It's Thursday, time for tricks and technology

It's Thursday, and I am double dipping on linky parties today. I'm linking up for Tricks of the Trade Thursday.

I wish could take pictures of my classroom right now so you could see what I am talking about...but I'm not anxious for summer to end, so these internet pictures will just have to do.

I teach at a private school, so my students bring in a lot of supplies-notebooks, markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, tape etc. I collect half of the supplies that the students bring in. For example-I ask students to bring in two rolls of tape-I keep one, they keep one. My half of the supplies go into plastic drawers like these:

These drawers are labeled with the name of the supply so it is easy to find what you need.

My students do not have desks, we use tables, so their supplies go in a plastic shoe-box storage container that has been labeled with their name. These containers sit on a shelf that I have in the back of the room. The students grab them when they need them-or they use or "classroom" supplies from the drawers in the front. (They keep all of their markers, colored pencils, and crayons in there as well.)

I am also excited to link up with iTeach 1:1 and Learning to the Core for their Tune into Technology Linky party.

This week's topic is ipads. This past year I was blessed to receive an ipad to keep in my classroom at all times. Our school also has a class set of ipads that we can sign out when we need them. My favorite way to use ipads is with QR Codes-but that is for a separate week...so I will hold off on sharing about those for now!

 

One of the first apps I downloaded onto the ipad was Math Bingo. The students love this app. It is an easy and fun way for kids to practice their facts. The students can choose what basic facts to practice and it even goes up to 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication for those kiddos that really need a challenge!

Another app I love is Educreations. This app is a great way to differentiate. I just started to use it at the end of the year. This app allows you to record examples and mini-lessons with your voice. The students are then able to play the lesson back when they are stuck. The best thing about this app, it's free!

Another teacher app that I love is Splashtop. This app allows me to control my computer from the ipad. This means I can write on my SMART Board, change slides, and pull up websites from the back of my classroom. Definitely helps with behavior management!

How do you use ipads in the classroom? I'd love to hear about them.

 

Updated 8/11/13-Linking up with Digital Divide and Conquer for Secrets of the ipad!

Tricks of the Trade and my Morning Must-Haves

Happy Thursday! It is almost summer break...I can feel the excitement in the air! I'm linking up with Becky at Compassionate Teacher and Jessica at Joy in the Journey for the Tricks of the Trade Thursday.

My system for collecting and returning homework is a simple system. I've used it since I became a teacher. In the morning when students turn in homework they place it into the appropriate slot. In the font of my room, right by the pencil sharpeners are black mail slots. These are plastic and you can find them anywhere.

I used nameplates to label each subject area. When students complete any assignment-in class or homework they place it into the slot. Then all I need to do is grab the papers from each slot to grade them.

Once they are graded I "mail" the students work back to them in their mailbox. They are labeled with each child's name. The students check their box each night and put all papers into their take-home folder. Since they are fourth graders I check to make sure each box is emptied at night-but I tell them and their parents that they need to be responsible to empty their folder each day-both at home and at school. For many of them it is the beginning of building independance in their work.

What do you do to collect and return homework to your students?

I'm also linking up with Across the Hall in 2nd to share some of my favorite things-morning must haves.

 

I am a morning thinker...I tend to get my best planning done and have the most creative ideas in the morning. In order to do this I need this:

Coffee makes everything okay! It gets my thinking going and keeps me going for hours!

 

I also need a banana. I have one each day, it is a habit I got into when I was in high school. I used to get leg cramps when I played soccer and eating a banana each day helped keep it away (I now know it is the potassium!) Anyway it is just my go-to for breakfast. 

What are your morning must-haves?

Tricks of the Trade-Poster Storage

It is Thursday, only 6 1/2 days of school (counting today.) I cannot wait! This has been a busy week, but such a good one. I'm trying to enjoy all the time I have left with these kiddos!

I'm linking up with Becky at Compassionate Teacher and Jessica at Joy in the Journey for Tricks of the Trade Thursday.

