Winter Break!!!! 2021

Congratulations!!!!!!  We did it!  Go RELAX!   Go ENJOY your family!  You have MORE than earned this break! 

I am NOT going to share self care tips...U know U!  Do what makes you happy!  Me, I will be in Nashville with my husband living it up for the first weekend.  I then will spend the holiday at home with my family and my Aunt from Ohio.  

So while you are relaxing and enjoying your time take a peek at FEW of my FAVORITE things! 

Feel free to try them out! 

Basically my plan for winter break! 

If you decide to do a little shopping over break don't forget about these discounts just for TEACHERS!
Thank you Deal Hack for putting them together!

If you are looking for a little adventure away from home, check out FREE Events around Charlotte! 

Need a meal?  An easy one that will WOW your family and friends????

This is spot on as good at Olive Garden's Baked Ziti! 

I add sweet Italian sausage to mine!

I will be making this cutie!  So adorable & easy! 

Lily and I will be heading to the movies to watch SPENCER! (I am a HUGE Princess Diana fan!)

And we are planning on a few of these Holiday Treats...#15 for sure!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy every second of break!  If you do anything from my favorite things list keep me posted.  I would LOVE to hear what you think!  

Data Binders

Reindeer Science was SOOOO FUN this week!  I had a wonderful time and I sure hope the kiddos did too!  I am looking forward to my next rotation next week!  I adore this picture that Mrs. Derberry sent me!  

This week on the blog, I wanted to touch base with you about Data Binders.  I know, I know...it seems like just another thing but helping students own their data is such a powerful motivator! 🙌🏻 🙌🏻 

Even if you don't go the binder route, I encourage you to be open with your students about why you are pulling them outside the classroom to test. 

I always started testing "season" with the reasons why we were altering our routine and why I needed them to work independently.  This helped tons with management and buy in.  I also would randomly shout out students that made growth.  It really made testing relevant for the students and helped to encourage them to do their best. 

Each Friday, after our spelling test we updated our data binders.  We also set goals for the next week.  Got the students thinking about their data, planning and writing! (It was also a great time for me to meet individually with students for conferencing.) 

Below I am going to share some ideas that will allow you to start some student lead data tracking in your classrooms! 

Love this video about how a teacher set up her data binders.  She shares things that worked and things that didn't.  

Here is the book that she shared about in the video.

I also came across this FREE file for Dibels 8th Edition.  This is something that I would defiantly have my students fill out with me and then discuss. 

Achieve the Core has a great post about using data binders to increase student independence!  Check it out below. 

And I LOVE the title of this post!  

Whose data is it?

Such a powerful question.  Students NEED to have ownership of their data so that it can be then channeled into goals for them.  

Adrienne Wiggins has a killer post about how she uses her data binders to increase her student's scores. 

Know that there is no right way or wrong way to do this.  Just work to get your kiddos involved with their data.  Help them to set goals for themselves and celebrate those goals when they reach them. 

It is that simple! 

Decodable Comics

Happy December!  I am so excited for all the holiday fun that we will have going on at PVES!  Thank you advance for helping to keep the magic alive for our students.  

It is no secret that I LOVE tiktok...& I found something really awesome and I thought your kiddos would totally enjoy using them during small group or even during centers!

You can follow her over on the TT @farmerlovesphonics!

Here is more information on the site: 

You will find FREE comics that you can download for your students and they have printable templates where students can write their own comics. SOOOO fun for centers and writing lessons! 

The decodable comics are organized by phases that are based on the phonics progression of learning. 

Here is a preview of the templates!  I think the kiddos would LOVE to be able write their own after reading a few of the comics themselves.

Another one of my FAVORITE educational tiktoks is Lemon Tree Literacy!  Ms. Jordyn has TONS of Science of Reading videos to watch.  Lots of small group activities...I could watch her forever!!!  (She is on Instagram too...click the REELS for the videos.) 

Remember "Rainbow Writing" whelp...you can still do it!  Just have your kiddos rainbow the sounds they hear in the words.  Check out @learningwithheidi on tiktok or check out the video below!

I made a few sheets that you can use to go along with this center!  Grab them HERE!

Have fun exploring tiktok!!!!!