Celebrate Calm

Last night Carolina Day hosted Kirk and Casey the father-son team from  Celebrate Calm.  I'll be honest, I was not exactly excited about going to a workshop on a Monday evening.  I must say I am so glad I went.  Not only did they give GREAT advice, they were very entertaining.  They were able to use humor and honesty to approach some tough scenarios that we as teachers, parents, etc. face each day.  It challenged me to do some self reflection on my own personal management.

Kirk offered excellent suggestions for breaking the (unsuccessful) cycles we sometimes fall into with kids who are oppositional, have difficulty managing energy, or have difficulty with social situations.  Casey offered the perspective of the child who has these struggles and what did and did not work for him growing up.  

They have a series of videos which I highly recommend- but if you get the chance to see them live take advantage of it.

Here is their website: http://celebratecalm.com/

Check it out!

Candi : )

Tick-Tock!

Hi Everyone-
I saw this really cute and helpful clock idea from the Learning Ideas Grade K-8.  I like that it has the hour listed but also the kiddos can really see the five minute increments.  You should check it out!

We do a similar clock created by our 3rd grade teacher.  Hopefully I can get pics of that up soon!

Candi : )

One more use for Painter's Tape

I know.... I know.....last post today I promise!  I was browsing through my photos (for a slideshow for school) and my husband spotted this one, and said I should post it. So here is one other way I use painter's tape.  For those of you using Singapore Math or Math in Focus you are working with number bonds.  We use Math in Focus as supplemental materials.  So I built number bonds on white boards using the tape so that my kids could use them while they needed the frame, but I would still have my mini-white boards still intact.

Parents- this would be an easy review tool for homework.  Tutors this is an easily transported manipulative.

PS- I got the boards in the Target Dollar Section (my fave!!!)

-Candi : )

Framing Your Thoughts

So I know I am breaking the "more than one post in a day" rule....but I have to have something to distract me while I fret over the Carolina game. (Go Heels!)  I have already loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, laundry is in progress, and lesson plans finished. As usual my husband is yelling out the score from the other room.  You see my Pa and I have this crazy idea that we can be bad luck charms to the Heels...so we only watch a few minutes periodically.    Here is my sweet Pa:

Anyways.... enough Madness here is something else- Project Read has an approach to Grammar and Sentence Structure called Framing Your Thoughts. I have been using it since the beginning of the year and I have seen quite a difference with my student's writing skills.  I like their idea of a "Bare-Bones" sentence- where the student develops just a noun and a verb.  From this point you build using parts of speech to create a complete sentence.  I like the sequential approach to it.  Plus it uses grammar for its intended and most useful purpose- Writing!

Here are some pics from my class:

Here's to a Tarheel win!  Candi : )

Painter's Tape

 Hi Everyone!

I have migrated to my new website www.theinstructionhub.com.

I hope you will join me there and follow me on Instagram and Facebook - @theinstructionhub

Thank you! Happy Sunday Everyone!

I hope you are having a great weekend.  I just wanted to share a quick tip that you may already know- but just in case you don't.  A co-worker of mine introduced me to the idea of using blue painter's tape on a magnetic board (or any white board) in order to create handwriting lines.  I have also created a place value chart on my second board.  I have used electrical tape before- but it leaves a sticky residue.  The painter's tape pulls right off with no residue.  As my student's handwriting has improved I have made the space between the lines more narrow.  It has been great for handwriting practice, spelling, and sentence construction.

Hope this is helpful.  Have a great week!  Candi : )

Test Post

So we are switching email accounts as a school so I had to change over my blog email.  If you have ever tried to change the primary email on a blog it can be confusing at first.  But our faithful tech extraordinaire  (Thanks Bo!) figured it out without me throwing my computer or accidentally deleting everything.  Anyways- in doing so my profile has now changed and maybe a few other things that I may have not noticed yet...so give me a few days and I will have everything back to semi-normal again.

Grandparent's and Grand-Friends Day is tomorrow, so I am off to clean up for company and finish solar system dioramas.  Pics to come soon!

Happy Thursday!

Candi : )

It's Ridiculously Long Lasting.... Gum

 Hi Everyone!

I have migrated to my new website www.theinstructionhub.com.

I hope you will join me there and follow me on Instagram and Facebook - @theinstructionhub

Thank you! So as I was walking into class this morning I heard one of my friends say, "Here want to try my new gum it's ridiculously long lasting."  Now that is some great marketing if you can get a firstie to recall your catch-phrase. 

We do let our kiddos chew gum only in our classes (not lunch, recess, etc.) as a way to increase focus.  We also try to have gum be peppermint in flavor, because of the research behind peppermint being a flavor/smell that wakes up your brain.

Anyways- I found it humorous and thought of all the reasons for him to offer to share his gum....I really think he just wanted to say "ridiculously long lasting."

A freebie for you:
We are working on the multiple spellings of long e.  I teach it as e by itself (most of the time at the end of short words and open syllables), e-e (most of the time at the end of a word following the e-consonant e/silent e pattern), and ee in the middle (most of the time) of a word.  We will move into ea (most of the time in the middle of the word- also words you eat....eat, meat, treat) and y (at the end of a 2 + syllable word).

Download it here!

Happy Wednesday!

Candi : )