Well, it WAS Friday when I started this post!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! (Well, at least I STARTED this post on Friday!)

I'm sad to say that this picture was taken on Wednesday.
After 2 full days of work! PS - I HATE my yellow wall.

First and foremost is the thing that has been consuming my life this week...you guessed it! Prepping my classroom! As I've mentioned a hundred times, I'm moving to a 3rd/4th grade multi-age classroom this year (and hopefully for the next decade or two!) and that means changing classrooms. Even though I just had to move down the hall, I'm still starting from scratch as far as materials, classroom library, bulletin boards, etc. 

Also, I discovered that I have accumulated a lot of stuff in my 12 years. I'm a teacher-stuff hoarder. I admit it. But this week I was looking at my mess and I noticed this jack o'lantern bucket amongst the piles. I realized I've carried that bucket across four different schools in two different states and I have NEVER USED IT for anything. It went to the teacher freebie table in the lounge along with a ton of other stuff!

So the next thing is something that makes me happy. When I inherited my new room it came with a classroom rug that had been stained and cut, and stained and cut some more. So much in fact that it is now basically about 4x5 feet in area. I call kids to the carpet a bajillion times a day it seems, so I need a good rug. I shelled out the big bucks myself and got this one for my classroom. I had a similar one way back when I taught Kindergarten and I loved it because each kiddo had their own little box to sit in! I like this one even more because it is six across and four deep, AND the colors are more muted and not primary. Fingers crossed that I don't have more than 24 students in my class this year...

Just thought I'd share Killer B's idea of "helping" when we took a load of boxes up to my classroom the other night. She's checking out the first batch of books to make it into the classroom library while I set up my desks!

So of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the big Back to School sale over at TpT on Sunday and Monday! I've got a few things on my wishlist that I'm excited to finally buy! Here's a handy trick...buy 3/4 of your list on Sunday, leave some positive feedback to get those TpT credits and then use those credits to help pay for the rest of your list on Monday! If you haven't wishlisted half of my store yet...what are you waiting for?! Sheesh!  ;)

So, longtime readers of my blog will remember that I've been trying to get back into shape this summer and have been pretty successful. I officially hit 30 pounds lost two days ago! This mission began when I took my 5th grade class on a field trip to Philly at the end of last school year. I wore my bright red Spider-Man hoodie so that kids could see me when crossing streets. Well, at one point a middle schooler from another school points at me and says, "Hey look it's Spider-Man!...the FAT ONE!" Hahaha. I'm not going to lie, it was funny to me when he said it. Then the next day at school some kids brought me pictures they had taken of me on the trip and it hit me...I was Fat Spider-Man. That had to change.

So after a radical change in diet (I went from a SeeFood diet to controlling my portions, basically) and some walking, I finally weigh what I did when I started teaching 12 years ago! (My wife has never known me when I was this in shape! What-what?!) I'm 6'1" and somewhat muscular, so having 30 lbs on top of that was making me look like a giant. 10 more lbs to lose and then I'll be at what I would consider my ideal weight! 

To celebrate my loss, Killer B and I have signed up to run in our very first 5k ever, and it's a Color Run! I can't wait! It's not until the end of September though.

Well, it's officially my LAST weekend of Summer! I'm going to try and enjoy it! 

What's on your TpT Wishlist?

It's here, it's here! Well, it will be here this Sunday and Monday! (August 18th-19th)

As we are all prepping our classrooms, going through professional development, or in survival beginning of the school year mode we have been anxiously waiting to hear when our favorite and most wish-listed products will go on sale at TpT.

Well friends, I am happy to announce it is finally time!

In celebration of this momentous event, myself and a group of wonderful bloggers came together to create a fun linky to showcase our shopping carts and our favorite products.

If there's one thing we teachers love to do, it's shop for our classrooms, right?

Join us by linking up with 2 of the top wish-listed products in your store and 1 product on your wish-list you just have to purchase! *If you're not a blogger or TPTer, still feel free to comment with your most wish-listed item! Use the graphics below if you'd like!

