School and the City

Yes, even you, upper elementary teachers! Earlier this month, my third graders took the ITBS. Before the testing week began, I had to completely cover or take down anything "academic" in my classroom that students could possibly glean answers from... even my alphabet. I decided that since I was taking down the alphabet anyways, it'd be the perfect opportunity for my students to make their own alphabet. I'd seen this done in younger grades before, but never in upper grades, so I spun the idea to make it work in my classroom. I did this by tying it in with our content , involving writing , and using cursive letters . First,  I just posted an anchor chart with the alphabet written on it. I told students that as they were learning about and researching Georgia, they could add something to the chart if they found a noun that started with one of the letters. (We were studying Georgia habitats AND working on nouns!) I told them that when we filled the alphabet, we wo...

I have been SO VERY BUSY lately (hello testing, conferences, and report cards) but I am SO VERY EXCTIED about this that I just can't hold it in anymore! So, I don't have whiteboards. I have two very large, very black chalkboards. They're magnetic (whooo) but other than that, they annoy me to no end. I don't like writing with chalk. It's messy! Chalk markers are EXPENSIVE and dry out so quickly... I feel like I've tried them all. And when I DO suck it up and write on the chalkboard, it's hard for kids to read.  Then came the day a few months ago that my friend Emily from Munchkins, Inc. shared an image on her Instagram   showing how she covered her chalkboards with dry erase contact paper. I thought about it for a while... Hers looks so good that I just had to try it myself!!  Here's the before... ... and here's the after! I did the first half with the help of a friend, but did the second half on my own. I used a credit card to...