Creating a Social Contract

A few summers ago I attended a training for a program called Capturing Kids' Hearts!

Let me tell you it was hands down the absolute best professional development I have ever had.

I am such a believer in what they are doing and promoting. 

It is all about building relationships and capturing kids' hearts as the name suggest.

There are many different pieces to it and I couldn't possibly share all of them.  

It really is something you need to attend their training to receive the full benefits.

But I do want to share one aspect with you today.

It's something I would venture to guess you are probably doing or have seen on Pinterest.

Let's talk Social Contracts.

This is very similar to Classroom Norms or Expectations.

I start by asking my students to think about and respond to four questions.

1.  How do you want to be treated by me (the teacher)?

2. How do you want to be treated by each other?

3. How do you think I (the teacher) want to be treated by you?

4. How do you want to treat each other when there is conflict?

After students have plenty of individual think time, I then put them in groups of four giving each student a role.

The Manager keeps the group on task.

The Recorder records a final answer/list for the group.

The Speaker will share the group's final answer with the class.

And my favorite role - The Encourager.  I love hearing my students cheer their classmates on for sharing their answers.

After group time, we begin sharing and discussing as an entire class.

During this time I have a student volunteer to be the Class Recorder.  

Their job is to record the answers as we discuss them.

If an answer comes up multiple times, the Class Record will put a check mark by that word every time it comes up.

Everything is student led.  I am simply facilitating the conversation.  I do manipulate the conversation in order to add No Put Downs on our social contract.

Once the class discussion is over, students are given the opportunity to sign the contract before you display it in the classroom.

I chose to create WordArt with the list this year.

Each class was done in a different color.

This is 2nd period's Social Contract.

We are in the process of having everyone sign it and then I will hang it at the front of the room.

I will remind students of what they agreed to, but more so I will teach students to remind each other.

Do you do anything like this in your classroom?

The Best First Day Ever

This past Monday was our first day of school.  I woke up easily and filled with excitement to start the year.  

I never blogged about it, but last year was the worst first day ever.  I spilled my breakfast all over myself and forgot all of my stuff at home. 

This year was a complete turn around.  I dare say it was the best first day ever.

I feel like I stumbled across the secret to having a great first day that doesn't leave me feeling completely exhausted at the end of the day.

My husband has learned that I NEVER cook dinner on the first day of school. I basically come home and go to bed.  It may not have been a fancy five course meal, but I actually cooked dinner this year after the first day.  And I didn't immediately go to bed.  In fact I did a little shopping.

What's my secret?

Stations.

How have I never thought to do this before.  I know the gloriousness that is stations.

This year I decided instead of being one more teacher for the students to listen to about rules, procedures, and expectations I would have them do all the work through stations.

My coteacher and I set up five stations for the students to work through.  As they transitioned from station to station we were able to teach those transition procedures in real time.  It was great.

The Literary Maven's stations were our base for everything.  We tweaked it a bit to fit our math classroom and added a few different things.

STATION #1

Syllabus & Meet the Teachers Crossword puzzle.

We each made a page to introduce ourselves to the students.  We also had the class syllabus telling them what to expect and basic information such as supplies.  We used this Crossword Puzzle Maker to create a puzzle using the information from our Meet the Teacher pages and our syllabus.

STATION #2

Quiz Your Classmates

We created a few questions to help students get to know one another.  They had fun playing "two truths and a lie" and then discussing thing such as pets and books.

STATION #3

                   

 

We used this Student Survey to help us get to know our students a little better.  I loved their answers to the first question about who they look up to and why.

STATION #4

This activity from Lindsay Perro is designed to be six different stations.  The students color a different section of their paper based on their information at each station.  For example color the circles blue if you are the oldest child, green if you are the middle child, red if you are the youngest child, or orange if you are an only child.  We put it all together as one station.  Our students did not have time to finish it like this and we ended up telling them they could finish it however they wanted.  They are using their finished product as a cover for their Math binder.

STATION #5

In a Perfect World

In this station we asked our students to think about, write about, and discuss what our classroom would look like in a perfect world.  We used their answers and discussions on Tuesday to discuss as a whole group and create a class contract.  My coteacher is using their answers to create a wordle to hang in our classroom.

