Wednesday, July 30, 2014

How I use Work Boxes in my Classroom

I first stumbled across the concept of work boxes, task boxes, task schedule, whatever you want to call them from Sasha at The Autism Helper. After a few posts of hers on them, I decided to put some boxes together. This was toward the mid-end of the 2012-2013 school year. My boxes were all fine motor tasks and I did a blog post on them {here}.

I made them, but now what? I didn't know when to have my students use them or when to teach them. If I wanted to implement work boxes effectively in my classroom I needed to do more research.


A lot of what I came across was from Autism Classroom News. I found a book co-authored by Christine Reeve. I already had a copy of her book on setting up a classroom for students with autism, so I didn't think twice about ordering this book too.(affiliate link)


This really helped me wrap my head around the idea, and got my gears turning on how I could implement it in my own classroom. I realized I needed to change a lot of my activities. I needed tasks the students already knew how to do and could complete on their own. From there my system grew and grew. It's seriously my classroom baby and I love it. I love planning new activities for boxes and I love it when I see my students independently complete their whole work box schedule.


I've added another shelf since this photo was taken and put more boxes into some of those empty slots. Depending on how many students you have on work schedules will determine how many boxes you need. For me, this past year I had 6 students completing schedules at once. Each student was doing anywhere between 2-5 boxes at a time. At max, I'd need at least 30 boxes to ensure my students each could complete a different task. Hence the reason I have such a large set up.

I divided two horseshoe shape tables into 4 sections. Gave each student a spot with their name tag and a strip of velcro to list their work schedule and their earn following their work. For some students this was the ipad. For others this was simply going to free choice centers. One table is right in front of the boxes and the other is located elsewhere in the room. It was important to consider what students would travel better to get their boxes and which ones should be closer to the shelves. Also, I had to consider which students should return the boxes to the shelves on their own, and which ones simply needed a finished basket.

The additional pictures at the top of one students section correlate to a behavior plan. They have nothing to do with implementing task boxes in your own classroom. :)

I label my shelves with pictures of where each box goes. This allows the students to return the boxes to the correct spots on their own. I would really suggest to do this. I had one student who couldn't put boxes back independently until I added these pictures.

You'll also need to consider-- can my student match pictures? If so, what can they match independently? Colors? Shapes? Letters? Numbers? The child will need this pre-requisite skill to complete work boxes. Make sure you teach this first. I have one student who can match shapes and colors independently, but needs some support with letters. I try and keep the majority of tasks that are appropriate to her skill level in boxes that she can independently find.


One of my other favorite things about work boxes is I can target multiple IEP goals for my students by using this system. We are working on attention to task, independent functioning, matching, sorting, counting, identifying letters, one-to-one correspondence. The list goes on.

I use a "work" picture for my students to transition to their tables. They remove a picture (we're sitting on the carpet before this) and they place the picture on the velcro square at the top of their schedule on the table. From here, they move to the first picture on their schedule. Take it off, go match it, bring that box back to their spot.


Students are taught to take their finished picture to an adult when they complete their work, and then go back and bring an adult what their earn picture is. For the students in the photo above, you can see that all 3 of them earned the iPad. Fortunately each student tends to finish their work at a different time, however, we do have "iPad back-ups" if you will. I have 3 students earning the iPad for finishing their work and only 2 iPads in the classroom. I can't imagine this is a foreign struggle in any of your classrooms either. But don't worry, I have a solution (and it works!)

I created "iPad wait cards" for students who are waiting for the iPad. They can keep this card with them and go play at centers until an iPad is available, or just wait at the table. (You'd be surprised how many prefer to do that!) Occasionally I have students taken out for services when they may be in the middle of their earn time. This card works great for that too. They take the card with them and turn it in to a teacher when they come back to finish their time on the iPad.


Is there anything else you think you need to know or are you ready to set up work boxes in your classroom?! I could boast about this system for days! And you don't have to spend a lot of money to set it up! I shouldn't say you don't have to spend a lot of time, because initially it does take a little bit for prep. I buy my shoe box containers at Wal-Mart. They are .97 cents. DO NOT buy the Dollar Tree ones. The lids do not latch like they do on the Sterlite ones. You want them to latch. Trust me. The red lid containers are also from Wal-Mart in the kitchen section. You can get a 2-pack for $3.97 (i think). They were the perfect size for shelves, so I splurged. I have more tricks up my sleeve for our work boxes but those ideas are for future posts! Any questions? Post in the comments or email me at creatingandteaching@hotmail.com!
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Monday, July 28, 2014

FAQs for Happy Sticks Behavior Management & a Product Update!

