I Failed at Flexible Seating

Updated 7/29/16: Hi and thank you so much for stumbling upon my blog! The below post (from  April 2016) was written as a way for me to document my experience with alternative, or flexible, classroom seating. It's not meant to persuade you against the concept or to say you shouldn't try it out in your own classroom! I was inspired to try it in my own room because of the many amazing teachers that have made it work so wonderfully for themselves and their students. Going full throttle into it wasn't for me but I love letting my students have some freedoms of course - standing to work if needed, working with clipboards on the rug, fun reading seating, etc. Having reflected on my own experience since publishing this post, I think I struggled a lot with how my students would cope the next school year in a desk. Was I setting them up for failure by giving them too much choice? That's question went through my head a lot. But I digress!

Flexibility is the backbone of teaching and I also believe in life you must take risks. I suppose that's why I jumped head first into transforming my room to begin with. I have no regrets! What I'm trying to say is... If you feel flexible seating could work for your class I hope you'll go for it! Let us know in the comments how it goes.

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Back in November I blogged about how I had transformed my classroom with flexible seating, otherwise known as alternative seating. I jumped head first into the idea that my students would choose their work space and get down to business and that each day would be buzzing with the hum of productivity and engagement. That was the idea. The reality looked and sounded a lot different. I don't consider myself a super traditional person. By that I guess I mean that for the most part, I like to take risks and try new things. I immediately thought flexible classroom seating would be a perfect fit for my teaching style. Turns out I am much more traditional than I thought. My mom will be so excited!

I failed at implementing flexible seating in my classroom. I just couldn't make it work. I could list reasons for why I think it didn't work out but I fear they may sound a lot like excuses. Perhaps they are. I really wanted to like the new set up, to trust my students' decisions and partnerships, but as the days passed, I knew alternative seating wasn't going to work for me or my kids. Add a couple days of substitute teachers and I was truly over it!

via the Corner Stone for Teachers Facebook

Like a lot of things in life, my big plans fell short of what I expected. I couldn't manage my students' behaviors or needs as well when they were choosing their own workspaces. I fully believe that kids need movement and hands-on learning and they still get tons of that but when I switched my students back to assigned desks, I couldn't help but feel a sense of failure. Why couldn't I make it work? Why can't my classroom have the same vibe as the classrooms I see on Pinterest with their stability balls and fancy couches? WHY don't they understand that stability balls aren't meant for rolling yourself across the room?

The answer for why I failed is probably simple. I wasn't buying into it 100%. I worried about how my students would cope next year in a traditional desk scenario. I dreaded daily transitions. All the walking around made my eye twitch! And I worried that I was going to cry if they didn't stop talking off topic so much!!! The whole vibe of my classroom just felt off.

Since I've switched back to traditional seats, we've been engrossed in an author study, researched rainforest animals, experimented with rainbows, and so much more. I realized I don't need to make a grand classroom change in order for my students to thrive and learn. I'm not sure if it makes me a better or worse teacher but for me, a traditional classroom has just been a better fit this year.

Now if you'll excuse me I have some stability balls to deflate.

How To Survive a Classroom FULL of Boys

Two things happen everyday in my classroom. Someone gets tackled and someone does a somersault. I have a classroom full of boys. With a 5:10 ratio, us girls are outnumbered. I have seen more blood, sweat and tears this year than any before, and then there's the kids!

If you're living in a world where your students are mostly males, here's a few tips on how to survive your classroom of rowdy, somersaulting, farting (yep), fighting, and often hilarious boys.

1. Come to terms with what your classroom rug really is. Whole group lesson area? No. Independent reading refuge. PFFFFT. Writing island? HAHAHA. NO. It is a gymnastics mat. A Slip 'N Slide. One may even describe it as a trampoline. These are 7 year old boys we are talking about. No surface is safe from a slide into home.

2. Attach a mirror to your whiteboard. You'll need it to see the face-smacking and eraser throwing that's going on behind you while you're making that super cute anchor chart.

3. Give up on having them sit. LET IT GO. Let them stand. Let them stand, Let them staaaaand.
Turn away and slam the door...
On the way you did things last year. For your sanity and there's, just let them stand or kneel or do anything other than sit. They can't. They won't. You'll spend all day asking so you're better off just letting it go, girl.

