A New Wednesday Linky

How many times have we tried something in the classroom only to have it be a flop, a fiasco, a total dud with the class, more trouble than it was worth or just not work out the way you thought it would. If at first you don't succeed...right?  The great thing about teachers is that our wheels are always spinning and we take time to reflect on what didn't work and why, what might work and what does work!

That is the theme of my new Wednesday linky
I'd love it if you'd hook up with me to share some of your successes and even a flop or two! I just can't be the only one! :) It doesn't have to be a majorly complicated post. Any random, even rambling, thought of a reflection, like mine today, is good enough here! Feel free to save the image below and link back to my blog if you want to join in! I hope to make this an easy hump day post idea for everyone especially when we are all busy and back to school!


 I found my perfect Avatar~she is just like me (green eyes and all)~in black with her sparkly shirt on! hehe

My post today is something that I've been thinking about now that planning has started for back to school. Promise not to judge!

What Didn't Work:
O.K. So I made this beautiful behavior clip chart in my colors of rainbow black and bright. I glued it onto the perfect black ribbon just like I saw on Pinterest and then found the perfect spot on the wall to display it. It was a masterpiece far too fantastic to actually use, but I prepared myself for the fact that the clips and the kiddos were on their way. 

We decorated the clips on the first day of school as a station. I thought would be just the thing to get the class pumped up about the new clip chart system I was implementing this year. Oh, their faces were full of excitement as they tried to pick the perfect bright acrylic paint colors and select gems and embellishments to personalize their clips! At the end of the day, I was feeling quite accomplished with my gorgeous chart and clips. I proudly posted pictures on my blog to share what we had done. Maybe you remember reading that post.

The next day, we placed all of the clips on the Ready to Learn" spot. Five minutes later~ thud! There went the chart onto the ground! ARRR! It was never the same after that. I have had this love/ hate relationship with the clip chart.

 No matter what I tried throughout the year, I could not keep it from falling down, coming off the ribbon or twisting. I tried glue, adhesive hooks, push pins and finally staples. By the end of the year my masterpiece was a mangled mess.

I thought about repairing it. I though about remaking it. Then I came to my senses and decided. I CAN"T STAND THAT SILLY CLIP CHART ANYWAY!
 Am I the only one? 

 It's heavy. It's a lot to manage with 28 clips constantly moving through too many categories. Moving clips was a huge distraction to the learning environment even when we did it at the end of the day. There were so many gray areas for clipping up or down and parents just didn't get it. I tried everything to make it work. I changed things throughout the year, determined to make it work, but still it was a flop. Literally!

But they're pretty. They match our decor. They are editable and customizable and have cute sayings. I made them and even sell them at my shop. I feel almost guilty for not liking it. But I am saying goodbye to my clip chart. 

What Works? 
Thinking sort of out loud here: 
The traffic light system works for me. It definitely needs something more. The "flip a card" system in a pocket chart works too, but seems kind of negative. The clip chart motivates kids to be better than just good and I am all about that.

 Hello~I am a licensed counselor and teacher with many years of experience managing kiddos in the spectrum of behaviors. I am trained in behavior management and behavior modification techniques. I can create something I know will work for any class! 

 So, I came up with my own system! I took the very best of all of the methods I have used over the years, added my own twist on things that work for me and blended them together into one new kit!

Here it is! It's all about encouraging  Best "Bee"havior.





Well, I may be the only one going off on my own path with behavior management for a time. I cannot do what does not work for me no matter how wildly popular it is.
 This time, the display with hive posters and bee cards is going on the whiteboard with magnets. It's a simpler system of three to four tiers. It is created in a black and white option too so I will make mine in brights like neon green,  yellow and hot pink (not red, green, yellow) to match my room and it will still be colorful and beautiful.
 It will work. I can keep up with it and it's cut and dry, so parents can easily understand and support the program. It's full of awards, incentives, happy notes, take home charts and best of all-it's cute! I'm going with this and am quite sure that it will work fabulously for me! I'm really excited 
to get printing and laminating!

 If you're with me~ at clip chart frustration level ~or are thinking about which system to implement just starting out in a new position, this may work for you too! Click on the picture if you are curious to know more about the program!

My new system is different because it includes a reflection component for poor or positive behavior, visual/immediate rewards and consequences for students needing an individualized plan, a whole-class incentive, manipulatives to collect, a token economy system, rewards to wear and a clear way of communicating with parents.
All of these behavior management techniques have been successful for me in the past so I'm going back to what works.

Thanks for letting me do some reflecting and thinking! I wish you the best of success with whatever behavior system you are using. No hard feelings, I hope, for those that adore their clip chart. I am a firm believer that strong classroom management is the key to a great learning environment. I always have the best class ever because we work so hard at building our classroom community and an atmosphere of mutual respect. That is the secret to making any plan work! 

 I'll try add official inlinkz code for the next Wednesday! Add it to your calendar for next week! Where else can you get things off of your mind, brainstorm with others and learn from each other we way we can here? Help me spread the word because I think this level of reflection is what makes teachers such a unique bunch!

 Thanks friends! Enjoy the rest of the week! I'll be back with a freebie on Friday. Don't miss out on a post! Follow by email!


Yummy Back to School Treat Bag Toppers Freebie

Have you decided on a back to school welcome bag for your students? Want to welcome your kiddos back to school or class with an easy peasy and inexpensive treat they are sure to love? Give them a treat they can eat (at home) and get them excited for s'more classroom fun!

