Fun Ways to Motivate Students to Achieve Goals

When it comes to a difficult task, it is hard to stay motivated!  Personally, I find it easier to motivate students to work hard at a common goal if they know what's in it for them.  Honestly, I have to set a personal reward so I work hard to achieve my goals.  While some may say that rewards-based incentives don't work, I say it builds discipline.  It makes the success so much sweeter when you know you can relish in your favorite episode of Real Housewives because you finished grading all the quizzes!  Click the image below to download this freebie for your classroom:

FREE WAYS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

-extra recess

-pajama day

-no homework pass

-lights off learning

-competitive indoor games

-principal / announcements shout out

-student choice music playlist

-kahoot

LOW COST WAYS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

-seasonal food related days (ex: National S'mores Day, Hot Cocoa, Lemonade, etc.)

-blow bubbles outside

-root beer floats

-teacher brings class snack

-Little Caesar's pizza party

-arts & crafts project

-donuts or donut holes for the class munchkins

-technology games (Heads Up - there is a free version also)

MATERIALS NEEDED TO CREATE YOUR "DONUT WORRY, WE GOT THIS!" TRACKER

(items below include affiliated links)

-brownie pan

-super magnets (if attaching pan to metal surface) or mounting tape (if attaching pan to other surfaces)

-magnetic tape (to attach to back of donuts & text)

-laminator & film (to preserve donuts & text)

Now that we have covered different ways to motivate your students to achieve goals, let's talk about how to track these goals.  You can use a system like filling up a small cake pan with magnetic donuts or brownies.  If you want the class to focus on role model behavior even when you are not around, then write it down and post this goal near the door to remind them. For example, the goal my class was working towards achieving was, "When given the option of being right or being kind, choose kind." in an attempt to promote responsibility and respect when interacting amidst differences in opinions.  This helped to minimize the class behavior issues my students were exhibiting in the form of petty arguments and squabbles after recess, specials or transitions.

Then, anytime the class receives a compliment from a special areas teacher, the principal, or a lunch duty aide for exceptional behavior, then a magnet can be placed in the pan!  Some teachers only require 12 to fill up the pan, but my class had to reach 15 to achieve their goal.  This visual tracker helps students notice how close or far they are from an incentive.  Also, another fun twist is making principal comments double the points, so they can earn twice the amount from an administrator!

As a class, we can keep track of goals using a tracker like the one below.  This is a sample page from my Student Goal Getter Data Binder kit.

Ring in the New Year with Traditions from Around the World!

Are you looking for something quick and engaging to include in your lesson plans the week after winter break?  Sharing how people celebrate New Year's traditions around the world is a FAVORITE activity of mine (and my students)!  I just love getting to connect with my students and find out more about how their family celebrates, as well!!

Something I have been meaning to do is update my files to Google Slides.  With the return back to school after winter break, I knew I wanted to add in related VIDEO CLIPS for my students to get a better understanding of how people around the world celebrate the New Year!  HOORAY, because it finally happened this year!

This New Year, I have added in clips for students and your classroom to get a better idea of how people from Chile, Russia, Australia, and Spain ring in the new year!  In the image below, I have included an overview detailing the importance of starting the year fresh

  The New Year's Traditions Around the World teaching slideshow (now available for use with Google Slides) covers the traditions celebrated in these five countries.  Not to mention, it explains the various, unique ball drops celebrated widely thorughout the United States on New Year's Eve!

If you made it to the bottom of the post, here's a link back to a freebie I made for my blog followers, especially for this New Year themed resource!

Here's to a HAPPY NEW YEAR filled with joy and good health!!

Digital Template for School Calendar

If you teach at a 1:1 school, you may find yourself battling the need to become more and more paperless!

While helping my little sister (who happens to be a kindergarten teacher) setup her new bulletin boards in her classroom this summer, she discovered she had a PROBLEM!

