Bright Ideas: Choice Seating

So...Hello! I am here. I never thought keeping up with a blog would be as hard as it has been. I am MUCH better at keeping up on Instagram so please feel free to follow me there!

Flexible seating is all the rage these days. I see posts about it EVERYWHERE!

But it is nothing new. I have been using choice seating in my classroom more and more these days and I have been using it for years.

We still have desks. I will always have desks. I don't think I could get rid of them.

We take our assessments at our desks and with testing such a big part of school these days they need to feel comfortable testing at a desk.

We have been using our classroom carpet more and more during whole group lessons though sometimes I just want them at their desks while I am walking around teaching.

My kids LOVE our choice seating that I have around the room.

We started out using it for read around the room.

Moved onto using it for group activities.

Now I will let them work where they would like during independent math time and writing time.

It is nothing fancy and I have been collecting it for years. 

Check out some of our choice seating below.

 Got these in the College Dorm section of Walmart about 7 years ago.

Then I added these chairs that I got from Ikea.

These came from the Summer section at Lowes.

Love our classroom carpet!

The most recent addition to our choices.

(Yes, this is a picture of them in my trunk!)

As you can see, it took me 7 years to accumulate the choice seating that I have.

If you're not sure about flexible/choice seating start slow.

You might just like it!


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Bright Idea: Desktop Calendar

Stop the presses. I have blogged two days in a row. Something MUST be wrong. hehe

It's that time again! I am back and joining my friends with a bunch of Bright Ideas for the Classroom!

If you're anything like I am then you have a FULL and BUSY schedule during the school week. If you are better then me you actually remember all the meetings and important school functions that you have to attend throughout the week. 

I have tried planners and desk calendars and even piles and PILES of sticky notes to help remind me of what meetings I have. The planner gets misplaced, the desk calendar gets buried, and the sticky notes run away. 

I am always forgetting what meetings I have or the important school functions that are right around the corner. 

BUT WAIT! I have finally found something that works for me!

I don't know where I saw this idea or if it just popped into my head one day but here it is.

I put my calendar on my computer desktop. Finally, something that CAN'T get misplaced, buried,or walk away.

How do I do this you ask? Well its actually pretty simple!

I just create a calendar template in Powerpoint and add all the important meetings, functions, and upcoming deadline.

Save the Powerpoint as a JPEG!

 

 Then go to where you saved the file and set it as your desktop.

You might need to go in and adjust the way your image is displayed. This is what it looks like on my home computer that is running Windows 7 - other operating systems look different.

(right click on the desktop not in Powerpoint)

And VOILA! A calendar that you can't misplace, bury, or have walk away!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider following my blog or joining me on Instagram for more great ideas!

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Bright Ideas: PDF to Poster

It's my favorite time of the month! Time for the Bright Ideas link-up! I always get so many great ideas and I hope that my ideas help and inspire others!

Today I am going to show you how you can take a regular PDF and turn it into a poster!

I still have yet to master the art of the pretty anchor chart. I don't even consider the ones I try to make fit to be seen so I have no pictures to show you how horrible they are. 

My student teacher this past Fall made BEAUTIFUL anchor charts. Works of art - really! Wish I would have thought to take some pictres  to show you how MAGNIFICENT they are.

I would much rather create something on the computer then draw it out. That's where I ran into some problems. 8.5 x 11 was not big enough to be seen around the room. 

(Disclaimer: While I know and understand the value of creating anchor charts with the kids as we go, my OCD self cannot handle it. I will, however, create the anchor chart with my students on a plain piece of copy paper under the doc cam or this method found on this post here and then recreate it on the computer before I hang it up around the room.)

That's when I discovered the Poster Print feature that a lot of printers have. This is something that everyone knows about but it was a real eye opener for me and I am probably the last to know but just in case I want to share with you what has changed my life!

