The Everything Book

This year, I decided to streamline all of the papers I need from day to day.  Thus, I created this "everything book".

It always stays on my desk.

Although I need to tweak it a bit more, it really helps me keep things together.

The left pocket holds our school schedule and things I need to keep track of until they're due. For example, the Warm Body Count papers are clipped and stuck in the pocket.

The first papers I see are my lesson plans.  Our department shares in lesson plan creation.  Because they aren't always my own, it's great to have them at the ready for clarification.

The next section is seating arrangements.  I have them in sheet covers.

When it's time for me to make my lesson plans, I have a section with the DOK chart, state standards, and goals we want to accomplish for the nine weeks.

 

In order to keep track of students who "regularly" ask me to go to the nurse (and just sick students in general), I decided to have a section for them in this binder. The yellow sheet you see is where I document the date, student name, and ailment.  You can see part of the nurse's pass behind this yellow sheet.  She has a detailed form that we follow. I keep the ones she has sent back with students to verify that they actually go to her.  Sad that I have to do this but it's an ever present reminder that my lil' darlings can be sneaky.  It does take an extra minute or two from my schedule, but it's a great reference I use for habitual requests. I simply go back and show them the documentation if the students ask me.  Generally, when they see me logging their requests, they tend to not ask as much.  Epic Win!

Binders, Binders Everywhere...

Binders, Binders Everywhere and all the stacks did shrink
Binders, Binders Everywhere and not a worry to think
(Thanks Samuel T. Coleridge for your inspiration... so to speak...)

How do I get organized?  Binders, Binders, Binders. Well, binders, folders, and pockets OH MY!

It may not look all flowery and pretty but it is quite effective.

If you can tell, I've stuck with the school colors: purple, white, and black.

This is one of the most important areas of my room. I have the following binders:

• Faculty Handbook
• Classroom Observation process (this is a new item this year and had a lot of information which necessitated a binder)
• Common Core
• Textbook/Novel inventory
• Discovery (testing)
• Student Directory, and I kept the
• To Kill A Mockingbird binder nearby throughout the reading of the novel. 
• The red according is on top and labeled by periods. It's red because it's the organizer that keeps scantrons, written tests, and completed tests all organized.
• Substitute Binder
• The BLACK BINDER that has no label just hasn't gotten one because I haven't had time.  It is the binder that holds copies of PO's and receipts I keep track of for our team.

Character Clouds

In order to help my students extend their understanding of characters and characterization, I developed an activity I call "Character Clouds". 

I put each main character's name on a paper and cut the paper into a cloud-type shape.  As we read through the novel, I often made references to characters and touched the cloud or pointed to it so that my students would not only hear my reference but see the name of the character (hopefully connecting the information to my auditory and visual learners at the same time). 

As the story progressed as did the character profiles, I passed out one sticky note to each student (this working on my tactile learners).  I had them put their names on the adhesive side. Next, they needed to pick their favorite character.  Third, they had to write three descriptive words and/or phrases for that character.  Finally, they went and posted their notes on the proper poster.

In order to build on this skill, I had students find characterization in the book.  They had to write down the characterization, put quotes on it, and then needed to cite the page number where they found the quote.

It truly helped them realize how invaluable characterization is in a story.  It also helped me see which characters my students favor and why.  If you look at the below picture, you will see that the purple cloud is filled with sticky notes. That is Atticus's poster.  The next character, Scout, had half this amount. 

I was able to incorporate some logic and math into this lesson as well.  Aside from estimating the percentages of sticky notes in relation to characters, I had them look at the data and make reasonable assumptions based on my prompts. 

The day after the sticky note activity was completed, I asked each class to observe the posters.  I asked: 1) Which poster has an overwhelming amount of sticky notes?  2) Why?  3) Why is Atticus a favorite character?  4.) Could this be a reason why this novel is adored by millions and has won a Pulitzer?  5.) What cultural aspiration is reflected in the abundance of sticky notes on Atticus's poster?

They thought it was just an exercise in adjectives when it became so much more.

