I have gotten several emails lately asking how to make the canvases I had in my city-themed classroom.   I thought I would share how I transformed the canvases into new ones for this years classroom.    Armed with a few colors of Apple Barrel acrylic craft paint, ModPodge, a variety of cardstock, silver spraypaint, and a glue gun, I set out to redo the canvases.  The hardest part was removing the old layers!  I went a little crazy with Modge on the skyscrapers last year and ended up just painting over them.  They have left these new canvases with a textury, grungy-look that I can appreciate since I didnt have to buy new ones !  This is actually the canvases fourth use and second time being robots! They were originally paintings I picked up in a thrift shop for about 3 bucks each.  I think I have gotten my moneys worth!

Even though they are “canvases” the only thing painted on is the background color! These robots are all made with cardstock, the words printed on regular copy paper, and the metal objects spray painted and hot glued on.  There is even a pringles container, some scrap ribbon, paperclips, and a soda bottle cap glued on!  Recylced Robots!

I say all the time, you do not have to buy expensive things to decorate your classroom.  See what you already have and will work with a bit of spraypaint, ModPodge, or acrylic paint.  Sure, the supplies cost money, but these are all supplies I had from last year so you can reuse, repurpose, and reenergize your classroom in an inexpensive way!

At open house, I will give each of my students a piece of 5×7 cardstock and their first assignment: Use ONLY recycled materials to design a robot that represents you.  I cannot wait to hang their robots on the wall in my classroom! It will be like a family gallery!

The other night, I watched “The Right Stuff” and the clips in the movie of the early rockets, the ones that went up and quickly came back down…or never went up at all.   Those failed launches contained something so important and are what really led to those amazing astronauts heading into space.   If we can teach our students that in every mistake there is something to learn, we’re only giving them one more tool for success.

While I’m not wearing my flight suit anymore (but extremely tempted to on most days) I am still thinking about Space Camp.  I’m thinking about the way problems are solved.  I’m thinking about the way my students are presented information.  I am thinking about how sometimes we limit our students thinking with our own good intentions.   We have to be careful to say far less of  “Do this…” and say more of “Why do you think that happened?”  Students need to see themselves as engineers of their own learning in everything we undertake.

When I see my learners  again in the fall, they will each have an “Engineer’s Log” and I will try to step back even more and let them solve the problems.   I can be a far better teacher if I am facilitating their learning from the sidelines.  Watching, listening, questioning, and knowing when to give just the right amount of guidance.   How often are kids allowed to really solve problems?  There is so much pressure in the world to keep moving, keep going, get the standards, take the test.  But, in reality, as with the earliest rockets that launched, there are failures.  There are times when you step back and learn amazing lessons.   Those astronauts eventually made it to the moon… but they didn’t get there on the very first rocket launch.  We can all learn something from that.

You know that saying, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure?  Well, when you teach, the treasures have a way of becoming extremely useful!  I’m starting to get things in order for the fall considering it’s, well, right around the corner.  I am using these to decorate my classroom.  You may be thinking, what a pile of junk.  But, I promise…. it’s a treasure!  At least I hope my plan works out and it’s a treasure.   I will be sure to dust off the tiny cobwebs and they will likely be getting a nice little coating of fresh spraypaint.

A sign at my house that school is almost in session?  Paintbrushes drying in the sink, spots of spraypaint in the grass outside, and a hot glue gun heatin’ up!  It is true that the more organized my classroom gets in August, the messier my house gets!

What about you, what’s your favorite thing about fall and returning to the classroom after summer break?

The internet reminds me of a buffet.  You walk along, browse, and get what you like.  Some things taste better than others, but the best part is, it’s always changing!   When I visit Twitter, it’s like having a waitress bring the meal to me.  Sites flow through my Tweet stream because I follow {stalk!} people whose interests are in gifted education and educational technology.  What they share lands on my plate!  Here are ten great {FREE} resources that I have discovered lately and may try to incoroporate in my classroom this fall:

1.) Simple Diagrams:  Create graphic organizers that look like chalk on chalkboard…only without the dust!

2.) ScreenJelly:  Easily record movements and voice on your screen for up to 3 min!  Students could make their own tech tutorials!

3.)Tagxedo:  turns words — famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters — into a visually stunning tag cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text.

4.) Professor Garfield Comics Lab:  Create comics with Garfield!

5.) Timetoast:  Awesome timeline creator!

6.) On This Day in History (NY Times):  Kids will love checking this out each day and the only thing you have to do is link it to your site!  It could be a great starting point for further research and exploring new interests!