4. Purchase a whistle. That's all.

5. LAUGH. A lot. At yourself, at the chaos, for the few girls looking to you for guidance on how to survive the deafening cloud of testosterone. Just laugh! Also, don't feed them anything with sugar.

Enjoy your fart-joke free holidays! Unless you're a mom of boys, then just eat chocolate (and wine).

Turn and Talk with Brain Quest

Turk and Talk has been a buzz word in education for a while now. Every year this is a practice that many of my students struggle with. The conversation skills and confidence needed for a successful T&T can be intimidating to a 7 year old! I've noticed only a few of my students are truly capable of sharing their ideas clearly and then listening while their partner does the same. I decided to work some practice into our Morning Meeting with the help of Brain Quest.

I get so nostalgic when I break out my Brain Quest cards. I LOVED these things in elementary school and my students do too. They love the trivia and the randomness of the questions. I love how the silly questions trick them into talking to each other! Ha!!!

You can grab a set of Brain Quest questions at most educational stores but I swear every yard sale has them! Mine came from another teacher that switched grades and was tossing them. Turn trash into treasure in the form of turn and talk! (Can you tell I have been working on an alliteration resource?)

Tomorrow is Friday! We made it! 

http://media.giphy.com/media/zA3oCJpuXpjs4/giphy.gif

Enjoy your winter break!

The Homework Club: Questions Answered

Hello!!

After receiving various emails and questions, I decided to write a follow up post to a guest post I wrote on Education to The Core all about homework, specifically The Homework Club!

I didn't invent the Homework Club. It was something I saw on Pinterest (of course) that I ran with in my own classroom and I found what worked well for me.

I'd also like to throw out there that I don't think homework is the most important thing in the world and I don't assign a lot. It can be daunting on some of our most challenged learners and working in a title 1, I've seen many kids (I'm talking 7 year olds) bear the sole responsibility of getting their homework and sometimes a sibling's homework completed each night. I usually come to understand which kids in my class are facing uphill battles and I take them into consideration. The Homework Club, like any incentive, isn't meant to make anyone feel like they are less but to acknowledge those that put in the extra effort to be responsible for their home learning. Again, if I have a student with a very challenging home life - maybe mom and dad aren't around often - that student's homework expectations may be slightly different. How you set boundaries in your classroom is up to you!

But anyway, homework is a necessary evil so why not try to have some fun with it? Here are a few more details and tips to implementing the Homework Club in your room this coming school year!

Everyone in your class starts out in the Homework Club each month. If a student doesn't turn in their homework, they're out for that month.  In my class, if you didn't complete one night's worth of both math and reading homework you were out of the club for that month.  So that means, some kids will be out on day one. The incentive is to stay in the club - the only way to do that is to do your homework every night. Everyone is automatically in the club again once the next month starts.

I have tried letting kids back in the club after they completed their homework three consecutive times. It was extra work but it might be worth trying if you have a class of kids that give up once they're out of the club early on.

Make a big deal about the lunch! The more prestigious it seems,
the more kids will want to join.

In my room, we had a lunch on the last Friday of the month with a movie and a treat. The Homework Club Lunch. My kids loooved being able to eat on the rug in the classroom and watch a movie or a show of their choosing. And you know kids just love to eat with their teacher! If this is not an option for you, you might consider bringing in a special treat to the lunchroom for your club members.

A sign to place above your pocket chart!

Student numbers for your pocket chart. The file has editable
slides so you can add as many numbers as you need!

In order to keep track of who's turning in homework, you'll need a system in place. For this coming school year, I am making magnets with students' numbers on them and they are on a designated "Homework Club" section of the board. You could also use a pocket chart with numbers. To download my freebie version click on the above pictures or HERE.

You could give just a certificate or a certificate with a HW pass.
Both are included in the freebie!

In my class, if a student doesn't turn in their homework their magnet will be removed. I noticed that after my kids saw that I was holding them accountable in such a blatant way, that more began turning in homework more frequently.
Intermediate students would most likely be successful at handling this for you - you could make it someone's job.

