March Behavior Notes

First off I just hit 200 facebook fans! whohohoooooo!!!!  Thanks so much to all of you who have stopped by to like that page.  If you aren't a fan on my facebook page head on over now!  Facebook Fan Page!  How about a freebie today and a giveaway/contest starting on Wednesday?

I know, it's not quite March yet, but it's better to be ready ahead of time right?  I created these awesome positive behavior notes for March with shamrocks.  There are two different sayings.  One is a fun one, use them both or use the one you like best.

I use these in the classroom by picking a day of the week, putting all names on them and dating them.  Any child who has a good day gets to take it home to their parents.  It keeps the children on their toes to behave because they really want one!  I even tried them in a 3rd/4th grade classroom for February and the students got super excited!  I believe these will work great all the way through 5th or 6th grade.  It builds great great parent/teacher relationships due to the communication and great student/teacher relationships as the students feel so good to receive them!  Click the picture to go to my TPT store to download them for free.  If you don't have an account you can set it up for free!

You can also click the pictures below to go to my blog posts and get your freebies for January and February.  Those up in the cold north can probably still use the Penguins, which are my most popular download!

Brian :-)

Positive Friday - Week of February 13th, 2012

Wow, where do I start with this week!  I would say that one of my positives this week is also a little sad.

Today, I am finishing a month long sub job in a 3rd/4th grade class.  I had such a wonderful time with the students.  It was nice to teach children who are very much independent.  We played a lot of fun games that I got from some of my blogging buddies.  You can check out Denise from Sunny Days in Second Grade's free bump game here: Love Bug Bump and Dana from 3rd Grade Gridiron's great fraction centers here: Fraction Frenzy Centers and Activities.  Dana's center games cost $7, but are well worth it!  These students showed me that it can be fun to teach older children and gave me the experience of teaching 2 grade levels in one class.  I will miss them a lot.  I look forward to my other subbing adventures until I can land myself my dream job!

The other huge positive is that I hit over 4,000 views on my blog this week!  That was nearly 1,000 views in just one week.  I am so thankful to anyone who has come and viewed my blog.  These two blog posts were the ones that really drove my views this week: Laura Candler's Paper Drop System (thanks Laura for the amazing idea that has worked so well for me!) and Saint Patrick's Day Task Cards.  Please take a look at them.

I would appreciate any comments.  Just click the reply button and tell me what you loved best about this week.  It just takes a minute and it will let everyone be able to read even more positives.

Brian :-)

Paper Drop System

Hello my wonderful fans and followers.  Today, I'd like to tell you about a fantastic idea from Laura Candler of Teaching Resources that has worked so wonderfully for me.  Do you have difficult with children putting their names on their papers?  Do you have difficulty finding a great solution on where students should turn in their work?  How about finding out quickly, which students didn't turn in their paper?  If any of those are you then I have the perfect program for you!

Laura's great idea is to take large manila envelopes and glue a cover page on them.  Then put it through the laminating machine and cut a slit on the envelope.  The next thing you do is staple a student list to the back of the envelope and put the name of the assignment on the front cover page.  Have your students put their papers in the envelope.  Sometime during the day pick a helper to go through all of the papers in the envelope and check the student's names off.  The helper can then hand back any no name papers to the students and have them put their name on it.  If anyone hasn't completed the assignment you can go speak to them privately and find out why.

I used this system in the class that I subbed for a month with.  They were 3rd and 4th graders.  I wasn't able to laminate so I used a file folder and stapled the cover sheet to it and a student check list on the back.  I had such reliable students that I simply had them check their own name off when they were done.  Then at the end of the day or activity I looked for no names and easily figured out who I was missing based on the checks!  I was also able to talk to the children who had not turned in work and was able to let their teacher know.

Click on the picture to go to Laura Candler's Teaching Resources website to get everything you need for the Paper Drop Organizational System and other great resources!  You also check out Laura's blog by clicking this link: www.corkboardconnections.com She would also love it you would become a follower of her blog!

This has been a true life saver for me.  No more no name papers and it is much easier than children putting papers in a bin and mixing it up with so many other assignments.  It has saved me a whole lot of time and the children really enjoy it!  This would work in any grade level from Elementary through High School.  Give it a try, I promise you'll love it.  A fan of my FB page told me she tried it and it works well in her classroom.  Best of all it's FREE!  Thanks Laura for sharing such an amazing idea, one of the best that I've seen on the internet!  I am an even more organized teacher because of it!

As always thanks for dropping by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings!  You are the reason why my blog is such a success!

Brian :-)

Positive Friday Share - Week of February 6th!

Happy Friday everyone!  Wow what a great week it has been!!!  I have so much to be thankful for this week.

1. I went to a fantastic concert at the UCF arena and got to meet and get my picture taken with Miranda Lambert, Chris Young, and Jerrod Neimann.  The show was also fantastic!  Here's a picture for anyone who is a country music fan of Chris Young and I!

2.  A terrific fan on my facebook page shared a terrific Geometry Powerpoint with fans on my page!  Thank you so much Amy Brown!  You can check it out and purchase it for only $1 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geometry-in-the-City-PowerPointGeometry In The City

3. I am so proud of the students this week.  They really worked extra hard and put forth a great effort in their work. 

Ok now it is your turn to share your positives for the week!  Please click the reply button and let me know how your week went at home or at school.  You can also go to my facebook fan page by clicking here: Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings FB Page.

As always I would love for you to follow my blog via RSS Feeds, Google Connect, and/or Networked Blogs.  Thank you so much!

Brian :-)

Positive Friday share for the week of Jan. 30th!

Wow, what a great wonderful week!  I have a couple of wonderful positives to share with you today.

First, my blog now has 75 followers and on facebook I am up to 156!  If you aren't following me on either yet, please do and don't forget to also follow on networked blogs.

My other positive of the week is something small, but it was very nice.  Being a man, I rarely get compliments on my clothes, especially from the kiddos.  Well one girl complimented me on my shirt in the lunchroom and a boy complimented me on my shoes.  Neither are new and in fact the shoes are probably a couple of years old.  It was just nice to hear something nice from children who were in the upper elementary grades!

So what positives do you have to share today?  Please either reply to this blog post or head on over to my facebook page and let us know at least one positive thing that happened to you.  This can be from school or home!

Positive Fridays

Each Friday, I am going to try to post a blog for everyone to share in the comments some positive experience at school or your personal lives.  This has been a big hit on my Facebook page and I hope it will on my blog as well.

I was praised by the assistant principal on Wednesday during a parent conference.  I was told that I'm very organized, structured, am always working with the students and that the students really love me.  It made me feel so great hearing that and to hear it from the assistant principal in front of a parent was truly awesome!

I hope that you also have a super positive experience to share from the week.  Please reply on the comments below and don't forget to sign up on the RSS feeds to the right of the page!  It looks like this, but don't click it here, go to the right side of the page!

Subscribe To

Posts

All Comments 

Here is hoping that your Friday was spectacular!

Brian :-)