DIY Classroom Voice Recording Box

This school year, I have been blessed to participate in an initiative in my county called #LoudounCreates. As a part of this initiative, my class was given a cart of Dell Venues (well, we have to share with another class) to use in the creation of digital content that we share with the world through our school's YouTube Channel. I absolutely love how engaged and excited my students are when it comes time to use the Venues. The students absolutely love creating videos and sharing them, especially when other people watch and comment on their work.

One of the biggest issues we experience with recording is all of the background noise. As I am sure you are aware, keeping a classroom of students quiet is nearly impossible. I've tried sending students into the hallway, but a school is a very busy, noisy place. As a result, many of the videos we record end up having a lot of other voices on the recording. It's not terrible, but I am always looking for a way to do it better.

One day on Facebook, I came across a post about the Chatterbox. The Chatterbox is a portable recording box designed specifically to help students record their voices in a classroom, while cutting down on all of the background noise.
As I looked at the Chatterbox, I realized that I could actually make these myself and save a little bit of money while doing it. I did some digging online and this is what I came up with.


You will need the following items:

• four pieces of acoustic foam (these are usually sold in sets of 12)
• four Velcro tabs for each piece of foam
• a 14x14x14 cardboard box (I found these at the local office supply store)

Step One: Assemble the cardboard box. I used clear packaging tape to hold the bottom together. I also put a piece of tape on the flaps inside the box to give it some more stability and to keep the flaps from moving. You will also want to cut the top four flaps off the box so that they are out of the way.










Step Two: Attach the Velcro tabs to the acoustic foam. I put one piece of Velcro on each corner. You will need a total of 16 tabs (four for each piece of foam).

Step Three: Attach the acoustic foam to the inside panels of the box. I placed one piece of foam on the right side, the left side, the back (the bottom of the box), and to the top. I put both pieces of Velcro on the panel and then pushed the panel into place. This made sure that the pieces will line up correctly. Because of the box size, the acoustic panels don't fit at snugly as they do in the Chatterbox, but a smaller box might have made using a tablet inside a bit difficult.




That's it! I was able to put one together in about 15 minutes. If you would like, you can paint your boxes before installing the foam or you can take the foam out and paint them after. I haven't painted mine yet, but it may become a weekend project in the near future.

When students want to record their voices, they just place their device inside the box and lean their heads over the device. The acoustic foam will block out most of the sound that would normally be picked up by the microphone. I tested one of the recording boxes at home with my son after putting it together. Our washing machine was running just a few feet from where we were recording and very little of the machine noise was picked up by the iPad's microphone. It was amazing.


The Chatterbox sells on Amazon.com for $39.95 and it looks really neat. However, a set of 12 acoustic panels sells on Amazon.com for $19.99. It takes four panels to make a box, so one set of acoustic panels will allow you to put together 3 recording boxes. My office supply store was selling the 14x14x14 boxes for about $3.79, but I was able to receive a teacher discount and that reduced the price greatly. As a result, I was able to create three boxes for a fraction of the cost. Granted, mine don't look nearly as nice as the Chatterbox, but they will serve the same purpose.

Do you do a lot of voice recording in your classroom? Can you make use of a product like this?

Why Am I So Excited About Two Jars of Pennies?

As you are probably aware, college is not cheap, even when you go to a fairly inexpensive school I like I did.  Like so many other students, I need to take out loans in order to complete my education.  This included both my undergraduate and both of my graduate degrees.  Yes, I am a perpetual student and I love being in school.  However, I do not like the reality of student loan debt and student loan payments.

Each month, my wife and I pay almost $350 to student loans.  $350!  That's crazy!  So this year, we've decided we are going to pay off the loans (or make a fairly sizable dent).  Currently, we have a little less than $28,000 in student loan debt.  Just typing that out makes me sweat a little bit.





 

Now, why am I so excited about the two jars of pennies?  Well, we decided to make a visual representation of the amount of money we owe and the amount of money we've paid off on the principal.  That is where the two jars come in.

The first jar (the one with all of the pennies) stands for the amount of money we owe presently.  As I said, we owe almost $28,000, so this jar contains 280 pennies.  Each penny is worth $100.  Every time we pay $100 toward the principal, we move a penny from the first jar to second jar.  This includes our monthly loan payment.  I looked at how much goes toward the principal and how much goes to interest each month.  After the payment posts to the account, I'm going to make a payment for the difference between the amount that went to the principal and $100.  In each situation, it will be around $20-$25.  It looks like we are going to have to skip a meal out in order to cover that difference, but that's better for us, right?



If you look closely in this jar, you can see that we've already been able to move 4 pennies to the "Paid" jar.  We decided not to make a purchase and instead to put that money toward the debt.  Additionally, we "found" $300 in our bank account that we could safely afford to put toward the debt.  It felt really good to be able to move those pennies, even if it was just a small drop in the bucket, or jar, as it were.  Hopefully this is the start of some great momentum and we can start moving pennies like crazy.  I would love to be able to show the two jars at this time next year with all of the pennies moved.  How awesome would that be?



