Classroom Inspiration

A teacher is really never off duty, are they? While on a family holiday recently, inspiration for the classroom was everywhere! Unfortunately most of the snaps were taken by my aging phone, but these ideas were too good not to share, so please forgive the image quality.

Loved this idea for displaying animal facts at Auckland Zoo. It would make a colorful display or project for the classroom. I see flaps being added!

  

This simple idea of adding velcro to the back of a plate and attaching to the felt board made another great display! When the time comes to change displays, take the plate off and send it home :)

 Sunken tubs for markers. Need I say more?

This light box table at Auckland Museum would be great for fine motor, sight word practice and handwriting. One can dream, can't they?

Of all the awesomeness that I was inspired by, this one is my favorite! Maybe that's because one of my favorite things about being a teacher is sharing stories with my class! I can see this bookcase story chair being at home in any classroom where I teach!

I wonder how my engineer and handy hubby feels about converting some of these inspirations into realities....

CVC Fun and Glue Gun Love!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE stationery! I could spend hours (and a serious sum of money) in a store filled with paper, ink and pretty office supplies. A few weeks back, I was in one such shop looking for some glue sticks for my hot glue gun, and what did I see sitting on the shelf right next to the glue sticks? A pink glue gun with 20 glue sticks for $8.99. I didn't even do the 'do I really need this?' dance. I put it in my basket, paid and walked out smiling!

For the past 5 years (since we moved back to Australia) I have been using a big, old, ugly, black glue gun with a UK power plug. As the only UK adapter in the house was under the computer desk and attached to all sorts of computer related devices, I would bundle all my gluing up and crawl under the desk to glue and make resources! Needless to say, I have been enjoying gluing in style (yes, on the kitchen table!), armed with my pink glue gun.

Inspired by my pretty purchase (I really cannot stop thinking of things that involve gluing at the moment), I created a fun resource for my little learners to learn word families while practicing their fine motor.

I like to introduce CVC words once all single sounds have been taught. I start with the short 'a' word family and continue through the vowels. In this activity, little learners decode CVC words by moving the rime down the onset strip.  The color coded vowel sets make identifying the medial sound easier, and storage a breeze!

This activity works great in centers. Because it is simple yet hands-on, little learners are both able and engaged as they move the 'ug' square next to the 'b' and say 'bug'. They continue to move the rime down the onset, saying the word each time 'dug', 'hug' and so on until the strip is complete.

Finding new and different ways to teach the same content can be so difficult. I am glad to add this resource to the many others I use to help little learners master word families and become more confident and fluent readers.

Click here if you would also like to add this to your collection! 

What are some of your favorite ways to teach CVC words? I'd love to hear them!

Managing Taking Turns in the Classroom

I just love how enthusiastic little learners are to volunteer in the classroom! What I don't love is their waving and begging hands as these little learners indicate their willingness to help. And I find it even more difficult to see their disappointed faces when they are not chosen. To keep it fair and encourage even the shyest little learner to participate, I like to use systems in the classroom to manage taking turns.

For this system I bought some little white boxes from the cheap shop. I split the class into gender groups, but you could use the whole class or group the students according to reading groups etc. depending on your needs. Then I simply typed each little learner's name, cut to size and placed in the box. When a volunteer is needed in the classroom, simply choose the top name from the box and call their name. Then place that name at the bottom of the pile. Because I have two groups, I then place that box to the bottom, so I know which box I am choosing from next time (anyone else suffer from amnesia in the classroom at times?). To keep the suspense, I also like to include a colored paper at the beginning to mark when each child has had a turn. This way I can shuffle the names after one rotation (or a couple) and the little learners don't get to know the order.

This is just one of many systems I have used to keep those little faces smiling and the classroom running smoothly. Would love to hear how you manage turn taking in your classroom!

Shop? Who me? Never!

Actually believe it or not, I have never really been much of a shopper. Now that I have children and responsibilities (apparently they need to be fed every single day and several times at that), I enjoy shopping even less! I have just never really understood the shoe obsession thing, rarely have I accompanied my girlfriends on shopping sprees and I can count on one hand the number of times I have felt the need for retail therapy. Shops, crowds, bright lights, those horrible mirrors that LIE, shop layouts that make me feel disorientated. I just never did get the whole shopping thing! Until, that is, I found TpT!

Here in Australia at the moment it is tax time. I have been putting off totally up (and sharing with my hubby) how much I have spent on teaching resources over the past year. While I may not have an amazing shoe collection, I do have a pretty awesome collection of clip art! My clothes may not be this seasons (or the last several), but I do have many resources that reflect the latest innovations in education. So when I heard that TpT was having their big Blast off Back to School Sale on August 4-5, I thought I might just hang off on tallying up last year's bill! Just a few more items won't hurt, right? But just in case my wonderful hubby is looking over my shoulder while I shop on Monday and Tuesday, I have a plan. You see, I won't really be shopping. I will actually be......

Extending our Holidays and Salvaging our Family Time!

Buying a quality activity that would take me hours to make, in my opinion, is money well spent! I don't have to tell you that working in classrooms is a physically and emotionally draining job! For me purchasing something for a few dollars to help me through a patch where I am time poor is a no-brainer! Besides, have you seen where I holidayed recently? More holidays please!

Investing in Works of Art

Over recent years, collecting art has become increasingly popular and financially rewarding. I'm pretty sure investing in clip art is the same thing :) Besides, it is pretty and it makes me happy! Here are a couple of things I have my eye on from two of my favorite artists!

Christmas Trees and Ornaments Bundle (65 Images) from Susanna at Whimsy Workshop Teaching

Back to School Directed Drawing - Printable Worksheets from Mel at From the Pond and Graphics From the Pond.

Encouraging my Family Members

My lovely mum and very talented sister-in-law have begun selling on Teachers Pay Teachers. I am looking forward to supporting them! I like the look of my mum's Get to Know You Name Activities.

I'm having trouble deciding what to choose from my sister-in-law's store. I love all of her drawings! I particularly like one of her latest sets: Emergency/Rescue Vehicle Clip Art. So cute!

Supporting Friends

One of the wonderful things about beginning a life online is that I have had the opportunity to meet new friends from all over the world that I wouldn't have met otherwise! So fun to be able to support them too!

And if none of those reasons work, I will be able to throw this next one at my hubby. Okay, so it might be shopping, but I am celebrating the release of my new decor bundle that I have been working on for ages!

Shop? Who me? Never! But I may do a spot of supporting friends and family, investing in art and salvaging my precious time! 

Oh and by the way, details of Scrooge the Husband have been added for dramatic effect! He really is very generous!

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