It's a wonderful weekend... and I'm happy to give you one more reason to enjoy it!
Join me and my "Indiana Blogging Buddies" as we host an awesome
TPT DOLLAR SALE!
Check it out!
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
We Have A Winner!
Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Today is the day!
Yep! Today is the day that I can happily announce the winner of...
THE ENTIRE NEW 2014 BACK-TO-SCHOOL CTP PRODUCT LINE!!!
{Insert drum roll here!}
Congratulations Meg A.!
You are the lucky winner of this incredible prize package!
Enjoy all of these incredible CTP goodies!
Would you like to have some of these goodies for your own classroom???
For more details about Creative Teaching Press'
INCREDIBLE
2014 Back-to-School Product Line
Make your wish list now, my friends!
Products will go "live" on the site (www.creativeteaching.com) very soon and you will be able to place your orders as soon as May 26th!
I'm already planning out my back-to-school bulletin boards! Can you say CHEVRON!?
Monday, May 5, 2014
ANOTHER AWESOME GIVE-AWAY!
As ya'll know, I'm fortunate to be an "exclusive CTP teacher blogger" and receive "top secret" product leaks before they are available to the public. Last week, I posted a few sneak-peek pics of a couple of my FAV upcoming products. This week, I'm going to share a few more....
Ok! Ok! I can't help myself... I'm going to spill the beans and post ALL of the new products!!!
Ok! Ok! I can't help myself... I'm going to spill the beans and post ALL of the new products!!!
The best part is, that CTP has agreed to let me give away EVERY ITEM I post about!
Yep! That's right! If I share ALL the new products with you on my blog.... then they will share ALL of those products with one of my lucky followers!
{I sure hope it's YOU!!!}
{I sure hope it's YOU!!!}
So check out this new teacher swag!!!
For a complete view of all of these new CTP products and their "deets,"
check out this link:
check out this link:
Now, take a moment to wipe that drool off your chin....
Then register in my Rafflecopter below to win
CTP's ENTIRE new product line!
CTP's ENTIRE new product line!
OH! And the give-aways don't stop here! Click on any (or EVERY) of the links below for more chances to win! EVERY CTP Exclusive Blogger listed below is doing his/her own give-away as well!
AHHH! It's so exciting!
AHHH! It's so exciting!
CTP LOVES supporting educators and are giving away a TON of their products to blog followers, just like you!!
So get CLICK, CLICK, CLICKING!
So get CLICK, CLICK, CLICKING!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The Best for the Best!
I APPRECIATE YOU!
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, my blogging friends!
I'm linking up with my dear friend Amy, from Teaching in Blue Jeans, to bring you the opportunity to win some INCREDIBLE goodies in honor of this special week! Many, Many of your favorite bloggers have joined in the fun too! We are offering up our BEST selling TPT items in a giant give-away to give you {the hardest workers on the planet!} the BEST of the BEST, in terms of TPT resources!
Check out my "BEST SELLER" below and see how I use it in my classroom.... then follow the hop-link at the bottom of this post to see more "BESTIES" and enter to win a HUGE prize pack for yourself! {Over 55 of THE BEST SELLING K-2 teacher resources on TPT!}
Do you have kiddos who confuse visually similar letters? You know, the kiddos that say “b” for “d”…. or “u” for “n.” Well, I’m happy to tell you that I’ve taken some of my ‘reading specialist’ knowledge and whipped up a little packet that will help those students work out their letter confusions!
Here’s the science behind WHY the resources in this packet WILL work…
...And the best part is that I have created this packet to be prep-free! Just print and go! Included in this packet are suggestions on how to use these resources in your whole group, small group, or individualized instruction. Oh...And I have provided a simple RTI documentation form for your use too! Check it out by clicking HERE or on the packet pic at the top of this post! Hope someone out there can find this helpful! This method has never failed me! It's a simple, easy way to strengthen your kiddos visual discrimination skills and teach them "how to" attend to the visual details which they need in order to work out their letter confusions!
OH! And I have another packet to work out NUMBER REVERSALS and CONFUSIONS! {Now what kinder-teacher couldn't use that too?!}
Check that one out HERE.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Enter to win this... and MUCH, MUCH more!
Now keep on hoppin'! Click on the link below to visit the next blogger in the hop and see what her "BEST of the BEST" offers you!
Spring Cleaning Linky!
It's SPRING! It's that special time of year when everything is turning green... and everyone gets in the mindset of cleaning and getting organized. Well, I'm no different! I thought I'd "hop" right in to the clean-up spirit and share one of my classroom organization activities.
{OH!... And a little GIVE-AWAY that anyone would love!! More info at end of this post!}
Well... This past week was "mid-term" week for me, and the end of the school year is right around the corner. So... naturally, the last several
weeks have been an intense time for me!
Assessing, assessing, assessing.... recording, organizing,
reporting! Whew! While "quarter ends" and "midterms" are absolutely
EXHAUSTING for me.... they are so worthwhile! "Report card" time
forces me to pull out all of my informal, formative assessments and compare
them with my formal, summative assessments to determine where each of my kiddos
is truly "AT." As I move
through this process, I am ALWAYS looking for new ways to make the assessment
process more efficient...and ultra-organized!
So... I'm going to share some of the things I use to stay organized and
on top of my standards.... and I hope you will share with me too!