The HUGE amount of bulletin board real estate she was used to putting her Calendar Math display before the fancy Epson Interactive Board was installed had BECOME NON-EXISTENT!  This is where she stapled all 18 sets of ten frames to count the amount of days spent in school each day with her students!

So, what's a tech-savvy big sis to do?  Offer the suggestion to take it digital - with Google Slides that is!  In fact, it seemed like the most engaging option because it would automatically make this counting routine of her Calendar Math lesson bigger and hands-on.  It also incentivizes students to become the math leader of the day and move the counter for the class!


She liked the idea so much, she actually said YES!  And, she requested I redo her outdated, chevron place value chart to keep a visual track of what day of school it actually is without having to refer to the Google Slide!

If you'd like to expand your horizons and try this calendar routine in DIGITAL FORM this year, don't worry!  My template includes two 6-minute TUTORIAL videos that you can watch over and over again.  The first is specifically for Google Slides.  And the second, giving the tutorial for the PowerPoint version of this template (automatically included with the Google Slides version).

Since many primary teachers enjoy bringing in bright colors into their class bulletin boards and wall displays, I created a set of gold glitter heart rainbow counters.  Her school is leading with heartprints this school year, plus what glam teacher can resist anything with sparkle?  Besides, this might encourage her young mathematicians to love math even more with these sparkly, gold hearts!

 Click any of the images above to shop my store for this digital calendar template using ten frames.  If you want to see more about what you're actually getting, watch my sneak peek video clip on Facebook:

Solar Oven S'mores to Build Lasting Memories

Are you ready to promote a love for learning with solar oven s'mores?  Bring a touch of summertime and camping into the classroom by building pizza box solar ovens to cook your class their very own s'mores!  National S'mores Day is August 10th, and since we start school in Arizona near August 1st, solar cooking is one of my favorite ways to build classroom memories each school year.

To minimize my teacher prep time, I recruit parents starting at Meet the Teacher to make solar ovens for our science experiment.  In the same section of the room/newsletter where I ask for classroom donations, I put a special educational request in for a donation of DIY pizza box solar ovens.  I highly recommend Steve Spangler's Science Made Easy tutorial on how to make a pizza box solar oven.  This is the tutorial I sendmy families and they always turn out great.  Also, I don't feel bad accepting the help when I hear that several of my families rave about turning it into a weekend bonding project!  

Another way I reduce my teacher time prepping is by getting the materials laid out in class while the students are busy writing down the lab purpose, the hypothesis and listing the materials on their lab reports.  This works great for labs that don't require precise measuring.  While the students are filling out these portions of the lab, I add square graham crackers and marshmallows into the solar ovens.  Then, by the time, we get to the procedure part of the experiment, it's time to find a spot to place the s'mores solar cookers outside!

 Why don't I add the chocolate at the same time? For starters, I teach in Arizona and chocolate melts in your purse in as little as two minutes.  I recommend doing a trial to get an idea for what time parameters work well in your area.  For me, I found that adding chocolate when we return outdoors gives it the MINUTE it needs to melt naturally in the sun without being added to the solar oven!  Each student walks outside with a paper plate topped with one square graham and chocolate (if they're not allergic).  As they wait in line UNDER the SUN melting their chocolate, I grab a melted mallow graham and overturn it onto their plate to complete their S'more!  We eat outside, unless it's too miserable, and then we return indoors to cool off and discuss solar energy!

 According to the tutorial above, you'll also need a few more supplies to build the solar cooker:

• Large cardboard pizza box (in pretty good shape)
• 2 Clear page protectors
• Black construction paper
• Duct tape
• Wide, clear packing tape
• Box cutter
• Scissors
• 12” (30 cm) Wooden food skewer (or a ruler or will do too)
• Glue stick (Elmer's Glue® works, too.)
• Aluminum foil (wide, heavy duty if possible)
• Ruler
• Pen or pencil

Thinking about school from the perspective of a kid, the BEST MOMENTS always involved food and any hands-on science experiment!  So, I combined the best of both worlds by adding this experiment to my annual rotation.  Who can say their best school memories happened as a result of an assigned worksheet?  

