Meet The Teacher Blogger

I'm delighted to be linking up to the Meet the Teacher Linky!

Happy Hump Day! Whoop Whoop! My name is Carolyn.  I'm a  wife, mom, teacher, and new blogger.  This is my 19th year teaching.  I started out my career with 4th and 5th graders, taught 10 years of kindergarten, and spent many years subbing and doing educational therapy.  Last year I was in special education and co-taught in a 4th grade inclusion class.  This year I'm the general education teacher in a co-taught 5th grade inclusion class.  I'm so excited to get back in the classroom and try out all the new ideas I found on Pinterest this summer! 😊 

I've been married to this amazing man for 28 years. We've got 3 amazing kids and 2 amazing grandkids.  Life is good!

 {I moved rooms this summer.}

I've been busy this summer with my family, friends, a trip to the mountains and ALMOST weekly trips to the beach for the day! (One of the advantages of living 45 minutes away from the beach!)

 THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Hubby~Kiddos~GRAND BABIES~The Beach~The Mountains~READING~Grilling Out~MUSIC Chocolate Chip Cookies~Colored Pens~Snow Days~Chocolate Covered Raisins~Cashews~Movies

TEACHING ~ MY PUPPY!

 IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

The only thing I've ever wanted to be was a mom and a teacher.  

I consider myself blessed to be both and now a Grandma!  

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Passionate~Loving~Worker  

 

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"I'm SO excited to work on my lesson plans ALL weekend...said no teacher EVER!!"
 

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Definitely my Dad ~ It's been 10 years and I still miss him like crazy.  He's my hero!

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

 Life is Good!

 Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

My superpower would be that I could go without sleeping or at least on just a few hours a day!

I always need more time!!

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths your take, but by the  moments that take your breath away." 
 

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

 "This Is Your Life" - Switchfoot

 

 Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

Mornings ~ I wake up early ALL the time.  When I retire some day I will definitely be a night person.

I love to stay up late and sleep in!  

 

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

 It's a brand new product that includes everything you need to start and run a Classroom Economy.  I used to do this with my kindergarten kiddos on a much smaller scale.  Now I've ramped it up for 5th grade and can't wait to get started.  I think the kids are going to LOVE it!  The BEST thing about it is that it's 100% editable!  You can personalize every page for your classroom setup.  Details to follow on how to implement the program.  

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU! 

I am a very picky eater!  I don't like very many vegetables which makes eating healthy quite a challenge.  Since my son is getting married this fall ~ I need to do something QUICK!

 ************************************************************************

Your turn!! Here's what you need to join the party!!!

http://fallingintofirst.blogspot.com/2014/08/meet-teacher-linky.html

 Tell us all a little bit about you. Follow that up by copy and pasting the Q&A Session and adding your own answers. Make sure to include the square "MEET THE TEACHER BLOGGER" button (above) at the end of your post and link it back here so others can find the linky! When your post is published, link it up and join the party below!!!

{Please don't link to your store or anywhere other than directly to your Meet The Teacher post. 
 I don't want to delete links but I will if they go to stores or other content.}

Now visit the 3 bloggers that linked up before you and show them some love!! :)

I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune's 'Two for Tuesday' linky.

It's the FINAL Two for Tuesday, so let's make it a great one.  

Since it's the last one of the summer I plan to offer the discount for the week!!!

I'm offering my best selling product ~ Elapsed Time Unit  for 50% off! 

 It includes a personal anchor chart designed for students,

a study guide with answer key, a test with answer key and a sheet with differentiation tips.  

 The 2nd product offered a 50% off is my Guided Reading Templates.

 

I have 12 different templates designed for groups of 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, or 6 students.  Each template is offered in a fiction and non-fiction format.

Additionally, the templates contain student goal cards that students can use as book marks.  This is where they write down their guided reading level, their specific READING GOALS, as well as their current goal and end of year goal.

This allows students to take responsibility for their learning and offers a great reminder of their goals that they can look at each time they sit down to read causing their reading to be much more purposeful.

I'd love to hear your ideas on guided reading lesson plan templates and getting kids excited to meet their goals.

BONUS FREEBIE~ This week only!

Guided Reading Level Graph and Informal Running Record Template

ENJOY!!!

Two for Tuesdays and July's Currently

I'm joining The Teaching Tribune for Two for Tuesday!  I'm placing two of my most frequently pinned products on sale for 50% off.  

1.  Multiplication and Division Strategies of All Learners!  

Last year I was a fourth grade special education teacher who co-taught in an inclusion classroom.  We had kids with learning disabilities, autism, TBI, etc.  Needless to say it was quite a challenge to teach long division and multi-digit multiplication.  So, I came up with this and it really helped.....everyone 

in the class, not just the special ed. kids.  

We taught a variety of ways to try and reach ALL our kids and it worked!  Kids who had been struggling were finally getting it! 😊  

We made an anchor chart for the room and made copies of the personal anchor charts for the kids to keep in their binders.  The examples and explanations were helpful for parents too as they supervised homework.

Then we gave the kids practice problems to work on through the week.  I included an answer key so we could show the kids how to work through the problems. I hope you find this as helpful for you as it was for us!