This post is long over due! Last summer I posted about Happy Sticks Behavior Management {here}. I was so excited about the idea that I couldn't wait to share it. That had one down side-- I was yet to implement this system in my classroom so I knew there would be some gaps to fill in the product once the school year started.

A lot of you were interested in the system and had great feedback and questions regarding it! I thought I would use this post to answer those questions, AND explain how I used the system in my classroom. I ended up making adaptations to it in my own room so I included those updates in the pack. After you read this post, if you already own my Happy Sticks product, you'll want to download the revised version! Let's get started with the FAQ shall we?


  1. How do you manage/store sticks?
    • I store sticks in 2 places. The first being my apron pocket. I'm always wearing my apron so this makes them handy for when I want to hand them out. I also keep a little container of them by our radio. It's central to where we count sticks, and in the classroom. 
  2. How do students get sticks?
    • In my classroom students can earn sticks for consistently following directions and using their "listening ears." They also earn sticks for cleaning up when it's time, or being a good friend.
  3. Do students lose sticks?
    • Personally, I don't take sticks away. My philosophy doesn't support taking away something you have just given a child. They clearly did something to earn that in that moment. Now, this is not to say that every once in a while you won't have that one child who ONLY responds to that negative of losing. But I don't make a habit out of it. That also doesn't mean that there are not consequences for poor behavior. I created this system because I didn't feel that my color clip chart was working in the classroom. Well by December I had added the clip chart back, but it correlated to our happy sticks. If a child was on yellow or red, they didn't count their sticks when it was time it earn. So if I hand out sticks, and that child makes poor choices, I can have them move their clip down and/or visit the thinking chair for their consequence. If I don't feel they have shown me they deserve to earn, then their clip stays down on yellow or red when it's earn time.  
  4. How often do you count sticks?
    • We have 3 "earn breaks" during our daily schedule. The first one is after greeting time. Then the next two are after we clean-up from centers. This is a great motivator for cleaning up. "We need to clean-up so we can count happy sticks and chose our earn!" 
  5. What about a different colored stick for negative behaviors?
    • A purchaser asked me this question and I thought about it. I decided this could be a great alternative to negative behaviors. For example, If a child is continually calling out in class, you can say "I'm sorry you keep calling out, I'm going to have to put a red stick in your pocket." When it's earn time that stick could mean a loss of 1 min at earn time for each red stick. Now, because the red stick is a negative consequence itself, if you were using something like this, I would say YES these sticks you can take away. Should the child get it together, stop calling out, and start raising their hand, then you reinforce that behavior positively by saying, "great job raising your hand! I can take your red stick back."
  6. What do you do for students who make poor choices?
    • As I mentioned above, I re-incorporated our color clip chart, but tied it in with our sticks. A child who is making poor choices is going to move their clip down. They can always move their clip back up. At the beginning of earn time, we look to see what color our clips are on. Students earn additional sticks depending on what color they are. If they are on yellow or red, they don't earn. The sticks they already have will stay in their pocket and they will sit out while their peers get their earn time. 
  7. How do you keep track of sticks?
    • I thought about creating a form that allowed me to communicate to parents how many sticks their child earned that day. The more I thought of it, the more I decided not to. There really is no point in telling the parents whether their child earned 12 sticks throughout the day, or 22 sticks. Either way, that child earned. If they did not get their earn time, then yes, that is going to be communicated to the parents. 
  8. How do you communicate behavior to parents?
    • Since I added the color clip chart back in I went back to using a behavior calendar to communicate at the end of each day what color their child was on. If they had to move their clip down to yellow or red, but went back up, I color 2 colors on their day. If they stayed on green or higher, I just color in one color. I use these editable calendars by A Cupcake for the Teacher. In the box on her calendars I added an explanation of what each color means. 
  9. How do you introduce the sticks to your class?
    • At the beginning of the year anytime a child earned a stick they would need hand over hand or one on one support to guide them to where their pocket was, identify their pocket, and put their stick in. After a while they were able to do this on their own when given a stick. The first 2 weeks of school, we count our sticks, then we have an earn. Everyone gets the same earn, they do not make a choice based on how many they have yet. Once they have the routine down, I introduce making choices based on how many sticks they have. It doesn't take long for the students to adjust to this. 
Now that we've reviewed the FAQs, I can share in a bit more detail, the changes I made to the Happy Sticks System throughout the school year.