So there you go.  That's what we did on the first day of school.  The students did all the work and we didn't go home exhausted.  I will never do another first day of school without stations.

If you did stations on the first day of school I would love to hear about it.  Leave me a comment please. :)

Or if you have any questions about the stations we did, leave me a comment about that too.  

Hope you have a great year!

Planning Procedures

It doesn't matter if you teach Kindergarten, Seniors, or somewhere in between planning your procedures is vital for a successful school year.

Do you believe that?

I do now, but if I'm honest I haven't always felt that way.

When I first began teaching I was hired to teach 7th and 8th grade Science and I had two opinions about procedures.

1.  I don't know what procedures I need to have in place.

2. Procedures are for elementary students.  Surely my 7th and 8th graders know how to complete simple task like turning in papers.

Go ahead.  You can laugh at my ignorance.  

It's pretty comical.

Now that I'm going into my 12th year of teaching I know those sweet middle school babies need procedures just as much if not more than those elementary babies.

As far as figuring out what I procedures I needed to have in place...well that sort of happened in the moment.  I would ask my students to do something and it would be complete chaos.  I knew then that we needed a procedure for that.  Or I would find myself answering the same question over and over.  We needed a procedure for that.

There are some things that I'm still figuring out.  Procedures are a very personal thing and you have to find what works for you and your students.  

Bathrooms for example.  I've read what feels like a hundred different procedures onr handling this issue, but I still haven't found the perfect {for me} procedure.  Some teachers give a certain number of passes each year or term and that works for them.  I find that I forget to ask for the pass.  Some teachers don't let students go at all during class.  My classes are 1.5 hours long and it feels cruel to me to never let a student go to the bathroom.  Some teachers have students sign out.  Some teachers take their entire class at once.  There are a ton of bathroom procedures.  I just haven't found what works for me yet.  

So if you have an awesome bathroom procedure that works for you leave me a comment and let me know.  I'd love to hear about it.

Even though bathroom procedures still have me stumped, there are some procedures that I feel I have perfected.  They work wonderfully for me and my classroom.

Today I want to share four of those with you.

ABSENT STUDENTS - MAKE UP WORK

This one took me years to find something that worked for me.  In the beginning I didn't really have a procedure at all.  Students would return after being absent and ask me for their makeup work.  The search would then begin.  What did we do two days ago?  Where did I put those papers?  Did I throw them away?  Let me just make a new copy.

It was a complete train wreck and I knew I needed a procedure to make this easier.  So I began putting names on the papers and placing them all on the corner of my desk.  Brilliant.  

Yeah not so much.  The same search still took place as those papers got buried under everything on my desk.

Now I have a "While You Were Away" crate

Inside the crate are hanging files numbered 1 - 31.

Let's say it's September 3rd.  At the end of the day I will put any handouts that we used that day in the hanging folder numbered 3.  They are all there for any students who were absent of if anyone lost their copy of the handout.  I don't lose papers and students know exactly where to look.  

When October 3rd rolls around, I simply remove any papers that are their from the previous month and add the new papers.

Simple and efficient.

PARENT COMMUNICATION LOG

I'm trying something a little bit different this year and I'm really excited about it.

In the past I've kept a binder.

Each student has his or her own page in the binder.  They are organized alphabetically by last name.

Whenever I had any contact with a parent, I made a quick note of it in the binder on that student's page.  If it was an email then I printed the email and placed it in the binder behind the student's page.

This has served me well for many years.  This year I'm going to use Google Forms as a paperless binder.  

STUDENTS NEED HELP

I teach math.  You know the subject that students tend to hate the most.

They always tend to have lots of questions before they even attempt a problem.

In my class if you are unsure of how to solve a problem there are three steps to follow.

1. Look in your Math Notebook.
2. Ask a friend.
3. Ask Mrs. Weaver


I really want my students to view me as a resource and not just a bank of answers. I have a poster in my room with the above three steps.  We refer to it often.  This past year I had a student who was the queen of questions.  She was a great student but lacked self confidence and always wanted to ask me if she was doing it correctly.  She would come over to me and I would immediately ask if she had done steps one and two.  Later on in the year I would just point at the poster.  Eventually she would walk up to me and immediately say "wait" and then she would go look in notebook and ask a friend.

