Let's Get Organized!

In an effort to get my third graders organized and to keep their parents informed, I send home an assignment sheet like the one below each day.  

I can't take credit for this idea.  All the third grade teachers in my district use their own version of the assignment sheet.

It lists homework to be done for the evening and announcements/reminders for the coming day.

The student has a take-home binder which is simply a three-ring binder into which a spiral notebook has been inserted. (Both items are on our third grade supply list each summer.)

Each day they glue an assignment sheet onto a new page in their notebooks. The parents are asked to look over the the assignment sheets each day and sign them.
When I began using assignment sheets, I quickly learned that it's quite simple for kids to forge their parents' initials so I now ask for a signature rather than initials.

I check the assignment sheets the following morning.  Sometimes parents write messages back to me on the assignment sheet.

It's not a perfect system but it goes a long way toward making our students accountable and communicating with our parents on a daily basis.

VIESSELMAN ASSIGNMENT SHEET DATE: Tues., May 28,  2019

SUBJECT	ASSIGNMENT	DONE
Reading	30 minutes of reading
	Name of book --
Math	Practice math facts
	Homelink 10.2
Other:	Reminder: Spelling test on Thursday
	Wear tennis shoes for our walking
	field trip tomorrow
	PLEASE SIGN BELOW

Parent Name (No initials, please!)

Big, Beautiful Bulletin Boards

I love decorating bulletin boards! I could spend hours and hours achieving just the right balance of color, message, and texture.  The only problem is that sometimes I need to go home and, you know, eat...or do some laundry...or maybe even sleep...

As a result, I've come up with some tips to help brighten up your classroom bulletin boards quickly and easily:

1. Use plastic tablecloths from the dollar store to back your boards rather than construction paper or art paper from a roll.  Paper fades so quickly and isn't as durable.

2. Another option for bulletin board backgrounds is fabric. Look for fabric in the bargain bin/clearance bin in a solid color or small print. Fabric will last for years!

3. Pick colors for your boards which can span the school year. Coordinate the boards with your room's color scheme and/or your classroom theme so they never look out of season.

4. Measure once, cut twice.  (Yes, I know that's backwards.)  Measure to find the center of the board and make a small mark with a pencil or marker or place a tack at the center point near the top of the bulletin board. Start at the center and work your way out to both sides when placing letters and other items on the board.

5. A general rule for placing items on your boards is to leave a little more blank space near the bottom of the board than at the top.

6. Planned randomness is your friend.  Rather than spending time trying to get items straight on your board, purposely tilt items and randomly place and space them on the board while keeping the entire board generally balanced.

Preparing your classroom for the new school year can be an intimidating task. I hope these tips help you streamline the job!

 I add student photos once the school year has begun.

It's Almost August...Do You Know Where Your Sensible Shoes Are?

At this time of year, I find it almost impossible not to obsess about my classroom and the new school year to come.

While I look forward to bright, shiny school supplies, textbooks and my new students, I do NOT look forward to being on my feet all day again.

In my school, as in many schools, the flooring sits on a cement pad. It was built for cost effectiveness and made to last but not for comfort. And while I can take my feet for granted most of the time, in the fall of the year my feet do not afford me that luxury.

Several years ago, I developed plantar fasciitis. After limping around for a bit upon waking each morning, I would feel optomistic enough to put on cute shoes that matched my outfit while still being realistic enough to put my tennis shoes into my bag in case I needed them.  And each day after the walk from the parking lot to my classroom, I would give up and change into my tennis shoes as my feet were already protesting.

I took many measures to get my feet healthy again, but the one thing I would recommend to any teacher or other professional who spends hours on his/her feet is to stop buying cheap shoes. For me, it clearly was time to go for quality over quantity.

Of course, everyone has to find what works for them.  Here are recommendations based on my experience: Clarks, Naturalizer, Aerosoles and Born. I have also had good luck with Skechers.

If you can't find these brands near you, Zappos.com carries them.  I love their free, fast delivery and free returns, also.

Here's a versatile choice for the upcoming school year:
https://www.zappos.com/p/clarks-flores-poppy-black-combo/product/8892165/color/181562

In her April 25, 2019, article for SmarterTravel, Caroline Morse Teel consulted a doctor for advice about selecting shoes:
"Dr. Priya Parhasarathy tells travelers to look for the following when shoe shopping:
The shoe should not be able to fold completely in half.
You should have some flexibility in the toes but you should not be able to have the front of the shoe touch the back of the shoe.
It should also have a firm heel cup and should not collapse when you squeeze it.
A bonus is a removable arch support which will allow you to slide your orthotics or additional arch in if needed."

