Let's fix this Pencil Problem, Shall we?

*Mic check* Hello? Anyone there?! Lol.
So it's been two years since my last post! Wow... I'm so sorry. My life is chaos with two kids. To the person that said "One child is a pet, two is a zoo": You could not be more correct! Lol.

Anywho, a few changes have happened since I last posted:

1. I switched schools- BEST. DECISION. EVER.
2. When I made that switch, I went back to teaching 1st grade bilingual (LOVE!)
3. This year, I'm teaching 2nd grade.... monolingual! Interestingly enough though, I teach in a very large latino area, so the Spanglish still stands. =) Yay!

This year, has been pretty rough- I have 34 students! Yikes! (You don't even want to know what my guided reading looks like... it's basically a juggling act [with chainsaws! LOL!])
With 34 students, you can imagine how many pencils one would usually go through in a day- the beginning of the school year had me wondering if student were seriously eating their pencils; needless to say, it was a mess INTERESTING to say the least!

After all the BOY (Beginning Of Year) transfers, I was FINALLY able to sort it all out! I assigned all my students a number (this is their number for the entire school year), collected ALL THE PENCILS, and got to work!

First I placed all the pencils in a plastic shoe bin similar to this one.

(Actual Picture)

Then, I got these bad boys out and numbered them 1-34.

(Actual picture)

I placed the dot labels on each pencil and then layered them with scotch tape (so that kiddos didn't take their number off).

Here's what happens afterward:

• Give each child their assigned pencil.
• Explain, to students that when they find a missing pencil, they need to either find its owner OR give it to the teacher.
• You can do one of two things:
  1. Give them pencils every two weeks (yes! I swear they will not lose them!)
  2. Exchange their pencils for a new one when the old one no longer fits in your classroom sharpener.

Easy Peasy, Right?
It's kind of tedious at first, but I promise you that you'll have a bin full of pencils!

Here is an actual pic of my current pencil bin (keep in mind that I have 34 students!)... I took the picture 5 minutes before I wrote this post!

Try it out and let me know if it works for you, too!

A Tiny Glimpse into My Home Away From Home

Hi, Guys! This is my 3rd week back at work (but only my second one with the Little Ones) and although I no longer have a split room, I feel more stressed now then I did at the beginning of the year last year (though, according to my husband, I say that every year. Lol.). It just feels like it's going to be a Chocolate and Coffee kind of year for me.... let's see how it goes.

After starting my 6th year of teaching, I discovered that I'm TERRIBLE at the whole "First Day of School" thing (I know, 6 years is a long time to barely notice that the First Day is not my forte, but at least I figured it out on my own). I just assume that the majority of the kiddos know each other because they come from the same Kindergarten. I dread the "getting to know you activities" and I know that they are a must, but I kind of feel that some students may dread it as much as I do. I'm a weirdo. I really need to get it together and sooner than later would be great. Lol. Any ideas on how to make this better for next year would be amazing.

Moving on.... as I was stalking exploring all the amazing blogs out there, I found myself oohing and ahhhing as I saw the many beautiful and creative ways you all decorated your rooms. Your students must never want to leave! My students on the other hand basically trample me on the way out. Lol. (That was a teeny joke). Squirrel! Sorry, back to business... as I was saying, I'm in awe of how creative and inspiring you all are. I don't have any ooh's and ahh's of my own, but I still felt like sharing what my home away from home looks like around this time of year with all of you. =)


This is what my classroom looked like when I walked through the door. I have a fairly large classroom. I'm a lucky gal.

This is how it looked after I organized the furniture. It was taken from a different angle. As you can see, my desk is in the far corner... I don't sit at it when kids are around, so I keep it out of the way.

This is what my science board looked like last year. I wanted it to look sciencey yet pretty, so I opted for flowered wrapping paper from the Target Dollar Spot instead of the typical butcher paper. I thought it was super cute! This year, it looks a little different because I wanted it to be cohesive with the rest of my classroom theme (Zebra and Neon).

This is my Morning Meeting/Math Board. The little black dots on my coin chart are magnetic dots that I bought at Lakeshore so that I can add and exchange coins easily.

This is a picture of my word wall. I used paper plates as the background for the letters. I only use this wall for English sight words. I have another word wall for my spanish words in the front of my room.

Here is a table that I dazzled up with contact paper. As you can see the table was an ugly one before the makeover. I dislike wood paneling; it reminds me of a basement. Thank goodness it no longer looks that way!

This is jewelry coin organizer that I use for behavior. Each pocket corresponds with a student. If students have 5 coins by Friday, they can buy a treasure from my treasure box. =)

This is all I have to show for now. I hope you enjoyed your tiny glimpse inside my classroom. I will try to update with pictures of my current boards so you can see the theme throughout.

Idea for Mclass Math

Here I go... again! Trying to keep up in this Bloggy World is tough... maybe if I spent less time blog stalking researching stuff for work, I'd have some time to share my thoughts and ideas. *SIGH* If only there were more hours in a day. ;)
Moving on... EOY MClass, DIBELS, and TRC Testing are JUST around the corner! I believe someone mentioned the testing window begins on the 30th of this month! OMG, Becky, I am nervous! I'm gonna start kicking everyone's rear into full gear (including my own). *SIGH* So much for watching trash TV Educational Programming. =(
Same book, next page.... given that the testing time is practically here (13 more school days), I've decided to share an idea that one of my wonderful coworkers shared with me. After all, sharing is caring, right? I tweaked it a tiny bit to suit my needs and wants, but the rest was 100% her idea (or at least I hope!).
Because number facts are the most weighed in MClass, we decided it would be a great idea to have students keep track of their Number Facts data/results with this Target Dollar Spot top-of-the-line pocket chart. They basically move their number up or down down the chart depending on how many facts they could solve in one minute. (For a thorough explanation, read below the pictures!) Seeing their number in the green zone gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride. =) I love seeing their little faces of excitement when they get to move up.... they're disappointment faces when they move down, on the other hand, break my heart. =(

Here is how it looks


Alittle bit of a close up


There is no particular reason for why the pocket chart itself is two different colors; I needed more pockets and the red chart was all I had. Basically this is how it works: I numbered the pockets from the bottom up with numbers 3-15 (I didn't use 1 or 2 because all my students can all solve more than 4 number facts). Numbers 1-6 are on a red card because at EOY (End Of Year) in MClass, solving 6 or less number facts is considered to be Intensive (far below benchmark). Numbers 7-10 are on yellow because solving between 7-10 number facts at EOY is considered Emerging. Numbers above 11 are on Green due to 11 being the minimum number of number facts needed to meet Benchmark at the end of the year.
As you can see, there are also blue and purple cards numbered from 1-27. These cards represent the students in my classroom; blue for the boys and purple for the girls. Every Monday, I progress monitor my students in Number Facts. Once the minute is up, I let my students know how many Number Facts they were able to solve. Then, they go to the chart and move their classroom number up or down depending on how they did that week. I'm hoping that by the opening of the testing window, most ALL of my students are at 11 number facts... I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. =)