Wow! It seems I fall off the grid when it comes to blogging! I really need to update this much more often than I do. It's been a work in progress with my students this semester.
The thing that astounded me the most was when I gave them a quiz, and they were required to write a sentence using "sale" and a second sentence using "sail" -- yes we were working on homophones, and yes these are ninth graders. I got papers back saying "I have to sale my Ipod" or "I sale my car to pay my bill". I was flabbergasted! I immediately launched into a mini-lesson, and to my surprise, students fought me on the correct way to use sale. It seemed someone had drilled it into their minds that "I sale my car" was the proper way to do it. What is your take on this?!
In other news, I have permanently reduced my prices on TeacherPayTeachers! I currently have 19 products in my store and more to come! Please visit my store, purchase some products, I promise, you won't regret it!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
I am loving these new graphics I found on TPT for free! I just made up these great posters for type of conflicts! Available for FREE for a LIMITED time! Click to download!
My store has reduced prices on several items! visit to see what I have and follow me so you can see all the new materials I will be uploading soon!!
teacherspayteachers.com/store/colleen-bergin
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Documentation, Documentation, Documentation!
As a beginning teacher, I had no idea how much documentations teachers really needed to have! We need documentation that we are contacting parents, tutoring students, documentation of whereabouts of our students, etc! It's enough that we have to grade tons of paper, put the grades into the grading system as well as into our grade book (always best to have a hard copy!) and develop lesson plans! We need to document everything else we do?! Documenting can really push a teacher over the edge and overwhelm a new teacher. Fortunately, documenting can be very simple, as long as we do it right when it occurs. For some of the documentation, students can do it themselves!
My cure to being stress-free (or well, at least reducing some of the stress that comes with documenting) is that I have created several templates for documentation. I have a parent contact log, tutoring log-in sheet (students sign themselves in), hall pass that is kept in the room (students fill this out as well - students also have a bathroom pass they fill out on their own and only come to me to sign off on it - more about this later!), and Late to class sign in (students without a pass must sign in themselves and document why they are late). The only thing I fill out is the parent contact log and I do that right away when I call the parents, everything else is done by the student! It's great!
If you want to purchase these templates, please visit my store
My cure to being stress-free (or well, at least reducing some of the stress that comes with documenting) is that I have created several templates for documentation. I have a parent contact log, tutoring log-in sheet (students sign themselves in), hall pass that is kept in the room (students fill this out as well - students also have a bathroom pass they fill out on their own and only come to me to sign off on it - more about this later!), and Late to class sign in (students without a pass must sign in themselves and document why they are late). The only thing I fill out is the parent contact log and I do that right away when I call the parents, everything else is done by the student! It's great!
If you want to purchase these templates, please visit my store
Seating Charts
During this semester, I have come to realize that seating charts can be one of the most handiest things a teacher can have. I love rearranging my desks according to the lesson of the day.
Therefore, I have 7 different seating charts! Please visit my store, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Colleen-Bergin to purchase my seating charts for your class!
The seating charts are designed with thirty desks in mind.
Seating charts include:
Drama (Large circle)
Group work
Pair seating
Traditional row and column
Few unique classroom set up!
Therefore, I have 7 different seating charts! Please visit my store, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Colleen-Bergin to purchase my seating charts for your class!
The seating charts are designed with thirty desks in mind.
Seating charts include:
Drama (Large circle)
Group work
Pair seating
Traditional row and column
Few unique classroom set up!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Update!
Hello!
Well it's been quite a while since I've posted! Since I've last posted, I've been quite busy with Of Mice and Men with my students!
I have so much to talk about regarding the last month I've spent teaching that I don't even know where to begin!
I've turned my door into a "Twitter Door"! At the end of class, students are given a sticky note and must write a question, a comment, or summarize the lesson. I go over it and use it as a tool to refine my lesson for the next day!
The kids love it! They must follow the rules of no more than 140 characters, can use hash tags, and comment on other posts if desired.
In an effort to promote student achievement, I have incorporated S.W.A.G. - Students with Academic Greatness.(Click on S.W.A.G. to purchase my S.W.A.G. packet for your class!) Criteria to be a member is to be present in class ALL week, have 84 or higher, and be respectful and focused at all time.
While I am a huge fan of technology, and will do anything with technology, I prefer to have hard copies of EVERYTHING. Therefore, I have created binders for each unit that I do. I have created 2 binders - one for The Odyssey and one for Of Mice and Men. I am putting a master copy and answers into the binder each time I print a class set so next year, I have a solid unit plan in place and can just pull from my binder instead of scouting the internet for resources! :)
I have also gone to quite a few workshops since the last time I posted, and boy were they awesome! The first one was on classroom management. Now, my classroom, if you walk in, it's chaos, but if you stick around a bit, you will see it's organized chaos and students are engaged, even if some are walking around the room :) I took the following away from the workshop:
The second workshop I attended revolved around lesson-planning. While my group did not get to develop lesson plans we were able to discuss the importance of lesson plans and how to develop a lesson plans. Oftentimes, teachers plan without realizing we need to model. Some students may just not know how to do something (we learn to drive first by watching, then by our parents giving us the play-by-play, then we get behind the wheel - we never hop in the driver's seat without having some idea of what to do!)
The final and most recent workshop I attended was actually just yesterday. It was just a handful of new English teachers from two high schools. We met to discuss how things were going, what we would do differently next semester, and to learn all about google-docs, Holt McDougal Online, OneNote, and Moodle. Being a fan of technology, I loved this workshop! My 9th graders have laptop so I can easily incorporate these programs into my lessons!! I'm so excited!!