What financial goals do you have for the coming year?  Please share in the comments below.

Six Books I Want to Read in 2016

It's that time of year when people start making resolutions or goals for the coming year. Many of these are quickly dropped or fall to the wayside, usually because the goal was too outlandish or not specific enough. I try not to set too many goals, but I almost always make a goal to read more books or to read more consistently each year.

With that in mind, here is a list of books that I intend to read in 2016. Most of these have been out for some time and I'm sure there will be other books that come out in the coming year, but these are books that have piqued my interest.

• The Survivor by Kyle Mills. One of my favorite characters is Mitch Rapp. He is an intelligence agent for the government, but not exactly liked by everyone because of his choice of tactics. The books are crazy exciting. Mitch Rapp was created by Vince Flynn, but, sadly, Mr. Flynn lost his battle with cancer a few years ago. Kyle Mills was selected to continue the story and I am interested to see how he does.
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. I am currently reading this book and it is very interesting. I'm not much of a history reader, but I do enjoy a great story and Mr. McCullough is an excellent storyteller.
• The Big Short by Michael Lewis. I got interested in this book because the movie looks fascinating. This is the third book by Mr. Lewis, who writes nonfiction, to be turned into a movie.
• The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. This book has received many comparisons to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, both books that I read and found intriguing. I may not be the target demographic, but, as I said above, I am a sucker for a really good story.
• Nightmares! by Jason Segel. I was surprised to find out that this book was written by Jason Segel, the guy from "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Muppets." Is there nothing this guy can't do? Anyway, my son read it and he absolutely loved it. I also did a book commercial for it at my school and it was one of the top selling items at the school's book fair. I've heard nothing but really good things. There is also a sequel called Nightmares!: The Sleepwalker Tonic that I'm certain will end up on this list as well.
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. I know almost nothing about this book. It was first published in 2004, but has recently become popular because there is a Broadway musical called Hamilton! based on the book. My brother started to read it and it made me want to read it too. By the way, the music from the musical is pretty good as well.

These are just a few of the books that I hope to read in 2016. Do you have plans to read any books this year? If so, what books are on your list? Have you read any of the books listed above? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

By the way, each of the books listed above is linked to Amazon.com. When you purchase a book from Amazon.com using the links above, I receive a small commission, which goes to help me pay off my student loans. Just thought you would want to know.

Three Incredible Ways to Strengthen Student-Teacher Relationships

One of the most important relationships in the life of a student is that of the student-teacher relationship. If you have strong relationships with your students, your year is much more likely to go smoothly. Rita Pierson, in her incredible TED Talk, discusses a fellow teacher who had a miserable year because, as she put it, wasn't "paid to like the students."

Here are three incredible ways to strengthen the relationships you have with your students. Following these three keys will help pave the way to a great year with your class.

Have a 5 to 1 Ratio.

What is a 5:1 Ratio? A 5:1 Ratio is the number of positive comments to negative comments that you give each of your students. You need to constantly be heaping praise on your students. Have you ever noticed that if someone gives you 1,000 positive comments and one negative comment, it is the negative comment that sticks with you? The same is true for your students. Be sure to tell your students how great they are doing, especially if they are prone to negative behavior. Remember the wonderful Mary Poppins? "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." Be certain you have a 5:1 Ratio.

Use T.U.M.S.

I am not referencing the heartburn medicine (although sometimes those are needed). T.U.M.S refers to the tone you set for your students in the morning and the connections you make with students as they come into the classroom in the morning.
• Touch - greet your students with a handshake, high five, or knuckle bump.
• Use His Name - make certain your student knows you know who he is. A name is a very powerful thing, especially when it is being used appropriately.
• Make Eye Contact - look your student in the eye and convey a sense of excitement.
• Smile - who doesn't love seeing a smile? A smile will instantly convey that everything is going to be alright.

Be sure to say the Big Three.

I call these sayings the "Big Three" because I think they are three of the most important things that a teacher can tell a student. I wrote a more in-depth blog post earlier this year.
• "You're doing a great job!" - let your student know you appreciate the work he is doing.
• "I'm proud of you!" - find something your student is doing and praise him for it, even if it something inconsequential or small.
• "I love you." - students need to know that you love and care for them. It shouldn't be implied; they need to hear you say it and say it often.

I would love to guarantee that these three things would give you a smooth, drama-free year. They won't because we are dealing with children and children are people. However, I can promise that if you are consistently heaping praise, making connections, and showing that you care, your relationships will be that much better.

What do you do to help strengthen and build student-teacher relationship? Leave a comment below!

