Lucky Liebster Award

My TpT friends, Jackie at Room 213 and Sherri at Literary Sherri, nominated me for a Liebster Award for newbie bloggers.  It's an award that is given to bloggers by bloggers, and I'm psyched to be answering the 11 questions associated with the award.  So here goes...

1.  Why and how long ago did you start blogging?  
The blog you're reading this moment has been in existence since early 2014.  I started it to share ideas with middle school teachers.  However, I spent a couple of years blogging on a fun collaborative blog with my friends on Naptime Notebook.  It's a blog filled with crafts, recipes, travels, and lots of fun adventures.  You can read our most popular post about my son's Lego closet here.

2.  What is one word that sums up the heart of my blog? 
I'm breaking the rules here (such a rebel) and giving two words...MIDDLE SCHOOL.  My heart has always been in middle school, so it makes sense that my blog's heart would be there, too.

3.  Is there something you learned late in your blog journey that you wished you knew before?
Yes, when I first started blogging I never assigned "properties" to each of my images.  Now, when I have a blog image, I make sure to title it with key, searchable words and phrases.  

4.  What is your favorite pastime other than blogging?
I love home decorating and design!  


5.  How many hours a week do you dedicate to your blog?
Well, probably not enough hours.  I'd guess a couple.  However, I'm planning to post more often in the coming months...fingers crossed!


6.  What category of blog posts do you like the most?
Probably classroom management posts.  I love sharing ideas that have helped me to create a structured and super fun classroom. 

7.  Where does your blog inspiration come from?
Actually, a lot of my products in my TpT store inspire a blog post.  For instance, my love of infographics led to me creating an infographic product which led to a blog post confessing my love of infographics.

8.  Which of your posts are you most proud of?
This one...

9.  Is there a post you've been planning to do, but you've been postponing?
I have a running list of possible posts, but there's not a post that I'm necessarily avoiding or postponing...they're just in the que.

10.  What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
If you're a blogger, you already know this, but blogging can be a lot of work.  My favorite part is always pressing 'PUBLISH'.  It makes all the work seem totally worth it.  

11.  Which idea from my nominators' blogs would I like to try?

I'm nuts about Room 213's blog post about Getting More Engagement with a No-Hands Policy.  In it, she provides several ways to increase student attention during instruction.  It's a must-read!

Literary Sherri fulfills her namesake is this great post about simple ways to help struggling readers.  Check it to see how you can make resources more accessible for struggling readers.

Finally, I'd like to nominate the following blogs/bloggers for the Liebster Award:

Leaping Into Learning

Here's an Idea by Lucy S.

Brain Leaders and Learners

Art with Jenny K

Mrs. Beers Language Arts Class

Secondary Math Shop

Secondary Sara

Mrs. E Teaches Math

The Creative English Classroom

The Language Arts Classroom

The Education Highway

If you'd like to accept the Liebster Award, here are the next steps...
1.  Follow the blogger that nominated you.  Give a shout-out with a link back to this post.
2.  Answer the same 11 questions above.
3.  Nominate 11 blogs of your choice that each have fewer than 200 followers.
4.  Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with your link to a post so that they can accept it.
5.  Send your nominator a link to your post so that she can learn more about you as well!

Thanks for reading and especially for the nominations Jackie and Sherri!

Teaching "A Christmas Carol" - A Favorite Holiday Tradition

I'm linking up with the Secondary Smorgasbord today, and I couldn't be happier.

There are a bunch of secondary teacher-authors participating. So, be sure to check them all out at ELA Buffet's blog and Desktop Learning Adventures. This month's theme is TRADITIONS. I thought I'd share one of my favorite instructional traditions for this time of year.

If you're a middle school teacher, you know that there's a wonderful (and complicated) dance that goes on in the middle school classroom. It's a tango between elementary school and high school.

Middle Schoolers are caught right in the middle of this dance.

