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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

TPT - Update

I was finally able to get a few things last night before I went to bed.
It was after 10:30 but then it only took a few minutes. 

I hope everyone else was able to find some things. Lucky for us several of the sellers extended their sales.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

TPT

Ok I have been trying to make some great purchases on TPT and uggggg is all I can say! I really wanted to get in on the great deals and just now the screen says TPT is doing scheduled maintenance double ugggg. Just wondering why they would schedule maintenance on a day like today?????  Did anyone else have problems?

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Week

There are some great things going on this week!!! Just wanted to share a post I saw on facebook from Kim Adsit, I copied this from the post but be sure to look Kim up and Like her on facebook.
Tuesday is Teacher Appreciation Day and I hope that you guys know how much I appreciate you! Deanna Jump and I have joined together to offer FREEBIES and to have a great sale in our teachers pay teachers stores. On Tuesday be sure to check in for lots of free downloads to help you get ready for the next school year and for free games to play with your kiddos! 
 Here is what the next post said:
These free downloads will be available for one day only! We will also have a great one day sale in our teachers pay teachers stores! Teachers pay teachers is also giving an additional 20% off so it will be HUGE! Be sure and use their Promo Code TAD11 to get the additional percentage off of the price! It is good all day Tuesday from midnight to midnight Central Standard Time.
I love Kim and Deanna and can't wait to pick up some things for next year. Hope you can find some great things!

Classroom Management Linky Party

I am joining Mrs. Randall's Classroom Management Linky Party. I have tried a couple of different types of classroom managements over the last few years. 
The first year I taught I used cards that were different colors. Each day students stared out on green, if I had given a student several warnings they had to move their green card to the back and the card that was showing was blue, next was yellow, red, and the last card was black which was a phone call to the parent. I had a small poster with each color card on it and a smiley face clip art or frown to emphasize what each color and consequence was. This worked ok but I had a student that was diagnosed OD / ADHD and pulling a card caused a major melt down with this student, and to be honest any type of consequence was a battle, thankfully our school has what is called a 'behavior lab' and after having to carry the student down the hall screaming more times than I want to remember the student was allowed to be taken here (oh my sometimes I wonder how my poor students learned anything that year). This worked pretty good with the rest of my class and the next morning before everyone was put back on green the students who had stayed on green the day before were given a ticket that they could turn in on a special day for a prize or some type of reward. I did have one student who would act like he moved his card, move someone's card other than his own, or move his green back to the front before he left. (you know the ones) So the next year I thought I would try something new.

I purchased the stop light behavior chart and have tried to use it the past two years but I just have not had great success with this behavior system and have ended up taking it down and using something different the past two years. 
I am currently using the old fashion name on the board. We start out on Monday with a clean board and names are not erased until the next Monday. If a student gets into trouble more than once they get a check mark by their name. I also write a word at the top of the board such as Easter, if this word stays on the board until we leave on Thursday the class receives a treat on Friday, if they have lost letters then their is no treat. I also give them check marks if they already have all of the letters and they are doing a great job following directions, they get a compliment from someone in the hall or the cafeteria, etc.
Next year I plan on using a different type of classroom management I want to use the clip chart by Rick Morris. although I have saw some ideas that I really like on this link party sooooo.... we shall see. Sometimes the class changes what you thought would work.
Make sure you check out everyone's ideas and join in I love getting inspiration from others and sometimes we all need a new idea when it comes to classroom management.

Great Deal on Great Geysers Jar

In my previous post I showed my class using mentos to make a geyser. I found a kit at Cracker Barrel marked 50% off the regular price of $19.99. The one I had used was borrowed from another teacher so as soon as I saw this one I had to get it. This kit comes with more experiments than just the geyser. I can't wait to use this next year.

Here is a Product Description

Be Amazing! Toys Great Geysers Jar Learn how the Mentos Geyser became an overnight internet sensation as experimenters worldwide tried to uncover the secret erupting power of the popular mint candy. Something amazing happens when Mentos and diet soda mix ... people scream with excitement! This kit gives you the tools to make your own erupting soda fountain. Perform more than a dozen soda pop science experiments as you discover the power in the pop! Use the new Depth Charger to erupt the geyser with salt or other common household items. Make dancing noodles and much more. Activities include: Dancing noodles Soda can shake up The Mentos mystery Load and drop the depth charge The C02 Myth Includes: Mentos Chewy mints Magnifying glass Macaroni Sodium Bicarbonate Geyser tube Depth charge New caps Citric acid Rock salt Salt