Friday Favorites, a Freebie AND a Big Sale? Good Times!

It's that time once again...Friday is here and there's much to celebrate!  (I'm hearing Kool and the Gang in my head right now..."Ce-le-brate good times, come on!")

First, I would love to share with you a couple of great finds that I made recently.  One of them is a video that was brought to my attention by a former student who thought it might be something "cool to share on my blog." (How much did I love that, by the why?  It made my day!)  He was so right, and I posted it to my Middle School Matters Blog FB page, not knowing who Kid President was but loving everything that he said in the short clip that is both inspirational and guaranteed to make you smile.  Wouldn't you know, I then saw Kid President was featured on the Today Show a few days after?  Social Media is amazing.  Who would've thought it possible that Matt Lauer would be taking cues from me? ;-)

In his "A Pep Talk from Kid President to You," this adorable 9 year old's  platform is simply that "it's everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance."  It's one of the best pep talks I've heard, touching both my heart and my funny bone.  




In case, like me, this is the first you've heard of Kid President, there are other sweet video that your kiddos will love...even if they've seen them before.  They are great catalysts for discussion and/or writing prompts, for sure!

My second favorite I would like to share is a blog that I discovered through my first giveaway last week!


This is a great blog to visit to find TONS of creative ideas for your teaching and for your classroom.  Tina offers her own creations, but she also generously shares ideas she discovers from others so that her audience can easily find them, too.  Talk about "bloggy love!"  What better way to start February - the month of hearts, valentines and all things kind - then to bring your attention to a blog that shares the love all year round?!   Speaking of Valentine's Day, I also have a new FREEBIE that I would like to share.  The beginning of a new month means the introduction of a new theme for my Cooperative Learning Partners:

(Click on image for download)

This month, I decided to ignore the temptation to focus on the "lovey-dovey" theme that Valentine's Day brings immediately to mind and chose to focus on perfect pairings for food - a theme much more palatable for middle schoolers. :)  Be sure to click HERE to visit the first post about how I use Cooperative Learning Partners as a classroom management tool for cooperative learning.  By visiting my FREEBIES page, you'll be able to pick up previous months' themes as well. 

Lastly, I want to make sure that you are aware of two fantastic sales going on this weekend - as if the Super Bowl doesn't bring with it enough excitement!  Teachers Pay Teachers AND Teacher's Notebook are both offering amazing deals on their own...and I am also providing additional discounts at both of my stores.  MANY teacher sellers are taking part and making similar markdowns, so be sure to take time this weekend to visit all of your favorite stores and attack those wishlists!

Teacher's Notebook:  Sale Saturday and Sunday (February 2nd and 3rd) all products in my store will be will be 25% off!

Teachers Pay Teachers:  I will be running a sale for 20% off both Saturday and Sunday (February 2nd and 3rd) AND on Sunday, February 3rd, TpT will be contributing and ADDITIONAL 10% discount off my already discounted price! (That's 28% OFF! Sa-weet!)  Just enter promo code: SUPER at checkout on Sunday.

Check out the savings at all of your favorite stores.

Have a great weekend filled with  family, friends, football, fantastic food and FABULOUS SALES!

Friday Favorites: Tips for Classroom Management AND FREEBIES

Some of us are just getting back into the routines of our school days this week.  Some of us will be headed back from our holiday breaks this coming Monday.  In either scenario, coming back for the new year lends itself to making some fresh starts.  In terms of classroom management, this is the perfect time to reflect on what has been working well for you and your students...and what may need to be tweaked a bit to make more efficient.  It may even mean trying something that is all together different.  The beauty is that during this period of reflection and goal setting that naturally coincides with the first days of January, the timing is perfect to make changes that will help all of us - teachers, students and parents alike - make it successfully through the remainder of the school year.

The following is a list of my favorite classroom management tips.  There are 5 of them, and I hope at least a couple of them will provide you with a little inspiration as we start the new year off and running!