Sadly, by the time the students get to me in fourth grade, they haven’t had much time engaging in science experiments.  This is because in Arizona, our primary teachers are stressed out about helping these kids read, not leaving much room for scientific exploration in the school day.  

Each year, without fail, I get the same AWE-STRUCK look from the fourth graders who enter my class and hear me proclaim, “this is the YEAR of SCIENCE!” like Oprah announcing everyone gets a free puppy.  They can’t believe what they just heard, but they’re ready to LOVE every moment of it!

During the first month of school, I make sure to PRIORITIZE science and we create LASTING MEMORIES with eight fun experiments.  As a teaser, we begin the year with the Don't Eat the Marshmallow Challenge which is based on a TED talk in which scientists placed a marshmallow in front of a child with the option to potentially earn another if they simply wait for a certain time frame.  If they chose not to wait, then the child was able to enjoy the marshmallow immediately!

I try to plan in at least 2-3 experiments a week during our first month together!  One of my absolute favorites, is making s’mores with pizza box solar ovens.  The idea came to me after learning there was a National S’MORES Day a few years ago, and I knew we had to celebrate this joyous occasion in my classroom!

National S’MORES Day is August 10th – sometimes it’s a school day, but even if it falls on the weekend, we celebrate as close to the day as possible.  Whenever we will make S’mores at school, I make sure to announce this A WEEK AHEAD of time to the class, so we can have plenty of time to gather the needed supplies.  On Meet the Teacher Night, I even have my optional class donation cut-outs labeled with a pizza box solar oven and s’mores ingredients.  Luckily, I’ve had several repeat families who know what this is for, and others, who are extremely generous!

Don’t underestimate the GIFT of giving your class this unforgettable experience.  It surprised me to find out that one of my students had never had a S’MORE before in their entire life until we did this experiment together.  Getting to complete this science experiment at school, helped him to learn he really liked S’MORES, and he made sure to tell me after he had messily devoured it!

Setting the Stage for “The Year of Science:”
Each year, I get my students ready to think like a scientist by introducing the Scientific Method.  We take notes after setting up our science journals.  I make sure to play these related video clips:

• BrainPop
• Think Like a Scientist!

Then, we dive into the science experiments!  The Gummy Bear experiment is always the first!  This piques their interest because they’re forced to wait a WHOLE day to see the results.  I like adding more SUSPENSE, so I hide our soaking bears in my cabinet, and I tell the students it’s to make sure roaches don’t get them, of course!   Naturally, this is all the kids can talk about the next school day.

Then, I up the ante, with the Magic Potion Lab!  We get to observe a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar to inflate a balloon *magically!*   You can use any regular latex balloon (I prefer the emoji kind from the 99¢ store).  Even though this balloon kind of smells bad (not sure if it’s the rubber latex or the ink used to print the design ), they transform into personal emoji trophies for the students to parade out of school with at dismissal!  

Check out what others have said about using these science experiments in their classrooms:

Either way, I hope you are inspired to celebrate National S'mores Day with S'mores cooked by Solar Oven Pizza Boxes!

Back to School Pineapple Bulletin Board

Develop more CONFIDENT student leaders who build a POSITIVE community filled with respect by sharing these 3 POWERFUL LIFE LESSONS with your class!

Whether it's the beginning of the school year or the end of the year, using the Pineapple Poem as a metaphor is a great way to teach important life lessons to your students!  My advice is to chunk this up into digestible bites for your class.  Read on to find out more about the pineapple-themed life lessons I share with my class to help them develop into better leaders.

Pineapple Life Lesson #1: Good Vibes Only!

