A love/hate relationship...

I LOVE going to trainings and getting inspired to make changes to boost student engagement.  I HATE going to trainings, getting inspired and then not being able to find the time/energy to make the changes I truly want to implement. 

   

 <--- seems never ending...does anyone else feel that way?!?

***On a positive note, all this added paperwork and STUFF could only mean one thing Toad - Summer is just around the corner  :)

Making Connections

I always look forward to Pat Pavelka trainings because I know there will be something that I immediately implement into my classroom.  This year there were several ideas.  One of my favorite ideas this year was a student created, constantly changing, making connections bulletin board.  It has helped my kids comprehension and retention with story information. 

My students use stickys to attach their connections to our bulletin board.  They love sharing what they have in common with the book or what the book has in common with another book they have read & then placting their sticky on the board. 

The third section will say "Text-to-world" but since I started this so late in the year and since a first grader's world really is their self, I decided it would be best (less confusing, stressful and chaotic) to just leave it out until next year. 

Do you see the lone red sticky on ts?  It is my FAVORITE!  When we make connections as a class we use several different colors.  When students are at our classroom library and they make a connection on their own their only option is a red sticky.  I love looking over and seeing red stickys and my kids are sooooo proud of themselves!!! 

I love seeing 6 & 7 year olds take initiative.

Teachers Pay Teachers

For those of you who may not know, www.teacherspayteachers.com is an awesome site that allows teachers to submit, browse, download and purchase units and activities.  It is like sharing ideas and materials with your team but on a much, much, much larger scale. 

Recently, I found an awesome unit on letter writing.  It had lesson and book suggestions and printables. 

My favorite was the "I Wanna Iguana" lesson.  My kids LOVED the activity and the TPT pages that I didn't have to create (score!!)  Here is a pic of my board during the writing part of the lesson.

And yes, now I know it is chihuahua :)