You just need to be sure that you have the "Print as Image" option unselected under Advanced Print Setup. (I spent an hour yesterday afternoon trying to get something to print into a poster and couldn't figure out why I was not given the option. Then I thought about this and voila - worked like a charm!)

First, choose the PDF or page that you would like to print into a poster.

Then hit print.

Choose the page (or pages) that you want to print as a poster. Make sure you click current page or specify the certain page(s) other wise it will print every page in the file. EEK! (PUH-LEASE learn from my mistake! hehe)

 Under page Sizing & Handling, choose the poster option. If it doesn't give you the ability to click on Poster then unfortunately it is something that your printer cannot do. (OR go check my tip from above and make sure the print as image option is not selected.)

My black and white laser cannot print to a poster my my photosmart and colored laser can.

 You will need to play around with the Tile Scale to find the size that you want. 

 You can see what it will look like before you hit print by clicking in the preview window.

This one is scaled at 150% and will be 17 x 22 inches.

 This one is scaled at 250% and will be 22 x 34 inches.

After you print the pages to the size you want it is time to CAREFULLY trim the edges and then tape together. I don't trim all the edges. I like to leave some overlap where the pieces meet on one of the sides to help when I tape it together. Depending on the size you print your poster to be, you will need to play around with it to determine the best way to trim the pieces.

(What I am about to show you is not quite an anchor chart but it was the only file I had with me when I printed it as I had left my portable hard drive with all my anchor charts on them. This is a scale from our current unit of study in Reading)

You can then run it through the laminator, if you are lucky enough to have access to a large laminator and then hang around your room!

This one is not yet laminated. You can see the 8.5x 11 on the right to see the difference in size. This one was scaled 150%.
 

 This one is also not yet laminated. You can see the 8.5x 11 on the right to see the difference in size. This one was scaled 200% - I think.

 
All three sizes together.

I prefer to print my posters on cardstock so that it is a little more durable but I used the last of my cardstock on our holiday calendar presents and have not yet bought another ream so I printed the above just using regular paper. 

I also like to use the transparent tape from Scotch - the red box. It's less noticeable. hehe

Hope this is as eye opening for you as it was for me! Now I can make pretty anchor charts and not have to start over (and over and over and over) again when I make a mistake!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider following my blog or joining me on Instagram for more great ideas!

Don't forget to check out all the other "Bright Ideas" posts listed below.  If you see something you like, please leave a comment.  We bloggers LOVE to hear from you!

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Bright Ideas: Meet the Teacher Ideas

Stop the presses! I have blogged TWO DAYS IN A ROW. This just means that I don't have to blog again until December right? hehe

Today I am back with another Bright Idea!

Yesterday we had our Meet the Teacher at our school. Parents and students got to come to the school to find out who their teacher will be. They then got to come down to the room to see the classroom and meet me (or whoever their teacher may be). This is not an informational meeting or a time for conferences - just a hello - how are you - see you on Monday kinda deal.

I still remember how nervous I was before and during my very first Meet the Teacher 11 years ago. Couldn't sleep the night before - tried on a million and one outfits - the whole nine yards. Fast forward 11 years and I could do these Meet the Teacher nights in my sleep. Now our informational curriculum night is a whole other story. I still get nervous before those.

Here are some tips that I have learned over the years to make for a smooth Meet the Teacher (or whatever you may call it).

Tip #1

Don't worry if the room isn't done. 

The kids and parents will not even realize that the poster you wanted on the door isn't there or in my case the puff balls aren't where you want them to be. They are just happy to see the room and meet you!

This boring wall is in definite need of some color. This is where the puff balls come into play. When I go in this morning to get some last minute things done, I think I am going to hang them from the light fixtures and liven up this boring off white wall.

Tip #2

Organize any papers that you need signed and papers you are sending home.

We always ask for parents to complete a few papers before they leave - how their child is getting home on the first day of school and the emergency contact card in case of an emergency.  

I always separate my paper work into three piles: fill out and return now, return to school on Monday, and general school information.

To make it easy, I always include a cover letter with directions for filling out the forms.

