How Not to be Terrible About Student Birthdays

...I'm terrible at student birthdays.  I even blogged about it last year.   I don't mean to be.   It's not on purpose.  I just get caught up in everything else and then suddenly at the end of the day a student says "Today was so-and-so's birthday!" and I'm all "I KNOW!!! Happy birthday to them!  Let's...sing...right now!"  Luckily I have a plan in place.

This year I am going to be great at student birthdays.  I am.

Here are my tips for not being a birthday flake:

1. PREP all birthday "stuff" ahead of time- classroom display, student cards, student gifts (if you do that), and have a plan for what you do on student birthdays.  My classroom display is the Birthday Hall of Fame, where I have monthly cards and I put these "vintage" frames underneath each month with student pictures.  I make student name plates with their name and birthday underneath.   Then I put together my student birthday cards and student gifts (more on that at the bottom).  Be sure to write student birthdays on your planner or calendar.

 

2. ORGANIZE cards from the teacher or other materials in birthday order, so the next birthday is always on top.  PRO TIP:  Write the birthday in the upper corner so it's easy to see and remember.  If you're really on top of things, place the half birthdays in their correct location based on when they will be celebrated in school.  This way the next birthday is always at the top of your card pile.

3. ASSIGN student helpers to be in charge of birthdays.  I have these students put the Birthday Monkey (it's a monkey, it sings, it's all around distracting) on the student's desk, place the birthday sign next to that child's picture, and most importantly, remind me.

4. KNOW your school's policy on treats.  Or just birthdays in general.  My school does not allow them.  Treats that is.  They do allow birthdays.  I love my school.

5. CELEBRATE!  With a birthday monkey (or whatever you do for birthdays!) on their desk, a card ready with a nice corner bookmark (see below!), sing a song or do what you do to make birthdays special!  I like to have a Paper Party- I cut construction paper in four pieces (I try to use scraps in the work room before I cut regular paper because I really don't care if they are straight or perfect rectangles) and each student decorates one card for the birthday child.  The I hole punch one corner of each and put them all together on a ring.  PAPER PARTY!

When I student taught, one of my cooperating teachers always played the Beatles "Birthday", so sometimes we do that now, too.  {I kind of love this version}

The best part is, all of this only takes about 10-15 minutes, so it's not a super time sucker at school.  Excellent!


Student Cards + Gifts
This is what I've been working on prepping this week.  Well, more than just this, but I got this all ready and prepped.  Names written, dates on them, corner bookmarks folded/glued/placed on cards.  Everything in order.

I make my students corner bookmarks as their "gift".  They are easy.  They are inexpensive.  My students use them all year.  It is still thoughtful.  Here's what I do.  {These bookmarks, cards, and the poster set is from the RTL store here or using the link above}

Start with your template (it's really just a square with two triangles off the sides), then follow these picture steps to make your bookmark corners!

DONE!  How do you celebrate student birthdays??


Also, don't forget the TpT Sale on August 3/4!  The RTL Store will be 20% off of everything, for a total of 28% off when you use the code BTS15 at checkout!  Start making that wish list!

            

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Starting to get that B2S anticipation...

I've been prepping all kinds of school stuff in anticipation of these new kiddos that will walk through my door in a month or so.  Then I came across Jamaal Charles' introduction at the Special Olympics and it made me think about meeting all my sweet students right where they are and helping them to find success.  I love that moment when a student discovers they are really good at something and they begin to gain more and more confidence.

I had so many take-aways from this short speech- celebrating students gifts/talents, kindness, classroom community, teamwork, leadership.  It was a great reminder for me as I work on all kinds of paper prep for my new year!  Take a smile and pass it on!

            

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Student Nametags + A Super Simple Way to Pair Students

Even though I knew better, I did it.  I checked my class list to see the names of my new students.  I shouldn't have... it gets me thinking about student NAMES and the things their names could be placed on to... and it's a dangerous slippery slope.  I know the list will likely change by at least one or two students before the first day of school.  But still.  I did it.  I got excited.  I started making things.  

I've come to terms with the fact that later I'll have to redo a couple because my excitement got the best of me.

I started prepping all that stuff we put on student desks.  Name tags.  Buddy lists.  Student numbers (this consists of writing numbers on dot stickers and sticking them on name tags, so it's really not a time commitment at all).  That's pretty much it.  I guess I don't put a lot on their desks.

