Rockin This Teacher Thing

It’s report card time. Report cards are a great way to show student growth BUT you can spend a lot of time doing report cards. And if you don’t handle report cards just right, your best intentions can backfire and make your teacher life pretty miserable.

Looking for the free Report Card Word and Phrase Bank with Report Card Template? 
Here's the link: www.makingthebasicsfun.com/reportcardcommentbank

Here are the 6 Report Card Dos & Don’ts. Keep reading to get more info on each. 

• Don’t rely completely on a number in a grade book.

Do have a student folder with work samples to support percentage/grades/skills.

• Don’t have data and students work in several places.

Do organized data in one spot for easy and quick reference.

• Don’t write a new report card comment for each student.

Do use a report card template and word/comment bank to structure and quickly fill in student data and observations.

• Don’t reveal a problem area in a report card without talking with parents about the skill/behavior deficit first.

Do communicate with parents before report cards come out about any problems.

• Don’t use negative language in report card comments to describe a child or their skill/behavior.

Do use positive language to describe skills/behaviors deficit. 

• Don’t tell parents about a problem without explaining how you are helping the child remediate the issue.

Do give specifics on exactly how the child is not on level and how you are working with the child to meet our exceed specific skills and/or behaviors. Plus, give strategies and materials parents can use to help the child. 

Using puppets to teach (or reteach) classroom rules can help your students stay engaged and able to remember the classroom rules. 

A puppet is magical. Today you will get some tips and how-tos when it comes to making the most of puppet friend. 

Making a classroom job chart and assigning your students classroom jobs is a complete waste of time. 

If you have a job chart in your classroom it’s time to stop how you are doing classroom jobs and do this instead.

You might feel like you have to set-up classroom jobs for your K-1 students. 

There’s the  traditional way and the smart way.

You don’t need jobs like librarian, weather reporter, line leader, or paper passer assigned to your students. 

They are either going to forget to do their jobs or you will have to remind them. Do you even know who’s the weather reporter?  Did you change the chart? 

The old method is just inviting all sorts of chaos into your classroom.

Stop making your teacher life so hard, do this instead.

It’s called Happy Helper.

Have a question or a request for an episode. 
Find me on Instagram
@makingthebasicsfun
or
@rockinthisteacherthing

You’ve set up your independent work station system in your classroom. The rotation chart is up. You’ve designated areas in your classroom for each station. Now you are asking yourself the hardest question of all. What are the best activities for my students to do during independent work stations?

Listen in while we look at 6 stations that will make station time stress free. 

1)Picture book with finger lights
2) Independent word games- Buggy Wuggy
3) Magnetic Alphabet
4)Pocket chart sentence building 
5)Independent game from TpT
6) Fine-motor station 

Student behavior issues during independent work stations can make your life miserable.

If kids can’t behave then your role of teacher shifts to judge and jury. 

That’s no fun.

But how can you get your students to behave? You have to teach it. 

We will talk about set-up/clean-up, rotation, noise level, and partner problems.

I’ve lived and fixed the mistakes so you don’t have to. 

Let’s dive in and get you started. 

The Not So Obvious Basics Of Setting Up Independent Work Stations In Kindergarten and First-Grade

Setting up independent work stations in kindergarten and first-grade is might be a bit more complicated than you might think. 

We will talk about the basics of stations

How big should each group be?

What should you think about when grouping kids?

How many stations?

Is it okay for students to revisit a station?

When and how should you swap out stations?

How long should each rotation last?

Lots of tips from a teacher who's been there. 

What Do You Need To Set-up Stations in Kindergarten and First-Grade?

If you want your students to be totally independent during station time you’re going to need to set-up your classroom with a few essential classroom supplies. 

• You need a place where students can access the station materials.
• You need a rotation system and chart that they can independently read and follow. 
• Optionally you need a timer that students and teacher can look at. 

We will talk about these and a few more teacher tips and help to make station time in your kindergarten and first grade classroom fun and full of independent learning. 

Watch the rest of the podcast episodes in this series which will be published December 2021-January 2022.

