Pack it all up!

Those were the words that I heard from my assistant principal Tuesday afternoon.

Don't worry, I still have a job. Well, at least I am pretty sure I do even though I have not officially gotten my contract yet. I am not a big fan of this whole 1 year contract thing for the first 3 years, but I totally understand why they do it. 

The reason we have to pack up all of our rooms is because we are getting a new AC/Heat system in our 6th grade building. This is a really good thing because our current air conditioning system is horrible. We have zero control over it and my room is always the opposite temperature that I need it to be. I almost always just end up opening a window in my room to try and cool it down. Sometimes it is successful, and other times it simply turns my room into a sauna. However, I am always telling my kids that at least we are breathing fresh air! :)

In addition to a new AC unit, they are also going to replace our ceiling tiles and paint all of our walls. That is why we have to take everything down and pack it all up and place it in the middle of our classroom. The worst part is that they want to begin this in May!!! We do not get out of school until May 31st!!! I am pretty sure that is going to be when I do my research project and can hopefully just get a computer lab every day. 

I am a little stressed about this whole situation, but am excited to get things set up again for the fall now that I know what works and what doesn't. If only I could convince my AP that I need a dry erase board too instead of my chalkboard and need tables instead of desks. We will see how that goes! 

P.S. Thanks so much for your comments about the classroom management linky party. I think I might try and do something once a month, possibly twice. It is still in the works, but I will let you all know the details as soon as I get them altogether.

Classroom Management

Classroom management is by far the thing that I struggle the most with. One of my classes really tests me on a daily basis with their behavior and I just feel worn out every time that they leave. I have done lots of reading and found some really great ideas to help me through blogs and Pinterest. 

To help not only myself, but also other teachers who struggle with classroom management, I am thinking about doing a weekly link up called Management Monday where each week we would have a different classroom management topic and then you would link up and share some tips that work in your classroom.

What do you think about it? Would you play along and link up?

Pinning Permission

Have you seen the great post that is over on Corkboard Connections? It is about one of my absolute favorite things...Pinterest. 

Did you know that you need permissions to post things from other people's blogs on your boards? I didn't until I read this article. I have always not minded others posting things from my blog, that is why I have a teaching blog. However, I have always asked that people link it directly to my posts or Teacher's Notebook store. Well now it is official because I am putting this button on my blog that gives your permission to pin from my blog.

Head on over to Corkboard Connections to see what other bloggers are giving you permission too!

What a Week!

It seemed like the week was never going to end, but it finally did. My week started out crummy, but here are a few of the good things that happened to me:

- The parent meeting that I had on Tuesday ended well because the student is no longer in my Pre AP class. It is amazing how much more productive we were this week. 

- We did stations again this week after taking a break from them. I am absolutely loving the time that stations allow me to work with small groups of students. Previously I have been doing a small lesson with them about the topic that we are learning about, but I think I am going to move into some reading strategy groups as a review for our testing in April. My plan is to really analyze the data from our district benchmarks and then place the students into groups accordingly. Any good advice for this?

- I got a big compliment from my principal. She emailed a picture of my word wall out to the entire staff. It is nice to know that I am doing things right and that she feels they are worthy of sharing with others. 

- My district benchmark scores were not too atrocious. Of course they were not where I would like them to be, but they improved.

- After having TELPAS training this past Monday, I had to do my recalibration. I should have waited to take it because I failed it. Luckily, you get a second chance before you have to get remediation. I am glad to report that I made a 90 on it the second time. I may have done a little bit of a happy dance when this happened. 

- I also managed to get all of my grades ready and verified before I was called on the phone and told to do it. :)

I am ready for another great week in 6th grade! What are you looking forward to most this coming week?

Parent Conferences

Being that I teach 6th grade, we are not required to have Parent Teacher Conferences with all of the parents of our students. However, we are encouraged to have them if we are having difficulties or concerns about any of our students. I was concerned about one of my students, so myself along with his other teachers met today with a parent. 