Because I use reading response journals in my classroom, I can easily check in the morning who has done their journaling from the previous night. For math, I give worksheets. I quickly scan through them in the morning to see who has turned their worksheet from that night into the Homework Bin. Here's a tip if you give worksheets of any kind: Start having your kids write their student numbers on the top of their homework near their name so you can correlate the papers to the magnet numbers (or pocket chart numbers if you're using my freebie).  If you're going to be checking journals, have a list on hand so you can check kids off that have their homework done as you're walking around the classroom. A student list (with student numbers) in a dry erase sheet protector will be perfect.


I hope you like using the Homework Club as much as I do! Don't forget to download the Homework Club freebie from my store. If you provide feedback, you'll be eligible to receive any $1 item in my store for free! Details are in the description of the Homework Club download HERE.

Happy last days of summer!

TpT Seller Challenge Week 2: Dare to Dream

I'm going to keep this post about my TpT dreams short and sweet! Thanks again to the awesome hosts (Sparkling in Second, Peppy Zesty Teacherista, Third in Hollywood, and Teach Create Motivate)!

In general, my overall goal with TPT, my job as a teacher, my life as a mom and a wife is to just keep learning all that I can. I want to stay hungry and always be aiming to better myself. I want to get to a point where I'm super confident in my role as an educator and I know that will come with knowledge and experience.

I'm going into my third year of teaching so I'm still fresh, I'm still green. I want to hold onto that feeling for as long as I can. If I can stay inspired by this amazing profession, then it will show in my work, it will show in my creativity, and it will spill over into what I share on TPT.

Keep dreaming! I will never stop having something to look forward to. I will always be challenging myself even in small ways. I'm thankful to be somewhat part of a community full of dreamers! You guys are inspiring.

Sailing Into Summer Blog Hop!

I'm excited to participate in a summer-themed blog hop hosted by The Language Arts Classroom and Julie Faulkner! Summer is fast approaching and if you're nuts like me, you're already looking for new ideas for next year. Check out my quick tips below and don't forget to visit all the other blogs at the end of this post!

1 final exam tip/idea

I teach second grade so we don't administer the big state tests to our kids but they do participate in diagnostic testing. I find it helps my kids out if I prepare the parents by sending home a little parent info pack. The gist of it is to notify them of testing, tell them ways they can prep their child, and to give parents the opportunity to write an encouraging note to their child which you can give them before their test. Click {HERE} to get my Testing Info for Parents FREEBIE.  

 

1 (classroom) thing you want to do again next yearI recently blogged about Class Compliments. This is a behavior system I use in my room and plan on using every year! It's simple to implement and easy to maintain. Best of all, the kids love it! Click the picture for a FREEBIE!

1 (classroom) thing you want to change next year

I plan to reboot how I introduce and manage my library. It needs a makeover!  I always say to non-teachers that they'd be surprised how quickly sixteen eight-year-olds can take over! Your classroom library is no exception to this rule. Without a fool proof plan you're at risk of chaos, book boredom, or probably BOTH. I'm obsessed with this post about introducing your library (by The Thinker Builder). He has it dowwwwn.
 

1 gift idea for students 

For my kids last year, I bought cute, mini journals at Michaels. I also gifted them each a mechanical pencil with a flag attached. The flag spelled their name vertically and each letter was a different adjective to describe them. I I was inspired by the below photo that I found on Pinterest (of course). The kids loved this gift because it was personal! I hope it kept them writing over the summer too. This year, to better ensure they don't get writers block, I'll include writing prompts to keep them inspired. 



They were similar to these! (by Adventures of a Student Teacher)

 

Hold on! Summer is coming!!!!!!!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

20 Tidbits From a Career-Change Teacher

I remember the day I decided to change my life and become a teacher. Something clicked that day and I knew in that moment that I was going to make it happen! The thought of leaving the production industry behind had crossed my mind many times before but I was always too afraid to make a change (a light background about me: I worked in video/event production starting as an intern in high school until I was 25). I researched and mentally planned how I would leave a job I really didn't love to chase my teaching dreams, but it wasn't until after I had my daughter that I got the courage to become an educator. AND YOU GUYS! I can't believe I waited so long! I am going on my third year as a teacher this coming Fall (2015) and I still have to pinch myself sometimes. I feel so much pride when answering the question, "What do you do?" Of course there are hard days, just like any other job, but when you find your passion you just know and I consider myself fortunate to have found mine. Okay, enough babbling!

