Assessment Made Easy

I am honored to introduce our guest blogger this week, Melanie Redden from Snips, Snails, and Teacher Tales. Melanie is without a doubt one of the very best teachers I know and for sure the very best teaching partner a girl could ever hope to have. I have learned along side this spectacular person for over a decade. My two best years of teaching were spent Platooning with Melanie. She is a gift to all who know and love her. It is my pleasure to share her words of wisdom. Be prepared for brilliance!

Hi there!  I’m Melanie from Snips, Snails, & Teacher Tales, and I’m so honored to have this opportunity to be a guest blogger on Planning In Paradise!  

WARNING:  I’ve NEVER blogged in my life.  So I am terrified excited about sharing a few ideas and FREEBIES to help make assessment in your classroom a bit easier.  Try and stay with me here...

If you are anything like me, by this time in the school year you are drowning in paperwork.  There are assessments to give, papers to grade, and student progress to track.  It certainly doesn’t help that first quarter report cards and parent conferences are looming right around the corner.  Basically, it’s crunch time!

So go ahead!  You know you want to!  Hit that EASY BUTTON and make all that stress disappear!  “How?” you ask.  By putting part of the responsibility back into the hands of your students!  

Here are a few ways that I do that in my classroom.  

At the start of each math unit, I write down the standards that we will be covering on a piece of chart paper.  I know, it’s not pretty (and definitely not “Pinterest Perfect”) but I’m all about fast, easy, and practical.  As we move through the unit, the students will use the chart to notify me of which concepts they would like to receive either (1) enrichment or (2) remediation.  They simply write their name down on a sticky with a quick note to me and then slap it up on the chart.  This has been a great tool to use when making small groups for math rotations.

My school uses performance-based assessment.  So I created this Student Grading Rubric to help my students with the self-assessment process, as well as to understand the expectations.  {Pssst...it’s great for parents too!}  

Student Grading Rubric

I don’t know about you, but when it comes time to grade papers I often fantasize about what it would be like to hire a personal secretary.  I know, I know...assessment drives instruction!  It’s necessary in order to get a complete picture of each child in your classroom, as well as a snapshot into the effectiveness of your teaching.  So instead, I just squash my fantasy and hit that EASY BUTTON!  As a result, I created this Show What You Know document.

Show What You Know Freebie

The students use this form to record the learning goal or the objective that we are working on.  I love to use this tool as a lesson quick-check to see who is grasping the concept and who may need some additional support.  Referring to the Student Grading Rubric (that I enlarge into a poster), my students will check where they feel they are in the learning process.  Then they will show me what they know with an example of their thinking for that objective.  I love that I can just walk around the classroom and take a quick grade by glancing at the examples they provide.  No papers to collect and grade!  EASY!           

Finally, as a way to hold my students accountable for their own learning I have created these individual Math Data Folders.  With these folders, my students have really become aware of their strengths as well as the areas that need improvement.  They use their data folders to continuously reflect on their progress by setting goals and making plans on how to be successful in math throughout the school year. 

In the folders, all of the Common Core math standards for 2nd grade are organized by topic. My students record both a formative and summative grade for each standard. This allows them to determine which areas need improvement. In the back of the folders, we keep goal setting and reflection sheets in order to make a plan on how to increase proficiency before the summative assessment is taken. Once all standards have been covered in a topic area, the students will take the overall grade and graph their progress on a growth chart.

Math Data Folders & Goal Setting 

This data folder will ensure that your students know at all times how they are progressing, so that report card grades will never be a surprise. They are even great to use as evidence of student growth to show parents during conferences. 

If you’ve stuck with me this far, then I sure hope that you have found some inspiration to make your life easier and your students more successful! So go ahead...hit that EASY BUTTON! 

Melanie

* I told you she was brilliant! Thanks for sharing, Melanie. This makes assessment and goal setting a piece of cake! Snips, Snails, and Teacher Tales you are the best!

Read our story on the TPT Blog!!!

Here is our story about the support and collaboration that has led to friendships and laughter, collaborative blogs and Facebook pages, Vegas conventions, and Pinterest parties… the list goes on and on.  http://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/meet-the-tpters-of-virgil-mills-elementary/

How a little laughter can help with your classroom management :-)

Laughing in class?  Is this appropriate? In my class it is required!!!

Laughter is good for your health and has a L O N G list of benefits.

Because I want my classroom environment to be as stress free as possible I have implemented a few laughter generating strategies to help create as many positive experiences that my students and I can share.   

