Teaching Teens in the 21st

Open House/Meet the Teacher night was a huge success! Well, for me at least. I can't speak for the parents, but it seemed positive! I just wanted to post really quickly about what I did, and link up to some of the forms I created for Open House. With middle school, I had to have four different presentations, and we only had 8 minutes this year, so it was go, go, go right away! First, I had out the sign-in sheet, and offered parents the option of me sending them the presentation. I did this to save on paper, and many parents requested a copy. I sent those out today with a quick thank you for attending. After seeing all of the cute parent gifts on Pinterest, I opted for a large bucket of mints, and a cute little sign saying thank you for your Involve-mint.  You can download my sign in sheet and the Involve-Mint sign at the end of this post :) Here's my presentation up and ready to go! Parent Handouts. I had a parent questionnaire, grading policy wi

Normally I wouldn't post twice in one day, but I couldn't wait for this one! (Sorry!) I recently made my first purchase over at C. Jayne Teach , and I love it! When I got home, this little beauty was waiting for me :) I wanted to post the entire package, because I'm OBSESSED with other people's handwriting, and I love hers! I figured I probably shouldn't advertise my home address, though. :) I picked the desk pad, because these four things are the most common notes I have to write during the day. I especially love the People to Email and Pages to Copy. Everything is in one easy to see space! Plus- I love the green! Every time I corresponded with C. Jayne Teach it was informative, personal, and timely. I think these three things are SO important when conducting a business, and this company does that beautifully. Also, have you seen what's coming next from her? These trays are SUPER adorable, and I definitely want one in my closet or bed

Tuesday we had library orientation, and it was awesome! My classes were the first group of the year to get in the library, and I felt like they devoured it. Each student walked away with at least one book, if not three, and wrote other books down on their "Books to Consider" sheet. They were really great about asking for recommendations, and overall it was a very positive experience for everyone! Remember my bulletin board? It's finally finished! To finish it up I asked students to write a Six-Word Memoir about Reading. Here were the rules: It must be positive It must be EXACTLY six words It needs to be BIG You must put your first and last name at the end. They wrote these on large index cards, and then I folded them in half to look like little books. I stapled them to the bulletin board.  :) This week we have open house, which is always nerve wracking for me. Not because I am afraid of parents, but because I feel like I have so much to share, and l

Before we start, go enter the giveaway for the water bottle , it ends tomorrow! Today's Tuesday is all about prepping for your ISN! First- Here are my decorated notebooks, and I can't wait to take pictures of some of the awesome notebooks I've already seen from my students! :) 8th LA1 ET 7th LA1 ET 8th LA1 On to the meat and potatoes of the ISN: It is CRITICAL that you are planned for the ISN. You absolutely cannot fly by the seat of your pants with this one, as a lot of prep work goes into this. (Not that any teacher would ever  make up lessons on the fly, lol) Top Three Reasons You Must Prep:  The Table of Contents must be ready and updated for your students. You definitely want any copies made in advance.  If you are using a document camera, you want to make sure you know in advance what you are putting in the ISN, or you want it done ahead of time. The Table of Contents is the be all end all for the ISN for me. Per

Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies was kind enough to send me one of these AMAZING pencil sharpeners to review, and my students and I could not be more pleased! I wish I had taken video on Friday at school, the students in my SLC class were having so much fun that when I walked back over, they had sharpened over 20 pencils!! They even offered to be my "official pencil sharpeners." Who would have thought that middle schoolers would volunteer to sharpen pencils? Here it is! Meet your new best friend :) This amazing little machine runs for $24.99 and is well worth the price. It gets the pencils so sharp, and the clamp prevents students from jamming pencils into it! Also, this machine is incredibly quiet, and it's portable. Students who are "official pencil sharpeners" can clamp it to their desk and sharpen away if they want.  To use: Use the included clamp to secure it to any surface. Pull the metal area on the front out. Press the le

Well, the weekend is almost over too soon, as usual, but I am actually excited for this week! Our amazing LMC director was able to get my students in for library orientation a week early, and we are all excited about it! That being said, I had to rearrange some plans in order to fit in my usual day before the library lesson. When I was originally taking classes to become an LMS (before I switched to technology) I had to create a lesson about using reference resources in the LMC. After reading  Igniting A Passion for Reading  by Steven Layne three years ago, I was excited to try out some of his ideas in my own classroom! Tomorrow we will be filling out an interest inventory, a reading self-assessment, and then explaining what the Books to Consider sheet is for. When we go to the library on Tuesday, students will be armed with a list of genres to consider, as well as some topics to look for if they are stuck. They can also add books to their "wishlist" if something isn'

Happy Saturday everyone!! Today I am "fall'ifying" the house, and being lazy. Let's just say it's been a great day so far. No...Pumpkin Spice isn't back yet, but I did make my own version with my Nutri Bullet! Ingredients: Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cup *smallest setting Edy's Vanilla Ice Cream 1/2 the fat (2 spoonfuls) Ice Pumpkin Pie Spice YUM! We restocked last night at Bath and Body Works. The hubster was a *little* surprised at the cost, but they will last! I All Things Pumpkin Fall Table (one of my favorite ways to decorate is setting up the table) Mantle! And close-up I'm also planning some things to share with all of you this week, including my next ISN series installment! :) When I woke up this morning, I logged into Facebook and saw I reached 100 likes! That means I'll be doing a new giveaway tomorrow. Head over to my FB page now to vote on what the next giveaway should b