This procedure and my poster displaying it has become one of my favorite things.


ENTERING THE CLASSROOM

How many times a day do you hear "What are we doing today?"  Do I need my ____ today?"

Drives me crazy!

Our "I can" statement is on the board every day which takes care of the first question.  As for what my students need for the day...

Check the board.

At the beginning of each class I have a slide displayed on the board with some simple directions for my students.

Having this on the board as soon as students enter the classroom does a few things for me.  I don't have to answer the same question thirty times because everything they need to know is on the board.  They have supplies and things ready to go so that we don't have to stop in the middle of class to get scissors or cut something out.  It helps cut down on the crowd at the supplies because they don't all walk in at the same time.



So there you have it...four procedures that work for me and my classroom.  If you have a procedure for something that is top notch I'd love to hear about it.

Or maybe you are like I was in the beginning and you're not sure what procedures you might need.

Here  are some planning pages to help you get started.
(Just click on the picture to grab them.)

What I've Been Pinning

Like everyone else I LOVE Pinterest.

I often wonder what we teachers ever did before Pinterest and other forms of social media.

Connecting with other teachers and sharing ideas with one another is amazing.

Of course it can also be overwhelming at times.  There are sooo many great ideas out there.

Today I thought I'd share a few things I've pinned recently.

If you see something you like, just click on the picture to go to the original site.

ONE.

These tokens are designed to help with those students who always seem to be blurting out in class. You know the ones I'm talking about it.

However when I saw them I immediately thought of another use for them.  I encourage a lot of small group discussion in my classroom.  Just like wevhave those students who love to talk and share their knowledge we also have those students who cringe at the thought of talking aloud.  I want to use these tokens during small group discussions as way to make sure every student participates and no students hog the conversation.  

TWO.

I love everything about this photo.  I love the three "rules" at the top.  I love the colors and the fonts.  I plan to do something similar to this in my classroom next year.  Shoutout to @teachcreatemotivate for such cuteness in her classroom.

THREE.

Next year for the first time ever I will have a chrome cart in my classroom.  A whole cart just for my students every single day.  

Cue happy dance!

I plan to step up my Google game next year and I'm loving the idea of having students record their answers to task cards or any station activity on a google form.  

FOUR.

This is one of my favorite sayings for a classroom.  This is and "throw kindness around like confetti".

Again I love the bright colors.  This may very well be my bulletin board next year.

FIVE.

For the past two years I have been allowed to wear jeans whenever I wanted.  Let me tell you it has been glorious.  Next year I will be in a new district and will have to say goodbye to jeans.  It's sad but I'm excited by the excuse to spruce up my wardrobe a little.  I've been pinning lots of outfit ideas.

What's the best pin you've found recently?  Leave me a comment letting me know.  I'd love to hear from you.

Plickers - An Online Assessment

I would consider myself to be a fairly tech savvy person.

Yet when it comes to my classroom, I don't incorporate as much technology as I would like.

I plan to change that next year and have been to a few technology workshop this summer looking for new ideas.

I have gotten so many great ideas that I spent the month of June with my brain on major overload.

One of the ideas that I'm excited to use is Plickers.

Have you heard of it?

So What Is It?

Back when I was in college I had to purchase a very expensive clicker for my biology class.  Every day we had a quiz at the beginning of class.  I would use my clicker to select my answer.  My individual clicker number would appear on the screen when I had answered.

Plickers is a lot like that.  

Only it's free.

How Does It Work?

Students use a Plicker (paper clicker) to answer the question.

You can see a picture of a Plicker up above.  It reminds me of a QR Code, which I love using in my classroom.

As the teacher you will need to install the free app on your phone or ipad so that you can scan the Plickers.

I was a little skeptical about this at first.  How much valuable time would I waste trying to scan all the plickers in my classroom.

Y'all it only took a couple of seconds to scan them all.

Getting Started

To get started you will need to download the app as I mentioned before as well as set up an account on their webbsite www.plickers.com

Print the Plickers for your students to use.

Because I have three different Math classes I created three different classes on the website.  However, I can use the same set of cards for all three groups.  Students from different classes can share the same card.

Once you have created your account and set up your classes you are ready to start creating questions.

Here are a few I have created about ratios.