In the classroom, I've found that students yearn for many of the elements of an elementary classroom - crafts, interactive projects, centers, and stories. Yet...they feel an intense pull to be "over" those things and act more high-school-ish. With that in mind, I love to teach units that tap into the learning that they loved when they were younger and disguise it into a unit that seems much more sophisticated. That's where my yearly unit of "A Christmas Carol" comes in. It's the perfect combination of fun and rigor. It's a traditional story that I love to make a yearly tradition in my classroom.

  

In the end, we have a lot less of this...

And a lot more of this...

It's a tradition worth keeping!  If you'd like to give it a try in your classroom, you can check it out here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Infographic Freebie

There’s something about an infographic that makes my heart sing. Maybe it’s the little icons sprinkled across the page.  Or the graphs with pictures?  Could it be the bold colors and unique typography? It's probably all of that and the fact that an infographic is a super fast way to present complex information.  It’s like taking a vitamin instead of eating the entire salad.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brain-Waves-Instruction

My love of all things infographics got me thinking that it would be fun for students to create one of their own.  But, since creating an infographic can be kind of time-consuming, I figured I could make a template that students could populate with information.  The problem was, I wasn't quite sure what information students should present with their infographics. And then it occurred to me...kids could create an infographic about their year.  Kind of like a ‘Year in Review’.  So, that led me to create this new freebie:

First, students complete a reflection about their lives.

Then, they fill in their infographic with information from their reflection.

The end result is a classroom full of personalized infographics.  

For an infographic-lover like me, what’s better than that?

If you’re interested in this fun and FREE resource, just click here:

The Power of the Positive Phone Call

I don't know about you, but I totally geek-out about classroom management ideas all the time.  I love implementing ideas, systems, and procedures that help to successfully manage a classroom.  I spend a lot of time setting standards and procedures in my classroom each day/week/month/quarter/year.  Why?  Well, I obsess over classroom management because I believe that without it, even the best lesson taught by the best teacher is absolutely meaningless because if the students aren't engaged, behaving, and paying attention what's the point?  

There’s a lot that goes into classroom management, but one of my favorite tools for reinforcing great behavior is the 
Positive Phone Call.  

How does it work?  Well...you just call up a student’s parent and say something really nice about their child.  That’s it.  OK, it’s not rocket science, but it is one of the very best things I do to build positive, productive relationships with my students and their families.

Why does it work?  It works because it’s all about relationships.  It’s disarming for a parent to receive a phone call from a teacher.  It’s even more shocking when you say, “I’m calling to tell you something wonderful about your child.”  Every parent wants to hear good things about their child and every child wants to be recognized for doing good things.  

I do have a few tips and tricks that have worked for me...

1. Make it a standard practice.

Generally, I make positive phone calls once a week. I've created a tracking sheet just for positive phone calls and other positive communication with parents. I reference it when deciding which student to highlight. It's also great as a parent contact log when meeting with an administrator or even during parent conferences.

CLICK HERE for a FREE positive phone call long and TONS of other tools for teachers!

2. Recognize a variety of students, but not too many at once.

When making my weekly calls, I like to choose boys and girls, over-achievers and kids trying their very best. I also only call 2-3 parents per class. This helps keep the positive phone calls novel and special.

3. Report out specific and genuine positive behaviors.

I make it a point to share very specific reasons for calling parents. It's nice to avoid generalities like, "Your son is such a nice kid," and say, "It was so impressive when Josh volunteered to help a student that was absent catch up on the material he missed," instead.

4. Be prepared to leave a message.

A lot of times parents don't pick up the phone when I call. That means that I'm often forced to leave a message. I've learned the hard way (imagine very long, rambling messages) to write a quick script for leaving messages.

5. Vary the way you report good news.

While I love making positive phone calls, I also like to switch up the way I share good news about students. Sending home postcards is super quick and easy. I even love sending parents a quick email every now and then, too.

