Cool Tips Linky Party

Belinda over at Too Cool For School is having a Linky Party about Cool Teacher Tips. So while I don't think any of my tips are ground breaking....they are pretty useful.

Tip 1.) I give all my students PIN numbers like many teachers but I do it by first name. No more wracking your brain at 9:30 on Wednesday night as to what Johnny's last name is.

Tip 2.) To remove adhesive on book boxes, new books, pretty much any surface, use a blow dryer it heats up the adhesive and removes the sticker and tacky stuff in one move.

Tip 3.) When you're writing all you student's names in alphabetical order by first name (see #1) using a sharpie and you make a boo-boo on a semi-laminated or laminated piece of paper, use hair spray to remove the boo-boo!

Tip 4.) Always put your name in everything. And when someone (especially a teacher) wants to borrow your stuff write it down somewhere reliable... initials on the board, a post taped to your desk, a notebook.... then there will be no running around look for your First Six Weeks of School book, who borrowed that or do I have that? debate.

Tip 5.) Mr. Clean Erasers are a save all. I ask for them on a wish list at the beginning of the year. Pencil, crayons, markers it takes it all out. And if by chance you have a smartboard and one of your little angels takes a regular marker or dry erase marker to it.... Mr. Clean has got your back. Seriously a life saver.

Tip 6.) Post it White Out Tape. Tape not a liquid=hours saved waving papers in the air to dry before coping them, more time to blog etc. (Don't leave this laying around the copy room, it'll disappear!)

Be sure to check out Too Cool For School and link up to the party!!

Name Update

I'm a brain racker I'll admit it.

I over think things. I'm a girl.

I've been trying to think of a witty name for my blog for.........Mmmmmm Ever!

My first blog for my parents had been named the Triebel Telegraph, as a homage to Jimmy Buffett Coconut Telegraph.... "You can here it on the coconut telegraph... this and that, this and that"

But I decided I'd like something more catchy. Considering my love of the beach, and classroom beach theme, I thought Sunny Days in Second grade would be excellent! But during a linky party I discovered that someone else already had that blog name, and not wanting to steel someones thunder I resorted back to The Triebel Telegraph....

However in my blog stalking, I saw a blog using the name primary, which reminded me of elementary and a la Despicable Me.... LIGHTBULB! So here we are, welcome to It's Elementary My Dear Teacher....

Let's take her out for a spin and see how it goes...

Target!

Who doesn't love Target? And who doesn't love the dollar spot at Target?

Well these two great ideas combine, over at Target Treasures who is hosting a $20 Target gift card give away. Head on over there to check out the goods and enter in the give away.

Don't forget to Follow my blog and Target Treasure's blog too!

Splurge vs. Steal

Who knew?? My post coincidentally also fits a Linky Party! Yippee.. Head on over to Mrs. Bee's website to check out Mrs. Bee's buzzing website!

I'm racking my brain here to keep my classroom fresh and motivated. I'm always looking for a new idea. I love this over at Clutter Free Classroom. It seems like it's a great management board, easy to use and up keep and not a lot of things to buy and maintain.

I think that's the true theme in my room, less waste--- paper wise, money wise, time wise.

That being said I'm all about the classroom incentives. Starting after Christmas I use a class bank system, where children bank money towards a store at the end of the year. I love doing this but, it's not practical to start that the first week of school. Also this management board is easy enough I can run both at the same time in theory.

In the past I've used tickets. Everyday a child goes without a strike they get a ticket, we put it in a fish bowl and I draw out 3 different names to choose a prize from the prize bag a.k.a the Oriental Trading junk box.

Call me crazy, but aside from giving the kids....what we all know to be junk... I'm not thrilled of giving them god knows what made in China made with who knows what kind of paint. I never used to think of these things but my teaching neighbor (and good buddy Michele) is someone who thinks of all these things and since my Mom had cancer, I have to say it certainly makes me think twice about things.

So I'm formulating a plan. To start off the year I am going to make my own management board like the one at Clutter Free Classroom, use the clothespin idea (because I have about 10,000 clothespins sitting in a ziplock bag in my room) but there are those kids who always go above and beyond. There are those kids that have a good rebound after a speed bump, and generally in those cases I like to send home a quick note or more often I send a quick email to the student's parents to tell them the great news.

**SIDE NOTE- The first two weeks of school, I contact every parent with positive news about their child. I try to get as many by phone, but many I catch up with on email. I think it creates positive conditioning that way our first true interaction isn't about something their child has done wrong or it's not "Ohhh no Miss Triebel is calling home!"**

However, I'm realizing I can circumnavigate some of this with these nifty inventions. Somewhere on Pinterest (can't find it now, of course!) there was post about using strips of paper and tape to create a paper bracelet as a reminder to bring in books, homework whatever it might be.

I love the idea, but come on teachers let's be realistic...

Paper...........taped on to a wrist or backpack, in bus line at 3:30 on a rainy day.... I see paper pulp laying on the front sidewalk after little Johnny has gotten on his bus. So I start thinking high tech.... concerts, clubs, Ty-Vek bracelets!

Then, those handy people over at Really Good Teacher Stuff...boy talk about networking, talk about canvasing. I get at least one catalog at home, when I swung by school last week there were 4 in my mailbox and I get a biweekly email from them... I get the picture folks! But while lying by the pool I saw these handy bracelets and that's when my other LIGHTBULB!!! went off (I love Steve Carrell in Despicable Me!).

But at $6.99 for 90 strips, each one costs a measley 7 cents a bracelet. But if you hand out one a day you'll be out 1/2 way through the year...that's no good. Nothing like building the kids up into something and then ditching it.

So 7 cents are our splurge because in theory you'd be buying at least 3 boxes. So let's call it $21.00 and 270 strips.

Now for our steal... again I revert to my friend Google- "Event bracelets"

I stumble upon this great website Wristband Express.

So I'll skip to the good part, each box of bracelets contains.... 500 bracelets. This could be a two year adventure. I could even use them as reminder bands AND incentive bands because with 500 there is little chance I'll run out... (500/180 is 2.7 bracelets a day) so maybe I could run out we'll have to see how this plays out.... any ways on to the money.

We have some options here... Low ball-

In 6 different colors (neons) and 6 different non-neon colors, there are plenty of options. The cost $16.00 a box. If you can get your whole building in on it, if you order more than 20 boxes the price drops to $14.00 a box. The cost per bracelet are you ready to be SHOCKED??? Is 3 cents a bracelet! 3 cents! What teacher can't afford 3 cents for classroom incentives?

High ball option:

Maybe you think solid colors are boring. They have some great patterns too. Waves (I'm not going lie I'm drawn to theses bad boys at 16.50 a box (still 3 cents a bracelet).

They also have tie dye, smiley faces, rings, lightening bolts, American flags, ducks, fish, geckos, tiger stripes, stars, checks, stripes, camo, pawprints, footballs and penguins. All ranging from $16.50 to $18.00 (still 3 cents each).

They also have a "variety pack" of colors. You could color code your bracelets. Purple for a job well done, red for reminders??? The Variety pack in regular is slightly more expensive at $26.50 a box, but still 5 cents a band.

So I hoping it's clear in everyone's mind that this is a real steal. Even if you figure in .99 for a sharpie to write your message. Also I'm speculating here, but I bet stickers would adhere pretty well to these.

And while my second graders are little old for this... some of K-1 friends might find these useful the first weeks of school....

Lightbulb!

If you've seen Despicable Me, I hope you know what I'm try to say.... "Lightbulb!"

For years now, I've been milking the beach theme, and while I LOVE the beach (come on look at my blog!) I'm getting a little *bored* with it. So I'm sitting here, flipping around Pintrest and just like that ... **LIGHTBULB**!! I've decided that this year, I am going to do an UP! themed classroom.

I head over to my BFF, Google to search for Up. However, I'm sure you can guess where that went. By searching for Up themed parties (or throwing in the word Pixar) I get some good results. I also used Pintrest to help me hunt down some more themed items.

For the bulletin boards outside my classroom, I'm thinking "My Adventure Book", maybe some character cut outs, and certainly some use of this banner....I'm thinking maybe suitcases with the kids names on them....??

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61238016/adventure-awaits-mini-paper-garland

We do Responsive Classroom Hopes and Dreams for second grade the first week of school, I generally do these on some white papers with a cloud on them. I'm thinking maybe throw a colored paper balloon in there to spice things up.

