Pintresting Facts

I am IN LOVE with Pintrest. Not only is it the world's best time-waster, it is the world's best source of teacher inspiration. I spend a lot of time on Pintrest and gather a lot of resources and inspiration. This is now working particularly well for me as our school administrator has allowed access to Pintrest at school, so I am finally able to print things direct from my boards! If you are interested in getting started, and want to see what I am pinning, you can find my boards here: http://www.pinterest.com/shannane/. You might want to take a packed lunch. It is truly addictive.

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A Plague Upon All Your Houses

I find Math to be an absolute headache in terms of resource management. There is never enough resources, occasionally too many, and they are often in bad repair. This is why my next few posts are about Math resources. Enjoy! As I teach in NZ and follow the Numeracy Projects, place value houses are a common material to work with. I printed mine off A4 size from http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/sites/default/files/Numeracy/2007matmas/Bk4/MM%204_11.pdf . Each 'house' was copied onto a different coloured paper, and then cut out and laminated. I didn't cut them out again after laminating, as it made it easier to punch a hole in the corner and thread a ring through (are they 'magazine' rings?). My awesome set can now hang from the wall if there is space. No more scrunching up in the bottom of a drawer! They are also really quick and easy to unclip and use, then pack up again. I started off using a whiteboard pen to write the digits directly onto the laminated charts

10 Alternatives to Plastic Counters

Shifting classrooms always requires a scramble to inventory current equipment and to replace those old regulars that you use a lot. I know that almost every classroom must need counters at some point in time! Having a range of alternatives can often pique children's interest, but can be a budgetary stretch at the same time. Here are 10 alternatives that I have rustled up with a minimum cost. 1. Smooth stones come ready made and freely available from your local beach or stony river. Small pebbles are perfect as game tokens, or collected for use in Math lessons. They look great with stickers and glitter glued on and are REALLY durable. However, they can be heavy when stored en masse. 2. Wooden shapes are available in packs of 12-20 from your local dollar shop. These are particularly awesome to use for number stories (i.e. 6 bumble bees were sitting on a flower and 3 flew back to the hive, how many were left?). They are more durable than paper cut outs, intriguing and reasonabl

Writing Jobs Part A

In my class we use Math and Reading rotation boards to manage independent work while I am working with small groups. It is an incredibly effective system, once you have got all your resources up and running etc. Writing is a little different. At the moment I have four writing groups. We start with a whole class lesson/ explicit teaching, then go back to our tables to write. My teacher aide (I get a small period of time 3 times a week) works with the 'slow starters', helping them get their ideas on paper. I work with another group on a teaching point. I then conference with the third group, and mark the last group overnight. Then it all changes the next day, enabling me to see as many students as possible. But there are always some fast finishers in our class who complete their tasks... and then what? First they are expected to edit their writing with a green pen, correcting capital letters and full stops. Some groups are beginning to use the dictionary or classroom resources

The Destitute Teacher

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