My Noisy Classroom

What do we define a successful classroom to look like as teachers? When you look into someone's room, how do you define a good teacher?

 Most of the time we watch the students. Do they look engaged, are they listening, what kind of activities are they working on?
For the longest time, I felt pressure to have that 'quiet class'. Sitting in rows, I would run around shushing, using all the management techniques in the book to have that quiet hard working class. I felt uptight and nervous, was my class quiet enough, were they bothering others, what did people THINK OF ME?!?!?!?

Haha, I've come a long way since then. I don't worry so much about what others think, as I began to realize that defining a successful classroom does not mean the quietest, there are other ways we can define good teachers.

As I settled into my teaching career, I began to use centers in Language Arts. Students sat around the room in small groups chatting away, laughing and enjoying their activities. As I looked around the room, I felt content and not worried about running around shushing everyone. I enjoyed the centers so much that the next year I began Math centers and that same feeling came over me as worked with students in small groups and watched kids shriek with delight as they played a math game. The year after that I introduced Social Studies centers. This was it, I was hooked on centers! A quiet classroom just doesn't work for me. I like the noise, the chatting, and the laughter.

This also rolled over into my teaching style. I started Whole Brain Teaching and I LOVE IT. It get's your kids talking and interacting during your lesson, and keeps the direct teaching in short amounts. I like giving students chat time, and I find in turn they give me better listening because they have had that opportunity to talk.

Do I do centers all day long? No
Do I think everyone should do centers? No
Is whole brain teaching for every teacher? Absolutely not.

What I think I've learned is that you need to find what works for you and not define yourself by other people's definition of a good teacher. So if you walk by my room and my kiddos are noisy and chatting...well... that's just the way I like it ;)

We are here for you Fort McMurray

My home province, Alberta, has experienced a devastating tragedy over the last few weeks; an enormous wildfire in Fort McMurray. Up to 90 000 people have been evacuated, homes destroyed and families uprooted.

Cities in Alberta are welcoming the people of Fort Mac with open arms and hearts into their communities, homes, and schools. Amid this tragedy heroes have risen from the ashes, stories of firefighters saving lives, teachers taking care of their students, nurses and doctors evacuating hospitals, and countless stories of donations and kids raising money to help out.

HOW CAN WE HELP? To donate to the Red Cross, go to this website or

The pets need our help too!!!

There is of course such an emotional toll on these families as well. I can't imagine what these families are going through, especially the young children struggling to make sense of it all. I would be at a loss if I had to explain this to my toddler. The Red Cross has some resources available on coping with the aftermath of natural disasters for both adults and children.

A group of Canadian Teachers Pay Teachers Authors would like to help out and are donating all sales on MONDAY, MAY 16 to the relief fund set up by the Red Cross. 

New Play Room!

We just had a baby in December, and with a toddler running around, my husband and I thought, WHAT BETTER THAN TO RENO THE BASEMENT!!! Yah. So we had an unfinished basement and with the new baby moving in upstairs, we were out of rooms and hoping to have space for guests to come stay. Hubby began construction in September, and I was little to no help being super pregnant and all, so he has completed it mostly on his own and finally finished up the bedrooms and play space. It is still a work in progress, but I wanted to share our play space as it makes my teacher heart SUPER happy. Organization, labelling, wall art, toys in one spot. SIGH. So many good things to keep me busy while on maternity leave and out of the classroom. Here it is!!

The little loves playing down here, and I am enjoying it too. Of course, each bin is labeled with a picture so the little, and the big people ;) haha, know where to put everything away. I bought a bunch of frames and glued clothes pins onto the top for easy change up of art work. The word masterpieces is at the top of this wall (not in the picture) which is what the little refers to when he shows everyone the wall. "These are my masterpieces" HAHA.  We also have pillows, a big play mat, a tent and a huge table for creating those masterpieces that are not in this picture. It is working so well and is our happy place. Stay tuned for more activities that we love to do in our playroom.

Tricks & Treats: A Halloween Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Happy (almost) Halloween! I am so excited to link up with some fellow Canadian bloggers for a blog hop and GIVEAWAY.

At Halloween the kids are off the walls CRAZY, and it seems near impossible to get them unstuck from the roof. To keep the day under control, I have them complete curriculum related centers that have them too busy having fun and learning to think about ALL the candy they will be getting very soon. Here is a little Halloween treat for you, an engaging center using the five senses.