Facebook in the Classroom

I recently finished teaching To Kill A Mockingbird and loved every minute of it. During the course of the novel, I had students complete several activities to check on comprehension and the standards we must ensure they absorb. 

During the tail end of the novel, our department chair came up with an idea she found online to use the Facebook format in a characterization technique.  Beforehand, I wanted my students to work with the format, especially my 25% of students who do not have Facebook accounts. 

I failed to take pictures of it, so I apologize, but I'll do my best to describe the bulletin board.  I stapled five long strips of white butcher paper on one wall of my room.  Every strip of paper belonged to one class. I labeled them 1st, 2nd, 4th, and so on. My wonderful husband found pictures of the main characters and printed them for me.  Each picture went on a different colored paper.  For example, Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck) was put on purple paper.  Bob Ewell was put on gray paper.  I also had Scout Finch, Jem Finch, and Mayella Ewell.  If we had time, I would've had more characters. 

I then cut out strips of paper using the same colors so that every character (class) had five strips of paper to start.  I put all the materials they needed in a tub I labeled Facebook Kit.  It had markers, the different colored papers, and tape. 

It was slow going and took the students nearly two days to make posts but when it took off, it took off!  The most posts were made during and after the trial scene.  Granted, I had to monitor posts and even had to throw some of them away, but all in all, the students enjoyed it and I was able to see how much they knew about the characters.  They also got rather silly and started hacking the Facebook walls of other characters. 

It was quite interactive and showed me how well they understood the characters and were able to "get into their skin and walk around in it" as Atticus would say.

Substitute Binder

I have been gradually working on a Substitute Binder since the day after our first inservice day of this year. 

My subs have always told me that I'm very organized, but I just knew I could do better. I've always left detailed lesson plans, but once, I forgot an updated roster.  Since then, I knew I would never make that same mistake.

As I planned the binder, I thought about the days when I was a substitute and how I was often left with little to no plans.  Sometimes the teachers didn't even leave me absentee slips. I wanted to be thorough with this binder and this is how I did it.

The binder is labeled as: Substitute Binder.

When you open it, to the left is an updated roster and the pocket is labeled: roster.  In that pouch the sub will also find a small stack of attendance slips. I also added something we have to do right now called a Warm Body Count.  The sub will have those slips there as well with a note explaining the purpose.

The next thing the sub will see are clear dividers in the center of the binder. The first paper is a schedule with details on my prep and teaming times.  The next divided section is labeled lesson plans.  I don't give my sub the lesson plans we have as a department. I rewrite them for her/him. 

I have a section with seating charts. 

Another section is instructions for Emergency procedures with the red, yellow, and green cards that we use during these procedures. I have also included a diagram of the school and which way the class is supposed to exit the building during a fire drill.

The last section is a pocket divider with Emergency Lesson plans and at the very back is a stack of outdated referrals but will be useful for a substitute.

I want to buy a decorative binder and will then take pictures. Right now, it's in an old black binder. 

Items in Use

Generally, you always see an organization tool's components right before its use so that you see a polished, ready-to-be used item.  You don't often see a tool while it's being used because by that time, life is busy and "who has time to take pictures of stuff"?  LOL  Grading, calling parents, meetings... you name it. Teachers are busy and stay busy no matter what the world thinks.

After school on Friday, as I was preparing for a substitute and getting my calendar ready for this month, I had my cell phone in my pocket.  I had a few seconds, so I went to my No Name sign and then my calendar and took pictures that I hope will show you what I mean.

Sorry about the glare on the calendar picture. As you can see, I have footballs up there for game days as well as volleyballs... but from this shot they just look like white balls.  ha ha  The brightly colored cards (neon pink, green, orange...) are birthday cards where the students put their names and then the months and dates of their birthdays.  On the 10th and 24th of this month, we have library days, so I cut half a sheet of **throw-away paper and wrote library. That will remind my students that checked-out books must be returned that day. 

I will also put up papers with homework due dates, assemblies, and test dates.

 

**Throw-away papers are those EXTRA papers teachers tend to accumulate based on extra worksheets (only one side copied). If I just have a couple or a few, I hate to put them back in a folder, so I cut them in half and use them to write notes and post my weekly agenda. 