I'm a big believer in the power of STAYING POSITIVE!  Each school year, I love building class community and relationships off this idea of GOOD VIBES ONLY!  I say, life's too short to go through it as a grouch - lighten up and be aware of your energy!  Before my obsession with pineapples, I used the "smart cookie" metaphor, and I would frequently remind, "You can't be a smart cookie with a crumbly attitude."  Basically, you can't grow & get better at something if you choose to stay in your fixed mindset and just complain & groan.  Positive energy raises the vibe up and keeps your emotions happy and the stress level light.  Instead of freaking out, I teach my students to stay calm & focus on the positive.  This isn't just a school strategy, but an applicable lesson for life!

Pineapple Life Lesson #2: Stand Tall

It's a fact of life, not everyone is going to be your biggest fan in life.  In fact, you will run into your fair share of haters.  (The kids always giggle when I use this term, but it's the best word for me to get the message across.)  It is important to remain resilient and STAND TALL: not giving up or quitting when the going gets tough.  Don't let the haters bring you down to their level and turn it into a war of low-blows, but be the BIGGER person.  I remind them, you can't control other people's thoughts, feelings, or opinions - all you have control over are TWO things in this world: YOUR attitude and YOUR actions!  Don't let someone tear you down with their hurtful comments.  

Often, the best medicine you can show that person is to RISE UP and go on with your day minding your own business & staying HAPPY WITH YOURSELF (all while showing kindness and not being mean in retaliation because SECRETLY they are trying to STEAL your HAPPINESS. If your emotions show you're sad or mad, it means they won and you just lost.)  This is also a good time to briefly touch on bullying - this word is so overused and confused and misunderstood.  So, I find it's easier for me to clear up these misconceptions early on. Often times, kids overreact and think one act of unkindness means that someone is bullying them.  Repeated and intentional acts to pick on someone over a consistent basis is how bullying is different than a single, senseless act.

Pineapple Life Lesson #3: Be TOUGH on the outside, but SWEET on the INSIDE!  

This lesson is the perfect follow-up to the previous lesson on Stand Tall.  Having tough skin like the protective skin of a pineapple is important to protect your brain from believing the untrue comments your haters will tell you.  It truly helps you protect your happiness to realize that you are in control of your emotions and STOP giving that power to others.  Being sweet, like the tasty fruit found inside the pineapple, is just a way to remind you to show kindness to others.  We are in this world to make it a better place, and we do that by sharing love to each other.  Kids often connect this idea easily to the "Golden Rule" or "Do the Right Thing Even When No One is Watching." 

How do I keep these pineapple LIFE LESSONS on my students' mind?  

I post a Pineapple Welcome Board outside my classroom that students pass by each morning before they greet me at the door.  In addition to the kids delighting in seeing their very own name on the pineapple outside our door because it adds to a sense of belonging, I also keep the Pineapple Poem posted on this bulletin board as well.  Additionally, I typically ask an applicable question during read alouds or novel discussion about a character.  Was The BFG doing a good job of standing tall when his giant brothers picked on him for his small size?  Tell your partner 2 ways you know the BFG is someone who stays sweet on the inside.  This easy strategy can be used with any character traits program your school may follow, or the one you've chosen to be your own class theme!

 

This clipart by Prettygrafik had me at A-LO-HA!  When I saw it was on sale, it was an even SWEETER deal!  I knew it was the perfect way to give my best-selling Editable Pineapple Welcome Bulletin Board a makeover for the back to school season!  If you're curious to see what the original design looked like, click here.

Stay Sweet & Stand Tall🍍 this School Year!

ClassDojo for Parent Communication

How do you keep parents in the loop?  There are teachers who send out weekly newsletters (either print or digital).  I’m not that teacher!  Mainly it’s because I enjoy my Friday afternoons tidying up the room and making sure I get home early!  For me, I love to document school events and class memories by taking pictures. Raise your hand if you like Instagram better than Facebook! (p.s. - I DO!!)  Technically speaking,Facebook has more worldwide users than Instagram, but its popularity definitely varies by age bracket. 

