Plan-Plan-Plan

I had too much fun with this!

August 2, 2012 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 16 Comments

Really, I did.

I had a lightbulb moment for my lightbulb moments.

I was work on first week activities, and was working on craftivities related to my “rules to live by” — one of which is “use your brain: be a learner” and represented by a lightbulb.

I was almost finished and then I realized, ohmyword, this is the perfect companion to the stress relievers.

So then I decided to make a sample and see if it made sense in action.

Then I thought… well, what if I laminate these and students keep them to refer to? But I wanted something to display, too… so…

When students have a breakthrough or a “lightbulb moment,” we celebrate it. And one way to celebrate it, is to commemorate it and display that accomplishment (because it is an accomplishment).

(It’s totally like one of those perpetual mirrors. I had a lightbulb moment in Target about lightbulb moments and then had a lightbulb moment about my lightbulb moments.)

I’m going to have a focus area in the classroom to display all of the moments that allowed kiddos to join the “Thomas Edison Club” — where hardwork and determination yields successful “lightbulb moments”! Of course I’ll have to explain who Thomas Edison was and what he invented first… but that’s part of the fun!

So there you have it! Two lightbulb craftivities to use with your kiddos! I’m working on a “world of possibilities” version for my husband’s classroom (since their social studies focus is geography, and well, I took all of the lightbulb stress relievers for myself!).

If you’d like to pick up this craftivity for yourself, I’ve listed it in my TPT store for $1.50! There are multiple options included, as seen below:

A big congratulations to posters #16, #23, and #41 on my Monday Made It post — Amber, Laura, and Cristy, I will be e-mailing you your word wall packs shortly! For everyone else, I’m putting it on a flash sale for $2.50, so head on over and pick it up!

I can never resist a giveaway, so the first three people to comment below will receive the lightbulb moment craftivity in their inbox — make sure you leave your e-mail!

What day is it? (Mondayyyyyyyy!)

July 30, 2012 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 48 Comments

Another Monday! On the upside, I get to spend a good chunk of my Internet time today looking at all of the amazing things bloggy friends have come up with. On the downside, this means I’m running out of time. Eeeeeeek! I know some of you are heading back into the classroom much sooner than I am, so I don’t feel too bad, but I’m starting to get a bit nervous. I even had my first school-related nightmare! (I showed up at the wrong school and wrong classroom on the first day and it. was. a. trainwreck!)

So: word walls. Let’s talk about them.

In some of my practicum experiences, they were just kind of there. They weren’t talked about or used, they just kind of took up space. In some of my practicum experiences, they weren’t there at all. There wasn’t really an alternative, either, so it was a constant struggle of students not being able to have the independence they craved during writing.

There were some awesome word walls I saw, however, and the ones that were awesome were used. Frequently. They weren’t just an “if you don’t know it” reference, either, they were a centerpiece of learning and kind of the pulse of the room. So that’s what I had in my head when I started on this project: something that is, above all, going to be supportive for my kiddos (especially my ELL’s), and something that made sense with what my goals are this year (see the trusty sidebar).

I need a dynamic word wall.

First, I made these:

*sigh* These colors make me happy.

These are my headers for my word wall, which is going to be placed above the windows, here:

I still can’t believe I have a classroom.

While that’s a readily accessible place from anywhere in the room and has plenty of space for lots of words, it doesn’t quite hit the mark for what I want to do alone. Enter this:

You knew it was going to be Oz-related, right?

The idea is this: my students need to experience independent success in their writing, and I want to remove as many obstacles to that as possible. At the same time, I want to support my ELL’s that may need some visual cues, while also encouraging my wordsmiths to expand their vocabulary. This is where my mobile word wall fits in!

Clear plastic pencil pouch, blank color-coded cards, A-Z dividers, and trading card protectors.

Smaller versions of the word wall headers are on each divider to create a visual link.

Students can have the independence they need and can contribute at their own pace, on their own time using this resource. They can encounter a word that they think should be added — perhaps a content area word or fabulous vocabulary word — and select the correct colored card, write the word, and then add a visual or other thought to make a more concrete connection.

Front of the cards; note the color-coding for content areas.

Back of the cards, with a visual or example.
This can be expanded to include a definition, a sentence, etc.

The color-coded cards open up a lot of possibilities; they can be used to denote spelling patterns, level of difficulty, or as I’ve used them — for content areas. I’ll be taking the lead from my content-area binders and using purple for science, green for math, blue for social studies, and then using red, orange, yellow, and black for the various parts of speech.

These are the blank mobile word wall cards for student use.
There are matching larger cards for the full-sized word wall.

I got through all of the words on my district’s list for second grade, and am now working on expanding it to include words that I know will come up during the year for the various units. The full-size words are more of an undertaking since I’m laminating them for durability.

The mobile word wall will not start out the year with us, but will slowly be introduced as we begin to use our word wall and I model a lot about how to use it to my students’ advantage. This will work well with my implementation of Daily 5 and CAFE, as I can see this hanging out in our word work or writing center!

Whew! That was a lot of post. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I’ve packaged all of my materials and listed this Dynamic Word Wall pack (including editable PPTs for you to customize with your word lists) on my TPT store. Here’s what is included:

I would love to give this word wall set away to three people! Leave me a comment with your e-mail, and I’ll choose three random winners on Wednesday night!

(Speaking of winners, a big congrats to The Meek Moose for winning the Discovery poster — I look forward to seeing it in action in your school!)

Better Late Than Never!

July 22, 2012 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 9 Comments

I finally finished putting together my planner pack for 2012-2013! This project started out as just a personal project, but then I realized that it might be useful to other teachers, and so I kept going!