This printable label can be attached to the top of a clear Ziploc bag filled with the fixings students need to make a yummy s’more or a mix to munch with chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker goodness!

What you need:
sandwich or snack-sized clear baggies
chocolate bars, kisses or chocolate chips
marshmallows (regular or mini)
graham cracker squares or Teddy Grahams

Several pages with a variety of wording have been included for your specific classroom or grade level. Print just the page you need!


Click on the picture to download your toppers! 
Then head to TBA to see more Freebie Friday goodies!

Freebie Fridays


I found this idea online a few years ago but have lost the file and the source! I need it, so remade it and added pages for classroom and learning fun as well as for grades Pre-K-3! If you happen to know where this originated, please let me know so I can give them proper credit!

Pinner Winner!
Congratulations Michelle!
 Your Classroom Colorful Decor Set will be coming by email! :)


Classroom Decor Ideas


Are you looking for some inspiration for your classroom decor? This linky party should help to give you some fantastic and creative ideas! This is sort of a repost from last year because I just set up a new room!

 Make the most of your bulletin boards by making them bold and beautiful! I like to try to choose things that can stay up all year and then limit it to one or two boards for displaying student work. I invest in fabric to cover them and it saves so much time in the end! I like solids because you can change up a board easily if you get a new poster set or fall in love with a new border.


Here is a photo of the "wall" before posters were added.
 It took three full days to decorate the "wall" but it  was worth the effort. 
Here we have some posters up!


The alphabet is from Ladybugs Teacher Files and the Cafe poster set is a freebie at my TPT store!

I went with black and bright for my new room last year as you can see! My border is from Creative Teaching Press. It's called Dots on Black. I love it because I can bring in all sorts of bright colors and it really pops!

They have lots of coordinating pieces that I purchased for cubby tags, folder covers, etc...
This was before I started making my own sets!




This year I purchased the matching pen and travel mug!


LOVE THEM!

I was in a really big hurry last year to get all moved and set up, so this was a great, quick welcome board! It was perfect because we are the Second Grade Superstars!


This is my Daily Schedule board. If you like it the poster set, it is available at my store. There is a white version too! 


I have five more, smaller bulletin boards in my room.
I used different borders in poppin patterns to coordinate. This board is for our Brag Tag necklaces.


 This is our behavior clip chart with decorated clips!


This is a wild and bright bulletin board to display Beanie Babies reading strategies.
 I found the perfect friends to hang here! 


More loveliness here from Ladybugs Teacher Files!
 I used the letters I bought and mounted them on yellow cardstock. 


The same was done here for the second day photo frame:


 This is my student teacher and her first lesson in DIY! She did a lovely job!


The black open frame is from Michaels.

  I bought bright baskets for every type of storage and printed black signs for labeling and organization. 
To the right is a cute coffee mug from Kroger that holds our highlighters.


I have a matchy classroom jobs set and genre dots in black against the whiteboard for contrast.



I made several decor sets in black and bright. These are editable and so I made matching labels for all of my book bins with the AR book level. If you like them, the black and rainbow bright decor set is available at my shop. :)

Here is my helper hanging the curly black streamers and paper lanterns!
 They are in each corner of the room. 


I bought an inspirational poster set in brights and those are angled and hung around the room.

These fans were at our local party supply store in a variety of colors.
 I cut off the stick and glued them onto the boring white walls!
Take it from me, tissue poms are a royal pain. Lanterns are so much easier! If you shop for these online, you will pay much more! They are really cheap at the party stores. I hung them using clear fishing line and lifted the ceiling tiles.



This is my reading nook and cute helpers/ bean bag testers during set-up. Black dish tubs (on shelf) from Walmart hold picture books. Smaller bright baskets in hot pink were purchased from the dollar store for chapter books.


 I found hot pink bean bag chairs at Walmart and my zebra task chair was ordered from Walmart online.


 They had a coordinating lamp shade too!


 I hope that you enjoyed your stop here for the linky party and my classroom tour!
 With a little help from friends, you can turn
  this
 into this!

Happy decorating my back to school friends!

High Five for Day Five!

Yeah! High five! It's time for Day 5 of the Christmas in July Sale!

I'm having so much fun this week trying out some new designs and color schemes for decor sets! I fell in love with some digital papers for the backgrounds and designed the sets around the papers! More colors and themes are on the way! I'm excited to share them with you! 

Today I am here to also share some savings on two very unique sets. What I like about them is that they are a little mismatched but coordinating too just like the owls set. You have the option to print a matchy set of  favorite pieces from the bunch or use them all for a smorgasbord kind of design. The best part is that they are all editable (except for the word wall alphabet) so you can customize your labels and signs and type what you like!

 Both are 20% off today only. If you want to see more of what is included in these huge sets, click on the pictures!





What is your classroom theme? I just set up a new room last year in black and rainbow bright so I'll be sticking with that for a while! 

A Big Milestone Coming Soon!

On another note~ As of this post, I have 798 fabulous followers at my TPT shop! I so appreciate each and every one of them as I do my bloglovin buddies too!
 It would be great to get to 800 today! :)

 I'm meeting up with my teamies today to do some long-range planning (probably more laughing and talking than actual planning) over lunch!We are pacing out the year because my teaching partner is going to be out on maternity leave in the fall. We are counting the days until the new baby arrives!

Have a terrific Tuesday! Pop in at these other fantastic blogs to see what is on sale today!







Follow on Bloglovin
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...