Tackling my Super Improver Wall

Hey there! Let me tell you, I have been a busy bee today. Not only did I get to the park for a little while but I've managed to do breakfast and lunch (my busy friends know how hard it can be to fit multiple meals into a day), laundry and a TpT item! I am so proud of myself today for tackling my Super Improver Wall cards.

So what is a Super Improver Wall (SIW) anways??? Good question! It's a bulletin display of different levels and comes from the great minds behind Whole Brain Teaching (WBT). Students move up the levels as they show improvement on their goals. This isn't a reward system but more like a gaming system. Think about it...When you play a video game you don't get a reward when you beat a level, you simply get to go up to the next level. This works the same way with one catch. There is a photo opporotunity at levels 5 and 6. (I got this idea from the wonderful Mrs. Shipley) Student's goals are academic and behaviorally based. So in order to move up through the levels they must be showing improvement behaviorally and academically! Some people choose to give their levels different names like "Learner, Rockstar, Genius" etc. I chose to stick with simple levels.

 I also made some student cards to go along with it. Students will use these cards as they move through the levels. I plan to print them off in the color of the level they are on. Then as students show progress on their goals they'll get to cross off one of the 10 owls at the bottom of the cards.

Once all 10 owls are crossed off they get to take that card home and will move to the next level. Those that reach level 10 get a slightly fancier card that will be printed in color!

I am super excited to jump into Whole Brain Teaching. If you are as excited as I am and would like to grab these owl themed resources click on the picture below to head to my TpT store and grab them up! The level cards and student cards are both editable! Just make sure you've downloaded the mentioned KG font (Which you can do for free!)

Happy shopping and enjoy your Thursday evening ya'll!

The ABCs of First Grade (A Link-Up)

As I was scrolling through Instagram today I noticed that First Grade Stripes posted a link-up party with other first grade blogs. You might be asking yourself, "What is this?". Well let me tell you, it's AWESOME-SAUCE! This is where different bloggers all link together and blog about the same topic. So I thought, "Hey self! We've got time today. Let's do this!" So stop reading this and get to scrolling down to see my ABCs of first grade. You can click on the banner below to go to an original post about this or scroll down to the bottom for a chance to join!

Here we go!

Active- 1st graders are constantly active. We have to be moving!
Balls- Recess balls are plentiful at the beginning of the year....not so much at the end.
Centers- We do these daily for reading and as often as possible for math!

DIRT- This is our Daily Individual Reading Time.
Eraser- "Do you have an eraser? Can I have an eraser?" Are there ever enough?
Friends- We are all about making friends and learning how to be a good friend

Gonoodle- One of the best internet inventions ever! Free brain breaks and activities.
Hands-on- We. Must. Touch. Things! You know this is true.
Illustrate- I push kids to express their writing with detailed illustrations.

Jokes- They are always being told. We work on having them make sense ;)
Kindness- #kindnessmatters and must be taught
Laughter- Always acceptable (as long as it's not meant to be hurtful)

Messy- Scraps, and pencils, and papers, OH MY!
Non-Fiction- This has been a big push and my kids eat it up.
Owls- This has been my theme for the last couple of years.

Pencils- We never have enough sharpened.
Quality- We learn that quality is better than quantity.
Recess- We will take it any way we can and any time we can!

Smiles- Nothing makes your day better than a 1st grader smile!
Talking- Yes we talk, and we talk a lot!
Up- Remember how I said we are hands-on? We are also always up & down!

Victory- We celebrate everyone's victories, big or small.
Whisper- Such an important concept but so hard to master.
eXpo- If you love a teacher, get them Expo markers!

Yes- It is perfectly okay to use this word often. "No" is not always necessary!
Zippers - While wonderful....nothing says frustration like trying to get 22 winter coats zipped while they are wanting to get outside to recess.

So there you have it. My ABCs of first grade! I hope you've enjoyed them. I'm sure you were thinking of your own words as you went down the list. If you'd like to participate you can grab the image below, click on the picture of the frame I used to get my frames, or create your own! Be sure to go back to First Grade Stripes post so you can link up with us!

Summer Update - Fun trips, fun gadgets, and a FUN new app!

Where has the summer gone? We are nearing the end of July and it seems like it was just yesterday we were beginning summer and I was getting ready for Summer Camp. As you can see from my lack of blogging I've been a busy bee working on other items. So here's a quick update with all of the FUNderful (See what I did there? fun + wonderful) points of my summer thus far.

1. FUN TRIPS
While I haven't really gotten a chance to travel this summer I was able to get back home for a little bubble fun this weekend. I met up with a best friend and we rocked the Bubble Run at the KC speedway! I've done Color Runs, an Electric Run, and now a Bubble Run and this was definitely a run(walk) we'll be doing again!

I have also just scheduled a visit to Salt Lake City, UT for their ComiCon!!! Chris Evans is going to be there and I will be getting up close and personal :)

2. FUN GADGETS
If you are like me you are constantly on your phone. From school email, personal email, Facebook, Instagram, games, pictures, Periscope (read below), music and more, my poor phone was struggling to keep up. Getting tired of the constant reminder I was almost out of storage.....I slumped into Verizon and skipped out with a new phone, Vivofit, and a tablet. Let's say Verizon won me over with a package I couldn't pass up. So while I am rocking away on my new phone (with a beautiful new case) my kids can use my new tablet for AR tests, rewards, and photography for the blog!

      

3. FUN APP!
Here is my favorite part of this summer. I took the leap and got on the Periscope app after seeing all my fellow teachers post about it on Instagram after the TpT Vegas event. Well let me tell you "I. AM. HOOKED!" This app lets you connect with others, watch live streaming videos from them or post your own, and comment to interact. So far I've followed and connected with a ton of different teachers in different grades across the country. I've posted a few short scopes (videos) but I have watched at least 10x that many scopes. I've gotten ideas for WBT teaching which inspired a book purchase as well as ideas for center management. I can't wait to see what new things I learn through the use of this app!

 

 

Center management tips from Elementary Shenanigans

Great tips from Angie @ Lucky Little Learners

Here's to my FUNtastic summer. I hope that you are enjoying yours as well. Don't forget to hope on to Periscope and give me a follow. I promise to follow back!