Creating a Positive Learning Community

It seems like each year summer comes and goes faster and faster! As it's coming to an abrupt end for me, I've had classroom community building on my mind. Building a positive classroom community helps everyone feel important and included. I wanted to share some ideas I have used, many since I first began teaching, that have helped me to build a positive learning environment from the start.

My mother was also a teacher, and she started the tradition I have done on the first day of school for the past twenty years. When the students come into the classroom for the first time, I have a poster greeting them at the door that says, "Welcome to the Greatest School Year Ever!" They walk in and see balloons around the room and goodie bags on their desks, and they immediately feel excited about their new classroom. This helps to build excitement for the new school year and alleviates the anxiety they may be feeling. Basically, we have a party to celebrate the new school year. We celebrate the end of the school year with parties, but what about the beginning? A new school year is definitely something to celebrate! I read the silly story This School Year Will be the Best! Below are the goodie bags I will have sitting on their desks when they arrive. These bags include a bookmark, Pixy Stix with a welcome printable attached, pencil, eraser, and a homework pass. I sometimes add granola bars to the bags, but this year I will pass them out separately. I have these items included in my pack, The Greatest School Year Ever, which is filled with some fun back to school projects, activities, and printables to throw your own Greatest School Year Ever party!  

Choose Your Own Seats

Every year I let the students choose where they want to sit on the first day of school. I don't put name tags on their desks for about a week and a half after school starts so I can observe my students' interactions with each other. This also helps them to feel more secure, since they can sit next to their friends. It lets me quickly see who is able to work with who. After this time period, I ask them to write the names of four other students who they think they can work well with, and I promise them that I will do my best to choose at least one of those students to be in their group. 

The Perfect Classroom

After a few of the typical getting-to-know-each other activities and a tour of the campus, I bring the students back to their seats and ask them to think of the perfect classroom. I say, "Everyone, please close your eyes. I want you to visualize the perfect classroom. What kinds of things would you hear other people saying in a perfect classroom? What would you see happening in a perfect classroom?" I have them think about these questions for a minute, then I ask them to work in pairs to discuss their thoughts. Next, I have pairs form into groups of 4-5. Each group is given a poster board, and they write down the statements everyone in their group makes. I walk around the room and observe and refrain from commenting on their discussions. After students are finished brainstorming, we post the charts and discuss them. They usually talk about hearing only positive comments being made, no put-downs, students working nicely together, sharing, etc. Everyone comes to the agreement that we would all like to have the perfect classroom, and in order to achieve that, it would involve everyone working hard to create the positive environment we've imagined. I leave the posters up to refer to as I'm teaching the first few weeks of school.

Student Created Classroom Rules

Have you ever had your students create the classroom rules? You have to save your pretty rules posters for the second day of school if you do this! Students really buy into following the rules because they helped create them. I have students work in groups and come up with the rules they think are important to have in a classroom. After everyone brainstorms and records their ideas, we discuss them as a class. I tell them I will take their ideas and compile them into the classroom rules. Surprisingly, the rules they come up with fit into the rules I have already established. 

Forming Pairs or Groups

It's always fun to form partnerships or collaborative groups using candy or some other non-traditional way of grouping at the beginning of the year. Depending on how many groups I want to make, I buy that many different types of candy, and one for each student. For example, if I want to form groups of four, and I have 28 students, I will buy 7 different types of candy. I have students choose one candy from a bag without looking, since I want them to form connections with other classmates, not just their friends who might choose the same candy. Then I say, "Apple Jolly Ranchers, meet at table group 1. Strawberry Starburst, meet at table group 2, and so on, until all of the groups are at their tables. 

Another idea for grouping is to have a picture or sticker of one animal for each group you are making, place them in a bag, and have students get into flexible groups that way. I have found that students love variety and novelty! 

Students need opportunities to build a sense of community with their classmates. Every morning I have my students sit in a sharing circle. Sometimes I have a simple question for them to answer, and other times I have them pull a strip of paper with a question on it, as shown in the picture below. Students have to be taught how to attentively listen to their classmates while they are sharing. I discuss the character trait of respect when I introduce sharing circle. 