1) After 14 years teaching middle school aged kiddos, I can honestly tell you that having a set routine for when students come into your classroom is very helpful.  One of the things that I like to do is to have a spot in the front of my room that shares important information that my students need to start the day.  My students know to look at that specific spot (a white board in the front of my room) as soon as they come in.  They immediately find a list of materials they need on the desk, the agenda for that day's class, the objective(s) being focused on that day AND the "Do Now" task for the day.

2) Tip #1 (above) is especially nice for me as the teacher because it buys me time for my next tip.  It gives students a task to focus on while I ALWAYS try to be in the hall between classes and greet my students as they come in.  We've all seen the research showing that many of the bullying behaviors we try to watch for happen during the least structured times of the school day.  What is less structured than passing time in the hallways?  In our school district, as I would imagine in many buildings, it is actually considered part of our professional responsibility to have a presence in the hallways during these times of the day.  Of course there are some times when it is not possible to be stationed by my door as students come in (maybe I'm talking with a student or fielding a call from the office), but generally speaking, it's a pretty easy thing to do.  The best part is that I can make a connection with my students as they come in by welcoming them and, if something has changed in our daily routine, I can give them a heads up before they even step over the threshold into ELA.  I can even use this time to give students materials they may need for class - an example being a Formative Assessment Sheet for a day when I want to get a snapshot of how my teaching and my students' learning is progressing.

3) Make sure that if you are finding some challenges with discipline in the classroom that your expectations and consequences (both positive and negative) are very clear.  Whether you've created the rules and guidelines for your classroom OR it is the result of a cooperative effort between you and your students in the beginning of the year, now is a good time for a reminder and/or to rework any areas that have been problematic.  Here is a link to a post I wrote in September that pertains to this subtopic in classroom management.  You will find some details about the system I have used.  You'll also see why I feel that providing middle school students a chance to reflect on their poor choices and have a chance to self-correct when appropriate is something that has helped me create an environment that is mutually respectful.

4) Reach out to your students' parents!  I'm finding that one of the most shocking things to me, as the mother of a Kindergartner this year, is the level of involvement of many parents in elementary school.  People are always volunteering to help.  Parents are at PTO meetings.  School functions are well-attended.  I know it seems funny, but my experience at the middle school level has been quite the opposite.  I never really thought about it before this year, to be honest, but now I have a different perspective.  I really think that many parents would like to be more involved in the educational lives of their children, but may not know how.
    Of course, just the ages of our tweens and teens in middle school adds to the challenge.  Developmentally, our students are looking to gain some independence and may not be as open with family about the day-to-day goings on in school.  This makes is even more important for us to reach out and create some positive lines of communication with home right away.
    To make things easier, have a record keeping system that will assist you in keeping track of these interactions with parents.  It doesn't have to be elaborate or time consuming, but just a common place where you can note when conversations occur and anything that you glean from your interaction that can help you to know your students better.  This is also a great tool for you if problems arise with a particular child during the school year.  Little clues, when put together with observations and information form others on your team, may be helpful if a student needs assistance - academically or emotionally - as time goes on.  My Classroom Management Kit includes three templates that can help with this.  Feel free to take a look for more details.

5) Build in an opportunity for quick cooperative learning breaks - anytime.  I've written several posts about the importance of allowing time for our students to share what they are thinking, creating and learning with others.  It's important to provide a way for students to process and internalize new information, and sharing the learning process with others is very helpful.  The challenge I have run into over the years is finding a balance between the time it takes to form learning partners and/or groups and still leave time during the class period for instruction and practice.  And, of course, in middle school it's all about who you are working with!  That social piece is, in and of itself, a challenge.  In an October post, Terrifying Twosomes, I followed a Halloween theme to create a useful tool to help with making student  pairs, and had lots of positive feedback.  The post explains in detail how it is used and includes a link to the free form.  I followed this with November's Grateful Gabbers and December's Festive Friends (I love alliteration.  Can you tell? ;-) )
      And now...new year, new month, new theme:
Presenting (insert drum roll here)...Winter Wonders!

