It's Friday!

It's Friday once again!  (Can you believe it??  This week went by so fast!)  Because it's Friday, that means I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

Here's what happened in Miss Woodward's Class this week:

1.  Word Walls

Typically, I use content-specific word walls.  I have one for math, social studies and science.  But what about those words we use every day that don't really fit into a subject area?  Like sight words?  Well, I decided to dedicate some of my precious bulletin board space to an "Everyday Words" wall.

I created the title to match my teal, black, and white stars theme.  I made the word wall letters myself, and I will be posting those to TpT soon!  Yes, I am missing something... the words!  Those will go up early next week, and we will continue to add to the board as we need to.

2.  Good Friends

Last night, I met with two of my good friends (Hey, Ms. Boos and Mrs. Elbert!) to catch up and have a few laughs.  We got frozen yogurt and it was so nice to connect with them before Ms. Boos gets married next week!   :)

3.  Exhaustion...

This is the first week where I have felt super tired and in need of a weekend to recharge.  I have had something planned after school every day this week, so I haven't really had a night to relax.  I am SO looking forward to this weekend!

4.  Take a Break

In regards to my post a few days ago about Take a Break and how it didn't get used the first day:  It has been used quite a bit this week.  Read about my Take a Break area here.

5.  Special Visitor

Today, we had a special visitor.  My brother came in to visit my class!  He has never been to my school before, so it was SO fun to show him around and introduce him to my kids.  I think he enjoyed it!  The kids LOVED him.  Before he left, I said, "Do you have any more questions for him?" and one girl raised her hand and said, "Can we give him a hug?" He said okay so I let each of them give him a hug or fist-bump.  He was laughing at some of the hugs and how shy the kids were.  :)  

I would love to hear about your week!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Tried it Tuesday- Dry-Erase Crayons and Take a Break!

Hello everyone!  Today I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for their Linky, "Tried it Tuesday"!

Today, I tried two things-  My new dry-erase crayons (read about those here), and a new "Take a Break" area.

1.  The other day, I picked up these dry-erase crayons at Target.  They were on clearance, so I decided to try them out!

The pack came with eight crayons, a built-in sharpener in the box, and a cloth for erasing.

I used them to write my morning message today.  It was super different than using dry-erase markers, but not bad.  It just takes some getting used to.

The kids could still read it just fine, and they thought it was sooooo cool that I used crayons on the whiteboard!

So.... Dry-Erase Crayons: Tried them, Liked them!

2.  I tried implementing a Take a Break spot today.  If you haven't heard of Take a Break, it is a positive way for students to calm down before returning to the group.  It is part of the Responsive Classroom style of teaching.  Yes, I probably should have done this from the beginning of the year, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted it to look like.  I have seen many classrooms use Take a Break as just a chair for students to calm down, and I have seen classrooms where students have to record what they did to need to Take a Break.

Here is my Take a Break area in the back of the room.  I used an extra desk and chair.  I hung up a Take a Break sign, and ways students can Take a Break.  I also set up some pencils, and a little stack of recording sheets.

When I ask them to Take a Break (for any type of inappropriate behavior), they simply go to the area, choose a way they want to take a break (count to ten, take deep breaths, etc.).

Here is the recording sheet that students need to fill out before returning to the group.  It says, "What happened?", "What can you do differently next time?", and "Are you ready to return to the group? (calm, focused, quiet voice, listening ears, ready to learn)".

This Take a Break Kit will be available in my TpT store soon!!

So.... TRIED Take a Break, but (luckily) nobody had to use it today!  I will let you know how it goes once somebody has to visit the area.

What did you try today?  How did it go?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward