Student Self-Reflection

It is so simple, but works so well! My students fill out the study guide with important vocabulary words they need to know and important information to study.

I hope that you are able to use this with your students!

Learning Targets-a-Palooza File includes:

1. A PDF of learning colorful and cute learning target posters for you to print and laminate. Also includes a few templates for writing learning targets for your guided reading and guided math groups.

2. Part of this PDF also includes, “Swimming skills!” which I use as a formative assessment when introducing a new learning target. These colorful, kid-friendly posters relate learning a new topic to swimming, which most student can find a connection with. When introducing a new learning target, my student self assess their “swimming skills!” and then revisit and the end of the lesson/chapter/topic. (31 pages)

3. A Powerpoint file of the learning targets, which allows you to add a text box to type and customize your own learning targets, which can then be projected onto a Smartboard or whiteboard. (10 pages)

4. A PDF explaining the use of S.T.A.R. notebooks and S.T.A.R. folders with your students. I explain how I use these notebooks and folders as a way to establish and maintain a home/school connection. (21 pages)

5. A Powerpoint file of the S.T.A.R. notebook and S.T.A.R. folder cover pages, which allows you to add a text box to customize. (4 pages)

ADD, anxiety, anger, distractibility, hyperactivity…oh my!
After teaching for 14 years, I have had my share of students who have ADD, anxiety, hyperactivity, sensory and/or social needs. I strongly believe that teaching the whole child (meeting each child’s emotional, social, academic, physical needs) makes a truly exceptional educator. However, this is not an easy job to do when you have 28 students, each with a different need, in your class!

More days than not, I wear many hats: nurse, mommy, daddy, social worker, gym teacher, music teacher. Like it or not, we are no longer just a “classroom teacher.”

Can you relate!?!?!

I created this file as a way to compile all my ideas for how I help all the students in my classroom- above and beyond the routine and daily classroom management that is established.

This file was created to give ideas for how to help the students who:

-Are happy, joyous, and are loving life! These students will love the joy journal writing about what they are grateful for.

-Are anxious, shy, and overwhelmed. Students who are afraid to speak up in class, get scared during a thunderstorm or fire drill or MAP testing, need a brain freeze pass or a bathroom break.

-Are angry, mad, physically violent towards others or themselves. Some students hide their anger well and some students need help controlling their anger. The shades of anger resources will help these students identify the emotion and appropriate ways to deal with the anger.

-Are embarrassed or sad because they acted on their anger and created hurt somebody else’s feelings. These students need to learn how to how to make a sincere apology.

-Are hyperactive and need help with controlling their excess energy. The five minute fidget pass is a great tool for these students.

-Are working to identify the different emotions that they feel on a daily basis. These feelings are not to be labeled as “bad.” Students need to understand that throughout the day, their emotions change.

However, with specific tools in place, they are better able to manage those emotions.

You will find that your entire class will benefit from some of the ideas presented in this file, such as the joy journal, the feelings journal, the classroom economy behavior system, or “listening with your whole self.” However, you may want to introduce some of the ideas presented in this file with only the students who you feel will benefit the most from them. For example, I only use my brain freeze passes for students who have ADD and I only use the fidgets for those students who have ADHD. However, you know your students best!

This file also includes:
* Resources and ideas for how to implement an individualized behavior plan
*Resources and ideas for how to implement a classroom economy behavior management plan- Students earn credits for good choices and debits for poor choices, getting paid on pay day and either saving their money or shopping for a fun reward

Please email me with any questions!

If you are looking to read more about how I use this resource click HERE. 

I created this file because it was my year to be formally observed by my principal. Although my district provided some training for the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teacher Evaluation, I wanted to learn more about the tools that would be used to assess me as an educator. As a result, I spent a lot time on my own researching more about the framework, the checklists and rubrics for determining the difference between the teacher ratings. I then started to gather evidence, or documentation, for domains one and four. I quickly found that my National Board Certification came in handy for this part of the evaluation process! (When I certified for the National Boards, I had to create a portfolio and also include evidence to “prove” what I was writing in my entries.) I then organized my evidence and paperwork into a binder, ready to show off to my administration during my pre- and post-conference. I hope that this file will help ease the stress that sometimes comes when having to put together a binder- being formally observed can be stressful enough!

Included in this (80 plus page) file is the following:

A 5- page PowerPoint file that allows you to insert text boxes and type in your own name to personalize the your binder cover page, and also insert text boxes to type in your evidence for the 4 domains
2. A 77 page PDF of the following:
– Four colorful cover pages for each of the different domains
– Directions, tips, and pictures to help you create your own binder
– 11 pages of photographs, giving you examples of what I used as evidence for the 4 domains for my own binder
– Ideas for artifacts/evidence for the 22 different components of teacher responsibility
– A list of all the elements for the 22 components of teacher responsibilities, which define the content and the structure of the discipline- for you to add as pages into your binder

** Note- The ideas presented in this file are to give you inspiration and suggest what you can use for your own evidence. This file gets gives you guidance to personalize your binder according to your students and your teaching style!

If you have any questions, please contact me before purchasing!