is closest to the back parking lot (very handy!).  That's my back door.

Note- this is the sign attached to my pod.  This is also the place where the skateboarders like to hang out.  Another side note- Skateboards scare me.  I don't know why, but I always think they are going to attack me.

We have to walk in breezeways to get from place to place.  If you've ever been to Oregon, you know it's not the warmest place year round.

Finally, here we have my actual classroom.  I have only been in this class for 2 year, but I spent one of my summers painting all the walls, cabinets, and bookcases.  So my blood, sweat, and tears have literally been spilled into this classroom.

View when you walk into the classroom.

I don't actually assign my students hook numbers.  As long as they don't fight I don't really care. 

The shelf in my closet is used for seasonal decorations. The snowflakes were an art project we did before break.

A sign so my students know exactly where I want the lunch boxes, mirror to check themselves out it, and hallway passes (a must have in the classroom).

This is the divider wall from the coat closet to the classroom.  I'm very proud of this display, it's all of my photographs!

My math bookcase (thanks IKEA) but I did sew the additional curtain for it.

This bookcase houses ALL of our math materials, workbooks, book, and manipulatives.  Best thing ever!

Front of the classroom

Actual classroom.  I like students to sit in groups.  Yes, it's noisier but it helps with managing materials. and collaboration.

My reading nook.  Another "shout out" to IKEA for the sofa.  I love this area and the kids like it too. 

Their mailboxes/cubbies to put their take home papers.  We did not do a good job cleaning these out before break.  Usually, I will have one student shout out names of those who haven't cleaned out their cubbies.

This is a chart that monitors their "at home" reading, the program is called Tons of Reading.  The picture frames houses classroom photos of each class I have taught.

Classroom Hoorays are given by staff members who spots the entire classroom doing something well.  We typically get a lot of these for breezeway walking.

Classroom library.  I will do a whole post on this one day soon.

This is my reading/homeroom area.  The bookcases houses all my reading stuff, but the bulletin board is for my homeroom.

 What's behind the curtain???

Why, more books.  These go with our Open Court units.

This is our COW (Computers On Wheels).  It houses the 20 MacBooks we use in class. 

Each student has their own thumbdrive to save their projects on.  They can either bring in one or borrow one.  If you've ever had your classroom save to a server, then you know why thumbdrives are necessary.

Small group workstation and art display board.  The green drawers behind the table is where our "shared" materials are: rulers, glue sticks, scissors, etc.  This isn't the most convenient work table because it doesn't fit a lot of students and I will get trapped back there which is never a good thing.

This table houses my "Still Working" and "Finished" basket.  You won't believe how cluttered this table becomes.

Back sink.  The stool is because I have a student with dwarfism, but all the other kids like to use it as well.

See... it's a triangle!  Here is the tip.  Very hard to move around back here.  This is considered a teacher zone and kids aren't allowed here.

The glass shelves are my favorite part of the window.  If you hadn't noticed we really only have 2 window and an opening in the door to supply light into our classroom.  That's probably why you didn't notice any plants in my class. Plus, I don't have a green thumb and plants would die in my class no matter what.

I have sewed curtains to go with each season in our classroom.  Our seasons change every 2 months.

Must have- drying rack mounted to the wall.  Also cardboard pieces just in case the projects need a sturdy backing.

This side of the classroom is our writing area.

They share "lockers" with a friend to keep their extra supplies.

Writer's notebooks are kept under the writing wall.  I will have a whole post on this as well.

Each student has a book box.  It hold their writing, DEAR log, DEAR book(s), penmanship, and composition book so their desks aren't cluttered.

Labels are a teachers best friend.  Sometimes the students will bring their boxes to their desks.  This label lets them know where to bring it back.

Writing wall and my 6 traits posters. 

Each student has a display board that has their photo, name (which I had to omit), and an "About The Author" paragraph which the students wrote themselves at the beginning of the year.  The concept came from those "About The Author" paragraphs we read after each of our Open Court stories and in books.

One of the only perks to moving into this classroom was this cabinet.  This houses almost all (minus my art books) my teaching books!

Ahhhh... storage.  Love storage. Love.

Cheat sheet to my cute DJ inker fonts.

Each section is labeled by subject.

I use to have a wooden desk here, but it took up too much room and all I did was pile things on it. 

I replaced it with a bookcase and it's been great.

Yes, I made that but figuring the costs for the supplies.  I think it would have been cheaper to buy one pre-made.  

Finally back to the front of the classroom.  We are fortunate enough to have a SMARTboard and I actually use mine.

Great visual to see who is and isn't done with specific assignments. 

My teacher desk- 2 double desks side by side.  It works wonderfully!  Having a doc camera, projector, laptop, and speakers doesn't leave you much room to work with students.  This is why you need 2 desks. 

More math stuff, some reading, and the wooden drawers has the days of the week on each drawer so I can put the papers for that day in that specific drawer.

Whew!  You made it through my classroom.  It's probably looks "bigger" in pictures, but you've got to imagine that space with 28 4/5 th grade sized bodies and 2 adult bodies within it.  It is very tight most of the time, but we make it work.

If you follow my blog you will find that I am 1) slightly OCD, 2) obsessed with labels- this could be related to the OCD factor, and 3) I strive to make my classroom clean, organized, and smelling good (in that order) at all times.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.