My MOST wishlisted item is also one of my favorite and most dear to my heart. It's my Novel Study Unit for Wonder by RJ Palacio! I put a lot of work into this product, and it was worth it. Now would be a great time to snap it up if you haven't already!

This unit is 170 pages long and includes vocabulary, comprehension and inferring questions for every chapter, as well as a big packet of activities for the kids to do with the book. If you haven't read Wonder yet, please do. In my opinion it's one of the best books published in the last several years. The thing I have to tell everyone I meet about this book is that it had my kids alternating between crying openly and cheering loudly. 

My second most wishlisted item is tricky because I had a tie! So I'm kind of cheating, but I couldn't pick just one when they both had the same number of wishlisters!

The first of the two is my packet of helpful materials for Reading Response Journals! I use these with my kids as part of my Daily 5 system. It counts as their "Write about Reading" or "Response to Literature." I like it because it has a lot of variety for them to choose from, but keeps their responses in a similar format week to week which makes it easy to grade using the included rubric. 

The second item is another one that I'm really proud of. I wish I rubbed elbows with book publishers, because if I did I'd try to get this one in Barnes & Noble. It's my Book of Awesome Tasks! This is a printable book that has a bunch of activities for fast finishers, indoor recess, etc. It has kids thinking critically and writing, all while flexing their creative muscles! I've actually had kids beg me to stay indoor for recess because of these activities!

I'm looking forward to buying a few things during the sale, but one thing that I'll be buying and putting to use right away is Jivey's Numbers and Operations Bundle. Not JUST because she's one of BBB's either! I've bought her Mentor Sentences and love them, so I know she makes quality products. And I was using her Lucky Leftovers division game in my classroom before I even knew about her blog! 

I hope I was able to beef up your wishlist before the big sale! Take a gander through the rest of my store if you get a chance! This is a great opportunity to get a bunch of great stuff for some ridiculously good prices!

Everything over $2 in my store will be on sale for 20% off! PLUS, don't forget to enter the promo code BTS13 to get another 10% off after my 20%. Weird math, but that adds up to 28% off the normal price! 

Now, join us with a post about your items!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Week of Science Professional Development

We made claims about why the lightbulbs lit up when we
spun the dowel or handle.

First, did you know you can get paid to go to professional development workshops?! I'm not going to lie, I've gone to and presented at a number of workshops in my career, but I've never received a whopping $1,000 check for attending one until this past week. But the funny thing about the week is that I feel like the check was just a bonus to what I actually took from the workshop! I guess that's how you know it was successful! It was funded by the NSF, put on by the Earth and Space Science department and held at Penn State for those interested. Next year there are ones about Climate Change and Plate Tectonics! Join me for the Climate Change one next year!

I'm going to spread some unrelated photos from the workshop throughout this post for visual interest!

We tested different windmill
designs and made claims about
why they were more or less
efficient than the standard design.

The workshop had two components, the first was to develop content knowledge in teachers in the area of energy and energy transfers. I've mentioned before on my blog that I went to schools growing up that were pretty low on the socioeconomic scale, and quite frankly were kind of scary and didn't have the best teachers. Most of my science content knowledge was gained in college or independently when I just wanted to learn something. I'm more of a biology guy, so my understanding of the complexities of energy and energy transfers was admittedly limited. I feel like I left the workshop with a MUCH higher level of understanding, so that was a definite gain there.

We visited a "net zero" house and made claims about all
the various energy transfers that were occurring.

The second component of the workshop was truly the best part though. It could actually be argued that energy simply served as a vehicle to deliver this part. It was the pedagogical piece. As we were being exposed to the content, we were also learning about the concept of writing a "Content Storyline" that had students making claims and then providing evidence and reasoning to support those claims. 

We made claims about how this steam
engine is able to produce electricity.

I don't want to oversimplify it, but basically the content storyline consists of two parts. The first is a phenomenon, and the second is a causal story to explain that phenomenon. We had to try hard to get away from teaching about "topics" or "standards" because those aren't a phenomenon. 