Making Ends Meet - Using GymPact

The other day, I shared with you how you can earn gift cards by participating in Swagbucks. I want to suggest another way to help you earn a little extra money to help loosen your budget a little bit.
Everyone knows you are supposed to eat fruits and vegetables. We also know that we are supposed to exercise. What if there was a way that you could get paid for doing so? What if I told you there is? Gym Pact is the answer.

Gym Pact is an app for your smartphone. At the beginning of each week, you commit to eating a certain number of fruits and vegetables. Right now, my current number is 28. Each day, I eat my fruits and vegetables and take a picture of my serving with the phone's camera. The picture is uploaded to the app and other users vote on whether or not the picture will count. You can receive credit for up to 5 pictures each day. Most of the time the picture will count, but there are times when the community will decide that what you are eating is not actually a fruit or vegetable or that it is not a full serving. For this reason, it is best to take several extra pictures.

If you complete your pact for the week, you are paid a small amount for doing so. If you do not finish your pact (you don't eat all your vegetables), you are charged a fee for each one that you miss. This provides a great deal of incentive to make sure you are eating healthy.

In addition to eating fruits and veggies, you can also make a pact to exercise daily. The exercise pact requires that you complete an exercise session of 30 minutes or more. You can connect the Gym Pact app to a number of other apps, including RunKeeper. There is also a motion tracker that lets you use the Gym Pact app to record your exercise. I have mine connected to my FitBit, so my workout counts when I hit my goal of 10,000 steps for the day.

Using Gym Pact certainly won't make you rich, but every little penny helps, right? Currently, by completing 5 workouts and eating 28 vegetables, I earn about $3 each week. That's not a whole lot, but it keeps me motivated and has me eating as many vegetables and fruits as I can. I saved my Pact earnings for a number of weeks and was able to use it to pay for most of the parking fees we had on our trip to Walt Disney World this past summer. My wife has been saving hers and she just cashed our nearly $100! It all adds up.

I really hope that you if do sign up that the little bit of extra money you make is used to make your life just a little bit better.

Making Ends Meet - Using Swagbucks

It is no secret that most teachers are grossly underpaid. I am fortunate to work for a county that makes teacher salaries a priority, but even then, sometimes it can be hard to find extra money for birthday presents, Christmas, and just every day items. Fortunately, there are ways to make these things a little easier. My hope is that I can share some ideas with you to help you make a little extra money and, by doing so, make your life a little bit easier.

Today, I want to talk about Swagbucks.

Swagbucks is a website that will "pay" you to complete different activities online. There are videos to watch, polls to answer, and purchases to make. You can even earn Swagbucks by searching. Put in the terms that you are searching for and, periodically throughout the day, you will be awarded a number of Swagbucks for your search.

Swagbucks doesn't pay you in cash. Instead, you are rewarded Swagbucks, or SB. As you collect SB, you can then use them to purchase gift cards from a number of top retailers. My wife and I use our Swagbucks to purchase gift cards to Amazon.com, which we then use for birthday presents and Christmas gifts. You can also purchase gift cards from Kohls, Target, Best Buy, and Restaurant.com. There is also a gift card for PayPal, which is the same as cash. I used my SB earlier this year on our trip to Walt Disney World. I cashed in enough SB to receive $35 worth of gift cards to AMC theaters. We were able to take our entire family to the movies for about $12 because of the gift cards.

This may sound like a lot of work and, to be honest, it does take a little bit of effort to accumulate enough SB to get a gift card. Right now, you can get a $3 Amazon.com gift card for 300 SB or a $25 Amazon.com for 2,200 SB. One of the easiest ways to earn SB is to make use of the SBTV app available for your smartphone (just do a search in your smartphone's app store). I have it on my iPhone and use it every day. This is a really simple app. You simply make certain you are connected to WiFi, turn on the app, and let it run. During the day at school, I will set the app to run and leave it on my desk. Simply by running the app, I earn about 30 SB each day. I think my wife and I have earned a couple of hundred dollars in gift cards through this program.

If Swagbucks sounds like it might be helpful to you, you can sign up by clicking here. Please note, this is an referral link and I will receive a bonus because you signed up. You will also receive a 150 SB bonus for signing up, so it is win-win for both of us.

I hope that by joining Swagbucks, the little bit of money that you save from purchasing the gift cards will help make your budget a little bit easier.

Your Job Is To Protect the Students

I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when I came across this status from Jon Acuff.

Yesterday on my flight, a 13 year old boy who was traveling alone sat next to me. Before we took off he lowered the tray table in front of him, put his head in his arms and started sobbing. Big tears covered the tray as he wept in his seat.

I asked him, "Are you alright buddy?" He told me he had spent 3 months with his mother for the summer and was flying back to another state to live with his dad.

Sometimes the frequency of divorce makes us forget the heartache of it. It's such an ordinary thing these days that we tend to rush right by the extraordinary pain it causes.

As an adult, I have had friends that have dealt with divorce. Sadly, it seems like an almost daily occurrence when my wife tells me that a friend of hers is going through a divorce. It is heartbreaking to know that a relationship that was supposed to last forever is coming to an end.

