The Winner is...

It has been such a busy week, and happy Canadian Thanksgiving! The draw for The Supermaskers book is closed and the winner is... HEIDI O'NEILL!!! Congratulations Heidi, I will be sending you an email. 

Thank you to all those who entered the draw, and I hope you enjoy the book.

The Supermaskers book...and a giveaway!

The day is here, it's finally here! I am so proud to say that I wrote and illustrated a children's storybook. I can't even believe it. It's called The Supermaskers. Our city has mandated mask wearing during this crazy pandemic and students in schools also must wear masks. It can be tough on the little ones; however, my own two children LOVE wearing their masks with Superhero capes running around the house saving the world and I was inspired to write this book!

PURCHASE THE BOOK BY CLICKING HERE

The Supermaskers

By Dynelle Dunn

Book Preview

Meet our heroes; Nasha, Aiyana, Charles and Sam. 

They know just what to do because they are part of the

Here is a sneak peek of one of the pages

Even better news, I will be giving away one free copy of the book to a lucky person! Use the entry form below for your chance to win your very own copy of The Supermaskers. There are 4 ways to enter. If you already follow me, please write that in the comment where it asks for follower number. I will be picking a random winner on Monday October 5.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Big Surprise

I CAN'T HOLD ONTO THE SECRET ANY LONGER

Well, I did something that I've never done before...in the middle of a pandemic....and I can't wait to share it with you!!!

Since my blog was full of cobwebs and rust from lack of use, I thought I should dust it off with something extra special. Come back tomorrow night to find out what it is, it's like Christmas eve!!!!!!

See you tomorrow!

Great Canadian Cyber Monday Giveaway!

I've teamed up with some amazing Canadian Sellers for a TPT gift card giveaway!

REMEMBER: each entry counts as ONE entry, the more links you complete, the higher your chances of winning!!

You can win 1 of 3 - $50 TpT gift cards.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK!

10 Must Have Classroom Essentials- Part 6

Problem: Students raising their hand

I know many teachers have their students line up if they need help or their work checked, but that never really worked for me, I found there was too much misbehaviour and wasted class time as a result. I also know that kids will sit at their desk with their hand up for a long time, also wasting time and having a sore arm as well!

I decided to try the cup system, and it works pretty well. Students have three cups stacked on their desk, a green, yellow and red one. It is on green most of the time, as they are working and not needing any help. I had them change their cup to yellow if they needed help with something, and red if they were completed their work. This way they could keep working, read a book or do something while they were waiting for me to come and see them. I also found it an easy visual to check in with. 

I found the cups at Walmart for a reasonable price. My only issue was eventually the kids decided to poke holes or colour them, but I think this depends on the class you have how well they take care of them. Overall I found the system to be quite effective.

10 Must Have Classroom Essentials- Part 5

Problem: Using the SMARTboard as a listening centre. I have tried all different ways of doing a listening centre. I had the big earphones for a while connected to a cd player, but a parent was super concerned about the kids sharing earphones and I found it difficult to find books on cd and storing them all was tricky. Then I started using my SMART board to show the kids a story and listen, but it was distracting when they all could hear. So, each student now has earphones on their supply list, but I was still trying to figure out a way to connect it all to the computer.  Enter this green star of amazement!!!!   Voila, I can connect all of the kids individual earphones to the laptop (I have a long cable to connect it). It works great.

10 Must Have Classroom Essentials- Part 4

Problem: Students have a difficult time calming down.

In Kindergarten and First Grade especially, there are a lot of BIG feelings that come up in school, whether that be getting along with others, frustration over not being able to do something, or just plain feelings with no event attached!
I wanted to create a space in my room where students could go to get calmed down if they got frustrated so that we could speak when they are ready.

Here is what I have in my cool down corner:
-bean bag to sit in
-cards that show different ideas to cool down
-mirror
-feeling pictures
-Magnetic calm down cards
-Small, medium and big problem
-Zones of Regulation
-Sand timer so they don't stay too long!

 -Calm down bottle
I found the idea from Preschool Inspirations.
I ordered everything off of amazon:




I love my magnetic feeling choose board. I got the idea from Conscious Discipline, but I wanted a magnetic board instead of the felt board they have. I printed the pictures on magnetic paper, cut them out and used a simple magnetic whiteboard. The kids (and my three year old who has one at home) love using this board!

How do you keep your kids calm in your classroom? What do you use in your calm down corner? Let me know in the comment section!