Preparing for Parent Conferences

Parent conferences.... love them or hate them they are a necessity in our profession! I truly believe taking the time to prepare for them, helps make them run smoothly and efficiently.

I used to dread parent conferences. Not only did I have to complete all my students' report cards, but then I had to sit with each family and reread the report card to them. I HATED IT! Something needed to change. 

My school decided to meet with parents BEFORE report cards came out, so there were NO SURPRISES! I schedule my conferences for 15 minutes each. YEP..15 minutes! It is possible to get it all in, make it personalized, and inform the parents how to help their kids moving forward. 

In order to streamline conferences, I created a binder tailor made for it! Everything I need is right at my fingertips. No more searching, last minute note creating...waste of time conference preparations. This form, RIGHT HERE, is the best thing that happened to my parent conferences. It is a simple checklist with room for short comments or notes. It takes about 5 minutes to complete and says a whole lot about what is going on in and out of the classroom. I make a copy for each parent so they can take notes too. I also keep a copy for myself. This is what we go over at our conference.

I use these forms to inform parents when their conference is scheduled. I also try to send home a reminder note the day before the conference to cut down on any missed appointments. I keep all my masters and copies in my conference binder in plastic sleeves. Again, easy access...all at my fingertips. I also

I also document each conference with a sign in sheet. I keep a copy for myself and I turn in one to my administration.

Get your conferences started off in the right directions with this sign up form. Click on the picture below to grab your FREE copy.

Happy New Year Craftivity FREEBIE

It is hard to believe that 2015 is coming to an end and 2016 is just around the corner. Most of us are just starting winter break and can barely think about anything except making sure our alarm clocks are turned off! 

However, some of us are planners! Me.. Me...Me!!! In preparation for the New Year, I created and prepped these resolution crafts for my kiddos to complete the first week we are back from break. 

All the templates are included to create a boy or girl New Year's Resolution booklet.

All you have to do is copy the templates on white paper. Next, choose if you want your students to write a personal resolution or a school resolution. I am going to make an anchor chart  and have a discussion with my class, so they have ideas about what resolutions are and what they mean. Finally, cut and staple the pages together to make your booklets.

You can grab this activity with all the templates for your class too! Just click on the picture below and grab your FREE copy! 

Happy Holidays everyone!

Math Facts Fluency: May the Force Be With You!

Math facts fluency....AH... how I love thee! Yes, that is correct! I love teaching my kids their basic math facts! What? Am I a bit crazy? Maybe.

Math facts fluency is one of the most dreaded things to teach for many teachers. I, however, love it in my classroom! But most importantly, my kids LOVE it! They look forward to their math facts test each week. They "remind" me every Thursday that it is math fact test time! If we run out of time on Thursday, there is a TON of moaning and groaning. I make it a point to not skip math facts tests!

The class goal is for each student to pass their leveled math test each week. They need to complete 50 problems in 3 minutes. This is a suggested time, but works best for most of my students. You can also 15 and 25 question pages if that best suits your students' needs. 

We keep a class chart to show progress towards mastery. Each time a student passes a test, they get a sticker next to their name. 

I also use individual student charts and keep them in a binder to track student progress. These are great for student conferences. It is a clear visual to show how many weeks a student is on each level or how quickly they are moving through the levels.

To help with organization of the leveled tests, I pre-copy a class set of each level of the 50 question math tests so they are at my finger tips ready to go each week. I also have color coded sheet of flash cards for my kiddos copied. After they pass a level, I give them a new set of cards to cut out and put on a ring to keep at their desk to study throughout the week. 

After the students take their tests and they have been corrected, they go home with one of these awards. If they pass their test, they get a slip that congratulates them and tells them which level to study for the following week. If they don't pass, they get a slip encouraging them to continue practicing for the same test next week. 

My students love the Star Wars theme! They can't wait to become Math Facts Jedi Knights!

Are you ready to get your students on the road to mastering their math facts? Click the picture above to grab your set of addition and subtraction progress charts for FREE! Make sure to head on over to Bright Concepts 4 Teachers for more fun math ideas too.

Classroom Game Changer: IXL Math

Hi, everyone! It's Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. I am here today to tell you about one of my classroom loves.

                                   

I have been using the IXL Math online program in my classroom for over a year now! I work at a K-12 span school and finding a program that can meet the needs of all our students, site wide, is next to impossible. However, IXL Math goes above and beyond! It is amazing!

Here is how it works:

Each student has their own personal account. All you have to do it input your class roster and IXL generates a list of user names and passwords. I printed this list for my records and keep it in a plastic sleeve in my plan book. At first, students can't remember their passwords or they use capital letters and they need to be lowercase etc. So, it is essential to have a class list nearby. IXL also generates a letter you can use to send home to parents explaining the program and how they can use it a home with their child. I sent this home immediately with the user name and password too.

