Elf on the Shelf Fun!

Last year I decided to add an elf on the shelf to my classroom. I was a little skeptical, but I knew many students had an Elf on the Shelf at their homes. This ended up being a lot of fun, maybe even more fun for me! ;) So again this December I pulled out the book and elf. My new class of students brought even more excitement for our elf.

I strongly recommend adding an Elf on the Shelf to your classroom. The students started each day eager to find him and what trouble he may have gotten into. Here are some places our elf, Wallie's adventures in our classroom this school year.

Adding an elf to your classroom brings a lot of holiday joy and excitement, while still reminding the students that good behavior is expected. Though December is a short month because of Winter Break, the students are so excited for the holidays they often have a hard time following rules and directions. The addition of my Classroom Elf, has helped remind the students that we are still in school, and everyone is watching! ;) Try it...I know you will find some value and add a little bit of enjoyment during the month of December! Happy Holidays! 

Utilizing Educational Songs from YouTube via Safe Share

I love using songs, poems, or engaging stories to teach to my students! Especially when a concept is tough to understand, I am willing to try anything to help the student learn. I have always loved using educational songs I find on YouTube. However, YouTube is not always kid appropriate. This is why I put some of my favorite songs into Safe Share to create a Safe Share link. As I was adding these video songs into Safe Share I thought it would be fun to make QR Codes for my students to scan. This makes the videos more easy for my students to view. AND I am sharing these with you! 

Click here to download a free set for yourself. 

 

I printed, laminated, and hole punched these QR Codes to be easily accessible. 

I hope you use these with your students! Happy Listening!

To Dye or Not?

Well I’m guessing you figured out that I went ahead and decided to dye my Ikea Poang Chairs. After a year of Kindergarten students using them, the white was no longer white…just a very ugly stained mess that no washing machine could ever clean! When pricing fabric to cover 12 chairs, the cost was over 300 DOLLARS!! So, I settled with a bottle of $2.99 Rit Dye instead. :)

Here is my step by step process. 

(The Rit Dye website has directions to follow too, check them out here.) 

You will need:

1.    First, I washed the chair covers on the cold cycle. (My washing machine fit 4 at a time.)

2.   I decided to dye the covers in a plastic bin outside. I set this up while the chair covers were in the washing machine. I used a bottle of the Royal Blue Rit Dye. Then, I filled the bin with 4 buckets of hot water from my kitchen sink. 

3.   The website says that you may want to add salt, so I did. To do this I put 2 cups of warm water in a bowl. Then dumped in 1 cup of salt. I stirred this until the salt had dissolved. 

4.   Next, I added my bowl of salt water to the plastic bin of water and dye. I was sure to stir this all together really well. 

5.   When my dye station was all set up, my washing machine had completed the cycle. I took out the chair covers and put each one into the bin of dye (one at a time). I mixed the cover around for about 1-2 minutes. (The website directions say to keep the item in the dye for 10-30 minutes, but I was worried they would shrink, so I opted for just a couple of minutes instead.) When the chair cover was in the water, I continually stirred and moved it around to help evenly distribute the dye. (I used the end of a broom to stir.) 

6.   After a couple minutes, I squeezed out the water/dye mixture and hung the chair cover on my clothesline. Then, I moved on to the next cover. 

7.   I let the covers air dry on the clothesline for an hour or so.

8.   After this, I brought the covers into my laundry room sink and rinsed them with water. I started with hot water then changed to warm and cold. I rang out as much water as I could. All of the chair covers then went back into the washing machine. 

9.   This time, I selected the Warm/Cold Washing Cycle. (Again I did not want to use the Hot Cycle for shrinking purposes)  

10. When the washing machine was done, I air dried the covers on my clothesline. 

11.   Finally, when they were dry, I was done! (Well at least the first 4 were done…I still had 8 more chair covers to go..)

Final Thoughts: I will tell you that the covers do still shrink a little bit, mostly in the length. I was still able to get the cover onto the chair and I’m hoping the length will stretch back out as the children sit in the chairs. Overall, I am very happy with the end result! The chair covers look so new and clean! I can’t wait for my students to see these bright blue chairs!

Happy dyeing!

#SummerBreak

Each summer break, it’s important to reflect, revamp, and revise plans for the next school year - and of course take time to rest and relax! However, I always find time to plan and prepare for the upcoming group of students. ;)

This summer I had an amazing opportunity to attend the Camp Snowball in Portland, Oregon. This conference was about using the Systems Thinking Approach. When I arrived I was overwhelmed, confused, and had no idea what Systems Thinking even meant! There were people from all parts of the educational world at this conference, ranging from teachers to principals to superintendents and even staff from the finance departments of school districts. It was refreshing to see all these people excited and interested in learning about Systems Thinking.

