Rejuvenate Your Classroom

Dear Teachers,

I have 5 things I'm doing this week to REJUVENATE my class for this new year!  First of all, keep in mind that your students probably missed you and the cozy environment you have provided them. They also may have witnessed stressful times which could effect their behavior on these first days back!  It is so important to love them and cherish them during this time all while reminding them of classroom rules and procedures.   It's always an interesting week, but it can be a great NEW START for you to redirect the overall vibe in your classroom!

Here are FIVE things I'm going to try this week to bring the SPARK back to my class in a BIG way!

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Jess

    I watched Kim Bearden's scope last week on Creativity.  Here is the link to that amazing scope! She talked a lot about being a mom who lets her children explore their creative sides.  In one story, she talked about how she had a wall in her house that her daughter could paint on anytime she liked.  Over the years, friends would add to her painting.  Kim figured the worst thing that could happen was that the wall would be hard to paint white again.  This creativity wall allowed her daughter to express herself in a controlled and responsible way!

   Classroom notes:  I would like to have a creativity wall in my classroom.  I will hang up white butcher paper, and I will supply a variety of art supplies.  It's probably just going to be 3 foot by 3 foot space to start!  Sudents will need to earn the right to decorate the wall.  I'm hoping this may motivate my more obstinate students to get on track with their responsibilities.  

     I'm going to have my students choose their "word of the year" from this FREE positive character trait's list!  Click here for an easy printable!  Then, I'm going to steal Literary Vomit's art lesson: where she printed out her word, made a pencil lead transfer, and painted around it!

  Watch this blab for directions!  

Classroom Notes:  I had no idea that you could make a paper transfer with pencil lead!  This is going to CHANGE my art lessons!

   I'm going to try a new teaching strategy called the true false reflect chant.  Here are the directions.  For a new lesson- think of 5 true or false questions for that lesson.  These should be questions that the students will learn the answers to by the end of the lesson.  For the opening of the lesson, you will stand in front of the room and tell your students you want them to nicely shout out the answer (true or false) to each of your questions.  It's really fun seeing which way the students will swing and how "peers" will tend to influence them to change their answer.  It's also enjoyable to include a hand or arm movement with each answer (one for true and one for false).

    After your lesson, you will have the students reflect on their original answers and explain on paper or to a partner why they were right or wrong. I think this will be a fun way to induce energy to the start of a new topic!  

     As many of you know I tried out Donor's Choose for the first time last month, and I had great success!  I funded two projects- one for 3 new ipads (my school as zero), and another for 2 class sets of books along with basketballs to help me stamp out bullying!   I'm going to now start learning new apps that I can use on my ipads.   A new teacher to the social media scene is Kami Butterfield also known as Teaching with Apptitude, so this month I'm going to zoom in on her zany and fun ideas for APPs in the classroom.  Please check out her blog here: Teaching with Apptitude and her tpt store here: Fun APP inspired products: click here!

     I have #2getherwearebetter written on my board, and I have printed a sign of it for my other board!  Knowing we have ipads coming to our room, I want to teach my students about #happyclassrooms and #2getherwearebetter!  They need to learn that the world is a much easier place when we work together to accomplish our goals.  That is a difficult idea to master in the upper grades/tween years.  I am going to show them this video of collaboration.  It's beautiful.  Every voice counts in making the music come to life.  Every year this is a huge hit and kids BEG me to play it everyday.  

Classroom Notes:  I always make the students guess before hand what will be missing from the video.  Many of them don't even realize that there is not a single instrument playing in the video.  I explain to them that this is the kind of magic we want happening in our groups.  No instruments (arguments lol) interrupting our music!  

Thanks again readers!  Happy Teaching!!!