The Happy Learning Den: May 2017

Sunday, May 21, 2017

It's More than Survival Mode

With the school year winding down how do you keep students engaged during the last weeks? What strategies do you use to ensure behavior doesn't spiral out of control? Is it all about "survival mode?" I keep seeing memes posted all over social media about surviving the last few months/ weeks/ days.... I'm guilty of sharing a few myself. But survival mode isn't a healthy way to teach. Your students still need your guidance and follow through with your rules and consequences that you established the first week of school.

It's a challenge, but the most important piece of advice that I can offer is to keep your students engaged every single day.

1. Keep your students working! Have your students review their work. If your students have been keeping their work in classroom folders or journals all year, give them some time to reflect on their educational journey. Let them read, revise, and share their favorite assignments.

2. Allow students a day to show what they know. I have been doing this activity for over 10 years, and it works in every single grade level. Give your students an opportunity to teach the rest of the class (and you!) something. I have had students demonstrate origami, how to draw, even a favorite dance. It's one of my favorite end of school year activities that I do every single year.

3. Helpers! You have a lot to do. If only you had around 20 energetic people to help you. Sigh... Oh wait! You do!!! Students LOVE helping their teacher at the end of the year. I tell my students that I am looking for helpers ahead of time, and how I will choose specific helpers. I tell students that everyone who wants to help, will have an opportunity to help IF they follow the rules. Students who don't follow the rules are not allowed to help. It works every time. Older students can clean desks, pack your library, organize an area in your closet... younger students can do things like sort crayons and sharpen pencils for the next year.

4. Advice from Grads. Have students write a letter or a brochure to incoming students for the next year. The first day of school next year, you can give your new students the letters/brochures.

5. Breaks! Be sure to give students enough movement breaks throughout the day. When children, and many adults, sit for too long it becomes difficult to concentrate. This doesn't necessarily mean extra recess.

Play, Heads Up, Seven Up for 10 minutes. Depending on how quickly your students move through the room, and play each round... you may be able to play 3 or more times before sitting back down and refocusing.
Play 4 Corners
Play "Simon Says"
Have students march in place as they count by 2, 5, or 10, recite the ABC’s, say the multiplication tables, etc. What you have your students recite will obviously depend on their age.

Good luck to you as you are winding down the school year. I would love to have a conversation with you. Please share in the comments below if you tried anything your read in this post, and how it worked for you.

The best is yet to come,

Sandra @The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Motivation for the Last Few Weeks of School

Congratulations, you have made it to the last few weeks of school which means you have just entered a whole world of stress. As the end of the school year is approaching, students of all ages become increasingly distracted. Even students who are usually engaged in learning can become fidgety and disengaged as we get closer to summer.

However, it does not have to be as stressful as you think and can actually go a lot smoother than you think as long as you take care of your mind and body.

Here are some tips to keep you sane and alive during these last few weeks of school.

1. Don’t underestimate your students. They are capable of much more than you think.

2. Avoid negative people. Better yet, try not to become one of those negative people you need to avoid.

3. Remember, being optimistic does not mean that you don’t have any problems, but having a positive attitude means that you are working on solutions.

4. Practice slow, deep breathing. You will be glad you know how to remain calm when a student is defiant, rude, or in a cranky mood.

5. Try yoga. Taking time out for yourself is very important, especially in times where getting overwhelmed is a huge possibility. Taking just 20 minutes out of your busy schedule to do some stretches can really be useful for your mind and allow you to feel more relaxed = calm teacher.

6. Stop trying to rely on your memory!!! There is too much to do and to remember. Write it down. I keep a small notebook near me at all times. At the start of each week, write out all the things you have to get done and the due date (interims, book inventory, level new books for Accelerated Reader, parent conferences, etc.).

This will help you see when your work needs to be done, aiding in your time management. With the school year quickly coming to an end, this is an important step to take in order to avoid drowning in paperwork. I write down the things that I will need to remember, and refer to in each morning and afternoon. When something is completed, I check it off.

7. Lower your voice. Your students will be less likely to shout if you are speaking in your quiet voice.

8. Increase the frequency of positive recognition you give students (high fives, fist bumps, a thumbs up, a smile).

9. When students ask, “Why do we have to do this?” Make sure you have a great answer ready.

10. Have your students invent a game to review a concept.

11. Treat yourself with kindness. Sometimes there will be days less easy to manage, leaving you feeling stuck in a rut of stress. After work, have an early dinner with a friend, go get a massage or order food from your favorite restaurant. Take care of yourself, no matter what!

12. Drink plenty of water. Keep yourself hydrated without sugary drinks and too much coffee. The water will keep you feeling fresh and provide you with natural energy so that you make it through your long days a lot easier.

13. Look for your friend who is drowning and reach out and help her/him up.
Yes, you have too much to do. So does everyone else. A kind word. A knowing smile. Even looking at their papers and saying, is there something I can help you with? Stick together.

14. Do not abandon all the routines and structures you've used all year! Students of all ages need those routines to continue. If you start showing movies all day, every day, or have a whole lot of parties, kids are likely to get a little nutty.

