That Time is Here

So here we are, at the final evening of what was a very restful, sometimes lazy summer vacation. That was my seventh summer vacation, and tomorrow I officially begin my eighth year of teaching with six days of professional development / classroom setup time.

I'm excited, this group of kids is already special to me, because it's my oldest son's grade. I remember when this group of kids started kindergarten, and I said then that I would stay at my current school until this group came along (although now I believe I'll be at my current school for many more years than that). I'm ready to get started, I have a lot in mind for this group, and I think they'll be one of my best classes ever (hopefully I don't end up eating those words in a few months).

So as I sit here watching the Olympics, and soon getting ready for bed, I just want to look back on the summer, and say that it was a productive one. I got this blog up off the ground, and it has become everything I wanted it to be by this point. I have many units and resources up, with more being posted every day. My goal was to have 50 posts and a good amount of page views by now, and I have over 60 page views and am averaging way over 100 views per day. I just hope this keeps growing, and I can keep the momentum as the year goes on. I have a vision for this blog, I want to post pictures of the activities my kids do, and discuss the daily classroom on here.

Thanks for reading, I hope you'll come back!

Collecting Parent Information at Registration: Make It Easier On Yourself

At student registration, my school district has parents fill out many different forms. These forms include:

• Registration document with tons of information, including phone numbers, address, who is allowed to pick child up from school, etc.
• Title I learning agreement
• Technology participation form / photo release form
• School learning agreement
• Transportation information form (how the child gets to and goes home from school)

There are a lot of forms, and this can take the parent a long time to fill out, especially for those parents with multiple children enrolled in the school.

I have another form that I like to add to the list. I find it easier to get certain information on my own, without digging back through these forms to find them. My student information sheet is also how I collect information on birthdays (it's easier than digging through registration documents), and cell phone numbers. I get permission to add parents to my text messaging list as well on this form (I have done a post on how to send mass text messages using an Android smart phone HERE).

This form also includes a second page where I ask for permission to watch a number of PG movies that I have planned during the school year. In 5th grade in the state of New Mexico, we have to have parent permission to show PG movies (I say this because I'm not aware of the policy state by state).

If you would like to take the parent information sheet I have created, you can download it below (you'll probably want the .docx one so you can make changes to it, the .pdf is a little more permanent):

PARENT INFORMATION SHEET .DOCX FORMAT

PARENT INFORMATION SHEET .PDF FORMAT

Me Bags: A Great Ice Breaker / Getting To Know You Activity to Start the Year

Two days ago I posted some advice for the beginning of the school year.

It's obvious that we're almost there, tomorrow is my final day of vacation. One of my favorite "getting to know you" activities is called "Me Bags." This is a simple show and tell formatted activity where each student has the opportunity to share 5 items of personal significance.

The actual way I do this is, I share my "Me Bag" on the first day of school, then I hand out the homework assignment to them, and they have to present theirs the next day. I like doing this for a number of reasons. It's a good way for the students to get to know me right there on the first day. It's also a great opportunity for me to see who puts the effort into returning with their homework the following day, following all directions. The sooner I can find out who my apathetic homework students are, the better.

I set aside large chunks of time the second day of school so that each student can present their bags to the class.

I have written up the sheet that I will send home the first day. You can access it below.

"ME BAGS" HANDOUT (pdf format)

Animal Identification Card Game: A Good Science Inquiry Activity

This animal identification game is very simple, and very effective to have 5th graders play. The concept is very simple. Each student will be given a card, that they will paper clip (or tape, or whatever works best) on their back.

They must then ask other students questions about the animal on their back, questions that must be answered yes/no. It can be a 20 questions game, or just an "ask until you figure it out" game. The goal is for students to get enough information on their animal to be able to guess what it is.

I searched online for free animal information cards, and didn't come up with much. The easiest way to do this, for free, is to download the templates that I list below and use them. I prefer to give students the blanks, and have them find the information for the cards on their own using encyclopedias or the internet.

I utilize this activity at the beginning of the school year in a series of science inquiry games that we play to get in to "the science way of thinking." There are various activities that we do, and this one gets students using the right vocabulary, and gives me a quick picture of what they can already do in terms of questioning and inquiry. The vocabulary I want students to use during this activity includes: predator, prey, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, camouflage, nocturnal, toxic, and hibernation.

ANIMAL BASEBALL SIZED CARDS: This first pdf is a link to some animal cards, and the last page is blanks. I use this page and have students list the information on each animal on the back of the card. The information they must find is:

• Animal name
• Region of the world it lives in
• Diet
• Life expectancy
• Classification (basic level of classification)
• Their place on the food cycle (predator, prey, etc.)

LONG ANIMAL CARDS: These cards already have the information listed. 

LONG ANIMAL CARDS BLANK: These are the same cards as listed above, with the information removed. 

Goodreads.com: One of the Best Classroom Appropriate Social Media Sites Out There

Goodreads.com is essentially a social media website that is all about books. What makes this site so great is that you can create private groups, have discussions, quizzes, groups, polls, etc. I've used it for the last four years with different degrees of success. Last year, I didn't really get it off the ground due to prior technology commitments in my reading class. In the previous two years, I had great success with Goodreads. Students used it to keep an online log of the books they had read, full with a rating of each book and a review. I had expectations laid out that everyone in my reading class would log in at least once every two weeks (I called these Goodreads windows), then update their account with newest books, and comment on the progress of their classmates.

I have included Goodreads in various teacher trainings, and it always seems quite popular with the other teachers. I get many questions about getting a Goodreads account off the ground. So a few years ago, I made some how to videos on Youtube. There are two videos, and if you're interested in starting up on Goodreads, go ahead and follow those instructions and you'll be going in no time.

If your district has a block on Goodreads, it's probably something you could successfully get over turned. I had to get the block taken off of it in my district. It's classified as social media in a lot of blocking software.

If you decide to sign up on Goodreads, look me up and add me as a friend so I can help you out.

Here are the two how to videos on setting up a Goodreads account and starting a classroom group.

Part 1

Part 2