Putting It To Use

Once you have everything set up, you are ready to use it with your students.  Spruce up your exit tickets or have fun reviewing for an upcoming test.  There are so many ways to use Plickers.

You choose a question to display for students.

They hold their card with their answer on top.

Use your app to scan the room.

Immediate feedback.

Glorious!!

I love that every card is different.  Students can't  decide how to turn their card based on their classmates' cards.

Keeping Up With the Cards

I do not plan to have my students keep up with their Plickers for a couple of reasons.

One..I want to use the same set for all three classes.

Two...They would lose them the first week.

Seriously!!

I have found several good ideas on Pinterest (What did we do before Pinterest?) for ways to store Plickers.

One teacher had students glue them in your notebook.  This would be great if you were only using one set.  She told students it didn't matter where the A was when they glued them in.  This ensured that their notebooks were all turned differently when they answered...again preventing them from copying from a friend.

Several teachers punch a hole in the corner of the card to hang them on a wall or bulletin board.

I love this idea of printing them a little smaller and using a pocket chart.

So yeah...

I'm absolutely giddy about using Plickers in my classroom next year.  

I think my students are really going to enjoy it.

If you are new to Plickers you can check out Pinterest for a ton of great ideas.

And if you have used Plickers in the past, I would love to hear from you.  Did your students love it?  How often did you do it?  How did you use it?

Monday Made It - Posters and Sub Binders

I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for the Monday Made It link up, my blog would still be sitting here completely untouched.  

Every week I say I'm going to blog more than just this one post.

Then before I know it the week is gone and I haven't blogged.

I've said it a million times but I really do want to get back into blogging on this blog.

Maybe this will be the week.

But in the mean time let's have some fun with my favorite link up...

I didn't get as many projects completed this week as I had hoped.

Hopefully this next week will be more productive.  I can finally get in my classroom and I know it's early but I'm so ready to get in there and start putting things together.

Life was crazy last year and I didn't get to decorate like I normally do so I'm excited to decorate this year.

First up this week is my 8 Mathematical Practices posters.  These were a pain in my side to make this year.  I went through several different designs before settling on one.  Here are three of the eight.

I even got these added to my TPT store if you are interested.  

This next two things were completely inspired by the Peppy Zesty Teacherista.

You can read Teacherista's post about the HW documentation here and the restroom pass here.

But basically...when students don't have their homework or need to leave your room to go the restroom, they scan the QR code which takes them to a Google Form.  The Google Form is very short and to the point - like it will only take them a couple of seconds to complete.

Then you have great documentation!!

My last project for the week isn't quite finished yet, but until I get my class list and other info I've done all I can do.

This design was inspired by Adrienne Wiggins on TPT.

I have been trying for years to find or put together a Sub Binder that is perfect for my needs.  I haven't to accomplish this.  I'm really liking where this one is headed though.

What's in your sub binder?

The One With Groups

There are few sounds I love more than hearing my students collaborate and share their learning with one another.  It makes my teacher heart leap with joy every single time.  

We do groups a lot in my classroom.

I'm always looking for new creative way to create those groups.

I like to keep my students on their toes.  

They never know what crazy way I'm going to put them into groups.

I thought I would share with you some of my favorite ways to create groups.

One of my favorite ways to create groups is to use Clock Partners.

 I love clock partners because they allow you to create multiples groups at the beginning of the year. There are several variations of this idea.  I used a variation this past year called appointment cards.  This worked great for my older students.

The idea is that students set appointments for different times.  I usually do this during the first week of school.  I like to set perameters for the students.  For example, their one o clock partner needs to be someone of the opposite gender.  Their three o clock partner needs to be someone who they aren't already sitting with (we had tables).

There are several variations and forms for clock partners.  You can use them to create as many or as few partners as you want.  When you need students to get together in groups you simply tell to get with their six o clock group or whatever time you wish.

Another cute idea is to use a picture to create puzzles.  Pass out the puzzle pieces to your students and then they find the people who complete their puzzle.  You could use pictures that are related to your content area.

This next one is new to me but I am excited to try it out next year.  It is an app called Pikme.  Have any of you used it?

You can set up classes and then use this app to group them for you.  You can select how many groups you want and how many students in each group.

This post goes into more details about this app.


So what are some of your favorite ways to create groups?  I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions.