A reflection on the school year!

Summer break is in full swing and I seem to be as busy now as I was when school was in session.  At the end of each school year I always take the time to reflect back on things that worked and things that didn't work.  I thought I would share a few things that really worked for me this year.  

The first thing was a game that Nicole shared with me earlier in the spring.  She actually saw the game on Pinterest, I mean where else do you find cool ideas now.  Anyway, the name of the game is Winning the Pencil War.  I don't know about you, but pencils drive me crazy.  We either don't have enough, or they're in the floor, or the dog ate them.  Either way...I have issues with pencils.  I've posted the link to this  TpT freebie. ( http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winning-the-Pencil-War-An-Effective-Management-System-343219)  Please check it out...your life will be changed forever!  On the freebie it mentions giving students a small treat or reward.  This leads me to my second thing I wanted to share...classdojo.com.  I can't decide what I love more, classdojo or the pencil game.  Classdojo is a free online classroom management system of positive and negative rewards.  In my classroom students bank their points to earn different incentives.  Such as 50 points= sitting with a friend for a day.  Points are reset every two weeks.  On reset day students can trade points or keep their points.  If they keep them I simply write them on an index card with the date.  It is the student's responsibility to keep up with their point card.  So, at the end of each week, if you have all your pencils, then you receive 5 dojo points.  Students love this.  I don't think I will ever go back to changing colors or moving sticks...thank your Classdojo...lol.

Last thing I wanted to share with you was a website called remind101.com.  This is also another great thing Nicole shared with me.  This website allows you to remind parents of things happening in your classroom.  It allows you to send a group text and phone numbers are not revealed.  You can use this feature for many things.  Don't forget to become a member of your class so that you receive the text also.

I hope these ideas are helpful.  Have a fantastic summer!

Susan