Teach Like a Pirate Chapter 3 Rapport

Are pirates ever late? Because this one is! My goal was to have this post ready to go by this morning. But here it is, 5:30 pm and I am just now typing it up. Having house guests and a 2nd birthday party has done me in! And I am drained... but I am going to give you my quick 2cents (or maybe 20 cents) on this chapter and send you on to our hostess with the mostest. (Yep- I am exhausted friends.. don't mind the quirkiness.) 

Chapter 3 is all about rapport. One of the things I highlighted really stands out for me. Dave says "...one of the big secrets and shortcuts to engagement is to spend less time trying to get students interested in what you are presenting and more time making connections between what you are presenting and what they are already interested in." Well duh right?! But really, how many times are we teachers sitting around thinking, gosh I WISH I could get these kids more engaged... and then spending countless hours coming up with "engaging" activities. When all it really takes is to use what they are interested in, in your lessons.

How do you know what they are interested in? You build a relationship with them and their parents. And you have instant material. One student "R" struggled with reading. Bad. How did I get him interested in reading... bought every footbal book I came across and yes, I even typed out some paragraphs on his favorite player. And- in one of those paragraphs, the words were tough. Tough enough that most of my 3rd graders would have struggled. And he did. But- he didn't give up. He fought through because he wanted to finish. He wanted to read it. And. I was proud. 

Another favorite line from the chapter is "Building rapport is all about interacting with your students as fellow human beings, not just as subordinates." This year, I had the BEST class ever. I mean it. I loved them more than I ever thought I would love a class (and I will honestly be sad to walk into my class in August and not have their faces looking back at me). I truly believe that is because we really worked hard to ALL get to know each other. I know J loves fashion and her mom was having a baby. I know R was really proud of his dog and his mom too was having a baby. I know R and J both loved to play school at home. H knew I loved Disney and she was sure to share stories of her vacation there when she returned. I could go on and on, but what it comes down is that my kids knew that I was not only a teacher, but I was someone they could talk to. (And talk they did... sometimes too much, but not in a bad way.) And I loved that about my bunch of kids. I was in a car accident and the first thing they said to me when I got back was "Are you ok? Was Payton in the car?" because they genuinely cared about me (and each other as well). 

Dave has some amazing first 3 days plans in this chapter... and I sure want to be able to do something similar this year. But I won't go into anymore detail... you can join in the discussion by checking out Jana's blog (where she has some really cute ideas for back to school building rapport)

And as always...

Fabulous Feedback Linky (is it you?!) and a giveaway!

A while back Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge did a post on leaving quality feedback on your purchases on TpT. Clicking the image below will take you to her post. 

Getting feedback really helps us as sellers and, if you didn't know, it gives you TpT credits that you can use towards another purchase.
Christina had the idea to do a fabulous feedback linky and it was a big success (except for the fact that I forgot to post and missed out on the fun!). So now I am here to join in...

(Clicking this picture will take you to Christina's post where you can see all the bloggers that have linked up. Who knows, you may have won on their blogs!)
Here's the idea... I am going to choose 2 comments that have been left as feedback on my products. I will post the product below along with the comment and user name of the person who left the feedback. That person who left the feedback will then get to email me and choose a similarly priced item from my TpT store to receive for FREE! How's that for fun??

First up:

This has been my favorite feedback to date. Deanna33 (who I can only assume has a real first name of Deanna) has made me so incredibly happy with that one comment. My Comparing and Contrasting passages took a lot of time. You can find them here in my TpT store. I am going to put them on sale for 20% off for the weekend in honor of this amazing comment!

Next up:

 

This is one of my newest products. My kids LOVE making ABC books so I figured I would make them cuter than just some printer paper stapled together. And I added a couple different options, as you can see from Good Enough Teacher's comment. I was worried no one would want to use these books, but I am not worried anymore. ( I know I can't be the onloy one who worries every time they post a new product righ!?) You can find this one here. Also, on sale for 20% off for the weekend.

So Deanna33 and Good Enough Teacher, email me at thirdgradetidbitsATgmailDOTcom so we can get you your free item!

Oh and don't forget to run (don't walk, seriously) to Christina's blog to enter her AMAZING giveaway!

Teach Like a Pirate Chapter 2- Immersion

I am back with a little blurb on Chapter 2. Are you loving this book as much as I did? Chapter 2 was all about Immersion. And it was a short chapter. Dave starts off the chapter saying "You're about to learn the #1, top secret way to become a dramatically better lover!"

Well, while he doesn't exactly teach us that tidbit, he does grab attention doesn't he?

This chapter makes perfect and simple sense- you have to fully BE with your students. Simple enough right? Students can tell when we aren't "all there". I know my students can ALWAYS tell. If I am sick and just not all there, they know within the first 10 minutes of the day. And I know that I am not doing my best if I am not all there, whether it be from being sick or just stressed about something happening at home or otherwise.

I think this man needs to present to the education law makers... especially when he said this... "At some point in your career you have to decide if you care more about teaching to tests or teaching kids.... Don't let the current overemphasis on standardized test scores lead to the loss of the teachable moment." 