So first...I created name tags.  (I KNOW!)  This year I opted for a simple black and white design that students can decorate when they get in the classroom.  This gives me a little more wiggle room if I have a last minute student.  I figure I can plaster nameplates to desks after students leave school on the first day.  

I grabbed a pre-made doodle from Classroom Doodles and put my new student names on them.  Print and ready to go!  I almost feel like I cheated because this was so simple!!

The next thing I started was my partner/buddy cards.  I can't actually finish these yet, because I don't know my students.  I like to get to know them and their strengths and weaknesses before I put my master list of buddies together.  But I did go ahead and add all their names to my spreadsheet and each buddy tag.

There are times when I choose students randomly, but typically I like to keep student buddies or partners the same.  I do this for a couple reasons: 

1. It takes the drama out (I hate seeing a kiddo with no partner or someone telling someone they don't want to be their partner)

2. I can control how students are grouped based on the activity.

3. Pairs stay consistent for subjects like writing- this way I know how students are editing and giving feedback.  I also know how they work together and ways I can provide support.

I set up a teacher code buddy card that tells me know I grouped students- by subject (reading, writing, math), by ability (apprentice/expert or high/low, or same ability level), or gender mix (boy/girl, or same).  This way I have some flexibility depending on the activity, students know exactly who their partner is, and we don't mess around getting straight to business.  I just say "Find your Purple Partner" and they are all set.

To do this, I use a personalized tag (seen above) with partner listed that I stick right on each student desk.  It makes transitions so much easier.

You can grab these colorful (or B&W) tags and create your own version of buddy cards.  I have updated this file from an editable Powerpoint, and instead made them PNG images (It just went live, so if you had the other file, you can re-download!).  This was for a couple reasons, but the biggest was that not everyone uses Powerpoint for school, and this way anyone can place these images and add their text regardless of the program.  It's essentially the exact same product (the image used in the Powerpoint was a picture image anyway), but this way you have a few more options available.  If you use a B&W version (on colored paper, perhaps?), you may add a number next to student names (partner number 4!) since it won't be color coded.

I hope all that makes sense.  Of course, if you have a different use for them, please feel free to do that, too!

I won't start putting student names on anything else (although now I'm thinking about birthdays...) so that I don't end up making more work for myself later!  

            

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News in a Nutshell #20

Happy Friday!  I really enjoyed the latest education related news this past week or two.  Plus, I've been working on a lot of ideas for setting up and adjusting my Writer's Workshop this next school year, so I started a new Pinterest board with ideas and helpful websites and added the link below if you are also working on some WW set up!  More to come on that once I get my thoughts together.

Here we go...

15-year-old catches math error at the Museum of Science

Boston.com

What if everything you knew bout disciplining kids was wrong?

Mother Jones

Tough tests for teachers, with questions of bias

New York Times

Students' reading and math skills are still all over the map

NPR

Follow Miss B.'s board Writing Workshop on Pinterest.
My newest board for Writer's Workshop and conferring in writing. 

       

Visit Miss B.'s profile on Pinterest. 

 In case you want it all and you want it delivered.  Here it is.

            

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New {free} Resources Page on RTL

In between summer adventures, I have these few chunks of time when I really want to buckle down and get some things on order for the new school year.  One of those things is having a catch all for the websites I love.  Do you have websites you love to use, and then you forget about them?  I will go on a website binge and then a few months later try to rack my brain for that same website and I can't remember it.  Drives me crazy!

Other times I feel like I've exhausted what I have off the top of my head and I'm looking for something that will provide a student a great challenge, or another resource to meet an entire standard, or something I can toss up on the active board as a new guided math activity, or a resource that will make my life easier, make learning better, etc.  I hate when I have that moment of "I know I've come across something that could be helpful, but I'm not sure where it is right now..."

I've tried lots of different ways to organize these websites and resources, from websites that organize them for me, to making a running list in my Google Drive, but honestly, signing into something is not what I want to do when I need a quick reminder.  I like Symbaloo for my students, but I don't love it for me.  Often times I pin these on my Pinterest boards, but sometimes the pins don't lead exactly where I want them and it gets tricky (for instance, it takes me to a blog with the link- which I love, but not during the school day or frankly any time I'm wanting to find a webpage quickly) OR I don't want to hop on my Pinterest account at school.  Then I figured if I'm looking for resources that I love, maybe other teachers are looking for them as well, so I decided on creating a catch all on my own blog.  That way it's useful to me, plus I'm sharing!  