I thought I was pretty prepared for this, but boy was I wrong. I took some data with me as well as some behavior notes that I had collected on this particular student, but that was not enough. I was excited to have the other teachers with me because we had all expressed some of the same concerns about this student, but they did not express those same things in the meeting like I did. 

I was informed that the child hates my class and me by the parent. That felt real good... NOT! I know that I should not let this get to me, but I have. I know that there are other students and parents who only have good things to say about my class and I just have to think about all of those instead of the negative things. I was glad that we were able to bring the student in and he agreed with all of the things that I said. 

What is your advice for parent conferences? I have 2 more later this week and am really hoping that I have a better experience this next time.

President's Day and Donor's Choose

I almost totally forgot about President's Day, but I am not ready for a great day tomorrow with my students in the computer lab. I have quite a few picture books that I considered using for this, but then I decided that I wanted to integrate technology for the lesson. I started searching the web and came across some great videos on YouTube. I hope my kids will enjoy them as much as I did. 

I actually ended up creating a new blog post on my classroom blog that my students will open and then go to the videos through it. We might actually end up doing this part altogether, and then I will allow them to visit the websites that I listed as well. I did make two pages that we are going to glue into their reading and writing notebooks that they will use during the course of the lesson. You can find them in my Teacher's Notebook store listed as a freebie.

I also made my first Donor's Choose project donation this evening and was so excited to support Ms. Noren's project from My Life as a Fifth Grade Teacher!

She is "Enticing Reluctant Readers with Nonfiction Books." If you are looking for a project to give to, this is a great choice! Lindsay has been such an inspiration to me during my first year of teaching, and it is the least that I could do to thank her for her support! 

Happy Friday!

Farley's Giveaway

Have you seen the amazing giveaway that Farley is having?

When she posted about the super cute stamp she got, I could not wait to find out where she got it. Pretty sure that even if I do not win, I will be ordering one for myself! 

Go check it out, or don't so I can win! :)

Conversation Heart Writing

Today in class we did a writing activity using Conversation Hearts. My 6th graders loved it and I was very pleased with their writing. Here are some pictures from our day today!

It's a Freebie for Valentine's Day!

I promised you all a freebie, and I finally got it uploaded to my Teacher's Notebook store tonight! It is something that you can use with your kiddos for Valentine's Day!

All you have to do is click on the picture above and it will take you to the freebie! 

Do you have big things planned for Valentine's Day in your classroom? I am glad that I do not have to plan a party for my students, but know that they are going to be all kinds of excited for the day of love!

And the winner is...

This time it is for real! I really have a winner! I put all of the entries into a Spreadsheet and then used random.org to pick a winner. There were a total of 64 entries.

So I was not too sure how to save it, so I just used the Snipping Toll to do it. Sorry that it is not cuter. 

I am sure you are wondering who entry number 19 belongs too...

Well...

It...

Belongs...

To...

None...

Other...

Than...

Mrs. Zrihen from A Teacher's Treausre!

I am so excited for my super sweet bloggy friend because I know that she already uses foldables in her classroom and this will be another great resource for her! I hope your students love it as much as mine do! 

Send me an email Mrs. Z with your address and I will get it ordered for you!

I will also be posting a freebie to share with you all tomorrow evening!

Giveaway Winner...TBA!

This thing called grad school is currently consuming my life, and I have not had a chance to pick a winner for my giveaway yet. It will have to wait until tomorrow evening. I hope you all will forgive me! 

I also will have a freebie to share with you tomorrow!

Technology Rocks!!!

I got to attend such a great PD opportunity today. I went with my school librarian to TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) convention in Austin. It is actually a whole week thing, but we only were able to go today. I had so much fun and was able to take so much away from the sessions that I attended. I learned a lot about Edomodo, digital storytelling, implementing and writing grants for iPads in the classroom, skype, book trailers, using QR codes in the classroom, and so much more! I had never heard of Edomodo before today, and I am now hooked on it. If you have never heard of it either, you must check it out! Essentially, it is Facebook for educators where you can share ideas with each other. It has some really neat resources on it too! 

What is your favorite tech tool that you have in your classroom or have used before? I would love to hear what other things you all might use with your students that they love, and are easy to implement. 