The even sadder reality is that this is an all-too-common occurrence in our classrooms. There are children who deal with the heartbreak and devastation of a divorce on a daily basis. Sometimes, Mom and Dad get along great after the divorce and sometimes it is nasty between them. Regardless, there is pain for the children. I am thankful that my parents are still together. It was a bit dicey at times, but they are still together.

We think we were hired to teach children and that is true. More importantly, we were hired to protect the students, to keep them safe, and to help them understand the world around them. It is pretty scary being an adult; it is even scarier being a kid. Love your students, make sure they know you are a safe harbor in their chaotic world, and teach them to love and protect each other. That is your job, the most important job you have when you enter the school building each day.

Your job is protect to the students.

Currently for the Month of July

It's summer, so my blog will be temporarily resuscitated (well, I hope so anyway). To kick things off, I am participating in the July Currently (hosted by Oh' Boy 4th Grade).

Listening - I am currently listening to the Jimmy Buffett station on Pandora. I am by no means a Parrothead, but Mr. Buffett's music has a very special place in my heart. My wife and I (back before we had 5 kids) had the privilege of traveling to Las Vegas on our honeymoon and to Orlando to celebrate a few of our anniversaries. At each of those places, we ate dinner at Margaritaville. It was a fantastic time and a great place to eat. So listening to Jimmy Buffett, Zac Brown, etc. reminds us of those trips. Needless to say, this station is on quite a bit.

Loving - Summer school started today! I know a lot of teachers really look forward to having summer vacation so they can relax at home, but I love teaching and I love being with students. Our county offers summer school most summers and I have taught in many of the sessions. This year I am in my own building, in my own classroom, so it feels awesome. I am looking forward to a great couple of weeks. Plus, as I mentioned, my wife and I have 5 kids, so the extra money goes a long way to help pay for new school clothes, shoes, and school supplies.

Thinking - I am thinking that I need to get started on my summer projects. I really want to make some new bow ties. I have two Teachers Pay Teachers activities that I need to make (fractions on a number line using mixed numbers and a set of graphing task cards for picture graphs). And, most importantly, I need to start making the videos for my flipped classroom idea. I have about 7 weeks, so I need to get cracking!

Wanting - I really want a MacBook Pro. I mean, I really want a MacBook Pro. There are so many cool features and apps on a MacBook that just aren't available on my current PC. I listened to a podcast on making iBooks. I need to make iBooks. I watched a video on using iMovie. I need to make movies on iMovie. One of my favorite YouTube channels is called Film Riot and they use a program called Final Cut. I need to use Final Cut. However...a MacBook Pro costs about $1,000, give or take. That is definitely not in the budget. My wife needs a new laptop and we need to replace the tile flooring in our kitchen. So, yeah, I guess I need to keep wanting. That is unless someone wants to bestow a wonderful gift upon me. (Either that or visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and check out the awesome math products I have available.)

Needing - I need to get some motivation. We just got back from vacation last week. It was an awesome time, but I haven't really accomplished anything since we got home. It didn't help that it took nearly two hours to get home today because of all of the road construction, but I still need to get my butt in gear if I am going to accomplish all of the things I listed above.

All Star - I love the fact that my fellow teachers come to me to ask tech advice. I really love technology and look for ways to add technology to my lessons and teaching. I'm not the most technical person, but I do enjoy looking for new ideas and coming up with ways to make my lessons more engaging by implementing technology into them. I also love sharing those ideas and techniques with others. Our Technology Resource Teacher decided to pursue another adventure at the end of this school year. There were a lot of teachers who approached me to pursue the job. Sadly, I don't have a degree in technology or I might have considered it.

So that is where I'm at on this, the first day of July. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday and July 4 is my son's birthday. July 31 is our 11th anniversary. Life is good. And, to show you how good life is, I will leave you with some pictures from our vacation.

My Three Favorite Things - My Favorite Read Alouds

Even though I am a math/science teacher, I still love to read books to my students. Most of the time, I read books to my students that are related to a math concept or something associated with our current science unit. For example, when we were working through a unit on time, I read Game Time by Stuart Murphy.

However, sometimes I just like to read stories my students just because I love to read and I love to share my favorite stories with them. For this month's Favorite Things list, I want to share three of my favorite read alouds.

1. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka. Jon Scieszka is a genius. I really can't think of another word to describe him. My first exposure to the writings of Mr. Scieszka was during my freshman speech class in college. My professor read the story of "The Stinky Cheese Man" and I was hooked. Each year, I read the same story to my students and it is always a highlight of the school year. If you are unfamiliar with the story, it is the adventures of a man made of stinky cheese. Sound familiar? This story, however, ends in a rather unique way. Give it a try. I promise you will love it. You can also try The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
   
   
2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I have read this book at least 4 times and I am still discovering new elements of the story. For those of you who may not know the story, it is the tale of Miranda, a girl growing up in 1970s New York City and dealing with what it means to be a teenager. Add to this the homeless guy who lives on the corner, the peculiar boy from her school who punched her best friend for no apparent reason, and some rather strange notes that appear to be coming from the future and you have just a taste of the story When You Reach Me. This is seriously one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. My students are on the edge of their seats the entire time we read the story and it is very difficult for me not to cry when we reach the climax of the story and the mystery is solved. I know exactly what is going to happen and I get choked up anyway. When you read it (see what I did there?), you will not be the least bit surprised that it was awarded the Newbery Award. If you like this book, Mrs. Stead's other novel, Liar and Spy is just as good. My wife and I listened to both books on our drive home from Disney Word a few years back.
   
   
3. Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. Weslandia is the story of a boy named Wesley who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the people in his town, including his own parents. To solve this problem, Wesley creates his own civilization, including his own food, clothing, games, and written language. The civilization, called Weslandia, becomes quite popular and Wesley become the town hero.
   

   At the end of each year, after we have finished our state testing, our grade level does a project based on this book. The students are tasked with creating a civilization from scratch. They create a language, describe the foods, design the flag and government, and even describe the climate. It is a great review of all of the concepts taught throughout the school year. I am always amazed at the incredible projects that are produced by my students. If you are interested in finding out more about this project, called "My New Civilization," it can be purchased from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

So, there you go, three of my favorite read alouds. I actually put together a longer list, so if you are interested, you can read "My Seven Favorite Read Aloud Books." What are your favorite books to read aloud to your students? Please leave your favorites in the comments below.

This post was part of the monthly Favorite Things link up, hosted by The Teaching Trio. Please check out what some other great teachers are sharing this month.

Graphing Task Cards and a Freebie

*****You can download the free sample of the Bar Graph Posters by clicking here!*****

I have a deep seated hatred of worksheets. I loathe worksheets. This year, I have done my very best to eliminate as many worksheets from my math class as possible. Yes, there are times when we do worksheets, particularly for homework, but, for the most part, worksheets are extinct in Room 19.

That brought me to a sticking point when it came to graphing. I could not figure out how to have my students practice graphing without giving them a worksheet. Then it hit me...task cards! I could make task cards to teach graphing. This way my students could practice reading and analyzing different types of graphs without using a worksheet.

I made six different full-sized graphs. Each graph was printed on a single sheet of paper. For each graph, I created four questions. Each question was put on its own task card. This made for a total of 24 different questions. I cut out the cards and taped them to the wall under each of the graphs. Small groups of students went into the hall to answer the questions, writing the answers on the recording sheet.

To this point, we have practiced line plots and bar graphs. We will also be working on picture graphs shortly and I will follow the same format. My students really enjoy being able to get up and move around instead of simply staying in their seats.

So you can see what we are doing in my class, I created a free sample of the Bar Graph Posters for you to download. Simply click on the picture below to download your free sample.

If you are interested in the full sets of either the Line Plot Posters or the Bar Graph Posters, they are available for purchase in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

       

As always, thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment below, especially with examples of how you are using the activities with your students.

Three Things I Try to Tell My Students Every Day

For anyone who is a teacher, you know that it is game on from the moment the bell rings in the morning until the last student gets on the bus at the end of the day. It is crazy and hectic and there are days I forget that I need to drink water and go to the bathroom. I forget to sign papers and one time I even forgot to send home report cards. Trust me, the parents and students didn't let me forget the next day. I think I am still answering emails about that.

However, even with all of the craziness that is a day in a third grade classroom, there are three things I try to tell my students every day. I can't say that it happens 100% of the time, but I do make an effort to let them know these things every day.

1. "You are doing a great job!" I want my students to know that I think they are doing a great job and that the work they are doing is being noticed. I want my students to work hard and I want them to be recognized for that fact. I tell them this even if they have only completed half of the activity because, for some students, they are working to the best of their abilities. Sometimes, as teachers, we tend to focus on the students who complete all the work and answer all the questions. I'm guilty of that very thing. I want to make sure that my students know that I see what they are doing and I think it is great.
2. "I'm proud of you!" I tell my students I am proud of them all the time. When a student completes a multiplication problem he has struggled with for several minutes, I let him know how I feel. When a student has had a bad day and does something remarkable, I let her know how I feel.
3. "I love you." The first time I told my students I loved them, most of them gave me strange looks. "Did our boy teacher really just say that?" I tell my students I love them every day. Sometimes it is "I love you very much, but you all are driving me crazy at the moment," but I want them to know how special they are to me. I know it is cliche, but I may be the only one who tells them "I love you" in any given day. I pray that this isn't the case, but it might be. I say "I love you" to my class so often that, as I was leaving the other day for an appointment, as I walked out the door, one of the girls called out, "Mr. Pearson, aren't you forgetting to tell us something?"

