I wanted to stop by real quick to share a couple back to school management ideas that have not only saved my life, but have also been super fun for my kids!
The first idea I want to share is our lunch choice board. I have tried so many different ways to take lunch count in the past, and this seems to be the BEST! Really it isn't that big of a deal, and I am sure many have better lunch choice ideas than this, but it's the little things people.
All I did was take a picture of each student using my I-Phone, printed them out as wallet sized prints, laminated them, and put magnets on the backs. WA-LA!! I love this because I can quickly see who is absent now too! I don't have to go through a bunch of numbered popsicle sticks in a cup or see which numbered magnets weren't moved to a lunch choice in the morning. It's nice too because a student sitting right by the board just looks and can quickly call out who is absent (also awesome for a sub!).
This is what students see in the morning when they come in to make their lunch choice (please excuse the dirty board, this was taken at the end of the day!):
Here is what the board would look like if two students were absent. See? Super easy! And it is also a student's job at the end of the day to move all of the pictures back out for the next day. No work for me!
Don't ask me why, but 5th graders coming in every morning and moving their pictures to a lunch choice is (and I quote), "super cool." Once again, it's the little things. :)
The next idea is not my own idea. I know many of you are familiar with clock buddies or clock partners that have been circulating through the bloggy and Pinterest world recently.
This summer I came across this super cute pin on Pinterest of these cell phone partners:
I adapted this for my 5th grade students since many of them have I-Phones of their own already!
The original idea of using the cell phone to partner up comes from the fabulous Mrs. Lewis of Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library!!!
For those of you that are not familiar with this, it is a cooperative learning strategy that makes partnering your students for any activity SUPER EASY.
If you would have walked in my room when we were finding partners to "phone" a.k.a "Phone a Friend", you would have thought I had given every child a million dollars. Seriously. I heard things like "Sweeeeet!", "Oh man, how am I going to pay my cell phone bill guys?!" HA! That typical, ever so funny, 5th grade humor that never gets old. They were even holding them up to their ears like real cell phones. I kid you not.
Here's how to complete them:
1.) Print paper cell phones on card stock
2.) Cut out the individual cell phones and give every student 1 phone. Make sure students write their names on the back of their phones so they know which phone is theirs.
3.) Give students the direction that they are to walk around the room and "exchange numbers" with other students. You may want to quickly model this for students before beginning.
4.) Ask students to stand up with their paper cell phones and a pencil, and instruct them to begin moving quietly around the room.
5.) Give a signal to indicate to students that they are to stop moving and find a partner. Options for the signal include: playing and stopping music, clapping, ringing a bell, buzzer, chimes, etc.
6.) When all of the students have stopped and found a partner, ask them to sign their partner's paper cell phone in the box above "Partner 1." For example, if Katie and Brian are partners, Katie's "Partner 1" box would have Brian's name, and Brian's "Partner 1" box would have Katie's name.
7.) Give students the signal to move around the room again. Once they've been given enough time to move around the room, signal them to stop and find a new partner.
8.) When all of the students have a partner, ask them to sign their partner's paper cell phone in the box above "Partner 2."
9.) Repeat the steps until all 10 partner boxes are complete.
10.) Laminate the paper cell phones and put magnets on the back to stick to the sides of students' desks.
11.) When you are completing any partner or cooperative learning activities, simply call out a speed dial number by saying, for example, "Dial up partner #4."
12.) Whoever the student has listed for that number is the partner he/she will work with at that time.
*Side note: If students are not able to stick their paper cell phones to their desks with magnets, remind them to store them in a very safe place. If a student misplaces his/her phone, or a student moves, you will have to start over and make new phones.
*For classrooms with an odd number of students, there will be one group of 3 partners for each partner box.
Also, before my students walked around the room and wrote down their partners for each numbered slot, I had to seriously model how to complete the phone-a-friend phones. I went through about every student and said:
Miss Nannini: "Shane if Maria's partner #1, says Shane, what should your partner #1 say?"
Shane: "My partner #1 should say Maria"
After I modeled this, it went super smoothly and I had a couple students thank me for doing these. Like really? Your welcome for assigning you a partner all year?! HA!
So, if you want to be the coolest teacher (for about 10 minutes), and/or save yourself the stress of partnering students up and instead just say, "CALL PARTNER 2", then click HERE or the picture above to check out my latest freebie titled, Phone a Friend {Student-Partnering Management Tool}.
Enjoy!!