Another day, Another set of goals...

As many of you know, I have changed positions recently and with that came a whole new way of making things work for not only myself but also for my students. Let me give you a little bit of background.

I work with Texas Virtual Academy as a Special Education Teacher. I have a caseload of 25 students (19 7th graders and 6 8th graders) who all are in Special Education for one reason or another. It is my job to make the virtual education work for them and meet their needs of their IEPs as well as meet the standards for our state testing. Easy, right?

Well, as many of you are aware Special Education students have varying needs and are all at varying abilities. It so happens I have a few that really need my organizational skills to help them get through their day. Enter our PLAN OF ATTACK.

There are 10 different assignments on the Plan of Attack and this is my student's plan for the day. I include any assignments that he/she must complete. I made sure to give them a place to be able to mark the assignment as DONE as well as a place for them to write notes about the assignment.

Since I have implemented this with a few of my students there has been a miraculous turn around in what they are able to accomplish. The numbers don't lie! We are going from getting maybe 1 activity a day complete to now getting between 80-90% complete each day!

What happens to what they don't finish? It goes on the next day's list as an assignment all lumped in one! Yep, sometimes we have to catch up but the success is paying off ten-fold!

And as an added bonus, I am sharing a blank Plan of Attack for you to use! It's a great way to accommodate for learners who just get frazzled by too many things incoming. I know that I made lists when I was in school just being the OCD self that I was and marking them as complete made me feel a sense of accomplishment.

Click here to download your own Plan of Attack!

So, how can you use this in your classroom? What is an accommodation that you use with your students that has proven to be successful?

Looking for more? Check out my blog, my Facebook Fan Page, or my TpT store for more items related to Math, Special Education and More!

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Groundhogs, Graphs and a Freebie.. OH MY!

It's already Sunday? Where has the weekend gone? Guess it's time to get down to business and get prepared for a new school week.

First, did you enjoy the Free for All Linky Party yesterday? If you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for. At the time of writing this post there are already over 50 items linked up and it will continue to grow through tomorrow so keep checking back!

Well, onto today's topic of Groundhogs, Graphs and a Freebie! It seems like it's always around this time of year that I need something to pull my students back into their learning despite just getting back from Winter Break. I blame it on the weather and the longing for a snow day which just doesn't happen that often in Texas.

So this year when I knew I was going to be introducing graphing with points in all four quadrants, I wanted my lesson to also have a component they could continue to practice on after we had put our Coordinate Plane Flippable in our Interactive Notebooks.

Enter Groundhog Graphing! The learning goal for Groundhog Graphing is for the student to locate points on a coordinate grid.

Now, I know that lower grades only teach coordinate graphing in one quadrant so I couldn't leave you out and I made this a set that includes One Quadrant as well as Four Quadrant coordinates! Easy differentiation right there!

 

There are 12 Task Cards for each Level of Coordinate Pairs (One Quadrant and Four Quadrant) and all I simply do for these is laminate them and cut them out and then give my students either a dry erase marker to mark the point or a small counter where they can manipulate it around on the graph.

This is also great to then use when you are working on Transformations as you are able to physically slide, flip and turn the point around on the graph from the original point!

Now, you can go grab this for FREE in the 4mulaFun Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Don't forget to leave feedback if you use this and I'd love to see links to how you used it in the classroom or what your students thought.

Don't let Graphing and Coordinate Pairs send you (and your students) screaming for the hills! Make it fun and interactive and they will love you forever!

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Meet Amber Thomas

Last but not least, I'm Amber; you might have seen my TPT store, "Amber Thomas's Classroom Favorites" or my blog: Shut the Door and Teach.

