Monday Made It 7/14/14

 Hello!

I cannot believe we are halfway through July! This summer is flying by, and I have to admit…..I’m ready to start with my new bunch (bunches) of baby kinders! They really seem so small at the beginning of the year. I’ve been doing lots of things to get ready for the beginning of the year, but have also been trying to make the most of my last few weeks of summer! Today I am linking up again with Tara from  4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It linky party! This linky has been so much fun this summer! 

So for a couple of years I have been wanting to revamp the sheet we send home when students move to “yellow”. We use a color system at our school that looks something like this:

 My students hardly ever move to blue or red as they are for more “severe/defiant” behaviors. When students move to blue or red a Behavior Referral Form is sent home to parents and the principal is involved.

I do have students who occasionally move to yellow. We all have bad days and sometimes students make an “Oops” (too much talking, not following directions, multiple reminders, off-task, etc). 

  Let’s just make it a teachable moment and help the student make a better choice the next time!! We currently have a sheet that we send home to parents when students move to yellow. Unfortunately, the sheet is not kid friendly, and it focuses more on the negative behavior rather than the teaching point that can surface. Students need to reflect on their choices and understand why something is not appropriate. It is important for them to have these discussions at home and at school. So here is the new sheet I made, that I will be using in my classroom this year. The students fill the majority of the sheet out on their own. There is a small area for teacher comments to further explain the situation. Students will write/draw about the choices they made that caused them to move to yellow. At home students will discuss their choices with their parents and write/draw a better choice.  I’m really excited to use this in my room and think it will help my students take ownership for their actions.

Do you use anything like this at your school? Let me know your thoughts!

Last week I posted about my ideas to create a display for student work in my hallway. My goal is for every student to always have a piece of their best work displayed in the hallway. Each student will have their own clip and can change out their “best pieces” as they see fit. I think this will encourage my students to do “quality” work! I’ve been playing around a bit at my house but think it will look something like this. I  think I will use the aqua paper to spell out “WOW work”.

The pink background is smart-fab. It’s a mixture between paper and fabric. I’m excited to use it and think that I will be able to use it year after year.  Have any of you used this?!

 I finished my name banner!! Loooving the bright colors!

This summer I took on my first painting project! I painted my kitchen table, which I LOVE. I was planning on just getting new chairs to go with it. I was thinking some cute, upholstered ones. But now, I’m thinking….should I just abandon the ugly wood chairs? OR try painting them a fun, accent color. My conclusion….

What’s the harm in trying to paint them first?

 I may end up loving them!

 and if it’s a big fail……

I can just buy new ones!

 

One of my favorite things about summer is getting letters from my students! If they write me, then I write them back! Today, I’m writing a letter back to Brynna!

Have a fabulous week!!!