Be sure to check one of the posts of the previous months to learn how to set this up with your kiddos.

Hopefully, these tips will serve as a reminder of things that you already do, and do well, and also as a reminder of a thing or two that you can revisit or consider trying new.  In addition, with all of this focus on reflecting and refreshing, I want to leave you with something fun that you can do with your students in the first few days back to class.  I've had a lot of positive feedback on the Holiday themed Mad Libs that I experimented with last month.  One that I created is called My New Year's Resolutions and I would like to offer that to you for free as a token of my appreciation for making it all the way through this incredibly long post! :)

It is part of a set of three that is available at my store and will only be offered for free here.  I hope, if you choose to give it a try, that your students will get a giggle from it when they are done.

Please consider leaving a post if you're trying any of the tips above OR if you have some more tips to share.  We would love to see them!

With best wishes for the new year,

I've also linked this post to:

Stop by and look around - great ideas are there to be found! :)

Formative Assessment Sheet - Christmas FREEBIE Edition!

I've taken a popular download from my store and created the remix...Christmas style!   My Formative Assessment Sheet puts your Do Now, your checks for understanding AND your Ticket Out (or Exit Slip) all in one place for you to quickly monitor which students are feeling successful and find those that need a bit of reteaching.  It's quick, efficient and organized authentic data at your fingertips!

(Click on the image for your Google Doc. FREEBIE!)

The upper-left box has space for students to record answers to a "Do Now" activity that would be ready for them to tackle as soon as they sit down.  Then there are two spots for "Stop, Think & Share" where students can record thoughts about a topic of reading or discussion, answer a question, reflect on an activity, etc.  They can then share with a partner, small group or whole class.  The last box on the bottom right is a Ticket Out spot.  Students can record an answer to the last follow-up question of the class, list a few things they have learned, or ask a question about something they would still like to know.  Then, this whole sheet would be their "Ticket Out the Door" - handed to you as they leave.

Bonus: If they know that you will be seeing each of these at the end of the period - as well monitoring them while they are working during class - they are much more willing to stay on task! :)

Now you have a chance to go through the papers and really see who is getting it!  Hand back the next day or save in their folders - it's up to you how you use them, but the information you can get from these little sheets is very helpful in planning the next day's lessons and/or interventions.

Classroom Management Magic - Making Review Fun

This time of year can be wonderful, magical and full of fun.  Children seem to ooze with excitement; walking into my son's Kindergarten classroom, the energy is honestly palpable!  Our younger, elementary friends are not the only ones who may seem to have a little trouble focusing on the necessary tasks at hand during the school day.  Between concerts, and snow days, and professional development days, and vacation days...not to mention the extras that go on outside of school this time of year in December, Middle School can quite easily become Crazy Town in the days nearing Holiday Break.  Though these are mostly the best of times - they can also be the most challenging of times, especially when we know that CCSS and benchmarks wait for no one...not even a distracted child.   This is when, much like Santa and his magic toy bag, if you have a few tricks to pull from your sleeve to harness the energy and keep the kiddies focused, everyone will be that much happier to prepare for things like... any assessments you may be giving in December. ;-)

My Winter Tic Tac Toe Review is one such activity that is an easy game to set up, and provides not only for a creative review, but a chance for you to gather some formative assessment data for your students as you check questions and answers and observe game play.  I'm always looking for quick review activities that require students to process and internalize new information. This version of Tic Tac Toe is perfect because students must first create their own open-ended questions and answers to those questions - which require details for support - before they can play. Students then work together, quizzing each other, as they move their way to a Tic Tac Toe.

This download includes:

Complete Directions

Game Board

18 Game Pieces (Students can cut these out.)

Question/Answer Planning Sheet

...AND a link to a FREEBIE on my blog that can help with easily creating cooperative learning partners that can be used for this activity or any other quick think-pair-share kind of brain break you like to practice in your class.  The key to keeping activities like this from taking too much time to make worth it is having a system already in place to quickly get students working together...you'll find that here.