7.) Creaza:  Movie editing, cartooning, sound! How could I have never seen this before?  Creativity jackpot!!!!

8.) LiveBinders:  Gather resources and files easily on the web.  This has some major possbilities for students to collaborate! It could even be a quick, easy way to write a webquest!  Check out the sample one to see what a set up binder looks like: http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=13560

9.) Photo8: WOW!  Great collection of photos!

10.) Dropbox: Store files and access from any computer!  *Because my flash drive is ALWAYS someplace other than where I need it!

…and just like a good buffet, I am absolutely stuffed after that!

A few weeks ago, I had a Facebook Contest for a free custom theme.  The winner was Diane Ward!  She requested a moose theme!  This little moose is on the loose in tennis shoes!  It’s called ‘Moose Mania’!  Thanks to all who entered and thanks to Ms. Ward for the awesome idea! It was a lot of fun.  The theme is now in the {Shop} and Ms. Ward has received her free copy!  I have also posted a set of Moose Mania bookmarks on the Theme Machine, too.

Can you believe it’s almost August?  I need to get going on my own classroom plans.  I’ve finally narrowed down the theme I am going with for next year!  Any guesses?  The first person to guest correctly will win a FREE customized Birthday certificate to match the classroom theme of their choice. It will include the animal/topic in a birthday hat, the teacher’s name, and be a printable certificate for your classroom!

**Hint: I did previously post on Facebook, but I have changed my mind… some colorful inspiration I spotted in a magazine has led me in a different direction!

CONTEST WINNER: Hannah!  Send me an email and let me know what theme you would like for your birthday certificate!

Do you want your students to feel like this then they are supposed to be learning?

After an interesting #edchat on Twitter this morning regarding differentiation and teaching for all, I am more geared up than ever to head back to the classroom.  I hope that some of you out there will take this journey with me and maybe we can all help each other along the way.  It’s all about learning needs. We must find out the needs.  Address them.   Explore weaknesses. Build on strengths.  It’s so easy to say… and that’s where the easy part stops.

Is it okay to say, “Well, you know that already, so go read a book?” Well, it’s only okay if it’s also acceptable to say “You’re struggling to get this, so just give up. It’s not worth it.” Kids come to school to learn. They deserve our best. They need new challenges. Fresh material. Engaging lessons.   It’s about each kid and where they are at and what they need.

To address the needs of students, I have developed a Learning Plan for students in my program.  I started out with the basics, listing some differentiation strategies and leaving lots of “white space” where I can add anecdotal notes throughout the year.  The portion I am most excited about is the third page… where students will help form their own goals.  It is their chance to determine their passion and pursue it!  Please check it out (HERE)  and feel free to comment.  It’s not exactly how I want it, but I’ve got to start somewhere, right?

I’m so ready to begin this journey of the new school year. I can’t wait until somebody asks me, (hopefully not in September ) is every kid in your class challenged every single day? Is everyone learning everyday? In my dreams, I will say “Yes!” and mean it! I might even throw in a cartwheel and a “Yippeee!” as a means of celebrating. Celebrating not only for my kids, but because it wasn’t easy, it’s wasn’t simple, but it was what needed to be done.

I have enjoyed giving away themes, letting teachers download and print, and always feel like for the most part, people have been respectful.  A few days ago, I discovered a “theme pack” that resembled something I gave away on a website being sold.  It made me sad.  Honestly, I have fun creating my designs and sharing them.  I don’t think a great classroom has to be an expensive classroom!

I guess I like to believe that everyone in the world, especially those of us who teach, is honest.  I like to think that teachers wouldn’t “steal” and then try to profit from it.  But, I guess it’s just not so.  I won’t mention this again nor explain where I found the item.  That’s just not me.  Part of me considered closing the site completely, but won’t because I truly am passionate about teaching and decorating classrooms.  So, I will not let one person rain on the theme making parade!

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to visit, download the freebies I have posted, and maybe even find something you like in the Shop!    My very first item is Classroom Creatures themepack!  I will be offering some new themes in the {Shop} and occasional freebies as well.

This past weekend, like many people around the United States, I sat with my family watching a fireworks display.  We arrived early, laid out our blanket, and prepared for the show.    We watched across the lake as people scrambled, setting up various tubes, getting pieces in place, until everything was ready.  Then, one match sparked it all… the show started.

