Reading & Writing Conferring Notebooks

Reading & Writing Conferring Notebooks

Goal: Document reading and writing conferences with students.

I'm good at getting started, but when it's time to show my documentation or record it in our district's computer system, I have to scramble to gather all of my notes.

I've tried binders, clipboards, notebooks...

I hate carrying all of those big, bulky things around.

I have a new addiction: Pinterest. I kept seeing a picture of an ABC book made out of plastic index card tabs. I have no idea where it originated, but the other night, I had an a-ha. What if I made a similar book, but for recording reading and writing conferences?

I found the 3 x 5 plastic ABC index tabs in the school supply section of Walmart. I picked up binder rings, 3 x 5 index cards, and scrapbooking stickers. The tricky part is hole punching through the plastic. If you have strong hands, a lot of time, and can handle pain -then by all means, use a hand held hole puncher. My hands still hurt from the attempt. I have a three ring hole punch. I spent some time with index cards getting it lined up just right. When I had it the way I wanted it, I drew lines on my hole puncher with a marker. I used the lines to line up the plastic tabs. I found that I could only punch tabs at a time. Next, I punched index cards. I put the cards through the rings, decorated the front tab, and now I have a beautiful conference notebook.

I love this because A) I can create a card for each student and place them in the book in ABC order; B) I can flip to the student's card, add a new card when the original card is full, and easily carry my notebook around the classroom with me; C) I can hang my notebooks on hooks so that they don't get lost under a stack of papers!

What will I put on the cards?

At the top of each card I will put the student's name (last, first), reading levels, and testing information. I will date each entry at the beginning of the lines and write shorthand notes about my conferences. I made a notebook for both reading and writing. I am excited about my conferring notebooks, and I can't wait to use them in my classroom this year!

BACK TO SCHOOL BLOG PARTY

BACK TO SCHOOL BULLETIN BOARD CONTEST

Back to School Blog PARty Invitation

Are you ready to PARty? You are invited to attend my

BACK TO SCHOOL BLOG PARTY

When: Everyday, August 1st-5th, 2011

Where: Right here on the blog!

Starting on Monday, August 1st, I will post a new giveaway each day throughout the week. There will be a different prize each day. Winners will be chosen randomly using random.org.

But wait! That's not all! I will also post a brand new, original FREE printable each day for back to school!

I'm not going to give everything away today, but just know, that prizes up for grabs include gift cards, shopping sprees, handcrafted jewelry, and back to school goodies. Pop in each day to enter the drawings and download your free teaching resource.

Let's get this PARty started! If you blog about this party before Monday (link to the party included), I will let you choose ANY one product from my TPT store. In order to get your free product, you must leave a comment with a link to your blog post and your email (if you are uncomfortable leaving your email address in the comments section, you can use the contact button on the top right-hand side to email me -please include comment post number).

Come back next week for the Back to School Blog Party!

*In case you missed it: Back to School Bulletin Board Contest

Back to School Bulletin Board Contest

Hey everyone! This is your chance to win a $25 Target gift card. To enter, simply send me a picture of your back to school bulletin board and a short explanation. Please include your grade level. On August 31, 2011 I will post everyone's great bulletin board pictures on my website: Effective Teaching Solutions. If you have a blog, website, or TPT shop, I will include your link with your bulletin board picture.

I will post the winner's bulletin board picture on the blog (and website). I will choose a winner based on creativity, clever title, and visual representation. Bring on the creativity! Just click the Contact Me button on the top right-hand side of the blog to send me your bulletin board picture and short blurb. I will accept entries until Saturday, September 4, 2011 (Midnight, Central). This date has been extended for teachers who start back late.

FREE! The Great Chart Paper Survey!

I am excited to announce that the blog has reached over 100 followers. As promised, I am giving away a freebie in celebration of reaching this milestone.

The Great Chart Paper Survey is a quick assessment of attitudes, thinking, and knowledge that anyone can use in any grade or subject area. You can also use the surveys in teacher workshops!

This little survey gets your students moving, and allows students to share their thinking in a way that doesn't put them on the spot. You can eyeball the results and make quick decisions about how to move forward in your lessons or workshop.

Download your FREE copy of The Great Chart Paper Survey Now. Please be sure to come back and tell us how you used the survey. Thank you for following Effective Teaching Articles.

One more thing! Get ready to PARty! I am going to host a HUGE Back to School Party next week! I will make a pre party announcement on Thursday, so be sure to check back to get the scoop!

Terrific Techie Tool: Thoughtbox

I just discovered a terrific techie tool that I am excited about. I have a lot of things going online. I've been trying to streamline my thinking so that I can organize how I manage everything from this blog to Facebook. School is going to start back up soon, and I don't want to get overwhelmed and drop the ball.