You can download a preview of this at my TpT Store:

{click image}

and you can also find other activities to help with some fun review that will leave your students asking when they can play again...and not, "When does this class end?!"

Grammar: I have...Who has...?

Common ELA Vocabulary Review Game Pack

ALSO - I'm linking this post to:

Be sure to click and check out other great resources for this crazy time of year...all for $1.99 or less!

Any activities that you like to do this time of year that keep kiddos focused  while having fun?

Please think about sharing below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Grateful Gabbers

A crazy week is shaping up in many ways!  Most importantly, the approach of Sandy is getting the attention of all of us on the East Coast.  Our schools are all closing and families her hunkering down for the time being.  Before sharing my freebie today, I want to wish everyone in this massive storm's path well.   Please stay safe.

Aside from crazy weather, we also have Halloween this week and, as difficult as it is to believe, November is here!  For this week's freebie, I'm building on a freebie I offered earlier in October.  I wrote a post titled Terrifying Twosomes, in which I included a Halloween-themed freebie and explained how I like to create pairs for spontaneous cooperative learning opportunities during class.  In my post, I also described my rationale and process for making the student pairs. I had really great feedback on this post and want to offer a Thanksgiving-themed chart that can be used for new pairs in the upcoming month.

Here is November's Grateful Gabbers!

-

Click {here} for your copy of this freebie.

Make copies on cardstock, if possible, to make them more sturdy.

3-hole punch them along the top so that they can stay in the front of each student's binder for quick referencing. :)

Once again, here's how to use this in your class:

• Have students write their names on the back of their own paper.  This way, if it's lost, they have a chance to get it back.
• Explain to your class that they are going to have the chance to pick some friends to work with for different activities during class.  For some students, it will be as though you just told them they hit the lottery, so wait for the buzz to die down.  Then explain that when they are finished filling out the cards together (They can't go ahead because there are specific directions.), everyone will have 4 different people to work with as partners at any given time.
• It is very important to remind them about being respectful of the feelings of others, and that no one should feel left out when writing down names.  These are for quick tasks that last only a few minutes at a time, so it may be nice to have 1 or 2 people that you don't know as well on their cards, too.  It's a great way to make new friends! 
• Tell students that they are going to pick 4 different people to work with this month.  Explain that when you call out a picture ("turkey," for example), students have 2 minutes to find a friend.  They must exchange papers, write their own name on the line next to the picture that you call ("turkey"), hand the paper back to it's owner and return to their own seat.  Once they are finished, they need to sit down so that people who are having a hard time finding a partner can see who else is still looking.
• If you have an odd number of students, you can pair the student with an adult in the room OR create a group of 3.
• Once everyone is sitting, call a couple of students to make sure they have each other's name in the same spot. (Student A and Student B are partners.  Student A should have Student B's name on the turkey line.  Student B should have Student A's name on the turkey line.  If you were to call "turkey" now, Student A and Student B would know to quickly find each other, follow your directions and then go back to their seats to continue with the lesson.)
• The 1st time through can be a little tricky if students aren't listening.  I have found that if I wait to call an object until the last second, once I've given directions and everyone is silent and waiting to hear which picture they will be working with, it's much easier.
• Once you've completed the 1st picture, fill out the other 3 in the same way.  Stress that they should have different people on each line. 

Now, when you want students to have a brain break, move around, and share with a peer, all you have to do is tell them to find their "turkey" and they will be able to work with someone they've already chosen ahead of time.  Then, when you assign groups for a different kind of task and you hear complaints that they are not picking who they work with, you can remind them that they work with people they choose all of the time!

I hope this is a useful and fun resource for you and your students!  If you happen to be someone who downloaded October's Terrible Twosomes, please consider sharing how it worked for you in the comments below.  Thanks for stopping by!