A place to share thoughts, ideas, gadgets, and giggles from my classroom. 💜

Easily Track Student Data by Making it THEIR Job

Holy Moly! It is really almost August... I just got into my classroom this afternoon and boy was was it a WRECK!
I will be going back tomorrow to finish...the only thing I got done was unstacking the desks! Oh well! It will get done! There is something new I am going to start this school year, student data tracking. I keep hearing how it helps raise student scores by letting them track their own data, so I'm going to find out!
Students are bringing their own binder at the beginning of the year, then we will all put them together.  There are color covers that still save ink, but there are also black and white covers. Students will be using these binders to track:
*DIBELS/Mclass- 2nd grade goal specific and generic ones for you to fill in the blank
* Fluency Graph-4 nine weeks individual trackers and goal and improvement tracker

*STAR (Renaissance Reading Program)-Reading and Math 2nd Grade goal specific and generic
*AR Graph-Goal setting and point club page; The point club is filled with my school’s goals. There is also a blank one for you to fill in yourself. 
*Spelling 4 Nine week individual trackers with a black goal line and generic 
There are also several cover options, some specific to 2nd grade and others that are for any grade level. These are available in color or black and white.


There are fluency trackers for each nine weeks. Students will color in their fluency after each running record. I would like for students to bring their binder to the table with them so we can discuss their results. 
Students can also track their spelling grade for each nine weeks. This is set up out of 20 points. My students have 16 spelling words and a word wall word sentence worth 4 points. (capitals, punctuation, spelling, complete sentence) The black line represents their goal for each test. 
Our school uses the Accelerated Reader program. Students have school wide point clubs that they get rewards for. Students love earning those points, even though I am not a totally fan of AR. This page helps students track what point club they are in. There is also a blank  sheet for you to fill in the specific goals for students. Students can track their end of the year goal, as well as remind themselves how they can reach their goal. My favorite part of this page is the "Words of Encouragement" area. This is a place for friends/classmates of the student to write words of encouragement to help the reach their goal. Toby said to "Keep reading!" to help encourage Willy to read. 
Along with AR, we also use STAR tests to determine a student's grade equivelent.  Our AR books are sorted by "dot" level so students can also record their dot level, as shown with the green and blue dots, to help them remember. 

Viva Las Vegas TPT Conference!

Holy moly!!! I am so excited to tell you about my week!! I'm linking up with {The Elementary Entourage} to tell you all the details! I went with two of my best blogger friends, {The Primary Gal} and {Education Lahne}. We had to get up SUPER early to get to the airport!
With the time change, it took only took a couple hours! When we landed we decided to explore a little bit. Every few minutes, one of us would say, " Oh my gosh, I think thats...so and so!" It was so fun seeing all of our celebriteachers in the wild! That night we went to a blogger meet up hosted by the gals from {What the Teacher Wants}! That is where I met....
Amy Lemons from {Step into 2nd Grade}!!!!! She is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE BLOGGER EVER!!!! and her TpT products...oh goodness! Don't even get me started! I love them all! I was so starstruck! 
This place was so packed!!! It was such a rush having so many great TpT authors, bloggers, and just generally amazing teachers in one place! We also got some #glitterswag from {Glitter Meets Glue Designs}. The clipart that she so graciously gave us is so so cute! I can't wait to use it!
By this time, we were pushing the 24 hour mark on being awake...We were exhausted, but we couldn't leave because there were too many great prizes to be won!!! (We didn't win.. but that's okay because....)
We met {Kimberly Geswein}!!!! She creates the KG fonts, which are the best and cutest fonts! So basically, we won anyways! I promise there were really sessions that occurred to help us better our TpT store, but you probably aren't too interested in that...so I want to tell you more about Vegas!
This was my very first time ever going to Vegas! We stayed at the Venetian Hotel...

Which reminded me of my honeymoon because we went to Venice for real! I was probably annoying Amanda and Shelby with my Venice facts, but I just couldn't help it! Sorry girls:)
Legit Gondola ride in Venice!!!
We went to the Bellagio and watched the fountain! It was incredible! I did take a short video, but mostly I wanted to have the real life experience...unlike those in front of us!
We went to Pawn Stars (because who doesn't want to go there!) and checked out the shop! No one from the show was in, but it was a fun experience! 
We also HAD to go to the Coke store because someone is obsessed{cough, cough Amanda} with Diet Coke. 
This was such a great event put on by {TpT}! Listening to Paul and {Rachel Lynette} was just so inspiring. I can't wait to see what I can do from all the information I received from this conference. There were so many inspiring teachers that I look up to, but boy am I glad to be home!
See what all the other Vegas TpT'ers did while they were in Vegas! Click the picture below to head to {The Elementary Entourage}! 


How I Plan my Week with Erin Condren

Hey guys! I'm linking up with {Mrs. Harris }for Plan with Me Sundays! I was one of the lucky bloggers to get an {Erin Condren} planner from the Indiana Blogger meet-up! I have been waiting and waiting to finally get started organizing it to fit my schedule!
 I have wanted one for a while, and boy was I sooo excited to find out that Erin Condren had donated one for all of us!!!

I ordered some {Washi tape}, {Erasable Pens}, and {Erasable Highlighters} when it finally arrived, I was ready!
I had to find my schedule for next year. I am lucky to have my specials all at the same time for once! That is going to make planning and creating a routine in the classroom so much easier!
The lines don't match up on Friday and it drives me crazy!
I'm so glad my pens were erasable because, wow! It took a lot of time with spacing and that means it took a lot of erasing too, not to mention my sloppy, very unteacherlike handwriting!
At first, all the highlighted parts were made with Washi tape...I didn't like it much. Then I started using the highlighters. This will make it easy to see my plans, as well as my spacing!

I loved that I could split the boxes in half for several activities. Morning Work is basic. It is a math review page, spelling activity, and AR. It changes some days, but not often. I don't need a lot of space to keep track of what we do for morning work!
I have a separate RTI binder, so there again, I didn't need a lot of room to describe what we are doing. I can put a general description (contractions), then check my RTI Groups binder for the details. 
This made the box for writing PERFECT because I like to create detailed lessons for writing. Teaching writing is not my strong area, so I like to be extra prepared. 
Tape again...
It is just all so perfect!! I was able to squeeze lunch and recess in between (which look much neater with the highlighter..) because they require NO details! I know the drill:) My very end of the day is just packing up, passing out, and fill out. It is a little crazy, but it's mostly because some get finished filling out planners before others. I feel like a chicken with my head cut off during pack up time. If you have plans for that, I'd love the link!
I'm so glad I got to share my planner with you! What suggestions do you have for me on using this planner? This is my first, and I want to utilize it to its full potential! 
Head over to {Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris} to read more planning ideas!


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