I am so excited
about joining First Grade Parade's Throwback Thursday Linky.
I don't have a very long list of archives so I hope that I can find something that might interest other bloggers in blogland.
I have already been thinking about my Classroom Management with my quarterly
parties for next year since I will be moving to another building. Since it is summer, I have not been able to
meet with my new teammates yet so I am not sure what they have organized already
for our grade level. I am very excited about sharing my idea with the quarterly
parties and I hope that they will like it too.
So here is my original post from October 28, 2012. Enjoy!!
***********************************************************************************************I I can not believe how fast
October
has flown. I have so many things to post so I am hoping to keep them in order so not to confuse people each day. The end of our first quarter of school was October 10. It has been so much fun working with my set of "SMARTIES" this year. They are such a great group of students but some need some work on learning how to be responsible and respectful to others. They are great with me in the classroom but when they leave my room, a few think the rules don't apply to them anymore. I am sure that some of the teachers and parents out there know what I am talking about. Anyway, our second grade team decided last year that we would have Quarterly Parties for those students that showed responsibility and respect throughout the school day, including the bus rides to school and home. Here were the requirements for them making it to the party.
· Homework was completed (80%) for the whole quarter.
· 80% behavior in the classroom and specials.
· NO office referrals
· In class assignments were turned in on time and done to the best of their ability.
What a difference we saw with homework being turned in, behavior in specials improving and no office referrals. SO on October 10, 2012 we had our first quarterly party of the year.
Out of my 17 students that I have in class, only 3 of my students could not participate in the activities. It is a hard thing to have them miss this fun day (and sometimes it is hard on the parents too) but on the other hand it is a good life lesson. They need to learn that there are consequences for the actions that they choose. I will tell you that two of the students who missed the party this last time are on track to make it to the next party. They are both working really hard at getting their homework turned in. :) So anyway, that is how we decide who gets to come and who does not. On with the show!!!
As the students come into the classroom, the music from ToyStory was playing in the background. Some of the students dressed up as cowgirls and cowboys for the day and others wore their normal clothes which was perfectly fine. As we started our day, the students made their own cowboy hats. They cut them out and decorated them and then we fit them around their heads with cut sentence strips. They looked adorable on them.
As
the students come into the classroom, the music from ToyStory was playing in the
background. Some of the students dressed up as cowgirls and cowboys for the day
and others wore their normal clothes which was perfectly fine. As we started our
day, the students made their own cowboy hats. They cut them out and decorated
them and then we fit them around their heads with cut sentence strips. They
looked adorable on them.
After we were done
making our hats (about 30 minutes), we headed outside for the hoedown
activities. We had three stations that the children would participate in:
1) Barrel Racing
2) Steer Roping
3) Hay Hauling
Each station was about 30 minutes long. We were at the Barrel Racing first. Each student was able to pick the color horse they wanted to ride. I was the official time keeper. I showed the students how to go around the barrels and how to follow the spray painted lines so that they did not get any points taken off their time for going the wrong way. What fun! The student with the fastest time won a belt buckle from Pretty Prairie's Largest Night Rodeo. Here are some fun pics of the students.
This is me giving instructions for the barrel racing. |
Isaiah was the winner of the Barrel Racing. |
Angel was the only student who roped the steer! |
We were busy, busy,
busy that morning. The students went to lunch. After lunch, we started making
our homemade Rootbeer. That was a lot of fun and a little eerie. These are my
teammates. They made the homemade rootbeer and I took the pictures. It was very
good and the dry ice made it even better. The kids loved it.
After making the
rootbeer, we had to let it brew for about 30 minutes so the students moved all
the desks and put down their sleeping bags or blankets and pillows and we began
watching the movie "Toy Story 2". The kids were so ready to relax and eat some
popcorn. They so deserved this day.
We are now working on
the second quarter of school and last year we did a quarterly party with The
Polar Express. This year we decided not to do that because kindergarten and
first grade did the movie. We are working on having a quarterly party with a
Grinch Theme. We are so excited about that. If you have any ideas or know of a
site that has great ideas, pass it along to me. We already have an adult
costume for picture taking. Can't wait!!
What do you do to
encourage your students to do their homework or to be good citizens outside your
classroom? I was going to try and do a Linky Party but after reading the
information about it, I'm not sure I understand how to do it yet. So if anyone
would like to email me how to do a Linky that would be easy to understand, that
would be fabulous. Thanks so much!
******************************************************************************************************
If you would like to link up with a Throwback from the past, go to First Grade Parade and share. Thanks so much
for reading and leaving a comment. We all love hearing from other teachers. J
Until
Next Time,
Happy Blogging
I really like this idea, Tammy! You've got me thinking how I could make it work for me...
ReplyDeleteCrystal
Teaching Little Miracles
I'm glad that you like it. If you have any questions just let me know.
Delete