The Quiet Lamp

The Quiet Lamp sits in my friend's classroom, which is right across the hall from my room.  One afternoon I happened to be in her classroom when I noticed a little girl go over to the lamp to turn it on and move its arms around.  When I questioned her about this, she told me that this was her job because she was the Star Student of the Week.  She then turned off the ceiling lights, leaving the soft glow of the Quiet Lamp to warm the room.  The rest of the children were quietly resting, having just come in from outside recess.  They knew that when the Quiet Lamp was on, it was time to rest.

My teaching buddy later told me that she wanted to give the children more responsibility for the classroom setting and tone, and chose this odd and unusual lamp to incorporate into this plan.  Giving the Star Student this job was a way to give the class ownership of their classroom and at the same time, a way to calm the children down after their recess time.  The lamp is first grade friendly because its arms are easily adjustable and at the correct height for little 6 and 7 year olds.  On top of that, the lamp came from a yard sale!  Score!

What a terrific and very effective strategy!  Kudos to my teaching friend across the hall!

Pin It

Show Me Sunday

Denise at YearnToLearn  is starting a new feature on her blog entitled, "Show Me Sunday."  Today is the day to share a favorite quote.

I know this sounds a bit nerdy, but I am a big Star Trek NG fan, and so I just couldn't resist this quote from Data.

"If you prick me, do I not . . . leak?"

Data, Star Trek Next Generation

I know, not very 'teacher-y', but, I just love it!  What is one of your favorite quotes?

Pin It

The Teaching Channel

We all love watching teachers in their classrooms demonstrating a technique.  The Teaching Channel highlights videos on a variety of topics from assessment to classroom management.   As stated on the website:

"At Teaching Channel we believe what makes teachers inspiring is how they became experts -- the hours and years they've dedicated to improving their craft to benefit their students.  Our mission is to capture their technique on video so that all teachers -- new or seasoned -- have a place to find inspiration."

I have especially loved Ms. Noonan's videos.  She is just amazing!  The Teaching Channel is also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Click here to check it out.

Pin It

A Winner!

Barbara over at Grade ONEderful was having a give away when she reached 50 followers.  Her blog is full of freebies and fabulous ideas for the classroom.  I joined the give away and I actually won!  Oh boy!  I'm looking forward to those spongy Halloween stickers.  Thank you Barbara at Grade ONEderful!

Pin It

The WilderWoman Pin

Back in the 90's and early 00's, teachers wore pins a lot.  I have boxes of interesting and different pins.   Wearing a pin was a way to add a touch whimsey to a school outfit.  The children loved seeing them and sometimes made connections to the pins.  As times and fashions change, pin wearing went out of "teacher vogue" and so all of my pins sit in boxes unused for the most part.   BUT, last Saturday I was strolling around at the Portland Sidewalk Art Festival and found this!

How could I resist?  It's just fabulous!  I couldn't wait to wear it on the first day of school.  Here's a pin that might find its way onto my clothing at least once a week.  The pin came from  WilderWoman Country Store.  Love it!  

Pin It

Where It All Goes Down Wednesday

Today is Where It All Goes Down Wednesday over at Blog Hoppin' and that means classroom tours!  What fun!  I'm still ironing out some of the details, and we haven't yet started school, but here are my pics.  I'll be posting more once we are underway in the school year.

Here's the front door with all of my "busy little bees."

Here's the Calendar area.  I change this area a little each month, adding new features and taking away some.  Each pencil on the board has a student's name (smudged out now) to indicate the Helper of the Day.  The cupcake poster on the right is for birthdays.  Rules have not yet been determined by the class.

This is the door to the bathroom, on which we have our Tooth Tally.  The children love to write their name on the graph after losing a tooth.  Above is the writing bug.  After a book is published I add a segment to the bug.  The writing bug eventually stretches over a couple of walls!

This is the sink area.  After the children decide what our class rules will be they will each cut out a star and hang it on the rainbow there.  We will also discuss good manners, and hang pictures under that sign.

Here's the front of the room.  It's prepped for our Open House evening.  You can see some of our classroom library on the floor there.  This area also changes throughout the year.

Here's a closer view of some of the classroom library.

Here is the computer area.  We actually still use the old "dinosaur" computer near the wall!  I have some terrific review games that only run on that computer.  

I don't yet have a picture of our Word Wall.  It's completely empty right now.  We'll start adding one student name each day (one per day for 20 days), and then we will add five words to the wall each week after they've been practiced for the week.  More on Word Wall procedures will follow in a different post.

Hop over to Blog Hoppin' to see more class tours!




Pin It

Teacher Talk Tuesday

It's Teacher Talk Tuesday over at Blog Hoppin'.  This is a day dedicated to offering helpful advice to new teachers.  Being a new teacher can be so very overwhelming.  I've read many of the posts, and thought I'd add a small one to the mix.

The best advice I can give to a new teacher is to work first on classroom management.   This always seems to be the toughest area.  "Tools for Teaching" by Fred Jones is a great resource.

Fred Jones observed "natural" teachers in their classrooms to determine what made their teaching style seem so effortless.  How did these exceptional teachers create relaxed learning environments, with students eager, responsible and ready to learn?  He looked closely at verbal and non-verbal communication between students and teacher.  He found, among other things, that body language speaks volumes!  At the Fred Jones site you can download an exerpt of his book.  It's most definitely worth a look.

Pin It