 

Oh, and the bottom got busier than I thought it would this year.  I have the district's yearly calendar to the far bottom left. One of our teams has composed a creative calendar of events that's right next to it.  My bathroom pass hangs there as well as well as the library pass paper.  Underneath the NEWS letters is a weekly calendar of events created by our principal.  The monthly calendar from the cafeteria is that blue paper.  All of the other white papers to the right are football and volleyball schedules. I STILL need a soccer calendar. 

 

 

I used the NO NAME sign after the third day of school.  It has been quite effective.  As you can see, it's right above the light switch which means it's by my door.  The board is also on this wall.  As I go through our daily routine, I often walk and point to the papers and mention it to students. When no one responds, I go to my grade book and inform students with missing assignments that theirs may be up there.   You can't see in this picture, but I have written the period in which these assignments were completed, or at least that's the paper tray in which they were placed.

New Student Crate

When all my students start the school year on the same day or at least within that first week, getting them everything they need is easy.  Syllabus, information sheets, birthday index cards, and the like are at my disposal and when I see a new face, I simply give them the necessary sheets.

Getting information to new students beyond this time period is difficult for me. Granted, they will get their purple folders (I buy purple pronged folders for my students every year), but at times, I might miss giving them other forms they need. I've also made the mistake of not giving them their birthday index cards and I then miss their birthdays which defeats the purpose of the epic calendar.

This year, I decided to reserve a half-crate to organize myself through this shortcoming.

This is an old literacy crate.  I cleaned it up and labeled it New Student to help me remember where I've put their necessary forms.  If I'm busy, I can easily send the new student to the crate and have him/her remove a folder for him/herself.  

The folder contains a syllabus for the school year. I will have them fill out their index cards with their names and birthdays.  I will pick up the card and stick it in my filing system.  As the year progresses, I will have a few more forms to add to this folder: Writing Tips, Citation Rules...  Although a folder is not suggested to be used as an Interactive Notebook, I will try and use it that way this year.

I bought 160 purple folders at Wal-Mart at .15 each.  Buying spirals would've been impossible and we have limited funds at our school.  I will go against the rule and do the best I can to make this folder as interactive as possible.  We'll see how it goes.

Objective Board

I've always written my objectives at the far right of my white board.  This year, a filing cabinet and shelf unit are in the way.  In order to utilize as much space as possible, I laminated a poster board, punched two sets of holes on the top and then I ran ribbon through the holes and made decorative bows. 
If this works like I want it to work, I'll be able to pull the board to the left and get it from behind the shelf, write the objective(s), and put it back. As with anything, I have to put it in practice before I know if it will be effective.

I couldn't get away from the glare. I apologize for that.

Information Corner

As you walk into my classroom, you will see my corner of information.  As most school districts, we are required to post emergency procedures.  I was planning on buying frames for the procedures but time got away from me.  I ended up laminating the fire drill evacuation diagram that's at the far right.  Our other emergency procedures is to the left of that and we are required to show our status with a green, yellow, or red card. I made a convenient pocket and put them in place.

The schedule is to the left. A Daily To-Do's poster will help me have a checklist to go over with my students after the first of the year.

Finally, I laminated a purple pocket folder, hot glued it together to make a pocket for my lesson plans. 

Assignment and Missing Work Bulletin Board

This is the main bulletin board in my room.  Since it is regularly modified, it is a very important board for not only me but especially my students. (My phone camera does not always work well so I apologize for the picture being fuzzy.)

Our district requires us to have a weekly agenda posted.  This year, I decided to add a folder system for missing work.  I decided to put them all together.

I wrote out each day and then put the white paper on purple tag board.  I then laminated them. When my lesson plans are ready, I will use recycled half sheets of paper and write down the daily assignments.

This paper is a procedure paper for the missing assignments area.  Studies show that have procedure papers posted around the room will reduce the number of situations where students claim they don't know how to do something.  I introduce each section/center to my students at the beginning of the year and regularly mention them for the first month.  After that, only new students will be informed of each section/center.  (I will add the number of days once I find out if district has changed over the summer.)

