Marathon for a good cause

I have so much to share about my first week back at school but I must share something else first. Tonight, I'll be performing in the Playground Improv Marathon. K-C Redheart, an improv team, hosts this marathon once a year to raise money for The Namaste Charter School. Proceeds will go to the school so I'd love to spread the word. I'll be performing at 9:00 with SCHNAUZER! It's going to be a blast so come and support The Namaste Charter School. Here is a link to the event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153380611407902

Dirty Secrets

We all have them. There are things we do that we're not proud of and whatever your dirty secret is, know that you're not the only one with a confession to make.
I'll go first...
Okay...I used to throw student work away.

Ahhh, that feels better.
Before you judge me, let me explain. Procrastination is my weakness and I used to allow student work to accumulate into a Mt. Vesuvius-like peak that ultimately became too daunting to tackle.
Test, quizzes and projects always made their way home but practice work and other miscellaneous assignments ended up in the trash.
Let me assure you, I felt terrible, but I didn't have a system to keep me on any sort of schedule. It was my first year and I was drowning. I knew I had to think of something to keep me on track.
I decided to dedicate a wall to student work. I bought clear folders that fastened horizontally with a string. I stapled the folders to a bulletin board and placed name tags on each of them.

Our work here is done! board.

Here is a picture:

I call them pockets. When students finish their work they put it in their pocket. I can easily see who still needs to finish or who finished really fast. At anytime during the day, I can grade the papers easily. The papers stick out on top and if there is only one page, I don't even have to pull it out to grade it. The clear folders let me see their work quickly and I only pull papers out to make a quick note. This has eliminated mountains of paper.

This photo is from last year because this year I'm going to try something new. This takes up so much prime bulletin board space so I'm going to try to hang the pockets somewhere else in order to make room for a more meaningful writing board. If you have extra wall space though, the pocket board works wonders!!!

Now, what is your dirty secret? I bet we could think of a way to reconcile it!

My writing reminder!

    "Think it, Say it, Write it, Read it."
      Last year I thought up this phrase to help my students power through independent writing. Before tackling any writing assignment, I have my students chant this mantra with me before they go off on their own. The idea is for them to be able to help themselves before frantically waving their hands or jumping out of their seats to ask me for help.
     I always had this phrase up on a chart, but this year I thought an official bulletin board dedicated to it might be a stronger resource. In the beginning of the year, this simple phrase is the writing process for first graders. They can use it for simple sentences or paragraphs later one. I want them to take the time to THINK about what they want to write, SAY it so they can hear if it sounds correct, WRITE it down to get going, and READ it to find room for improvement.
    This is the process I'm going to try to glue to their brains so when more challenging writing assignments come up, they're ready!
    Here are my posters, enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=16KZq9aIQA-hvR9WzX0I4JrbpOPzgB7UVqOn-oJ8wop73Hp1YXSKOthQfudO0&hl=en 

    *I hope you like my little sketch, she's my first scanned picture!

A New Year

       After spending the last two weeks salivating over fantastic first grade blogs and thieving their smart ideas, it occurred to me that I ought to contribute to this rich community of blogging educators.
I have been utterly glamoured by the creativity of others and, to be honest, left feeling a tad inadequate. However, as I began to unpack my room the other day and rehouse all my things, I was reminded of my own competency and inspired to share.


      First, I must learn how to design a blog...not as easy as I thought. Trying to navigate through unknown codes and terms has made me feel like a first grader picking up a new book. I know to look up new words, search for answers or ultimately, ask my husband. Those tools are so second nature to me and I want that for my first graders. This year, I'm going to model more and provide my students with more resources that make them confident independent readers.   


     Coming soon: My writing focus phrase!