Well it's been quite a while since I've posted! Since I've last posted, I've been quite busy with Of Mice and Men with my students!
I have so much to talk about regarding the last month I've spent teaching that I don't even know where to begin!
I've turned my door into a "Twitter Door"! At the end of class, students are given a sticky note and must write a question, a comment, or summarize the lesson. I go over it and use it as a tool to refine my lesson for the next day!
In an effort to promote student achievement, I have incorporated S.W.A.G. - Students with Academic Greatness.(Click on S.W.A.G. to purchase my S.W.A.G. packet for your class!) Criteria to be a member is to be present in class ALL week, have 84 or higher, and be respectful and focused at all time.
I have also gone to quite a few workshops since the last time I posted, and boy were they awesome! The first one was on classroom management. Now, my classroom, if you walk in, it's chaos, but if you stick around a bit, you will see it's organized chaos and students are engaged, even if some are walking around the room :) I took the following away from the workshop:
- Be consistent in your procedures and rules.
- Make sure your students know the procedures - even if you need to practice with your students!
- Make sure students know consequences and follow through.
- Do not make a scene in the classroom.
The second workshop I attended revolved around lesson-planning. While my group did not get to develop lesson plans we were able to discuss the importance of lesson plans and how to develop a lesson plans. Oftentimes, teachers plan without realizing we need to model. Some students may just not know how to do something (we learn to drive first by watching, then by our parents giving us the play-by-play, then we get behind the wheel - we never hop in the driver's seat without having some idea of what to do!)
The final and most recent workshop I attended was actually just yesterday. It was just a handful of new English teachers from two high schools. We met to discuss how things were going, what we would do differently next semester, and to learn all about google-docs, Holt McDougal Online, OneNote, and Moodle. Being a fan of technology, I loved this workshop! My 9th graders have laptop so I can easily incorporate these programs into my lessons!! I'm so excited!!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Grades
Today was a workday so I didn't have any students. Today was devoted to putting grades in the system and working on benchmarks. However, I had already completed those earlier by always putting grades in the system right away and working on the benchmark at the last workday. Therefore, I was allowed the luxury of spending most of my day planning and developing lesson plans for my upcoming unit Of Mice and Men.
Last year, I started the year off by putting grades in my grading book, but not into the system. I hated having to spend an entire day putting grades in the system for progress reports or report cards. After that one quarter, I vowed never to do that again. I started putting grades in the grading book AND in the system right away. It saved me so much time!
Lesson learned: keep putting in grades right away instead of waiting. It may seem like a hassle, but only takes up a few minutes of your time as opposed to waiting to do it all in one day and spending hours putting grades into the system.
Last year, I started the year off by putting grades in my grading book, but not into the system. I hated having to spend an entire day putting grades in the system for progress reports or report cards. After that one quarter, I vowed never to do that again. I started putting grades in the grading book AND in the system right away. It saved me so much time!
Lesson learned: keep putting in grades right away instead of waiting. It may seem like a hassle, but only takes up a few minutes of your time as opposed to waiting to do it all in one day and spending hours putting grades into the system.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Of Mice and Men
Hey ya'll!
It's a nice long fall weekend and I've been exploring different activities for students to do for my upcoming Of Mice and Men unit! I am so excited about this unit and want my students to be just as excited as I am. Therefore, I created a playlist on YouTube of music strictly relating to the 1930s and the Great Depression. There are great songs such as Brother Can You Spare A Dime?, Hard Times, and Whistle While You Work. Yes that last song I mentioned is from Snow White, but rings true for the ending of that time period. I created a virtual field trip that will spare students from listening to me drone on and on as well as reading articles about the 1930s and instead allows them to explore different websites, view different clips about the Great Depression, Migrant Workers, Dust Bowl and John Steinbeck himself. I am working on my classroom tomorrow to get it decorated for the unit. I feel if the classroom is decorated for the unit, students will be more interested and can make connections. I do not plan on having students read and answer questions for 90 minutes each day. Instead, I plan on splitting the blocks in half - spend half a block reading and completing their study guide and the other half doing activities relating to concepts such as theme, setting, characterization, etc. This way I do not lose student engagement and students are constantly learning instead of just reading. If you would like to see the unit plan I have compiled, please email me and I will upload it to TeachersPayTeachers.com
Happy Fall!
Ms. Bergin
It's a nice long fall weekend and I've been exploring different activities for students to do for my upcoming Of Mice and Men unit! I am so excited about this unit and want my students to be just as excited as I am. Therefore, I created a playlist on YouTube of music strictly relating to the 1930s and the Great Depression. There are great songs such as Brother Can You Spare A Dime?, Hard Times, and Whistle While You Work. Yes that last song I mentioned is from Snow White, but rings true for the ending of that time period. I created a virtual field trip that will spare students from listening to me drone on and on as well as reading articles about the 1930s and instead allows them to explore different websites, view different clips about the Great Depression, Migrant Workers, Dust Bowl and John Steinbeck himself. I am working on my classroom tomorrow to get it decorated for the unit. I feel if the classroom is decorated for the unit, students will be more interested and can make connections. I do not plan on having students read and answer questions for 90 minutes each day. Instead, I plan on splitting the blocks in half - spend half a block reading and completing their study guide and the other half doing activities relating to concepts such as theme, setting, characterization, etc. This way I do not lose student engagement and students are constantly learning instead of just reading. If you would like to see the unit plan I have compiled, please email me and I will upload it to TeachersPayTeachers.com
Happy Fall!
Ms. Bergin
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