If you're like me, and you're thinking about changing your career path and becoming a teacher, this (not so) little blog post could be for you. I'm no expert but I want to share what I've experienced so, without further adieu... 

I've come up with 20 tips for you to consider on your journey to the classroom.

 

#1 Ah-ha Moment
When you realized you wanted to become an educator did you feel like a light bulb went off? Did you feel completely sure that this was the right choice for you? If you envisioned yourself instructing a class and thought THIS MAKES SENSE! or if the thought of getting the key to your first classroom made you feel totally-crazypants-batty-excited... this teaching thing might be for you. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there will be moments that test your patience but if you're passionate about your decision, you'll be just fine.

Last day of my first year!

#2 More Than Just a Job
If you're thinking of becoming a teacher, you probably already know that it isn't your average 9-5. I don't mean to toot my own horn TOOT TOOT but being a teacher is an amazing thing. It's an important job and I have so much respect for all teachers and look up to so, so many of them! When I worked in production I met a lot of interesting people and worked on some great projects. I had fun! With teaching, you will have so much more than fun. You will have days where your lessons went so perfectly that the day just flew by, you'll have students that will be super difficult to reach, insanely early mornings, awesome cafeteria French fries ... but mostly you'll have an undeniable sense that you can make a difference, even if small, in someone's life.  DAILY.  Not all professions have such a privilege.  

On set, 2009.

#3 Must Like Kids

Captain Obvious, here. If you're not really into kids on the whole, teaching might not be for you. Seems obvious but if you don't enjoy spending the better part of your day with people younger than you, teaching will be a rough transition. You're more than entitled to prefer adults to the latter. NO judgment here! But if that is the case, probably best to keep out of the classroom. Just try to envision yourself tying 13 different kids' shoelaces a day and see if it makes your eye twitch or not. Fail proof test.

#4 Volunteer and Sub A LOT

If you don't have an education degree, chances are you haven't had much experience in a classroom on the other side of the desk. Substituting and volunteering at schools is a great way to get to know the campuses around you, the faculty, principals, and if you enjoy being in the classroom. Subbing is the teacher equivalent of frat house hazing. Sink or swim, my friend.

#5 Know Your District
What are the demographics? What curriculums are used? Has Common Core been implemented? You'll need to have at least a basic understanding of what your district expects and how it operates.

#6 Connections
I found getting interviews wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be. If you have little to no experience, principals will probably pass on your resume. If you have any friends or family in the school system, now's the time to ask for a favor! Getting your foot in the door is more than half the battle. If you really want to be a teacher,  you'll do your homework and you'll ace the interview... but first you've got to get it!

#7 Be Forever a Student

As a teacher, you'll be required to attend all types of professional development to learn new best practices, new strategies, curriculum, etc. You'll constantly need to be learning on your own time too if you want to stay ahead of the game. This is an area I need to improve on but here are a few books I've read that have given me some perspective: 

 

#8 Enjoy Education

There are a lot of opportunities other than just your school to meet like minded teachers. There is a world of forums and communities where teachers share and connect, and discuss important (and maybe not so important!) topics :) Have a hand at making some of your own classroom materials. Decorate your classroom so you love being there. Make the most of this new and exciting community!

#9 Get Ready to Keep TONS of Data

If there's one demand I've encountered as a teacher it is organizing my paperwork! There are whole Pinterest boards dedicated to this art form. Papers to grade, copies to make, forms of all kinds... it's crazy. You'll need to make organization a priority if you want to stay sane!

My dining room table.

#10 The P Word

Your first parent-teacher conference will probably give you anxiety! It can be very intimidating in the beginning. One of my favorite quotes to remember is "Every child in your class is someone's whole world." Remember that and always be kind, prepared, and honest. If you're lucky you'll have a lot of parents that want to work as a team to help their child succeed, but it's not a perfect world and there will be instances where you realize that this area is one of the harder parts of the gig. As a parent myself, I try to understand how other parents feel. If you try to put yourself in mom or dad's shoes, you'll have a much better working relationship with the 'rents.

#11 Have a Team Mentality

Teachers are collaborative by nature I think. So many are willing to share their resources, their insight, and their expertise. Bringing that willingness to your grade team is important. 

#12 Get into it!

You will have so many opportunities to engage and excite your students through learning. There are soooo many amazing ideas out there for every topic in every subject. Putting the extra effort in to find and implement new ideas in your own way usually pays off. 