This next one is a really fun too. Have students use the top card shown in the picture below to share how they are feeling and why. For example, I might say, "I feel like the red smiley face because I'm so excited to be here with all of you." The students are able to interpret the colors and faces however they like. 

The animal card on the bottom is a similar idea, but the students share which animal they feel like and why. Again, I accept all answers they give. Sometimes students don't want to share, and that's fine, since they can just pass. After everyone has a chance to share, I ask if there is anyone who didn't get a chance to share, and would like to, and they can share at that time. 

What I love about doing sharing circle every morning is that I can get a quick glimpse of how my students are feeling. If one student is having a bad morning, I can give him/her a little extra attention throughout the day. 

You can use any question to get them sharing- what is your favorite move, song, book, food, etc. The prompts are endless!

The books below are my go-to books for everything Bucket Fillers! I use all three of these at the beginning of the year. They explain the ideas behind the bucket filling and bucket dipping. 

You can find the Bucket Filler books on Amazon:

• Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
• How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids
• Fill a Bucket

The books below are my tried and true first day/week of school books! 

Click on the links below to see the books on Amazon:

First Day Jitters

My School's a Zoo!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

This School Year Will Be The Best!

A Fine, Fine School

The last set of books below are some of my very favorites! They are wonderful for teaching about kindness, tolerance, and friendship. I love to read Cookies to them before introducing my Character Kiddos and Critters posters. This book also requires students to infer, so I do an introduction to  inferences. After I read the book and discuss what having good character means, I pass out chocolate chip cookies. The kids love it! The other books are equally wonderful. 

Below are the books on Amazon:

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

Enemy Pie

The Sandwich Swap

Don't Laugh at Me

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun

If you are doing Daily 5 or guided reading, it's easy to combine a community building lesson and a reading lesson into one with these beginning of the year books. 

At the end of the first day of school, I like to have my students get into sharing circle and share one positive thing that happened to them on the first day of school. It's a great way to end the day and send them home feeling happy about their new year. 

I hope I've given you a few new ideas to try out as you begin your new school year! I have put together a freebie pack especially for  iTeach Third blog readers. It's a sampling from some of the things I have shared with you here, as well as some samples from my Character Kiddos and Critters and The Greatest School Year Ever packs. You can download it here or by clicking on the picture below. 

What are some ways you build a positive learning environment in your class? I would love to hear your comments!

Good luck and have a wonderful year! 

Customizing Editable PowerPoint Files

Before I began making files to use in my classroom about a year and a half ago, I had never worked with PowerPoint. I always thought of it as presentation software, not something you would use to produce a file to print out. I never purchased anything on TpT that required me to edit in PowerPoint because I didn't feel comfortable using it. After using PowerPoint, I quickly realized that it's easy to use and create editable items. I have had several questions from followers about how to use these editable files, so today I wanted to share a few things I have learned along the way. (If you are already a pro at this, you can skip down to the bottom and grab a fun freebie!)

***Disclaimer: I'm a Mac girl. There are some differences between the Mac and PC versions of PowerPoint. Older versions of PC PowerPoint don't have the Color Picker/eyedropper tool I mention in the tutorial, but the new version does. There are color picker tools you can download if you are interested in looking into that. Years ago I used one with Photoshop Elements that worked really well. 

One of the most important things I want to share is that in order to use a font that's in an editable PowerPoint file, you have to have the font installed on your computer. There has been confusion about this, but you can't use a font that isn't installed on your computer. Many times TpT sellers include a list of fonts they used in their editable PowerPoint files so you can get a similar look for your edits. On my Macbook Pro, it's easy- I just download the font and click "Install". I have to restart PowerPoint in order for the font to be useable, but once I do that, it's there for me to use. If you need help with installing fonts, check here.

Another important thing to remember is to save your edited file as a different name. I usually add "revised" or "edited" to the end of the original file name, but you can name it whatever you like. That way you can keep your original file and your edited file. (Although the good thing about TpT is they always have the original files you purchased, so you can always re-download if you accidentally edit and save the original instead of renaming it.) 

