First Ever Week in 1st Grade!

There is one word for how I felt about my first week in 1st grade.  I felt E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!  Those kiddos are needy and I don't think I got one second to sit down the whole week.  That is especially bad since the first week you seem to wear the most uncomfortable shoes in your closet.  I gave up by Friday and wore gym shoes.  I couldn't take it any longer!

So when I thought about it I took a few pictures and would love to share them with you.

We started the week by taking a Back to School picture.  I hope to take one at the end of the year and see how much they have grown.

We ended the week with a craft.  I waited until the end of the week because I was TERRIFIED to do a craft with 1st graders.  I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how well they did.  Hopefully that is a sign for how the year will go.

This year I decided to add "Warm Fuzzies" and Mel D's Reward Coupons to my arsenal of behavior plans.  I have to say together it is a DYNAMITE combination.  PURE freaking gold!  My little ones worked SO hard to get a fuzzy.  It was absolutely amazing!  This past week I only had ziplock bags for the kiddos to put their fuzzies in.  Hey one project at a time right?!  So it was my mission this week to figure out a better plan.  I don't know where I got the idea, but it suddenly occurred to me to contact Starbucks and ask if they would be willing to donate a class set of their iced coffee dome lid cups.  Guess what!  They couldn't have been more willing to help out! Such great people at my local Starbucks!

So today I got to work right away and this is the final product!  I really could not be more pleased.  You can grab the cute labels for {FREE} here!  You can read more about how to use "Warm Fuzzies" at Seusstastic.

I used thin duct tape, my labels, and a little Mod Podge to create this gem!

 The hole at the top of the lid is the perfect size for the kiddos to pop their fuzzies inside, but small enough to keep them from playing with them. 

Super easy to do and couldn't be more motivating!

I hope you have a fantastic year and don't forget to check out my freebie!

~Stacey

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Ten Pin Linky Week Two: Classroom Management

I happened across ANOTHER linky party hosted by Just Reed. Two in one day for me is an accomplishment! She is hosting a linky this week of your top 10 favorite classroom management pins.  I LOVE Pinterest and I had no difficulties going through my School board to find 10 cool classroom management ideas.  I have to admit 2 of them are mine, but they really are a positive motivator in my classroom. I am CRAZY about them!  Check out #2 or #6 to see what I am talking about! :) 

1. Mel D's Reward Coupons

   These reward coupons seem to cool to me.  They are actually my coworker, Mel D's, creation.  She is at http://www.seustasstic.blogspot.com  

2. We Are Racing Towards Good Behavior

  

Once again this is my creation, but it is so motivating.  You move the race car each time you catch the class behaving as a whole group.  When they get to the last letter they receive a prize from the treasure box.

3. Homework Marbles

I don't know what it is about homework, but I can NOT keep track of who has or hasn't turned theirs in.  This seemed like a great idea!

4. Warm Fuzzies

I have heard nothing but great things about Warm Fuzzies!

5. Puzzle

I love the idea of the class working together to create something!

6. We are on the Road to Good Behavior

This is mine too.  It is the same concept as #2.

7. Brain Break

My students LOVE brain breaks.  I use these when we are doing a lot of testing or they just need to get their wiggles out.  These are two of my favorites!

8. Brain Break #2

9. Reward Days

Such a cool idea!

10. I'm Done

I had an "I'm Done" poster this year and I ALWAYS referred the students to that.  This seemed cuter than my poster.

Bonus!

Quiet Critters

I just thought these were plain ADORABLE!

I hope you enjoy some of these classroom management pins!

~Stacey

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Racing Towards Good Behavior

Welcome to the Indiana Bloggers Blog Hop!  I hope you have been able to make it to all of the great blogs.  I would love to thank Hilary Gard at Second Grade is out of this World for linking up with me!  If you have not been to her blog yet check her out!

                                           


Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for stopping here!  I have this adorable freebie for you in my TpT store Teaching Ever After!  

I have been doing this whole classroom management plan for years in my classroom.  This year I decided to tweak it a little to work with my theme.  Now I can't stop making them!  This one says "We Are Racing Towards The Good Behavior Finish Line".  Every time you catch your whole class being good or they receive a compliment you move the race car driver.  Sometimes if they are REALLY good you can move the race car driver a few letters.  This gets the kiddos really ramped up and they try even harder!  When the class gets to the checkered flag you pull from the reward cards.  I was thinking it would be really cute if you could find one of those large cup trophies to put the reward cards in.

This year my class got to the end.  I picked "Show and Tell".  I thought they would be so disappointed, but since they aren't allowed to bring toys to school they couldn't have been more thrilled.  I had each child bring their object in a bag and they needed to have 3 clues about it.  Some of the clues were fantastically written.  I had one little girl bring in a garbage bag with one of the BIGGEST stuffed elephants I had ever seen!  I wanted to keep him.  The other kids brought in trophies, pictures, favorite stuffed animals, or something that represented their favorite things.  It really was fun!







When they reach the end you start all over.  It is the end of the year and my students are STILL working so hard to get to the end again.  I don't have the heart to tell them that it probably isn't going to happen with only 7 days left, and why would I do such a ridiculous thing!




Thanks for pit stopping here!  Grab my button before you go.  I hope you enjoy the freebie! 
~Stacey

Next stop is 
http://thecrazyschoolteacher.blogspot.com/2013/05/indiana-blog-hop.html

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Whole Class Behavior System

My kiddos absolutely LOVE this whole class behavior system.  I started using it several years ago and have tweaked it over the years, but the kids still feel the same about it.  I hang the words on a bulletin word that say, We are on the Road to Good Behavior.  I have them created for a large or small classroom bulletin board.  Every time they are given a compliment about their behavior from a specials teacher, or about how they are walking down the hall, or their behavior during a drill, I move the bus one letter.

You should see their reaction when the music teacher says they were so well behaved today.  They all look at me with wide eyes full of excitement.  The kicker is they know they can't say, "can we move the bus?!"  otherwise I won't.  I know, I am terrible!  So they just stare with anticipation until we get into the classroom and I move the bus.  It takes some time to get to the end, but when they get to the "r" in behavior I blindly pull a reward card from the treasure box. 

There are all sorts of rewards that my past kiddos helped me create.  So you know they are "kid approved".  The one that has been a huge hit in the past has been "lunch with the principal in the classroom".  The great part is that it didn't cost me a penny!  I do have some reward cards that would require some cash, such as "donuts and milk", but sometimes I don't include those.  The choice is yours!  There are PLENTY to pick from without those few.  You can even print multiple copies to increase the chances of picking your favorite.  I know, I know a teacher would NEVER do that! ;) It will be our secret!

Here is a sample of some of the rewards

I know your class will be on the road to good behavior in no time! Enjoy!


 ~Stacey

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