I {heart} Lakeshore Learning

I can't believe it - it is only 11 am and I have had 2,194 pageviews today! What!!

I am so humbled that I can write and share ideas that teachers from all over can use and benefit from!

Well, right now I am in bed sick with Bronchitis and Strep Throat!! (I also believe that I have the flu even though I wasn't tested for it.) The body aches I have felt in the past 24 hours have been horrible. I am finally feeling well enough to sit up and touch my computer. And once I logged onto my blog and saw the number of pageviews, I just couldn't resist writing to thank everyone!

Yesterday was such a neat day 12-12-12. I wish I could have linked up with Stacy over at Simpson's Superstars to commemorate 12-12-12 with 12 random pictures. But, I was so sick that no pictures got taken... well, except for this one

Nice, huh!!

My son snapped this picture of me at the doctor's office yesterday morning. Me at my finest!!

Okay, on to more exciting things...
I received a question about my classroom, so I wanted to share the answer with everyone!

Here is a current picture of my classroom wall.

I was asked about these frames:

They come from Lakeshore Learning.

You can purchase them on Amazon by clicking here.

There are 12 in a pack (four of each color: blue, yellow, and green) so I bought 2 packages. They have pre-made holes in each corner allowing the frames to be hung vertically or horizontally. I bought inexpensive ribbon at Walmart and tied a loop for hanging.

I also bought Command strip hooks in clear to hang the frames on. Here is the link to order the Command hooks from Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2jnYWE2

Click here to check the frames out!!

Once I am up and feeling better, I have a giveaway that I will be posting, so stay tuned.

Now it is back to bed for me (only 1 hour and 45 minutes before the kids get home from school)...yikes!!

Address Labels = Formative Assessment Tool

I know we have all been super busy this school year. I don't know about you, but I feel like I can barely keep my head above water right now. I am just doggie paddling along.

One way I have discovered to make formative assessment as easy as possible is to keep my cruisin' clipboard loaded with peel off label sheets. As I walk around helping students and observing their work, I jot down notes onto the labels.

You can find labels like I use here:
http://amzn.to/2jrLora



Later in the day, I remove the labels and affix them to individual student sheets I keep in my Teacher Notebook. Each student has his/her own number and I found numbered tab dividers here:
http://amzn.to/2j4XwSw

I slap my formative assessment sticker onto the page and I'm done. Super easy (and quick).

My GOTRBCF (Girls on the Run Best Coaching Friend) Brittany gave me this inspiration. She even uses a different colored pen for each quarter - so smart!! Well I started off with pencil (I have an obsession with mechanical pencils), so I guess next quarter I can switch to pen...blue maybe...hmmmmm


Now what?!?

I highlight the comment I made on the sticker if the student didn't seem to have mastery of the skill. Then, I know that I need to spend some time pulling this student during intervention to continue work on the skill. Something I haven't done yet, but plan to do is to write (and date) a comment next to the highlighted sticker as to how I helped the student once I saw they were experiencing trouble.
There..I have documented the problem and my plan for helping the student.

Need more information on my cruisin' clipboards or formative assessment? Click here to read my previous post.

Now here is what my desk usually looks like (if I'm not up to my eyeballs in paperwork):

All of the important stuff is right there, easy to access. My lesson plan book, teacher notebook, cruisin' clipboard, and the quick reference guide with all the common core standards for 3rd grade including the North Carolina Essential Standards. Most importantly my diet Coke. Can't get through the day without it...