Reflection and Parent Communication

Last school year, we used a "Mind Map" to reflect what we had learned throughout the week.  We used pictures, symbols, and just simple words to sum up what we had studied.  This year I want to take that a step farther and let the students communicate to their parents the thoughts we write down from our mind maps. 

We are going to use a Friday Journal (found the idea on Pinterest yet again) to write letters to parents and family members about what we learned.  A family member will write a response back to them and I will check their notebook each Monday.  If they have have a response, they will get a sticker on the front cover and after so many stickers, they will get to earn a reward, like learning without their shoes on or a pass of their choice! :)  All students must have a response by Tuesday of each week, but won't get a sticker if it is returned on Tuesday.  I love the idea because it has so many rewards!

Back to School Night

Parents and students who attend our "Back to School" night will receive a welcome gift for attending- popcorn.  I saw this idea on Pinterest, of course, and made them because it matches our theme.  I also made a magnet with all my contact information to give each parent. 

I'm going to ask parents to answer four questions for me that night and give an assignment for the family to complete together. 

The four questions are:

1. What is/are your goal(s) for your child this year in fourth grade?

2. What are your expectations for me, as your child’s teacher this year? 

3. What has your child enjoyed about school in the past? 

4. What would an ideal classroom look like to best help your child succeed this school year?

The family assignment will create a poster on an 8 x 10 piece of cardstock, which they will get at school, describing their family.  They can use anything they want to create the poster, such as pictures, words only, both- you get the idea.  The child is supposed to bring it back during the first week of school and we will share it with our cast members and then display it.

Popcorn Welcome Gift

Magnet for Parents

Postcard to Welcome Back Students

 

Awesome Teacher Resources!

The following resources are some great tools to use in the classroom this year!  I got them from attending a couple different professional development sessions- the Kentucky Math Council Conference and the Kentucky Reading Project pd.

FAKEBOOK- I'm going to use this to create study guides throughout the year.  It looks just like a Facebook page and you can "add friends", where I will put key vocabulary.  You can also create a status and add pictures.  This was demonstrated at the math conference and it was really neat and something I think the kids will love!

http://www.classtools.net/fb/home/page

TEACHING KIDS NEWS- This is a reading resource that is free and has current news articles for kids everything day!  You can choose the genre and the articles have direct ties to reading curriculum standards.  The tasks are even broken down by levels so it could easily be modified to meet the needs of all students.  This may be my new favorite find this year!
 
http://teachkidsnews.com/
 
 
 

Hitting 10,000

The classroom blog is 80 visits away from hitting 10,000 visits! I love blogging and want to thank everyone for visiting our classroom! I have received emails from across the country from teachers who have found our blog. We will be getting back into full swing in about three more weeks, when we have all our cast members and reporters back in Studio 214- I can't wait!

Teacher's Academy

This time two years ago, I was in Nw York City, attending the Mickelson Exxon Mobile Teacher's Academy. It was such an amazing experience and I learned so much to bring back to my classroom and share with my students. I also got to meet the pro-golfer, Phil Mickelson! The link below was filmed while we were in New York and Phil Mickelson is explaining what the academy is all about and how others can apply! http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/07/20/n_cc_phil_mickelson_education.cnnmoney/

My Summer Projects

Summer break is going great! I am loving being home, spending time with my son and husband. I've also been working on several projects getting ready for the upcoming school year and searching Pinterest and other teacher's blogs for new ideas! I have painted a desk for my "Student of the Week", made a huge sign to hang behind my reading shelf that will light up, created postcards and magnets, and completed several other things that I will show when I post pictures of our room before the "Back to School" night.

We have also been completing a lot of projects around our house too! We had a new roof, shutters, and gutters put on our house because of the storm damage earlier in the spring. We also bought new stainless steel appliances for the kitchen, which I love, put up some wood molding, painted, installed new backdoors, and we're adding new flooring next.

This week we will be traveling to West Liberty, Kentucky, to volunteer helping clean up and work on areas that were damaged by the storm that moved through a few months ago and destroyed their town. We are taking a group of sixteen people to work and volunteer. I always look forward to our service project every summer!

I hope you are enjoying your summer- getting lots of rest and playing! Make sure you are taking a little time to read a good book, such as one of the new Kentucky Bluegrass books and reviewing your multiplication tables so you do not forget them! I will see you soon!

This is the postcard I created at http://www.vistaprints.com/.  They have many backgrounds to choose from and you can design and add your own text.  I also made a matching magnet to pass out to parents during our "Back to School" night that has all my contact information in case they need to call throughout the school year.  

This is a picture of our dining room with our new molding and doors.  We added the molding in our kitchen, foyer, and down the hall as well.  I found a blog this summer that I have been following http://www.theyellowcapcod.com/ and she has the best ideas for home projects and how to complete them using things you find a junk stores or thrift stores, which is what I love!

This is my "Student of the Week" chair and each week, whoever earns the honor, will get to sit in this chair for the week for their hardwork and great behavior!