Visual Classroom Management Freebies for Back to School

I can't believe back-to-school time is coming up so quickly! I've been thinking about my classroom decor and decided to go a little different route this year. I want to try and use as many actual photos as possible to make things super clear for my students and help with explicitly teaching classroom procedures.

I've made some new visual posters and wanted to share them with all of you.

My first change was with my class rules posters. I have used a modified version of the Whole Brain Teaching rules for the last several years.

I also wanted explicit Voice Level posters for my students.

If you haven't checked out A Day in First Grade's blog post about her morning meeting, it's a must read {here}. I loved how she gave her students three choices for sitting on the carpet. Last year, I had a lot of students who didn't want to sit criss-cross applesauce. I think my students will be much happier with these options.

If you're interested in any of these visuals, you can download them all below for free by clicking on the pictures!

I hope these are helpful in your classrooms!

Five for Friday

I don't know about you guys, but I'm happy it's Friday.  It makes me even happier that it's a 3 day weekend!!!!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday link up.

Here's a snapshot of my week:

Since my printer isn't here yet (but it does come on Monday!!!), I had to hit Office Max to print stuff.  Their quality is great, but at $0.66 a page it does add up!  And look at that stack I needed printed off. 

 Here's one small corner of my new classroom.  Ummmm yeah.......can you say CLUTTER!  Goodness, my anxiety skyrockets when I walk into the room.  The teacher I'm sharing the room with is on board with cleaning up (THANK GOODNESS).  We've already throw TONS of stuff out.  Seriously, something was copyrighted in 1956.  

 Check out this blast from the past, I found in my room!  Talk about going back to my youth.  I never expected to find a He-Man book.  If only, I had been able to find a She-Ra book.......maybe there's one in there.

I plan on redoing things and making the classroom look nice, clutter-free, and organized.  Here was my first (and only) start.  There's A LOT of work to be done!  I figured posting the class rules was the first thing thing that needed to be done.  Please ignore that the rules are crooked.  I've started the Whole Brain Teaching rules, and the kids are catching on so fast.  Amazing how much more they learn with movements.  If you're interested in downloading my rules for free, click {here}.

And for some reason, I can't make this large space disappear.  :/

A parent brought in caterpillars for the Kindergarten classes.  I brought mine home for the weekend.  I was worried that this little fella (he was hanging from the top) wouldn't make the drive home.  When I stopped, I looked and he was changing into a chrysalis RIGHT before my eyes.  So cool!  I've never seen that happen before.  I hope more change this weekend, and we have butterflies soon.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.  I'm working on some shape and measurement anchor charts.  I hope to have them done and a blog post up this weekend.

Whole Brain Teaching & the Marine Corps

Since we have today off due to Veterans Day (thanks to all veterans and their families for their sacrifices), I figured now would be a good time to update everyone on how Whole Brain Teaching has been going in my classroom.  You might wonder how that ties into the Marine Corps, but you'll see in a minute!

First let me say that I LOVE Whole Brain Teaching.  Oh I wish I could take a video of my class and show you guys the stuff we're learning.  It's just hard to describe it using words only and no video.  So here's some things that I've really liked so far:

1.  Teaching vocabulary - WBT is fabulous for teaching vocabulary.  The kids really remember the definitions if you add the gestures and I love the "for example" part at the end!  I may not be able to take a video of my classroom, but I do have 3 kids at home that I can bribe into being my test subjects!  Here's a video showing a condensed version of teaching vocabulary words.

When I teach vocab words, I usually say the definition first (without them doing the gestures or saying anything) 2-3 times.  Then I do "mirror" and usually remind my students that mirrors don't talk 2-3 times.  Then I do "mirror words" 2-3 times.  We also talk about the "for example" part first and decide what example would be something we will all remember.  When I taught mammals to my class, we used bats as our for example.  But when I asked my kids, they decided that giraffe was the best example.   

I also just attended this reading differentiation workshop last week.  They talked about not only giving examples but discussing non-examples.  That's something I'm going to add into my teaching.  After we discuss the words and learn the gestures, I'm going to give an example/non-example and they can show me with a thumbs up or down (right in front of their chest, not waving their hands around) whether they think it's an example or a non-example.

2.  Class-Yes - This is a great attention getter.  Basically, you say class and they respond with yes in the same intention you used.  The key is to mix it up.  Sometimes say "class, class" or use a funny voice.  My favorite is to say "classity, class" and they respond with "yessity, yes".  It's amazing how fast it gets everyone's attention.