We built calorimeters and BURNED food! (for science)

So to give an example, one (admittedly not engaging) phenomenon might be flicking a switch and a light comes on in the room. Or Diet Coke sinking to the bottom of a cooler while original Coke floats. Even, "He who smelt it dealt it" is a phenomenon that can be explained scientifically (diffusion.) 

The causal story would be a gapless explanation of the science behind what exactly is happening. Once you have both pieces, activities can be created to help students put the puzzle pieces together and build a really clear understanding of all the science behind the phenomenon. The whole time the kids are using claims/evidence/reasoning to develop their thinking. And more than just the standards are being met through these activities.

We played with toys and made claims about what
energy transfers/transformations were happening.

To me, the big place this differs from using a discovery/ investigation/inquiry approach to teaching science is that the whole "storyline" is built up around explaining the science behind a truly engaging phenomenon. A lot of times I think we tell kids how science works and then show them. Or we do disjointed hands-on science experiments that explain one concept. This approach has you planning out a sequence of activities that helps kids learn a multitude of interconnected science concepts while explaining the phenomenon that has them so intrigued.

I was able to work with some colleagues to begin working a bit on a mini-unit I'll be able to use this year when we study Electricity and circuits. The phenomenon we're using is this set of nighttime photos from NASA. (I'm not about to type out the causal story!)

Another phenomenon my causal story would explain would be one of those amazing Christmas light displays. Anything to get the kids excited, right?

I'm excited to see how it goes!

Setting up Reading Workshop...and some freebies!

I'm linking up with Jivey's Workshop Wednesday for Getting Reading Workshop Started! I wish I was already in my classroom setting up, but this energy workshop has really been taking up most of my time this week. I'll be sure to post about some of the things I'm learning and will be implementing in science from the workshop later!

A big part of getting Reading Workshop started in my room is launching the Daily 5 system. I begin by talking about how to choose a good fit book. I've talked a bit before about how I use IPICK from the Daily 5 book to help guide students in their choices. My first mini-lesson is straight from the Daily 5 book and involves me bringing in a bunch of books and talking about why they are not good fits for me.  I also make the shoe analogy from the book for the kids. Finally I show a few examples of some books that are good fits. We take some time to quickly choose our first good fit book, so we have one to practice Read-to-Self. (Kids refine their ability to choose an actual good fit book over time.)

Go here to get a copy of my IPICK bookmarks for free! I made them using just 4 of the colors from my Chevron Overlays Pack (just $2)!

Click here to grab my CAFE headers for free!

Next I introduce Read-to-Self and the concept of building stamina for the first few days, so today I'll just talk about that. For the uninitiated, stamina refers to the amount of time that students can read in one sitting. And I mean READ, not sit quietly and look at a book. We begin the year trying out read-to-self and I monitor the stamina. 

Before we try to read the first time, I explain what my expectations for read-to-self are by making an anchor chart about it with the kids. Once the expectations are clear I help the kids find a good spot in the room (not next to friends, etc.), my kids can sit anywhere in the room while reading. As soon as we are situated, I start the timer and begin monitoring. 

Typically within a minute or two at most I notice a kid who isn't reading. At this point I call the entire class back to the carpet and we talk about some of the behaviors I noticed that let me know that we had maxed out our stamina for the moment. We review the anchor chart, and I send them out again. Usually at this point the message has been made that sitting and staring (even quietly) does not constitute Read-to-Self. But I will call the kids back to the carpet as many times as necessary to make the point. We usually get a solid 15 minutes of stamina (upper grades) to begin and the class quickly builds to 30 minutes. I feel confident that the kids are actually reading the whole time because I've made it clear that that is the ONLY acceptable activity at that time. Talking, daydreaming, picking new books, going to the bathroom, etc. are not. 

We graph our stamina daily, and the kids love to see the progress! I think the graph motivates them to build stamina faster actually.

Click here to grab a stamina chart!

