Classroom Reveal 2013-2014 (Safari Theme)

So I am just now posting these pictures and we have been in school for three weeks now. But running behind seems to be my life story lately. I have just started graduate school and it is definitely taking a toll on me.

I still have my safari theme this year but I have made quite a few things using powerpoint over the summer. I felt like my class needed a face lift. Also I decided to take the big leap and get rid of my teacher desk AND my students' desks. It has been the greatest decision I have made. I love not having my desk. I have so much more room for my students to read around the room. It has also made me stay organized.

Now, for the kids. I LOVE not having paper falling out of desks. I LOVE the desks not getting separated and turning a different way than I originally put them. Plus I feel like my students are very organized because of this big move. They have a cubby and their book baskets to store their work. I tell them exactly where to put everything and they don't have a desk to shove papers into so they don't do it. Ahhhhh! It's just so wonderful!!!!

Here's my room when you walk in the door! I love the lanterns and parasols. 

This is my standards, math rotations, and homework board.

Here is the link to the daily math signs freebie!!!!

These are my students' cubbies and student supplies.

This is my "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" display! My kids love it!

Here's my transportation clip chart. I also keep my class rams tickets here. It's part of PBIS.

Here is my NEW bulletin board. I love my CAFE and Vocabulary board! 

This is where I have my safari helper display, my behavior clip chart, and where students keep their rams tickets.

This is part of my library. 

This is my "Show What You Know" board. I use this frequently to assess students.

This is one place I keep my anchor charts. 

Thanks for stopping by! I love comments and new followers!

~Susan

Two Sisters' Workshop- CAFE

It's been FOREVER since I've been on here. I worked so much throughout the summer that I had no time to think about school. Now that I'm back in school I hope to blog more frequently. 

So for all those who have read "The Daily Five" and "Cafe" I know you would be as excited as I was to go to one of their workshops. I decided only to go to the Cafe workshop because I thought that would be more beneficial. My principal would only pay for one of them. It was one of the best workshops I've ever been to. If you are a teacher/literacy coach/ principal you should definitely go to one of their workshops. I learned so much about how to implement "Cafe" and how to teach reading. I read the book before I went to the workshop but was very nervous about using it in my class. But after the workshop it seemed like perfect sense to make this work in my class. They provided many research based reasons explaining why "Cafe" works. 

If you aren't familiar with "Cafe" it stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. You would teach the students specific strategies and practice them as a group. Then you assess all of your students to see what kind of instruction they need. Afterwards you and your students discuss their assessment results and have students pick a "Cafe" strategy to work on during independent reading time and practicing it until they have mastered the skill. The sisters did a wonderful job explaining touch points. Touch points are what they use to assess each conference they have with a child. There are four levels: 1-below standard, 2-approaching standard, 3- meets standard, and 4- exceeds standard. If a child gets 3s or 4s for five or more conferences then they are ready to add a new goal to work on. This method really works because teachers are catering their instruction to each individual student based on their needs. I could go on and on about why I love their ideas! So if you have any questions please feel free to ask. :)

Another wonderful thing about the workshop is you get tons of free stuff. BOOKS, classroom materials, and a year subscription to their website which is super useful!

Keep a look out for my next post which will be about my first week of using Daily 5 and CAFE. :)

To Daily Five or Not Daily Five

So I've been reading the Daily Five and Cafe books over the last few weeks and would love to implement these ideas into my classroom next year. From all the blogs, proteacher posts, and pinterest pins on the daily five/cafe I truly feel like this would be a wonderful way to teach reading in my class. But I feel a little scared to take the leap because I'm a second year teacher and I've only used the basal. Most of the teachers at my school use the basal. I don't think there is anything wrong with the basal if it works for some people but I have found that I don't particularly like using it. I don't feel like I'm reaching all my students or that I'm being effective. I have talked to several of my team members about this idea and they seem open to trying it. There is only one other teacher that uses it in the school and she loves it. I have been talking about it so much that I am hoping the idea sticks and people will want to try it. From everything I've read it teaches the students to become motivated, independent, and engaged in their reading. When I was in college this was exactly how I pictured my classroom. I love teaching so far and I want to be the best teacher I can be. I want to be effective in my teaching and keep my students wanting to come to class to read and learn. I want my students to be life long learners like I am.  If anyone out there could shed some light with personal experiences/advice I would greatly appreciate it.


Thanks

~Susan~