Teachers in Tiaras

Lots of you were interested in the fake Facebook I made on Dr. Seuss. I did a little research and found several templates to create these “fakebooks.”

1. Fakebook

2. My Fake Wall: It is necessary to create an account for this website, so it might not be ideal for students. Otherwise, the “fake walls” look awesome!

3. Microsoft Word Template: This is probably the most practical outlet for this assignment since most schools and students have Word. 

4. Google Docs Template

5. PowerPoint Template: This is excellant for presentation of the accounts.

These can be used as alternative book reports, presentations on scientists, historians, and more.

I recently discovered this website thanks to getting a message from Olly’s Tumblr. The only negative thing I can think about the show, crafts, and Olly himself is not finding it sooner!! I love the videos. They are extremely descriptive and entertaining. They are easy to understand to even the novice crafter can complete Olly’s zany ideas, and the kids simply love the silly humor. Check out Olly and Pop NOW!

End of the year bulletin board (for K5) I found on Pinterest. I love it!

Whenever we have presentations, all of the students want to comment or ask the student presenting about his creation. In order to fix this, I allow 3 questions or comments. As soon as the student is done presenting, I turn to the class and say, “Ok, your turn.” The student presenting is then allowed to pick three people to hear his/her comment or question. This really cuts down on talking time and it’s fun to hear all the comments the students have for one another.

Since I’m at the EC level, “constructive criticism” isn’t really a concept they grasp yet. Therefore, I allow positive comments only. If anyone says anything negative about another student’s project, book report, or anything they no longer have the privilege of commenting on presentations.

All students love pulling out the whiteboards for an activity, and it is a great way to practice handwriting! To cut down on the time it takes to pass everything out, store whiteboard markers inside of old men’s socks. Place one marker inside each sock and store in a small basket. Then, the students can simply pass on the basket and they will have their marker and eraser all in one grab. If you want to get real fancy, get large binder clips for each whiteboard and clip the sock and marker combo right onto the board.

Classroom helpers are one of the best parts of elementary school! It is so fun to see how excited the students are each and every day. There are several ways to designate who are the “helping hands” of the day.

A fun, easy, and organized way to keep track of daily helpers is to create a small bulletin board. Create a small board in the classroom titled “Helping Hands” with fun pictures of your classroom theme or what their duties will be or anything you can think of! Cut out “people” and label each one with a student’s name (I used the basic die-cut person from the Ellison machine). Divide up the boys and girls into separate pockets and place all of the “people” with the name facing the board. Each day pull the first student from each pocket and hand the boy helper and girl helper at the top of the board (to make it easier punch holes in the tops of all of the “students” and use thumb tacks for hanging). The next morning, move yesterday’s helpers to the back of the pocket and pull two new ones out!

Happy 108th birthday, Dr. Seuss! You will forever be my most favorite author, and the one who inspired me to become a teacher. 

Sometimes it is very difficult for students to remember right rom left (especially at the EC level).To help the students remember, place a small object-in a beach theme classroom a colorful starfish is perfect-in the top right corner of the board at the front of the classroom. This will help all of the students remember and eventually learn right from left.

I’m sure many of you wonderful teachers out there can side with me that tattling is a problem, especially in the EC classroom. My mentor did something simply amazing in order to nip all of the tattles in the bud. She posted a huge laminated poster of when to tattle titled “The Tattling Rules.”

The Tattling Rules (When to tell an adult) are:

-You feel scared

-It happens more than once

-Someone could get hurt

I love these! I can’t wait to post this in my classroom soon. Be sure to explain to your little ones exactly what each rule means and when the students tattle outside of the rules. I made a quick Google Doc of the one I’m hanging up in my classroom. Nothing too extraordinary, but if you’d like to use it you can get it here!