I also buy laminated name sticks, generally with a fish on them but I found wooden craft sticks with dogs on top of them. Dug anyone?

The kids can color them, I'll put their names on them and then when we have to make groups, call on someone to give an answer etc. I use the "Cup of Fairness".

I have the Up soundtrack so I can play that on the first day of school when the kids arrive. I'm also thinking of getting an Up mylar balloon or something of that theme, as we can't have latex because of the allergies.

I'm thinking Up name tags too for the first day of school. I don't want to go OVER BOARD but I don't want one lame bulletin board and people wonder what in the world I was thinking.

I'm open to any suggestions you may have about my Up theme!

Favorite Picture book

Another link party.... I'm just partying it up over here at the Triebel Telegraph.... actually I'm hoping for more followers. I'm networking here people!

So normally for a linky party I spend all this time thinking about what I'm going to write but when I read this prompt, I didn't even have to think. I just knew. Like a good melon.

The book: Beach

Author: Elisha Cooper (I'll save you the trouble and tell you that this is a male author)

Medium: Watercolor and pencil

Before I tell you about the book, I'll tell you I read this every June to my class. They look at the pictures and inevitably one of the students will say "Miss Triebel that looks just like our local beach" and I agree with them. So this year I happen to Google Elisha Cooper and start to read up on his work. I see he went to Yale. My town is close to Yale.

I see on the book flap that he lives in Chicago now and then pay dirt... on his website it says he went to Lake Michigan to research this book AND he went back to his childhood beach in Connecticut to do more research. I wrote him an email (in June) to ask if his beach was indeed our beach, but haven't heard back from him :( but in my gut I know it's the same beach. I've lived here my whole life I know this is my beach....

This is one of my favorite pictures, it's actually 2 pages... looks like nautical wall paper!

The whole book is illustrated in model form, where the people have no "faces" they look like those wooden art models, its about a typical day at the beach the people that come, what they do, the gulls eating food, the lifeguard swinging there whistle. It is Americana. It is summer time. It is one of my favorite parts of teaching :)

And my favorite line from the book sums up summer, and I think summer for most teachers.

"As the sun sets, and the clouds change color, the beach empties. A last jump in the water, another last jump. Then up the sand and over the dunes with a stop at the outdoor shower. Sand is everywhere- between toes and in bathing suits and inside ears. Inside, too, is the motion of the waves, the knowledge of a day well spent, a day to remember when is the beach is far away."

Be sure to head over to Clutter Free Classroom to check out this Linky Party and the whole weeks worth of Linky Parties they have going on there...for the party animal in us all!

http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/

Things I could not teach without

I feel like an 8 year old in my class, I want to yell out "Miss Triebel you can't teach without us!!" and that's for sure the kids are a key component here!

Here are the things that make my day teaching that much more groovey....

1.) My Smartboard. When I get back to school (and my school labtop) I'm going to post lots of my Smartboard lessons. I love my board and so do the kids. We do everything on here, from Morning Meeting to Friday Funday Funny Videos. It is the kitchen of my classroom where we all come to gather.

2.) Every morning. Green tea. Gets the metabolism up and going.

3.) Scholastic's The Complete Year in Reading and Writing in 2nd grade. Working in a district that doesn't have a specific scope and sequence, this helps win the planning stages. While I certainly do not teach directly from here, it does make planning, organizing, collecting books for my fairy tale unit A LOT easier!

4.) The stock pile of hershey's kisses in my 3 draw plastic tower (my desk). Needed on Thursdays around 2:30.

5.) Magazine boxes. In my "teaching closet" because I have one closet (good joke huh?) almost as good as the ONE electrical outlet I had the first four year of teaching... cue Green Acres music. Now that I'm all electrical plugged up with my Smartboard.... in my closet I have a cardboard magazine box for each month and in that box I put books I use for the month and large items that don't fit in my 3 ring binder for the month (ie December, my Elf glyph because the tracers are too big). Everything is all sorted out, so in September I can pull out Jack's Talent, Bucket Fillers, Please is a Good Word to Use and The Amazing Chowder and know exactly what lessons I am going to do.

6.) My amazing teaching neighbors (K,1,2) whether it's a book, a DRA form or someone to watch my class when I HAVE to go to the bathroom, they make the days fun, entertaining and certainly enjoyable!