Elf on the Shelf---Spreading the Magic during the Christmas Season

Last year I went out and bought an Elf on the Shelf. I bought a boy, and we named him Jingle Jangles. Jingle Jangles got into some mischief in our classroom, and it was enjoyable to see the students trying to find his new hiding spot every morning. 

This year I've purchased 2 new members of our little 5-21 Family. A female elf and a Reindeer pet. I think Jingle Jangles will be excited to have some new friends, as well. I can't wait to name them all on Monday. 

Here are my hopes for names:
Female Elf:
Fizzy von Wrinklielips
Evergreen 
Gingersnap 
Snowflake

Reindeer Pet:
Lightning Flufferstein 
Cocoa Bootsie Wickerson 
Dizzy von Whimsy

I hope that these elves (and reindeer) will bring the holiday cheer into the classroom, and maybe help make my kids behave. I'll take pictures of their adventures and post them here. Check out the Stepping Into Science Instagram account for updates, too! 

A Few of My Favorite Things-Science Edition

I have found several products and stores that have been extremely helpful to me, as I begin teaching Science.

Store # 1:

Kesler Science: This blog and store have amazing resources. At times, they are too advanced for my own students, but I still use his products to help reach those students who are more advanced.

My favorite product:
Lab Stations: Kesler just finished these awesome stations. They help keep the kids moving and learning during the day. These are complex enough to engage the upper level students, and still easy enough for my 4th and 5th graders to understand the tasks and concepts taught.

Store # 2:


Nitty Gritty Science: This blog and store have amazing resources. At times, they are too advanced for my own students, but I still use her products to help reach those students who are more advanced.

My favorite product:

Interactive Notebook Bundle: This is an awesome bundle. My students are sometimes confused by the notes, but that is expected when your students are younger than the projected age. This is an amazing resource because it gives both quizzes, notes and foldables. Foldables are amazing and this is a great resource for the traditional Interactive Science Notebook style.


Store # 3:

The Science Penguin: This blog and store have amazing resources. Ari has perfect resources for K-5 students. I use her products all the time. My students love it when I pull out a penguin product.
My favorite product:

Hands-On Vocabulary Instruction: This is an awesome product. I love the demonstrations and foldables for important science vocabulary. The demonstrations really help the students understand the concepts and topics.


Store # 4:

Science Doodles: This blog and store have amazing resources. She has perfect resources for all age students. I use her products all the time. My students love it when I pull out a penguin product.

My favorite product:
Earth Science Set: I honestly love all of her bundles, and use them all, but I choose the Earth Science Set, since I'm currently working on Earth Science. Her foldables and notes are amazing. The kids love fill in the blanks. They also love using the task cards to play SCOOT.

Morning Routine for Teachers

Every teacher has their own routine of things to do once they arrive in the Morning. Mine is a huge list, that requires me to arrive at school almost an hour before I'm supposed to. This has helped my sanity during these first few years, and I'm sure it will lessen the more experience I get. The list also changes depending on the time of year. For example, at the end of the month, I change decorations, calendars, and more.




Step 1: Settle in.
Once I've unlocked my door, and brought my bags in, I usually take a moment to settle in. I turn on the computer, enjoy my coffee, and make a list of things that NEED to be done for the day. Some days, it's a short list and other days it is crazy.
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Step 2: Updating the calendars

Every day, I look at my calendar. I double check to see what I had planned for the week. Are there any events happening? Did I forget to write about the assembly today for my plans? Do I have duty today? I also cross off the previous day. When I show the day is done, it is a solid, black curvy line going from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. At the end of the month, I also add another step in. 

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Step 2a: Setting up the next month's calendar

Setting up the next month's calendar is always a fun thing for me. I sit with both my school calendar (usually up on the computer) and my personal calendar. I pencil in various dates and events, so that I know what is going on for planning my lessons. Everything is color coded to my Erin Condren planner. Mondays are red, Tuesdays are orange, Wednesdays are green, Thursdays are blue, and Fridays are purple. Any days that are off from school are shown with a solid gray line going from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. If I am taking a day off from school for personal or professional reasons, it is shown with a dotted gray line going from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. I show a half day by placing a 1/2 symbol in the top right corner in gray marker. If I am festive enough, I attempt to draw pictures. I'm obviously not an art teacher, but it still looks nice.

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Step 3: Update the schedule
Once I've updated my calendar, I look at the schedule, and CHAMPS board. I usually need to update the schedule, but I don't always have to update the CHAMPS. CHAMPS helps my class understand what they are doing for the day, and what materials they need to be successful. I HATE repeating directions. Like the CHAMPS board? Purchase it here. Do you love the schedule pieces? Purchase them here.
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Step 4: Update the homework board
I then update the homework board and reminders for the students. My handwriting is not the best, but it works just the same. We write down any important paper reminders, any homework I know I'll be giving them for the night. Usually that means updating the Spelling homework, Reading homework and Science.

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Step 5: Open the blinds
Pretty self explanatory. I love that my blinds now have a chain and wheel...makes everything a lot easier to do!
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Step 6: Take down/Put up decorations

Every so often, especially at the end/beginning of seasons, I put up and take down decorations for my windows. Since before break was the "end" of the month, I took down my pumpkins. Next week, I'll end up putting up snowmen and snowflakes for the holidays and winter months.

