Blogging Made EASY!!!

Here I am....blogging....on my phone.....with Dragon!  I'm just talking away....to myself.  That may see odd, but I'll just email it to myself and WALLAH! a blog post will be done.  All I have to do is copy and paste it into blogger and add a pic or too and I am good to go!

The fantastic thing is that once you email it to yourself, you can copy and paste it into any document and be ready to go!!!  You can click on the icon below and download it onto your iPhone or iPad in a jiffy.  Did I mention that it is free?

I also wanted to remind all of my readers  that starting in June, I will be doing a book study on the book Reading Without Limits by Maddie Witter.  It is an EXCEPTIONAL book with lots of great info that can be easily implemented into the classroom!  If you click below, the link will take you straight to Amazon where you can purchase the book and be ready to rock and roll when the book study begins.  

You WILL want to be a part of this book study!  There will be lots of freebies!!!  Order your copy of the book NOW!!!  You will want to keep the book around, not only for the study, but to refer to later on as your new school year starts!

Elements of a Writing Conference

An effective writing conference can reinforce a mini-lesson or previous teaching point and always moves the student forward as a writer by teaching him/her the current piece of writing.


Research

Make sure you thoroughly look over the student's writing before making comments. Check previous conference records to see what other comments, corrections, etc. have been made.  Ask the student "What are we working on today?  What are you trying to do as a writer?  

Compliment/Give Support

Make sure you find something to complement the writer on.  You want to follow a 'know and grow' mentality.  Tell the student what he or she 'knows' <is doing well> and the student will rise to the occasion!  

Decide and Teach/Reteach

Choose one area that you would like to reinforce.  Use language like "Let me teach you something else that good writer's do..." or "I saw this in a book one time.  The author _________.  Let's see if you can do something like this."  Another way to introduce a teaching point is to say, "Today I'd like to show you how to ________ your writing."

Guided Practice

Guide the student and give support.  Do not abandon your writer!  Help the writer find a place in the writing to incorporate the new skill.  At this point, it is OK to leave the writer and let him or her work independently.

Link

Give a reminder to the student that he/she is to try this during all writer's workshops.


**This was based on the Writer's Workshop Framework that was developed at the national Reading and Writing Institute at the Teacher's College of Columbia University


Below is my Know or Grow Writer's Conference From that helps me make sure that I cover all of the parts of a good writing conference.  Feel free to click on the pic and download it for FREE!!

I also wanted to let all of my readers know that starting in June, I will be doing a book study on the book Reading Without Limits by Maddie Witter.  It is an EXCEPTIONAL book with lots of great info that can be easily implemented into the classroom!  If you click below, the link will take you straight to Amazon where you can purchase the book and be ready to rock and roll when the book study begins.

Have a great Friday!

Anchor Charts vs. Public Records

             Do you know the difference between an anchor chart and a public record?  Bring together a room full of teachers and I am sure no two will give the same answer.  So, when my clever team mate posed the question to me I gave her my always witty southern remark of “Well duh of course I do”.  The truth is there is no set definition for what an anchor chart and public record actually is.  Educational resources vary upon criteria’s of each and it seems examples never seem to look the same.  As one gets into researching both it becomes a swirl of confusion and so overwhelming most give up the effort.  In simple but direct terms my definition for both is an anchor chart is teacher created and a public record is student created.   I decided to tackle both this year head on after a 4 day training of Best Practices in Math provided by our school system.  In order to give myself a starting point I came up with key factors each should have. 

            Anchor Charts:

·       Teacher Created

·       Students can add to one

·       Must highlight key points only

·       DON’T make is busy try to be clutter free

·       Make them student  friendly

·       Remember they are used as tools so display in an easily accessible way

Anchor charts are a great teaching tool for students and are part of the learning process.  However, they can sometimes become more of a distraction if they are busy, contain too much fluff, and cannot be used easily.  To avoid making it busy I use dark colors to address key ideas and light colors as an accent piece, this helps students differentiate between each.   Lose the fluff!  Anchor charts should only highlight key teaching points, especially in lower grades.  Provide pictures or drawings if the vocabulary is a struggle for students so that they can make connections between the word and picture.  Last, make sure the anchor charts are easily accessible.  Once an anchor chart is completed I hang it on my front board and it will stay there for the remainder of the nine week period.  At the end of nine week period I take pictures of each chart and place them in a Math Anchor Charts binder.   Inside the binder each topic is broken into dividers (i.e. Addition, Subtraction, Numbers, Money, and Clocks).  Just because you have moved onto a new topic does not mean that the old chart is not needed. 

Public Records:

·       Student Created

·       Displays students mastery of a skill

·       Try to make connections with several skills

·       Remember to teach them “how” to make one

·       Praise, Praise, Praise, and Praise their effort no matter how big or small!

Public records have become a regular for my classroom during assessments. Instead of students simply taking a test a public record gives them the opportunity to actually show mastery of the skill (And honestly they are very excited to make their own poster).  With my students public records I focused mainly on Best Practices strategies by using the four square mats/posters.  In each of the four boxes a student or students had to complete a different skill using one given problem.  The student below was given the number sentence 23 – 9 and was told to create a word problem, write the number sentence, show it in a picture, and show how to regroup.  Although she was given one problem I managed to asses her on several different skills.  Another example is using it with one given number by showing it in longs/cubes, expanded form, place value house, and odd/even.  After using them quite a bit students would expect them and ask to do them more then I required!  Ownership is by far the best attribute for a 2^nd grader to have!  Now, I by no means think that my definition, examples, or opinions are how anchor charts and public records must be done.  However a teacher wants to do them is fine as long as it is used a successful tool.  

Jennifer Brown

Jennifer Brown is my partner in crime....the 'other' part of my brain and my 2nd grade teammate.  She is currently working on her Master's degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  

Mother's Day Fun and a Play

 Have you ever read this story?  A small RTI group performed it for my class today.  They did a great job and looked darling in their masks from Masketeers!

It was the best production of the year!!  The crowd went wild with excitement at the end!

We also used tissue paper <see the pile on the left> to make some quick Mother's Day gift's and flowers.  But then, we learned that our flowers could be re-styled and turned into hair accessories!  Even the boys got into it by using 'chenille stems' to create antennae and adding tissue paper to the ends.  Hillarious!!  What a day.  

Don't forget that tonight is the last night for the Teachers Appreciation Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers!

Just click here to head to my store!

Teacher Appreciation Sale May 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th

Well...It is that time of year again....Feel free to go visit my store and shop til your fingers can't poke those keys anymore!!!  Think ahead....grab that curriculum map out and see what you need to make next year better, and shop SMART!!!

You can go through the linky below that has links to the stores of Teacher's Pay Teacher's top sellers!  The links will take you right to their stores, too!  Enjoy your time browsing!!!