I LOVE Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits!! It's one of my favorite blogs to follow. She has offered me a Hall Pass and I'm taking it while I can...maybe you should, too!
Product --
I would have to say that my favorite product thus far is my Fundations Benchmark Assessment! It has been my most popular Teachers Pay Teachers product and I created it when I was knee deep in my Reading Specialist Masters Program. It may not be fancy or overally decorative, but it's purposeful and meaningful and that is what I love most about it!
Area --
This was tough because I love a lot of areas in my classroom, but I think my most favorite area is our meeting area. We spend a lot of time doing work at our meeting area. In this picture, my students are sitting on a USA rug, but recently I switched to individual rug squares and I have found it super helpful in keep students in their own space (less whining = a happy teacher)! We love our meeting area because we can watch BrainPopJr. videos, interact with our interactive whiteboard, delve into our interactive Scholastic news and it allows us to get out of our seats!
Signal --
After reading the Daily 5, I knew I had to purchase a wind chime to hang in our classroom. I have used many signals in the past, but I have found the wind chime to be the best one yet! It involves little talking and nagging from me and the students have become so familiar with it that they immediately respond when they hear it! Also, I have linked the wind chime to our Class Dojo (LOVE this behavior management tool) points and when students respond quickly they receive an extra point! yay!
Sanity --
Let's be honest, we all need time to decompress from the day or we would lose our sanity (I can think of some times where I may or may not have lost it, but hey, what's a teacher gonna do)! The first few years of my teaching career, I found myself spending a lot of time visiting with other teachers during lunch hour. I loved connecting with my colleagues, but I have learned that I need 20 minutes of quiet time during the day. During my 20 minutes of lunch, I eat, as well as...
and/or...
Read my favorite reads on my Nook (the Fiances Christmas gift to me)! The 20 minutes of quiet/semi-quiet gives allows me to re-charge my battery for the afternoon!! Without my 20 minutes, my students are met with grouchy, no-patience, won't tolerate whining teacher (please don't tell me I'm alone in this)!!
Link up with Reagan and you will be so thrilled you snuck away with your Hall Pass!
9 comments:
My kiddos LOVE Brain POP videos too - they are fantastic!
I found you through the Hall Pass linky - and am so I glad that I did! Your blog is so cute :)
~Jessica
Joy in the Journey
We use class dojo in my room too! The kids love it and at the end of every week we use the points they've accumulated to go to treasure box. :)
Sarah
teachingiscolorful.blogspot.com
BrainPop is fantastic!! My students get beyond excited when I pull out one of their videos! Thank you for visiting!! :)
~Caralee
Sarah, I use the points similarly...students get to spend their points at the end of the week on an array of items. They LOVE it!
~Caralee
Cute blog! And I LOVE Taylor Swift too! I'm addicted to I Knew You Were Trouble! I found you through Ideas by Jivey-we're both nominated for the Liebster Award (still working on my questions). Excited to be your newest follower!
Joanne
Head Over Heels For Teaching
It's so nice to know that I am not the only one who is obsessed with that song!! I am still working on my questions..my plan is to post on Sunday. Thank you for becoming a follower and I look forward to learning more about you! :)
Caralee,
What a fabulous post! I loved it! Thank you so much for linking up!
Take Care,
Reagan
Reagan -- I so look forward to reading your posts and so appreciate your blogging support by becoming a new follower!
Caralee
Brainpop is the BEST! I am so glad that I found you through the linky :)
Elizabeth
Kickin’ it in Kindergarten
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