Below I will go through the steps I use to change my font style, color, and size on a poster in my Classroom Decor pack.

 You might want to add text boxes to a page. The slides below explain how to do that.

Sometimes I want to make duplicates of a page such as my desk name tags. Once I choose my text style, size, and color, the text box is already formatted, so it's really easy to just duplicate the slide I want to use to create my entire class's desk tags. The slides below explain this. 

If you would like to download a copy of the tutorial in a PDF format, click HERE. 

And here's a freebie for you. Included are two sets in both editable and premade versions so you can customize them for the supplies you have. They have helped me to keep my desk organized and I can easily see what supplies I have before I go out and spend more money on things I don't need. These also make great gifts for new teachers and colleagues. 

Thank you for stopping by! 

Recipe for a Successful Combo Class

Hi there! It's Marissa from Inspired Owl's Corner and I'm here to share my combo  class recipe for success with you today! Thankfully, my first year in Combo Land was nothing like the photo above!   This year I taught a combo for the first time in my 19 year teaching career. Until this year, I felt like I always "got out of" teaching the combo. I would always ask, "But how do you effectively teach two grades? One grade is hard enough to plan for and teach!" Well, I ended up having to face my fear when the only opening at one of the best schools in my district was a combo class, and if I wanted a position at that school, I had to take the leap! What I have come to realize is teaching a combo isn't as hard as I thought it would be and has many rewards. If you will be teaching a combo next year, or if you have been scared off by combos like I had been, read on to ease your fears and discover my "ingredients" for a successful combo class. 

When a combo class is built correctly, with on-task, independent workers, it can be a teacher's dream. This year I had 28 very well behaved students who worked independently (for the most part!) while I was teaching the other grade. Having a well-built class is important and a huge ingredient to the success of your combo class. In my district this means no students who receive special services. Make sure to have this conversation with your administrator if you are asked to teach the combo class. It makes a huge difference! 

We always go over classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the year. With the combo, I spent more time going over and practicing procedures before releasing the students to be independent while I worked with the other grade. Simple things such as procedures for sharpening pencils, what to do if they were stumped on independent work and I was busy with the other grade, and what to do if they had to go to the restroom while I was with the other group were things my students had to practice before they could be left on their own. I usually rush this part, but with the combo, I took my time to be sure they properly learned the procedures.

Since I was teaching a 2/3 combo, my students did not previously know each other. I noticed right away the third graders gravitated to the other third graders, and the second graders gravitated to second graders. At recess they were only playing with those from their grade level. I wanted the students to be a cohesive group, so we did lots of team building with the Tribes Learning Communities book and discussed the idea of Bucket Fillers. After a few weeks, second and third graders were playing together during recess. Here are a few books I recommend for helping to build a positive learning community:

All of the Bucket Filler books are wonderful!

Maria Dismondy's books are excellent for building self esteem and discussing character. This one is my favorite!

This won't work for everyone, but if you are able to, ask the teachers at each grade level you teach if you can divide up and send one grade level to them for certain subjects. This worked well at my previous school. Those of us who didn't teach the combo were so thankful that we didn't have to do it, that we felt the need to help out the combo teacher. The second grade teachers each had about three of the second grade combo students during the language arts block. This left only the third graders for the combo teacher to teach language arts. Then the third grade teachers took the third graders for math, leaving only the second graders with the combo teacher. The combo teacher did the same thing for P.E., leaving only the other grade for her to spend extra time with, and that was when she taught social studies or science.

This year I had four consistent, dedicated volunteers. I have always had classroom volunteers, but I knew I would really need them in the combo class during certain times of the day. I made sure to have volunteers during my math time and literacy block. During math, I started off with second grade and we corrected homework and I taught their math lesson for the day, while third grade completed an independent practice page from the previous day's lesson. Sometimes they needed clarification, and I wasn't there to help them, since I was working with the second graders. The parent volunteer answered questions and monitored the class and I was able to focus on teaching my lesson. After I taught second grade their lesson, they worked on the independent page for that lesson, while I pulled third grade up and we corrected their homework and I taught third grade their next lesson. Any second graders who had difficulty with homework would get called back to correct it with the volunteer, and the volunteer was there to answer any questions the second graders had, while I was able to focus on third grade. My volunteers are a huge component to the success of my classroom! 

