November Bright Ideas Round-up!!!

Hey everyone!!!! So glad to "see" you!! Boy, do we have a treat for you!!! For our November Edition of the Bright Ideas Blog Hop, we are all bringing back our Bright Ideas from the past 10 months!! WOOHOO!!! There are so many amazing ideas that have been shared that we thought this would be a great way to have them all in one place! Shall we get this party started?!? :) 

Here are my Bright Ideas from the past 10 months!! 

I absolutely LOVE writer's workshop especially since I started making my writing conferences MOBILE!!! You can learn all about how I reduce interruptions and increase engagement and focus through my mobile conferencing!!! Click HERE or on the picture below to read the blog post!!

Do you have a TON of materials and nowhere to store them (or no idea how)?? Well, I needed a new system so I started organizing all of my materials by skills!! Wow!! Has it helped!! Click HERE or on the picture to read all about it!!

Finally, my last Bright Ideas Blog post is all about one of the most glorious inventions EVER...VELCRO!!! Come see all the ways velcro has made my life simpler in my classroom!!! I think I've found the BEST type too!! :) Click HERE or on the picture below to read more! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed looking through my Bright Idea posts, and maybe even got some ideas that you can take into your own classroom!! :) Make sure to check out the rest of the Bright Ideas Round-Up by clicking on the links below!!! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Taking Conferencing MOBILE during Writer's Workshop!

Hey there!!! Welcome to the Bright Ideas Blog Hop!!!! 

It's been a while since I've posted with this awesome hop, and I am SOOO excited to share an idea that I use in my classroom that may be new, old, or slightly different than something you already do! With that :), I really hope you enjoy reading all about my...

Writer's Workshop MOBILE CONFERENCING!!!

After reading friends' blogs, books, and other articles on writer's workshop, I decided I wanted to take my writing conferences MOBILE!

Let's take a look at my past writing conferences!

Back in the past, I would set up my writing with a mini-lesson, status of the class, writing time, conferencing at my u-table, and sharing. Now, I liked and still use everything BUT the u-table!! If you are anything like me, I can easily find 50,000 other things to hurry up and do when you see all of your students working quietly! Not that I'm saying that's a good thing AT ALL or that I did that all the time, but there were those days that I was so overwhelmed that I just HAD to (at least for my sanity) get something done really quickly and get back to conferences. Well, what started as a quick task ended up taking the whole time. Has that ever happened to you?? Like I said, it didn't always happen that way, but I just would be so mad at myself for doing that. 

Then, when I was at the u-table, I would call back one student at a time. Now, yes it's one on one which is great AND lots of teachers are AMAZING at this, but TEACHER CONFESSION...I am not! I admit it!! I do fine with the conferencing part, but I'm not able to monitor the other kids in a way that doesn't disrupt the writing of others. 

So here comes the birth of the MOBILE CONFERENCING!!

What I do NOW!

Now, that I confessed and feel way better haha (thank you for listening :), let me tell you how I have taken my conferencing MOBILE! 

Like I said above, I still set up my writer's workshop like this...

When my kids are independently writing, I take my Conferencing Toolbox (in first picture in post) and go TO my first student conference! I get my conference notebook out where I have tabs for every student with about 5 pages for each student. I start out just talking to my student about what they're working on as I also reference my notebook to see what we were working on the last conference time. My goal is to find something I like about their writing, find a teaching point for the conference, and give a goal for my student to have. For the teaching point, it may be something that I will model and have the student try it after me. I may also teach a new skill to them to practice. Whatever the case, my teaching point usually leads to the goal. 

Now that I just got off track, let's get back to the MOBILE CONFERENCING!! :)

So as I'm conferencing, I have everything I need inside my conferencing toolbox to identify, diagnose, record, and prescribe for my student's writing!! 

Inside my conferencing toolbox I have the items below!

NOW, as I'm sitting all over the classroom, I am in THEIR writing spaces!! I didn't interrupt their thought process. I didn't waste time in the transition of the student getting to the table, opening their journal, conferencing, getting back up, and returning to their seat. There was NO INSTRUCTIONAL TIME LOST!!! YAY!!! That will totally look amazing on our evaluations, too!! haha Right?!? That's not the point, BUT it is a BONUS!!

Since I'm already AMONGST my students, the classroom's behavior is AWESOME!!! I'm with them! I'm not separated and in my own bubble at the u-table. I'm showing them that I respect their writing and their process, wherever that may be! I let them sit wherever they want in the room, except during practice writing prompts. With this, when it's time for me to move on to the next student, my MOBILE CONFERENCING allows me to check in with several other students as I'm in pursuit of the next student. This knocks down behavior issues as well, and it gives me a chance to see what my kids are working on since I can't meet with everyone every day. WIN WIN!!

BOTTOM LINE...MY KIDS LOVE THIS!!! I LOVE THIS!!!

Here is a quote by one of my most reluctant writer's last year (I looped to 3rd this year :)...

WHAT?!? I seriously told myself to stay calm and don't act like a fool and start jumping around that your most reluctant writer is cheering that we are writing today!! Oh my word!!! I wanted to do a teacher dance!! Total teacher chills moment!!