Here is our happy sticks display in the classroom. (The topper for our pocket chart somehow went missing. But it is included the pack when you purchase.)


So to the left we have a pocket chart for our sticks, then our earn board that displays our choices, and our color clip chart. By looking at the clip chart you can see how I made it tie into the sticks. Purple = 4 extra happy sticks, blue = 3 sticks, green = 2 sticks, light green = 1 stick, and yellow and red are no sticks, no earn time. When students end their day on purple, they also get to pick from the treasure box. You can also see that I edited our choice board. When school first began, this is what our display looked like: 


No color clip chart, and our earn chart went up to 25 sticks. The numbers were also displayed in segments of 5, versus having each number on the card. After a while using this system I realized 2 things. One, I wasn't giving out enough sticks, nor was I going to be giving out so many that they reached 21-25 sticks since we count 3 times throughout the day. Why keep those options displayed if we aren't going to use them? So I cut off from 11-15 down. Next, I realized, well my students aren't old enough to understand the concept that 1-5 means if I have 2, 3, or 4 sticks, I'm picking from that option. They need to see the actual number on that card. So I edited mine.


Now students would count their sticks, then come up and identify the correct number. This also gave me another opportunity to practice number identification! After identifying their number, they would make their choice. After everyone counts and makes their choice, I set the timer. Typically for 3-4 minutes. Our last earn time of the day is right before dismissal. So if we're running behind I'll set it for 1-2 minutes since we need to get to the bus! 

I change our earn items each week, or every 2 weeks if we had a short week for some reason. The pack includes a variety of visuals that you could use for your earn choices. Or you can easily create and add your photos to the chart. I usually do a mix of toys, sensory, or food items. Sometime all 4 are toys/games, or food. (And a brownie means, brownie bite--not a full size brownie!) 

If you need to re-download this file to snag the updates for your classroom, just click the photo below Or, head on over to my store if you've wish listed this item and I've now convinced you to buy! ;) My TpT store is 20% for the rest of today-- snag this item for $2.80 instead of $3.50! (Through July 28th, 2014)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Happy-Sticks-Behavior-Management-Strategy-764174
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Sunday, July 27, 2014

Don't Miss Out!

On all these sales and savings! Popping in to remind you of some sales to take advantage of and giveaways that you don't want to miss! 

Today (Sunday) the 27th and tomorrow (Monday) the 28th my store is on sale for 20% to help with those back to school blues. whomp. whomp. There's not avoiding it, it's coming. So why not at least save a little bit of money on the items you need to prep for your classroom before that first day gets here!

Click the photo to head to my TpT Store
Some more of my friends, and your favorite bloggers, have their stores on sale too! Click {here} for the links to their stores. (Please note: some of these sellers may or may not be participating in this sale. You can find out by going to their store and looking for the sale tag.) 

Next up, don't forget to enter to win a Blo(r)ganizer from Ashley at Schroeder Shenaningans in 2nd. I have been raving about this product since the day I bought it and I'll continue to do so! If you blog and/or sell on TpT, you need this to help! It will keep all your thoughts, ideas, and plans, organized and in one spot! The giveaway closes at 8pm EST tonight!

Click the photo to enter the giveaway
Now you go and shop til you drop. I'm off to work on updating my Happy Sticks Behavior Management today!
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Friday, July 25, 2014

Substitute Survival Guide

As I'm sure many of you have seen, I offer many substitute binder packs in my TpT store with all different themes. If you've never seen them you can check them out by {clicking here}.

These packs just include themed divider pages for setting up your substitute binders. The rest of the info is on you to gather, organize and include.

UNTIL NOW!

I have put together for my own classroom what I am calling a "substitute survival guide." Because let's be honest, they want to survive the day and we want them to too. And depending on what you teach, or the lovely student group you have that year--surviving really is the goal! :)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Substitute-Survival-Guide-Editable-1347298

I was using one of the same theme binders in my classroom that I have listed in my store. But then this year, I realized, I never took the time to update each section like I should have. I would wind up typing out 8+pages for sub plans. They were basically a narrative of our day-- surely overwhelming for the sub. But I didn't want to forget anything!


Each year the needs of my students have become more and more complex. Especially when you are working with non-verbal students and you have a substitute come in, it can get a little tricky. EVERYTHING needs to be spelled out for them. What to do if so & so does this. What behaviors to ignore. Who is allergic to what. Who gets what edible reinforcers. Why they get that reinforcer. The list goes on.


