Name tags!

One of the things I struggle with most as a sub, is knowing the students names! I believe in positive behavior and it sounds so much nicer when I say, "thank you Kelsey for having your eyes on me" instead of, "thank you boy in the green shirt for transitioning so nicely." I hate pointing to a child and saying, "you" when I am calling on them, etc..

I was sharing this with a 2nd grade teacher today. I have never subbed for her before and I was telling her the downsides of subbing when she asked me if I liked to sub. She told me a great idea and gave me permission to use it on her class that day.

I made nametags out of masking tape. (I will probably design my own to order in the future.) I gave each student their "badge" as they walked into the classroom and explained to them why I was doing this. The day went so smooth! I was able to call on everyone by their name, write down the names of those who were "stars", and call someone by name when they needed a reminder about getting back on task.

The best part came at the end of the day. I asked them all to remove their badge and roll it up so that the sticky side was on the outside. I asked them to then go around the room and pick up any garbage they saw on the floor, using their rolled up "badge." They were then to come to me and show me the "badge" and I rewarded the student who had the most garbage on their "badge" with a sticker!

It was a successful day! I knew names and I left with the classroom nice and clean!

Interest on Pinterest

I have not blogged lately because I have been addicted to the new site Pinterest! It's a virtual pinboard that allows you to "pin" the favorite things you find on websites. No more bookmarks, I just "pin" it and go to one nicely neat organized board of all my favorites!

I have spent a lot of time just clicking around and getting used to the site. It was just recently that I actually started creating my own boards. For the past few weeks I have been looking at others ideas for the classroom, everything from bulletin board ideas to classroom management tricks to art projects. I have now moved on and added a few personal boards that include books I want to read, recipes I want to try and parties I hope to one day have. I am also in the middle of planning a spring camp for over 100 Girl Scouts with the theme: Nature Masquerade, so I have started "pinning" ideas to use for this camp.

Here is a link to my board. But warning: this is a site that will become addicting!
 Click here