Thursday, September 29, 2011

TAP - No, Not Dancing, Or Maybe It Is?

 

Our district, and specifically 12 of our Title I schools, started year 1 of the TAP program in our schools this fall. 


At this point, I am excited for the opportunity to refine my craft, and I am especially excited to see the changes within our building.  Since we are just beginning, most of our professional development has centered around the TAP rubric and implementation of the program. I plan on periodically posting about my experiences with TAP, and documenting the journey of my students, and our building as a whole.  


I know performance pay can be a controversial subject, but
I'm curious to know if there are others out there in blogland that are teaching at a TAP school.  If so, how many years are you into the program, and what has been your experience? Pin It

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby Right Round!

When I broke out the spinners again this week, this is the tune that a group of my girls serenaded me with (and continued to sing throughout their work stations)!



My kids have an obsession with spinners, so I am capitalizing on it big time!  I want to share a great resource I found online for making your own printable spinners.

Here is a screen shot of one I created to use with our sight words.  
(Click on the picture to go to the website.)

But wait, it gets better!  One of my all time favorite teacher purchases was this set of overhead spinners from Learning Resources.  I bought a package of 5 spinners for $5 almost 4 years ago at my local teacher supply store, and they have held up amazingly well.
I must confess, I have never actually used them on an overhead.  Instead, I laminate spinners I have made and then tape them underneath.  The spinners can quickly and easily be changed out, and no more dealing with pencils and paperclips!  And that, my friends, is worth a whole lot, especially at this point in the year!
Pin It

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Jumbo Pattern Blocks and a Freebie!

It has been so long since I have posted anything.  I am realizing that I really have to get blogging into my weekly schedule, or if just doesn't happen!  The beginning of the year exhaustion is slowly wearing off - notice I said wearing off, not totally gone!  


As I was blog stalking in my sleep deprived stupor last night I saw this great photo
on Mrs. Huff's Kinderblog.  I instantly thought how my kids would love jumbo pattern blocks!  There is just something intriguing about anything that is either teeny tiny or jumbo sized.


I knew that I had to make some for my kids.  After a bit of mathematical calculation and a gyration or two, here they are!


The kids absolutely loved them! Most of my kids can fill in a blank outline, and this will be a great transition into tangrams.  Sorry, the photos aren't great. I think I must have had my camera on a close-up setting, but you get the idea.






You can grab your copy below!   I printed mine on colored cardstock, rather than burning through a ton of ink, cut them out and laminated them, but there is a color version also.






Thanks, Mrs. Huff , for the inspiration!

Pin It
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...