Another little treat for you, a TPT giveaway, just enter below using the form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Check out this amazing Canadian blogger for more freebies and a chance to win.

Finally, if you are looking for all my centers, have a peek at this resource.

Teacher, I've never been to recess before!!!

The first days back at school are all about routines, schedule and new experiences. For Kindergarten and Grade One students, one of the most exciting, and potentially overwhelming new experiences, is, that's right, the dreaded R word...RECESS!!!

The school I was at a few years ago had full day Kindergarten, so when the students entered grade one they were recess pros. They already had a year of practice with the routines. It was also a smaller school, only one of each grade, so there weren't an overwhelming amount of students outside during recess time.

The school I am at now has half day Kindergarten, and the students don't have recess with the rest of the students when they go outside. The school is also quite large, about 4 of each grade. When the students enter grade one they have never experienced recess.

This was new to me, and so on the first few days during recess I had students who were terrified of being outside, who wanted me to be with them during every recess for the entire month of September, and who were generally not ready to be with 600 other students and play. 

Sound familiar? I felt terrible that I didn't do a great job of preparing them and vowed to change things for the next year. Here are my top five ideas for making this an easier transition.

1. Practice, Practice, Practice- expectations MUST be very clear, don't leave anything out. Things such as which washroom to use, who to ask if you need help, where to play, which shoes to wear, where to go when the bell rings and the list goes on! I think it's important to go through these expectations, role play them, read stories and most importantly be a role model. Go out with your students and show them where to go, what to do and how to play. This foundation with set them up for success during recess time for the rest of the year. 

2. Building Relationships- Of course it is always important to build relationships with students, but knowing your students well can also help with this recess transition. Sensitive students may need an extra buddy, or a visit from you when they are playing to feel safe. It is also important that classmates have relationships with each other as they are each others lifeline when they are outside. Make sure to set this up before, and especially look out for students who are new to the school and may need an extra buddy or two.

3. Comfort- These kids are still so little! It must be incredibly overwhelming to see kids EVERYWHERE with no structure and the person that they are supposed to trust (their teacher) may not be with them outside. They may need a heart sticker, a hug, a picture or a stuffed buddy to take out with them to make the transition a little more easy.

4. Distraction- Give them a job, something important to do while they are outside. Some equipment to play a game, a scavengar hunt, finding a supervisor and saying hello, figuring out where the park is, and any other ways to take their mind off feeling scared, nervous or worried.

5. Positive Attitude- A little "I'm so proud of you", and "I see a big improvement"; a little encouragement goes a long way. It is baby steps in those first days. You know that student that cried for the entire first recess, well celebrate that the second day they only cried for half of it. Looking at things in a positive way can help students feel better about.

Using all of these ideas, I made a resource to use in those first days of school. Included is a scavenger hunt, getting ready sheets, King and Queen puppets, certificates, a story, recess rules, a chant, and scenarios to practice. You can find this entire resource here:

Recess Jungle

I hope that your students are easily able to transition into the recess routine, good luck on the first days back!

                                                  

The Clothespin Pinterest fail- and win!

So I did this long ago, and was going to blog about it but just never got around to it! So finally it is summer and I have time to catch up. I tried this idea from Pinterest and for me, it was a FAIL. (from Middle School For Life). The clothespins broke, the pins fell off and it was a hot mess for me in my room.

So instead I tried this with much better results. I bought plastic clothespins from Walmart that look something like this. They have to be flat at the top. I then pushed the pin THROUGH the plastic and pushed it into the wall. Well, it lasted the rest of the year and is still going strong.

Here is what it looked like, I use this board to put up my students math work activities and it works GREAT!

Happy Mother's Day!

This year my hubby and little one were full of so much sweetness, flowers, brunch and LOTS of love. Of course my little guy was up a good chunk of the night with a cold, but looking on the bright side we did lots of snuggling, even if a sniffly nose was involved!!!

At school the kids made these cute canvas paintings, they were so excited to give them to 'that special lady in their life'.

I always have a hard time with mother's day as I think it must bring up some pretty sad feelings with some of our littles, and I carefully dance around the topic as best as I can. I can only imagine that it must be like rubbing salt in a wound for some kids. How do you address this in your classroom? It is something I have always been conscious of and I want to be considerate of all my students.

These paintings could be given to any special person in their life, and I think they turned out really great!

Mrs. Dunn