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Step 7: Update the 40 Book Challenge List
My class does a 40 Book challenge during the year. I ask them to read 40 books from a variety of genres. We are getting pretty close to 25 books read! When they complete the challenge, I go out and purchase a $5 gift card for Barnes and Noble for them.
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Step 8: Water Plants
One of the last things I do is to water my plants. I have a huge jungle of plants available in my classroom. Most of them get watered on Mondays and Fridays. Every so often, I water them a little bit on Wednesday, depending on how the soil looks and if the plant usually takes more water. When I'm absent, I have two students who will water for me on Fridays.
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This doesn't include the making of copies, placing items into the mailboxes, checking and replying to emails, and more. These are things that are constantly done at both the beginning and end of the day.

I hope this "list" is helpful for you. What do you do to prepare for the day??

Giving Thanks

Recovering from surgery, returning from an out of country family wedding, grading papers, completing report cards, saving work so if the button doesn't work it's not all lost....Too often we forget to be thankful during the time of year where we are running around like a turkey with their heads cut off. It takes a lot of time and effort to stop, pause and take a moment to count the many blessings we have received this year. Here are just a few of mine:

1. A supportive staff to work with at school.
2. A loving family who supports me in all that I do.
3. The ability to begin my Masters degree at my Alma Mater.
4. The new friends and colleagues I've met through my class this fall.
5. My amazing, yet slightly frustrating, minions that I get to teach every day.
6. My supportive and amazing boyfriend, who deals with my random freak outs over my work.
7. The ability to re-do this blog, and try to get more involved in the educational community.

Take a few moments today, even in the midst of crazy preparations and traveling, to count the many blessings you've received this year.

Taking Time Off--How Much Is Too Much?

As a new teacher, I always felt that I had to be at school 100% of the time. Every function, every day. No time to take off, even when sick. You had to make a name for yourself and "earn" the time off. This year, while I'm not a "completely" new teacher I still feel the same way.

I had a family wedding recently in Cancun. It was a wonderful time, but I stressed so much over taking 3 days off from work. Then, this past week, I had to have ankle surgery and took 4 day off of work. This is all so new for me, and I worry about not making a good impression. Is there a limit to how much time you "should" or "shouldn't" take off?? Will these days off make a bad teacher?

Erin Condren Teacher Planner-Lesson Plan Format

 Writing lesson plans have been something that, as a new teacher, I struggled with. I have found that typing my plans makes my plan books look that much nicer. I am able to put all the information needed, without running out of room. Once I got my Erin Condren Teacher Planner, I realized I would need a new template for typing my plans. I tweaked one that I found on Pinterest. It works well for me. I am excited to see how it plays out for the rest of the year. 

Erin Condren Teacher Planner Review Part 2: Setting Up the Planner

**I am in no way officiated with Erin Condren, and am not endorsed for promoting products.**

Setting up a planner for the beginning of the year, both educational and personal, is always fun for me. I thoroughly enjoy using stickers and markers to keep myself organized. The Erin Condren Teacher Lesson Planner is one that makes my life as a teacher, so much easier.

When you open the planner, you see a page to write your name and school. The color of these pages just brings a smile to my face. If they can't decipher who's planner it is from the outside cover, they can definitely tell from the inside. The tabs (seen to the right) are laminated and colorful. They are lasting the year, so far.

The next page is an "All About Me" page. This page gives you a spot to put in contact information for you and your school, as well as a space to place your usernames and passwords for important school websites. This is a great idea and spot, but if you are nervous about security, then I wouldn't put them there. 

Next comes a two page spread to list important dates to remember. It comes with a lot of holidays and other interesting dates, but it gives you a chance to put in report card due dates, birthdays, meetings and more.

A set of birthday pages comes next. I have not used these yet, but I'm sure you could use them for something else if you needed to.

There are several pages for an "Absentee Log". I've started to use it, and really enjoy it. It gives me a chance to keep a list of kids who might be out. However, when I teach 80 kids every day, I don't always get a chance to log who is out from each period.

Erin Condren also gives you some graphing note pages. This would be awesome to use to create a floor plan of your room or a seating chart, but I also have not used these pages yet.

The year at a glance section is AWESOME!! I have not sat down and really wrote my ideas down, only because I am waiting until they are all kind of finalized so I don't make any mistakes. I have my own year-at-a-glance document on the computer that I created over the summer.

I absolutely love the month, 2 page spreads. The date dots are awesome. They just add a little bit to the month. I, like the picture below, use a mixture of pens and stickers to decorate my planner. Keep an eye out for how I organize my monthly views, in another post. They even have calendars for the summer months, in case your school starts earlier than others.

I also LOVE the weekly plan pages. I lay my week out differently than they show here, but I still LOVE the format. The days are horizontal and the subjects/times are vertical. I can easily see what I'm doing every day of the week at 8:15-9:00 am if I wanted to. Keep an eye out for my post on the lesson plan format. 

I also have learned to love the Checklist pages. I use them to both note who has handed in assignments and who is missing, as well as the grades for the assignments. It is a wonderful system, once you make it your own.

I love the stickers that Erin Condren gives you. There are several pages with printed stickers and several one that are blank. This is especially helpful since I work at a Catholic School. There are added events that are not the same as those in a public school.

There is also a folder which can hold extra stickers, papers, or items for the planner. It has come in handy.

The last pages are clear sheet protectors and a zipper pouch for miscellaneous things. I have not used the clear protector sheets, but it would be a great spot to hold a schedule and other important papers for any teacher or substitute.

I absolutely love the planner, and will definitely purchase another one next year.

**Note: All images are taken from the virtual tour on the Erin Condren site.**