#13 Play The Part

You're going to make mistakes. You're going to learn from them and you're going to move on! Just like any job, the best experience comes from experiencing it. Teaching is no different. Have confidence in yourself as a new teacher! Don't let the fact that you don't have an education degree fool you. "Withitness" is often just as valuable in this profession. 

 

#14 Find a Mentor or Mentors

One of the coolest things about teaching is this: You can learn amazing things from newbies and veterans alike. Most of the teachers in your school will have something to offer. Everyone's classrooms are different, everyone's had different successes and failures. Make it a point to meet people in your school, especially those willing to help you grow.

#15 Ask 1 Million Questions

Be resourceful but don't be afraid to ask for help! You're new to this and there will be a lot of unfamiliar territory. There will be many times you'll learn through trial and error and that's okay! That's the best way to learn but when you can, ask ahead. 

#16 Collaborate at Every Opportunity

If you have a great idea and think it could work for your whole grade level, share it! If you found an amazing resource that worked like a charm in your classroom SHARE it!

#17 Be Willing to Do A LOT of Paperwork 

We talked about keeping track of paper work but we haven't even gotten to filling it out. IEPs, PMPs, 504s, GIEPs. Learn your acronyms... and get a really cute pen you like writing with. You might even want to get one of those hand work-out things. The ones you squeeze. I'm kidding. Am I?

Coffee is your friend.

#18 Study
Passing your teaching exams isn't as easy as some people will tell you. You will need to study! Research your state's test and see if you can find study guides and practice tests. I bought a book on Amazon that aligned with my certification exams and I found a study guide that I added tons and tons of notes from said book to. I brushed up on math that I hadn't done for years and grammar rules you might forget from too much texting! Seriously.

#19 Be Grateful

You'll get your first job and you'll be so excited! You also better be ready to hit the ground running! Teaching is a special profession. When there's clearly a full moon because your class is in rare form or the copy machine has jammed for the 7th time at 5 o'clock on a Friday... Repeat that to yourself. Teaching is one of the hardest and best things you'll ever be lucky enough to do. 

Crazy kids!

#20 HAVE FUN!
You get to work with kids all day! They're, like, known for being the most fun!

 

 

I know this was long! Thanks for sticking with me.

I'd love to hear your take on these teaching tidbits!

The Homework Club {FREEBIE}

I had the greatest group of kids my first year teaching. I will always have super fond memories of them and my first year as a 2nd grade teacher. They were a sweet group and I wanted to reward them whenever I could. Sweet yes. Inclined to return homework? Not so much.  I wanted a system that would motivate them to do it; not because I think homework is the most important thing on earth but I do think it's an important lesson in self-discipline. It's hard to go home after a long day at school and do more school work. Especially for some of my kids that didn't have a support system at home. My dream was for them to take charge of their learning and do their best even without expectations from parents to succeed. I found the idea of the Homework Club on Pinterest and ran with it. My students responded really well to it and homework was actually getting turned in for many more days out of the month than before (more on that later). 

Enjoying our monthly Homework Club Lunch!

If students turned both their math and reading homework in everyday that month they got to be in The Homework Club, which ultimately meant they got to eat lunch on the rug, in the classroom with me, and have doughnuts while we watched free television on YouTube. Obviously awesome.

 

As you can see from the picture above, there were only two homework club members in attendance that month BUT 2 out of 16 kids ain't bad when you look at it in the grand scheme of things: the HW Club motivated my most unmotivated students to complete and return more homework than usual. I was also super strict about completely BOTH math and reading. If they only turned in one, I still booted them. Tough love! 

Last year I used magnets to keep track of my students by their numbers. If they didn't return HW, I simply removed their magnet from the whiteboard. I created a new system for the HW Club that I plan to use next school year (since I'm on maternity leave and can't implement it now!). I've added it as a FREEBIE in my TpT shop. Check it out HERE. 

 

I decided to add a few new elements to my HW Club for next year when I return... homework passes, numbers and a sign to use in a pocket chart (instead of magnets), certificates, and a cute ticket to give students that are in the club at the end of the month. The ticket gives them access to the Homework Club Lunch. I want to laminate those so I can reuse all year!  

 

Do you use incentives for Homework?