Fortunately I have at least 1, if not 2 para-educators in my classroom who are pretty darn good at running the show if I have to be out. BUT the time may happen when we are both out. It never has, and knock on wood, it never will, but I need to have my sub binder prepared for something like that just in case. And better to do it now than when that fever is setting in around 10pm and realize you just can't make it in the next day.

I've included a ton of form options for you in this binder! There are some forms you may not need to use, just like there are some forms I don't need to use. My students don't have specials, but I know yours might, so there's an option for that. You may not have students who use their own individualized schedules, but mine do, so that form is in here too. I really think this is versatile for all teachers!




If there are forms you would love to see added to this, let me know! I'm willing to add on! Here's what is included so far:

-Cover
-Binder spines (in 5 different size options)
-"Steps to Survival"
-Student information
  - student list
  - allergies
  - behaviors/how to address them
  - students triggers/reinforcers
  - related services
  - visual schedule order list
-Behavior Management
  - behavior system used (components)
  - behavior system used (reinforcers, earn, ex. of earns)
  - color clip chart
  - behavior report
-Daily Schedule
  - daily schedule
  - specials schedule
  - activity (describe each part of the schedule)
-Emergency Procedures
  - contact numbers
  - behavior problem procedure
  - fire drill procedure
  - lock down procedure
  - tornado procedure
  - earthquake procedure
  - hurricane procedure
  - power outage procedure
-Transportation Information
  - bus numbers
  - car riders
  - walkers
  - after school care
-Lesson Plans
  - format pages for plans (if interested)
  - student groups
-Miscellaneous Info
  - time fillers
  - early finishers
  - important songs and chants
  - map
  - bathroom breaks
  - ready, set, reset

This product is also editable, so you can fill in the forms in powerpoint with your own favorite fonts. OR there is a .pdf version included if you'd rather just print and fill in by hand. You can see that I created dividers by laminating the divider pages and using post it tabs. This is a super simple and easy way to use images as your divider pages!


I put all of my forms inside of page protectors. I just have a preference for organizing this way. Everything remains crisp and clean. I can't wait to put this to use in my classroom this year. I started to fill in some of my forms, but obviously need to wait until I have more information on my students before I can complete it. If you're interested in this product, you can find it in my TpT store {here}! I would LOVE your feedback on this!
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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Explain the Song Book to Me

When I posted about our {daily schedule} I mentioned what we do during each part of our day. One of those includes the "Song Book" during large group time. I had a lot of people show interest in what the song book is, so I said I would do a separate blog post on this.


If you are teaching pre-school-- at any age or skill level, you NEED a song book. Even if you're a kinder class, having a song book would make for a great break between activities.

My first year teaching special education pre-school we were using High Scope Curriculum. Our district ordered all kinds of supplies from them. High Scope is really awesome if you've never heard of it and they offer a tremendous amount of resources. We no longer use their assessment system (it was crazy tedious), we use Teaching Strategies GOLD instead, but we still use everything else high scope. I could continue to elaborate on High Scope and what it is, but that would be a huge tangent to this post. I'm just here to share about the Song Book today. :) But let me know if you want more information on it and I'll talk about it more in separate post!

We use the song book during our large group time. Each day there is a child's name velcro'd to the front of the book. That is the child who gets to pick that song that day. This works so well! Every now and then you might have the child who gets upset because it's not their turn (I think that's unavoidable at this age) but after a while they adjust really well to understanding that their turn is coming and you see that behavior decrease.


The Song Book can be ordered from High Scope for $24.99. It includes a page to use for the cover and 25 full page images for common songs to help the children decide on the song they wish to sing. I also have added additional songs to our book, where I create my own images. I put each page inside a page protector in our book.

 

Because High Scope sells this book, and because it would be against my moral compass, I cannot create a similiar product to sell you. BUT if you weren't interested in purchasing, you could easily start something like this on your own. I do really like the simplicity of the images High Scope uses for their songs. They are simple, yet convey each song well.


Now because I am working with students with autism and severe disabilities I have made some adaptations to our song book. Now this is something that I CAN share with you if you are interested in making the same adaptations to your book.

I added a sentence strip to the font of our book, and small PECs to each page with the matching song. This way, I can create a language opportunity for our students who are non-verbal or low verbal and using PECs. We then add the PECs page to this visual support for singing. Students who can use their words to tell me in a sentence what song they have picked will still hand me the PEC that matches the song so we can add it to this visual, they just will not use the sentence strip.





When you purchase my Song Book Supplement Pack you will get a sentence strip, PECs pictures for common songs, and the singing visual.

