Confessions of a Teacher

http://bonniethrasher.blogspot.ca/ 

I found this lovely picture on Pinterest today, and I thought it was a great way for a teacher to tell her students how she really feels. Positive reinforcement is so huge these days, it's important for us to remember to tell our students these things each and every day. What a better way to remind them, then to have a constant reminder up in the classroom?

Enjoy!

Bulletin Boards

 I found this genius idea today on Pinterest (where else!) and I love it! All you have to do is glue thumbtacks on the back of clothespins, then you can put them on your bulletin boards and clip things like important papers, reminders, etc. I think this is such a great idea and it's SO SIMPLE!

Enjoy!

http://middleschoolforlife.blogspot.com/

Pinterest for Teachers!

I hope everyone is enjoying their February so far! I know I talk a lot about Pinterest and that's because it's so awesome! If you're a teacher/student/future teacher, etc. you should definitely consider getting one! Now my post for today is about a website that I found on... you guessed it: Pinterest! It's got a ton of ideas, pictures, etc. for future teachers and their classrooms! It's so awesome! There are pictures of actual classrooms showing you how to decorate using various themes. There's a ton of ideas!

Now I must warn you that this website is so cool that you should set aside a chunk of time to explore it! Sure  you could just glance, but to really get the amazingness that is this site, you have to REALLY check it out!

Here's the link:

http://www.theschoolsupplyaddict.com/room-setup.html

Image is a screen shot from the actual website from the link above

I hope this site makes up for the lack of posts! I hope to post some more soon! 

But for now...

Enjoy!

Classroom Management

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! I hope this post finds you enjoying a wonderful 2013. I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, SO I wanted to make it up to you by posting something that I just found that I LOVE! 

The teacher that thought of this is a genius and I am definitely using thins. She put up pictures of commonly asked questions like: "Can we use markers?" "Do we turn this in?" etc. Then she put them on the board with magnets. Then she put check marks next to the questions that are answered with yes, and x's next to the ones answered with no. This way the kids know by looking at this board that they can use markers, talk to their friends, work at their seats, talk to the teacher, and they have to turn it in when they're done.

I think this is a great idea and I can't wait to implement it someday!

http://firstgradeglitterandgiggles.blogspot.com/2011/09/classroom-management.html

Enjoy!

101 Websites!

It's way past my bed time and I really should be sleeping, being it's so close to Christmas and everything... However, I HAD to post this. I found this list of 101 websites every elementary teacher should know about. 

http://www.goedonline.com/101-websites-for-elementary-teachers

Now I don't want to discriminate against middle school teachers, so I decided to check some of these websites out for myself. I think that middle school teachers can easily use these too! I've used the #1 website before to help me with homework in high school actually, so in theory, all teachers can use these!

I really love this list and I hope you find it helpful!

Enjoy!

p.s. Be sure to check out all of the links at the top of this page! I've been adding new stuff for weeks, and since I'm on Christmas break, I'll be updating it even more! Check it out!

No More Name Tags!

While perusing Pinterest this morning, I found this great idea for an alternative to having the name tags on the desks in my future classroom. The teacher on this blog says that she hates the name tags because students pick at them, peel them up, and at the end of the year they're a pain to clean off. This is her solution:

They're Sharpie paint pens, and they come in a ton of colors. She just writes the names of her students on their desks, then at the end of the year, colors over them with an Expo marker, and wipes the names right off! I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical about how well they'll wipe off, however, the other teachers on her blog that commented on this post seemed to be thrilled with the results. If this works, it could be used for sight words, spelling words, and more!

These pictures and this idea all came from:

 http://timeoutsandtootsierolls.blogspot.ca/2012/11/no-more-name-plates.html

I encourage you to check out her blog, she has some fantastic ideas!!!

Enjoy!

Fractions can be fun!

I hope everyone is having a great exam week, or work week, or just a great week in general! I decided to share a fun idea that I saw recently that I really liked. While volunteering at Farwell Middle School, I saw this poster in one of the classrooms. The poster shows a demonstration for adding fractions. It says: "Only when the bottoms are the same can you add or subtract. It then shows that since there are jeans on the bottom, and since they're the same, you can add the tops. The first shirt is yellow, the second is white with polka dots, so adding them gives you the third which is yellow with polka dots. 

I really liked this visual to help students to learn! I hope that you find this creative and helpful as well!

Enjoy!