Should Old Procedures Be Forgot... Reviewing Expectations After the Holiday Break

Last day of the holiday and I can no longer procrastinate any longer - I have to get in the lesson planning mode again unless I want supreme chaos in my classroom tomorrow morning!  Speaking of supreme chaos - after two weeks away from school, I know that I am going to have to remind my kiddos of what our classroom expectations are.   I was absolutely inspired  when I saw this post from The Science Penguin to make my own True or False PowerPoint to review my own classroom expectations during our morning meeting tomorrow.  I will show the students the PowerPoint and have them use either a thumbs up for true or a thumbs down for false (or I might have them show me a T or F in sign language).

We use Whole Brain Teaching in our class, so several of  the slides address the 5 rules.

Well, I'm sure you know what the answer is to that one!  LOL!  I have uploaded a file that you can customize to meet your needs as a FREEBIE on Teachers Pay Teachers.

What things do you do to review expectations after the holiday?

Ringing In The New Year With January 2014 Currently and a Giveaway!

Happy New Year!  I think this last year has flown by!  Hopefully next year will be a bit more leisurely!  Anyway, the first of the month means time to link up with Farley for Currently!

We have had a nice and relaxing Christmas vacation so far.  We hosted Christmas Dinner at our house on Christmas Eve, then went to my brother's for Christmas morning, followed by a buffet dinner, and a quick trip to my Sister In Law's house that night.  Two days later we went to Dave and Buster's and the mall because it was Tyler's Birthday and he is now a teenager!  ACK!  Where does the time go?

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!



In honor of the New Year I am having a sale in both of my stores!  20% off every item in both stores:

Teachers Pay Teachers 
Teachers Notebook

While you are there, remember to follow my stores for a chance to win a $25 TpT gift certificate!  I have a giveaway for store followers every month :)  Just a little thank you for being a follower!

I am also having a giveaway at Teacher's Notebook for my newest product
  You can enter here.
There are also a lot of other great giveaways from other sellers as well.  I have already won two great products!

Thank you so much to Sheree from Peterson's Pad for the awesome sales button.  She is also having a sale in her store today!

The Best of 2013 And a Sale!

Really Top 5! :)

Since today is the last day of 2013, I thought I would share some of the best posts of 2013 from my blog.  I have learned so much from my fellow teacher bloggers, and I love sharing things that I have learned, things that I have tried, and things that honestly haven't gone as well as I would have liked, because, as I tell my students - mistakes are proof that you are learning!

My number 1 Blog Post from 2013 was Whole Brain Teaching The Scoreboard.  Many teachers LOVE the results from this method of teaching that also includes behavior management.  I know I have seen significant improvement in behavior and engagement during lessons using many of Chris Biffle's Strategies.This post showed how I use the Scoreboard in my classroom and includes a FREEBIE!

In the number 2 slot is The World Would Be More Awesome If post.  This post is how I turned an inspiring Kid President (my kiddos LOVE him) video into a writing assignment.

My 3rd most popular blog post of 2013 was my post about Marzano learning scales inspired by a Pinterest pin.  Our school district has heavily adopted the use of Marzano learning scales for our students to self assess.  This post shows my old version of the scales, but I now have each student keep a copy of the scales in their notebooks.  I will post about this soon.

In 4th place is another post about Whole Brain Teaching!  This one was about the 5 classroom rules and also included several links to some FREEBIE signs to hang in your class.

And... last but not least the 5th most popular post of 2013 was my teaching subjects and predicates with Mr Morton (of grammar rock fame).  This one also included a FREEBIE!

I am sensing a theme - FREEBIES and Whole Brain Teaching!  So, expect more of both kinds of posts (as well as a mix of others) in the New Year!  Thank you so much for visiting my blog, whether that means you are a new visitor today or you have been visiting all year long!  As a special thank you - I am having a sale!

I am also having a sale today and tomorrow in honor of the new year!  You can get 20% off every item in both my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook stores.  While you are there, remember to Follow my Stores for a chance to win a $25 Gift certificate!  I have a giveaway for store followers every month :) Just a little thank you for being a follower! Thank you so much to Sheree from Peterson's Pad for the awesome sales button!  She is also having a 20% off sale at her store tomorrow as well.