Click on the picture to find this in my TpT store




Now, if you're thinking, I love this idea, but I really don't know if my students can do this or understand how to pick a song. You're thinking wrong! They can! I have to share this wonderful story with you that happened just this past school year with one of my students.


He is non-verbal, we were starting him on PECs. He was currently using "one communication page" with pictures on either side. Mostly songs actually. He was also working on sitting for carpet time. He had progressed from sitting on a peanut ball with adult support, to sitting in a chair. He had observed other students chose a song from the song book, but he had never had a turn. We working on getting him attend to the group, I hadn't tried teaching the song book to him too.

Then one day during free centers, he takes a chair, slides it to his spot on the carpet, grabs the song book, and sits down in his chair. Picks a song and takes the PEC to an adult. IT WAS AMAZING! It's moments like that, that remind me how much I absolutely love what I do and love working with students with autism.

You can use this resource in any classroom! Make whatever adaptions you need to allow your students to access it!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a copy of the blorganizer by Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd! You can click {here} to enter the rafflecopter!


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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Time to get Blorganized!

I HOPE you are wondering what in the world it means to get blogrganized. I know I was and I did it and I love it! Blorganizing happens because of an AH-MAZING product created by Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd! I honestly can't describe how awesome this product is. It is essentially a binder that you create where you keep yourself organized on all things blogging & Teachers Pay Teachers.


Ashely posted a picture on instagram of her teacher desk and right there on top, smack dab in the middle was this binder that read "Blogging/TPT Binder" on the front. UM HELLO. What is that and how can I have it? She commented back that it was her product and in her TpT store. I think 30 seconds went by between reading her comment and having that product in my possession.

I got it all printed out-- printer friendly pages too in black and white with adorable borders and Melonheadz clipart of course. I laminated the cover page and binder spine. Purchased my binder-- purple to match. And then gathered any other materials I might need while I sift through the pages and decide how this is going to work for ME.


I decided on using page dividers to put my binder into sections and clear page protectors to hold all of the pages.

I am so head over heels for this that I put together a video review showing you how I put my binder together. My apologies for the fact that everything to you is backwards in this! I recorded it using the camera on the Mac. But I think you'll still get a good understanding of what is included in this item and how you can use it to stay organized.


Thanks to Ashley, I am going to give you a chance to win your very own copy of the Blogging and TpT Binder for free! All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter below. A winner will be chosen on Sunday July 27th after the rafflecopter ends.

You can also head over to Ashely's blog to see how she set up her Blogging and TpT binder.

If you can't wait to enter, you can {click here} to purchase this from Ashley's store. It's time to get blorganized people! a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Home Laminating Trick



Raise your hand if you have a home laminating machine. If you didn't raise your hand I'm going to strongly suggest that you go buy one! I had a "nicer" one from Staples that I used for some time. Until I managed to wrap laminate around the roll of it. I needed a new one before I had the chance to attempt fixing it or getting it replaced so I bought the Scotch laminator that Wal-Mart offers.

It works wonders. I would totally recommend it. It's really not a bad price either! And you can order your packs on amazon or purchase at Wal-Mart, whatever your preference is.

Okay, okay, now that we've discussed that, let's move on to the point of this post. Laminating at home is awesome. We can't live at school (although sometimes we think it would just be easier that way) so it's nice to have the option to laminate some items from the comfort of your desk chair...or couch..or floor..wherever you work best!

You have to use laminate pouches when using these machines. So you place your items inside of the pouch, and lay down the top layer. Then you have to pick your pouch up and slide into the machine--typically on an angle. Easy peasy right? YES! Until you have to laminate little tiny pieces. And ironically I prefer to do little tiny pieces at home because my home laminate is thicker than school laminate, therefore making my small items just a tad bit more durable.

They slide pretty easily when you're trying to move your pouch to the machine and forget it when you try to slide it in on angle. They will be all over the place. So I came up with a magic weapon.


Maybe you're thinking, "Erin, that's not really a secret. It's a gluestick." or "Duh, Erin, that's what I've been doing with mine forever!" Well there was a serious ah-ha moment when it dawned on me.

I put a dab of glue on the back of each picture then lay it down on my laminate pouch. It keeps the picture right in place, no sliding around while it enters in the machine.



Fill up your page with all of your pictures and then lay down the top of your pouch and it's ready to enter the machine. The other awesome part--you don't even notice the glue from the back after it runs through the machine.



And just so you know I'm not pulling your leg about the glue not showing through on the back.


