It's finally time for #2getherwearebetter CLASSROOM REVEAL!!!

I am so happy this day is finally here. I have been itching to show off all my hard work of setting up my classroom before my children storm in ready to learn LOL :)!

SO, READY, SET HERE WE GO...

Here is the view from the door of my classroom. I actually I was able to get the majority of the room. You can see everything but the front of the room.

I'm so thankful to have a wall of windows because I love to raise the shades and turn off the lights so the light comes in. I am all about going green and using sunlight to do so.

My tables were all layed out for Meet the Teacher Night. I didn't really choose seats for students, so the students that came go to choose where they go to sit. I teach sixth grade so I don't really do the name tag thing. I did last year, but this your it was more of headache to do and then have my students pick them off the table any way. 

I this the front of my classroom. I currently change what is the front of the room because I don't use my smart board as much this school year. I have a class set of chromebooks and I use the website Pear Deck, so I am able to broadcast my lessons through my Ipad on to the students screens with out the use of the smartboard. (My students like the closeness of the chromebook instead of having to look up and take notes from the smartboard)

I was able to occupy my two-year-old by turning on Mickey Mouse!!! This lasted for about an hour while I finished setting up my room. 

I love the new seating I have this school year. I was able to get stabilities balls from my partner and she received a new set with feet for her class, so two out of three sixth grade classrooms have stabilities. 

My favorite part of my classroom is my classroom library. I decided to use milk created because we had a shortage of shelves in my building, so last year I started collecting milk crates from the cafeteria (FREE). (Don't worry I zipped tied them to death! NOFALLING ON STUDENTS!!!)

The last part (but there are other I need to probably add because there is much more in my classroom to see) is my Graffiti Wall. I read Reading in the Wild this summer and I am not obsessed with Donalyn Miller. I love everything she says about building a community of reading and I believe this is so important. Reading is a life skill you will always need! My mission for my students is to really understand this and really value reading this school and for the rest of their lives!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Come back soon!

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Why sit on a chair when you can sit on a stability ball!

I am so excited to start the 2015-2016 school year and I am even more excited that I have gotten rid of my chair. YES, NO MORE CHAIRS! My awesome teammate received a class set of stability balls last school year to use with her students. This school year our gym teacher had a set that no one was use so my teammate decided to let my have hers and use the other balls (Why??) (the new set has feet so the balls don't roll). 

This will by my first year ever using stability balls in my classroom, but I am up to the challenge. (not really a challenge because I know I will have a great group of students that will definitely use the balls to their full potential)

This is what my classroom looked like before I got the stability balls. 

This is the new and improved seating in my classroom currently!

I created two big groups with my tables to give my classroom more room to walk and other seating.

I made the rings my stability balls sit on out of pool noodles that I cut in half. I held them together with duck tape (for now till I find something better). Great cheap way to keep the stability balls from rolling around when students are not using them. I can sit them under the table or on top of the table when they mop my floors after school. 

With my stability balls comes responsibility for my students. This means there are rules to be followed. Below are my stability ball rules.

I am hoping with the new seating that I see an increase of concentration and engagement from my students. Feel to leave any question you have below or email me at teachinglittlesmarties@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Teaching Little Smarties

I am so happy to link up with Angie at Lucky Little Learners and Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd this month to talk about bulletin boards.

In my classroom, I currently have seven bulletin boards in my classroom. Below are three of those seven. This is the most bulletin boards I have ever had in my classroom LOL. I like to leave my bulletin boards mostly blank because I hang up the anchor charts we create together on all the boards. I also have a small board in the front of the room that is not pictured that I use for student data. 

I have been following some awesome teachers on Instagram and I can't wait to let my student know what I am reading. This idea can from Literacy for Big Kids. In order for students to be lifelong readers, they have to know their teacher also reads. You can't expect students to do things you don't do yourself!

Below are some tip to save money and set up your classroom bulletin boards.

I love using bordette on my bulletin boards. I don't have to worry about a theme or having to change it later in the year if it doesn't match something in my classroom. Also, bordette is easy on your budget and won't break the bank if you are buying at least four rolls. Each roll will run you about 3 dollars and some change. 

Using the same color border and color paper on all your bulletin board creates a cohesive look throughout your classroom and students attention won't bounce in so many different places because too many colors and cause a distraction. I have also layered my border in the past years and it too can fancy things up a bit. 

This year I decided to save money and not purchase any new bulletin board letters. I have so many great fonts on my computer that I decided to enlarge the font and use it as the letters for my board. In the picture above of some of my boards, I have used KG Fonts and Hello Fonts. I only invested in Astro Bright paper to print on. 

When school starts my boards are empty with some exceptions, I like to leave that space for all my anchor chart I have created with my students. The posters become more meaningful and students will use them more than any store-bought posters. 

Thanks for stopping by!

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This past week, I had the chance to participate in two reader's workshop professional developments. I also got a three-day training in June that was awesome! During the past school year, I started to implement reader's workshop, but my district's focus was on writer's workshop. I can honestly say I did a few pieces of the workshop model, but still needed to learn in order to become better.  