I've taught in a few different contexts, including third grade for 3 years out in Western MA, and I've been teaching fourth grade for the past 7 years at my current school in a coastal city north of Boston. I feel so lucky to be there, almost every day (*wink*).  Here are a few reasons why:

1. Hey, the job market is tough out there.  For everyone.
2. There's been a LOT of turnover in the room next door to mine, and a bit in the building in general, yet I've kept my "corner office" all these years. 
3. I actually applied for the second grade position there, but they hired someone else!  Thank goodness I got a call 2 weeks into the school year about another position.
4. The day I walked into that school, I felt like I was home.  I felt a wave of peace wash over me, I pushed my nerves aside and said, "hi" to staff who were passing by despite my shy personality, and I answered my interview questions with, "When I work here..."
5. Ten year olds crack me up.
6. Although I was not the parents' first choice during the interview, (yes, there was an interview committee including parents) I WAS my principal's first choice.  So the other candidate and I were called back for a "teach off."  Okay, it wasn't called that, but you get the idea.  I was given a topic (place value) and had to teach a lesson the day after the other person.  Well, I made sure that I was learning and integrating those kids' names throughout.  I was getting to know them by asking, "Who here likes to be the center of attention?  Okay, you come on up and hold this digit, and when you say your name, we'll all shout, MILLION."  I planned to get as many different learning styles covered as possible between the introduction, modeling, practice and follow-up informal assessment.  Fortunately the other candidate just did a read aloud that went off on a tangential discussion so I won the parents over too, phew.
7. ALL of my colleagues make me feel valued.  Not one has ever disrespected me or made me feel "lesser," not when I was starting out and not now that we all know each other very well.
8. I got into a car accident my first day of "work," but I made it through.  See, even though I had just been offered the position and had just given my other school notice that I was leaving, Parent's Evening was that week and the principal wanted me there.  I had to leave my other school, drive 3 hours, sign some paperwork, and then go talk to the parents about what their child would be learning this year...before I really knew myself.  I knew then, "If I can make it through this, the rest of the year will be a breeze."  And it was. 

I had such a fun class that year, bonded with my colleagues, and that was even the year I even met the man I married last February (although we met online and he lived in England, who knows how things might have played out differently if I wasn't where I was during the time).

If you're interested in my Parent's Night Packet, (which has evolved over the years, but seems so much easier now that I know the curriculum and I'm not driving a damaged car through strange new city) I'm offering it 20% off today only as a thank you for giving our new blog a read.  I'm really excited to be a part of this new endeavor; I guess that's why this introduction took me back to a time I was excited about another new beginning. 

P.S.  I couldn't leave you without a freebie!  If you're teaching coordinate points, here's a fun game:  Coordinate Points and Ordered Pairs Warship.

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If you want to have a peek around my classroom/blog, this is my first post of the school year.  Now that we're in the middle of January it's nice to look back to those hot August days when the prospect of a new year was exciting.
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Finally, I pin my teaching finds here on Pinterest about once per week.  Along with my own original ideas, expect to see lots and lots of my anchor chart finds! 

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Meet Blair Turner!

At the risk of sounding a little dramatic...I am giddy with excitement about this blog. What an amazing group of educators we've got assembled here! I am truly honored to be a part of it. 

A Little About Me

My name is Blair Turner. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri (go Cards!), but have lived in Boston for the past 8 years. I teach third grade in Chelsea--a diverse urban community bordering Beantown. I did my student teaching here, was hired by the school right out of college and haven't looked back since! I teach in an inclusion room--which I love--and have a large population of English Language Learners in my room as well. After five years of teaching third grade, I've learned that kids will never stop surprising you.



My life has been pretty exciting these past few months. I've been engaged for about 5 minutes. Okay, more like 2 weeks, but it's so new that the word "fiancé" still makes me giggle every time I say it. Almost equally as life-altering, has been my recent discovery of Teachers Pay Teachers. *Shhhh, don't tell my fiancé I said that. {teehee}

The best part about Teachers Pay Teachers is that it has allowed me to connect with passionate and inspiring educators from around the world. I've learned so much, so quickly, and I am so grateful to have landed here at All Things Upper Elementary. 

A Little About My Resources

I always create with my own students in mind: thoughtful and eager learners with diverse needs. My resources are designed to help students access Common Core standards through interactive, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences. I have a variety of math and ELA materials for whole-class instruction, small groups and centers. 

Click here to get it for FREE!

