First week done...and those boring perpendicular lines!

Blogger friends!!  I survived my first week of fourth grade!  Not only survived, but I absolutely love it. :D

This is the first year that I've really felt like I have a stronger handle on my classroom management system.  I did so much research over the summer (and thanks to some of you for sharing your wonderful ideas and serving as inspiration!) and really hit the ground running!

Last year Angi and my first-grade teammates introduced the clip-chart system to me, and I loved it!  The thing that I love most about the clip-chart is that you can tie it in nicely with any other behavior systems, such as schoolwide systems, or even integrating it with my classroom economy system like I want to do!  So I am still incorporating the clip-chart in my classroom this year.

However, with learning more about whole brain teaching, I'm also incorporating elements of that with my classroom.  I created my own set of class rules, but much like whole brain teaching, I make it a point for my class and I to recite the rules every day, and I also tied in some gestures to go with the rules to help us remember them.

I'm also using some of the "chants" (for lack of better term) from whole brain teaching - day one, I introduced "class-yes" and "hands and eyes" and oh goodness, I so wish I had known about them YEARS ago!  Honestly, "class-yes" is the most basic idea ever (for those of you unfamiliar, you teach your class that whenever you as the teacher say "class", the students have to respond with "yes" and then be silent and ready to listen to what you will tell them next) but it is by far ALREADY super effective at bringing my kids attention back to me when necessary.  I do have a few chatters (haha, what year have I not?) but I've already noticed the positive peer pressure from other students to encourage them to kick it in gear and get on board with the rest of us. Love love love this idea the most of all.  Honestly, try it, and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised as well! :D

I am loving the difference between first grade and fourth grade.  My kids can already read, and can already express their ideas through writing.  We can get to the meat and bones of stories now, really thinking about what is happening and the devices that the authors are using, instead of just working on decoding words.  In math, (most of) my kids already understand how to add and subtract (one I'm not too sure about...poor sweetie) and even have experience with multiplying (dividing is still a little shaky).  I introduced silent reading and talked about the behaviors we should be using during that time, and today (after only 2 days of practice) we sat and read...actually READ...for 20 solid minutes.  My kids were engaged with their books, and we were working on writing down predictions as we read.  I was able to walk around and give individual attention to some students who needed a little extra help.  SO NICE!!

And my team of fourth grade teachers...no, I take that back, basically all the staff at my school... are so WONDERFUL to work with.  And SO extremely willing to help me out with whatever questions I have, even if I've already asked them the same question 5 times in a row for 3 days straight. Haha.  Friends, I have NEVER felt so much at home in a school setting...and this is STILL just the first week!  Even after the first day, one of the other teachers asked me how things were going, and she said it just looked like I was "radiating happiness".  I'm head over heels with it all. :)

I want to leave you with my first funny... we took a math pretest before beginning with the first lesson in the book, and I didn't realize (because I wasn't the one who typed up the page) until I went to check over them that there was a typo on one of the problems.  The question should have read "are these lines perpendicular and INTERSECTING" but instead said "perpendicular and INTERESTING".  One student really considered this as she wrote her response:

Happy Friday!!

Finally...classroom reveal!!

Bloggers, I am exhausted.  It's so hard trying to get used to a new building and a new team and new procedures and a new grade and everything!!  And all at once! Kids start on Monday, as I've mentioned, and I'm looking at probably still having to go in tomorrow AND Sunday to try to finish up as much as I can! But, as I promised, I am FINALLY posting pics of my classroom!  Pretty much the only part that isn't finished is my library area... I still have more organizing and sorting and book unpacking that I want to do.  So pardon the fact that I'm not quite done with that area yet! :)

I'm linking up this post with Brigid's Classroom Tours Linky, and with Courtney's Show Off Your Space Linky!

Welcome to my new classroom!!

BEFORE, whole-class view:

AFTER, whole-class view:

BEFORE, entry corner:

AFTER, entry corner:

(Thanks Kristen for the fun numbered supply labels!)

BEFORE, front of classroom:

AFTER, front of classroom:

(Thanks Angi for the lovely birthday stars!)

(I don't have a before of my teacher corner...haha)

BEFORE, math wall:

AFTER, math wall (and new home of kidney table):

BEFORE, library corner and back wall:

DURING (haha), classroom library:

AFTER, back wall:

(Thanks Rachelle for the Boggle letters that look great in my classroom...even though I haven't added the actual Boggle letters yet...the header still looks great!)

BEFORE, back whiteboard (and old home of kidney table):

AFTER, back whiteboard (now CAFE board and gathering area!):

(Thanks Kristen for the CAFE letters, which actually served as the whole inspiration for beginning this journey into the world of teacher blogging!!)