So you may notice a new(ish) little tab at the top of the RTL blog.

This tab will take you to a list of subjects or teacher topics, and you can choose which topic you are looking for.  Then there's a list of websites I love to use or keep in my teacher toolbox of ideas and possibilities.  These tabs do not have links to products, but rather to online resources available.

I love free resources, and if I don't have to recreate the wheel, that's even better, so most of the resources I like to are FREE (although some may need a member account, but still free).  There are a few that I like that do have paid subscriptions, and I'm sure to mention that in my description.

I hope to keep this as an ongoing list of active links as new resources become available or are discovered.  If you ever find a dead link- let me know!

Do you see anything missing?  This is new and I'm just beginning to build these resources pages.  I'm happy to add resources that other teachers love in order to build a bigger-badder-better idea vault for all.  You can leave a message on this blog post, or just email me at realteacherslearn@gmail.com.

I'm super excited about it and I hope it's useful for you and your classroom!

            

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Spotify (vs. Pandora) in the classroom

Happy holiday weekend!  Since I'm living in the happy land that is summer break, I'm breathing music during the day rather than flipping on the television.  It's amazing how much more I can get accomplished with music on instead of the tv!  

I love music in my classroom.  When I student taught, the front office of the school had classical or instrumental music playing all day everyday and it was so relaxing when you walked in every morning.  I loved it, and I want my classroom to feel that way as well.  I don't play music constantly, but I do try to have it on at different points during the day.  

Like many, I was first a cd person.  Then I went iTunes for a short while (I still stick to my iTunes for my workouts, but not for classroom use), then I went Pandora.  And I've switched again, to Spotify.  I know Spotify is all the rage right now, but it was less about being trendy and more about moving away from Pandora out of unnecessary frustration.  

Pandora frustrated me for a couple reasons... One, it loaded S-L-O-W on my school computer.  When it finally did load, I'd get about one good song before it had to buffer again.  I'd play it on my phone, which was a bit better but that brings me to Two, it stops to buffer all the time!  I don't know if it's me or my devices, but it drives me bonkers.  It also stops to see if I'm still listening, which is also inconvenient, because I am almost always still listening.  And Three, I feel like the same songs come on over and over on the stations I listen to.  I could find new stations, yes, but even then it was similar.  So I switched.  Although both services appear to be very similar, they do offer some differences that I prefer in the classroom.  Here are a few articles pointing out the main differences in services:

Pandora vs. Spotify vs. Beats: What's the difference?

Forbes

Spotify vs. Pandora

Diffen

Spotify vs. Pandora: Which is better?

Mashable

Spotify is more expensive monthly if you want ad free music (I only use the free version right now).  The pros of Spotify in the classroom are that I can play an entire album if I want to- so if I find an artist I like, I can find more of their music and play it.  Pandora would just switch to a new song next. This also helps with the censoring I like to do ahead of time just in case anything sneaks in there.

Spotify has WAY more music selection, which is especially nice because I like to play instrumental music and there are endless options available.  I especially like to play instrumental pop music while I'm working on my own, because then if someone comes in (student, admin, parent, teachers) I'm not thinking about what the lyrics might be.  (Does that stay on anyone else's mind?  Just mine?)

Here are a few of my Spotify favorite playlists:

Back to School Piano Playlist (by Piano Tribute Players)

Instrumental Pop

Any/All Classical stations

A few of my favorite artists:

Smooth Jazz All-Stars

Nazareno Aversa

The O'Neill Brothers

Piano Tribute Players

Vitamin String Quartet (on Pandora as well- I love them!)

String Tribute Players

Robbins Island Music Group

Recommended Albums:

Songs for the Classroom: Instrumental Music for Reading, Studying, Study Music for the Classroom (by Robbins Island Music Group)

Relaxed Reading 

(by Nature Sounds Artists)

Disney's Greatest (all Volumes)

(various artists)

There are WAY more options out there.  I'd love to hear what you or your teammates enjoy listening to during the school day!  

            

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