Why do I do say these things? Well, there are lots of reasons, but, mostly, I want to build relationships with my students. I want them to know I care about them and they are more important to me than tests scores and reading data graphs. I want them to trust me and to know that I am there to protect them, even on those occasions when I am upset with them because of their behavior. It makes it so much easier and more effective when I tell a student, "Hey, you are out of control and you need to settle down," if they know it is coming from a person who loves them and wants the best for them.

Do you say these things to your students? What are some things you tell your students every day? Please share in the Comments!

Making and Using Videos in My Classroom

The other day I had a scheduled day off. It wasn't necessarily a fun day, but I had to be at the Admin Building for some training for committee that I help facilitate at our school. On the day I was to be off, my students were going to begin learning (and/or reviewing) how to tell time on a clock to the nearest minute.

As a literature tie-in to the lesson, I decided to read Game Time by Stuart Murphy. This is a great book that talks about units of time and how they work on a clock, all set in the context of students playing a soccer game. I knew my students were going to love it.

The only problem was that I wasn't going to be there to read it to them. Obviously, I could leave the book for the substitute to read, but I didn't want to for some reason. So, I decided to make a video of my reading the book. It's not a particularly well-polished video, but it achieved the purposed.

If you are interested in the video, I posted it below.

The best of part of this story is this: When I returned to school the next day, I asked my students what they thought about the video. I figured they would say they liked it, but one student had a really great answer. She said, "I liked the video because it's like you are here with us, Mr. Pearson, even when you aren't in the classroom. We miss you when you aren't here. Well, at least I miss you."

So, yeah, that's why I make videos, even if they aren't always the best.

To subscribe to my YouTube channel, please follow this link to get signed up.

Do you make videos for your classroom? How do you use them?

Three Things We are Doing Differently on our Next Disney Trip

If you have been following me (either through my blog or through Facebook), you know that I love all things Disney. My family loves Disney movies, we love Disney music, and, most importantly, we love Walt Disney World.

Two years ago, my wife and I took our four boys on a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort. She and I have been several times, but this was the first time as a family. We were able to find a great deal on a two-bedroom condo, bought tickets through a special broker, and rented a van to drive to Florida. IT WAS AWESOME!

We are going to be taking another trip this coming summer, just as soon as school is done for the summer. However, we are going to be doing some things just a little bit differently this time.

1. We are flying to Disney instead of driving. As I mentioned, last time we drove to Orlando. We rented a van, loaded all of things into the van, and made the 2-day drive. This was fine last time. We were able to put the two bigger boys in the back seat, our toddler in one of the bucket seats and the baby in the other. This time, we have five children. That means that there will be three boy in the back seat. We can barely make it to Chick-fil-a without a fight. So, this trip we are going to be flying. Yes, it is a huge expense, especially when you have to purchase 6 tickets. My wife and I just decided that it was worth the cost to save on the potential arguing and fatigue that comes from making such a long drive.
2. We are renting a house. So many folks rave about the Disney experience of staying on property. It is something we would love to do, but the size of our family makes that a bit more difficult (and a lot more expensive). We found a 4-bedroom house very close to the parks for an incredible price. This is perfect for us because we can cook our own meals, there are enough rooms for everyone to sleep comfortably, and it has its own private pool. The boys are especially excited about this part.
3. We are only going to parks for 4 days. We will be in Orlando from a Sunday until Saturday. Last time we went down, we tried to go to the parks every day and there were a lot of meltdowns. This time, we are only planning to go four out of the five days we are there. We have purposely scheduled a day off in the middle of the week so that we can spend time at the pool, visit Downtown Disney, and just relax. Hopefully this will help all of us to stay refreshed and to get more enjoyment out of our trip.

Every trip to Disney is full of magic and memories. Our hope is that by making these changes, even changes that will cost us a bit more, we can enjoy our trip all that much more.

I Love My Job

I am experiencing a new adventure this year. I am co-teaching a third grade class that has an enormous number of students who have been identified for special education services. Yeah, it is exactly how it sounds.

Yesterday, in class, one of my students put his arm behind his head, pulled his sleeve up, and began sniffing and (possibly) licking his armpit. I was trying to teach about rounding numbers to the 1,000s place. Do you have any idea how hard it is to teach on rounding when there is a student licking his own armpit?

I have another student who became very upset at transition time. He was standing in the room, sobbing. The reason he was so upset was because he had a handful of rocks wrapped up in a paper towel. Every time he would try to pick up his book box to leave the room, he would drop some of his rocks. "How can I carry my cubby when my hands are full of rocks? I can't pick up my cubby because I have to hold on to these rocks! I'm not going to be able to leave school!"

Another student was singing "What You Gonna Do With That Big Fat Butt?" in the lunch room. My student with autism told on him and he started to cry.