I did learn about some new apps at the conference that are free on Apple Devices. I figured I would pass along the list to you all because if you are like me, you are always looking for great educational apps that you can use with your students. 

Puppet Pals

Sock Puppets

Book Creator

Drawing Pad

Show Me

Toontastic

Screen Chomp

Story Kit

What is your favorite educational app that you use in your classroom?

The best part of the day though might have been getting to see my old camp friend, Sarah, who blogs over at Sweet Teachings. It was so great getting to see her! I wish we had taken a picture together! She also happens to work on the same campus as Miss Griffin from Fantastic First, so I got to meet her too! Now if only they were not so far away!!!

Here is to a great rest of the week! Don't forget to enter my giveaway too!

Currently...

Have I mentioned how much I love Farley? It was so great getting to meet her last month and I cannot wait until we can all get together again soon! 

I also love her Currently linky party that she has each month and knew that I could not pass it up! It is simple to play along. All you have to do is go to her blog, get the picture, edit it, and then post it and link up. Easy peasy if you ask me! 

Don't forget to check out my giveaway too! It ends on Friday!

It's Giveaway Time!

Yes, the long awaited giveaway that I promised is finally here! 

Now I am sure you are wondering, well what is she giving away?

Of course it is something that I absolutely love and use in my classroom all of the time!

It is Dinah Zike's book Notebook Foldables.I use this book all of the times and I know you would too. There are so many templates provided in this book that you can use to create your own notebook foldables. Foldables have completely changed how I teach, and I am amazed by the success of my students since we started using them.

You have several chances to win! Just leave a comment for each thing that you do. Be sure that you include an e-mail address or blog link in your comment so I can easily contact you. :)

1. Be a public follower of Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher. If you are already a follower, let me know that too!

2. Add my button to your sidebar on your blog. 

3. Follow Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher on Facebook.

4. Follow me on Pinterest.

5. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway! You can use the following tweet:

Have you seen the  giveaway that @advin6thgrade is having? Visit her blog missklohnsclassroom.blogspot.com to enter yourself!

6. Blog about the giveaway and post the link in your comment. 

7. Tell me how you would use foldables in your classroom. 

That is a total of 7 ways that you can enter to win your own copy of the book! The giveaway will last through Friday, February 10th at 9 p.m. and the winner will be posted on the 11th by 9 a.m. 

Happy entering!

Tag...You're It!!!

I have been tagged by  wonderful bloggers:

Katherine from Third Grade Teacher Files

Kim from Finding JOY in 6th Grade

24/7 Teacher

Ms. L from Middle School Maven

I am going to cheat a little bit since I was tagged by 3 wonderful teachers, but I am still going to play along. 

Of course, with any fun thing like this, there are some rules that you must follow when you play along too.

1. You most post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them. 

Fun Facts about Miss Klohn

{one} I have always known that I was going to be a teacher from a very young age. I was always playing school with my sister and I distinctly remember her getting mad because I never let her be the teacher. 

{two} I have never been kissed. 

{three} I have a slight addiction to Diet Coke and I always have a stock pile of them in my mini fridge at school.

{four} I am teaching in the exact same classroom that I had 6th grade Language Arts in.

{five} I am a big kid at heart and will be spending my summer at camp again this year as the program assistant. I just can't get enough of it!

{six} I was the first mascot in the history of my middle school. I searched long and hard for a picture of me in my goat suit, but I could not find one. The sad thing is that we are still using the same mascot head 11 years later. 

{seven} My dream job, besides teaching, would be to simply be a mom. One day it will happen. 

{eight} I wear a size 10 shoe, but I am only 5' 4" tall. People find it hard to believe when I tell them that. 

{nine} I get to go to Ireland in less than 50 days. Spring Break+Ireland+St. Patrick's Day=Best Spring Break Ever!

{ten} I still live at home with my parents and dread the day I have to move out. You cannot beat living rent free! :)

{eleven} I am guilty of putting my clean clothes on the floor in my closet because I do not feel like putting them away. There is nothing more that I dislike then folding and putting away clothes. 

