Sunday Funday; Fabulous Weekend Adventure

Linking up with Molly at Lucky to be in First and Deirdre at A Burst of First for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!

My weekend began with attending a training on Friday!  It was inspiring and ended before it was over due to being called to pick up my baby girl (not so baby anymore) who had a fever!  Ugh.  So I left early, but not before getting credit and that all important certificate, Thank Goodness!  We had a really great presenter after our lunch break (which is always a tough spot to fill because attention has left the building) and she made me want to learn more about the program called Boys Town.  If you haven't heard of it, take some time to check it out.  It helps teach our kiddos of today the skills that we take for granted.  It explicitly teaches things like how to follow directions.  The example was so simple it instantly made me want to take the training.  It is especially great for working with those kiddos who LOVE to push the boundaries and make you want to pull all your hair out.

Example:  Today we are going to practice the skill of following directions.
Create a chart with cute pics/illustrations/ or photographs for each step.  
1.  Look the person in the eye
2.  Say OK
3.  And do it right away!

Let's Practice!  And she went through modeling each step with a helper and celebrating when someone followed the exact procedure.  Simple and brilliant all at the same time!  This woman was such a wealth of knowledge and had a beautiful heart for our students who are often overlooked and have the most difficulties not only in school but in life.  She is part of a beautiful program in our district called HOPE, that focuses on catching the kiddos young and giving them the social skills to survive not only in general education classes but out in the real world as well.  Enough school chat and onto more fun!

It was a beautiful day, despite the unexplained fever...and there were no other symptoms, so despite wishing I could spend the weekend caring for her, she had to be cared for on the road, because we had a trip to Houston scheduled that could not be rescheduled.  It's crazy what the third child has to live through compared to the first...but I promise I did everything I could to make sure she was well cared for...(I really think it's all allergy related because she felt fine as long as I control her temp).  

My eldest little lady was to be a surprise guest at her bestie's birthday bash!  They were heart broken when we moved, so us mamas worked it out so that they could be together for this special occassion!  The party was a "glam"ping party and it was a blast!  They by no means roughed it even a little bit.  The princesses set up a tent inside and had a ball doing make-overs, having over-the-top treats and dancing like crazy.  I'm not sure they slept much...but who needs sleep when you haven't seen your bestie in 6 mos!  So precious are friends...It really warms my heart to see my girls truly forming real and deep friendships with others that stand the test of time and distance!

Anywho, on to other adventures.  Speaking of friends that stand the test of time, while my daughter was living it up with her "bestie", I got to spend some long overdue time with dear friends of my own!  I put my other 2 tagalongs to bed and we had a slumber party of our own, talking, laughing, and just catching up on all that has happened since we last visited.  It is so good to share in the seasons of your friends lives.  I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

I also got to catch up with our family back home and attend my niece's track meet!  It was great to see them and sneak into their busy weekend schedules for some hugs and love before they were off to their next event.

Then after a relaxing afternoon of lunch with family and friend we packed it all up and headed back home. It was a fast and furious trip (our stay was not even 24 hours).  On our trek back we finally did something we have said we were going to do since we moved to Texas!  We finally stopped and visited the Sam Houston statue!

 And that was my fun! (in case you were worried, my gut was right and my little one's fever was nothing to worry about...love that mother's intuition!)  Hoping you had a terrific weekend as well!  Link up with Molly at Lucky to be in First and Deirdre at A Burst of First for Sunday Funday and share your adventures to brighten our day!!

                                                       

Whew! First year back in Second....

I should begin by saying, I survived!  But it was definitely not a walk in the park!  I hadn't felt the way I felt this school year since my first year of teaching.  However my "newbie" team and I made it through and we learned a lot along the way.

Lesson #1:  Too much change is NOT fun!  Change can be good when done in moderation...too much leads to mass amounts of stress.  Like all professionals in the field of education, we understand that change is just a part of the job.  Nothing is ever the same, something is always different.  But, as teachers we are planners and when you take our plans and throw them out the window, well you have just created a very ineffective teacher.  This year changing grades, administration, new crop of kids, I expected a certain amount of readjustment.  Then you throw in a few new computer programs, AND a relocation of your family into the mix, what you have is a perfect storm.  As a result of that storm, I managed to work extremely hard to give my kiddos a terrific year and come out the other side looking forward to a change of pace in a new place to call home.

Back to my lesson...too much change is bad...but just enough can be great!  I changed my behavior management system this year to a technology based program known as DoJo.  This added an additional element of communication between home and school with weekly emails going to parents on student's classroom performance.  Parents are also able to access their students account 24/7 using a parent code and the internet.

In the classroom, DoJo points were exchanged for all sorts of rewards.  The list for rewards is exhaustive, but my favorite this year was "beach bum".  I decided to bring in my beach umbrella to really play it up.  Students would pay 30 points for the chance to do their daily activities under the shade of the colorful beach umbrella!  I allowed only one student per day.  Not only did I have a hard working "beach bum" in the room, but I also added color and fun to my entire classroom environment!  Definitely a GOOD change!

Is Talking ticking away your time?

Looking for a solution to behavior management and communication I stumbled upon ClassDoJo.com.  I am excited to see what this will do in my classroom.  I have been struggling with this extremely chatty class and transitioning.  It is taking us at least 5 minutes to be fully engaged from one activity to the next!  Any teacher in today's fast paced classroom, knows that we don't have that kind of time to waste.  Day after day I am having to rework my plans because we are not getting to everything.  So, then it comes down to....well, crack down!  Time to put a stop to certain behaviors.  Filling out note after note, and mark after mark....my mind is weary of time spent on things that are not what is on my lesson plans!  However, my need for consistency keeps me going, only to find out that notes are not being brought home or are somehow "lost" in transport.  Behavior charts are being "misplaced" or even adjusted to reflect a much better day than was earned!  It's way too early in the year for my hair to turn gray...it usually doesn't do that until the 100th day of school!  And so, comes my hopes for Classroom DoJo.  It is an online resource that allows you to digitally track and bank positive deposits and negative withdrawals by student.  It creates an auditory sound to allow students to hear the +/- behaviors being tracked as well.  As the teacher, I can set up a rewards system by point level.  Students may choose to cash in or continue saving.  Teachers can also email reports to parents, both daily and/or weekly!  An answer to prayer if you ask me!  Bye-bye clip charts, behavior binders, and endless record keeping that is difficult to stay on top of.  With Classroom DoJo, I can even use my smart phone as a remote to bank student points!  Did I mention that it's 100% FREE!

We Are a "Bucket Filling" Family!

I always like to start the year off with the typical "get to know you" activities.  I also begin to set the firm precedence that if you don't have something nice to say....then you don't say it at all because WE are a bucket filling family.  We of course read, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  Love this book!  We  

What's the opposite of "biggering"?

Running out of space in my classroom to put up ever important anchor charts, posters, words, words, and more words, I have begun the process of shrinking my posters!  Here is my new birthday chart!

Cute, easy to update and best of all small!  This year I have gone with a Dr. Seuss theme and I'm loving it.  I am tying all of my character education lessons to Dr. Seuss books as well!  I can't wait to share when done!  Check out my behavior chart below!

Yet another space saving change!  I put each stage along the bottom of a white board.  The white block is your standard good day with no level changes.  I then glued magnets to bottle caps and put numbers on each bottle cap with standard dot stickers.  These are both small, colorful, and easily manipulated.  

Hoping your back to school week is going smoothly!