Tried it Tuesday

I am back into the swing! I am hooking up this week with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried it Tuesday.

I want to share something that I have been doing in class for a while now. It is not glamorous, but it is effective.

Each morning I have a warm-up. My students do the warm-up to get their mind in focus. Since I teach gifted students, many of them are avid readers. So much so that they will read when they are supposed to being doing something else – like school work or listening to the teacher.

Over time, I noticed students were not finishing all of the warm-up and waiting until I went over it to finish it. I would catch some students reading. So I started to star their papers. If they were finished and everything looked good from a glance, they would earn a star. Then, the students who received a star would earn a point for their table. I keep track of table points each day. Of course, the table points were used for other things too, but now I included finishing work.

Now, I not only do it for warm-up time. I do it during all the subjects. During social studies or science, I will star classwork when the students finish. And the students know – their table earns a point.

I know it seems so simple, but I wanted to share this technique because it has increased engaging production in my classroom! If you are someone who struggles with students staying on task, maybe this will work for you.

Thanks for dropping by!

January Currently

Happy New Year! Here is my 2015 currently!

I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade!

Listening to silence - I am waking this morning to silence. My kids are sleeping in – I have three teenagers – so I won’t see them until noon. My husband is quietly watching television and I am working on my computer. I love the silence. I rarely get to hear it!

Loving my vacation! I really enjoy teaching, but I do need my vacations. I find myself rested and reinvigorated to teach the next few months when I have a break. I went to Albuquerque the first part of my vacation to visit family. It was so fun – love that part of the family! Now we are back and getting things done around the house and shopping. Few more days before I return to school.

Thinking of a new year in the classroom and TpT. I can’t wait until our field trip to the Star of India. Student, parents, and I will sleep on the ship for the night and experience what the passengers to the “New World” experienced.

As far as TpT, I had a great first year. I am looking forward to another year filled with products and milestones.

Wanting to finish my latest project: By the Great Horn Spoon. I am creating a visual support for the book along with questions for each chapter. I am using the book in January and need to finish the product soon.

Needing to clean up my house. In December, we finished the tile floor and had carpet installed. Now, I need to put everything back. A lot of stuff is still in the garage and it keeps staring at me. Such a huge task, but I need to get working on it. Maybe I will do a little today!

Yes to eating right! Like most out there I need to get back on track of eating right. I have let myself go and need to rekindle my healthy eating habits.

I have already started last week as soon as we returned from the relatives. It is always hard to eat well when you aren’t at home.

Maybe to reading more! I wish I had more time to read. I have a few books sitting here ready to be read – it is just the time – work, kids, TpT, housework, etc. are always first. Oh well, I will keep trying to fit some reading in.

I wish to have a great year! This past year came with some challenges. I am looking forward to a better year! Thinking positive and moving forward!

Thanks for stopping by – I hope this New Year is a great one for you!