Multiplication Facts: Setting Goals and Making It Fun!!

I haven’t always been keen on timed multiplication tests     for my kiddos. However, I was looking for something that would motivate my kids to learn their facts. So we started taking a 3-minute multiplication facts test every Friday after their weekly assessment. Well, it was a hit!  Once they passed the test, they were able to write their name on the star below that fact.

  To stay organized, I put the fluency fact sheets in sandwich bags for easy access. The students go up and pull out the fact sheet that they want to take a test on that week.  I was really surprised how well it went over with my upper grade students.  They are so excited to start it up again this year.  

Interested in my multiplication facts fluency assessments? Click the link below:

 Multiplication Facts Fluency Assessments 0-10 

Getting Organized in a Resource Room Setting: Tip #1 Student Kits

  Do you ever get tired of kids needing to sharpen pencils, get a glue stick, or a pair of scissors?!?  I started making kits a couple of years ago for every desk in my classroom.  Each kit includes the following items: extra pencils, scissors, a box of crayons, a small ruler, a pencil sharpener, and a dry-erase marker with an eraser. I can’t tell you how much this saves time in my classroom. When you only have students for 40 minutes per period, you have to be efficient.  It also adds to the overall structure of my classroom. Everything they will need to participate in the lesson is right at their desk. 

  Right now is a great time to stock up on these items during Back-to-School sales.  I actually bought the kits and pencil sharpeners on sale at Wal-mart for 10 cents each!!!  The dry-erase markers can be purchased at Office Depot.  They come in a pack of 6 and only cost 5 dollars. I will leave you with a picture of the kits that I use in my resource room.

Back to School: A SPED Resource Teacher's To-Do List

   I am one of two lab teachers in a school with almost 900 kids, 50-plus teachers, and a large SPED population.  It is VERY important to be organized for the beginning of the year.  Today I am going to list some of the things I do during pre-school week (teacher in-service) and the first week of school.

#1: Get an up-to-date list of students that you will be servicing for this year. Review their files and write down the due date for their IEP and 3-year re-evaluation. I know there will always be move-in students. You just add students to your list as they come along.

#2: If you have another SPED teacher that you work with, make sure you divide up the caseload appropriately considering service areas, behavior management, etc.

#3: I always create a SPED binder to organize all of my forms for the year (caseload tracking, meeting notifications, homeroom teacher communications, etc.) You can find some of the forms that I use here: Special Education Tracking Forms

#4:  Make folders for all of the homeroom teachers that will have lab students.  Print off the accommodation and modification page as well as the service page for all of your students. You will put these forms in a two-pocket folder.  I would also add a copy of the BIP for students that have one on their IEP. Once your schedule is completed, you can add this to the folder, too. This keeps all of the important forms in one place for the homeroom teachers to access easily.  Once you give the teachers their folder, they will sign off (name and date) on a checklist. 

This form can be found here: Special Education Tracking Forms 

 #5: Write down contact information for all of your students. I keep a separate binder for this form and a log for parent communications. 

   Well folks, that’s all for now. I will add another post about this topic in a couple of weeks and go over data folders, data walls, and my assessment binder. To be continued….. 

Practicing with Central Tendencies

I saw this cute picture posted by a fellow teacher online. I will definitely be teaching this to my students next week. We will be reviewing central tendencies. This looks like a fun way to engage students during the intro to the lesson.

We will also be working in math centers. We will be using my task cards for central tendencies. You can click the picture to check out these task cards in my TpT store.

Two great websites to visit:  commoncoresheets.com and math-aids.com. They have several different versions of free worksheets to practice central tendencies. 

Spelling with Pipe Cleaners

Okay, I am always trying to find different ways for my kids to practice their spelling words.  Spelling practice can be repetitive and boring. So I try to switch things up and add new activities each week. I decided to buy some pipe cleaners, and I cut them into 3 parts. I gave each student a pile of piper cleaners to spell their words. We went through every word on the list and the students really enjoyed it. They got really creative with how they used the piper cleaners to form letters. They wanted to keep on going and practice some of their old words. So I may add this as a center activity in the future.