There is a little boy in my class who can only read 6 words per minute. He stumbles over the simplest sight words. When he was given a reading passage as a part of his PALS testing, he looked at the passage (with the very large print and few words on the page) and said to the teacher, "Are you kidding me? This is a joke, right?" I gave him a story that I wrote using some site word phrases and his response was, "I'll read this, but your story doesn't make any sense."

I also have a student who is extremely sensitive to noise. I gave her a set of headphones to wear because I thought it might cut down on the amount of noise she can hear. Unfortunately, I have created a monster. Now, she wants to wear the headphones all the time and the headphones have to be "plugged in." Oh, and now all the other students want to wear headphones as well. It is like a Daft Punk concert in our hallway.

I love my job.

Pirate Math - Pirates vs. Ninjas!

One of the favorite activities in my classroom last year was a surprisingly simple game that I created to help my students practice comparing numbers. It was called "Pirates vs. Ninjas - The Epic Battle Continues!" The title is a play off of an internet activity where people argued about who would win in a battle, pirates or ninjas. I was amazed how many of my students knew about the activity and how sound their arguments were for each side. Then again, these were the kids who knew every character in Lord of the Rings and "Doctor Who."

The game came with two decks of cards, one for Pirates and one for Ninjas. Each card had either a 3-digit or 4-digit number. Two students played the game and each one had a deck. Each student would flip over a card from the deck and compare the number with that of his partner. The student with the largest number would collect both cards. After playing through the deck (about 24 cards), the student with the most cards was declared the winner.

To help promote accountability and to check for understanding of the skill, I provided the students with a recording sheet. The students were to write down their own numbers and the numbers of their partner. They would then use the inequality symbols (<, >, and =) to indicate if their own numbers were greater than, less than, or equal to the number of their partner. I would collect this sheet and look to see if the students had an understanding of the concept of comparing numbers. Obviously, every student page would be different from the next, but looking at the work turned in provided me with a glimpse of how well each of my students understood the concept.

"Pirates vs. Ninjas!" is really one of my favorite games. Even after we were finished with our place value unit, it was popular during Math Games and Math Centers. I get a lot of feedback on the game and many of the teachers tell me how excited they are to use this game with their boy students. I had girls who loved to play as well. You would do well to add this game to your math classroom.

"Pirates vs. Ninjas! - A Comparing Numbers Game is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for $3.00.

For some other great Pirate products, please visit Teaching Momster to see what other teachers are using in their classrooms.

Back to School - Day 1

Yesterday was my first day back in the building. I have been doing some training, but hadn't been in my classroom yet. I don't have a lot of exciting things to report, so I thought I would share some of the things that I did today.

First, I had to reorganize the furniture in my classroom. When I arrived this morning, all of the furniture was on the opposite side of the room from where it needed to be. Additionally, all of the desks had been taken out of the room so that the floor could be waxed. Needless to say, I had a bunch of moving around to do.

Here are a few pictures of what the room looks like at this point:

Obviously, I still have a lot of work left to do.

In addition to moving furniture, I also got a little bit crafty. I am going to have 23 students this year and my co-teacher will have 24. I soon realized that I didn't order any name tags in my school order and I didn't have enough left over from previous years. What was a teacher to do? I pulled out my laptop and put my Teachers Pay Teachers skills to work. Here are my new name tags for this year. My students will have blue and my partner's students will be in red.

Another thing I made was a cover for my students' binders. It is pretty simple, but I think it makes the point.

Finally, we will be sending out our placement letters to our students on Friday. Our principal asked that we put together a personal letter to the students to introduce ourselves. Here is the letter that I made to send out. To be honest, the idea is not original with me. I got the idea from Pinterest.

So, that was my day. How was your day at school? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Student Teaching - What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Everyone has memories of their student teaching experience. Some are good, some are bad. While my student teaching semester was one marked by the worst kind of tragedy (my classroom experienced the death of a student), my "worst" experience happened on the very first day of "Full Responsibility."

For those of you not familiar with that term, "Full Responsibility" is the week where a student teacher is completely in charge of the classroom. My supervising teacher handed me the roll book and walked to the back of the room, where he picked up a novel and started to drink coffee.

When students are coming into the classroom, the best word to describe this is chaos, pure, unadulterated chaos. Even the most organized and managed classrooms experience this chaos every single morning. As I was standing there greeting the students and collecting notes, one of the girls came up to me in a bit of a panic.

"Mr. Pearson, I don't know what happened. I just looked down and noticed that my skirt was covered in blood and I don't know where it came from!"

Did I mention that I was teaching 6th grade? Yeah, that should set some context for this story.

I didn't really know what to say, so I looked back to my supervising teacher. He shrugged, took a sip of his coffee, and turned the page in his book. Great.

The poor girl looked like she was about to cry, so I did the only thing I could think to do: I sent her to the nurse. "Quick, here's a pass. Go to the nurse. She'll take care of it."