15. Accept the Situation For many students, summer is not a good time. Their structures and routines fall apart. The most predictable people in their lives -- their teachers and classmates -- are not around. Many of the students I have taught, first, third, and fifth graders, have told me that they don't really like summer. Yes, they like being able to wake up late and watch TV all day, but that gets old after a while. For some students, summer can be even be a time of hunger and loneliness. Many students get free breakfast and lunch during the school year. Now their stomach may be growling, and their parents still need to work all day.

In your classroom, you might see the more difficult students become even more challenging. They become more needy and clingy, or obnoxious, which causes you to set up more boundaries, often making them even more challenging.

Rally your strength. Gather your empathetic powers. Go to bed a little earlier if you can. Get exercise. Your students really need you now, so try to enjoy the time with them and have fun. The year will end.

Good Luck!

~Sandra

Monday, May 1, 2017

Teaching with Task Cards

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of using task cards in my classroom. Students use them in centers, either independently or with a partner. And at least two times a month, I have my students play Scoot with one set of my cards. I find it to be one of the best ways to review facts that has been previously taught, without using worksheets. However, there are so many other ways to use task cards in your classroom!

Laughter

+ Learning

Classroom Joy

Last month, my students worked in pairs to solve problems. But with a fun twist! I put individual task cards into plastic eggs with pieces of wrapped candy. Then students hunted for the eggs that I hid in plain sight around the class (in desks, under desks, on the dry erase marker tray, in the book case, etc). Once all eggs had been found (about 2 eggs per student), I paired students up – based on ability. I chose to partner a strong student with a struggling student so that the strong student could help explain errors and the process if it was necessary. Students had to solve the problems, but in order to eat the candy inside the eggs two things had to take place. Students were allowed to eat their candy if they had correctly answered the problem. Then in order to be allowed to have the second candy, students needed to use the document camera and explain to the rest of the class how to solve their problem. It was an egg-selent time!

A Few Ways to Use Task Cards

1.   Whole class game: Scoot

2.   Whole class game: Scavenger Hunt - hide cards around the room; students look around the room for the cards with clipboards and answer sheets

3.   Morning Work: display card on document camera for everyone to complete first in the morning

4.   As an activity for students to do while you are meeting with small groups

5.   With whiteboards: teacher displays card on document camera; students answer on individual whiteboards – great for short answer or multiple choice.

6.   For fast finishers

7.   For extra practice on a targeted skill – could send home for homework

8.   As seat work: cards are in baggies that students take back to their seats to complete

9.   Binder: Put whole pages of uncut cards in plastic page protectors. Students flip through the pages to answer several cards at at time.

A Few of My Favorite Task Cards

Multiple Meaning: Jokes that contain multiple meaning words. In all, there are 32 task cards. However, 18 of the cards have more than 1 correct answer! Hello test prep!!! And your students won't even realize it! It's a win-win.
Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots, Oh My! Learning and Laughing with Task Cards:

Do your students have trouble figuring out the meaning of words when prefixes and/or suffixes are added to the root? Mine do! Your students will be giggling as they use these 32 multiple choice task cards to reinforce prefixes, suffixes, and roots of words.

Do you like those two sets? I have a plethora of other task cards in my store. Check them out by clicking on the link here or keep scrolling down the page for a list of my current task cards.
Right now these are the only task cards that I have in my store. I will be posting more soon because my students keep asking for more. I just can't keep up with their demands, lol! If you aren't already, follow my store and you will be notified as soon as I post new task cards. They are always 50% for the first 48 hours. It's my way of saying thank you to my followers. :-)

Multiple Meaning Task Cards

Literacy Task Cards

Cause and Effect with Short Vowel Words (Two I Have, Who Has Games)

Science Task Cards

Geometry Posters, Worksheets and Task Cards for G.1 & G.2

FSA 3rd Grade Practice Operations and Algebraic Thinking Task Cards

FSA 3rd Grade Practice NBT Task Cards, MultiSelect Questions

FSA 4th Grade Number and Operations in Base-Ten Task Cards (Multi-Select Ques.)

Adding Decimals Task Cards

Subtracting Decimals Task Cards

Adding and Subtracting Decimal Task Cards (BUNDLE)

Multiply Decimals Task Cards 5th grade (NBT 2.7)

Operations and Algebraic Thinking Task Cards (5th Grade)

Dividing Fractions Task Cards

St Patrick's Day Dividing Fractions Task Cards

St Patrick's Day Multiplying Fractions Task Cards

Have a marvelous May! Please leave a comment below and let me know if any of these ideas were helpful for you. If you have any other ideas for task cards please leave your idea too. I am always looking for new ideas to incorporate into my classroom.

The best is yet to come...
Sandra @The Happy Learning Den

P.S. Find and follow me on Facebook (The Happy Learning Den). I post good news in education, positive videos and memes that relate to teaching, notifications when a new resource is available (50% off for the first 48 hours... you get a reduced rate, and in return I get positive feedback... win-win!), and FLASH FREEBIES (usually for 2 hours).

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