Now if you hadn't thought to already do this on your own you're probably thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?!" So of course, that's why I'm sharing this idea. It is such a BRIGHT IDEA! If you're interested in more tips and tricks make sure to follow me on facebook and instagram.

You can also browse the link up below to find more bright ideas from over 80 awesome bloggers that spark your interest! I always learn so much from the Bright Ideas Hop!
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Monday, July 14, 2014

Amazing Products for Back to School

Okay, okay, please take your fingers out of your ears and stop saying "lalalalala" just because I said "back to school". Unfortunately there's no avoiding it. It's on the horizon for most of us. I go back to work August 19th for teachers. WAH! 

BUT as much as we hate to admit that it's getting closer, we all love our summers for prepping new ideas for the classroom and/or brainstorming organization and decor ideas. I know one project I'm trying to tackle is my dramatic play area. I started a series of posts on it. You can read {part 1} here. I hope to have {part 2} coming soon.

Along with making classroom decisions, we're also shopping TpT looking for the perfect products to kick off our school year. Whether it's a product to be prepped for organizing, or activities to have planned for day 1. For me I've already purchased 2 AWESOME products to help get me organized for the year! 


The first is by Teaching Special Thinkers and the second, Schroeders Shenanigans in 2nd. I really think these 2 are going to be critical players in my organization for the 2014-2015 school year. Now, I just have to take the time to print the pages and decide how I want to set them up!

The next step is finding some really amazing products to start the year off right with! And so me and my girls at Freebielicious have teamed up with Educents with some instant downloads for you! Loaded with great products for back to school including book studies, craftivities, classroom prep, and content materials for back to school!  With 23 instant downloads... you have to check it out!  

http://www.educents.com/#a_aid=creatingandteaching&a_bid=f67a085b

I've included my Let's Learn Colors unit in this bundle. We're always tackling colors in the beginning of the year to see who knows all of their colors, who can match them, etc. Hopefully in a kinder room you have a decent amount of students who come in knowing all their colors. Which makes the included Bingo game a perfect activity for the start of the year!

http://www.educents.com/#a_aid=creatingandteaching&a_bid=f67a085b

I also love doing the Name that Color book with my students! It's a great way to assess what colors they know to see if they can complete the book correctly on their own or not!

http://www.educents.com/#a_aid=creatingandteaching&a_bid=f67a085b

Want to see what else you get in this bundle? Check out the photo below!

http://www.educents.com/#a_aid=creatingandteaching&a_bid=f67a085b

For a limited time it is $34.99 from Educents which is 68% off!  Twenty-three products for your kinder and first grade classrooms and over 1200 pages of materials from some of your favorite teachers!  It's a bundle you are sure to LOVE!

http://www.educents.com/#a_aid=creatingandteaching&a_bid=f67a085b

To take a peek at all of the items included up close, check out the links below from each of the authors! Guaranteed to help kick your school year off to a great start!
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Sunday, July 13, 2014

Daily Schedule Cards

I really enjoyed sharing our daily schedule with you and it seemed like you all enjoyed hearing about it! I love using the pocket chart--it literally is perfect for our classroom! So I thought, I need to share these schedule cards with you too so that you can use this idea if you loved it as much as I do!


I've made the file editable just for you! This way you can call each part of the day whatever you like and add in your own times. I put 2 pictures on some of the cards just like I have, and I also broke them up into 2 in case that is your preference.

I also tried to think of additional subjects that you may need in your daily schedule that I don't use--and added those too! Such as therapies and specials.

If you need more than 1 bathroom to add to your schedule you will have to print 2 of that page. Each item is included only 1 time in the pack.

If you missed the post about our daily routine you can read up about it {here}.

If these cards would be the perfect addition to your classroom you can head to my TpT store to get your copy!
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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Daily Schedule... {This is How we Do It}

...I was only 7 when that song came out, but either way, you're now reading this title with the tune to that song. #missionaccomplished

I frequently get asked on comments or through messages what my daily routine looks like in the classroom. I love seeing daily schedules. When creating the perfect schedule and routine for your classroom, you need to bounce around some ideas and suggestions. And where else better to get those suggestions than from other teachers?!
In most grade levels you might not have as much wiggle room when it comes to creating your daily routine as we do down in pre-school. Your reading and math RtI times are set by your administrators and you've got to include 'x' amount of time in this subject and that subject. Some of the decisions are already made for you. But for me, I have full flexibility with my schedule. Even for lunch I can pick whatever time I want since my kids eat in the classroom, not the cafeteria with kindergarten.


I also am free to chose when I take my lunch and my paras take their lunch. It's awesome to have such flexibility! But that still doesn't make figuring out your schedule/daily routine any easier.

I usually end up with a few rough drafts on paper with various times and arrangements before making a final decision. My final copy is then transferred over to the classroom schedule and individual student schedules. A copy of it is also included in my welcome packet for the parents.

The next step is plugging in the students. I always, always, ALWAYS am tweaking our schedule after the kids start. Whether it's changing the order of something or adjusting the times, something is guaranteed to change. Usually by the third week, it's set in stone. Then I send home a revised copy to the parents. They probably toss it, but I like for them to have it just in case they have to pick their child up early one day, or make a doctors appointment-- they know what their child will miss.

For the 2013-2014 school year, this was our schedule. I may have tweaked our times by 5-10 minutes here and there, but didn't make new cards to reflect that.


As you can see I display it right by our carpet area. We re-group here following most transitions so it's a perfect location. You can also see on the job chart that there is a schedule helper. This person helps to move the clothespin down our schedule throughout the day. This pocket chart is so perfect for our schedule. I actually have 2 of them because I didn't think our full day schedule would fit. I was able to make it work though by combining some things (center time and clean up time) and doing just a dismissal picture for when it's time to get back packs. Because once they get their back pack, we don't come back to carpet, so we'd never move that clip down again.

And yes, I FORGOT to put a lunch picture on the lunch/bathroom part of our day. I kid you not, I left it that way all year #teacherfail I did at some point realize the picture was missing, I just never took the time to fix it. Whoops.

There is also a piece of velcro on top of the outside picture. This is for when it rains. I velcro a gross motor room picture on there. This is essentially a small gym right across the hall from our classroom.

I'm sure if I ended this post here I'd be flooded with questions about what we do in each part of day so I'll go ahead and elaborate on that for you. If you didn't think this post was already long enough, it's about to get LONGER! Go grab yourself some coffee or a latte--maybe even a snack!


I'm sure some of this self-explanatory, but everyone does things differently, so let's dive in! **Please note that outside and lunch should be flip flopped! I put the schedule back together just to snap these photos and just now noticed that mistake!**

Arrival/Bathroom: Students come in the classroom at 7:50. Upon entering they complete their arrival routine of hanging up their name tag, back pack, taking out their folder, signing in, and then completing the work box at their seat. After they finish their box, they put it away on the shelf. Then they are allowed to play at what we call "table time." These are specific toys and puzzles on 2 tables. This is the only area they can play in at this time. Or they can look at books on the book shelf, which is located in the same area. Students are sent to the bathroom one at a time after they finish their box and are at the table. At this time one adult will go the cafeteria to get our breakfast.

Breakfast: The schedule says 8:00, but realistically this wound up being 8:30. By the time everyone uses the bathroom and we get back from the cafeteria, we sit down for breakfast. Each child has an assigned seat at the table and a placemat that they made. Everyone gets germ-x, we sing "open shut them" and then they are told the breakfast choices. Every child must ask before they can have anything --whether it's with words or pictures. Some students are even served bite by bite to make them request more. Communication is the goal! Anything to promote it! As they finish breakfast, they go back the table time toys. Anyone who still needs to use the bathroom will go after breakfast. When everyone is finished, we turn on the clean up song to put away our books and table time toys. Then students transition to the carpet.

Greeting Time: This did not start at 8:30 either. More typically it was anywhere from 8:50-9:00 before we sat down. We do 3 things during greeting time and I have these 3 things on a small schedule that I move another clip down on so the students know the 3 tasks we do at that time. (Sorry I don't have a photo of this!) We start with our Hello Song. Each child is holding a name tag. We sing hello to each one and we practice spelling their name before they give me their name card. For some this might include the first letter, then gradually build up to their full name throughout the school year. Next, we do our message board. Messages are on the easel in our greeting area. Most often we have 2 messages, and on Thursday, 4 messages. Our standard 2 are "jobs" and "outside." We review who has what job, and then whether or not we will go to the playground that day. Following messages, we move on to the song book. Each day there is a child's name on the cover of the song book. That child gets to pick the song for us to sing as a group. They LOVE the song book! (That's another blog post in itself!)

