I spy...

This months trait is wisdom!

A Flat Stouie!

As an extension of my character education and Flat Stouie programs I have  partnered with the librarian for this fun game of "Where's Flat Stouie?"

Each month I hide a Flat Stouie in a book related to our character education topic of the month. The students that find the Stouie and check out the book get to keep the Stouie and get a sticker to wear.

Pumpkin Books

One activity our 1st grade teachers did this year was have the students decorate pumpkins to represent their favorite books. The results are amazing.

Each pumpkin was displayed in the hall for all to see.

Wouldn't this be fun to do with emotions as well! Can't you just imagine a devastated pumpkin, a scared pumpkin, and a proud pumpkin lining the halls?

Can you see me now?

So I started this entry a few times this week, but never finished. Then I was reading the "Corner on Character" and ironically she had the same post! Great counselors must think alike.

"The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig is one of my favorite new buys.

Not only are the illustrations gorgeous, but the story is very powerful. So many of our students feel lost in the crowd, feel like they don't fit in, or even that they are the only ones dealing with a specific issue.


I love the suggestions that "Corner On Character" had for this book and I plan on incorporating several into my lesson. I love the idea of looking for character education words in the book and talking about the connecting it to their own lives with the use of "I" statements.


Here's how I planned on using the book. First, the author included discussion questions at the end of the story. I plan on having my students discuss these questions using the Quiz Quiz Trade game.

Next I am going to write a letter to the students in a "Dear Abby" format. I'll create a few one will be about bullying, one about being new to school, and one about making friends. I'll have the students write their own letters back to this fictional student. You could also use these social situations to do a role play activity, depending on the time you have with your class.

I'll post more as I continue to develop this lesson.


Speaking of invisible. These two are not! No, no these two have no consideration for personal space, but I love them.

Find the courage to stand out

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I don't remember a school year starting out quite this crazy. Although, maybe they all do and I just mentally block them out each year to stay sane.

Needless to say one thing I haven't had time to do this year is update my bulletin boards, but a precious miracle occurred and the art teacher had a student helper that needed a few extra work hours and she volunteered to do my board. I think it's perfect!

More of my favorite classrooms!

Today's favorite classroom is actually our music room. Our music teacher used to be our technology teacher, so it seems fitting her theme is one trendy game; Angry Birds.

Here's a peak at her room:

This is her "cool down" spot. I love that she re-named it to the "Restart Station." You may recall this from our special area behavior plan from this year. This is the spot where students go to complete their behavior reflection charts.  One of my favorite aspects if that she has a sign with the 3 B's (Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Safe) here with a prompt on what to do so she doesn't have turn her attention away from the rest of the class.

Angry Bird lanterns.

Our 3 B's.

A simple explanation of our special area behavior plan.

How cool is this! I love the way she put up her chart. It makes hanging mine up near the board look very boring. 

Best Behavior Update

My foster Boss went to his first day of doggie school today. The hardest command, "stand up!"
There was even a man with a monkey, yep a monkey. He was still on his best behavior. If he were in my class he would get a 5!

So here is my update on the special area behavior plan.
I also finally put my reflections forms on my Google Drive so you can get them here.

Instead of letting each student earn individual points (we were worried this would be tooooo much work for the entire school) we decided to let the class earn points as a whole. We will still use Class Dojo for individual students and the consequences will still be a three step process.

So here's how the new system works.

Each class starts on out entering the room on a 3. They can clip up by showing respect, responsible behavior, and safety. They can also clip down if the majority is off -task, being rude, etc.
At the end of each class they get a mark on our chart (some of our more competitive classes love to see if they can beat the other grade levels.) If they get 5 five's they get a whole class reward. For example: barefoot day, watch a book trailer, play a game on the smart board, free reading/drawing for 10 mintues, read the book of their choose, etc.

So far it's off to a great start.

Top Dog Classrooms

Slowly, but surely I am trying to take pictures of my favorite classrooms. I have an old Kodak EasyShare so sorry about the quality.

My office is coming along.

My quote board.

Where in the world is Flat Stouie?

My board. The start chart is for behavior.

Noise level expectations.

End the "Do we need? Can we use?" questions. 

Special area behavior chart. Each class earns a score at the end of each class. When they get 5 5's they get a special treat.

 These are from a first grade classroom. It's dog themed as well so of course I love it.

In the hallway. Great for me when I go to get a student and the class is gone.

An easy way to display work in the hallway. The bag stays up all year and you can easily slide papers in and out. No staples!

Standards listed by the work.

Special area schedule. Visual schedules are a must.

Adorable bulletin board to show off work.

First Grade Expectations are listed on the wall.

Parts of speech.

My Favorite Classrooms

Dr. Ray has one of my favorite rooms at DSRR. Everywhere you look there is something great. I snuck in today to take pictures, but didn't get a chance to finish. Here are the first images. More to come.

Love this way to displaying important info, pictures, etc.  The wire totally goes with her theme.

Dr. Ray is a huge music lover so it's totally fitting that she uses guitar picks with numbers for her students to check in. 

Best teacher ever right.

Need to get your students attention? In her room she says "Johnny" they say "Cash."

I just love this lamp. It's one of those hidden treasures. 

Stay tuned as I share my favorite classrooms in the building, so we can beg, borrow, and steal some awesome ideas.