This weeks topic is Poster Storage and Organization. I'd love to say that my posters are organized...but that would be a lie. I'm a very organized person as a general rule-but my posters are another story. I am looking forward to seeing how others organize their posters. As for storage, I do have a trick for you!

When I first started teaching I was given one of these boxes to store posters in:

The only problem was the box didn't fit anywhere, so it was an eyesore in my classroom. I used it for a few years, but the box really started to look gross. Then I discovered these:

I am able to put my posters in these and hang them in my closet. My posers don't bend or wrinkle and I don't have an eyesore anymore!

What do you do to organize and store your posters? Any organizational tips for me?

Tricks of the Trade-The Silent Count-Down

It is Thursday, that means the week is almost over! I'm about to head out to my students' spring concert but I wanted to link up with Joy in the Journey and Compassionate Teacher for "Tricks of the Trade" Thursday.

This weeks topic is on attention-getters and transitions. At this point in the year, I feel like I need to stand on my head to keep my kiddos attention. Anyone else feeling that way today? Anyway...on to the tip.

One thing that I have found works well for me and my kiddos when we are sharing in a small group is what my kids have called "silent count-down." As I shared yesterday I like to give my kiddos time to share their writing. I also like to give them time to give "book talks" to a friend. I hate to cut the kids off and have them stop talking mid-sentence, so I have started using this strategy.

If the kids have designated amount of share time at the end of the lesson I will give them a half way warning (so they know to allow the other student to talk if they haven't already.) Then in the last 30 seconds I begin my silent count-down. I hold my hand up over my head showing 5 fingers. I walk silently around the room and every 5 seconds I put down one finger. This gives the students a silent 30 second warning that they need to finish their sentence so they can get back to their seat. They know (and we have practiced) that they need to be silent and back in their seat by the time all of my fingers are down.

It only takes a few kids to see me and they normally whisper to their partner "she's counting down." They quickly finish, clean up, and head to their seats. I love it because I'm not cutting them off mid-sentence, so they feel valued, but it isn't taking forever for us to wrap-up our share time.

What do you do to grab your kids attention or to help with transitions?

Currently and Tricks of the Trade-Bulletin Boards

It is Thursday! My kiddos are off tomorrow (I have a half in-service) which makes me a happy teacher. I'm linking up with Joy in the Journey and Compassionate Teacher for a brand new linky party.

One of the things I love about the blogging world are all the new ideas I get from other teachers. When I read others blogs I become inspired to try new things, so I am excited about this weekly linky to see what other people's "Tricks of the Trade" are!

I'm going to be perfectly honest...bulletin boards are not my favorite. When I was in college, I created quite a few interactive bulletin boards and was excited to use them, until I entered my classroom and discovered that my boards are blocked by my classroom computers.

My Award Winning Work Board

My Published Writing Piece Board

I am thankful that I have five computers for my kids to use at all times, but it does make changing my bulletin board highly annoying! To save myself a lot of trouble I chose a background that I could handle looking at all year (light blue.) I then broke my one giant board into two by putting different dividers around each half.

One side of the board is my Award Winning Work-this is where I put any work that is "award winning." That doesn't mean the students received 100% on their papers, but that they worked hard and did their best. Sometimes it is one part of an assignment that was award winning, and their paper goes up there to be celebrated. It was empty when I took the picture because I had just mailed all the work home the day before this picture.

The other board is my published writing piece board. I use this board to hang their writing pieces when they have finished. The students like seeing their pieces on display after all the work they put into them.

By having two very generic boards I am able to keep the background/boards the same all year and I just change the pieces. This saves me the headache of fighting with the paper, and it means I only need to climb on the computer tables once a year instead of once a month!

Be sure to link up with Becky and Jessica and share your Tricks of the Trade!

I'm also linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for May's Currently.

One last thing; Today is the last day to enter my giveaway! I'll announce the winners tomorrow night! Happy Thursday everyone!

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