Dojo Masters

I LOVEE Class Dojo! It is such a motivator for my class. I have seen huge progress when using this behavior management tool! I have used this the past two years in my classroom and heard a lot of positive feedback from parents as well.

I use the online Class Dojo during class time. The students also have a class Dojo Masters board, which they love!

 I print out their character from Class Dojo's website and laminate and hot glue a magnet on the back. After the student's get points on Class Dojo they level up on the Dojo Masters board and get to choose a reward coupon.

My school is a PBIS school so we pass out tickets to kids in the hallways or at school assemblies for good behavior. They earn a ticket for using their 3 R's (Respect Yourself, Respect Others, Respect Property). I also created Class Dojo points tickets to use in my classroom.

At the end of the day, as a whole class, we see how many positive points we scored. We talk about ways to improve our percentage and set goals for the following day. If the class as a whole scores over 90% we have a Dance Party at the end of the day. I also created certificates to pass out at the end of each month to all the kids who score 85% or higher positive behavior.

See more at my TPT store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dojo-Masters-A-Class-Dojo-Resource-1704827

Throwback Thursday... DIY Valentine's Day Cards

I love Valentine's Day! I always have a blast making my own creative Valentine's Day cards for my class. I like to try and stay away from candy. Here is one of my favorites!

I bought glow sticks from the Dollar Store. They sell them in packs of 4 for $1. I downloaded the card from TPT. I copied the image onto pink card stock, and taped the glow sticks on. Super easy and the kids loved wearing their glow sticks! I couldn't find the original but found a few other similar free downloads:

http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/2011/12/you-make-my-glow-v-day-freebie.html

              http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/diy-valentine-heart-glow/


If you are a parent looking for ideas for Teacher Valentine gifts.. here is a sweet gift I received from a student.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am having a sale until Feb. 14th in my TPT Store. I have some fun new Valentine's Day activities based around the book "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Rose."

R.A.K. Week 2015!! #RAKWeek2015

In the spirit of Random Acts of Kindness week, I decided to make some fun activities for teacher's to use in their classrooms. You can learn more about RAK on their website: www.randomactsofkindness.org

They have tons of videos, book suggestions, lesson plans, activities for you to use in your classroom or with your own family!


Check out some of the fun materials you can download from my TPT store:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Random-Acts-of-Kindness-Week-1701866

Slowly coming along

I am super excited about these two new additions to my classroom!

I love the idea of a "Take a Break" center. I got this awesome idea and packet from TPT after reading this article: Why I Will Never Use a Behavior chart again

I can't wait to try out this center in my classroom and focus on the positives this year! 

I love Classroom Dojo!! This year in addition to using Classroom Dojo on my smart-board, I decided I wanted to have a visual goal for the kids when earning points. Each student moves up levels when they earn points. At each level they have an opportunity for a reward ticket (lunch with a friend, sit in the teacher's chair, etc.) Once everyone makes it to Level 100 we will have a class party to celebrate and everyone will reset back to 0.

This fun idea was inspiration from Secondgradealicious.

Let's try this again...

Well, it is now my third year teaching First Grade! :)  And I actually have 2 full weeks to set up my classroom this year!! I am so pumped that I actually spent the last two days getting lots of work done. As I lugged my materials through the hallway one of the summer maintenance employee's commented "Ya know you still have two more weeks." Yes I know, I am an overachiever.

Here are some "Before" shots:

My first year of teaching, I was hired the week before school started. So I had to find a place to live, move my whole life AND set up a classroom the week before school. Last year, they were still putting the finishing touches on renovating our school, so I had yet again just one week to unpack and set it all up perfectly. (I am a TPTaholic and obsessed with Pinterest so of course this took a lot of time to make it up to my standards.) So I am taking full advantage of my 2 weeks this year!! I am so excited to post the final pictures when I get finished!

Cheers!

Winter Olympics Unit!

Finally finished my first TPT unit on the Winter Olympics! Super pumped and excited to teach my very own unit to my class! If you know anyone who needs last minute Olympics lesson plans please pass this along... 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Aligned-Winter-Olympics-Unit-1097649