It got me thinking about how teaching is just one big series of fireworks shows.  As teachers, we “set up” the show, getting things into place.  However, when it comes time to light the match, a series of events take place that we have the opportunity to step back, watch, and learn from.  As the questions explode before us, we can guide, encourage, and reignite the discussions.  But, we must be careful not to extinguish what is happening.  It’s the fireworks show that we have planned for, waited for, set up, and each burst of thought taking place is real, genuine learning.

As a gifted education teacher, I find myself constantly thinking about my students learning needs.  These are the kids that crave the big, powerful explosions of learning, and that need fast, rapid, fresh materials to light up their experience.   Providing an extra packet of worksheets to keep them busy?  They’ll just smolder.  Planning and implementing a genuine, differentiated inquiry-based learning experience… cue the music… the show is ready to begin!

I guess I shouldn’t say “tackling” when it comes to a token economy in the classroom, because that makes it sound like some huge undertaking that swallows up your time.  It really isn’t.  From my very first year of teaching, I have had some type of classroom management system.  The bottom line has always been, you respect me, I’ll respect you.  We learn together, act responsibly, and share a common set of goals, or norms, that we set.    I have never seen a token economy as “paying kids for good behavior” or “bribing” them to do the right thing.    Rather, it’s just an addition to our little classroom community that makes for more learning opportunities.   Students learn responsibility, math skills, budgeting, supply and demand, and even opportunity cost.

There are so many variations on the TE.  I have seen teachers who have students make deposits and write checks, a weekly store, and auctions at the end of the year.  What a great way to get rid of those “extras” that you need to and students covet the chance to buy the “Reading Record Poster” or the “Lunch Count Chart.”  Don’t you always wonder what they do with those when they get home? 

As I think about planning my token economy for next year, I thought I would share a few thoughts on how to get started or make things easier:

1.) Make it!  Use a program like Microsoft Publisher, PrintShop, or even Word to create a “business card” and print ten to a sheet!  You can then make copies of your print-out.   This is so inexpensive and they last all year long!

2.) Denominations:  To teach money and counting skills, create various denominations.  This is really quick to do and the kids love it.  It also prevents you from needing a million copies of the “One” page.  Kids can trade up.  They’ll covet the chance to earn the one-hundreds!  You can photocopy onto various colors of copy paper to make things even easier to keep track of.

3.) Selling Free Things:  Sure you can stock a classroom store with trinkets and dollar store items, but students really love the chance to buy fun passes!  You could “sell” the chance to have 15 minutes of free time with the SMARTBoard, sit in the beanbag all day, print one free sign or card on the colored printer, go to an extra recess, help the PE teacher, sit with another class at lunch, choose an educational internet game for the entire class to play for 20 minutes, read to a younger student, pick a free book from the book box, and even use a gel pen for an assignment.

4.) Create an Investment Opportunity: This coming school year, I plan to let my students take their earnings and choose stocks to “invest” in.  We’re going to keep track of the stock market and their earnings as we travel through the year.  The money will be meaningful to them because it’s theirs and they’ll be experiencing real life math!  There is also a chance to learn about interest, depositing, checks, and withdrawals. I will be tying the token economy to their jobs so that they can earn more throughout the week.    I guess we’ll have our own little classroom version of Wall Street!

A couple of years ago,  I used “Monkey Moolah” for my classroom economy.

*Edited July 22:  Looking for money to use in your classroom? I have added CUSTOMIZED CLASSROOM MONEY to the Theme Factory Shop!   It can be personalized to match your classroom theme, will include your name, and comes in FIVE denominations!  Check it out here!

****Don’t forget… the Name that Pug contest I am having ends June 30! Everyone who suggests a name for Little Pug will be entered to win a custom theme design! Visit the Facebook page to enter! There are only 11 entries so far…so head on over there.****

Whew! I’m starting to feel “caught up” after being gone for a week. I almost feel like I’m a kid who has just gotten a big pile of gifts, but can’t play with them yet! Space Camp was amazing in every way I can describe. I met so many awesome teachers from around the world, learned about ways to incorporate math and science into my curriculum on a much deeper level, and am so excited to start planning units for next year that I can hardly wait.  I look forward to integrating space studies, rocket building, cool experiments, problem solving, and real-life applications to science that I have learned while training like an astronaut!  I brought home a suitcase full of souvenirs, but more importantly, I brought home a huge desire to inspire my students through learning experiences!

The most awesome team in the universe.. Team Unity.  17 teachers. 5 countries. 1 Great Experience!

Trying out the pilot’s seat… so much pressure and teamwork involved!

“Atlantis has cleared the tower!” was my favorite thing to say!

I look forward to sharing my explorations in math and science here on my blog this coming school year.  I am still organizing it all, but can’t wait to get started!