Conquering the Parent/ Teacher Divide

   My first year of teaching I had a parent who was very involved. One parent. I only had 14 students so I was fortunate to not have a large class, but it still came as a surprise to only have one involved parent out of all the students in the classroom. I spent the year wondering why parents never responded to emails, phone calls, notes...why didn't they seem to want to contact me or attend conferences? I was extremely grateful to the parent who was there...the year would have been so much more difficult without her!

   The summer between my first and second years, I thought many times over how to get parents more involved. It occurred to me that perhaps they weren't as involved because they just didn't know where to start or how to help. The best cure for this was a deeper level of communication. So, I created a classroom-only blog and updated the school website that linked to my name...I even made a checklist of 'positive notes' to be sure I sent one home with each child regularly to keep positive contact. One of my most exciting ideas, though, turned out to be the most useful. Using Vistaprint, I created business cards that listed my name, email, school phone number and the web address of our classroom blog. The cards were free, so I purchased some cute notepads for my classroom to balance out my cart. (I am not posting a picture due to all the personal info on them.) I then put business card magnets on the back of 25 cards. In my welcome packet, each student received a magnet card and two without magnets. Ideally, this created a way for parents to easily contact me or find information on our class.

   Communication cleared up...which led to more parents volunteering. I now had a new problem...how do I keep volunteers organized?! I made a master list of who wanted to volunteer and how. One parent preferred to make copies, others didn't mind cutting out laminated materials, a couple of parents were always on hand for classroom parties. For parents who didn't mind cutting or doing other tasks at home, I created an envelope to go home with students. I have created a couple more...they aren't laminated yet, but here is an example:

In these envelopes, I included a sticky note with directions and any tools parents needed to complete the task they were helping with. Possibilities don't end with cutting laminated task cards...one parent put together research index cards by hole-punching five at a time and joining them with brads. This little envelope saved so much time! 

   In the classroom, I created a bin for volunteers and one for my assistant whom I shared with two other teachers. My assistant came to me for an hour a day unless otherwise detained, so it helped to have anything she needed perfectly lined up for efficiency. The two bins were close to the door and anything that needed to be done was sticky noted with directions. I found this was really helpful for parents who wanted to help but didn't want to interrupt class. 

   I hope some of these ideas are helpful! Here's to a great school year with fabulous parent/ teacher relationships! :) 

Creative Teaching Press Giveaway!!

Oh, I do love a good GREAT giveaway! :) So our friends over at Creative Teaching Press have this wonderful giveaway for your Fall 2014 classroom. Most of us may still be soaking up the last little bit of summer we can, but it doesn't hurt to plan ahead.

The prize includes $200 to spend on items in their catalog. What would I buy? Hm....

First on my list would replace the gallon size freezer bags I currently use for Book Buddies...

Next, I would add a mini bulletin board set that will keep our jobs in order while perfectly matching my classroom decor. :) 

Who doesn't need a supply of the cutest paper around for newsletters and 'Meet the Teacher' notes?! This chevron printer paper is perfect. (There are also some fabulous matching post cards!)

Finally, I like to keep a data wall with index cards that students keep track of their goals on. Since their goals change as they succeed at them, I need it to be flexible. The best method for this is to laminate library pockets for students to use on the data wall. They can easily refer to their goals and still keep their academic privacy and integrity! A great plus in this method is that I can also check on their current goals whenever I need to. There are many patterns of beautiful pockets...my favorite is this cute Stripes & Stitches version. 

Creative Teaching Press has so many wonderful items to choose from that it truly is difficult to just pick a few things! You can enter their giveaway by clicking the hyperlink in this sentence. Good luck! 

2014-2015 Pre-Classroom Sneak Peek

   Did you hit any awesome sales this weekend?! I did!! I made it to Big Lots for their Friends & Family sale, visited Dollar Tree, and stopped in for a bit at the Hancock Fabrics bus sale. (I am not sure if the one at Hancock Fabrics is nation wide or local.) I also made a quick trip to Lowe's to pick up a bit of paint and a few paint stirrers. Woohoo! I love shopping...definitely more than I should!

   Here's what I came out with:

 Aren't those magazine file bins beautiful?! (Big Lots) The adorable basket in green came from the Dollar Tree. I love how all the stores seem to be right on target with my colors this year. :)

Ignore the sunglasses...the paint is what this picture was MEANT to capture. A career in photography is certainly not for me! I love the vibrant colors in the Valspar line at Lowe's and these little jars are perfect for my classroom needs! I just need to stock up on some paint stirrers somehow and we will be all set. :)

Ah, my fabric. Sewing is by far one of my favorite hobbies. This fabric serves two purposes, the solid colors are for curtains in my classroom. I absolutely CANNOT wait to reveal those! The print is for cabinet curtains and perhaps something else if I find the need for it.

I love classroom decorating perhaps a bit too much, but it certainly helps to make the environment more organized and attractive. :) Enjoy your Sunday evening!

Pinterest = PD in Jammies

   I know I am not the only woman that surfs through Pinterest 200+ times a day. (I hope I'm not, anyway!) As I lay perusing the 'Education' tab of our favorite virtual bulletin board last night, I began to wonder about the effects of it on my teaching.

   How many of us have wished we could walk into the classroom of another teacher and learn by watching? Or perhaps take a walk through a classroom and look around at their organizational methods while taking notes on what to use in your own room? Unfortunately, you can't really do this if you are busy actively teaching in your own classroom and don't happen to be a time traveler. This is why I love Pinterest. I can easily pick up excellent ideas from my peers without losing the valuable time I need in my classroom.

   My favorite way to look around for great ideas is to start at the broad label of 'Education' on the home page. You can get even more specific by typing your grade level in the search bar...since I teach third, I generally type in third grade or third grade common core. It really is ridiculous how many things I find on there. I am not as much a 'maker' as a purchaser on TPT, mostly because nearly everything I think of making I search for first and find that someone else has already made exactly what I wanted! I absolutely don't think this is a bad thing, I buy it and move on to whatever I wanted to sew instead. :)

   I would love to know how you use Pinterest. If you know of a fabulous board for teachers, link it in the comments so we can follow! Feel free to follow any of my classroom boards here: http://www.pinterest.com/mscheryll/

Summer Reading Part 1...

My first major read this summer has a math focus and so far... I am excited about what I am learning!

   This past school year, I noticed math instruction seemed scattered at times. Part of this could have resulted in the lack of a structured text, but I have found that even with a text you have to add bits and pieces to make the concepts real to students. I have had great success during guided reading time and sometime around April I began to ponder holding guided math sessions. After perusing fellow blogs and internet resources, I decided to spend the summer honing classroom management and building a guided math plan for this coming school year. Last week, the book I planned to read came in. :) I don't think I have ever been more excited to see a book arrive. Well, maybe once when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out. Anyway, I am deep into the middle of this book and CANNOT wait to begin implementing some methods from it in August. The book is Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction by Laney Sammons. You can find it on Amazon here: Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction. There are several book study options on it as well, though I haven't had the opportunity to check any out.

   If you have used this book or completed a book study on it, I would love to hear any suggestions you may have for fully incorporating small group methods in math. My one concern so far is that we do not always have a set week for a topic and that seems to be needed to properly meet with groups. Has anyone overcome a similar obstacle with success?