This Changed How I Teach!

TIME.  

A four letter word that we find ourselves racing against every day as educators.

DATA.  

Another four letter that drives our instruction.

So the question becomes, How do we get more time and  data without feeling as if we are testing these kiddos to boredom?
A few years ago, I was introduced to the answer...ESGI!

Seriously, here it is in a nutshell... 1. Add a student 2. Test a student 3. Print flashcards (MY FAVORITE PART) & parent letters

4. Done

After using ESGI, I was almost upset that I didn't know about this sooner!

If you are a data diva and love to go deeper, then you are going to be in heaven!  

With ESGI, you can also explore...

Item Analysis (Student, Group, or Whole Class)

Student Detail Report

Explore over 1400 Pre-Made Assessments

Copy and Edit Tests

Test Creator

I LOVE using ESGI to help my with  sight words, letter recognition, and number recognition!

ESGI makes me look like a rockstar at conferences, RTI meetings, academic meetings, and etc.

I urge you to check it out!  The only disappointment will be that you taught previously without it!  

WAIT!  

I HATE buying things without a super discount!  Soooo, ESGI is offering a 60 day FREE trial (I love FREE!) PLUS a $50 OFF code!!  Click on the button bellow to grab this offer!

I'd love to hear your ESGI success stories below!  How does ESGI save you precious time in your classroom?

Bouncy Bands for Bouncy Babes

Have you ever had a student who seems to be in constant motion?  

Of course you have!  

There is now a way to help them stay in motion while allowing them to still be an active listener in the classroom!!  

Pretty simple, yet genius!

Not sure what to think?

Check out what my first grade students have to say!

Bouncy Bands wants to make it easy for you to get them in your classroom!  They have even provided 10 Tips to help you get funding through DonorsChoose.org, GoFundMe.com, and AdoptAClassroom.org.

Thank you Bouncy Bands!

Create and Use a Green Screen on a Teacher Friendly Budget!

Hello!!

Want to spice up boring book reports in your classroom?  Then using a green screen with your students is exactly what you need!

Watch below to see how create and use a green screen for unforgettable experiences in your classroom!

Do you use a green screen in your classroom?  What projects are your favorites?

How to Make Cute Stickers in Your Erin Condren Planner

Organization...LOVE!

Erin Condren...LOVE!

Stickers...LOVE!

These are a few of my favorite things...and then I don't feel so bad!  

Okay okay, you might not break out into songs from The Sound of Music but you will flip for making your own stickers!

After you have your schedule set (blog post here), you need to find clip art you love!

You can find this adorable clip art set from Educlips here!

I would go INSANE (too late) trying to cut these out perfectly so I print these out on Avery Clear Full Sheet Labels!

 Then I just create a powerpoint and line up each picture, print,...

cut them into squares,...

 peel off the backing...

 ...and press onto my page!  Look Russ!  No lines! (Yep!  I'm a National Lampoon's fan!)

You can also use a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine!  It's a lot easier (and fun) to use!  

They will email you a coupon code to enter when you checkout!

Classroom Reveal

Back to Schoo!  Welcome to Mrs. Neels' class, room number 1 (of course!)!!

My classroom grabs you from the hall!  Gotta love KG Fonts and Melonheadz clipart!!

My daughter is amazing and creative!  She is the mastermind behind this jumbo crayon box and my dreaded window box  She loves to get in there and create it for me each year!  Me...not so much!

 Her finished product!

Here is the view looking at the front of the room.  Last year I had the carpet and calendar at the back but I wanted my carpet in front of my SMART board so I had to change everything around.

Starting from left to right....Here is my LEGO corner!  I have 34 LEGO BuildtoExpress kits and 6 LEGO Storystarter kits.  I love using LEGO education products!  I presented for LEGO on the BuildtoExpress kits last year my kiddos love using them!

 I am a visual person and have to have a calendar in which I can write upcoming events, birthdays, and etc. on each day.  My calendar captain changes the date each day and puts up a new date tag.  The far left are my Editable Daily Schedule Cards which you can get for free!  On the top are my Words Their Way daily routines!

 I absolutely love this view of my room!  On top are my Daily 5 boards!  

When my SMARTboard was installed, it was so high that I could not reach the top!  I might be shorter than your average teacher but I'm pretty sure I'm taller than your average first grader!!  Therefore the district had to build me a "stage!"  Turns our I love it and my kiddos feel really special when they get to use it as well!

 Here is a view of my CAFE board with half of our Read to Self baskets underneath.  The tower on the right is a Front Row Juno system that projects my voice!  I wear a microphone and I never have to raise my voice during the day!  Because of this gem, I am not exhausted at the end of the day!

 I choose not to have a teacher desk (best decision ever) so I use this table for my computer/document camera.

 My favorite part of my classroom!  

The colored baskets are for guided reading group books/materials.  The binders are my teaching materials organized by month and by unit.  The white baskets are where I keep my daily materials.

 My little teacher corner!  

On the door to the right is how I take lunch count when I have a guest teacher.  Otherwise I use Wii Mii's to take lunch count.  You can check out that blog post here!  The little red stool that is peeking out from under the table is from IKEA.  Best part...$5!

To display read alouds!

 The two frames are where I plan to write my daily learning targets.  The little table is one of the writing stations.  The colored bins hold my Math by Myself games, puzzles for indoor recess, and decks of cards for math games!

 This is how I organize my books by month! 

Having my classroom crayons organized is a must!  

I used to have a drawer with extra crayon colors in it but students would dig through for five minutes looking for a specific color.  This way, they can easily see if the color they need is there or not.

 My word wall!

Classroom behavior and job charts!

