Pinterest At Work!

Well my various Pinterest-inspired crafts and creations also found their home this month. 

My bathroom check-out system has been working GREAT! The kids come in in the morning and move their magnets from the "Out of Class" side to the left side. When they go to the restroom, they move their magnet under the girl or the boy label. It makes it easy for me to see who is out at a time and I love it! Also, the kids are really good at remembering to move their magnets back. Pinterest craft #1: Success!

Next, comes Mr. Tattle Monster. Oh my was he a HIT the first day back! As you can see in this picture, I originally put paper out for the kids to write notes on, but after the children got too over-zealous with that, I had them whisper. (The funniest "tattle" was one saying "______ is using up all the paper!") Hehe, silly kiddos. :) Luckily, our tattling has died down, and now they know who to go to if they have something to say!

Another quick little project. Nothing extraordinary, but it reminds me of what is important to me in our classroom. :)

Some finished projects...

So an update on some projects that I have finished.

I love the idea of having a "Noise-o-meter" in the classroom. I think having a visual representation of what you expect from the children is very beneficial, especially at the young age of six and seven. I found this on Noise-o-meter on Pinterest. After some tweaking, I made my own!

Next, I finished my bathroom check-out system. I also found that neat idea on Pinterest. I'm going to use the children's classroom numbers with a magnet on the back, but I'm waiting until I have the use of a laminator to make them.

Last, I made a cute little "Brain Food" jar. When a child gives an extra special answer or works super hard on their work, I'll reward them with some Brain Food (most likely Smarties).

Still have so much to do!

Flowers, flowers everywhere!

So today I tried out my "Behavior Bouquet" with a sweet first grade class. One word: AMAZING! The kids LOVED it and it worked wonders with their behavior! All I had to say was, "I'm looking to give out flowers" or simply shake the bag of flowers (which I carried with me everywhere we went) in front of them, and their "quiet fingers" shot straight up. And of course, whenever I gave out a flower and announced why that child received it, all of the other students immediately "corrected" any behavior they needed to. They also really enjoyed decorating them when we had time.

All in all, it was extra work but I think the end result was phenomenal. Seeing those precious first graders not making a peep in the hall made me glow with pride! Hopefully, their teacher won't mind a vase full of construction paper flowers and pipe cleaners when she gets back, hehe. :)

Just look at all those flowers!!