I use money in my classroom. I know it's extrinsic motivation, but for me it really works. Students have the opportunity to turn in the money they earn for participation in the class (or extra kind acts) for school supplies, candy, or points on their final. The participation I'm looking for isn't just raising their hand and answering a question...I only give it out to a student who really has offered something new and helpful to the content of the class. I think my system also teaches them to save their money and not use it on a pen or a bathroom pass but to use it at the end of the semester to make a difference on their final exam. I use this website to create my dollar bill:
http://www.newmoney.gov/newmoney/dyob/index.html I'm not that artistic and this helps me to be able to create something cute. Do you use money in your class? What do you call it? Leave a comment! This post is just a preview of a video to come but Cindy got me thinking about welcome packets or first day packets at the beginning of the summer. I teach a dual enrollment class for our local university so I decided to pick up some things from the admission office when I was there last week. I thought it would be a great idea to put local university admission brochures in my first day packets. I added a pen and a highlighter and my syllabus for the semester. I also thought about adding my template for my book reviews or papers that are required. I wanted to put more fun things in it. Any ideas? Do you do welcome packets for your classes? I figured it would be helpful for me because everything is already in one place so if a student starts late, I'd just hand them a bag! Aren't these cute for a candy in the welcome packet? or these? If I said, "I'm so glad I got smart cookies this year!"
Shoot me an email and let me know what you do for your first day! Kathleen "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." You've Got Mail Throughout my career in education, I've noticed that all teachers love school supplies and office supplies. If you send a bouquet of pencils (or any school supplies!) to a teacher, they will be your friend for life. So, in our attempt to help you make teacher friends (and more importantly, student friends) this next year, we are including some current school supply deals! **Get some post-it notes. You'll appreciate them in one of our upcoming videos. Target: These deals are for the week of July 8-14, 2012: 2-pocket poly portfolio – .50 2-pocket poly portfolio with prongs – .75 1-subject poly notebooks (wide or college rule) – .50 Crayola 10-count markers or 12-count colored pencils – .99 2-ct Sharpie permanent markers of pocket highlighers – $1 Fiskars 5-inch scissors – 2 for $3 Crayola 12-count dry-erase crayons or wild Notes Journal with pen – $4 16-inch Licensed Backpacks – $13 Licensed Lunch Kits – $7 Lunch Essentials (lunch bags, water bottles, storage) – $3 Office Max: These deals are also for the week of July 8-14, 2012. Under $1 Deals: Get 10 free folders with a $5 minimum purchaseBoise X-9 8.5 X 11 multi-use paper (500-sheet ream) .01 after MaxPerks Rewards OfficeMax disappearing purple or white glue sticks, 4-pack — .25 All Schoolio collage wide and primary composition books — .50 $1 Deals: All OfficeMax 1-inch durable binders — $1 OfficeMax 1-subject poly cover college or wide-ruled notebook — $1 Quartet EnduraGlide black or assorted dry erase markers (4-pack) — $1 Sharpie black fine point permanent markers (12-pack) — $1 OfficeMax wireless college, wide, or quad rule notebook — $1 Schoolio 3X5 blank or lined index cards (100-pack) — $1 OfficeMax 2X2 neon self stick note cube (1-pack) — $1 Resealable gallon bags, sandwich bags, and paper lunch bags — $1 $2 Deals: Avery 8-tab ready index dividers — $2 Schoolio clip tub paper clips,pushpins, binder clips — $2 Quartet 8.5 X 11 dry erase board — $2 $3 Deals: OfficeMax color, laser, inkjet paper reams — $3 ***You can also print out a $5 off of $25 dollar coupon!!! Staples!
.01 Deals Staples School Glue — .01 with a $5 purchase (Limit 2) RoseArt Crayons — .01 with a $5 purchase (Limit 2) .25 Deal: PaperMate Mechanical Pencils – .25 .50 Deals: Staples Side Coil Books – .50 Bic Dry Erase Markers – .50 Pink Block Eraser – .50 Slider Pencil Case – .50 $1 Deals: Staples Mechanical Pencils – $1 Staples Mini Stapler – $1 Scotch Tape – $1 Roseart Markers – $1 Staples Glue Sticks (4-pack) – $1 Wescott Scissors (2-pack) – $1 Sharpie 5-pack – $1 So, I have gotten a little crazy with my reading goals for this year. I have a goal of reading 12 educational books, 12 content related books, 12 books on parenting, 12 books on my faith and 12 books on how not to kill my husband. If you're not good at math let me add those up for you: yep that's 60 books per year or 5 a month. I try not to be an obnoxious reader, I really do. I recently went to Boston and found that trying to ask a question to a reader on a subway is like asking them if they want a root canal...right in that moment. So, even though I try to be a gracious reader, I read everywhere to try to get these goals accomplished! Some may say..."gee, I think this is overkill." To that I might add - reading these books has changed my life completely!! I figured you probably do not care about the majority of my reading lists but maybe my educational books might help you too. Our goal is to take tips from these books and make put them in our videos so you don't even have to read them if you don't have time!
1) Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People who will Change the World 2) Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students 3) Fires in the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery 4) Power of Our Words, The: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn 5) Teaching Minds: How Cognitive Science Can Save Our Schools 6) The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts 7) Understanding by Design 8) The Morning Meeting Book 9) Lies My Teacher Told Me 10) What the Best College Teachers Do Please feel free to comment and add the books you are currently reading or you recommend for my next reading list! By, Kathleen It was the summer after I graduated college. I applied for a job teaching Spanish I to freshmen in a little city south of Fort Worth, Texas. Excited and very naive, I asked to see my classroom after signing my contract...I remember how anxious I was to see the room in which I would change the world. The lock clicks, the door creaks and...I see it. It was a tiny, concrete room with no windows with a chalkboard and 35 desks crammed into it. On the walls was a navy blue paint with lines of white down the walls where the desks had scraped the paint off. There were no bulletin boards and the lighting was depressing. After choking down my diet coke, I thought....well....um...I could...let's see...huh...you get the picture. This started my adventures with painting my classrooms. I want an atmosphere that would invite students and get their minds thinking. I wanted a color that would calm them without putting them to sleep. Basically, I wanted a place they would enjoy coming to. I know that the idea of wanting to come to a class deals largely with how I teach and the memories made in the room...but honestly, I have to practically live in this room so I want it to be fun and exciting for me too! I've painting city skylines, the painting of Don Quijote by Pablo Picasso, a mural of Frida Kahlo, maps of the U.S. and of the world, quotes, and other fun paintings. How do I do it? Do I have an art degree? You can clearly see from the pictures that the answer to that is absolutely not!!! I use a projector, a pencil, and some paint from Walmart. You could use an old-time overhead projector with transparencies of what you want to do, or a new age projector hooked up to a computer. It's that simple!! I had students come help me this time and they had the idea of doing part of the song America the Beautiful. So...we painted spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountains and a fruited plain. Yes, I did google a fruited plain - don't judge. I love that my students contributed to this project and made it their own. So to recap: 1. Having a fun environment for learning...check. 2. Having thought provoking quotes on the wall...check. 3. Doing it all for about twenty-five dollars...check. 4. Having students participate and feel pride over what they accomplished...one of my reasons for being! Be sure to look back next week for our new classroom cafe video and post a comment while you are here on how you are working on this challenge!
By Kathleen |