Teachers Love Technology

This is a great info graphic from: OnlineUniversities.com 

Staying Healthy Part 1 Physical Health

***DISCLAIMER*** I am not a doctor just a teacher sharing some healthy living tips. Always consult your doctor before trying any new exercise regime, medications or vitamins.

As teachers we are constantly being exposed to germs, bugs, viruses in our daily profession. We must be diligent in monitoring our health to ensure we are giving our best to our students, families and ourselves. Below are my top tips for staying healthy. 

Physical Health

1. Wash your hands before any food touches your mouth. Take the 30 seconds to wash or sanitized your hands before lunch break. 
2. Keep your loan items (pens, pencils, rulers, calculator, erasers etc) separate from your daily use items. It is amazing how germs live on surfaces!
3. Ask your doctor about taking a multi-vitamin. 
4. Keep your home cupboards stocked with chicken noodle or vegetarian soup plus tea. Drink/eat these items the moment you feel under the weather. Alternately, keep a box of cup a soup at school to drink as a snack. 
5. Eat breakfast. No time? Bring instant oatmeal to work or try a breakfast smoothie and drink it on the go. 
6. Keep an extra sweater, mittens, sun hat, toque, socks, rain boots, umbrella in your car or classroom closet. You never know when the weather might change or an unexpected school event occurs. Always be prepared!
7. Laugh daily. Read the comics, listen to the comedy station, ask your students to tell you a joke. 
8. Sleep. I go to bed at 9pm EST. No joke. I am up at 6am EST daily so I need my sleep. If you do not sleep properly it will catch up with you. I remember my first few years of teaching and staying up late to lesson plan or mark. It was not productive time! 
9. Stay active. I know at the end of the day is NOT the time when you want to haul yourself to the gym (I sure don't). Here are some gym alternatives: go for a walk during your lunch break, walk the dog after work quickly, exercise before school, take your class for a walk. In Ontario, we have to teach fitness for 20 minutes each day. This would be a perfect time to go for a walk or participate in a fitness activity with your class. 
10. Your turn - what is your best staying healthy tip? Please leave your tip in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Kristy @ 2peasandadog

Managing the Marking Load

I have been under the weather for almost two weeks now and my husband caught Shingles. Needless to say my time for blogging has been quite short. 

Thanks to all of you who blog hopped with me last weekend for Calming the Chaos. I am so excited to meet all my new followers and keep in touch with my established followers. 

This is one of my favourite posts from earlier in the year. I re-read it tonight as I stare at my own marking bin, which is reaching new heights! If I am feeling like this perhaps many of you need a refresher on how to manage the middle school marking load. 

1. Set manageable marking goals for yourself on how much to mark and when to mark. 
How much?
When the students hand in a major project my goal is to mark five items at school and five items at home. 

When?
Find a specific time that works for your schedule. Some of my friends swear by arriving at school early and marking in the am, others like to stay for a bit after school and mark then. Others use these times to prep for their lessons (photocopy, cut/paste) and then mark for their whole planning time. Whatever you choose be consistent! 

It works - I promise. For years I would look around at all of these super teachers and wonder "how do they do it" then I asked them. They told me they plan out their days including when they were going to mark student work. GENIUS! If you write it down you are more likely to stick to it. 

2. Mark quick assessments and quizzes first. 
I have my students do quick assessments regularly.  I mark these pieces first to ensure that concept attainment has been achieved. Also, these assessments/quizzes allow the students to monitor their own achievement and ask for help or enrichment if needed. 

3. Not all work needs a letter grade. 
If the assessment I am having the students do is for practice before a final assessment, I often mark with a check system and descriptive feedback. 
Check minus = good effort, but please come see the teacher for more help, Check = right on track, keep practicing. 

I explain this system to students the first time I hand something back. They quickly get use to reading my comments and looking for a check instead of immediately looking at a letter or percentage grade. I keep track of these checks in my mark book to see which students need extra help or are ready to move on to a new concept. 

4. Keep check lists in your marking book.
Every time I hand back a major assignment I make a check list (based on my descriptive feedback for that assignment) on what the students next steps should be. e.g. proof read for spelling, punctuation, run on sentences, make deeper connections to the text. 

I create my check lists in MS Word and shrink down the check lists so I can fit 8-10 check lists on a page. I write a different student name on each check list and then check off what my descriptive feedback was on their assignment. When I write report cards I now have all my anecdotal evidence organized and ready to be written as strengths and next steps. 

5. Organize your marking bin.
I keep the newest items at the bottom and the oldest items at the top. It is a visual reminder of what needs to be marked first, second etc. I also have a different folder for each rotary class I teach to ensure their marking remains separate from the other classes. 

I hope these tips were helpful. Please feel free to share your marking tips in the comments section below. I LOVE COMMENTS. 

Calming the Chaos

It is finally May and spring has sprung in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

This week, I began to notice the "end of school year" behaviours starting to emerge in my classroom. IT IS ONLY MAY!!! - I wanted to shout, but I didn't. Instead, I focused my energy on long term unit planning to keep my eighth graders on track for two more months. Ontario public schools finish the last week of June. 

To help all of us "Calm the Chaos" that might become of our classrooms over the next two months, myself and a few other bloggers got together to share our best tips for the end of the year. 

End of the Year Ideas for Primary Grades:
-read a book that ties into a movie, then watch the movie and compare
-have an ice cream sundae, Popsicle, Freeze party (if your school allows)
-outdoor read alouds (these were my favourite as a child)
-act out scenes from read alouds
-create a class signature page for each child where everyone writes something nice about that child
-have each student or in pairs/triads create a top ten list of things they loved about this year then compile the most popular ideas on to class anchor chart paper for display

-write a letter to a new friend about why they are glad they met them
-write a whole class letter to a future class and seal it in a time capsule with objects that represent the year - open it in September with your new class

I found this cool idea on Pinterest: have each student create their own summer bucket list.  Another awesome Pinterest find - activities with hand prints


End of the Year Ideas for Middle and Upper Grades:
-Have students self assess their learning skills
-Students can give the teacher a "report card" more information here
-Incorporate lots of hands on activities in Science, Math, Language Arts check out these websites: Forensics Who Dunnit?
-Use less paper and more time on individual white boards 
-Do more collaborative writing - try out my Never Ending Story or Alphabet Story freebies below to get started

I found this awesome pin on Pinterest about keeping up your routines and expectations until the end. I do not stop teaching ever, even on the last day I try to sneak in some curriculum. 

Fun Freebies

The Never Ending Story Google Docs Version

Alphabet Story TPT version

Fun Math Test Prep

Reward Passes
Other awesome TPT end of year freebies

Check out the blogs below for more great ideas and freebies! Scroll down to your grade level. 

Primary Grades

Upper Elementary + High School Grades