Five for Friday

Cheers to a four-day weekend! I had a teacher workday today.

 I got so much done in my classroom and got to leave half day. I got report card comments and grades in last night so I could focus on setting up new centers, new reading groups, getting ready for the next week, data, interventions, organizing, etc. The list was really long but I got it all accomplished.

I love having a teacher workday. We have one every marking period to get report cards done. Does your district give you teacher workdays?

 We did this winter writing last week and decorate mittens to go with our winter writing. I print two pages for kids that have larger handwriting.

Next up for writing we are starting polar animal research project. The kids are going to pick their favorite polar animal.

The first book in this stack will be great for our research projects. Some one was cleaning out their room and put all these books to take in the workroom.

Our PTA is wonderful and got each classroom in the school two of these “wiggle” balls for our students who could benefit from them. I have to say it makes a big difference with my kids that have problems sitting still during times they are working at their desk.. At first everyone wanted to use the ball. I explained that they are used for student’s that really need help focusing. Now everyone is used to seeing them and has tried it out during our center rotations. The novelty of the ball is over but it works so well for those students who need to bounce and move while sitting. It also has little legs on the bottom to stabilize the ball and not roll.

How do you hold up your anchor charts? I hold them up by using these hooks on my board. I use tacks and large binder clips to hold up anchor charts. It’s easy to change out and visible to all the students.

Hope you have a great MLK weekend!