 I also indicate which pile is which.

Leave a pen for them to use. Not everyone is a teacher with a million pens busting out of their purse.

Tip #3

Leave a little something to welcome the kids to your class. Kids love gifts so if you leave something for them on their desks they will remember that.

My team and I put together little gift baggies.

 Close up of the poem stapled to the outside of the bag.

Each item represents something about second grade. My kids loved them this year!

Tip #4

Have a place for supplies that the students may bring in.

If they brought them in, my students put their personal supplies in their desk - we will organize these on Monday. Classroom supplies went into these large bins! 

YAY already getting organized!

I hope these tips give you some ideas to a successful Meet the Teacher night. If you already meet your kids then maybe you got some ideas to use next year!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider following my blog or joining me on Instagram for more great ideas!

For more bright ideas from over 100 bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. 

Have a great school year!

   

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Bright Ideas: Organizing with Colors

It's that time again for another Bright Idea!

 

In my eleven years of teaching, I have tried many ideas to help with student and classroom organization. One of the things that I have continued through out the years is my color coding for subjects.

My very first teaching job I took over for a fourth grade teacher who went out on maternity leave. I was blown away by how organized she was. One of her systems was that she assigned a color for each of the main subjects. EVERYTHING for one subject was copied, printed, mounted on the color that was for that particular subject. Fast forward 11 years, and I still use that system how it works for me.

 

Take a look at how I color code.

Each subject in my room is represented by a different color.

Reading - Yellow

Math - Red

Science - Green

Social Studies - Blue

Writing - Purple

Language - Goldenrod

 

 

Test reviews, projects, work packets all get copied on the color paper assigned to that particular subject. When taking an assignment out of their folders I will say something like, "Take out your green Science packet." Since they should only have one Science packet at a time it cuts down on the time it takes for them to find it. Now, I don't copy EVERYTHING for a particular subject on colored paper - but I will for the important stuff that I want to have stand out.

Learning Goals on my board - color coded to help students zeros in on the goal for the particular lesson we are working on quickly.

I use these baskets to put my copies for the week/unit in. I really wish the baskets themselves were color-coded but since they can't be I'll just use my pretty labels.

 

I will grade assignments using the color assigned. Except for Reading as it is kinda hard to grade using yellow - hehe. For Reading, I will use pink or light blue!

 

 If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider following my blog or joining me on Instagram for more great ideas.

For more bright ideas from 150 different
bloggers, please browse through the link-up
below and choose a topic/grade level that
interests you. 

   

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Thank you for taking a peek into my crazy world!

Bright Ideas: Student Organization

I am so honored to be included in this wonderful hop of Bright Classroom Ideas! I have learned so much from all theses amazing teachers. I am here to share a tiny idea that goes a LONG way in my room.

 

 Nothing drives me crazier then a messy desk. When it takes little Johnny 10 minutes just to find his math book, white board, or the paper he was told to put some where safe is lost instruction time.

In walks my student organization! 

A few years ago I purchased a ton of baskets from an online company that no longer sells to the general public.

You can buy the same baskets else where but I have seen some teachers use lids to copy paper boxes or even small kitty litter pans (shhh!). hehe

Each student gets two baskets - a big one and a small one.

  

 

 In the big basket they organize their composition notebooks and pencil bags (which has extra pencils, scissors, and glue sticks). The small basket is for quick and easy access to their pencils, crayons, red pen, and erasers.

Look how pretty!!

Then each child has a chair pocket on their chair that I made from duck cloth.

 

Their chair pockets hold their class folders, homework folder, and student planner.

Then each student gets a book box where they store their library books, writing binders, and whiteboards.

Everything has a place and everything should be in its place. Helps to eliminate the lost instruction time when Johnny can't find what he needs!

Thanks for stopping by!

Now hop on over to Lessons with Laughter to learn how number student desks in groups could possibly help you!

   

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Enjoy the hop!

Christina :)