SO...if you can relate to this post at all, maybe give it a try and see how it goes!! It has changed the whole atmosphere of my room! It's probably one of my favorite times of the day aside from reading!! :)

I hope you are able to take something away from this post even if it's simply a laugh or a smile!!! I, by no means, am an expert! However, I am always changing and trying new things so for now, this is working!!! I hope to keep improving the mobile conferencing as we continue on our journey!! Check out my other Bright Idea posts by clicking on the Bright Ideas label in the right column of my blog! :)

If you did enjoy it, I would love for you to join in my journey too!!! You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Now, there are a TON of other BRIGHT IDEAS out there so get comfy and peruse more bright ideas by grade level and topic by clicking on the links below!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Organizing Materials by Skill for Any Grade Level

Hey guys!!! Welcome back to another edition of the BRIGHT Ideas Link Up!! I'm so excited to be back at it again this month!! Lots of changes have happened since the last one I participated in so I'm even more anxious to read about all of the ideas! Recently, I found out that I'll be looping with my 2nd graders to 3rd grade next year! Even though everyone that knows me knows I love a challenge, it was a bit of a surprise! One word...TESTING!!! AHHHH! I've been in 2nd grade for 10 years and my very first year was teaching Spanish which means NO TESTING! Now, I have to face the reality that I will have to give the TEST! I may or may not have already woken up in the middle of the night with a nervous stomach?!? hah Please tell me, I'm not the only one!! YIKES! Aside from that, I'm excited to have my kiddos again and be able to start going right off the bat! So...here's where my BRIGHT IDEA comes in! :)

I'm the type of person that in order to use something, I have to see it! Out of sight, out of mind! :) I also think my memory is getting worse, or my plate is getting fuller! hah You know you have a problem when a student leaves to go to the bathroom, and I ask the others where this student went only to find I was the one who told the student he/she could go! WOW! ANYWAY, I love all the tubs and everything that I've seen and use them for different reasons,  but I tend to forget what I have. This is why I started using my carts to store my materials that I could use any time. I decided to do this by skill so it was even easier to find and organize.

I have my lesson plans in binders by skill so these carts store the actual activities that I use. I have these 2 carts for reading skills, 1 cart for grammar and word skills (i.e. synonyms/antonyms, homophones, compound words, etc.), and 1 cart for math skills.

 Since I do rotations for reading, I keep a drawer for each group to store their materials as well. 

Organizing by skill with my carts has helped me out soooooo much! I hope the ideas are helpful for you too!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! 

If you enjoyed reading about my Bright Idea, I would love for you to join me on instagram, TPT, and Facebook for more ideas!! :)

Below are over 130 bloggers with even MORE BRIGHT IDEAS!! Peruse through to find just the ideas you need or never knew you needed/wanted until now like I usually do!! 

Velcro...Making Life Easier since 1948

We're back!!!!!

It's that time again!!! I'm joining over 180 amazing bloggers to share with you some BRIGHT ideas!! If you joined us last time, it was incredible!! I picked up so many ideas and have already implemented some of those ideas in my classroom! So this makes me even more excited for this one! 

How many of you seem to have walls, desks, cubbies, etc. that don't seem to be able to hold ANYTHING?!? I mean I have tried everything you can think of to keep things attached to my walls, kids' desks, and their cubbies with them all usually failing! I don't know if it's the classroom temperature or what, but it can get quite time consuming having to reapply everything! 

Step in...VELCRO!!!

Who would have thought that something invented in 1948 would still be rocking it in 2014?!? Well, it's true!! I know you're probably all thinking...yes, I use velcro, but it is a little sticky sometimes, hard to get off, and/or leaves residue. Here is the new found, GLORIOUS, velcro!!

I randomly came upon these one day while I was shopping in the supply aisles of Walmart, figure that! I can't stay away from those aisles anywhere! These were actually on the clearance end so I thought, why not try them! I am soooooo glad I did!!! Now I use them for my kids' desk name tags, jobs, and other posters on the walls!! IT DOESN'T COME OFF!!!! THE KIDS CAN'T PEEL THEM OFF! AND...THEY ARE REUSABLE!! That's right!! REUSABLE! 

DESK NAME TAGS

I use 2 of the poster velcro squares for each name tag, and put the circles on the actual name tag. This has made it so EASY to move kids around, add new students, and switch out old name tags with new ones. NO MORE kids peeling off the tape, coloring on the tape/contact paper, and basically destroying them! haha Now, there are still the few that seem to find a way to make one not work, but out of 23 kids and 3 switch outs to new name tags, that has only happened maybe 3 times the whole year!! WAY BETTER than before!

STUDENT JOBS

If you're like me, I have to really prioritize and organize how I use my wall space in my classroom since I don't have much of it. So, to help keep some wall space open, I decided to utilize the student cubbies to their fullest!! Above their cubbies, I have used the Removable Velcro to make it SUPER QUICK AND EASY to rotate jobs each week or however you do it! I simply move them down one. The velcro works like a CHARM!! I have used the normal velcro on this just due to the size of the space to attach to! This has helped in three ways: reminding my kids of their jobs daily, keeping my room organized, and utilizing the space well. 

STUDENT SELF EVALUATION SYSTEM

Here my kids "park their cars" under their levels of understanding! All of their cars have the velcro coins on the backs, and I used the rectangular strips on the side of the book shelf. This way it is super easy and quick for the kids to move their cars daily. This has been a life saver and space saver as well!

ANCHOR CHARTS/POSTERS/MATERIALS

This isn't the best picture, but the South poster is up with the velcro as well as the others around my room! I use this velcro for anything that's going to be up the whole year! It has stayed ALL YEAR!! Not a budge! The things that I had taped using packing tape before I found this velcro, has fallen or had to be pushed back up several times which usually means me getting a chair to do it! So this has definitely helped out! Since it's REUSABLE, it's easy to just transfer the velcro coins to the next material you want to hang! 

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to stop by!!!! I hope you were able to go away with some new ideas!! :) 

Now, are you ready for some science fun?!? I know my kids LOVE science! So head on over to Miss V's Busy Bees to find out how cardboard and play-doh transform into a hands-on science project!!  Click on the picture below to learn all about it!!! 

Alternatively, if you'd rather hop around to specific posts, you can peruse through the over 180 bright ideas below!! They are divided into two groups: k-2 and 3 and up! Happy hopping!!!! 

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up