The girl left and I was able to get the day going without any further catastrophes. About an hour later, the girl returned to class wearing a new skirt. A little later in the day, I asked her if everything was okay, secretly hoping she wouldn't share too many details of what had been going on.

Oh yeah, everything's fine. There was a kid on the playground this morning who cut his leg open. I guess he brushed up against me and that is where the blood came from. I had to wait in the nurse while my mom brought me a change of clothes. No big deal."

No big deal for her. It certainly threw a wrench in my plans for the day. And, fortunately, that was the most traumatic (for me, anyway) thing I had to deal with during my student teaching. Interestingly enough, my student teaching experience is not at all what my actual teaching experience has been, but I guess that is the case with most teachers.

What memories of student teaching, good or bad, do you have?

Five For Friday - A Bunch of School Crafts, Comics, and Bow Ties

Another week has come and gone which means it is time for another Five For Friday. As always, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching. Be sure to swing by there to see what some other awesome teacher-bloggers have been up to this week.

I think the fact that school is just around the corner has caused me to get a bit "crafty." I have a confession to make, however. I hate doing crafts and making projects. I shared this information with my wife and her response was, "And why are you an elementary school teacher?" That being said, I made a few things this week to get me ready for the upcoming school year. First off, I made some pencil cans. I took some old fruit cans and wrapped them in duck tape. I think I got the idea on Pinterest or somewhere like that. Here are the originals and the final product.

The second product I made was a multiplication math fact center. Again, I think I saw this on Pinterest (I really need to write these things down), so if this was your idea, I apologize for not being able to give appropriate credit. Anyway, the activity involves using an egg carton to create math facts. Inside the egg carton, I wrote the numbers 1-12. I put some duck tape across the openings and painted the tops and bottom. The students will put two markers inside the carton and shake it. After opening the egg carton, the student will multiply the two factors together. Here are the pictures I took:

Another thing that I worked on this week was finishing up some bow ties. I wear bow ties every day to school and a few months ago, I started sewing my own. I'm still learning to make them look good and some are better than others.

I'm probably the only one who cares about this, but about a week ago, I was able to get a month's subscription to Marvel Unlimited, an online comic book collection. I've spent a bunch of time going back and reading old Marvel Comics, especially a set of stories called "Planet Hulk" and the old Frank Miller Daredevil comics. Some of you may recognize the name Frank Miller as the director of the movie Sin City. I've never seen it, but I hear it's good.

The last thing is that this is the beginning of my last week of summer vacation. It is shaping up to be a busy one, beginning with a doctor's appointment. This appointment was rescheduled from an appointment I was supposed to have in April. My wife has been bugging me to go to the doctor for a check-up, especially now that we have five kids. I am very excited about the beginning of the school year. Each new year is a new adventure and I am ready to get this one started.

Thanks for checking in from another week. I hope you all ready for the fun to start. Those kids are coming soon, if they aren't with you already.

Guided Math in Action - Chapter 9

We have come to the last chapter in the book, Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton. I hope that you have enjoyed reading my recaps and that I have convinced you to purchase a copy of the book for yourself. Seriously, it's a good one.

In this chapter of the book, Dr. Newton provides a day-by-day plan for how to introduce the guided math framework to students. She gives the topics for mini-lessons and provides a number of anchor chart examples to be used in the classroom. If I can be honest, these examples are worth the price of this book alone. She has has some really great stuff here, many of which I am going to be making for my own classroom.

The framework that Dr. Newtown provides covers 4 weeks, or 20 days. In the first week, the focus is on the structure of math workshop and the ways that mathematicians communicate with each other. The second week is for focusing on the routines and procedures for things like the daily calendar and how to work together in groups. Week three continues the focus on the routines and provides guidelines for using manipulatives and playing games together. In the fourth week, the students are taught what is expected of them at the end of math workshop, or "debrief."

I didn't feel the need to go into a huge recap of each day or week (you can read the book for more specific details.) If all of the information that needs to be covered in the first 20 days seems overwhelming, Dr. Newton has provided a rather specific chart at the end of the chapter to help you know what to cover and when. I will certainly be referencing it in the days and weeks to come.

Question 1: There are so many things that I need to prepare/finish up for the upcoming year. These include:

• Hot topic centers
• Anchor charts
• Take home bags (love this idea!)

There really are so many things that I learned in this book that I could attempt to make a part of my instruction. There is so much that it can be a little overwhelming. I think the best thing to do is choose a small part or parts, put it into practice, then implement another part and repeat.

Question 2: The things that I am going to continue include:

• My Problem of the Day
• My Number of the Day - very similar to Calendar Activities, but teaches numeracy

Again, the key is to take things slow and steady. I know that if I try to implement all of these awesome ideas at once, I will quit and that's not good for anyone.

Thank you for joining me as I worked this book this summer. I hope you have learned as much as I have and, if not, get a copy of the book!

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