I want to share what I learned, what I have done with my students, and what I will be doing during the upcoming school year.

When setting up you classroom, think about how you want to convey the message that this is a reading environment. 

Reading wall- my bulletin boards in the back of my classroom are reserved for anchor chart that have to do with reading. I am also going to reserve the front of my air conditioner for my graffiti wall. Students will write quotes from books they are reading. I read Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller this summer and I have become obsessed with everything she talks about. Graffiti walls are one of the things she does with her students that I believe will make a great difference with my students in getting them to read.  

Meeting area- even big kids need to be on the floor from time to time. I am excited I was able to get a big rug through Donors Choose. It will be our meeting area for all my mini lesson, read aloud time, and when my students want to lay on the floor to read. 

Small group area- depending on your preference this will be an area where you will meet with your groups. It can be on the floor on a rug or at a table.

Classroom library- You have to have books for students to choose from. LOTS & LOTS & LOTS OF BOOKS!!!!! The recommended number of books for a classroom library is 2,000 books. Now that number may not be possible, but there are many places to start building your classroom library. Your public library, Scholastic, and used book stores are some places to start. 

Have comfortable items for students to lay on or sit on while reading. I have a tile floor in my classroom and in the winter it can be very cold at times. I brought in old pillows from a couch and put them in pillow cases to match my classroom room decor. 

Room arrangement- I switched to tables this past school year so that we have more floor space for my students to find a spot to read. 

Here is an example reading block schedule. I was given this schedule during my June training for  Reader's workshop. This schedule is geared towards grades, 3-6 students. You can tailor this schedule to fit the needs of your classroom.

Read aloud time is the heart of your day. It is outside of the reader's workshop time. When I read to my student's I like to have them close to me so we sit on the rug in our meeting area. 

My first read aloud of the school year will be Fish in a Tree. I am taking the pledge to read this book during the 2015-2016 school year to my students. 

You can also take the pledge by posting this sticker to your blog, Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook page.

*The key to making reader's workshop work in your classroom is PLANNING! The lack of planning will be doing your students a disservice. They have to know you enjoy reading in order to make them enjoy reading. IT ALL STARTS WITH YOU AS THE TEACHERS. Your students will follow your examples.

To learn more stay tuned for my next posts on:

Interactive Read Aloud

Mastering the Mini-lesson

Getting Students to Read

Conferencing with Students

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Teaching Little Smarties

So far I am enjoying my summer and getting some much-needed rest!

Professional Reading

I am currently working through a stack of professional reading material. I have been reading Reading in the Wild, and I love this book. I have so many things I will be doing with my students come August. I can not wait. This is such an excellent book. Stay tuned for my post on everything I have learned from the amazing book.

Stalking the Target Dollar Spot

Target has so many great teacher supplies in the dollar section! My first trip was okay. I found a few thing picture on the right. Today I went, and Target has restocked their Dollar Spot. I will be going back tonight because I had my girls with me, and they will not let me peacefully look through the goodies. All I could grab quickly was the amazing stickers on the left. No more writing FIX THIS on a student's paper.

Chillin' with my mini MEs

My girls and I took a trip to the Zoo. They love looking at all the animals. They also go to touch the sting rays (not pictured), and a boy next to us made one mad and it splashed him. WOW! It was funny. Sting Rays don't play! I love how they are so amazed when we go because every time they act like it's their first time at the Zoo. 

Create-A-Pal

It's me as a Pal

I just purchased the create-a-pal from Polka Dots and Pals store on TpT. What do you think does it look like me :)? 

TpT Seller Challenge 

I am still working on the seller challenge, and I must say I have increased in followers! Can not wait to see the difference at the end. 

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Teaching Little Smarties

My Goals:

Present at a conference for teachers- My dream is to continue learn to build my knowledge to present at a conference. Specifically a conference focused on ELA or technology. I have a great love for reading and all things technology, and I want to be able to share that with other teachers. I have presented in a small group setting to my colleagues which a starting point. I also want to build my name so that people know and recommend me to present. I have seen so many great teachers on Instagram traveling to different cities presenting and I would love for that to be me one day.

Build my vacation fund- I have not been able to travel must in my adult life (we go small places that are like 3 to 5-hour drives). I would like to build my vacation fund to where I can take my family on vacation outside of the country every summer or a least every other summer :)! I took a trip to Hawaii that was paid for by my husband's job (free), and my daughters have wanted to go since they saw the pictures. I want to take them to Disney World in Hawaii! My dream trip outside of the country is New Zealand. I love how green and beautiful it is.

Buy a house- I love the neighborhood I currently live in and would love to buy a house out here. My children attend a great school and have been there for the past three years. I can't see my family living anywhere else (unless it's Hawaii of course)!!!!

Student Loans- I am working on my Educational Specialist degree and I have racked up a lot of debt  :(, so I really need to start paying that off or start making a dent in the humongous number!!

Thanks for reading!

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Teaching Little Smarties

Celebrating Black History was one of my first product I created when I started my TpT journey a year ago. I have been working on adding reading passages to this product and I have included a preview on one of the reading passages. If you would like to take a closer look, you can find it HERE .