  

The Joke Jars are something new for me this year.  Our schedule is a little crazy this year and there are lots of transitions.  To help settle the wiggles I pull a joke from the Joke Jar.  If we line up fast and quiet there will be a minute free for a joke!!  Jokes are pulled throughout the day to speed up our transitions or to give us all a little brain break.  Jokes are submitted by the students and they are so proud when their joke is shared.  

We had also had jokes submitted by big brothers, sisters and grandpa. 

 Grandpa’s jokes have been very entertaining for sure!!

I have also checked a variety of joke and riddle books from our classroom library.  

These books are available for students to copy their favorite joke for the Joke Jar.

When visiting the library I encourage the students to look for books they think are funny.  Before returning the books to the library the students share examples from the book for a good laugh.

We also sing a variety of funny songs read funny poems and watch cute and silly kitty and puppy videos from YouTube to get the giggles started for our brain breaks.

The most valuable and productive strategy is to LAUGH AT YOURSELF and invite others to do so too.   When ever you do something silly or wrong, share it with the class and laugh at it.  For example, Last week I bent down and my glasses fell into the sink and for what ever reason I didn't realize it.  When they were discovered by a student I just started laughing at how silly I was not to notice.   The entire class began to giggle just for a moment and quietly returned to their writing assignment.  Wishing you lots of laughs in your classroom.

10 Hashtags Only a Teacher Would Understand

1.  #lunchbathroomphonecall #notallthree #hardchoices

I try, I really do. Most lunches are a frantic rush to throw a Lean Cuisine in the microwave, rush to the restroom, grab my lunch from the microwave, return a call at my desk, and scarf down my lunch which is hot like molten lava in some spots and and frozen solid in others. 

2. #bladderofsteel

Wait, there are jobs that you can go to the restroom whenever you need to? I hold it everyday from morning meeting until lunch. That is my superpower.

3.#neverthoughtIwouldhavetosaythat

The other day I found myself saying, “We don’t chew on tissues out of the trash can.” 

4. #theteacherlook

We have all perfected it and are not afraid to use it!

5. #Iknowifyoureallyhavetogotothebathroom #mysuperpower

We can all spot a faker a mile away. That is right students, we know if you really have to go. Somehow teachers just know.

6. #rockingmymacaroniandyarnnecklace

That moment at the grocery store when you realize you are still wearing the macaroni and yarn necklace proudly made by a student.

7. #whyyesthatispukeonmyshoes

Many of us had been there when a student does not quite make it to the bathroom. One year, when there was particularly violent stomach flu going around I considered buying Crocs or some kind of plastic shoes and painting a target on them. So. Much. Puke.

8. #dryerasefromfingertipstoelbow 

Can’t stop the momentum to find the eraser. The struggle is real.

9. #ifyoucanreadthisbuyateacheramargarita

If you can read this, thank a teacher.  Better yet, buy her a margarita! 

10. #wouldnotdoanythingelse #IneverknewIwouldlovethemsomuch #eachonelivesinmyheart

Just like the old Peace Corps commercials used to say, this is the toughest job you will ever love. I go home exhausted at the end of the day, but my heart is full. All of my students live in a special place in my heart!

Do you have a hashtag only a teacher would understand? If so, please leave it in a comment below!

portable writing offices

Don't we all dream of a writing workshop where motivated writers are busy creating draft after draft, working hard to revise and edit, independently spelling all sorts of words so that we can actually read it without having to say, "Wow... your story looks so interesting.  Can you tell me about it?"  (You know what we're really saying is, I can't read this at all, so if you start talking about it, that'll give me time to decipher a few words, make connections to what you're telling me, and infer the rest.)  

So sometimes this happens.

In April.

With most of the class.

I'm kidding.  This can actually happen shortly after school starts, but students need a predictable structure and helpful tools to create the right environment for independence.  For me, kids need two tools right off the bat... a word wall that grows with them over time and a place to keep track of multiple writing ideas.  If kids always have something to write about and a resource for helping them spell words, they're usually off and running.  

One tool I also like are these little portable writing "offices."  Some teachers and students love these and some don't.  I think that depends on the specific needs and style of both.  But the resources included on the little offices are valuable tools for young writers as they assist in spelling many common words (colors, numbers, sight words, etc.) and help elevate vocabulary with lists of synonyms.  

I like them because they're versatile.

• They can be used on the floor.  Some kids like to write on their tummies... not their actual tummy... you know what I mean.
• Some writers concentrate a little better behind a barrier.  This can limit distractions for some kids.
• The "offices" can be used at a writing center.
• Or the sheets don't have to be used in an office at all.  They can be placed in writing notebooks instead.

