Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Book Talk Tuesday- Promoting Positive Classroom Behavior


      It's time for Book Talk Tuesday!  This week is an extra special book that I am talking about for Mrs. Jump's Book Talk Tuesday.  This book is extra special because I had the privilege of working with the author at my old school just outside Charlotte, NC!  
    I have seen her posts about her new book for a while and ordered it over the summer, thinking I would love to read it.  So, when it came I was even more excited to see that she signed the inside cover!  My kiddos were super excited to know that a real author wrote them a note! :) (Thanks Stephie!)
   

     The book, The Garden in My Mind, does an excellent job creating a mental picture for students of what happens when you make good choices, instead of poor choices, at school.  When reading this book, I imagined many of my previous students who would have benefited from this book and being able to SEE what impact of their choices.  I used this book in the first few days of school and I am planning to use this next week as we start looking at setting personal and academic goals for the next quarter. Many of my students need a quick reminder about making good choices!
      As a third grade teacher, I realize that so many of the back to school books and those about choices and behaviors, have been read multiple times by now.  This was a brand new book to my kiddos and I know it impacted them.  I think reading it again, now that we know each other better, will give me a chance to give students specific examples from our classroom. If you are looking for a good book to use on the first few days back to school, or throughout the year, this would be a great choice.  Click HERE to go check the author's website out and grab a copy for your classroom!



Friday, October 17, 2014

Five for Friday- October 17th!

       October is FLYING by!  It is going so fast, I can't believe it.  It has been a while since I have blogged again, but I am back for another Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.



1. This past week, we went to the Columbus Blue Jackets home opener!  It was SO much fun!  We had a blast at the game!  I am looking forward to hopefully another winning season!




2. I finally sent out my SLANT BOX last week!  I made a clipboard and sent lots of back to school teacher must haves.  (sticky notes, dry erase markers, thank you notes, note pads, candy, and more candy)  I am looking forward to receiving mine in the mail any day!  :)



3. We won a popcorn party from our school's most recent fundraiser.  My students brought in the most money in the third grade.  They thought it was a HUGE deal. So, I let my students partner read their animal books, that we are using for our research projects.



4. Here are my kiddos working on their life cycle projects that they did last week. They did an AMAZING job using the rubric to guide their work.  



5. Last, but definitely not least, today was probably the highlight of my students' year so far!  One of my teammates has a friend who works for Petland.  He brought in a bunch of critters to show the kids.  He talked about their adaptations and traits.  He came last year, too and the kids just LOVED it both times!


BEST OF ALL...Today we have the day off! Woo Hoo!  Yesterday was the end of the quarter and today we are off school!  I am ready for a long weekend!