So I've been taking notes, and making lists, and creating a plan sticky notes. I confess to be the queen of sticky notes all over my desk. I knew I needed to do something, so just as I was getting ready to type up my notes in a Word document, I came across Thoughtbox.

I am in love with this amazing tool. You only get three thought trains for free, but that is enough to accomplish what I need to do. I set up one for my online activities, one for brainstorming writing ideas, and one for school.

This is how it works: You create your main train of thought (like one big category). For example, I created a page for school. Then you add boxes relevant to different categories for your thought. I created a things to do list, reading, writing, social studies, classroom organization plans, and back to school shopping list for my page. Next, you add a list of thoughts, ideas, or things to do. Thoughtbox provides an amazing way to keep your thinking organized.

I suspect all of you wonderful and imaginative teachers out there will devise ways to use this tool in the classroom. Please leave your "thoughts" in the comments section to share with other readers. Happy thinking!

from the Teacher's Desk: Classroom Tips & Hints

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW

When I first started teaching, I loved reading through magazines and books with lots of little tips and hits for everything from teaching reading to classroom management. I found these little bits of knowledge invaluable.

I would like to introduce my FREE newsletter, a bimonthly publication packed with little bits of knowledge. This is just the first issue of what I hope will be many to come. The next issue will be published on July 31, 2011. Follow me in my TPT store to receive notification of when the newsletter (as well as my new teaching resources) is available for download.

I hope this newsletter will grow in size and contributions. Do you have a great teaching idea? A sure fire classroom management strategy? An idea for a theme or a bulletin board? Please contribute your tips & hits to future issues of "from the Teacher's Desk." SUBMISSION FORM

Classroom Jobs

Now Hiring: Responsible students to carry out important classroom duties.

As an upper elementary teacher, I have found that certain classroom jobs are critical to running an efficient classroom. I try to give everyone things to do throughout the year, but at the beginning of the year, I watch for students I can train to consistently take care of certain jobs in my classroom.

Calendar: If I didn't have someone to take care of the calendar, I would probably forget to change it each month. My school follows a six day rotation for PE, art, and music. I have one person (sometimes two) to change out the "day". I bought a large calendar from a teacher supply store and laminated all of the pieces. I put magnets on the calendar so that I could hang it on my chalkboard. I put Velcro dots on each square of the calendar and on all of my calendar numbers. This makes it easy and quick to change out. I found matching letters and extra numbers. I have magnets on the back of the word "day" and numbers 1-6. We put the "day" of the week number next to the word "day" and change it out daily. The kids always know which day it is, which is a good thing, because without them I would never no where to go! I will try to remember to post a picture when I get back to school. You can find themed calendar pieces in each of my Classroom Theme Packets.

Secretary: This job is extremely important. I generally recruit 2-3 students to act as my secretaries all year long. I do not have a basket 13 for students to lose their work in. I am very particular about taking up papers. I take papers up at once, but I always remind students to write their names on their papers by saying, "Everyone stop. Point to your name." It works like a charm! One of my secretaries will collect the papers and put them in abc order. A couple of years ago I found a file sorter. I insist that students write their last name on their papers. My secretary quickly puts each person's paper in their correct slot (abc), and then takes them all out in abc order! The file sorter saves a lot of time. The secretary paperclips the set of papers together and places them into my "to be graded" basket. They can add a sticky note with the names of absent students as well. Look for a responsible child who is generally finished with work sooner than the rest of the class.

My Classroom Library

Librarian: My classroom library is rather large. All of my books are organized in baskets by genre. I use an old-fashioned library card system for check out. I generally recruit at least two librarians. I look for students who are good at organizing. Sometimes your ADHD children make the best librarians! My librarians keep the books organized. They check to make sure that books are in the correct basket and that each book has a library card. They also check through the check out box. I only allow students to check out one book at a time from my classroom library -this cuts down on missing books. My librarians check to make sure students are following my library check out procedures. They inform me of any problems they discover (like someone checked out five books five months ago and never returned them).

Table Captains: I assign a table captains to take care of community supplies, to pass out and collect books and notebooks, and to collect papers at the table. Table captains quickly put the the papers in abc order and make sure that they have everyone's paper. They hand them to the secretary when they come by. I do rotate table captains about every nine weeks. Some students love the job, and others do not. I tend to allow the student who wants to do the job, and can do it quickly, quietly, and efficiently to take it on.

There are many other jobs you can create. You can rotate jobs or find a job for every single student. Here are some other student job ideas: gardener, runner, table monitor, line leader, attendance secretary, pencil monitor, homework checker, etc.

Follow this linky party to get more classroom job ideas!

Oh the Places You Go Blog Linky Party

I just came across a linky party sponsored by Yearn4Learning. I thought it would be fun to participate. The Oh the Places You Go Blog Linky Party is designed to highlight great teaching blogs.