After we have a good handle on how to pick a good fit book, what stamina is, and what Read-to-Self is all about...I begin introducing the other components of the workshop. I do all 5 of the things, but I have modified them a good bit. I count my daily read-aloud as "Listen to Reading", our Book Buddies as "Read to Someone", our Reading Response Journals are our "Write about Reading", a combination of Reading Olympians (Latin & Greek roots study), spelling practice, grammar skills, etc. make up our "Word Work."

I won't even begin to worry about forming strategy groups until about 15-20 days into the school year. The whole first few weeks are set aside for launching the system properly and conferring individually with students!

Whew! Thanks for sticking around for all of that! I wish I had more pictures for the post!

Monday Made It - Classroom Crafts

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made It! I've been pretty busy working on a few projects for my classroom, and some of them even got completed! 

I'm starting to feel the crunch now that I'm spending this entire week in a workshop about teaching about energy. I mean, it's nice money, and I'm sure I'll learn some cool things, but it lasts from 8am to 5pm, and two nights it goes til 8:00 pm. By the time the workshop ends I'll only have one week of summer left before I go back for inservice. And I'll be spending most of that week in my classroom!

Anyway! Here are my finished projects!

The first was a simple one, but something I should have done years ago. It's funny because I didn't even realize I HAD this problem until I saw something on the internet a few week ago.

 I've always had a box for kids to drop Box Tops in, but kids are always coming up to me with little things that they've found that need to be put away. Lost dice, legos, a stray pattern block, etc. It's never convenient to put them away, so they inevitably build up into a stack on my desk that has to be dealt with. Now I've got a box that kids can just drop it into, no interruptions needed, and the "class cleaners" can empty the box when they have time.

And it seems like I give a band-aid to someone every other day! And usually it's when I'm needing to get something started. Why have I been storing them in an out of reach cabinet above the sink for the last 12 years?! No more! Why can't kids just get themselves a band-aid? They cost like a penny each.

Next up! I saw a cute "NOISE" level tracker on Looking from Third to Fourth's blog the other day, and had to have one that matched up with my classroom colors. It's hard to tell, but it's yellow and green. I'm using all the colors from my blog in my room this year! If you haven't seen the "NOISE level tracker," The letters are magnetic and you basically take a letter off the board until there is just "No" left. Then kids know that there is NO more talking.

Speaking of magnets: I'm pretty much sick of them. I just finished attaching magnetic tape to the back of my CAFE and VOICES strategies to put up on my boards this year. I decided to make all new CAFE cards to match my theme...should have just used my old ones!

Handy tip: I write the letter on the back of the strategy that matches its place. It makes them way easier to find later when you're sorting through them to find the strategy you need.

Finally, I made one of these!

When it comes to pencils I have gone through phases. The going green advocate in me shudders at the thought that my classes in the last 12 years have probably gone through a forest worth of pencils. 

But I decided last year not to fight it anymore and just had a constant supply of pencils at the ready. I'm done fighting. I'm still going to try out Ladybug's Teacher Files' Pencil Challenge, but for those who lose their pencil...just come and grab a pre-sharpened one from the dispenser! And of course, it was an excuse to use my washi tape.

I suppose my other projects are for another Monday!

Now, don't forget to pop on over to the giveaway on Jivey's Facebook page!

Mentor Text - Ish for overcoming anxiety in writing

 I'm linking up for Collaboration Cuties' Mentor Text Linky with a great book for helping kids overcome anxiety in writing.

I know a lot of teachers have read Peter Reynolds' The Dot, but I'm not sure if Ish has gained the same number of followers. It's one of his three "creatrilogy" books. (The other is great too, Sky Color.)

Basically, it is the story of a boy who loves to draw until his older brother discourages him. But his little sister comes along and gives him confidence and helps him see his art in a new light. Before you know it, he is applying this new attitude to his writing.

I like the fact that this book is really short, but has a powerful message. It's perfect for a writer's workshop mini-lesson on overcoming discouragement and anxiety about writing not being good enough. If you haven't read the book, you can find a very British reading of it here on youtube! 

