Last Bit of Freedom

This is my last weekend before school is in full swing. Yes, we went last week, but we only had kids for 2 hours, so it doesn't count. :)

My kiddos are sweet. I think it will be a good class. I did have 4 not show up, but I think they will all make it on Monday. I did get a new one yesterday, so I am now up to 19. I did not get to meet her, but Monday will come soon enough. I have several good parents who want to be involved so that will be nice. I can't wait to get started.

I have no plans for next week though, so that is freaking me out a bit. We still haven't really gotten a schedule, so it is hard for me to plan, when I don't really have a plan! I'm going to buckle down and figure out something after this post though. Instead of working on lesson plans like I should have, I worked on stuff for you.

Our school wants to really focus on Accountable Talk and student learning this year. Pretty much what Common Core is all about. We got to tour some of the upper grade classrooms and the buzz was about some Accountable Talk posters they had in their rooms. I liked them, but didn't think they would work quite right in my classroom. Several other teachers mentioned that they would put up the posters for THEM to use to guide student talk. That's all well and good, but I want the kiddos to be able to use them on their own. So, I decided to make my own. I changed the wording a little bit  and added pictures to help the kiddos understand them more so they can actually use them. Plus, I have a mostly ELL class and they would definitely need help. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?! Anyway, I think they turned out great and I have already printed them out to put in my classroom.

I put them on Teachers Pay Teachers for you. Just click the picture below to take you to them. I hope they work in your classrooms, too.

I really think they will help my kiddos use them more easily without me having to feed them the words. Woohoo for growing in-depth thinkers! I can just imagine all the conversations that can happen with these little gems. 

I like this one a lot because they really have to explain why they answered a certain way. They have to really think about it to explain it. Who am I kidding? I really like all of them. :)

Monday begins the start of an awesome year! I hope yours starts off great as well!

Be fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney