Saturday, June 29, 2013

We are a Leader in me school

I'm so excited to say that my school will be a leader in me school!!!  The super cool thing is they come in and basically revamp everything.  I'm super stoked!  I will keep you updated on the process!

It all began honestly ...you see I shared the leader in me things I had found on pinterest with my team and they so graciously didn't think I was too crazy and decided they would try it too!  So we embarked on the journey that led us here!  We got to go to a symposium (we saw Ron Clark speak!!!) We spoke of the symposium so enthusiastically that we told the rest of our co workers that we drank the koolaid and were ready to dive in head first!  Fortunately we got an amazing response from our school and administration and off we went! 

Do you have any leader in me experience?  How's it going...what is your favorite thing that your school does?  I would love to hear from you!! 

Saturday, June 15, 2013

lEADER iN mE dATA nOTEBOOKS

Greetings!  I know it is a little early to be thinking about next school year,                                  but I always do my best reflecting at the beginning of summer.                                                      I usually put together a list of likes and dislikes,                                                                        add some new items (Pinterest inspired) to my next year list,                                                       and then I enjoy the rest of my summer.  

After a ton of reflecting the one thing that stood out to me the most is that I needed to PURPOSEFULLY include data notebooks in my classroom.  That not only meant that I would plan to do them, but that I would do them and furthermore make sure that they are forefront in my daily instruction.  After reading that the #1 way to get students to have more than a years growth is to get students actually keeping up with their own personal data I couldn't believe it was that simple.  I know it sounds crazy, but what the hey.  After toying with the idea and incorporating some of it in my classroom I am now a firm believer.  If you are looking for the most bang for your buck I honestly believe getting your students to feel responsible for their own learning and growth will get you there.  The trick for me is taking the time to actually allow students to look, analyze, graph, and make goals  based on their own data.

In order to make sure that I was focused on this task                                                                    I created a set of Data sheets for my intermediate grade students.                                                  I honestly think that if you are looking for a ready made data set to get                                       your students off on the right foot it will be worth it to you.

Here it is...


In this document you will find graphs for reading comprehension, fluency, math unit test, science/social studies test, spelling test, homework completion, independent reading chart, and last but not least a behavior graph that incorporates the clip chart & the Leader in Me.  It really is everything that you need to get your students started!  Please if you buy and give me feedback I will send you a FREE Leader in Me Think sheet to go along with your other items!  I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

Thanks so much!  HAPPY SUMMER!

Click the link below to see the samples and to purchase!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Reflecting on the YEAR

Reflecting on the year I created my top 10 Must Do's


1.  Leader in Me
2.  Data Notebooks
3.  Catching a Habit
4.  Kids create their own spelling list
5.  Newsletter
6.  Everyday Math
7.  Homework Checkers
8.  Clip-Chart
9.  Agenda
10. Math Game Friday

Top 10 Must do (that I haven't done yet)                                                   


  1. Google Forms to grade 
  2. 2 sticks with a name on each for recognition (Choose 2 student sticks a day and spend time focusing on those two students (compliment, ask them to help, contact their family, send a note, give a sticker, clip them up the chart) without them knowing.  If this worked I would recognize and talk with 10 students a week, 20 in 2 weeks, and 30 contacts in 3 weeks.  This would be nice to know that I had contacted more than all of my class in three weeks time.  
  3. Edmodo - Create small groups for reading class assignment, assign a google form test, assign a CIITS test
  4. Key ring of website usernames and passwords
  5. Begin Extended Response early
  6. Student Led Conferences