I laminated the sign as well as the folders. 

When we get an assignment done, I will put the worksheets in the folders of the day we did the work.  However, this won't help for days when we had tests/quizzes or assignments that are not on paper.  For those days, I'm planning on putting a calendar on the left side of this bulletin board and write in the assignments for those days. This way, the students can see what they missed even if they weren't given a paper for those days.


 

Cover Up with Curtains

I do not have a closet in my classroom. Thus, I have to get creative in how I hide clutter, supplies, workbooks, and teacher's manuals from view.  I first made the curtains two years ago when I was in another room.  The shelves in this new room are not the same distance as the shelves of the other room.  Sadly, my curtains have to overlap one another and there is a gap just underneath the counter. However, the curtains do the job of covering everything. 

 

 

As you can see, although everything is organized, it takes away from the uniformity I'm trying to project.  I also want students to know that they just can't get my supplies when they want them.  I always provide supplies for my students but only do so during activities where they are required. I've sadly had many supplies stolen because they are in clear view.  This also prevents a lot of theft.

Where each set of shelves meet, you can see a vertical brace.  I put the new adhesive hooks at the top of each vertical brace.

This particular hook was being stubborn, so I ended up putting on some hot glue and it worked well.

When I first made the curtains, I used dowel rods to support the curtains.  I painted the ends white so that they would go with my purple/white theme. Go Wildcats!  There was no point in painting the entire rod since the curtain would be covering most of it.

Once I had all the hooks in place, I carefully worked on setting the rods and curtains on them.  As I said, they overlap in this room, so I will have to go back and tape some of them together so that they don't fall every time someone is at the counter. 

This gives my room a uniform, cleaner look.  The books that are exposed to the right of the picture are a part of my student library.  I also have the grammar, literature, and reference books exposed so that access is easy. 

Word Wall

Today, I put together a word wall I'll be using in my freshman English classes.  Word Walls are invaluable for any grade level, not just elementary. One of the biggest problems students face as they test are weaknesses in vocabulary.  Actually, weak vocabularies are the BIGGEST problems students face throughout their school careers (even well into graduate school).

The above is the west wall of my classroom. I like the white brick look but making things stick to it is quite difficult. Thus, I used hot glue and it worked well. I only needed to dab on a little glue. 

I cut out 26 stars from yellow laminate construction paper.  I also cut out all the letters in CAPS.  A friend of mine helped and put one letter on each star.  I then cut out the letters for the title of my Word Wall.  I also cut out a HEART and then a KEY.

This is a picture of the completed Word Wall.

The wall is titled :Words are the (Heart)s of our lives and the (KEY)s to unlock any (door)!

Far Left

Middle

Far Right

I will introduce at least 1 word a week. I will have them keep a word wall log in their Interactive Folders. I will require them to use a certain amount of words during assignments.  The words will mainly be "testing" terms, but I will use any opportunity to introduce new words from wherever they originate.

Epic Calendar

8 Days to Go for a new school year.  I HAVE TO GET ORGANIZED!!!

I put up my Big Calendar for the year.  It's a great calendar to use all year, and I got the idea from a fellow teacher, Nikki Hahn.  I saw a huge calendar on her wall a few years ago and have used her idea ever since.

I bought eight yards of purple fabric (Go Wildcats) and cut it in four-yard pieces.  When I put up my first calendar, I used ribbon.  After thirty-minutes of HIGH FRUSTRATION, I went and bought white electrical tape that I staple at every foot.

I wanted to create a line for the month titles, so I ran the tape across the width of the calendar and then stapled it in place.  (I once tried JUST TAPING IT... Let's say when I came back the next day most of it had nearly fallen off the wall.)

I measured across the width and then divided by seven for the seven days.  Today's columns needed to be 12 inches in width, more or so.  Sunday's column was shorter than the others in order to make Monday-Saturday equal. 

I then measured the length of the calendar and divided it by five for the five rows.  I ran the tape from left to right.  This is a pic of it halfway done.

When I was done with the five rows, I had enough room for a thin row at the bottom which I will use as a NEWS section that will have breakfast and lunch menus, passes, school newspapers, and sports schedules. 