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE HOW I ADD BITMOJI TO ANY GOOGLE SLIDE

Enter ClassDojo - the classroom connector with the look and feel of Instagram! After Amy Groesbeck blew up on Instagram documenting day 1-day 180, I decided to create a class Instagram account but it became too hard for me to manage between my personal IG handler and the school account.  I wanted something that was it’s own separate entity with more classroom perks. ClassDojo was the answer, playing off Insta's look and feel with square images.  Best of all, it's ABSOLUTELY FREE and you get to set "quiet hours" - which automatically notify parents that you may not reply until the following school day!

If you're new to ClassDojo, I would recommend playing with the demo class first so you’ll get an idea of how to setup your skills to award points before the school year actually begins. There are great tutorials & helpful ClassDojo videos online, and I really like this one which shows what families see (on ClassDojo).  

Something I really enjoy using ClassDojo for is to make brief classroom announcements and reminders.  This is what SOLVED that communication problem I mentioned earlier - I don't like to send weekly newsletters or  daily emails.  #Ain'tNobodyGotTimeForThat!  

Aside from sharing pictures or video clips from our school day, I LOVE using Dojo to send quick reminders, invites to school events, and celebrating special milestones!  

Although Dojo offers customizable images for events like school picture day or holidays, I prefer to use my own template to quickly send off these notifications.  Also, I'm kind of obsessed with bitmoji too!  To add customized images to my ClassDojo feed, I just upload my square image and type up my quick message to families.  If you can't wait to add this time saving resource to your Google Drive, click the image below!  As you can see, there are 3 headings with 3 border styles included.  If you think you'd save time using my editable ClassDojo Announcements Template, then click the image below.

How do I know this form of communication works so well? My families shared how connected they feel to me and their child's classroom.  When reflecting on the previous year's teacher, they shared, “I never felt like I really knew her.” Whereas, this year, through the consistent communication with ClassDojo they now gush, “I love checking in on my kid and keeping up with what they’re doing at school!”

Don't know what to post? Here are some ClassDojo Story Posts I Make Throughout the Year:

• field trip snapshots

• student celebrations/awards

• weekly adventures home of our class mascot

• special events in class (reading buddies)

• exciting activities (assemblies, science experiments, guest speaker visits)

• reminders for class party donations

• last minute changes to PE special (tennis shoe reminder)

Comment below with any other ways or questions you may have about using ClassDojo in your classroom!

ELA Homework to Boost Rigor & Reading Stamina

Do you know what's MISSING from the "newly adopted" ELA curriculum my district bought last year?  A LOT!! If you're struggling with supplementing resources to align what your students practice with to how they will be assessed on ELA standards, then changing up your homework routine may be the answer like it was for me!

I began using this weekly homework format with my 4th grade class at a Title 1 school, and the parents loved the consistency.  Compared to other years, I saw an increase in oral reading fluency (ORF) progress, and confidence while taking computerized reading tests.  My students also showed WAY MORE stamina when it came to the LOOOOONNNNGG reading passages they were assigned!

First of all, I assign my weekly homework by passing out the new packet on Monday and making it due on Friday.  If there's a holiday at the beginning of the week, I just send it home on the first school day of the week.  There are several families who appreciate having the flexibility of getting homework done around their schedule and not tied down to such a tight deadline.  As a result, I've experienced a higher completion rate of homework when it's checked on a weekly vs. nightly basis.

Here's HOW It Works:

The front cover page serves as a checklist for students to complete throughout the week.

• Fluency : Repeated Readings  If you're a fan of close reading, then you know the importance of having repeated reads.  Each weekly homework pack requires students to read the high interest text three times during the week.  After the student has read on 3 separate occasions, then they get to check off the Fluency box.  The parent initials/comments box is helpful for me to see which words the student may have struggled with and holds the student more accountable for reading the text aloud to a family member or guardian. 
• WIDE Reading Choices  This part of the weekly homework routine allows for student choice.  There are 9 reading activities a student may choose which range from independent reading to writing a letter from the point of view of the main character in the assigned text, or even researching some new information.  Typically I just have students staple any of their WIDE reading choices to the back of the packet.  Like before, the student has to complete 3 of the activities to check off the WIDE reading box.

