Boxing Up The Year: Students AND Teacher!

So my school year has come to a close for me here in my rural, little town! It ended with watching the class movie we had filmed, handing out year books to sign, and final report cards. There was a touch of sadness mixed with great excitement as the students exited my door for the final time- you see, I am moving to a new school over the summer!

My wife and I am ready to embrace this moving thing head-on! We are working like crazy to sell our home in our current community so that we might start searching for our new home! Anyways...

After the students left, I set to work boxing up my room. Well... let me rephrase that, my wife, kids, and even my administrator, start boxing books. The boxes you see in the front of the picture below are about 1/5 of my books. My entire student library is approximately 50 boxes of books (or more). With my classroom nearly packed, I am excited to start the moving process and start setting up my new room. WAHOO!

On this same note, of packing up my 13 years of teaching, I wanted to create an activity that would allow my students this same opportunity to pack up their school year and leave with good thoughts about all that we had accomplished this year. So, I took my Outside the Box Projects idea and turned it in to something that I just love!

Students start by filling out six mini-assignments about themselves, the year favorite memory, etc.

There is one side where they remove a small rectangle to make an opening.

Once all the circles are complete the students cut them all out.

The circles are then assembles into a cube.

The finished cube is then set slit side up on the students desks.

Students are then given compliment strips (enough for each student in the class, including themselves) to fill out. I made them more fill in the blank so that it would go a bit faster.

I filled out one for each students as well. When the students finished filling them out, they cut them apart, and then delivered them to each student by dropping them into their cube.

This activity was a HUGE success and I love that each student walked away with their memories packed on the outside, and a whole bunch of nice compliments from their classmates on the inside. This is a definite keeper in my classroom!

If you would like to learn more about this project, click on the picture below or click HERE.

Cheers-
Mr. Hughes

The 12 Sides to a Great School Year!

I like to do things a little differently. Most people like to make memory booklets, writing assignments, or other more traditional formats to help their students remember the school year. Not me, people. Not me.

I wanted something that would be spectacular and eye-catching. Setting to work, I came up with a project that would require my 60 writing students to really think back over their year and make an effort to recall ALL the aspects of their learning.

I decided to ask students questions like: "What are three pieces of advice would you give to next year's class?" I like how this forces students to think about what they did well, and where they had struggles.

Not only did they enjoy reflecting on the year, they had a blast reliving our field trip, and many other silly and serious events that had happened over the past year. It wasn't a silent work time by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a learning-loud experience.

As you can see, the kids made their pieces colorful and and informative!

Then we began the assembling stage. That was an event. But 6 staplers and 30 minutes later, we had nearly all 60 dodecahedrons completed! Phew!

I love the display that is hanging in my room. To hang them, I used my mini-clothespin and hooked them to a long string that winds around my classroom. They are going to be awesome for our academic fair tonight. WAHOO!

If you would like to take a peek at this kit, you can click HERE.

Enjoy your day and Happy End-of-the-Year!!!

Cheers!

-Mr. Hughes

"Year End" Blog Hop and Giveaway

The sky is falling...the sky is falling!

I sometimes feel like chicken little when it comes to the end of the year. It is amazing how much you forget you have to cover until you hear the words "We only have x-number of weeks left!"

However, these are the days that I step back and realize just how stinkin' amazing the year has been. I also realize that once our state testing is past, the pressure seems to lessen and I am able to delve into several activities, like my latest undertaking, PROJECT: OUR TOWN. The students have been learning like crazy about their (More on that in another post).

As the year comes to an end, one of my most favorite activities is to have my students write words of wisdom for the next years class. I then make a bulletin board that says: "You Say Goodbye, We Say Hello" and then I mount all the words of advice on the board. It is fun and funny to read over the wisdom that is passed down from class to class. You also get to see just what made an impression on your kiddos during the year. I think every year, several students will offer the advice that "homework better be turned in on time", and that "when Mr. Hughes is talking you better listen". These always make me smile.

Another great activity I do is have the kids make a mixed-media art piece that represents the year for them. I am always amazed that the memories that my students have and the creative ways they have in representing them on their art pieces. I wish I had pictures of both of these activities, but, I do not. I know...I know...
But I never seem to remember to take them until its too late.

One other thing that I do EVERY year, is give awards at a class awards ceremony. For many of my 13 years of teaching, I just used the generic student awards for science and math and writing and...you get the idea. Then I had a great idea. Why not let the kids vote on awards to give each other! It is such fun to vote on awards such as Best Smile or Most Likely To Be a Rock Star. There are always LOTS of giggles, laughter, and applause as they students wait eagerly to see what their classmates voted them to win!

I set to work making the awards and the system for having kids vote. It was a bit of a pain, but now I have an awesomely smooth system and last summer I jazzed up my award certificates.