To read more insight on this chapter and join in on the discussion, go to Marie's blog...

This is me...coming to you from my iPad!! Part 1

Last week I wrote a test post from my ipad and I had a few people wondering what app it was. I didn't want to blog about it until I decided how I really felt about it. I am here to tell you today, that so far, so good.  And I want to share with you a couple apps that I use to blog from my ipad. But since POSTING is the big thing, I will start with this app.

Here is the fantastic, FREE app..

Pretty straight forward app name. Posts. Because that is what I am doing here. Posting. Right from my ipad. You can add images from your ipad media or from a URL. And they go right where you put them. Then you can align them (I always put mine in the center if you haven't noticed.) THIS is a big deal for me because even the $5 app that I have didn't work that well! In fact, I gave up using that $5 app and was really upset because I bought the ipad with the sole purpose of blogging (I use it to take pictures in my classroom so I don't have to bring my very expensive camera to school with me. Yes I know I lose picture quality but I don't want anything to happen to the camera. The iPad stays with me at all times at school.) Then my friend Farrah mentioned this app to me and I just had to try it. 

See that hyperlink up there on Farrah's name (and you may have noticed the image is linked to the app page too)?  Yep, I can do that RIGHT ON THE APP. Another big plus. Just like you do it on your computer. With that $5 app, I had to delete the text, put the hyperlink in and put the text back. I was not a fan. I like to type up my entire post then go back and add all my links. It is quick and easy just like on the computer. 

(That is how you hyperlink. Hylight the text or click the image you want to link, then click that button. You will see a screen like this...)

Did I mention this app is free?

What else can it do?

This makes me happy too. Now, I haven't tried this feature yet. I planned to try it while waiting at the dentist yesterday, but I didn't have a wait. On the $5 app, anytime I tried to save a post due to being unfinished or no internet connection, the post would NEVER post. Even when I published it. It was AWFUL to say the least. This FREE app claims to not have that issue. Once I am somewhere with no internet I promise to try it out and report back to you.  But even without that feature I am just super excited that I have an app that allows me to blog as if I am on the computer. (Sheesh, I just now noticed how many tabs I have open in those pictures...)

Want to schedule your post (like I am doing right now, as you can see I am typing this at night but you will not see it until tomorrow)... you can do that too..

You click that little info button right there, and this will pop up...

Put your date and time in, and ta-da you have a scheduled post. And yes this works, I tried it with an earlier post. 

Oh... did you want to know what your post will look like when you finish? (I know I can't be the only one who likes to preview my post before publishing right?) Easy peasy... Click this little button here...

And you will see this...

(and this is why I like to preview my posts before I publish... because that is just way too much spacing between paragraphs)

The ONLY thing that I give a thumbs down on is that my super duper cute signature does not post if I blog from here. BUT I have figured out a solution to that (as you can see if you scroll down, my signature is definitely there). I went to blogger on my ipad, went into make a new post, went to the html section and copied the html for my signature. I pasted it into a note on my ipad, and then when I am working here, I can just click html and paste it in. 

If you want to know how I was able to add my logo to my pictures, or draw the arrows, stay tuned for future posts in the Coming to You from My iPad series. 

(Disclaimer- this app is FREE so I was not provided the app to write a review. In fact, I wasn't provided anything. The developers of this app probably most definitely don't know who I am. I just was so impressed with this app and have had a few friends talk about how mad they are that blogging from their ipad was almost impossible that I wanted to share. If you have an ipad and want to blog from it, go scoop this one up!)

Teach Like a Pirate Chapter 1- Passion

"Light yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles around just to watch you burn." ~Dave Burgess, Teach Like a Pirate

It's time friends!! We are kicking off our Teach Like a Pirate book study today! Have you purchased and started reading your book yet?

Chapter 1 is all about Passion. And my favorite line... 

     "We are not passionate about everything we teach."  Whew! Doesn't it feel good to just admit that?

Dave discusses the three different areas of passion- Content, Professional, and Personal. 

My content passion- my favorite IB unit is our Sharing the Planet unit/conservation. I love reading but struggle with the best ways to teach it. But because I love it, I am always willing to work harder on it. What I hate- rocks/minerals and pretty much most other science. So, what do I do when I have to teach the things I hate?

Move onto my professional passion- My big one is the lightbulb moments. I may not like what I am teaching but I will work my hardest to see the lightbulb moments in my students. And I enjoy hearing my kids say they don't want to go home, they want to stay in third grade, they don't want me to be out, etc because they truly enjoy my class and coming to school. THAT is what teaching is all about. Not the test.

And the last area- personal passion- I don't know of a single student who doesn't want to get all up in your business. The more I incorporate my personal passions into my lessons and class discussions, the more intrigued the children are. If you love being crafty, incorporate arts and crafts into your lessons. My students are always interested in stories about Payton, so any time I can throw her into a lesson, I immediately have their attention. Even just starting a lesson with a simple- "Payton was coloring Easter eggs last night.." bam- I have their attention and all of a sudden we are sequencing and Payton is no longer involved. By adding personal passion into your lessons, it helps YOU to stay engaged and motivated as well.