• Comprehension Check  I typically recommend for my students to respond to the questions only AFTER they have read the text for a second time.  This will have helped them to gain a better understanding before attempting the questions.  Similar to the ELA tests my students take in the spring, there are trick questions and they are text-dependent, so they must refer back to the passage to verify they have chosen the BEST answer!  I created the layout to position the text page next to the questions page because it bothers me when I have to flip the page in order to respond to questions. #theSTRUGGLEisREAL Fortunately, it just takes away one more barrier to success and gives students a bit more consideration.  With practice, students become really good at the test prep strategies involved when answering the 5 multiple choice questions.   After, students must respond in complete sentences to the FIVE "Get the Gist" prompts provided.  There's even a column for students to record the paragraph #s in which they located their answer.  This helps to train them to show their work even in ELA!

• Focus Skill Enrichment Page  I like to sprinkle in heavy-hitter RL, RI and L standards as a way to spiral in the ELA curriculum.   There's normally an example given so students have a greater level of support to be successful, especially if completing the assignment independently without an adult nearby.  As a kid, I recall my working parents busily prepping dinner, cleaning the house, and/or relaxing on the couch from an exhausting day.  They were never doting on me to help me complete my homework because that was MY responsibility.  Overall, the rule of thumb I share with families is each separate page shouldn't take more than 15 minutes for their child to complete as long as they are working without distraction.

Are you ready to implement a CONSISTENT homework resource aligned to ELA standards which will allow students the opportunity to grow as readers, and boost rigor along the way?  After implementing this homework system along with tracking student data, my class scored 96% proficient on the end of year ELA test!!

If you still aren't convinced, maybe these ACTUAL TEACHER REVIEWS of how this Common Core Reading Homework bundle improved their class' success & even changed their mindsets about homework may help!

This CLASS is ONE in a MELON! (1st Week of School Bulletin Board)

So I have this GREAT idea for a first week of school bulletin board!  It's going to say "This CLASS is ONE in a MELON!"  All the kids will have taken a picture with my yet to be made soon-to-be-made watermelon paper plate prop or EASY print & go prop available HERE. 

The picture will accompany a paragraph of writing that tells what makes each kiddo, "ONE in a MELON!"  I've included an exemplar to help all my students be successful.  And, let's be honest, most kids need all the help they can get in those first couple of days back from summer break!  To help get ideas flowing, there's also a writing frame included which is perfect for younger grades and I know it is just what my struggling writers & ELL students need.  The final copy provides room for the student picture & it's even EDITABLE, so you can insert the image & type their name in ALL AT ONCE!

 Did I mention that I'm SO proud of myself because I actually designed the watermelon props myself using PowerPoint shapes?  Obviously, I am not going to become a clipart designer anytime soon, I would most likely need PhotoShop, but I thought the heart-shaped seeds were a cute touch to the #uplift theme I want to implement in my class this year!

I also had fun putting my title for my Watermelon Bulletin Board together.  I just printed out the pages I needed, cut & glued onto a black poster board I had at home.  When teachers report back to my school in just 5 days, I'll have the secretary laminate it for me.  That way I can use it again next year! (If that's not your style, there are OTHER title options, including banners - 2 images below) 

There aren't any pics with student work yet because I haven't started the school year with students. It will be done either the 2nd or 3rd day of school since I PLAN to have it on display for parents to admire for Curriculum Night which is now oh-so-easily called, "Parent Teacher Connect Night" at my school!🤣  

Click the pic below to follow my INSTA so you'll be the first to see how my bulletin board comes to FRUITION with ACTUAL student work!

Also, I just finished reading Part III of Ron Clark's "The End of Molasses Classes" and he gave a good tip on how to improve students' abilities to speak in public settings which included giving them a LEAD role as they guide/give their parents a tour during Curriculum Night.

 I WANT to implement this, but not sure if it's too much of an undertaking to prep the students beforehand... we shall see!