Not to toot my own horn, but I think my "Book of Awesome Tasks" would pair up nicely with a reading of this book!

There are 45 opportunities for kids to get a little "ish" with their art and writing! And at just $5 for an infinite amount of copies, that's a steal!

Be sure to stop by Ideas by Jivey on Facebook tomorrow! There's a giveaway going on to win a set of my Editable Classroom Newsletter Templates!

I've Currently got a 5 for Friday post going!

I'm linking up to Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday, and my Number 1 is Farley's Currently!

Listening - I just finished up watching the season finale of The Hero. It's a reality show. When one contestant was asked what a hero is his answer was "an educator." Loved that part, but the final winner was super disappointing to me. Sigh. Moving on...

Loving - I finally started playing Candy Crush Saga and it is kind of addicting. There's nothing worse than waiting to get another life or a stinkin' ticket to move to the next set of levels... Also, I'm wrapping up my summer vacation this weekend... 

Thinking -  Even though school isn't back in session til the 20th, I have a weeklong workshop on teaching about energy at Penn State that I'm being paid to attend every day next week, all day long...and then it'll be back into the classroom to start setting up!

Wanting - I feel like I write down two things on my to-do list for every thing I cross off!

Needing - I have 12 years and now 6 grade levels worth of files on my computer...'nuff said?

B2S must haves - I've talked before about the need for a huge classroom library. I've been working on weeding out "older content" books and filling in with some 3rd/4th favorites this summer.

I use my document camera every single day, usually in several ways. I got it through donorschoose.org!

The biggest thing you need for back to school is a plan! I find it's better to plan twice the activities you think you need!

Number 2 - Followers, Blog & TpT

This week I saw my store followers shoot up! I'm just a few away from 400 TpT followers, and I just exceeded 400 bloglovin' followers! I'm so grateful and so excited to see both of these grow! I'd love to have more of you join me on instagram and facebook though! Click on my little social media buttons to head in the right direction! You wouldn't want to miss out on FB only sales or freebies, right?! And if you're not on instagram then you missed out on my recent picture of a hot blonde on the beach... Okay, it was me back in college for Throwback Thursday ;)

Number 3 - TV Marathons

In the summer I become a crazy night owl. I mean like going to bed when the sun comes up type night owl. Netflix isn't helping. I've watched literally 30 episodes of Mad Men in the last week. And I'm usually working on my computer, reading blogs, etc at the same time. How am I going to fit it all in starting next week?! 

Number 4 - Intern

In PA starting next year, college kids have to choose between being certified Pre-K through 4th (Elementary) OR 4th through 8th (Middle School). I think this is stupid. I'm certified Nursery through 6th grade, and while not all schools are this way, the majority of elementary schools here at K-5th and NOT departmentalized. So, for example, there are going to be a bunch of 5th grade teachers out there who are getting middle school degrees and specializing in social studies(or something else) who are going to student teach in middle schools, then have to teach math, reading, etc. with no preparation and no experience in elementary at all.

Anyway, because of this change I thought that I would not be able to have an intern this year because 5th grade teachers can't mentor elementary student teachers anymore. Then I got moved to 3rd/4th, but all the mentors/interns had already been paired up. Well, I was recently contacted by the head of the program with an opportunity to take an intern whose mentor has moved, and I'm super excited! I take mentoring super serious, but that's a post for another day!

Number 5

I just wanted to show off a TpT product if that's okay! I'm in a unique situation where I'm going to be teaching cursive to kids who have never learned it at all, and have kids who have a year of experience with it. I only want to put ONE alphabet up on my wall, and usually I'd put a cute cursive one up with a picture to match each letter. 

But then I figured, kids know what a Z is in 3rd grade. They know it goes /z/ like in zebra. But they may NOT be able to match it up to its cursive counterpart! So I made my combined alphabet! I've already printed and laminated one for my room! 

It's just $2.00 in my store! That's better than the two cans of pork and beans you could buy with that. They might both last 30 years, but you'll get more use out of the alphabet! And I threw in some nameplates I made too!