Teaching Tip of the Day- Creative Discipline

We are patted on the back when we come up with creative lesson plans and assignments which ARE effective methods of teaching. Since it's the end of the year, behavior has been more of a nuisance than ever. Obviously. I find myself giving the same students the same writing assignment for a different "crime" which is worthy of disciplinary action, yet not enough to send the student to the office. Some parents never responded to me through emails and phone calls so I'm not left with many options.

I had a light bulb moment. Why not get creative with my discipline too? Well there is a clear reason why I will try to avoid getting too creative in the future, but for now hear me out. In a book, Restorative Discipline, it says that students should receive an equal form of discipline. For example, if a student throws a paper ball on the ground, the student will have to pick the paper ball off the ground and throw it out. If a student writes on a desk, the student will have to clean the desk. It clearly says to NOT have the student clean ALL the desks because that is not fair. Personally, it sounds fair to me, but anywho.... I would have to think quickly and use students' behavior against them.

Here's where I got creative: Students are divided into groups working on posters with big yellow lined post it paper supplied by me. One student decided to use the paper to create a terradactyl (sp?) size paper air plane. Cute. Real cute. (It actually was pretty hilarious because that thing zoomed across the room). He threw it and it hit another kid in the back of the head and all the kids laughed including the student that just got rammed by on over sized flying post it. I even had to with hold my laughter. But he needed to be addressed so that the other students didn't decide to become paper engineers as well.

I asked him to pick up his air plane and bring it to me. No no that wasn't enough. He needed something more. He needed it to back fire since his prank was such a success. Ah ha. My genius idea (that would give me anxiety for the rest of that week) was to make him wear it. He and I have a friendly enough relationship and he's pretty outgoing so I knew he would go along with it. I told him to turn around because he was going to wear the weight of his decision on his back. Actually I didn't think of that clever line until now. I said "You're proud of this? Great. Cool. I want you to be so proud of it. You're going to show it off proudly to everyone a little longer." And that's when I began to tape the giant paper of flight to his back. He laughed and the kids laughed and I was like a hyena inside. I was like my own comedy show at that point. I had myself in knots cracking up. So he rocked it for about 5 minutes and then I called him back up to have it be removed. And I thought of a witty phrase to say to disguise my overwhelming sense of guilt from the possibility of getting in trouble for taping a kid. "Next time, think before you act because your decisions may be a little more permanent than you originally thought." I said it with dignity like the entire thing was planned from the beginning.

Oh yeah. 1 other thing, I couldn't capture a photo of him sneakily on my own, so I just was upfront about it and asked him if I could take a pic. He was a good sport and allowed it.

Reflection: I'll probably never do that again. Writing assignments it is.

Do you think this was a good idea or a bad idea?

Project of the Day- Upholstered Headboard

I've been wanting to get rid of my sheet turned headboard/curtain for a while and upgrade to an actual headboard. Reupholstered headboards always looked nice to me, but the price wasn't something I was willing to pay.

If you follow my blog posts, you know I'm a pin-head (like a crack head minus the crack, plus the Pinterest). I have come to blog quite a few upholstered headboards and some pins even came with directions.

See those prices! From $158 - $840!

(Link)

For the prices seen above, I decided to take the leap and attach a 4x8 piece of plywood to the top of my sedan and bring it to my work space: a.k.a. my parents' backyard. In progress photos to come, but here is the final result:

My budget was $30, and I exceeded that by double. I don't know where these other bloggers were shopping for materials, but it sure wasn't Connecticut. Even with coupons and teacher discounts, it was still more expensive than I initially budgeted which made me want to give up in Lowes. I'm glad I didn't though, because even though the project was over budget, it came out beautifully and I am really pleased with the results.

This is what I had to buy:

• 4x8 foot Plywood $24 (Lowes)
• Batting for a twin bed $15 (Joann Fabric - it was 40% off the original price)
• Elmer's Spray Adhesive $7.99 (Joann Fabric)
• Drop Cloth: $12 (Lowes)
• I (my dad) had a staple gun and a jig saw already.

Nail Head Trim:

I also wanted to add nail head trim, but this is an expense I am going to hold off on.  After seeing my completed project, I may not even add it at all.  