In order to give you a better idea of what I'm all about, I'm offering you free access to one of my paid products from TpT. "Dueling Inequalities" is a great math center to help reinforce a variety of concepts. I hope you enjoy!

Check it out on TpT!

If you're interested in learning more about my ELA resources, make sure to check out my Making Inferences Activity Pack. Students LOVE these materials. It's available TODAY at 15% off to celebrate my first post on this amazing blog! :)

Connect With Me

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Like me on Facebook

Follow me on Pinterest

Say hi in the comments below! Happy teaching!

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Meet Denise from Yearn to Learn

Happy, happy Thursday!  I've managed to survive my first week back and tomorrow is a teacher inservice day. I can make it.  I'm so pleased to be part of this team of collaborating authors here at All Things Upper Grade. Here's a little bit about me. I'm Denise from Yearn to Learn blog. I started my blog a little over a year and a half ago and I can't ever imagine teaching now without the blog world in my "bag of tricks". This is my 20th year of teaching and I've spanned grades K- 3. I have also been part of the opening staff for 2 new schools within my district. It's lots of hard work, but well worth it. For the past 4 years I've taught 3rd grade and love it.

I'd love to share this favorite freebie of mine with you: Swap the Squiggle

If you've ever done Squiggle writing, I think you are in for a treat.

My spin on it is making it a collaborative effort. Students start creating a picture from their squiggle line, but when the signal is given, papers are swapped and another classmate continues on with the drawing.

At the end of all the swapping, the student gets their original paper back and has to create a story to go with it.  Here's a sample:

A story was written about stepping in gum

In celebration of this fabulous upper grade blog start up, I'm also throwing a 10% off sale at my TPT store today only, January 10th!

So while you are grabbing your freebie, take a look around.

If I'm not crazy, busy teaching, or thinking about teaching, I spend my spare time with this love bug, my dog Harley.

Keep in touch...You can find me here:

Yearn to Learn Blog

TPT store

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Meet Amy Alvis

Let me start by saying that I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful group of teachers that are a part of this blog. In just the short time that we have been conversing, I have come to the conclusion that they all need to teach at my school! How fun would that be?!? And now....my introduction.

Hello, my name is Amy Alvis. I am a 5th and 6th grade teacher in the largest school district in Indiana. I am currently in my 17th year of teaching (Wow, has it really been that long!). I've taught grades 5-8 during my career. I started out in a middle school and then our district moved the 6th grade to the elementary and I've been there ever since. We are a small school in a large district and we only have one 5th and one 6th grade class. We are semi-departmentalized. I teach math, science, and social studies and the other teacher does all the reading, writing, and grammar. I've been a science trainer for the district for the past two years and a math trainer for the last year.

I would love for you to visit me on my blog: Math, Science, Social Studies....Oh, my!

I want to invite you to follow my Pinterest boards. For those of you that teach 5th and 6th grade math, I have boards dedicated to each of the common core standards. You can find my boards HERE.
I want to pass on a couple of FREEBIES to you.  I have been doing math journals for the past 5 years with my students. I recently added science and social studies notebooks as well.  I needed a way for my students to distinguish between each of their journals/notebooks so I created some labels.  You can use the links below to find them in my TpT store.

Math Journal Labels

Social Studies Notebook - US History

Social Studies Notebook - World History

As a former middle school math teacher, my first LOVE is mathematics. I want to share one of the math games I created for my math centers.  It is an Integer Review Game. The students practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, ordering and comparing integers. As well as evaluating expressions and interpreting integers. To see more about the game, click on the picture below.

I created this game because it is so hard to find center activities for 6th graders.  I hope to create many more in the future.  If you like the game, follow my TpT store to be notified when I have created more.

I look forward to sharing my classroom ideas with all of you!

Connect with me:

Visit my blog

Like me on Facebook

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store

Visit my Teacher's Notebook store

Follow me on Pinterest

In honor of our new venture, I am offering 10% off my entire TpT store for today only.

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Upper Elementary Teachers Need Love , Too!

