Let's Talk Planners!

If you're anything like me you've eyeballed the beautiful Erin Condren Lesson Plan books from afar, unwilling to pay the price of luxury for something that should be so simple. I even thought I wouldn't need a planner anymore and tried to keep a digital planner last year but there's something therapeutic about writing my plans by hand. When I write them I feel like I remember them better or at least I am able to think more clearly. I grew up in a time (not too long ago I swear) where we had to write everything in school so this is an old habit that has served me well. I decided to indulge myself and get the Erin Condren planner this year.

I loved that there were SO many covers to choose from and I love anything floral so that was a natural choice for me. It took a few weeks to arrive and came beautifully wrapped in a pink box. Upon opening there were some goodies they had thrown inside as well as the extra stickers and page clip I had ordered.

The inside of the planner is what I am most excited about!! I love the clear zipper pouch in the front (completely moveable). I also love the pockets in the back to hold loose things. I currently am keeping receipts in there for reimbursements from my PTC.

I love that I can map out major monthly events separate from my actual daily lesson plans. The best part to me though is that there are student checklists in the back I can use for my gradebook! THIS is my favorite part. Now I can keep 1 book rather than 2-3 and that is everything to me!!

I also love love love that there is graph paper pages in the front which I think I will use for my seating charts! 

The stickers are so fun!!!

So far I am in love with this planner and I think it it going to be worth the price I paid for it. The school year hasn't started yet and only time will tell but organization makes me happy and this planner makes it SOOOOOOO easy for me to stay organized!! 

Happy Teaching

Ashley

Open House 2017

(With so many students I had to get creative and hang their Silfra Fissure Watercolor paintings from their ceiling using these)

This year was my very first Open House and I had SO MUCH FUN! It was really important to me to make the Open House something my students and their families wanted to come to as well as something that displayed their best work from the year. I made sure to leave up our best work from throughout the school year and I tried to balance Math and Science work. I also had to rearrange desks so all our families would have enough space to move around. I usually keep my desks in groups but this was easier for classroom flow. 

(I love this Mindset Moments bulletin board from The SuperHERO Teacher)

The Hype
In the weeks and especially days preceding Open House I really began to hype up the event. I knew that the majority of my students were proud of their work and wanted to show it off but I had to hook those remaining stragglers and the ones who would need to convince their families to come. One way I did that was I offered the chance at winning a "super secret surprise prize" if students came and completed a checklist. As cheesy as it sounds my 6th graders ate this up and had fun guessing what the surprise prize could possibly be. As they made several guesses my answer was always "It could be!" The running joke was that the prize could be a pencil or a PS4, you never know. The checklist was one I created that listed everything students should be showing their families and had a spot for their parents to sign. When they completed the sheet they turned it in at Open House and I used these names to draw a winner for the "Super Secret Surprise Prize" the following morning. I did this for two reasons. The first reason I already mentioned which was just to get the students there and excited to come. The second reason was because I wanted to make sure my students took the time to show off each piece of their hard work. I had 63 sixth graders this last year so there was a lot of work up in our room and wanted to help them have some clarity and guidance on what they should be doing during the Open House time. 

I mentioned that I tried my best to have a good representation of math and science projects but let's face it there is just so much more to display in science than math. About a week before Open House we did a series of math lessons that taught students how to write a statistical question, carry out their own study, analyze the data, and display it using appropriate graphical representations. This was hard work and my students really blew me away with their ability to conduct and analyze statistical data. We decided, at the last minute, to display their work but I had no space left so we put them on the whiteboards. 

(These were photos of Genius Hour partnerships)

(Cupcake Shop-Trimester 2 Math Project)

(We kept those beautiful 3D Topographic Maps up all year!)

I put the Chromebooks out on each desk because a lot of their work was digital. This included their blogs, science notebooks, Genius Hour projects, Haiku Decks, and digital brochures from our Weather and Climate unit. 

I found this photo booth idea on Pinterest. The original blog post about it is here. I also bought a cheap set of photo booth props and my students and their families LOVED it! I had to give it a try with my teacher partner in crime Mrs. C! 

Well that's about it! How was your Open House? Did you try anything new? 

Happy Teaching

Ashley 

Oh! If you were waiting anxiously in suspense...the Super Secret Surprise Prize was an iridescent metal Fidget Spinner.