META TAG

Sunday, August 4, 2019

10 Genius Dollar Store Hacks for Your Classroom

If you are a teacher who is trying to stick to a budget,there is no better place to find a trove of ideas than your local dollar store.
I shop there frequently myself, so I’ve put together a list of my favorite dollar store hacks for teachers.  Below, check out my top ten favorite dollar store hacks for the classroom.

 1. Notebook Paper
They have both college-ruled and wide-ruled paper. 

 2. Correction Tape/Fluid
Don’t sweat the small mistakes—just grab some correction tape or fluid the next time you’re at the dollar store. (Full disclosure: I keep a small stockpile in one of my cabinets for all the mistakes I make!)

 3. Pencils
Teachers always need pencils! Plus, they always have decorative ones that can go in my prize bin.

 4. Index Cards
You can have students make flash cards for any subject matter!  (The Dollar Store does sell flash cards, but I always find it to be more meaningful when students create their own.)

 5. Mini Broom and Dustpan
You might have the best custodial staff in the world, but having a little broom and dustpan will come in handy so often throughout the year. (Anyone else flashing to "that one student" dropping everything everywhere?)

 6. Clothespins
Let each student decorate their clothespin. Then glue thumbtacks on the back of them and hang them on your bulletin board. Now each student has a special place to share their classwork.

 7. Binder Clips
You can get both traditional binder clips and magnetic ones from the dollar store. (I have an obsession with 'pretty' binder clips.) Look in the office supply or school supply section to see all choices. 

 8. Bandages
Of course you can grab some from the school nurse (if you have one), or your front office, but it’s ideal to have them in the classroom, too. Plus, they have such cute designs. (I love the new troll bandages!)

 9. Photo Frames
Put the directions to centers in each frame, label your table groups, put your standards for the week in each one.  Students could also frame best writing pieces to leave at school or take home. 

 10. Paper Plates
You can do all sorts of activities with paper plates.  Check out this blog post about an engaging order of operations activity I do with my 5th graders each year.
What dollar store hacks can you not live without? Share in the comments section below.

Have a great week,
-Sandra @The Happy Learning Den
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, July 21, 2019

I hear it all the time from my colleagues… Why are your students playing games? Games are played daily in my classroom, and they are a vital component to my students’ learning.


Games allow students the opportunity to deepen their mathematical understanding and reasoning. Students will begin to notice patterns, relationships, and strategies.
1) By playing games students find different strategies for solving problems and deepen their understanding of numbers.
2) When played repeatedly, games support students’ development of computational fluency.
3) Games allow opportunities for practice, without the need for teachers to provide the problems. You can then observe and work with individuals or small groups of students.

Engage Your Students!
An engaging way to introduce a game to the class is for the you to play the game against the class. Or if the game doesn’t allow for whole class participation, make the time to play with a group a students while the rest watches.  After 10 minutes, have each student who was playing select a student who was watching take their place. 
Remember to always vary or modify the game to meet the needs of your learners.

Hold Your Students Accountable 
After playing a game, have students reflect by having them write  in a mathematics notebook or journal.  I typically post one of the following questions each week by the game center, and in order to be allowed to continue playing the following week, they need to answer the question in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
1) What skill did you review and practice?
2) Which strategies did you use while playing the game?
3) If you were to play the game a second time, what different strategies would you use to be more successful?
4) How could you change the game to make it more challenging?

What do you think?  Do you allow your students to play math games in the classroom?  What suggestions do you have to help fellow teachers?  Please leave your ideas in the comment section below.  
I look forward to collaborating with you,
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Differentiating Centers

Last week I enjoyed a loooooong lunch (with wine) with a good friend who is also a teacher in my school.  We chatted about what we have been doing this summer, different recipes we have both tried out - the good, the bad, and the downright u.g.l.y., and stuff going on in our own families.  Normal friend chit-chat, BUT since we are also colleagues we naturally started talking about school.  (You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but ... )


We naturally started talking about what went well last year, and what we would like to do differently this upcoming school year.  She asked me to explain to her how I differentiated for all of the students and learning styles, because it is a huge undertaking.  It made me have to really pause and think, because it isn't something that I normally "think" about.  It's just something that I do. 