My favorite day to make positive phone calls is on Fridays. Talking to parents about their kids and recognizing the really awesome students that I have sets the tone for a great weekend. I also love the secret smiles exchanged between the students' whose parents I called and I on Monday mornings. It sets the week up for success. It’s pretty great!

CHECK THIS OUT!  I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school.  It's absolutely FREE!  

Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community.  There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos!  If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Beth

Meet and Teach e-Books!

Literary Sherri and Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy and I have been super busy compiling 3 FREE Meet and Teach e-books profiling SECONDARY teacher-authors and sharing print-and-teach resources from 25 TpT stores in each e-book.  The e-books center around ELA, Math & Science, and Humanities (Social Studies, Art, Foreign Language, and more ELA).  In them you'll find a 'meet' page completed by each seller that includes responses to 5 prompts.  You'll get to learn a bit about each seller like their favorite book or things that make them happy.  Then, each seller provided you with a 1-page resource that you can use in your classroom tomorrow.  These e-books are filled with awesome teachers, little insights into each sellers' life, and resources that are easy to implement in your classroom.  They're pretty amazing.  Of course, you don't have to take my word for it, you can find them here:

ELA e-Book

Humanities E-Book

Math & Science E-Book

 Download each free e-book and you'll get a chance to meet and teach resources from these teacher-authors: 

An InLinkz Link-up

Lesson Extenders to Save the Day (or lesson)

If you’re like me, sometimes the timing of a lesson goes completely wrong. 

There have been moments in my classroom where a lesson went really well…and then…it ended early.  There have been times in my classroom when a lesson went completely wrong…and NEEDED to end early.  There have even been fire drills, assemblies, or periods of time after state assessments, when the classroom had “down time” – otherwise known as “let’s-act-crazy-time” in the mind of a middle schooler.  Sometimes the unplanned-for-minutes can be filled with homework or reading an independent novel, but more often than not, I found myself playing an educational game with my students. 

Recently, I compiled some of my students’ favorite games into a single resource.  I call it my ‘Fun in Five’ pack and it’s perfect for pulling out and occupying students’ minds when a lesson ends early and soaking up every instructional minute with students.



You can find it here.

 

 

They work great in my middle school classroom because they’re all simple.

They don’t require any prep.

They cross multiple disciplines.

Some even encourage team work and cooperation.

Oh, and the best part is that they’re FREE for you! 

If you’re feeling extra crafty, you can even compile them all together into a set of lesson extenders.  I just copied the activities on colored paper and then glued each activity onto a piece of colorful scrapbook paper.

Then, I put them through a laminator.

 Finally, I punched a hole in each corner and used a clasp to hold them all together.

 

They’re perfect to hang on my white board and I’ve even left them behind for a substitute.  Oh, and if your observation lesson ends a little early, you can always use one of these lesson extenders and show off how prepared and smart you are J. 

 

I hope you find them as useful as I have.  There is one warning though, the Paper Airplane Challenge lesson extender is a huge hit!  Be prepared to get a lot of requests for that one!

Thanks for stopping by!
Brain Waves Instruction

 

 

Simple Ways to Solve Common Classroom Problems

Did you know that studies show that teachers make over 1,500 decisions a day?  That's more than 4 educational decisions every minute!  No wonder we're so tired!  I'm always trying to implement tips and tricks to make all the decisions I make and all the things I have to do to manage my classroom much, much easier.  In fact, I have a few simple ideas about how to turn common classroom problems into total non-issues in the classroom.  (As a disclaimer none of them are rocket science and none of them have a solution for how teachers can use the bathroom anytime they need to, but I'm working on it!)

Problem:  Students without pens or pencils.  
How many times have you started your class only to find out that some of your students don't have a pen or pencil?  It's super frustrating and stops the lesson in its tracks.  There was a time when I would send my students back out to their lockers for a pencil, lend them one of mine, or have them borrow from a friend.  Not any more.

Solution: A box of 144 golf pencils.  
I stick a bunch in a cup in the back of the classroom and encourage my pencil-less students to grab a pencil and get to work.  That box of pencils may just be the best school supply I purchase every year!

