More office pics

Back To School- My August Lessons

Here is a sneak peak at my August lessons. I am in the special area rotation on Thursdays and Fridays, so I see most of  my classes just one time a month. On occasion I see them twice so I'll have an add on lesson for them.

Check out my scope and sequence for classroom lessons, character education, small groups and more for this year.

This month all of our lessons are about getting to know the counselor, our class rules and procedures, and practice working with partners and individually. For a list of the discussion questions I used for my books click here.


1st- I introduced myself with a Prezi so the students could learn all about me.
*note when you share all about your furry family they will want to share all about their furry family. I tell students to save their stories for later and if we have time at the end of class they can write me a letter and tell me all about their families.

As the Prezi goes on we stop and discuss.

At this point we talk about our classroom rules and consequences (both good and bad.)

We also stopped to take roll and take turns waiting our turn and listening.

I asked each student to tell me one place they might like to visit some day.

We also stop to practice activities I do frequently. Student's practice "partner turn and talk" and share with a neighbor what they want to be when they grow up.

When we got to my love of books we reviewed our class reward system of putting a name in a cup to win a book. We also discussed the consequences of making irresponsible and disrespectful choices in class.

At the end of the Prezi read with "David Goes to School" or "Dog Gone School."

 "David Goes To School" Discussion Questions

David Goes to School Writing Activity 

At the end of "David Goes To School" we made a list of "No David"- things he did in the book he shouldn't have and we shouldn't do at school and then "Yes David" - what he should have done instead. 

2nd- I showed them a power point all about me. As we went through the power point together I had the student's complete the " My School Counselor Is" sheet by Savvy School Counselor. *

As part of this power point we discussed how school counselors are like Mr. Potato head. If we had time students created their own unique Mr. Potato Heads and we discussed what makes us unique and respecting differences. Get your “Potato Peeps” Glyph from Savvy School Counselor here.

If we didn't have time we read "Why Do I Have To Eat Off the Floor"by Chris Hornsey and discussed we had to have class, school, community, and national rules/laws. 

Cosmo Career Canine

I've seen this idea around, but I am finally trying it. This year I have a stuffed pup "Cosmo" who will be the 2nd grade "career canine." I picked up 4 Cosmo's at Walgreens last year for like $2 total. They were on clearance after Valentines maybe. Anyway I figured it would be a good way to test it out and I wouldn't be too heart broken if Cosmo never made it back to school.

How it works:

Each month I'll pick 1-4 students that have been nominated for outstanding character and let them take Cosmo home. While he visits with them for 2 weeks the students should journal about what he learns about their guardian(s) job(s). He can go to work with the parent/guardian and in each Cosmo bag will be sample interview questions for the parents about their career and  if applicable college education. 

Then when the student's return Cosmo I"ll copy a journal page and display it in the hallway and do a quick blurb on our morning announcements about the career he learned about. To get us started Cosmo spent the day with several of our staff members. 

Here is a quick intro to Cosmo along with interview questions for students. 

First Office Pics

Here is a sneak peak of my office so far. It's already messy!

My bulletin board in my office. I ran out of border so I used paint chips.

My exercise ball chair to get my healthy on.

My "play therapy section."

Slowly moving away from browns and blues to black and white.

I tried to mix in some personal fun touches.

books galore

I used binder clips to label my books that way I can easily change the labels from container to container or change the name.

Office supplies. I love these jars.

My former students painted the art work in my office.

New Year, New Room

I share my classroom with two other teachers, but I am lucky enough to have a wall =). I  put all my "guidance stuff" on the back wall. 

Everyone teases mea bout my love of animals and especially dogs, but I have found that using this theme helps me build a relationship with the kiddos.

The 1-5 paw chart is part of my "behavior plan." I clip the entire class up as they follow my three rules:

Be Remarkable

Be Responsible

Be Respectful

At the end of class I write their "score" in my grade book (#teacheranchor #cjayneteach). When the class has 5 5's they get a reward day. That's normally the day we watch a Trevor Romain video or do extra Go Noodles.

Students who do a great job get to "put their name in a cup." Each month I put out 6 books students can win. They put their name in the corresponding cup of the book they want to win. Then at the end of the month one student will be drawn and they win that to keep forever. It's part of my closing the gap plan to improve literacy scores.

The Martha Speaks board is to help isolate problem behaviors, such as blurting. I got the idea from the wise Amiee Dean, Behavior Queen. The students start with 10 bones and as the problem behavior occurs I take one away. So say for example the class keeps talking over me, we would focus on blurting. Each time someone blurts I take away a bone. However many bones are left at the end of class they get that many minutes to "free talk" or whatever reward I've decided on. 

Note: For your "problem students" you know your "Richards" as Amiee calls them I have a separate plan for them. I won't take away a bone if they blurt. They most likely have more individualized behavior plan, so I don't take away from the class for this behavior. I will however let them earn, so if they do raise their hand I might give a bone back. It's been very positive so far.

Speaking of my Teacher Anchor. I can't live without this amazing binder and planner from C Jayne Teach.

The Anchor is full of helpful worksheets and planning guides. When you factor in how organized it keeps me, helps me document my connection to common core standards, and keeps me solution focused for groups and individuals, it's worth every penny.

They sell out fast so make sure you pre-order! I love the personalization.

I use my binder for individual notes, small group notes, lesson plans, and meeting notes.

The Teacher Anchor contains this individual conference form, which I made copies of and put in a special section of my binder.

Here is the blank example:

Here is an example of how I use it for individual work. Don't panic, Brooklyn's furry confidentiality is safe.