School is fully underway and I feel like I have just barely been keeping my head above water these past few weeks! Is anyone with me?? (And we are only 7.5 weeks into this school year!) Thankfully, the classroom is running rather smoothly. If it wasn't, I don't know what I would do! It is just all the other responsibilities and never-ending emails that are running me ragged. Too bad WBT doesn't have a solution to these non-student issues!
Here are some updates:
1) I started the Genius Ladder a couple of weeks ago. The kids loved it and for the first time I feel like I taught a relevant, engaging grammar lesson. I've always disliked grammar myself so it was exciting to see everyone having fun.
I think I made a mistake when I tried to change it up the second week. We were suppose to be learning synonyms, and it kind of confused the kids since it was different than we did the first week. If we had better grasp of the Genius Ladder to start with, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so challenging to add in this concept. Here is the slide I made on PowerPoint. -->
2) I still love the Super Improvers Wall!
3) I got a Smart Board this week! It's amazing but I have a lot to learn to fully be able to utilize its capabilities. The students who have used them in the past are helping me to learn. Are there any Wibbeteers out there who use a Smart Board? I'd love to see any WBT ideas for it.
Today we played Mind Soccer on the Smart Board! It was very basic. I drew a rectangle on each side of the board for the ball and I put in a clipart image of a soccer ball. The kids thought it was so cool to have an actual picture of a soccer ball after using the white board eraser as the ball for the past few weeks.
4) Tomorrow I will have 40 second and third graders in my classroom for half of the day. What is my first item on the agenda? Class-yes, teach-ok, and classroom rules of course!
Allison
WBT Intern, 2011-12
Super Improvers Wall
I put up my Super Improvers Wall about 2 weeks ago. It is so different from any other reward system I've used, but it makes so much sense!
-It's free and easy.
-Simply adding a couple of stars really motivates the students.
-As with all things WBT, the teacher has control to manipulate the wall to create anticipation and encourage all students.
-I love how the challenging students have even more of a chance to earn stars, and "alphas" also have to work hard to improve themselves.
I can't wait for the first students to reach the photo level!!! Check out the webinar on the Super Improvers.
Smoothy Bumper Planet
I printed the Smoothy Bumper Planet on 11 x 17 paper with the Number Towers on the back. I like the bigger size so that we have room to work on things like number patterns. I've ordered some transparent counters to use on the charts.
For the first time I'm using the Number Towers. I'm realizing that it is very helpful in teaching my 2nd graders to count beyond 100. They learn the pattern of the ones, tens, and hundreds. I pulled a small remedial group to count with me while the others counted with their partners. The free ebook can be downloaded on the website.
Universal Homework Model
As we were counting the total stars for the week one lovely student called out, "I wish we could do homework on FRIDAY!" :-D
Allison
WBT Intern, 2011-12
I think I made a mistake when I tried to change it up the second week. We were suppose to be learning synonyms, and it kind of confused the kids since it was different than we did the first week. If we had better grasp of the Genius Ladder to start with, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so challenging to add in this concept. Here is the slide I made on PowerPoint. -->
