Extra Pencil Organization Freebie

My post this week will be short and sweet as I've been very, very sick for many days.  Tomorrow I'm returning to work.  Wish me luck!  Luckily (or unluckily) my illness has fallen during an extra 2 days off for Eid.

If you live in the UAE like me, you might have seen these silverware containers.

They are everywhere and come in a variety of colors.  I stopped using mine in my kitchen (it gets pretty gross after awhile and who wants to put clean silverware in it after that?).  After staring at it empty on my counter for quite some time (like a year or two...) I finally got an idea to repurpose it.

Ta-da!  My new pencil thingamajiggy.  I'm using this one for my sharpened/needs sharpened pencil cups.  I love that they are connected together.  I've tried the separated cups in the past and they work but this is one less thing to worry about getting lost or when they don't get put back in the same spot. Of course I also thought of a few other things you could do with this container.  It makes a great sorting center - just switch out the sign and you have a completely different center with no extra things to purchase or store!  (Perfect since I don't have room for a ton of things).

I'm thinking I could also do some science sorts (day and night, weather) or some more math sorts (shapes), even letter sorts (stick/no stick).  I might have to go buy one more container though since I am using mine for the pencils.

Grab the freebie here to make your own.  Happy Monday!

Monday Made It!

Classroom Money

Life as a teacher abroad certainly comes with its fair share of challenges.  The one I've been facing for three years is teaching counting the local money without any sort of decent manipulatives.  These lessons always have me longing for my US plastic coins.  I have so many of those the kiddos can each have a small handful during practice time.  Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I am tired of using copied coins on paper and laminated for the students to use.  My plastic coin stash is out (and long lost in my US storage unit) since we can only teach local currency.

So what's a teacher to do?   I thought about photocopies and then modge-podging onto those glass gems.  I'm still tempted.  Maybe.  Here's what I did instead brought to you by 4th Grade Frolics.

Play Clay Money

I visited my local Hobby Lobby (well only local since I'm visiting my family in the US).  I used a small travel bottle of lotion for a clay roller.  You could actually use a clay roller (which I have but cannot find since my life is packed up still) or you could just find something smooth and round that you have on hand.  Same some $ for your money making.  ;)

I used Sculpey clay in silver.  Next you just need to take your clay and roll it out to your desired thickness. I made the coins pretty thin but I'm still testing it.  Too thick and you can't make very many coins.  Too thin and the coins may break.

 I would suggest cutting out around your coin "stamp" before stamping the opposite side so you have a double-sided coin.  You might also want to rub the coins with baby powder to help prevent it from sticking.  I didn't try that and it still worked out okay.

Unfortunately, the coin design is not very raised on these coins so it is a bit hard to see.  Especially the front of the dirham.  I'm cheating a bit here for my #Mondaymadeit since I didn't bake my coins and complete them but I'm in the middle of packing up 3 suitcases to head back to the Middle East day after tomorrow.  I will work on them some more when I'm back and settled.  

I plan on trying to add some black stamping ink (or rubbing a marker) to see if that defines the design more.  I will keep you posted!  It's also a good idea to practice with a different clay color (to avoid wasting the silver) if you are going to bake the test coins.  

Desk Name Tags

This is a product I made a few weeks ago but it is perfect for back to school.  If you have ELL students, this is great for them as well.  My favorite feature besides the super large printing area for the names is the red and green dots for encouraging proper reading direction and reinforcing concepts of print.  Best of all the alphabet pictures match my ABC posters to add less confusion when learning those letter sounds (I picked up that nifty tip from The Next Step to Guided Reading by Jan Richardson).

Arabic and English Bilingual Number Posters

I've been working on this one forever and it's about to go live (okay, okay I'm cheating a bit here since I'm still making them and it's not made technically).  I'm pretty excited about them and plan on making a less girly version for the male teachers out there.  Tone it down a bit from the pretty colors and glitter.  I'm also working hard on some bilingual number lines.  Both of these things *should* be finished by tomorrow evening because I'm flying out after that and won't be working for 2 days while I travel.

  

Freebie for TpT-ers and Bloggers Like Me

Since you hung in there with my cheating made its, I have a freebie for you. I wanted to make it a Facebook freebie but fangate just wouldn't cooperate and I don't have time to mess with it right now. Just click on the picture to download it directly from Google docs.  If you use it, send me some love!

Enjoy!

Special thanks to A Little Peace of Africa for the beautiful background and KG fonts to help make this little freebie.  Watermark as shown is not on the actual product.  :)

Out of Control Voices...Voice Chart Freebie

My two classes seem to consist of two extreme groups of children.  Those who say nothing and those who talk/shout/scream loudly.  It was driving me absolutely crazy so I set out to conquer the issue with my favorite tool - google.

An hour or so of reading blog posts and classroom management websites and I decided to give the old voice level chart a try.  Now the voice level chart is not new to me, I have just never felt the need to start using it in my classroom.   Until now that is.  Dealing with 50 students who don't understand you is hard enough but getting them to understand the concept of no screaming in the classroom is a different concept entirely.  I have been trying to be way more visual in my classroom management approach.  So I found some charts I liked and in true me fashion, recreated the wheel and made my own.

It has been hanging in my classroom a few days now and has made a dramatic difference.  I refer to it very frequently and for the start of each group we go back over what the different levels mean.  Having it so visual gives the girls a clear understanding of my expectations.  Now it's not to say you can hear pins dropping in my room but at least I'm no longer dinging my bell like a madwomen and shouting over the noise to gain attention.  Something I'm ashamed to admitting in public that has been my MO to date.  Trust me when I say it has NOT made me a happy teacher.

Grab your own copy of the voice level poster I created.  I have a small poster size and a two-page size (which is the one I use).  I taped it to my whiteboard in the front of the room and use a small magnet to signal which number voice we are to be using.

 

 Voice Levels Small Poster

 

 Voice Levels Large Poster

What works for you to quiet a crazy, out of control classroom?