During my literacy centers block, I had two volunteers. I usually did a close reading or other comprehension activity, and the volunteers focused on grammar or word work with their groups. We rotated about ever fifteen minutes, and every student was able to get the attention they needed. The parents also pulled back students one at a time who needed extra practice with fluency, spelling, and vocabulary. The planning page below is from my Classroom Volunteer Binder. 

I love to spoil my volunteers at the end of the year to thank them for all the help they've given my students. Click on the picture below to see my Classroom Volunteer Thank You freebie. 

This was an important ingredient to the success of my combo. When students were finished with their assignments, they needed to have meaningful, engaging activities or projects to work on. Sometimes I posted task cards around the room and students worked independently or in pairs. 

Other times I had task cards set up in baskets and bags and students would take a set to their seats and work on them with partners or independently. I taught them how to fold a plain piece of paper into sixteen squares to record their answers instead of keeping sets of recording sheets on hand.

During math, I set up dice games and students could practice basic facts with partners. I gave students a lot of choice during this time, since I knew they would be more invested in the independent work if they could choose what they wanted to do. My main focus was being able to teach and work with one grade, while keeping the other grade engaged and learning, not just completing busy work. 

This was really easy for me with language arts, since there are so many commonalities between second and third grade. (Math was a little tougher for me, so I taught both grades separately.) I taught writing and guided reading together. I was able to teach many grammar concepts whole group since many standards were the same or very close. Three days a week the students read from their anthologies, and those were grade level specific. On the first day, I read the story with second grade, while third grade read independently and worked on their vocabulary four square. On the second day, I worked with third grade, while second grade worked independently and completed their vocab four square. On the third day, they partner read and worked on a comprehension page with their partner. Each group also had a reading journal they completed and was due by the end of the week. The rest of the week was spent doing guided reading activities. 

There were days my parent volunteers couldn't make it on their scheduled day. When that happened, I had to rely on the students to work with each other if they had a question. This ended up being a good thing, because the students were empowered and seen as experts in the classroom. Students who had questions couldn't just ask an adult for help, they had to work together with their classmates to problem solve. 

I know this won't work for everybody, but this year our students each received their own tablets. We added Spelling City, Bite Slide, ABC Ya, Study Jams, Kahoot, and a few other websites our district purchased to their start menu. The students always had their tablets and an on going project to keep them engaged if they finished their assignments early. If your school doesn't have 1:1 devices, but you are able to get your hands on a few iPads or other devices, you can set up approved apps or websites for your students. You will be amazed at how engaged and on task they are!

What I have come to realize is teaching a combo is a lot like teaching a straight grade, but instead of having a variety of levels of students to juggle, you have the two grade levels to play ping pong with! I found myself going back and forth from one grade to the other, much like a game of ping pong. Since I had independent workers, I had very few behavioral problems. It was so nice to just teach for a change! I spent more time lesson planning, but no time in SST or IEP meetings, so that was a fair trade off. I feel I was able to teach more deeply this year than I have been able to in the past. I've already offered to teach a 2/3 or 3/4 combo next year if needed!

One thing that I struggled with at the beginning of the year was how to do my lesson plans. Even though I love 

Erin Condren's teacher planers, I knew an EC planner wouldn't work for me with my combo, so I opted for a digital version instead. I love this one by Polka Dot Posie Print. 

Everything you see on the right side page is what I taught whole class. I was modeling reading expectations and we completed a Me on the Map activity and PE together. On the left side, I have math, word work, and grammar, all subjects that were taught separately. The bottom page is second grade's lesson plans, and the part that I'm holding up is third grade's plans. I cut off the days on the third grade page and placed it on top of second's, so I could easily flip the pages back and forth in my binder and stay organized. This worked so well for me this year! 

If you are teaching a combo next year, or in the future, I hope you enjoy it like I have! If you have any questions along the way, feel free to email me at theinspiredowl@gmail.com and I would be happy to help you!