So, what IS this great little system I have? I call it Class Vote Awards. You can check it out by clicking on either of the pictures below.

Want to know something even better?!?!? You can win this (and a whole lot of other great year-end resources including a $35 Amazon gift card) for FREE! WAHOO! You will need to follow the hop until you find the blog with the Giveaway submission option! Below is more information about the hop AND the blogs you will want to visit!

 

An Educator's Life's Top 10 Posts of 2012

Greetings My Dear Friends!

I can NOT believe that we have reached this final few hours of 2012. It has been an exciting and challenging year all rolled into one. A lot has happened both professionally and personally that has pushed me to explore new boundaries and experiences I didn't think would ever have to face. But, as they say, what doesn't kill us will make us stronger. And, since I am apparently not dead, I must then deduce that I have become stronger.

If not, that's what I am going with anyways. :) I wish I could name all the amazing friends I have made this year. Two special ones come to mind, Mrs. S from The Peanut Gallery, and Mel from Graphics From the Pond. These two ladies (among many other wonderful friends) have really helped to push me to be my best and not ever give up, which I almost did, many times on my TpT Shop. Thanks you two amazing ladies.

I am going to sign off so I can enjoy the rest of 2012 with my family that has come to visit. I wish for each of you an amazing 2013!

Before I go, I wanted to recap for you (and for me) the Top 10 most viewed 2012 posts on this blog this year!

Cheers, My Friends-
MrHughes :0)


#10) Time For The Yearly Family Video (Elf Yourself 2012)
-It just wouldn't be right not to make a video with all of my kids. Unfortunately, they don't make a video option for 8, so we had to do a two part series this year. :)

#9) Share the Wealth- December 15, 2012
I have truly enjoyed doing Share the Wealth this year. I started this in July, I think and it has become a sharing sensation. If you ever need a freebie, this is the place to look.

#8) LET THE SNOWBALL (sight word) FIGHT BEGIN (and it's school approved!)
I was shocked this was a top viewed post, but glad. I had the idea for this game in my head for several months before I was able to get the clip art I needed to make it. I love how it turned out and I think it will be one of my favorite sight word games of all time.

#7) Mrs. Claus in Jail??? Creative Writing Gone Crazy!
When my Turkey Pick-A-Story made the TpT Newsletter and went viral, I knew that I wanted to continue making this series. My holiday edition was a big hit both in my store and with my students. They came up with some crazy stories. Sigh... what a great time that was.

#6) Trimming the Tree With Sight Words
Decorating the Christmas tree is something that I have enjoyed since I can remember. I was delighted when I found all the clip art I needed to make a game that lets kids decorate their own Christmas tree while practicing reading.

#5) Book Reports As You've Never Seen Before
When I made my first dodecahedron kit, I never dreamed that I would end up with 7 kits and counting. But, here it is...

#4) 4-Types of Sentences: Harder Than It Seems
I have struggled with getting my students to remember the four types of sentences (and still do honestly), but my wife and I came up with some fun activities to help make the ideas stick. I think it may have worked! Now, if I could just get them to remember their parts of speech!

#3) An In-Depth Tour of Mr. Hughes' Room
At first I was very hesitant to share my classroom with the world wide web. But, I realized that I am proud of my room and wanted to share it with everyone.

#2) Sneak Peek at Mr. Hughes' Room
This was my test run to see if anyone was want to see... I guess being the #2 viewed post means that I made a good choice.

#1) Rewards Made Easy
I can't believe this has been my #1 viewed post this year. WAHOO! When I came up with this idea, I never dreamed other teachers would want to try it out. Thanks for making me feel like I CAN come up with good ideas. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR FRIENDS!

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Letting the Class Have a Say? YES!

"Nicest Smile"

"Most Likely to be President"

"Best Dancer"

     These are just a few of the titles that my students vote on each year for each other. I love that the students get a voice in choosing the winners. It never ceases to amaze me how often my students ask me when I will announce the winners of the awards. I generally have the students vote on the Monday of the last week of school (we always get out on a Friday). I then take the next couple of days to get the tallying done and the awards filled out. 

Okay, okay, okay!

I confess!

My wife does the counting and fills out the awards (thank you dear). Sometimes it is done in an hour, sometimes it gets done over several days. Either way, giving these awards is one of my most favorite parts of the end of the school year. 

This year I decided to make the certificates look more upbeat and professional than the hastily printed ones I have handed out in the past. I also made up some easy to use tally sheets. My wife was very grateful for that addition. I even added a few new awards to choose from. Since my classes are much smaller than 30, I will go through the choices each year and pull out the ones that I like the best or that I feel fit the class-mosphere. 

What traditions do you have? 

What is your favorite part of the school year?

If you are interested in purchasing the kit, click HERE!

Later...