Making it to June!

It has been a tough last two months. I can't believe trimester 3 is just starting. Recently, I was looking for inspiration and found this article with tips to surviving until june.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/second-half-survival-january-june-nicholas-provenzano

Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Free iPad Apps for Science Lessons

Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Free iPad Apps for Science Lessons

These are some great ideas for science iPad apps! I will be downloading these!

Focusing on reading! Ideas?!?

Getting students to focus on what they are reading and gain knowledge from it has proven to be struggle. I am always looking for new ideas. Using an interactive notebook has been helpful but lately I have been struggling for new ideas. I've used a lot of reading guides and they are definitely ready for something new. I would love ideas to be shared!

Ideas for the New Year

I have recently stumbled upon these to articles. The first is 12 new years resolutions for teachers.
http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-new-school-year-resolutions-teachers?top-12=1
The others is 4 question teachers should ask themselves.
http://www.teachhub.com/4-questions-every-teacher-should-ask-about-student-attention

Its that time of year when stress and sickness seem to be adding up. I recently have been feeling these awful things and have been needing some inspiration. These articles have good ideas and questions to ask yourself!

iPads (or other devices) and Literature Circles – co-starring Edmodo.

iPads (or other devices) and Literature Circles – co-starring Edmodo.

I have been wanting to connect Comprehension Toolkit by Stephanie Harvey to Edmodo. This blog post has some good ideas.

Reading Guides

I recently went to a conference where they discussed reading guides. I was intrigued and thought it would be a good tool to use with students. It seems to work fairly well for differentiation.  I have started using them in science class. Students tape them in their interactive science notebooks and use them as a guide to the chapters in their textbook. In the reading guides I put questions that correspond to the text, ask them to make connections, and have them put ideas in their own words. I also have been including fill in the blanks and graphic organizers. For lower level students I have more of the guide filled out and more fill in the blanks. So far it has been working well but I am curious how beneficial it is to students.                            

Managing in the Middle

I think classroom management is a difficult thing no matter the grade level and I have been trying to discover a technique that works for my student and for me. To get student attention I use call out responses and clapping but that only goes so far. I have been using a point system on the board in which the whole class gets points for positive behaviors and can lose points for negative behavior. This had been working well until recently. I used winter break to find different ideas. There are so many amazing and fun ideas out there that the students would love. I want to make sure my new system isn't too much work for me and is appropriate for 6th graders. 

One of my discoveries was Class Dojo. I had seen it before but had never really looked into it. After discussing it with other teachers and reading countless blogs about it, I have decided to give it a shot. I have spent some time coming up with rewards and corresponding point values. Luckily, I have some extra time due to extremely cold temperatures and school being canceled. 

Below, I have posted the rewards I have come up with so far. I don't want to start off with too much. These are individual rewards that students can "cash" in their points for. I've decided that they can cash in points on Fridays to prevent too much craziness. To turn in points I added a negative behavior that is "cash in points" so students do not have to use all their points. In the future I may add whole class rewards but I think individual rewards is what my classes needs at the moment.

Reward	Number of Points
Pencil	2 pts.
No shoes in class	10 pts.
Scratch Off Ticket	10 pts.
Piece of candy	15 pts.
Lunch with a friend in the classroom	20 pts.
Use seat cushion or use the duct tape chair for a class period	30  pts.
Pick from Ms. S's box	35 pts.
Pick a seat for a week	40 pts.
Homework pass	50 pts
Pack of gum or Soda in class	50 pts.