After lunch, and we went our separate ways, I began to wonder if this is something I should be sharing with others.  Today, I would like to share with you how to differentiate in your classroom centers, without it seeming like an overwhelming impossibility. 


How are you supposed to differentiate each center, each week, for each student? 



It can be done, by grouping your students by ability.
I group my students according to their levels from the end of year tests from the previous school year, my beginning of year tests, weekly vocabulary quizzes, reading quizzes and tests, and math chapter quizzes & tests.  If one of my student’s scores really low in algebraic thinking, but really high in measurement, he or she would be put in different groups depending on what is being taught. (Your students should not stay in the same group for the entire school year. I regroup my students about once a month, and occasionally I will shuffle a few students each week.)

Also, I have found that sometimes a student will work better with a certain group of students versus another group-even if one is higher than the other.  It’s okay to put a student in that higher group, but you need to make sure you provide support/enrichment.

Once you have figured out your grouping, you can start to think about your centers. Centers are a powerful way to get students engaged in hands-on activities on their level. 

I taught first grade for 5 years and third grade for 8 years.  In both grades, students had actual center time.  A rotation was posted on the board and routines were followed.  Now that I teach 5th grade, I still have my students in centers, but it works a little different.  I give my students’ “Educational Learning Choices” after they have finished their “Must Do’s” each day.
 
In my class students must use the online I.Ready  Reading and Math program (40 minutes per subject) each week.  To manage this, it is listed under their “Must Do’s” for the day. With “Must Do’s” and “May Do’s” students learn time management and work for center time.

Samples for Daily "Must Do’s:"
1)20 minutes of I.Ready (MW is Reading, TTh is Math, and then I look at the data and let students know what they are doing on Friday.  Friday is also a time they can make up time if they were absent.)
2)Read Works: An Article a Day.  I highly recommend you look into this.  It is free, and you can assign your students different articles depending on their ability level (online program).

I also have weekly "Must Do’s" that are due each Friday.  So students might opt to work on it a little each day, or a huge chunk of it one day and not the rest, but it is up to them as long as it is completed by Friday.   What if students don’t complete these assignments?  The way I handle it is this, 3 strikes and you’re out.  If any student misses 3 deadlines, then that student and I sit down and work out a daily schedule for the daily amount of time they need to work on each task.  

Some of the Must Do’s that are due on Friday are 
★ Accelerated Reader (AR) tests (due every 2 weeks)
★ Reading Comprehension Centers
★ Math Reteach/Enrichment pages depending on the week.

May Do’s (aka Educational Learning Choices): These are student choices.  Every single one is academic!  By allowing students to choose their learning activities (ie centers), they feel empowered and are ready and open-minded to learn more.  
Some examples of "May Do’s:"
★ Prodigy: Online math game
★ Versatiles
★ Reading Silently or Buddy Read
★ Hot Dots (I have these for Reading, Math, and Science.)
★ Flash cards

Of course, students meet with me in their reading and math groups as well.  I generally teach  each  group  for  20 minutes and the rest of the time is theirs to work on their assignments - while I meet with the other groups.  

A few things to remember:
1) Routines and procedures are crucial. 
2) Centers should run themselves. 
3) You can differentiate for your students in centers. 
4) During center time, you can pull back students who needed more one-on-one attention. This is also a great time to join in with a group of students during center time to observe, assess, and/or have fun.  I try to join in with one group each week, and rotate the groups that I visit.
5) Every student can feel successful during center time. 

The best piece of advice I can give to you, is make it work for you. Change things as you go and change it up until it fits your style and your vision. 

I hope this is helpful for you!  
If you have any questions or suggestions for others 
please leave them in the comments below.

Posted by at 2 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)