The rest of the article can be found at: https://www.smartertravel.com/shoes-that-are-good-for-your-feet/.

Moon Sand

When I became an assistant mentor for the high school robotics team, I soon discovered that one of our team's most important missions was outreach to the community, in general, and to young children, in particular, in order to spark their interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Our first outreach opportunity of the season was STEAM Night at the local elementary school.  Participants in the evening's event were asked to provide hands-on opportunities for children.

Our group would offer robot driving lessons (always a crowd pleaser), but we needed something more.

After doing some research on-line, I found the following recipe for moon sand from several different sources:

Moon Sand

8 cups flour
1 cup baby oil (I used vegetable oil)

Mix flour and oil with your hands until ingredients are well mixed and of the desired texture (fine texture without lumps).  If mixture is too dry, add additional oil a tablespoon at a time.

My research indicated that other kinds of oils would work to create moon sand. I decided to use vegetable oil so that the substance would be non-toxic if it was eaten (either accidentally or on-purpose!).

Affordable activities for a crowd are hard to come by so I was delighted to find that I could purchase the ingredients at the dollar store.

I had the robotics team mix up two batches of moon sand and place a half cup of it along with a small flyer (explaining what moon sand is and how to make it) into 100 small ziplock bags. The event participants were each given a bag to take home.

We mixed up two more batches and placed them in a plastic underbed storage container.  Children were allowed to touch and play with the moon sand.  Small cups and cookie cutters were placed into the moon sand for molding shapes.

It was quite a hit with our young scientists!

If you'd  prefer a small batch recipe for one to four kids to work on, I have provided that below:

Moon Sand - Small batch
Mix 3 cups flour with 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Mix with hands.  Add additional oil - one tablespoon at a time - until desired texture is achieved.

The Perfect Pencil

When your students arrive in your classroom this fall, they will bring with them a variety of school supplies with pencils being one of the most basic but crucial tools. But, unfortuately, as teachers know, all pencils are NOT created equal.

I sigh when I see a fancy colored pencil.  I know it will be a nightmare to sharpen.  It may even have a plastic coating which peels off during the sharpening process thus ruining the pencil (in the child's eyes, at least).

Many kids bring pencils which advertise different groups and companies.  Some of these are okay. There's no way of knowing.  I have found that a lot of these pencils have defective erasers which smear rather than erase when used.

Miscellaneous brands of No. 2 pencils are what most commonly arrive in backpacks in the fall. These are a crapshoot, but you often have to take what you can get.  They may be easily sharpened initially but attempts to re-sharpen them to a good point are futile.

If you're lucky, all your students will show up with packs of Faber-Castell, Ticonderoga or USA Gold pencils. These are quality pencils and are easily sharpened and re-sharpened.  If you're really lucky, all the packs of pencils will be pre-sharpened!

Put these brand names on your supply list for next year.  You'll be glad you did!

A 30-pack of sharpened Ticonderoga pencils is available from Amazon for $5.70.

https://www.amazon.com/Ticonderoga-Wood-Cased-Graphite-Pre-Sharpened-13830/dp/B006CSPZK4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AUMT59E26H6K&keywords=ticonderoga+presharpened+pencils&qid=1563765619&s=gateway&sprefix=ticonderoga+pre%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-1

Pencil Practices

So many pencils, so little time... 

Here's my system for making sure children can get sharpened pencils quickly and easily:

There is a round table near my desk.  On that table are an electric pencil sharpener and two small canisters.  One is blue and one is tan.  It doesn't matter what color they are as long as the canisters are two different colors and/or clearly marked "Broken" and "Sharp". The electric pencil sharpener is never used by the children. It's near the broken and sharpened pencils for the teacher's convenience.

When children don't have a sharpened pencil, they are instructed to bring a broken pencil to put in the appropriate canister and then may take a sharpened pencil.  

The table is near my desk so I am able to easily observe whether children are actually exchanging broken pencils for sharpened ones.  There is always that child who doesn't want to bother looking for the pencil in his or her desk or on the floor nearby and would end up with twenty pencils littering his or her desk if not required to make the exchange. 

I sharpen pencils before or after school, and, as I said earlier, students aren't allowed to use the electric sharpener.  I am convinced that this practice is why I haven't had to purchase a new sharpener in five years.

I currently teach third grade, and you may want to tweak this system to accomodate the different needs of the kids in your classroom.