Series:

• Mistakes In Setting-Up Stations in Kindergarten and First-Grade (published)
• What Do You Need To Set-up Stations in Kindergarten and First-Grade? (This episode)
• Station Basics (coming soon)
• Teaching Students How To Behave During Stations (coming soon)
• Best Games and Activities For Station Time (coming soon)

Thanks to:

**Special thanks to Dawn The Singing Nurse for the awesome music. Check out her channel. https://youtube.com/c/DawnGinese

Graphics: www.Canva.com 

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DISCLAIMER: All opinions are always 100% my own. This video and description MAY contain 

affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I have experience with, or have seen the value of all of these resources, and I recommend them because they are helpful. Do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals. Your support of  this channel allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

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Mentioned Supplies (These are affiliate links-Please read the above disclaimer):

10 drawer roller shelf: https://amzn.to/3oPZ6ZH 

Pocket Chart: https://amzn.to/3s5FF0R 

Timer: https://amzn.to/3oOF6q7 

Classroom Resources Created by Angie:

Independent Games (Early Finisher Solution): https://www.makingthebasicsfun.com/solution 

TpT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Making-The-Basics-Fun-Angie-Kantorowicz

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Mistakes In Setting Up Stations In Kindergarten and First-Grade 

I love stations. But it wasn’t always blue sky and sunshine. I’ve made all the mistakes when it’s come to setting-up and running stations.

Avoid the mistakes I made by getting the first hand account of all my mistakes

Get the insights and help you are looking for to get off on the right foot when you do stations in your kindergarten or first grade classroom. 

Mistakes Made When Doing Stations:

• Putting them into paired groups right away.
• Not giving them truly independent activities.
• Not giving them something to do after they finished.
• Not showing them how to look at the station chart.
• Not showing them how to clean up and move to the next station.
• Me setting up and putting away stations.
• Me taking too long to plan, prep and organize materials.
• Not reusing the materials.
• Having too short or too long at each station.
• Using my voice to cue a clean up and move to the next station.

Upcoming Episodes In This Series:

Materials For Stations
Physical set-up, organize station materials, station rotation chart, timer

The Basics
How many stations, How many kids in each group, How long, What do they do if they get done early

Teaching How To Behave During Stations
Student independence- set-up/clean-up, How to Rotate, Noise Level

Best Games/Activities For Independent Learning- Independent, Low Prep, Easy To Organize, Easy To Find Manipulatives (dice, dry erase maker, spinner)

Thanks to:

**Special thanks to Dawn The Singing Nurse for the awesome music. Check out her channel. https://youtube.com/c/DawnGinese
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Independent Games (Early Finisher Solution): https://www.makingthebasicsfun.com/solution 

TpT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Making-The-Basics-Fun-Angie-Kantorowicz

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Come to www.makingthebasicsfun.com/podcast to listen. 

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DISCLAIMER: All opinions are always 100% my own. This video and description MAY contain affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I have experience with, or have seen the value of all of these resources, and I recommend them because they are helpful. Do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals. Your support of  this channel allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

Good Behavior Management, -it’s probably the most important skill you can have as a kindergarten or first grade teacher.  

If you aren’t the boss of your classroom then those little lovelies are going to make life very difficult. 

You want to be the best teacher, but how do you make sure you stay in control of your classroom every minute of the day?

How do you teach kindergarten and first grade students how to behave? 

Today we will talk about what it takes to level up your classroom management skills. You will get some tips and real life examples of what you need to say and do.

You can’t do this alone.  Here’s some help.

Should you send a student to the principal’s office?

The frustration is real.

Student behavior gets in the way of teaching. That’s a fact. 

Sending kids to the principal relieves the problem for a few minutes but then what?

Today we are talking about the principal's office and how you can get the help you need. You can’t do this alone. That’s for sure.  

Stay to the end to get the best tool I’ve ever used with those very very difficult kids.

This is originally aired on my YouTube Channel, Teachers Making The Basics Fun. Go there to subscribe and catch all the videos. Also, please feel free to leave a comment or questions. I'd love to get to know you better. 

Thanks to:

**Special thanks to Dawn The Singing Nurse for the awesome music. Check out her channel. https://youtube.com/c/DawnGinese