Utilizing all 3 areas of passion is what is going to get us through the parts of the year that draaaag- you know, post spring break when there are NO.MORE.DAYS.OFF until summer. Passion. It will keep you sane. (Or as sane as a teacher can be post spring break.)

In the introduction to the book, Dave mentions that pirates are "daring, adventurous, and willing to set forth into unchartered territories with no guarantee of success."... They are "willing to travel to the ends of the earth for that which they value." Aren't those the types of characteristics we need to have as teachers? Have you lost that drive? Pick up this book and try to get it back!

Why did you go into teaching? I know it wasn't because you were so excited about THE TEST. I am guessing you went into it to change lives and make a difference. Focus on professional passion, be that teacher that you want to be, and

"Light yourself on fire with passion...and don't worry if it's not a controlled burn." 

For more information and to join in on the discussion from chapter 1, click the button below

Monday Made it #2

I am linking up with Tara again for 

And I am super excited about this one. See, I am moving into a new classroom next year. Three years of being in the trailer was enough. I am finally breaking free! Sadly...when my students helped me move some things into my new room, they saw it and said "OH.... we don't want you to move in here... this is disgusting!"

Well... when you have a bunch of third graders who have spent the year in a LITERALLY falling apart trailer telling you the new class is bad, you immediately start thinking about what you can do to make it better.

Step 1- come up with a theme- CHECK

Step 2- start making things to go with said theme. I have a notebook FULL of ideas and am slowly starting to make them for my classroom. 

My theme this year is...Pirates! But... I didn't want the typical all black and red pirate decor. So I went on the hunt for cute clipart. It took me over a week but I finally found something I liked. Since no one has created pirates in the colors I wanted, I am starting from scratch.

One of the first things I did was make a word wall title and letters.

(It dawned on me after seeing a friend's post that I didn't put the lowercase of each letter!! I have since fixed it for the file but I am not reprinting and laminating again.) This is hanging on my daughter's chalk wall for picture purposes. I have these letters (with the lowercase) and some letters with cute pirate clipart, but those aren't the ones I am using. Once the entire file is complete, I will be sure to share previews.

The next thing I decided was that I needed to redo my plastic drawers. Here are the before pictures...

(If you want to know HOW I use each of these, you will have to follow Pamela's blog for a guest post by me. It will be up on Friday.)

The white plastic was FILTHY. The ones with the subjects had pen all over them and the days of the week were just blah. And I didn't want white. So I got out my spray paint and went to town. Which ended with me having black spray paint all over my new manicure, my feet, and apparently my daughter's little blow up pool. Then I made new labels to match my theme and put them together...

Big difference right?! I liked them before because they served a fantastic purpose. But now.. now I LOVE them!!!

Be sure to check out all the posts that link up with Tara. I end up finding such good ideas for things I want to make!

Multiplication Paper Saver Follow Up and a Mini Me

After posting about my multiplication paper saver method, a friend of mine asked a very good question that I thought deserved its own post.

The question was- if you are giving them their timed tests on dry erase pockets, what are you sending home to parents to show grades.

And it dawned on me that I never specified just HOW I do that. And this is what I have done even when I used a bajillion copies of tests..

The timed tests NEVER go home. If students got a 100 I would file it in the 100s folder. If the students did not get a 100 they would have to copy the problems they got wrong, correct them, and write them 10x each. They would have to get it signed by a parent. So, their parents would know they didn't get a 100. These tests were separate from my actual grading. I didn't record THESE grades in my normal grade book. They went on a separate checklist. I give my students TONS of practice and other multiplication tests and THOSE are the grades that count and the ones that get sent home. Some examples of things I would grade are: workbook pages, word problems, task card activities, dice games, etc. The parents still see how their child is doing without me having to send home the timed tests.

Now IF you have one of THOSE parents...you know the kind. The ones that want to see EVERYTHING. I have a simple solution for you. Take a quick picture on your phone of the timed test after it is scored, send it to the parents in an email or text (if you text your parents), or you can even print it out and attach it to your papers you send home. (We only send papers home on Wednesdays, so in this case, I would print it out and it would get stapled into the packet of papers for the week.)

Students will still have to make their corrections if they don't get a 100. I will just have them copy the ones they got wrong before they erase their pockets. They will have to make their corrections and get it signed by a parent. It is easy for me to keep track of WHO has to return this because I have a checklist where I mark off if someone got a 100 on the test. If they didn't, then I don't mark it, and I know they owe me corrections with a signature. (I am sorry I don't have any pictures of this because I got rid of it at the end of the year.)

Now my mini me...

You may have noticed on my logo that I place on my pictures, there is a little clipart person. That person is me!

I absolutely love it. Crystal from The Library Fox made it for me and I just love love love it. She has them listed in her TpT shop if you want to get one for yourself. Her turn around time is just a couple days and she is very easy to work with! She dealt with me... she can deal with anyone! AND you get a black and white copy of yourself too! Which I positively love and am going to use on classroom communication!