Earn/Gross Motor: Following greeting time we have earn time. It says gross motor because in the beginning of the year that's where we go for about 10 minutes instead of the students making a choice between 2 earn items. We do it this way just to make the correlation between the yellow star and special activity. After about 2-3 weeks we will start counting our happy sticks and making an earn choice. We'll be here for days if I elaborate on happy sticks. I have another post about it here, although that's also due for an update because a lot of things were adjusted/tweaked with those throughout the course of the year. Once everyone has made their choice we set a 3-5 minute timer. When the timer beeps, earn is over and we go back to our spot on the carpet. Earn choices are typically small sensory items that they can play with in their spot. If we have bubbles they might move around some, or some messy goop they'll transition to the table behind the carpet for that.

Centers/Clean Up: Following earn time we are ready for centers. Halfway through the year I added task box schedules for the students before centers. I will probably adjust our schedule for this next year. (This is also another blog post in itself!) The students who have task schedules are given a picture to transition them to do their work. Following their work they can earn centers. Students choose a play center to go to at this time. During centers I may call students to work with me one on one on IEP goals, work on PECS exchanges with students, and all students use the bathroom again. Following a 5 minute warning, the song helper will turn on the clean up song when it's time to put away our toys.

Earn/Gross Motor: Again, same as above. We count our sticks and get our earn.

Large Group Time: This can be a variety of activities. It almost always starts with a story read aloud that's engaging. Students either have story boards to follow along with or a manipulative to hold on to and/or sequence along with our story. We may also sing a thematic song during this time too. While we are doing this one adult goes to get our lunches from the cafeteria. If we finish our large group plans before lunch arrives, then we turn on the smartboard for activities while we wait.

Lunch: Once lunch is set up at the table students will transition there. We follow the same routine as breakfast. After they eat they use the bathroom and then play with table time toys again. Once everyone has finished lunch they should all be at table time. We will clean up table time to transition to outside time. Because an adult gets the lunches for the students, we make our choices using this lunch book. This is excellent for your non-verbal students, but I use this for all of mine.

Outside: Weather permitting we go outside to the playground. We try to clean up our table time toys at 11:30am to line up for the playground. If we're running behind, we just extend our time once we get out there. We stay out for about 20-30 minutes. When we transition back inside we get right on our cots for quiet time. Typically a teacher has set up cots while students are eating lunch, or stays behind to set them up while we go outside.

Quiet Time: Some of you may be shocked that we're doing quiet time and wondering how in the world we do it. Don't give me any gold stars yet because I have a trick. It's called the Smartboard. We play preferred tv shows via DVDs on the smartboard during quiet time. The students don't sleep anyway and this is so much more calm and manageable than when I tried "quiet time baskets" with quiet activities. We have to have a quiet time to allow all the staff in the room to get their lunches. This is what makes it the most manageable. Quiet time will last for 45 minutes. Before the students get up a staff sets up for snack.

Snack: We turn the lights on to signal it's time to get up. Students put their pillows and blankets under their cot sheets and go to the snack table. A teacher puts away the cots. The snack helper passes out placemats and we proceed with snack the same as our other meals. However, now, when they finish snack they may go to any of the play centers. They do not have to play with table time toys. This is great since some students either do not want snack or finish snack early.

Centers/Clean-Up: This is the same as above. In the afternoon centers will run for about 1 hour. Again, I can pull students to do one on one activities with me and some students will complete a second task schedule for the day. We follow the same procedure for clean up.

Earn/Gross Motor: Again, same as above. We count our sticks and get our earn.

Dismissal: After clean up from our final earn for the day it's time to pack up. Students are sent to the cubbies to follow their pack up routines (in visual form for most) and then we sit down in our cubby. Our busses come the pre-k wing door and we can see the busses as they pull up from our classroom. As a bus pulls up I call those students to line up and walk to their bus. We do this 1 bus at a time. On nice days we will go outside and play on a small playground until our bus is here.

SHEW we made it to the end of the day! Are you exhausted yet? Teaching full day pre-k is LONG. I have done it for 2 years now and will start my 3rd year with all day in September. I LOVE it. I do have some students who will be with me for a half day though. They leave after AM centers. We will sing a goodbye song to that student(s) after we have cleaned up and a teacher will take that student to their bus and the other adult continues with the routine with the others.

I mentioned 2 things in here that I could elaborate more on in other blog posts. If you want to know more about ANYTHING, just comment below! I will definitely be doing posts at some point this summer on our song book and an update on happy sticks---that is so overdue! I hope you got something helpful out of this!

**Update: I have created {editable} schedule cards just for you! You can use these in a pocket chart like mine, or display them however you choose! Head to my TpT store to check them out!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Daily-Schedule-Editable-1322190

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