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to Follow me on Bloglovin!!

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Teaching Little Smarties

First let me say to all my readers who were expecting this post yesterday, I am sorry. Yesterday was sooooo busy! 

Here is it part 2 of chapter 1 in The Literacy Teacher's Playbook.

In the last part of Chapter 1: Collecting Data the book talks about reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is a big part of my classroom. I know my students are readers no matter what level they are reading on, but the actual question is: Are they understanding what they read?

During this past school year, we have focused on reader response journals. I like response journals, but I feel that the structure of my journals was off. My students could not fully understand the concept and some were not understanding what they were reading. Response journals became frustrating for my struggling students who ended in them not doing them at all. For the upcoming school year, I will track my student's comprehension on a weekly basis using tools from the book. Using running records (on students reading more than one grade below grade level), comprehension test from  www.readingandwritingproject.com, and stop and jot activities.



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Here we go!

 I am excited to be doing my first book study this summer! There are only for chapters in this book, so I have split the chapters into two parts. This part 1 of Chapter 1: Collecting Data.

Thanks for Joining!!

Chapter 1: Collection Data

This chapter is all about collecting different types of data. The great part about this is that the data they state in the book are already things you are doing in your classroom. 

Literacy Data Sources:

Running Records 

Books Logs

Engagement while reading

Participation in discussions

Fluency

Reading Comprehension

Interest Inventories

Chapter 1 goes into great detail about the different forms of data that can be collected in your classrooms (sources listed above).

In my classroom and the district as a whole has switched to Reader's and Writers Workshop. We are currently using Lucy Calkins units of study for both. This past school year, while teaching sixth grade, I have stressed the importance of reading, but also reading "just right books". When assessing reading engagement, research has proven for students to improve their reading students must read for long stretches of time while reading "just right books" and enjoying their text. I can also see what students are reading (if they are reading "just right books") by looking at their book logs. Book Logs can be a power tool to use for assessing if students are reading and if they are reading material they can comprehend. At times, I found my students reading books that were above their level of comprehension. The upcoming school year I am going to stress to my students the importance of reading books they can understand and build upon that. 

Knowing if students are reading during independent reading time can be used a data because if a student is not reading they are not increasing their ability to read.

Other sources of data are pre and post assessments. When starting a new unit or skill, I like to see where my students are and what they already know. This helps me when conducting my guided reading groups. I also like to have my students track their own data with students tracking forms. These forms are editable and can be found for free in my TpT store.

Visit my TpT store for my data binder covers and dividers. 

On Wednesday I will be talking about the second half of chapter one: Assessing reading comprehension, writing engagement, and qualities of good writing. 

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Teaching Little Smarties

For the upcoming school year, I have been looking at different professional development books to read over the summer. While searching my instructional coach's office, I found The Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo. I chose to read this book because next year we will be focusing on DATA big time in my building. 

I will be starting a book student on this beautiful book starting June 8th. Every Sunday and Wednesday I will post about the section read. The first section will be pages 1-12, and I will post it on Wednesday June 10th. 

There are only four chapters in this book, but I will be splitting the chapters into parts. I want to make sure all the information is covered. 

Also, as I go through this study, I will be posting resources to use as far as data collection in your classroom. 

Upcoming:

6/8: Read, 6/10: Post

Chapter 1: Data Collection

- Tools for Assessing Reading and Writing

- Assessing Reading Engagement

-Assessing Fluency

- Assessing Print Work/Decoding

Can't wait to read your comments and ideas!

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I am super excited to link up with Luck Little Learners and Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd with their monthly linky party 2getherwearebetter. The reason I created my blog was to show teachers what I like to do with my students, and to connect with other teachers. I love to share my ideas and get ideas from all of you amazing teachers out there. 

I see teaching as a team effort, so in order to grow you have to surround yourself what teachers and people that see that teaching is the most wonderful job to have. This carreer path can be hard and stressful. Leaning on those who can help you and up lift you is the most inportant part of the job. 

This is why when I saw that this linky part was happening I didn't want to miss the chance to link up 

becasue....

2getherwearebetter

Here are my daily schedules for my Fantasic Sixth Graders!!!

First in our Monday Schedule

Next is Tuesday and Friday

And last is Wednesday and Thursday

There you go!!

Hope you enjoyed

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Teaching Little Smarties

Okay okay!! I know I'm late, but I have been really thinking about what things I want to work on this year. It's 2015!! So far my year is off to a good start and I want to keep it that way. Life is so short at times that you just have to make the best of it. 

So, what I have been thinking is: I have really neglected my blog. I started this blog to talk about all the wonderful things I do in my classroom and in my life, but that has not been happening. For 2015, these are my goals I want to keep up with. 

1. Write blog post at least once a month

2. Make everything a positive 

3. Stay organized

My last thought for this post is I'm still here and hopefully I can actually keep a resolution this year. Not like other years where you say you're going to do something but never get to it. 

***Be on the look out for my post about making my classroom paperless. 

I have been working on it since December and it looks promising!!

STAY TUNED :) 

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