Vocabulary List Two

The Friday Folders are going really well. I've gotten them all back within two days! That's outstanding. I'm preparing for parent conferences at the moment. Here's our second set of words. These words came from the past two New-2-You we have read. One was about the High School Musical 2 and the other one was about rescued dogs. Both stories were very popular with the students.

• school
• home
• money
• help
• kids
• movie
• DVD
• music
• TV
• dance
• dog
• friend

I've been taking pictures of my hands-on activities. Pictures to follow soon...

Behavior Plan

I started a new form of positive management this year. One, I get bored with the same one every year. Second, I have the students for 2-3 years and I don't want them to get bored. This plan is very visual and it matches the needs of my current students. I usually try a mini-economy, which I will explain in a different post. This year I opted for something much more visual and concrete. The students have small 4x5 charts, 20 points total, on their desks. After they get a point in each box, for a given row, they may move to that assigned island. For example, all the students started at the beginning of the "map". As they completed row one on the chart they moved to island 1. They progresses along the islands as they earn points, until they move to the treasure box. The treasure box follows island 5. Once they land on the treasure box, they may pick from a real treasure box full of classroom goodies. Since it take 6 moves to get to the treasure box, I give them a small reward after completing one 4x5 chart.

They get point for responsible behavior:

• complete work
• do your best
• be kind and a good friend
• hands feet and objects to self
• return papers and homework
• good scores on tests
• keep work area neet and orderly

At some point, I'm not going to tape the charts down. This will allow them to take more responsibility for their belongings. They will need to keep it in a folder or box. If it is lost, then they start over. I really believe in natural consequences. I tell the students all the time, "Your time in the middle school is about becoming a young adult. You are no longer a child." It's a difficult transition, but most of them really blossom.

Oh, Friday folders were a success. All of the students returned them today! *smile*

Something New

I'm starting something new this year. It's a form of parent communication I found while reading a teaching site called Education World. (Link on the side.) Some school systems are sending home all paper work on a specific day of the week. Here are the benefits: The parents know when the folder is coming home, and they look for all correspondence from the school on that day. The schools report that it has helped with communication because families are so busy. Parents often miss important paper work if it is sent home on an irregular basis.

I'm starting them tomorrow and I'm calling them T.G.I.F. Folders. I'll include newsletters, completed work, homework, rewards, notes from the school and other Misc. information. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I think it is a splendid idea. Here's the link about the folders. That way you can adapt it to your needs. Weekly Folders, From the Principal's Desk

This is a photo of the folders. On the outside, I decorated it a touch, and put a small note on the front explaining the folder. It's nothing fancy, but it looks good to me. *smile*