Christmas in July Numero 4 (6 Day Sale) & 10 Things I've Learned

Today is day 4 of our Christmas in July Sale. I realized that I have two products with polar bears, so they are the ones on sale for the day.

Product one teaches text features. Your final product is a beautiful folder your students can use year round to review 13 text features.

Find it here. 

Product number two contains a variety of Polar Bear facts your students can use. It can also be used as a guided research project. My higher students loved the A-Z book included.

Find it here. 

Now...time for a linky party with Miss Kindergarten.

This year marks my 10th year teaching (all in second grade).  Before I contemplated joining this linky, I realized that I learned something new everyday, and that many times, I still feel like a first year teacher. 

I change things every year, I feel more comfortable every year, but I have yet to 'manage' it all. So here it goes...

BEGIN YOUR YEAR WITH PRAISE: From the moment they enter the room on the first day, notice something nice a bout them. Praise every amazing thing they do. The results are kids who show off  all day long :)

BE CONSISTENT: Need to say more? I (personally) hate not knowing what to expect from others. So, I try to be nice and clear with my students.

SHOCK THEM!  Not with electricity or anything like that though. Ask them to stop working and switch to something fun! A craft, a surprise dance party...anything to wake them up!!!

MODEL, LET THEM PRACTICE, MODEL AGAIN, REPEAT: Model everything, and I mean every.thing.over.and.over. Once they are trained. You can teach. A class well trained, will allow you to teach and do much more than just manage behavior. TONS of extra learning!

VENT: Find someone you can trust and vent away. You will need someone on your side. Your hubby may be the one, but trust me, you need a teacher to vent with :)

COUNT THE KIDDOS: Count them before you go inside from recess.... or their mamas will send you a not so nice e-mail for 'forgetting' their baby. (I did this once. Trust me. Never again after that e-mail).

BE ORGANIZED: or at least try to appear organized :)  Knowing where everything is, organizing what you need to teach (ahead of time) and having a clean and orderly classroom is appreciated by parents, administration and colleagues. The kids will love knowing where everything thing is too. 

COLLABORATE: I am honestly still working on this one. I share a lot, but I am not really good at collaborating with the whole team. Year round schedules make it tricky to collaborate with your entire grade level. Share your passion in a way that works for you! (I like that!).

AVOID THE STAFF LOUNGE: I hate to say this, but I hide in my classroom during lunch time. I see my team during recess and enjoy their company. I have found that the staff lounge is not the place to be. I rather not know all that is said in there. I may seem antisocial :( 

FIND A MENTOR: Find someone you can look up to. Administration, grade level peer, anyone in the building that inspires you to be the best that you can be. 

And lastly... visit the bloggers who are holding a sale today :)