The first couple days I spent time learning and synthesizing the knowledge I had learned. By day three I was starting to grasp the concepts. I liked the idea and felt it really has a place in my classroom. Our last day at Camp Snowball we visited the Kids Camp, called Camp Sunshine. This really helped me visualize the approach even better. I was amazed by the conversations and depth of understanding all the students had on the various topics. In one-week’s time, the students had gained so much knowledge and experience with the Systems Thinking approach. I truly enjoyed and value this experience. I hope to continue learning more and I can’t wait to add some of the new tools I learned into my lessons this school year! 

My learning and preparation will continue through the rest of the summer… Some other projects I’m working on include updating the classroom and furniture designs. I am also thinking about adding a Maker Space area into my classroom and taking out the “traditional” classroom kitchen/dramatic play area. I will definitely be adding ‘Genius Hour’ into my schedule! I plan to start with “Wonder Wednesday’s” in the fall, then we will explore deeper on student driven wonders after Winter Break. Reading educational books will definitely continue. One book I just started titled, WorldClass Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students by Yong Zhao is really making me think and rethink. (He was a Keynote speaker at Camp Snowball. He has a new insight on education that provides alternatives to the traditional schooling. Check out his website and book list.) And of course I will make sure I spend more time relaxing and with my family, especially my very spoiled dog, Howie! 

My goal as an educator is to be a lifelong learner and not be afraid to take chances. I hope the same for my students. A good quote I try to live by, “Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.” -Unknown 

Pet Rock Persuasion

We just finished a great project! Pet Rocks are back and trending in classroom B-5!

I saw a blog post from a teacher who had all her students make pet rocks and bring them into the classroom. Her students wrote why one would like a pet rock. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to try it out in my own class.

We too were starting our Persuasive Writing Unit. I thought if the students had the opportunity to experience something themselves it would make their writing even better!

I collaborated with another Kindergarten Teacher and here is how we organized our writing unit.

Day 1: Introduce Pet Rocks

I showed pictures and allowed the students to “research” the different ways they could decorate their pet rock.

**Each student had a long weekend to gather a rock and decorate it like his or her researched plan. Then, they brought it to school with an empty box for the Pet Rock’s house.

Day 2: Discuss where our Pet Rocks will live while at school?

The students drew and made plans on the Pet Rock’s houses. They drew beds, tables, chairs, couches, even televisions.

Day 3-4: Build and Decorate Pet Rock Homes

I went to the Scrap Box and got different recycled items for the students to use in the houses. They were so deliberate and clever in their thinking of where to put the various items.

The students even thought about “community places”. They added a Pet Rock Police Station, Pet Rock Fire Station, Pet Rock Daycare and Play Center, Pet Rock Movie Theater, and even a Pet Rock Pool!

Day 5: Pet Rock Profiles

Each student wrote about their Pet Rock’s personality - what they like/dislike, favorite food, favorite color, and birthday. I took a picture of each pet rock for the students to add to their Pet Rock Profile page. These profiles were attached to the houses.

Day 6: Writing on Why or Why Not you should get a Pet Rock?

The students made a list of the reasons why you would want a Pet Rock. (No one said they didn’t want a Pet Rock…yay!) The list was great and very convincing…

Some highlights:

       Pet Rocks are free.

       They won’t bite.

       They will listen without interrupting you.

       They can help you do your homework.

       You can make a whole Pet Rock Family!

Day 7: Continue convincing others through our writing.

We wanted to invite administrators and people involved in our school to see the Pet Rocks. I explained to my students they would have to write letters inviting and convincing these guests to come to our classroom to see the Pet Rocks.

On Day 8, 9, 10: The students wrote their letters using similar reasons from before on why you should come to our classroom to see our Pet Rocks. I “mailed” the letters and made sure we would have some visitors.

Day 11: Pet Rock Posters

Each student made a poster, “advertising” why Pet Rocks are the best. They used these in their presentations on Day 15.

Day 12 & 13: Pet Rock Songs

Every student wrote and recorded a song (on their ipads using the camera app) about their pet rock. These were so fun to listen to! (It was an added entertainment for our guests too).

Day 14: Final Review and Presentation Practice

We talked about how to be a good presenter. We went over what we would/should say to convince others to get a Pet Rock.

Day 15: Pet Rock Presentations

We had many guests visit our classroom. The students each had a station where they showed their Pet Rocks, the Pet Rock Homes, Profiles, and Posters. They explained to their guests why you would want a Pet Rock! And as the extra bonus, each student shared his or her pet rock song. ;)

This really was a great unit! I enjoyed teaching it while and my students enjoyed their learning. I would say Pet Rock Persuasion worked. We convinced others to get Pet Rocks and the students learned so much!