Life with a Co Teacher // GIVEAWAY!

Martina Cahill, from The Hungry Teacher, and I met nearly four years ago... but I feel as if we've known each other for a life time! The first day we met, she stopped by the school so we could meet each other. My principal was like, "Hey! You're getting a student teacher next year." And my jaw dropped because this was the first I had heard of it. But a teacher does whatever their principal tells them to, so I introduced her to our class (I was looping up with them) and she sat with our sweet Stewart and listened to him read to her for like an hour. It was really only 5 minutes in all actuality. But Stewart was not an easy student and so when she survived 5 minutes,  I knew she was a keeper.

Little did I know how life changing having her as a student teacher would be. First of all - I had only been in the classroom for 2 years before she came and taught with me. Ummmmm - do you know any 2nd year teacher that has their shit together? I'm sure there are some... but I was far from one of them. But having Martina in my classroom made me explain and justify every little thing we did. Why do I do word study like that? Welllllll.... {and into my hour long explanation I would go}. Working with Martina challenged me to think and explain more than I ever had as a teacher and I became a much stronger teacher because of it.

Typical day

I am also one of the most unorganized teachers known to mankind. Piles ontop of piles. Always. Martina changed this. She is uber organized and when she wasn't sure what to do, she would start going through my piles, my binders, and our books, and organize the crud out of our classroom. It was magical. {ANY FUTURE STUDENT TEACHERS, TAKE NOTE!} And I don't think I've ever felt so calm in the classroom {Acts of Service is totally my Love Language}.

Martina isn't just amazing for her organizational skills though. She also is a bombdiggity teacher. Seriously. Just take a look at her blog, or Instagram, and you'll know this in a heart beat. Her love for teaching is contagious... and I think my favorite thing about her is that she's not afraid to laugh at herself, or her students, when something is really funny. I think that her ability to be human while teaching is one of the reasons students and I love her so dang much. She is never once in a bad mood {it's impressive} and she loves and works harder than so many teachers. She's one of the good ones.

So please take a second to stop by her blog and enter her amaaaazing giveaway! Seriously. It's ridiculously bombdiggity and includes ALLLLLL of my favorite items!!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me brag about one of my faves!
What experiences have you all had with co teachers and student teachers? Please share in the comments!

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What Should Writing Conferences Look Like in the Classroom?

Are you a Writing Conference master? Writing Conferences are something most teachers squeeeeze into their day. And when they're squeezed in, they begin to look weak. But did you realize we're doing a huge injustice to our students by not being prepared? Check out my quick tips for making sure you have Writing Conferences nailed!

 Challenging, I know! But if you let yourself mingle with students for 15+ minutes, you'll never be able to meet with everyone. It's a fine line you need to walk between quality & quantity.

If you discuss these 3 things every time, you should have a strong grasp of what your writers are working on at all times. Make sure the majority of your time is spent discussing the student's writing goal and how they plan to achieve it. (This is where I love to pull from the masters, like  Cynthia Rylant and utilize mentor texts).

Grab Free Writing Conference Forms Here!

 They're free and pretty - what more could you ask for? For personalized Conference Forms with the CCSS standards included, be sure to purchase one of my writing units!

Don't forget to enter our giveaway! AND check out the FAB Miss L's Blog for some seriously amazing tips for breaking up those November blues!








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Constitution Day Lesson Plans

Did y'all know that Constitution Day is celebrated on Thursday?  THIS Thursday!? If you're like a lot of schools, you're held accountable for celebrating the day and teaching your kiddos about what it all means.  If you're like me {horrendous at History} this has you feeling like

Via

But have no fear... I taught myself {for your sake and my sake}... and then created a super easy mini unit for teachers like me!  Check it out below and grab it in my store before Thursday.  So you can actually use it on the appropriate day... or not... no judgement. 

>> Grab it here! <<

Classroom Economy - Checkbook Incentive Program

How many of you are stumped on classroom incentives?  I know I was forever.  Something that worked one year, wouldn't work the next.  My kiddos were just too different.  Like all classrooms, some were internally motivated.  Some were externally motivated.  Some worked really hard no matter what.  Others didn't work hard at all, for any reason.  That's just the way it is. 

Ideally I would LOVE to have a classroom where positive verbal reinforcement was enough.  And where I was good enough at it, that it worked and I didn't need another system.  But alas, I am not there yet.  I'll keep working on it though! 

But until then, I have come up with a system that I have used, altered, mastered, and come to love, y'all!  I am so excited to share it with you!  It's the Checkbook Incentive Program.   Check it out by clicking on the link!

Basically, students make their own checkbooks {everything they need is in the packet on TpT} and then get rewarded for good behavior and work, with checks from you.  Students keep their checks and their balance in their own checkbooks.  {LESS WORK FOR YOU, PTL!!!}  Then, they visit a "Banker" {which can be you or it can be a classroom job for your students- I recommend making it your students if they can be responsible and trustworthy} and "deposit" their checks in the bank.  For me, our bank is a binder with balance sheets.  Each student has their own balance sheet that looks an awful lot like this...

At the beginning of each year, I print my own checks and write on them.  I write different reasons I may pass out a check, like "Being a great listener", "Going above and beyond", or "Helping another classmate".  I then give all the checks different denominations.  I like to stick with $5-$15.00, but the price is completely up to you!  You can even make some checks crazy denominations, like $12.36 to force adding and subtracting different numbers.  Then, I laminate the checks and cut them out so they're ready to pass out at a moment's notice!  When I see a kiddo doing an exceptional job, I hand them a check and very specifically verbalize why they're receiving that check.  {That's an important part of this system!  Kiddos need to know what they did so well!}. 

At the beginning of the year we choose good times to balance our checkbooks, so that we don't have students balancing them during my math lesson!  So until it's the right time, students stick their check in their pocket or in their checkbook.  Then when they're able, they fill in their new check in their checkbook balance pages and find their new balance.  About once a week, students sign up to visit the banker and deposit their checks in our class bank.  {This is where laminated checks can be great because you can reuse them once they're turned in!}  Students keep track of their own balances in their checkbooks and just like a real checkbook- the correct balance is always the one at the bank. 

So what do students do with all this money?  What's the big deal?  Well, here's my favorite part!  When students go to the bank, they are also able to "purchase" an item by writing a check to me {they better fill it out correctly though!}.

The possibilities are completely endless and up to you, so this program can fit your own classroom! 

One thing I really love about this program is, twice a year we have a large auction where we ask families and local organizations to donate items for us to auction off to the students!  These auctions are a great way to discuss with students why it's important to save your money and it provides them with an incentive to work hard all year.  It's a win/win! 

Again, how you use this program is completely up to YOU and your class!  If you have any questions about this or any of my other products, feel free to e-mail me at Appleslices4th@gmail.com. 

And for the next 4 days, I will have all my products marked down 20% to celebrate Summer and that we have about one month left to enjoy!  Also, it's mine and my hubby's 1 month anniversary. :)   I know it's a small one but you've just gotta celebrate every little bit of life, right?  So enjoy!

Happy Friday, everyone!