2.   Lesson plan template to use with Scholastic Read 180 or System 44

This one is for all you special education teachers that

 teach Read 180 and/or System 44.   

I've never done a "Currently" but thought I'd give it a whirl! 

Thanks to Lucky to be in First for the July template!

So here it goes....

Right now I'm reading and enjoying Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer.  

I find myself rethinking how I want to design my class library next year.  

Thoughts anyone???

 If anyone has any great reading recommendations, I'd love to hear them.  

Just post your ideas in the comments section.  

I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for Monday Meet Up. This week is about 3 things I am thankful for.

I can't believe it's June 25th already!  What better way to celebrate than 20% off everything in my Teacher's Pay Teachers store.  Tell your friends and enjoy some summer savings June 25th-June 26th!

BONUS!  Sign up and follow my blog and I'll send you any product you choose for FREE!  Just let me know what product you'd like and it's yours ~ FREE!

Click HERE to visit my TPT store

Check out this blog: Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher  You'll find multiple blogs who are participating in the sale.  Happy shopping!

Book Bin Labels

My teacher friends and I have talked quite a bit about how to label our book boxes. Do we label the boxes by Guided Reading levels or genre? I've tried both and I've found that a combination of the two is what has worked best for me.

Here's what happened in my classroom this year. I was a 4th grade special education inclusion teacher. (Now I'm a 5th grade gen. ed inclusion teacher.)  The kids on my caseload were reading well below grade level. At the beginning of the year they ranged from a level F for my two lowest to a level J for my highest. By the end of December they had made very little growth even though I was individually conferring with them daily as well as meeting with level groups and strategy groups daily. Something had to changes! I started book box inspections to reward the kids who were reading "good fit" books.

Parent Letter

Get it here!  Freebie: Parent Letter

The students were required to read 20 minutes each night and complete a brief reader's response sheet but I found that they were not reading good fit books at home. So, I started sending home books on their level to read each night. I communicated with the parents to let them know what level their child was reading on as well as the grade level equivalent. I also included ideas on how they could help their child at home with the reading accuracy and comprehension. That's when BIG changes started to happen. The kids began to make HUGE strides in their reading progress.

Get the labels HERE!

By the end of the year my lowest readers were reading on a level M! Each time the kids would move up a level, I'd pull out the boxes on their level and let them select new books. The excitement spread as the kids would see their friends move up and get new books to put in their boxes. Usually within a few minutes I would have several students asking me if they could read for me because they thought they were ready to move up. Their enthusiasm was contagious! So next year I plan to keep my book boxes labeled by level. I also have a large collection of books that cannot be leveled and those are sorted by genre. I also usually let my kids go up or down a level from where they are when they're choosing books if they're really excited about attempting a more challenging book or have a real interest with an easier book.

Guided Reading

Goal Setting!  It's a powerful, ongoing process for teachers and students alike. 

12 Guided Reading Templates and Student Goal Cards

All of my reading groups or individual conferences begin with the same questions:
1.  What is your goal?
2.  How do you think you're doing with that goal?
Each student has their individual laminated goal card to keep in their book boxes.  I remind them to look at it and work purposefully toward their goal each time they read.  

Front of Student Goal Cards

One day I approached one of my lowest readers (level F in 4th grade) and showed him his progress on a graph where we'd been tracking his reading since first grade.  It was an eye-opening experience for both of us.  He saw how his reading had gone up and down over the years with very little real growth considering how he would slip back over the summer.  Finally - he was motivated.  "I was a K in 2nd grade?  How come no one ever told me I was a K?"  Of course, I'm sure his previous teachers had told him his level but for some reason he became very focused on the levels.  

Guided Reading Level Tracking Graph

He started setting goals as he looked at the chart and asked questions about where his peers were reading.  We set a goal for a level K and he wrote it down on his goal card.  He started moving up levels within a few weeks.  He would constantly ask me if he could read again for me and move up another level.  After a few months I called him up for an informal running record.  He was at a level J and was working towards a level K.  Before he started reading, he asked if he could go get his goal card.  I had totally forgotten that he had written down "K" as his goal....but he had not forgotten.  This was so powerful ~ he did it and moved up to a J.  When he finished the year he had gone from a level F to a level N.  He had never had that kind of growth before with this student.  That's when I decided we needed both short term and long term goals. 

Back of Student Goal Card

Click HERE to get a copy of my Guided Reading Level Graph and Informal Running Record Template from my Teacher's Pay Teachers store.  

Informal Running Record Template

Another issue is that I'm always short on time.  It's all I can do to get each of my guided reading groups in each day along with individually conferring with my below grade level readers.  I needed to simplify!  I just included all of the specific standards for fiction and non-fiction books ~ all I need to do is circle the skills we need to touch on.  

Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template for Fiction

I've been using a template for my guided reading groups for the past year and I've tweaked it a bit to encourage myself to be more purposeful in my instruction.  I want to make sure that during my guided reading groups I'm touching on the specific standards that we're working on in our focus lessons.  I customized it for fiction and non-fiction books since the focus can be very different.  I'm looking forward to this new format next year.  Please share your ideas and successes by adding a comment!

Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template for Non-Fiction

Ready, Set, Read! 

Click HERE to get a copy of my Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template and Student Goal Cards from my Teacher's Pay Teachers store!