The following is linked up:


A "New Kid on the Blog" blogger: I am highlighting Third Grade, etc. She just opened up her blog and only has 7 followers. It's always fun to start a new adventure and exciting to gain new followers.

Post a blog in your same grade level: I teach 4th grade, so I am highlighting Mrs. O'Brien's 4th Grade Blog. This is a nice little classroom blog. I love the idea of having a blog for my class to follow (not to mention my parents).

Post a blog in a different grade level: I've decided to highlight Tracee Orman's blog -Hunger Games Lessons. She is the queen of resources for this awesome series!

Grab a cute blog button and display it: I like Rachel's Minds in Bloom button. It's simple and clean.






You are next. Go seek and find great teaching blogs! 
READING WORKSHOP LINKY PARTY

Transitioning High School Students into College Courses

*This article is written by my friend, Beth Hammett. Beth teaches English on the college level. This is exactly where I am in my life as my son transitions from high school to college. 

For twelve years, parents and teachers manage students’ progressions in schools.  After that, students take control of their academic successes and failures. There are many differences between high school and college classes.  Helping students know what to expect in their first-year courses can ease the high school to college transition.

First, students should realize their classes may be very large in size, and they will be diverse in age, ethnicity, and gender.  Some classrooms at four-year universities hold up to 500 students.  In large classes, professors may not learn students’ names or remember their faces. Attendance might be taken by card swipe systems, clickers, participations, or sign-in sheets.  There are plenty of stories of students sitting through classes without knowing they were supposed to punch their identification numbers into keyboards.  Some colleges allow professors to set their own attendance policies, so students need to read and follow their syllabus, which is like a contract.  Students should ask questions about attendance policies if they are unsure.  

Courses meet from one day a week to five days a week and extend for longer periods of time than high school classes.  Students should plan three hours of study time for each course they are enrolled, so twelve credit hours requires thirty-six hours of study time.  Scheduling all courses on one or two days sounds great, but is it feasible?  Students do not realize course grades may be two only tests grades: one mid-term and one final exam.  In-class discussions, labs, and lecture notes are used to study for tests. The preparation times needed for passing courses is longer than in most high school courses due to less meeting times. 

Students monitor their own progress  and keep up with their grades in courses.  This is a major change from high school where parents and teachers assist, encourage, and remind students to turn in assignments.  Then, students get into college courses, and safety nets are removed.  Progress reports are not sent to college students. Sometimes, computerized grading software, such as Blackboard or WebCT is used.  Students log-in and track their progresses.  Students must also take necessary steps, such as attending study groups or tutoring, on their own to ensure academic successes.  Passing or failing courses are students’ responsibilities.

There is much more freedom, yet a great deal more responsibility, in college courses than in high school classes.  The quality of education in college depends upon students’ commitments to courses.  The transitions from high school to college courses can be eased when students know what to expect.  Encourage students to explore their options with Finding the Perfect College.

Christmas in July Sale!!!

Can you hear it? There is a faint, "Ho, ho, ho..." off in the distance. That's because Christmas is coming! Christmas in July! Have I got a sale going on for you in my TPT store...

I am offering 20% off of my ENTIRE store!

And its not just me! Check out my sale first, and then check out the other over 30 sales happening today only - you're sure to find something you'll love. Click any button below to visit a participating sale!








I told you it was going to be big and worthy of the title, "Christmas In July!" Happy shopping and Merry Christmas (in July)!

The Potter Games

Attention Harry Potter & Hunger Games Fans:


This is posted by permission. Tracee Orman -Queen of The Hunger Games Teaching Resources, participated in the creation of an amazing project where Harry Potter meets The Hunger Games. 


This is Tracee's post regarding: THE POTTER GAMES


In honor of the final Harry Potter movie, some fans (who happen to be professional writers) decided to take the Harry Potter characters and throw them into The Hunger Games arena. The website is a choose-your-adventure game that is appropriate for students through adults (I would say based on what I've read/written, ages 12 and up). You read a scenario, then make the decision (you actually become the character). Users are practicing reading and decision-making skills, which makes it something you can use in class (right now it's a little slow because thousands of people are accessing it - it just went live this week. I imagine that will slow down once school starts).

If you haven't read the Hunger Games, the setting may not make sense to you, but Lord Voldemort has a nice little intro filling you in, so you can still play. If you haven't read either series, you may not get the inside jokes, but it should still be interesting. 

So far, only four characters have been "released." By August 8th, all will be released, and new scenarios will be written. 

If you happen to like both or either series, you should check it out! The writers range from pros to high school students. They also range from fans, to librarians, to teachers (I might be the only teacher, though), radio broadcasters, musicians, and children's book publishers. They also come from the US, France, Philippines, and UK. Eventually the site will have videos with more original artwork created by the contributors (and all the music on the YouTube videos was originally composed, as well). 


Check out this amazing website. Thrill your students! Bewitch yourself!