{twelve} When I was a student, I never had a detention. Yes, I was the goodie good student. 

A Mixture of Questions (I cheated and took a couple from each person who tagged me.)

From Katherine

1. Who has influenced you the most as a teacher?
There are two people in my mind that really stick out to me. One was a teacher that I had as a student, Mrs. Vitek. She was my 4th grade teacher and I absolutely loved her class. She had such a passion for teaching science and I can remember us making waste and a human throat that we squeezed an orange down. I will also never forget her sticking gummy worms up her nose and then eating them! It was after that class that I knew I was going to be a teacher. Another teacher that has really influenced me as a teacher is not actually one that I had, but I had the opportunity to be her high school helper for 2 years as well as doing most of my observations in her class during my undergrad classes. Carrie is her name and I ama lso lucky enough to be her oldest daughter's God mother. She is such an amazing teacher and I was simply amazed at the growth her students had during the course of a school year with her. Even though she teaches 2nd grade, I have implemented so many of her ideas into my 6th grade classroom.

2. What is a pet peeve of yours?
In my classroom it is hands down people who blurt. In real life, it is people walking in public places barefoot.

3. If you could have a shopping spree at one place, where would it be?
I love Old Navy! My whole wardrobe is from there and I know I could find so many more great pieces to add to my closet.

4. What is one food/drink that you could eat/drink every day?
Diet Coke or Peach Sweet Tea and pineapple.

From Kim

5. What is your favorite Starbucks beverage?
Caramel Salted Hot Chocolate. I hate that it is seasonal!

6. Have you been a principal? Would you ever want to be?
I have never been a principal and am only a first year teacher. I am currently toying with the idea of adding the principlaship semester to my grad school classes in the fall. I think my dream job would be to do an assistant principal that is in charge of curriculum. I am lucky to have a really great principal who makes me think I might possibly want to be one in the future.

7. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?
I am very much a morning a person and love seeing the sun rise in the mornings.

8. What brings you JOY?
This is tough because there is so much that brings me JOY. I love seeing my students faces when they finally get something. I also love getting to volunteer with Young Life and that brings me a lot of joy. My family and friend are constantly brining JOY into my life too!

From 24/7 Teacher

9. Favorite part of Monday?
Personally, Mondays are not my favorite. Usually it is because my kiddos come back all jacked up from the weekend. I do love hearing all of their stories and excitement from the weekend though.

10. Favorite part of summer?

That is easy...getting to spend time with my amazing camp family! This was my 6th summer on staff, but my 14th summer there overall. I am so excited to be back againt his summer too!

From Middle School Maven
11. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I am so excited to be going to Ireland over Spring Break, but I also really want to go to Alaska at some point. I want to go on an Alaskan cruise so bad! I want to go to France too! So many places to travel too!

12. If your students could see you as a student, would they believe it was you?
I was a very good student who never once had to go to detention. I am pretty sure that my students would believe it because I am still a rule follower. However, I am a little crazier now then I was when I was a student. I have been known to dance in class to Justin Bieber's Baby and things like that. Oh wait, did I mention that I sang in front of the entire student body at a pep rally?

Your Questions to Answer
1. What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
2. What is your go to school lunch?
3. If you could teach any grade, what would you choose and why?
4. Are you a morning or night showerer?
5. When did you know you were going to be a teacher?
6. What is your biggest life accomplishment?
7. If you were not a teacher, what would you be?
8. Where is your favorite place to shop at?
9. What teaching blog do you stalk the most?
10. What is your favorite technology that you have in your classroom?
11. Who has influenced you the most as an educator? (I really liked this question and wanted you to answer it too!)
12. What is your favorite subject or class to teach?


Tag...you're it! 
Miss Griffin from Fantastic First



Elizabeth from Fin in Room 4B




Lindsay from My Life as a Fifth Grade Teacher


Casey from Cardigans and Curriculum


Stephanie from Teaching in Room 6



Reagan from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits



Mor from A Teacher's Treasure



Fumbling through Fifth Grade


Mrs. J from Running Forward in 4th Grade