Attaching it to the bed/wall:

Since I live in an apartment, I can't make too many marks on the wall.  Instead of attaching my headboard to the wall like many have done, or screw it to my bed frame, I just placed it behind my bed tightly.  It shouldn't mark the wall at all because fabric covers all the edges.  I intentionally made my headboard floor length to make sure I could "attach" it this way.  When I move, there will be no hassle with filling holes or using a drill or any of that.  Just lift and go.

You:

Make one for yourself with this helpful link or ask me to make one for you for the cost of materials, labor, and delivery.  It will still be cheaper than those store prices!

Mac vs. PC

I'm desperately in the market for a laptop. I currently only have an iPad and I use a PC at school, but I have no personal computer. I am limiting my technological, creative, and professional capabilities by not
purchasing one. Times are tough, however I am still very interested in getting a MacBook Pro. Along with my laptop, I want to purchase Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop. With all of these combined, I'm looking at a hefty bill.

Apple offers an education discount so that reduces my costs, but then I'd like to add memory since I always run out. My total not including software purchases will be $1089. And even though that's a great price for what I want... Is it really worth the huge splurge?

Part of me is considering just getting a temporary laptop from a different brand because I'm uncomfortable with spending over $1000 on a computer. The only time I ever spent over $1000 was when I paid my security deposit for my apartment.

My question is, in your opinion, is a Mac worth the splurge or will I be satisfied with a different brand? If so, what brand/style?

Teaching Tip of the Day - Inspirational Quotes Slideshow

I came across this concept on accident:  I was teaching a lesson with my SMART board and I didn't touch the board for a few minutes so my picture slideshow started without me knowing.  (My back was to the board).  I noticed that students seemed really engaged in what I was saying and what I had on the board.  Awesome. Every teacher's dream come true. Except they weren't engaged in exactly what I thought they were.

Students were eyeing my personal and professional photo slideshow.  I have personal photos to establish a relationship with students if they happen to see them and I have professional photos such as pictures of inspiring quotes/funny teaching quotes.  Since students seemed so interested in what was in my picture folder, I added more inspirational quotes.

I add more when I come across ones I like.  Follow my most current inspirational quotes on my Pinterest Board: Education Posters.  But I recently came across this and laughed a little out loud because even at the high school level, it still happens. Take a look:

Teaching Tip of the Day- Text your Students

My teaching life has been changed for the better now that I can contact students through text message. Most people are glued to their phone all day long. How many of you shower with your phone in the bathroom? It's just a habit to have our phones available.

I needed a method to infiltrate students' most precious devices. I found a way with Remind 101. Remind101.com is a free service that allows teachers to get an account and create up to ten class groups. Each group gets its own code to text. Once they text the code to the appropriate number, they have to reply to the welcome text with only their name.

Any texts you send out through the website or the app can go directly to them the moment you type the message or can be scheduled for a better time. For example, I don't text students when they aren't in my class. I schedule the texts to send right after school or later (after dinner...7).

This isn't just for students with phones; parents can sign up for texts and students without phones can sign up for "texts" through email. Directions are on the site. The site also has printable direction handouts to distribute to students. Students can't text you back either (just in case you were wondering).

Since using this site, students' homework completion rates have gone up (even in the last marking period) and students request me to send them texts.

Let me know how it works for you!

Deal of the Day- Free VS underwear

How would you like to get 5 VS underwear for free? I did yesterday, and couldn't be happier! I had to return/exchange one underwear from a previous 5/$26 deal. That's the only one I technically bought.

2 underwears (Yes that's what I call them) were sitting around for some time still in the bag from "free panty" cards that VS distributes. They didn't fit right/ at all so I asked if I could exchange them for an even priced item. They said yes.

1 was from another free panty card and 1 was from the semi annual sale bin priced at $7.99. I didn't spend $7.99 though and used the "get $10 off any purchase" coupon. I lost out on a few dollars by not using the full $10 but I actually saved by not exceeding the $10 limit and not having to pay the difference out of pocket. Feel free to do the same! The coupon I'm referencing expires June 9th.

Relevancy to teaching: Our lifestyle as teachers has to be budgeted and monitored. If there's an opportunity to get free quality underwear, we all should be doing it. In addition, I find VS underwear is the best to wear daily/at school because the brand fits well. When underwear fits well, your entire outfit fits well.

Project of the Day - New Flower

Steve obtained this gorge flower bundle for me to replace the dead lavender.

I've been loving fresh flowers in the house :)