I have bookmarked the home log in page on my classroom computers to make getting started easier for the kids. Once they are logged in, this is what they see:


 It shows every grade level Pre-K through Algebra 2 and how many skills are available to practice at each grade level. My kiddos click on second grade. This grade level happens to have 221 skills to practice. All of the skills are Common Core aligned!!! Yes, that is correct.... Common Core aligned. Just click on the standard you are teaching and it tells you which lessons the kids should work on. I post a list of lessons that review standards I have already taught, so the kids know which standards to review.

This is just an example of some of the second grade skills students can practice. All they do, is click on the skill and then off they go!

Here is the beauty...everyone works at their own pace. If you have advanced learners, they can move ahead. If you have struggling learners, they can go back a grade level and practice the skill they missed and then move on.

The first arrow points to the skill being practice. It also shows you how many problems have been practiced with that skill and how long it took the student to complete the number of problems.

If a student misses a problem this is what they see:

The correct answer is displayed and an explanation shows how it can be solved correctly. If your students are younger, and have trouble reading, the problems can be read to them too!

Another part of the program I love, is the awards screen. As the students answer questions, they earn awards. This is an example of one awards page in my class.

This student has practiced on IXL for almost 2 hours and has mastered 19 skills. I love the visuals and how positive it is for the student. It gives them a goal to their next win and reinforces how well they are doing!

As a teacher, there is a reports section that I love! I get weekly emails about how each student is doing. I can monitor what skills they are working on and how much time they have spent practicing. Everything is transparent! If a student is working on skills that are too easy for them, I can redirect them to the skills they need to practice. It also shows skills where your class is struggling, so you know right away what to reteach!

If you have a computer lab at your school, you can take your class to practice IXL. As they are working, you can monitor what each student is doing from your own computer! Yes, you can "spy" on your students. If you tell them to all work on two-digit subtraction skills because you have a test on that skill later in the week, you can see if they are actually doing it and how well they are doing. Then, you can redirect or go help those students who are struggling! Simply incredible! Real time data that can be used immediately to improve instruction!

This student is reviewing her money skills just as the person next to her is reviewing his place value knowledge.

I love how they can work at their own pace and review their strengths and weakness so they build their confidence and math skills at the same time!

I could go on and on about the incredible features of this program! I simply love how it meets the needs of ALL of my students, as well as mine, as a teacher. I think the home connection is crucial too! Parents can monitor their child's progress at home. For homework, I ask the students to try and practice for 20 minutes each day. The constant reinforcement is essential for their success! Parents love the at home component too!

Here is a little freebie to help you organize your student user names and passwords. I leave this by my computer for easy access, just in case one of my little ones can't get logged in correctly. Click HERE to download your copy. Enjoy!

Interactive Notebooks: Rubric and Grading

Hi, everyone! It's Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers! I am so excited to be blogging for the first time here at Who's Who and Who's New!

I LOVE using interactive notebooks in my primary classroom. I teach 2nd grade and started using interactive notebooks for math. Now, I also use them for reading and language standards. Today, I am going to share with you how I grade and use rubrics when it comes to interactive notebooks. 

It is important to understand what I am going to share with you, works for me and my students in my classroom. Please take the tips and tricks and use the ones that will work for YOU. I use interactive notebooks a couple times a week in my classroom, depending on our schedule. I DO NOT grade EVERY SINGLE page. First, I think that is humanly impossible and it does not use our teaching time to the best interest of our students. I always let the students know ahead of time if the page is going to be graded. I also only grade pages that I feel have been thoroughly taught and practiced. 

At the beginning of the year, when we are setting up our interactive notebooks, each student glues a rubric to the inside front cover of their notebook. We go over the rubric step-by-step so everyone has clear expectations. As a reminder, I also display the rubric on the board when pages are being graded. I use a 4-point star rubric that matches our other classroom grades and report card grades. 

This is the rubric I use in my classroom. If you would like a copy, click the picture or HERE to grab your FREE copy. 

When the students feel they have completed a page or I have given them PLENTY of time to complete the page, I have them SELF grade their work based on the rubric and write one thing they would like to do better next time. Then, I grade and comment on the student page. This strategy forces the students to focus on their work quality, performance, and self reflect. Sometimes, I just have a quick conversation with each student about their work effort instead of them writing down their reflection. It just depends how the day is going and if there are any time constraints.

This student gave herself 3-stars. When we reflected together, she said she thought she could be neater and she wasn't 100% sure she placed all the words in the correct pockets. I explained that she did a beautiful job and she needs to trust herself and her knowledge. Yes, we can always improve, but she was hard on herself. So sweet! 

This is another example of a student who had complete understanding of the concept being reviewed, but was also able to express ways they wanted to improve next time.

If a student is struggling and their grade is 1 or 2 stars, I always follow up with them. Sometimes I pair them up with a stronger student to help them finish or fix the page they are struggling with. I also pull a small group of students aside and work with them on the interactive notebook page and concept when the rest of the class is working independently. 

I hope this post has helped you with grading and using rubrics and interactive notebooks in your classroom. If you would like to take a closer look at the math, reading, and language interactive notebooks I have in my TpT store for grades K-4, click HERE.