While I love my rainbow theme, I also know that it’s a bit ink heavy — which is why I ended up doing a blackline version of the planner pack to be printed on bright paper (this is what delayed it a bit).

I’ve already printed it out and set it up in my organizer for the year, and I am so so pleased with it! I’m a wee-bit of a post-it note hoarder, so this agenda (which is laminated for durability) is going to be very useful for me this year!

I’ve already started adding things to my August calendar because August is less than two weeks away! I cannot believe how quickly this summer has gone by, and really need to kick it into high gear because my to-do list keeps growing! I have my orientation on the second of August, and then my first day of new teacher orientation is August 22nd. (I just realized that’s a month from today. Wow.)

Despite how overwhelming my to-do list is, I couldn’t be more excited to see everything coming together. I worked so hard for so long to make this (my own classroom) a reality, that the late nights and sleepy eyes when my little guy is calling “Mommmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy!” in the morning is just another part of this joyful process.

While I’ve listed this planner pack in my TPT store (it’s only $3.00!), it is the much-promised freebie for all of those that entered my giveaway! ~~I’m going to go-through the Rafflecopter entries tonight and tomorrow and e-mail it out in batches.~~ Check your e-mail if you entered the giveaway — I have officially sent them all out! I hope that it will be useful to those of you that entered!

The Post With the Most Bullet Points

July 20, 2012 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 1 Comment

I need to buy stock in:

printer ink
lamination pouches
cardstock
and raisinets (seriously, why are they so delicious?!)

I’ve been a busy-bee around these parts! I’m juggling about a dozen different projects all at once, including one that will be the freebie for all of those that entered my giveaway, as well as my Monday Made It for next week (what? you know you’re doing it too!).

Some of the decor-related items I’m working on:

cutting out all of the laminated bulletin board trim (It is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r!)
mock-ups of bulletin boards (I’m using my empty classroom photos + photoshop!)
nameplates, labels, and other misc. organizational items

Some of the curriculum/management-related items I’m working on:

my teacher organizer (I opted to make my own, even though I *really* wanted an Erin Condren planner!)
long-rage thematic calendar (Themes! Oh, the themes!)
first day of school activities (I’m already nervous!)
classroom procedures + implementation w/modeling
positive behavior rewards
rough-planning of the first three weeks

Some of the books/websites I’m wading through:

Daily Five
CAFE
The Next Step in Guided Reading
Whole Brain Teaching

Whew. I’m totally beat just listing all of that! I’ve totally been neglecting Pinterest too, so I have to catch-up on all of my pinning and figure out what my next project is going to be!

I do have a few areas where I could use some support and advice, so:

If anyone could share some good morning meeting resources, or talk about their experience with morning meeting, I would love that! Same goes for experiences with whole brain teaching and how you began implementing that in your classroom!

I’ll leave you with the graduation portrait that just came in of Mr. Plum and I! This was taken within a minute after we were handed our (empty) diplomas; I’m still a bit in shock this moment happened!

Where do I begin?!

July 8, 2012 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 30 Comments

Yesterday both Mr. Plum and I were able to get into our classrooms to take some measurements, poke around a bit, and take pictures. I had seen my classroom briefly on Thursday (when we were in the area to look at daycares — *groan*), but I was too overwhelmed to take it all in. I was too excited. Giddy, even.

So, armed with a camera, I entered and UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, that’s my name beside the door?! Giddy, again, and all focus was lost for about five minutes.

Then I looked at my room number. Y’all, before I even had a job, I knew what my classroom theme was going to be (Wizard of Oz). Therefore — as an affirmation — I started making “teachery” things in that theme, including binder covers. Well, I had to put in a room number in my formatting so that I could change it when I would get my real room number later.

I put room 108.

I’m going to pause here, because you probably know what’s coming.

I’m in room 108. For real. No jokes. My name is under room 108.

After I recovered from that shock, I peeked around the corner, and I saw what appeared to be a closet. I’m just going to lead-off with a homerun here, because I can’t contain my excitement.

Looks like a closet, right? That’s what I assumed. And then I opened it. What’s behind door number one?

A bathroom. Seriously. Pick me up off of the floor!

Once I regained composure, I took photos from all four corners of the room — starting from the door:

After letting it sink in that this was my room, I realized a few things:

I have a ton of resources. In the closet next to the cubbies are book bins. For each kid. I about fell over. Above the student cubbies? Tons of manipulatives and games. On the bookshelves? A classroom library of leveled books… including all of the Magic Treehouse books.
I have a ton of storage. Tons. There isn’t going to be an issue organizing and storing my belongings and resources for the kiddos in a way that is accessible to us both. On the back wall, there is even this:

I have plans for those bins. Big plans. With labels.
I don’t want a “teacher desk.” I didn’t see one — even in the hallway — and even if I somehow missed it… I don’t want one. There’s a nice raised area at the computer station for adult-sized me, and I can store things that I don’t want my kiddos to access in the cabinets above it.
There aren’t many bulletin boards or empty wall-space, so I’m going to have to get creative. The wall above the windows is something I have permission to paint and affix things to, so that could potentially be our word wall. We shall see — it’s going to be like putting a puzzle together, figuring out where all of our focus items should go.
I’m not sure if I have a whiteboard. I thought it was a chalkboard, but I didn’t actually touch it. So… I guess I’ll have to figure that out the next time I’m in my room!

The biggest realization? I felt at home. That room felt like home.

Since I am brand spankin’ new at this — I need some veteran help. What stands out to you looking at these photos of my classroom? Is there something you think I should do (or avoid doing)? Any tips & tricks?