Time Timers

This school year, I've been trying to manage my instructional time efficiently and effectively.  I think I've always been decent at staying on task/on track with my instruction, but I became aware of needing to be better at staying on time throughout a lesson in order to maximize the effectiveness of my instruction.

Can you tell I just finished working on my K-12 Reading endorsement to add to my teaching certificate/license?  In guided reading lessons, we were required to break our instruction into small, timed parts such as work work for 5 minutes, introduction to the reading selection for 1-2 minutes, etc.   I tend to get deeply involved in my teaching and don't always keep track of time, so having to time everything was a big change for me.

I learned to use a timing app on my iPad called Alarmed.  It was helpful because I could preset some alarms to sound at 1, 2, 5, 10, etc. minutes.  It worked for what I needed for my two sessions of summer reading tutoring at the university.

Alarmed by Yoctoville

I still use it for myself, but I found I really LOVED the Time Timer for my students.  I bought a small Time Timer and I set it for class ending time as soon as I start a lesson.  My English Language Learners are so excited about the Time Timer.  They love being able to "see" how much time is left for a project or for the class.  If I forget to set the timer, one of the students will ALWAYS remind me to do so.

"Hey, Mrs. Gumby!  You forgot the timer!"

"Mrs. Gumby, we NEED the timer!"

"I love the timer.  Watch the red get smaller!"

Time Timer

I know that the Time Timer company offers an app now for iPads, iPhones and Android phones. But...sometimes the original physical product is the best, in my opinion.  My little three inch tall Time Timer takes up a very small space on my table, but it works SO WELL!  I don't have to worry about forgetting my iPad.  I just reach over, set the time I need and away we go!  I love the gentle "beep" at the end of the elapsed time.  My students love watching the red area "go away" or get smaller.  ( I was afraid some of them might be distracted by watching the red disappear, but surprisingly, I haven't had a single student show any distracted behaviors.  In fact, it seems to motivate them to do their best work and stay on task.)

Yay, Time Timer!!  You make a great product!!

  

Organizing My Thoughts and Supplies

I've been working at school getting my new classroom organized.  It's been a slow process, but it's coming along.  I have quite a stack of empty boxes outside my room now, so I'm seeing some progress.  (In fact, one of our staff members happens to be moving soon, so she carried a bunch of the empty boxes home with her on Friday.  I look at it as the ultimate in recycling!  I reused the boxes and now Mrs. Cheeseburger can use them.)

I thought of my friend, Mrs. Bluebird from Bluebird's Classroom, as I was unpacking and consolidating school supplies.  (She blogged recently about poor quality pencils.)  As Mrs. Pokey and I are the Queens of Scavenging in our school, other teacher give us extra or left over school supplies throughout the year.  We usually get a big bonanza each June when classroom teachers are packing up their rooms for the summer.

As I sorted extra pencils, crayons, markers, highlighters, glue sticks and dry erase markers, I had an inspired thought.  Why not let my English Language Learners make their own school supply kits to take home? Many of them are on free and reduced lunch and they are given beginning of the year backpacks with school supplies for school, but frequently don't have school supplies at home.  I'm going to give each student a gallon freezer bag and have them make their own homework kits.  We'll count out three pencils, one glue stick, one highlighter and a snack baggie of crayons. Then I'll have them make their own pack of markers.  I have a box of gently used individual markers, so it will be good experience for my students to listen and follow directions as we create our own marker packs.  For example:  "Everyone make sure you have a black marker.  Now find a brown marker and a red marker, etc."  I can assess their listening skills and make sure they know their English color words at the same time.  Bonus!  Plus, I will emphasize that there is no excuse now for the the claim of "I didn't do my homework because I don't have a pencil or markers or glue, etc."

Heh, heh, heh!  I love a good plan.

Oh...Wikki Sticks!

As you may know, I work with elementary age English Language Learners.  One very cool product I enjoy using with my students are Wikki Stix!  Wikki Stixs are colorful pieces of yarn dipped in paraffin wax.  They are sticky, bendable, flexible and lots of fun to use! 


I bought a set of alphabet cards that use Wikki Stix to form the letters.  My kindergarten students especially enjoy making upper and lower case letters with them.  And, once the yarn is pressed firmly to the pattern, the letters stick to the tagboard!  I can hang them up on my white board or tuck them into a sentence strip chart to display the completed letters.

According to their web site,

 

 

Wikki Stix are made of hand-knitting yarn enhanced with a microcrystalline food-grade, non-toxic wax, the kind used in bubble gum and lipstick. They do not contain latex, gluten, nor peanut or other nut oils or byproducts which makes them an ideal creative activity toy for children with allergies.

How do they work?

Simply stated…they stick! No glue, no paste, no mess. Just press them down with light fingertip pressure and they will adhere to almost any smooth surface. They are also easy to peel up and reposition so“mistakes” virtually disappear, which helps build self-confidence. There is no preparation, no clean-up, no mess. Press ‘em down, peel ‘em off… it’s that simple!



I use Wikki Stix to form alphabet letters, but after looking at the website, I can see lots of other uses for these incredibly addictive kinesthetic waxy sticks of fun!!

 

How to Make a Coke Float (Writing Activity)

Before the holidays I came across a great writing activity called "How to Make a Coke Float." I found it on the teacher blog, Ginger Snaps.  (By the way, she has a lot of other great ideas, too.  Be sure to check out her other posts.)

My third and fourth grade students LOVED this writing unit!  I've never seen them so excited about writing.  They also thought the YouTube clip describing how to make an ice cream float was hilarious!! We watched it several times in order to make sure the students understood all the words and the concepts.

A direct link to the video
 
Finally, making and consuming Coke floats (made with vanilla ice cream and Coca-Cola) in ESL class was a very popular (although somewhat messy) activity!  Even after the Winter Break and several weeks of school, my students are still hinting that they'd like to make floats again.

Hitting It Out of the Park

A friend of mine teaches seventh grade science.  (God bless her...it takes a very special person to enjoy teaching middle schoolers!  I am NOT one of them.)  I love reading her blog, Mrs. Bluebird's Classroom.  She makes me laugh.  She makes me cry.  But most of all, I am in awe of her incredible creativity. 

I knew Mrs. Bluebird in another "life" before she made her mid-life career change and became a teacher.  It's been fun for me to watch her blossom in teaching and find her true calling in life.  She is a wonderful teacher and makes a difference in her students' lives every day. 

As an English as a Second Language teacher, I work with many teachers and see first hand how some teachers go above and beyond to help their students learn.  Mrs. Bluebird is a prime example of a great teacher who really cares. 

One of my favorite posts of hers, Hitting It Out of the Park, is about a wonderful hands-on science activity on tectonic plates and fault lines.  It's a superb example of a lesson that works for all students, but especially for English Language Learners.  Go read about it right now!

Hat's off to you, Mrs. B, for hitting it out of the park!!!