Here are a few things I do:
1. My NUMBER ONE goal is to know EXACTLY what EACH and EVERY
CHILD knows....specifically, down to every common core standard! I assess every child, every quarter with a
formal assessment on the specific standards that kinder-kiddos are "supposed"
to know for that quarter! (I do have help from my awesome kinder-aides with
this task.) How do I do this? I use
this GREAT tool from KINDERGARTEN WORKS.
This bundle includes a list for each quarter of the common
core standards each child should know.
It also includes written assessments for each quarter on these same
standards. EVERYTHING is organized for
you. All the assessment questions and
activites are right there...done for you! You literally grab a pencil...and
sometimes a few common manipulatives...and you are ready! When I'm finished administering the
assessment each quarter, I have a clear look at EXACTLY which standards my
kiddos have mastered...and which ones they still need help on. I then take that information and highlight the
quarterly standards that EACH kiddo has NOT mastered on the corresponding
quarterly standard list (which is "edit-able" by the way!) and I send
it home with my report card. My parents
know EXACTLY what skills their children need to work on. Most importantly, I know exactly which skills
my students need extra instruction on...and BOY! OH BOY! does it inform my
teaching! Sometimes I think I
"hit" a standard well and everyone "seems" to know it...
and then the assessments show BAM! I
was wrong! For example, this quarter I
was sure that my kiddos all knew what "setting" meant (in regard to
stories)... and guess what? Several
kiddos just didn't know! And many more
could not verbally DEFINE it as the Common Core requires. Guess who just did another mini-lesson on
"setting" this week? :)
2. To stay organized
I create an individualized "Student Assessment Binder" for EACH
student. At the beginning of the year,
I place inside any information that I received from the incoming students' preschools. I also put all of my beginning of the year
assessment paperwork inside. (We use the
new DIAL test at kindergarten registration for developmental screening... and
then I invite each of my students into my classroom the week before school
starts to visit the room.. AND I also give them a partial assessment of the 1st
quarter CCSS KINDERGARTENWORKS assessment.)
This info really helps me plan for the beginning of the year, as it
gives me a nice picture of what all my kiddos know. As the year progresses, I stick various
student work examples in the binders with little comments I write added on to
them, as well as any anecdotal assessment notes. Then, obviously I place each quarter's CCSS
KINDERGARTENWORKS assessments along with each student's highlighted quarterly
common core standard list.... which basically becomes that child's INDIVIDUAL
LEARNING PLAN for the next quarter!
I use 1 inch binders with slide-in covers!
You
can see in the front left pocket I keep student behavior records (I use a
"stoplight" system), home reading records, and copies of formal
report cards and progress reports. In
the back pocket you may notice that I keep student work samples. The page that you see IN the binder rings is
the student's quarterly goal sheet.
This is a printed version of ALL of the state standards (broken into
quarterly expectations) on which I highlight EACH student's common core
standard performance. I assess EVERY
CCSS each quarter and any standard that each student has NOT mastered gets
highlighted. Those highlighted standards
become THAT child's goals for the next quarter.
Above, you see more pages of the quarterly student learning objectives.
I do this for EVERY kiddo in my class EVERY quarter.
How do I assess EVERY standard for each quarter? Well, I'll be honest... It takes time. But it is SOOO worth it! I really feel like I know EXACTLY where each
kiddo is in regard to our learning standards.
I use these comprehensive assessments created by KINDERGARTENWORKS on
TPT. They were designed by a very
knowledgeable team of teachers from my former school system in Mishawaka,
IN.
Here you see the monthly homework packets I send home with
my kinder-babies each month. They are
AWESOME! They are specifically designed
to cover the CCSS. They are constructed
so that students can do one activity a night (that may take 3 minutes or so)...
or the activites can be done as parents have time. I set "due dates" as the last day
of each month. They ROCK! I love them not just because they provide my kiddos with extra
practice on the standard skills....but because they allow parents to SEE and UNDERSTAND what we are working on in
class! (We all know how well parents
tend to read our weekly newsletters! LOL)
If you are interested check out KIM SWOVELAND's store on TPT!
3. At the end of the school year, I meet with the first
grade teacher for the "passing of the binders." At this time, I can literally SHOW her
EXACTLY which skills/standards EACH child has mastered and which
skills/standards she will need to provide extra support on. Of course, it is my hope that the first
grade teacher will continue this process....and 2nd, etc. Can you imagine how AWESOME that would
be? Our kiddos would go into third
grade and the teachers/parent would ALREADY know.... BEFORE "THE
TEST".... EXACTLY how they will perform!
Ahhh... teaching perfection.
**<DREAM... DREAM...>**
Ok... I acknowledge that at least at my school we are NOT
"there".... but I am doing my part to the best of my ability! I am hoping others will see the value of
truly knowing where EACH child "is" and then strive to achieve that.
Please share! What do
YOU do for assessments?
How do YOU track
student progress?
What other ways do YOU stay ORGANIZED???
Now to CELEBRATE spring.....
Take a moment to enter the Rafflecopter below for you chance to win a size-able
Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate!
I'm sure you can find something on TPT to help you stay organized {or at least one step ahead of your kiddos} for the rest of the school year!
Goodluck, my blogging friends!
Now "hop" on over to the next stop on the "spring cleaning" hop by clicking below...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)