Up close view of my behavior chart!

 We use the "stick system" at my school.  Each color represents a certain rule broken.  For example if a student is 'not following directions' he/she will pull a green stick and replace their smile with it.  The students record their sticks pulled (or smile) in their planners each night.  I also record sticks pulled for my own records to use a conference time.  This helps tremendously to pinpoint the behavior area that our class or a particular student needs to work on!

Thanks for going on a tour of my classroom!

Back to School Night

Each year the night before school begins we host a "Unpack Your Backpack" night for our students and their families.  I love the meeting the kiddos...but have always felt a little chaotic with the organization of the night.  You know what I mean, kids are tugging on you to get your attention, parents seem confused, and you're left with HUGE piles of school supplies to clean up!  This leaves me exhausted before school even begins!

This year, I did things differently and I'd love to share my sanity saving tips with you!

1.  Have a temporary name tag on the students desks.  You can buy these from a dollar store or even the Target Dollar Spot.

Students may want a nickname on the name tag, you may get new students, or loose one you thought was coming.  Let's face it.  Name tags are EXPENSIVE!  This year, I had two Gabriella's.  One wanted to go by Ella and the other Gabby.  Perfect!!  I can change how their name is written without cringing inside.  Then after the first 6 days of school I can switch them over to the heavy duty, alphabet sporting, cadillac name tags!  (Click on the picture to purchase.)

2.  Have some sort of gift for the kiddos.  I was so excited to find these cuties!  Simply go to your local dollar store and buy some glow sticks.  I found these 8 for $1!  I was able to supply one for each student in my class for $3!  Yippee!  You can find the tags here for free!

3.  This next tip I got from the sweet Megan Wheeler who is author behind Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade.  Have a clip board ready with four columns...student name, parent name, how they go home, and notes section.  I was able to call the students and parents by name and ask about plans to go home after school.  Then make sure you write it down.  Use the notes section for all the little tidbits parents pass along on the first night.  I never could remember who said what and which child was theirs!

4.  Have important papers on student desks for them to take with them.

Since I teach first grade, I include a list of the kindergarten sight words, first grade sight words for the year, Student information sheet, Social Media Release, and a Parent Handbook!  (Click on the links to see where to get these products!)

5.  Have a display on your smartboard, elmo, or whatever you use!  Give parents directions on where to put their supplies...some will still ask but it eliminates a lot of questions freeing you up to introduce yourself to parents/students!

6.  Have a clearly marked place for supplies!!!!  This will save you hours of work afterwards.  After Backpack Night, I simply place the containers in the cabinets where I store them and that's it!  Clean up is finished!  The stands holding the signs are from IKEA.  Click here to get your copy of the school supply pictures.

I hope you have found some of these tips/freebies useful!  I would love to hear more open house tips in the comments!  I am always striving to be better!!

Blog Makeover and Classroom Reveal!

Oh la la!!  I am loving my new blog design curtsey of Megan from A Bird in Hand Designs!  She did an amazing job!  She has such a talent!!  I am beyond thrilled!

I have been excited for my classroom reveal too!

This is my window box.  My daughter, Hailey got inside of it (yes and stayed even when the fire alarms were being tested for 10 minutes!!) and worked her creative magic!

This is the view from the back of the room.

 My focus wall.  I have my Editable Classroom Schedule Cards {Chevron} (which you can get for FREE!)  I will be adding my CCSS to the daily schedule.  We go over the day's activities each morning and look at what "I Can" statement we will cover for each subject.

 This is my word wall.  I have 153 of our districts first grade sight words printed on little cards with magnets attached to the back.  When we learn the word as a whole group, a student places the word under the correct letter.  Because they are magnetic, the students can go up, grab it form the wall, and take the word to their seats to help them with their writing.  

 Book baskets for Daily 5 all ready!

 Part of my classroom library.

 More books from the library.  Our wonderful lockers (sarcasm) are just behind the bookshelves.  The signs on top have school supply names on them and were placed around the room for parents to know where to put their child's school supplies on Back Pack Night.

 My crayon organizer.  This saves so much time when a student is looking for a specific color!

My reading units and monthly binders ready to go!

The colored baskets are how I organize my reading groups.  Each groups leveled books, sight words, materials and notebooks are placed here.  The white drawers to the left are awesome!!  They are from The Container Store.  I use them to put materials I use for teaching each day!

This is my guided reading table.  I love my new stools!  They fit completely under my table and take up less room in the class.  Best of all they are $5 from IKEA!

The last part of my library.  I got the little chairs free with my Scholastic Reading Club points.  This area kids enjoy reading!

Indoor recess materials!  Lots of floor puzzles, games, and decks of cards in the little plastic containers.  We also use the cards often for math!

 Math manipulates, cushions to sit on for Read to Self (also free with Scholastic Reading Club points), and baskets that will hold leveled books students can take home each night to read. 

 I am super excited about my new way to store headphones for Listen to Reading.  I HATED the cords all tied in knots from storing them in baskets.

 My teacher chair.  I also got this free from Scholastic Reading Club points!  I love Scholastic Reading Club!

 This is the view the students have when they walk in the door.

My awesome cabinet my dad got me!  The boys love it!

 This is how I organize my books that I teach with each month.  I have two "baskets" for each month.  One for the listen to reading books and one for the books I use in lessons each year for that month.

 Noise Level Chart.  I got this from Lucky to be in First!  She has great things!

 Each student has a classroom number on their lunch magnet.  They simply move their magnet to hot or cold each morning.  This is an easy way to do attendance as well!

 I love classroom jobs.  Each student will have a job this year!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog redesign and my classroom reveal!!