BEFORE, cabinets:

AFTER, cabinets:

(The change here was more internal...and you can now see how many storage containers I have left over!)

BEFORE, sink area:

AFTER, sink area (and now word wall!):

And one more view, from the back of the room to the front of the room:

Still more last-minute things to do before I'm ready for students... but I've worked hard and wanted to finally share my progress!  Hope you enjoy! :D

 

Classroom Economy (with printables!)

I've been in my classroom each day this week - pretty soon I'll have some pictures to share with you!

In the meantime, I know I've been alluding to the classroom economy system I want to implement this year, so I'm finally getting around to posting about it! (Stay tuned at the end for some freebies!)

I'd seen various formats for classroom economies posted on the internet and around pinterest, so I combined  a lot of the ideas I liked into my own classroom economy system!

(I haven't tried implementing this yet, so all of this thinking is how I *hope* it will run!!)

COMPONENT ONE: CLASSROOM JOBS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

First step will be showing the list of jobs and responsibilities and explaining each one, so that the students will have an idea of the jobs that exist, and what will be required.  I am a strong believer in every student having a job for which they are responsible in the classroom.

After that, students will complete a job application for their first, second, and third choice jobs.

I'll collect the job applications, and assign jobs. Students will be responsible for knowing when and how to perform their jobs, and how much "pay" they earn each day.

COMPONENT TWO: ECONOMY AND "PAY" SYSTEM

Students will receive "earnings" each day based on 3 categories: behavior, classroom job performance, and homework completion.
Behavior: I have integrated the clip chart system with this economy structure - students gain/lose earnings based on the color where they finish their day.  For more about the clip chart system, see here.  
Classroom job performance: each job receives a specific amount of "pay" each day.  If students complete their jobs, they earn their wages.  If not, then they do not earn their wages.  I'm hoping this will help motivate the students and keep them accountable for performing their jobs!
Homework completion: If students complete their homework, they earn $1 per assignment.  If they don't, they lose $1 per assignment.

Students will keep track of their monetary earnings in a personal ledger:

At the end of each day, they will total up their earnings and/or losses with a "banker" (one of the classroom jobs).  At the end of the week they will "pay rent" for their property (desk and chair) and have the opportunity to spend their earnings. (I've tried to make sure that even the lowest-paying jobs, combined with good behavior and homework habits, will allow students to have AT LEAST enough to pay rent and to start saving up for some of the rewards!! - hopefully this will hold true, otherwise I may have to adjust a bit!)  If students don't have enough money to pay rent, they can borrow a loan from the bank:

I printed some of these out and laminated them. :)

As students save up money, they can purchase privileges, or they can purchase property!

I already have to change this a bit, as I've learned my school has a strict no-food-in-the-classroom policy.  No candy option for me anymore! :)

I've tried to make the rewards enticing enough that hopefully they will want to save up to get the good ones, and hopefully it won't take too long or happen too frequently!

Or, as an alternative, students can opt to purchase their property (desk and chair) AND/OR others' property!

For example, if Sally purchases her own property, she will no longer have to pay rent.  If Sally purchases Billy's property, then Billy has to pay his rent to Sally!  Depending on how this idea goes over, I may have to instate a rule that if you can afford to buy your own property, you get dibs on it...or something like that, just so there aren't too many arguments and/or tyrant property owners! :)

WHEW! I think that's everything! Now for some FREEBIES!! :D I've included some of the above documents, in case this classroom economy system appeals to you!

information sheet

job application

list of jobs and responsibilities

weekly ledger

rewards and prices

record of property purchases and bank loans

I'd love to hear if any of you choose to implement this in your classrooms, and how it goes! :)

Classroom sneak peek!

Ohhhhh friends... I am so happy!

I had a last-minute opportunity offered to me to attend a SIOP workshop in my district over three days (yesterday, today, and tomorrow) that is actually being hosted at my school building... so I've had the chance to meet teachers from my school and the other schools in the district, which has been amazing!! Everyone has been so kind and welcoming to me, and I am SO super excited (even more than I was before!) to be where I am this year.

Today I also had the chance to get...the keys to my new classroom!!!  And I got to go in, and took some pictures, and am anxious to start thinking about how to arrange everything.  The teacher who had the room before me retired, so she left lots and lots of materials and resources... which is good because I'm sure much of it will be useful, but a little bit distressing because it just means I have THAT MUCH more stuff to go through and organize.  But I still have lots of time to do it!  So here is the "before" picture of my classroom - be not deceived, it may look like it's up and ready to go, but I haven't brought ANY of my things into the room yet, and I haven't done ANY decorating of my own!!

I'll keep you updated on my progress!! :)