First Grade Gallery- Lessons for Little Learners

My goal this summer was to work on new items for the classroom geared toward my move back to second grade and also to edit some of my earlier items to add new graphics and make them even cuter!

Here is my latest update for the Smartboard Gingerbread Man Activities! If you already purchased it, go back into your purchases to get the newest version! These are just a few of the slides. Click on the first picture to see it at my shop!

I'm spending money shopping for my new classroom like it were Christmas lately! I am leaving many of the things I have for the new teacher who is moving into my room and starting with a clean (and hopefully well-organized) slate. I have so much that I have collected and purchased over the last 20+ years and the thought of having to move it all is a little overwhelming! I've seriously considered hiring a moving company! I will have only two weeks to get it all done because my classroom is being used for summer school. I'm excited to share before and after pictures with you!

 Here are some new items I found that are really great and will be a nice addition to my brights theme!

These book tubs look nice and sturdy. I found them at Really Good Stuff. I love that they allow the students to see the covers and are wide enough for picture books. Our school uses Accelerated Reader and my books are organized according to AR level, so I need many baskets. These are a little pricey, but will be worth the investment if they hold up for many years! I'm going with the yellow, but they come in a rainbow of colors.

My director chair is getting faded and it's time for a new one. I found this chair in yellow too! 

My last chair was given to me as a gift from the class. On the seat canvas the children added their thumbprints with puffy paint and my room moms wrote each child's name on the chair with fabric markers. It was so cute! I'm going to decorate my new chair with colorful polka dot lettering and add my name to the top canvas. I found this one at Directors Chairs.com. Unfortunately it's out of stock at the moment. I guess I was not the only one who liked it!

 I already have these sets and lots of other stuff from Really Good Stuff and I think it will all go very nicely together with my brights collection. 

The colors in the Swirls and Curls set when printed are much brighter than they appear in the picture. I think it'll be a great match. Click on the picture to see it!  I'm going to work on a rainbow set and see if I like that one better! 

On another note- I sent off a folder yesterday with all of my design elements to Becca at Jumping Jax Designs. She is working on my new blog next week. I am really excited to see how she is able to put together the graphics, backgrounds and theme that I have chosen. She is awesome! It is totally custom and totally me! Counting the days for my blog like I'm waiting for Christmas too!

Have a fun weekend!

Jeannine

Wouldn't it be dreamy if all students did exactly what they needed to do, made good, kind choices and respected the learning environment? 

In years past, I have used a token economy, rewards, praise, incentives, special tickets, coupons and more.... the popular red, yellow, green color changing cards in a pocket chart and table cards and points, marbles in a jar, the traffic light reporting system and all sorts of plans and combinations of plans. Last year I found this cute We Show Great Bee-havior chart by Really Good Stuff and decided to try that out. 

Red on Top

Green below

Red says stop

Green says go

Yellow says wait

Even if you're late

A side note;

I have a thing with displaying names on a behavior system. The counselor in me wants to protect the self-image of all of my little ones. Even if it is posted in an inconspicuous place, everyone in class knows every bee that was moved. A few students who had difficulty on a regular basis almost seemed to relish in the attention of moving their bee. 

 But in a matter of time, the names began to rub off anyway. I really did not want to have to purchase replacement magnets year after year, so avoided writing on them with a sharpie. Instead, we had nameless bees and the students were required to take responsibility for remembering which color they were on at the end of the day. This worked out pretty well and my little ones were very honest, so that part was not an issue.

Once their bee had moved, I struggled with the decision to let the children bargain, as they tried to do, for a chance to improve and move their bee back to green. (I am thinking that they may have been able to do this in kindergarten). Part of me thinks that in real life, the choices we make, good or bad, have consequences. We do not always have the opportunity to make amends, especially when our choices affect or hurt others and the damage is done. Everyone needs to stop and think about those consequences before acting and that is something that has to be learned.  The problem with not allowing my students to move back was that some "frequent fliers" lost motivation to make better choices and "gave up" for the day. I hated to see that happen and then created a separate plan for those children. 

 I still would highly recommend the chart to anyone who loves their red, green, yellow behavior system! 

After doing some reading and research, I've decided that I like the philosophy on behavior management offered by Rick Morris and want to give it a try. I think my second graders next year will like it too! You can read more about the clip chart behavior system at his site:

The only downside I can see is that many students will be moving clips up or down throughout the day and that takes the focus of some students away from the task at hand as they are watching others at the chart. We will have to see how that goes.

I made a clip chart for my room similar to the one Rick recommends. I've added it as freebie on Teachers Notebook. You can grab it there if you'd like to get in on the clip chart system! 

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/jmoriconi/freebie-rainbow-behavior-clip-chart

I am so excited because this summer, I will get to move into and set up a new room!  I am going for an entirely new look and want to move away from the primary colors I have had for so long. So, I've been playing around with some theme sets and working on several to see which one will look best with the storage items, posters, pocket charts, lamps, and furniture that I have spent a bundle on over the years in the name of cuteness. I'd like to give it all away and start over but that's not about to happen so, I've got to see what works best with what I have. Most importantly, to work around the glider from my baby's room (the baby is heading off to high school next year :)) which is now the cozy corner and focal point for gathering in the room! 

 I love the simple look of black and white with some brights here and there. This is my new Classroom Chic Set in black and teal. I am having a Giveaway on Teachers Notebook. If you like it, here's the link to enter to win it:

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/deals/giveaways

I saw that Creative Teaching Press just came out with a whole new line of black and white borders and accessories that would be perfect for my bulletin board wall. Yes, an entire wall that takes three days to cover in fabric, add borders to and decorate, so I'll have to love it for a long time! I'll be walking into Joanne's with my printables in hand matching fabric colors! 

Here's theme idea #2 in my Classroom Cute Set-Polka Dot Owls (our school mascot):   

Coming soon to the collection: Classroom Colorful, a coordinating polka dot owl clip chart for behavior management and new CAFE posters so check back to see what's new! 

I'd love to hear about your classroom theme, or ones you've seen that you might like to have:) so leave me a comment and a link to see it if you can!  Have a lovely week!