Source 

Problem:  The tedious task of making and changing seating charts.  
When I first started teaching I agonized over seating charts.  I felt that if I could get the perfect arrangement of students everything else would fall into place.  I'd spend a good amount of time writing out seating charts or designing them in my grading system.  Pretty soon it became a time consuming process.

Solution:  Post-it notes.  
Now, I just use thin post-it notes.  I sketch my desk arrangement on a piece of white paper and then write my students' names on thin post-it notes.  Then, I stick a post-it note at each desk on the paper and slide the whole seating chart into a clear page protector.  Since I teach multiple classes, each class has a different post-it note color, and I store all the seating charts in a binder at the front of the room.  My favorite part about this system is that I can change seats on the fly.  If I suddenly want Joey at the front of the room it's as easy as moving the post-it note.

 Source

Source

Problem:  Handing Back Student Work.  
Handing back papers always seemed like such a waste of instructional time to me.  I used to walk around the classroom, weave between desks, and hand back student work one paper at a time.  All the while I could have been teaching.

Solution:  Student Mailboxes.  
Then, I decided to take a cue from elementary classrooms and designate mailboxes for my middle school students.  I bought a few cardboard paper organizers, labeled each with students' names, and designated a classroom job as 'Homework Manager'.  Each time I finished grading papers I put them into a single basket.  Then, it was the Homework Manager's job to put each classmate's papers into the mailboxes.  Super easy and super fun to have all the hand-back-paper time back!

Source

Problem:  The missing bathroom pass.  
As much as I'd like to keep students in my classroom for every single instructional minute, sometimes nature calls and they need to take a break.  Over the years I used various systems for coordinating bathroom breaks including paper passes and cute cardboard tags.  But after I got sick of tracking down the little passes and filling out paper passes, I wised up and solved the bathroom pass problem.

Solution:  A big, simple bathroom pass.  
Now, I use a big wooden letter that I picked up at Michael's.  I painted it and added a string.  I love how it is big enough for students to keep track of and durable enough to last the entire school year.  An added bonus is that I can easily wash and sanitize the letter, too.  (By the way, I just use the initial of my last name for the pass letter.)

Problem:  Creating Bulletin Boards.  
To be honest, when I dreamed of being a teacher I thought getting to create and design bulletin boards was a perk of the job.  Now that I'm hundreds of bulletin boards into my career, I realize that creating a bulletin board can be a time-consuming process.  Getting a bulletin board to look presentable can take away valuable planning time, so I went in search of a very simple way to display student work throughout the year.

Solution:  A clothesline.  
For years I've had a huge clothesline spanning the width of my classroom.  I love it!  Then, one day I realized I could apply the same ease of a clothesline to a bulletin board.  I just added some fun wrapping paper to the back of the board, put up a paper border, and strung up colorful ribbon onto the bulletin board.  Along the ribbon I added clothespins.  Now, changing and updating the bulletin board is as easy as clipping new student work along the bulletin board clothesline.  It's super easy and totally does the job!

1.  Source     2.  Source    3.  Source

With each of these tips, now I only have to make 1,495 decisions a day!  Actually, my favorite part of all these ideas is that each give me more time to work on creating fun and engaging lessons for my students.  Recently, I just put together this resource filled with SIX WEEKS of instruction for students at the beginning of the school year.  It has everything I'll need to start off the year - 1st Day of School Activities, Classroom Management Resources, and 4 ELA Units.  You can check it out here. 
 




What is something you do in your classroom to make life easier? I'm always in search of more time-saving ideas!

Thanks for stopping by!
Brain Waves Instruction



P.S.  I recently joined Facebook (yes, I've been living under a rock) and established a page for Brain Waves Instruction.  I plan to post updates on products, special deals, and links to great resources for educators.  If you're in the mood to 'like' another page, I'd absolutely love to be liked by you!