3.  Bodies and Chairs - My most favorite part of WBT is the procedures.  I absolutely LOVE that my whole class responds with their voices and bodies when I give them a simple phrase or even just one word.  It's seriously AMAZING.  I feel like a magician.  I say "bodies and chairs" and they respond with "bodies and chairs" three times while they stand up, push their chair in, and stand behind their desk.  Amazing!  We usually go to the carpet so I say "carpet" and they walk to the carpet while saying "carpet" 3 times.  This can also be used when I want them to go to their seats or line up.  Even my slower students who aren't always up to speed get it because everyone else is saying it so many times.  

Now here comes the Marine Corps connection.  As I was telling my husband and other Marines about Whole Brain Teaching, they ALL said the same thing.  That's the same thing Drill Instructors do to command whole platoons.  It got me thinking, and they're right.  My Drill Instructors (I was a Marine for almost 10 years) commanded the whole platoon through using WBT (albeit not a very nice version).

We've been trying to think of all the things we could remember our Drill Instructors would say and the platoon would respond in unison while doing a movement.

They would say:

Ears - and the platoon would say "open"

Eyeballs - And the platoon would say "click" while turning to look at the Drill Instructors

Platoon halt (when marching) - And the platoon would say "step freeze" 

I've tried to find a good video of boot camp to show you guys, but I think it might scare away a lot of followers!  LOL.  So I'll just let you imagine it!

So basically my point is, I love the Whole Brain Teaching.  I'm excited to do more and more.  I think it helps keep the students more engaged.  And I feel like I'm doing less talking than I was before.  All pluses for me!

I have also been busy making some new stuff for my students.

If you're looking for some Thanksgiving Math Centers, I made these differentiated centers that are Common Core Aligned.

And a sweet follower asked me to make a game focusing on Short E and Long E (ee) patterns.  So I made this Long E Sweets game.

And speaking of the Marine Corps in this post, I HAVE to give a shout out to one of my oldest Marine Corps friends.  He's married to this super creative lady who makes the coolest stuff for her cute shop, The Summery Umbrella.

She has these really great signs that would be PERFECT in my house.  I've been eyeing this one.

There's a lot of her signs that would make some really nice wedding gifts.  Like this sign.

She also has a cute blog that you can follow {here} and a Facebook page {here} so you don't miss out on anything.

Whole Brain Teaching

Have you guys heard of Whole Brain Teaching?  I've read some about it, watched a few videos, and checked out the Whole Brain Teaching site {here}.  I've done a little bit with it this year, but I was kinda going blind since I've never seen it in action.  

Well, it just so happens that 2 of the triplets are so fortunate to be in the 1st grade teacher who belongs to this room.

And not only does she have a super cute monkey room, she also does Whole Brain Teaching!  I'm so thrilled with all the stuff they're learning.  What's even better is that my daughter Kylie wants to be a teacher when she grows up, and I have no doubts that she will be an amazing one!  I think it might be her calling.  Her and her brothers get the privilege (haha) of hanging out in my room every afternoon while I try to work.  Kylie uses the afternoons to recreate her day and teach to some of my stuffed animals.

Do you see what she drew in the corner right over her head?  A happy and frownie chart!  How cute.  Can't you just see her teaching one day?

Well, last Friday our school was lucky enough to get Whole Brain Teaching training from my kiddos' awesome teacher.  I was really excited about the training.  Let me tell you, I'm excited to go to work on Monday and implement some of the stuff we learned.  What I like most is that Whole Brain Teaching can be implemented immediately and it doesn't cost anything.  It's just something you do.  

Here are some of the things I'm most excited about implementing:

1.  Bodies and Chairs - This is where you say bodies and chairs.  The students then stand up, push their chairs in, and say bodies and chairs three times.  You can also use this for line (to line up), seats (to sit in their seats, carpet (to go to the carpet), etc.  I have one student specifically that needs a lot of reminders.  She has some processing delays and motor planning issues and always seems to be 2 or more steps behind everyone else.  I'm hoping that the repetition of saying it and hearing everyone else saying it will help her be more with the group.

2.  Teaching vocabulary through the use of gestures.  I have been doing this some with my students but now see how I can do it better.  

3.  Using "air boards" to write in the air.  When the teacher says air boards, the students make a rectangle in the air while saying "zip, zip, zip."  They then write in the air.  After they're done, they erase their air board while saying "eek, eek, eek."  

4.  Class, yes and Teach, ok.  You can read about that on the Whole Brain Teaching site I linked above.

So when I got home last night, I had my kiddos show me how they've learned one of their vocabulary words.  It was soooo cute!  Here's a little video I took.  Please don't mind any baskets of laundry that might possibly be in the background.  Let's just pretend like they're not even there.