However, whenever, or wherever you use them, you'll find the children keep referring to them... and that fosters independence... and that makes them feel "big."  And that's less tugging on your shirt as you pass by that forlorn writer who's been waiting to ask, "How do you spell yellow?"

I'm GIVING AWAY one of these sets to the first person who can answer this question correctly.  Leave your answer in the comments below and don't forget to include your email address so I can email the set.  Good luck!!  :)

Who is my favorite female actress of all time?

If you don't win, but you'd still like the resource, you can find it by clicking on the image below.

Happy teaching!  :)

Back to School & Being a Good Citizen (freebie)

Happy Back to School.. it's Robin from Class of Kinders.

Are you still in back to school mode? For some, we have been in school since August. But for others, school starts after Labor Day. Either way, we are back at it and being reminded of just how exhausting and crucial that first month is! This is the time of year where I feel strongly about the need to spend a chunk of time teaching expectations, rules and procedures. But, the timelines and agendas of my school district doesn't really “build in” time for teaching these things or allow for as much time as I would like. I feel the pressure to jump in to the academics....which makes me feel like I have to “skim” over the "how-to's" of our new classroom. Not that I spend the first weeks of school not teaching academics, but I want "wiggle" room to do activities that promote the importance of being a good citizen. Because after all, if we are good citizens we will will have a productive year. We will. It will happen. At least that is what I tell myself and so far it has worked. 

Just the other day I saw this from First Grade Fun Times:

Yes. Exactly. That is our job. That is the challenge we face. That is the miracle teachers hope to make happen each and every year.  So, where is the time to do “this” before we being teaching? It is hard to find. I believe it is just as important as the academics. If we do not take that the time in the beginning, it will take time away from learning. All. Year. Long. At the school where I teach in Florida, it is a teacher expectation that we implement the Lifelong Guidelines in our classroom. It is a non-negotiable. 

LIFELONG GUIDELINES:

ACTIVE LISTENING

TRUSTWORTHINESS

TRUTHFULNESS

NO PUT DOWNS

PERSONAL BEST

I whole heartedly buy-in to this and value each one. For Kindegartners and Firsites it can be 

a bit tricky to get them to remember the language, so I use a book to make connection to each one.

We spend a couple of days reading a story and then doing activities to help make it "stick." Once we are finished, I have a poster I hang in the classroom for reference. Each one of the guidelines are there and next to it is the front cover of the book we read.

These are good citizen principles and being a good citizen helps keep us happy, safe ..which makes it possible for all to learn.

I want to share some other things that I use to help foster that sense of good citizenship and community in the classroom. I love brainpopjr.com!  It is a paid subscription (but there are several free videos available too) and our wonderful PTO provides it to us each year. It features a video on Citizenship just perfect for Kinders and Firsties. 

Also, I love to use Studies Weekly, their Social Studies magazines are so smart and perfect for students ages 5-7. The information on being a good citizen is simple and basic but very engaging. Not to mention just right reading and non fiction text that my kids can take home too! (YAY!)

I find myself buying and hoarding collecting books too. 

(What teacher need doesn’t need just one more book?)

I also find myself always looking for fun and meaningful resources too! There are so many great things out there and so little time. I created this one for my good citizen unit. It is a labeling page. My students enjoyed this one and even said so (which always brings a smile to my face!) I am hoping your students will have as much fun as mine did.

                                                                        

                             

You can download a copy from my TpT store by clicking HERE. It is a freebie for you!  I hope you have a fabulous week, that your school year is off to a productive start and that MUCH learning takes place this year! 

B2School Go Noodle Style!

Woo Hoo! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Go Noodle!! Do you??? IF you haven't heard of it, then you need to visit their site at GoNoodle.  It has tons of indoor activities to get kids moving and best of all, IT"S FREE!!!! The class can pick an avatar to represent them and then complete workout/dance/partner games in order to watch their avatar grow.  It is great for goal setting, brain breaks, indoor recess (for rainy days, too hot days, or too cold days), and for getting those never ending wiggles out!  I use Go Noodle EVERYDAY in my classroom.  We Go Noodle when I can see that my kiddos have had enough of staying on task and need to MOVE.

If you are a fan (or if you wanna be......) you are in luck! You could win 25 of these AWESOME headbands for your kiddos.

All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter below for a chance at snagging them!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also use this discount code in their shop BTSwithGoNoodle for %15 off everything from September 4th- Sept.11th.

I hope you try them out if you haven't already! Go Noodle is FABULOUS here in paradise and I know it would be for you too!