This is a picture with the grid done.

Saturday is a bit wider than M-F, so I will use it to add some reminders for the following week. 

I have die-cuts for the months and days.

This calendar helps me get organized in A BIG WAY!

At the beginning of the year, I have students fill in their birthday announcements with colored index cards.  I then split them into twelve months, put them in numerical order, paper clip each month, and then I put them in an index card holder. I have two, one for each six month period.  I label the outside of them August-January and February-July. 

When it comes to May, I hate that my summer kiddos won't have their birthdays acknowledged so I make a large display on the right of this and put the summer months: June--- July--- August.  I put all those birthday cards underneath so they will be recognized as well.

This calendar helps me and my students with:

1.  BIRTHDAYS (They acknowledge each other's birthdays and I use the calendar to write them all birthday notes.  Each student, even the summer ones, get birthday notes from me.)
2. IMPORTANT EVENTS:  I either write important events on WHITE index cards or I write them on repurposed paper (Sometimes it's half a sheet of lined paper, where I wrote a note and cut out the part I never used.  Sometimes it may be that I copied too many worksheets and will use the back for the note).  Important events at our school are test days, library days, pep rallies, homecoming parade, picture days, when certain forms are due in the office, field trips...  Like that.  (Sometimes I like even putting an extra copy of required forms or worksheets on the calendar so they'll have visual reminders of them.)
3. SPORTING EVENTS:  I have die cuts of footballs, basketballs, golf balls and bags, volleyballs... You name it.  When I get the game schedules, I staple them at the bottom of the calendar, but I also like to put a die cut on the day of the game.  For example, let's say there will be a football and volleyball games on September 21st.  I will staple both of them on that day so students see it.  If they want to know location and time, they can look at the actual schedule.
4. BAND, CHOIR, ART, THEATER...: I have die cuts of instruments as well.  We only have 1 to 2 plays a year, but I'm thinking of printing out a comedy-tragedy image for the calendar.  

This calendar has helped all of us keep track of what's going on in and out of school.  It solved the problem of CONSTANTLY being asked... "Hey, Miss, when are we taking picture re-takes?" or "Hey, Mrs. Anthony, what days are we having our Algebra and Science 9 Weeks' tests?"  I point to the calendar. That ends that!

It's my INSURANCE POLICY at times.  When I put due dates on the calendar and I mention it to my students and point to the calendar, I have less situations where... "I thought it was due the next week" or "I don't remember." 

The most important element of this calendar is that it helps me keep track of birthdays and events.  Sometimes, sadly, the only birthday wishes my students get are from me and other students.
Sometimes, I am the only one who actually gives them a card. 

When I go to their games or school events, they light up and beam with pride because I'm there to watch them even when their parents aren't.  The calendar helps me remember the events and helps me be there for them.

That is why I truly choose to do this.  It's easier not to do it. I have to change it out every month and keep track of events.  It takes work but it eventually gets easier.  In the end, it's worth the effort just to see their smiling faces as I give them their birthday notes OR watch them score a touchdown OR watch them march OR even see them perform in a variety show. 

Every form of organization is just another way to be more efficient and effective in the kind of teacher I strive to be.
 


       

Point A

I haven't blogged in years.  I am attempting this so please, bear with me.

This blog will illustrate how I go from Point A to Point B in the organization of my classroom and all things therein. 

The CATEGORIES where I need organization are as follows (not in any particular order):

Paper Work:
     meetings (teaming and PLCs), curriculum (Common Core),  Assessment Data, IEPs
Housekeeping
Calendar: for teachers and students
Substitute Binder
Emergency Situation Instructions and Diagrams
Grading Procedures
Classroom and School Procedures
Student Work: artifacts, assessments, notes, and projects
Student Organization:
     Interactive Notebooks/Folders, note taking, syllabus
Filing Cabinets
Lesson Planning
Artifact Creation
Interactive Bulletin Boards
Teacher's Desk
New Student Packet
Passes: Bathroom, Nurse, Library, Counselor

I'm sure there are more things I will add later. 

Every classroom is like the thumbprint, unique to its owner.