Ms. M and the Color Coded Classroom

After teaching 4th grade for a number of years, my first experience outside of 4th grade was in Middle School. I taught an 8th grade block class. I had three, 90 minutes block classes teaching language arts and social studies. I thought I did pretty well organizing the hundred plus students I was working with but that was until I substituted for Ms. M's 7th grade social studies class. She definitely takes the gold in organization! She has a grand total of 163 students separated into 6 different classes. Her classroom organization is AMAZING!

The very first thing I took note of was her folder...

As a substitute I absolutely love having this as a reference. In addition to a detailed lesson plan and prepared materials for your sub, you NEED this reference! It helps big time! Ms. M's Seating Chart and Class Lists Binder is above and beyond, it no doubt took her a few hours to organize, but well worth the time! I believe this is a great resource for middle school teachers as well as elementary teachers. Elementary teachers...this won't take you hours! :) Included below are photos and a few notes for creating a Seating Chart and Class List Binder like Ms. M's! 

1. Print out a picture of your classroom layout for all classes you teach.


2. Label each classroom layout. The "4" you see in the pictures represents 4th period. For elementary teachers, this will only need to be done once.

3. Assign a key in the bottom left corner that you can highlight. Some options may include IEP, ESL/ELL, TAG, + (for medical notes), Resource, etc.

4. Laminate the classroom layouts.

5. For each class, print out a class picture roster. Cut out each picture so the name is included.

6. Label each student's picture. Highlight first names according to your key, use white out to write your notes. Ms. M wrote everything down from how to pronounce names to what the student is allergic to.

7. Place a 'peel and stick' glue dot on the backside of each picture. They stay on the paper, but allow you to move students on the laminated layout to create new seating arrangements.

8. Arrange all students on the layout.

9. Buy the heavy duty sheet protectors and place each classroom layout inside... the fancier the better, you'll be flipping through these a lot!

Back to the title of this post... 

...Ms. M's color coded classroom! She begins with color coding her classes, then has those colors match color coded schedule posters, assignment collectors/returns, assignment organizers, Popsicle stick containers, and even magnet clips! Take a look below how color coding can help 6 different classes stay organized!

One last note, Ms. M taught me something about her Popsicle stick containers. She told me that on the top and bottom edges she put a mark on a student's Popsicle stick if he or she should not be called on to read aloud. She said she shuffles them around, grabs two or three, then drops the one that has the color. Students who feel uncomfortable reading in front of the whole class, have a speech IEP, etc., will not be accidentally called on, which is great...and you won't have to explain why a student  was "skipped!"

So many little things learned from Ms. M's classroom that have added up to ONE BIG Blog post! Thanks, Ms. M! 

Mrs. C and Notice and Note Bookmarks

I first saw Notice and Notes Bookmarks in Mrs. C's classroom while I was substituting her 7th Grade Language Arts class. Each student had a bookmark (on the left) to fill out as they read their book report book.


Mrs. C also had these 6 posters around her room (on the right), no doubt a visual from a lesson with her class about Literary Signposts where you Stop, Notice and Note as you read!

While teaching 4th grade, I loved book reports! I was always trying something new. When I saw Mrs. C's bookmarks I didn't think "book report." Instead, I thought they'd be a great tool to check student accountability when they are silent reading during centers. It's hard to monitor if the student is actually reading while you're meeting with groups, etc. This is the perfect assignment for students to do independently and turn in at least one a month for their center grade...requirements adaptable to grade levels of course! This could even take the place of book reports...I'm sure parents wouldn't mind at all :)

If you like this idea, I'd begin at the beginning of the year with a class read aloud. Together we'd practice the procedures and have mini lessons focusing on each literary signpost. You could implement this into every read aloud and then students will be confident and comfortable with this assignment when it's time for them to complete one on their own!

After visiting with Mrs. C about her signposts and bookmarks, she told me that this came from a training she went to recently! This was all new to me and as I Google"d" Notice and Note, I found a lot of resources as well as the source! I look forward to learning more about Notice and Noting and thought I'd share with all my teacher friends out there! Good Luck, and if you try this, let me know how it goes!

Mrs. W and Grudge Ball

Pinterest! This ecard pretty much sums up our relationship :)

I found that having a "Classroom" on Pinterest is much like having a "House" or "Closet" on Pinterest. Non existent! We could "pin" and "like" for hours but, despite good intentions, most of the things we like and pin never leave the screen, a "I'll remember that for later" or "If I had time I would" collection, if you will. I find myself doing more and more of that since I don't have my own classroom right now. Someday I'll be able to bring my "Classroom" board to life, but for now this is my motto...

Since my substituting days I have brought one of my pins to life! Grudge Ball. I remember reading about this review game and liked how adaptable it was for any review, in any subject! A couple of weeks ago I subbed for 7th Grade Social Studies and read in the sub plans I'd administer a review with all of the classes that day. I wanted to try Grudge Ball, so I hustled to the store and bought a cheap Nerf Basketball set, wrote out the rules on a piece of paper to display under the doc camera, made score cards and prayed first period would go well so I could play Grudge Ball for the rest of the day! The game went even better than I had hoped, quiet at first and then lots of involvement and interaction between classmates. I had twenty review questions to go over with the class which would have taken only 20 minutes or so... incorporating Grudge Ball filled the 45 minute period perfectly!

Pictured above is the "made in 20 minutes version" from my first time playing Grudge Ball. There was no white board or chalk board in the classroom, so I improvised! Below are the Rules and Teacher Instructions!

Click HERE for The Original GRUDGE BALL from Mrs. W

Thanks Mrs. W :) 

Mrs. T and the "Everyday Schedule"

I was asked to sub 1st grade, my first 1st grade experience! Mrs. T was not anticipating having a sub and I was called last minute. We all have been there, we all know what that means...no time for sub plans :( That's why I was very happy to walk in and see this...

Mrs. T had her whole schedule on her desk!!! This wasn't just any schedule, though. This schedule was also her teacher plan book. She has enough copies for the entire year and writes daily plans on the blank lines provided. Mrs. T may not have been anticipating a substitute, but she was prepared with a few notes penciled in and her "Everyday Schedule."

Ideas: 

You already know I love this idea and would like to implement it into my next classroom! I would reformat for a little more space for the subject/lesson specifics, just so all my notes would fit! I would still recommend having a complete binder full of information for your substitute or any guest that comes into your classroom. I have learned about how important that is and found some good ideas (with pictures!) to share for next time!