Friday, April 6, 2018
Monthly $100 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - April 2018
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Ron Clark Essential 55 Poster: A Must-Have for Effective Classroom Management
This post is part of a series on my visit to the Ron Clark Academy, where I learned about the importance of classroom management using the Essential 55 Rules from Ron Clark.
As an experienced teacher, I know that classroom management is essential for
student learning and growth. That's why I was blown away by Ron Clark's
classroom management system, which is based on the Essential 55 Rules outlined in his book of the same name.
This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog. All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.
After visiting the Ron Clark Academy, I realized that I wasn't always following through, and I hadn't explicitly taught them all of the behaviors and skills that I wanted to see in my classroom. Ron Clark's classroom management is amazing! If you have never had the opportunity to see him in action, check out this video. You will see that the students are engaged, on task, and problem behavior is managed in seconds!
Ron
Clark Essential 55 Poster for Effective Classroom Management
The Ron Clark Academy has
a huge banner hanging above the stairs with the Essential 55 Rules, showing
just how important they are. These rules cover a range of behaviors and skills
that students need to succeed, from respecting others to taking responsibility
for their actions.
At first, I was intimidated by the sheer number of rules (55!), but after seeing them in action at the Ron Clark Academy, I knew I had to incorporate them into my own classroom. That's why I purchased the Ron Clark Essential 55 poster from the gift shop and hung it up right away.
I printed out this version of the Essential 55 for each of my students to keep in their binders.
I bought the Essential 55 Rule Workbook to help practice each of these rules with my students.
We take time each day during our morning meeting to complete the suggested activities and go over each rule individually.
Why the Essential 55 Rules from Ron Clark Are Key to Classroom Success
All of the teachers at the Ron Clark Academy have the same expectations and procedures. I think the students thrive under these conditions, because they know the routine, and they know exactly what is expected of them throughout the day.Because my students are with me the entire day, it is easy for me to be consistent with my expectations. I do tell my students that they are expected to follow these same expectations with specials teachers and substitute teachers even if they aren't explicitly told to do so.
If you're looking for an
effective way to manage your classroom and set your students up for success, I
highly recommend getting the Ron Clark Essential 55 poster. It's a visual
reminder of the rules that will help your students thrive. You can buy one for yourself here.
If you would like to buy the book, The Essential 55 to use in your classroom, you can find it on Amazon here.
The Essential 55 has been updated! Check out the newest version here:
And before you leave, head on over to our Giveaway page to enter our current giveaway!
Monday, April 2, 2018
$50 Teachers pay Teachers Giveaway!
$50 Teachers pay Teachers Giveaway!
Would you like to win a $50 Teachers pay Teachers gift card? Some friends of mine and I are giving you the opportunity to not only win a Teachers pay Teachers gift card, but also some fabulous teaching resources!Spring into April with these fabulous resources! We have ideas for butterflies, plants, mystery math, mental math, spring clothing lessons, telling time, character traits, end of the year school awards and more! You have the chance to win the $50 Teachers pay Teachers gift card and ALL of the resources below.
The first resource is from Heart to Heart Teaching and is all about plants!
Plant Life Cycle
Our second resource is all about butterflies!
*Reading passages all about butterflies
*Comprehension questions
*Life Cycle of a Butterfly
*Parts of a Butterfly
You can use these mental math task cards as a math warm up to begin your math lesson, or use as a time filler throughout the day.
Students each have ten digit cards on their desk as you read each card. The students use the digits to keep track of the math tasks they are computing in their head. They love being able to follow along with each task and eventually end up with the correct answer.
I use these cards for whole group, small group, and even partnership lessons.
These mental math problems will increase your students' listening, problem solving, and computation skills.
In this set of end of year awards you will receive 50 different awards with a boy and girl version for each one (a total of 100 certificates!). I have also included black and white versions of all 100 awards for your printing preference.
This is a zip file that includes a PDF file that you can print and write the student names, as well as a PowerPoint file that you can customize to include the students’ names and even to add a new category that I may have forgotten.
Several of the awards could be used throughout the year as monthly or quarterly awards such as Attendance, Math Wizard, Super Speller, etc.
I love to celebrate my students with end of the year awards! It gives me a chance to recognize their talents and their growth throughout the year!
Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - April 2, 2018
Teacher Giveaway!
$25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway
This week I am out for Spring Break! I am ready for a much needed vacation!
For those of you also on Spring Break as well, I hope you get some much rest and relaxation!
For those of you returning back to school today, take time to enjoy your students!
Either way - Monday means a chance for you to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, March 26, 2018
Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - March 26, 2018
This giveaway has ended :( Please head over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway.
And this month is already almost over! We have Spring Break next week, and then it's time for that final push until the end of the year! You can get a few resources to help you power through the end of the year or even get ready for the year ahead if you are the winner of our weekly giveaway!
Monday, March 19, 2018
Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - March 19, 2018
This giveaway has ended :( Please head over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway.
Happy Monday! A new week means another chance for you to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
My Visit to the Ron Clark Academy
This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog. All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.
I have been a fan of Ron Clark since I read his book The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules For Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child.
It has been on my bucket list to go to the RCA Academy for their teacher training experience for almost just as long. You can imagine my excitement when my principal started making plans for herself and several teachers to make the trip. Even more exciting was the day that she sent the email with this:
While I was there I posted several pictures to my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and since then I have received many questions about the experience.
I plan on posting a series of blog posts sharing not only some of my experiences from the training, but also, some ways that I have used what I have learned in my own classroom. I will post a link to all of the posts as I write them here for easy reference.
Questions I have been asked:
1. Which type of session did you attend, the one day or two day session?
The Ron Clark Academy offers a one day session and a two day session. You can find the dates of both types of upcoming sessions here.
2. Do they actually provide training sessions or do you just observe classrooms?
The experience provides a mix of both, which is amazing! You attend some sessions with the instructors where they provide professional development, and then you get to see them in action as you observe actual classes with students.
3. Did Ron Clark provide any of the training and is he as amazing in person?
4. If I attend the training, what should I wear?
5. What if my school won't pay for me to attend?
This experience is so worth it! If you can't get your school to pay for it, I would figure out how to set aside some extra money each month to get there. You might ask friends or relatives to donate in lieu of gifts for your birthday or Christmas. You can also apply to Donor's Choose for professional development including this opportunity.
6. The Ron Clark Academy is a private school, can I really use their methods in my own classroom?
I have been using some of these strategies in my classroom since October and both my students and myself have benefited from them! I can't wait to share them with you!
Ron Clark Academy Inspired Posts
You can also find some additional Ron Clark Academy style ideas I have found pinned on my Ron Clark Academy Pinterest Board.
More Questions?
If you have additional questions I haven't answered yet, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I will answer them as soon as I can!