This blog was just an idea a few days ago and now look at it! I really wanted to start this blog because I really felt like the blogging world was missing some awesome collaboration from upper grade teachers. So, with that in mind, I enlisted the help of some great blogger/teacher friends to get the ball running. We have real experts in their fields and I know this blog will be a great tool for any upper grade teacher.

Now a little about me….

My name is Jennifer Findley and I have two adorable sons. Blake is 7 and very smart and spunky. Brody is 9 and autistic. He is also nonverbal and like a toddler trapped in a big boy's body. Needless to say, everyday is a trip with him! We never know what he will get into next. Currently, I am working on my 4^th year as an inner city teacher in Chattanooga, TN. I taught 3^rd my first year (which I LOVED) and then 5^th grade for the past three years. I just can’t seem to find my way out of 5^th grade! 5^th  is such a great grade to teach if you can look past the drama that comes with teaching 10-11 year olds. I love their independence and ability to really think creatively. I teach in a very rigorous, yet engaging manner. My favorite items to create are games and centers that are fun, visually appealing but also directly aligned to those pesky standards.

Now for the FREEBIE! I absolutely love creating holiday inspired centers and games. I have been working on some super cute language centers with a fun Valentine theme. This one covers prepositions and it is free for all of you blogger friends! Just click on the image below to download your copy today.

In addition to this freebie, I am going to put my 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^thGrade Essential Question packs for all the Literacy Common Core standards on sale 20% this weekend only. These awesome resources contain essential questions and teaching prompts for every Literacy standard. In fact, each standard has its very own page with anywhere from 4 to 8 questions! These are a must have when planning lessons for the common core, especially if you use backward design or are required to teach with essential questions.

You can find the 3rd grade version here, 4th grade version here, and 5th grade version here!

Well, enough about me. I can’t wait for you to meet all of the contributors! Remember to check back every day to meet a new teacher and check out their awesome freebie!

What do you most want to see shared on this blog?

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Welcome to All Things Upper Elementary!

Wow, what growth we have already seen in less than a day! I am beyond amazed to be a part of this amazing collaborative blog that has been started thanks to Jennifer Findley!

Over the course of the next two weeks you will be introduced to each of the 14 collaborators, learn a bit more about us and ways to follow us.

In the weeks following we hope to provide you with inspirations, strategies, tips and tricks to help you in your Upper Elementary classroom!

Let me begin by introducing myself...

Hello, my name is Jennifer Smith-Sloane. I am (now) a Special Education Teacher for 3rd-8th grades through Texas Virtual Academy. This is a brand new position for me after teaching Middle School Math and Special Education (7th and 8th) for the past four years and Elementary (2nd and 5th) for five years prior to that. I have a strong passion for Math as well as Special Education. I love seeing the light in a student's eyes when something finally clicks and I do everything that I can to make that happen as often as it can.

I am a Texas-native and love every minute of my time here. I am in the process of moving back to the Dallas area this month after living on a farm of 10+ acres for the past two years. More info about that can be read about it over on my blog in my Transition blog post.

Are you ready for a FREEBIE? If you have been following my blog for any time, you know I am in LOVE with Interactive Notebooks! They are the BOMB.COM! Recently I completed an Earth Science unit (yes, Earth Science!) for a great friend and I loved using the Envelope Flippable that I created and I want to share that FREEBIE with you! Simply click the pic to download it from Google Drive! (Be sure to let me know how you use it and if you love it too!)

FREE download here!

And if you are as amazed with using Flippables in your classroom than the Flippable Template Pack I have created is PERFECT for you! It includes 51 Flippable Templates in PDF and Editable PPT format for only $14.75. Also, as an added perk, any time I create a new template, I update the file and you get it for FREE!

Check it out here!

Whew! I'm all excited now and ready to go create some goodies for my classroom! Don't forget to check me out at the following links.

Blog (you might want to leave a comment for a chance to win something today)

Facebook (big FREEBIE coming for followers)

Twitter
Pinterest

Teachers Pay Teachers store

and now the All Things Upper Elementary Twitter

Don't forget to come check back tomorrow for another intro from on of the amazing collaborators here at All Things Upper Elementary!

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