Notebook Know How: Chapter 1

Every year I pick an area of instruction that I want to strengthen and develop as a teacher. This happens to be the year for writing. I recently purchased Notebook Know-How by Aimee Buckner and started reading the first chapter tonight. After each chapter I am going to spend time reflecting on what I've learned and some of the "ah-ha" moments I encountered in my reading.

The first chapter focuses on why Aimee believes notebooks are crucial for budding writers. She begins the book by painting this picture of students bringing in their personal notebooks to store their words and thoughts, but simultaneously gets bombarded with questions about size of the notebooks, how much needs to be written, what exactly is an "entry," and a myriad of other notebook requirements. I so relate to this because my students gave me the same grief and I really couldn't adequately answer them. Aimee also goes on to attempt a remedy by providing the notebooks for her students, but comes to the conclusion that she does too much for her students. The writing does not belong to the students, it belongs to the teacher. Again, this was my classroom to a "T". 

Aimee goes on write about the true purpose of the writing notebook - "to practice living like a writer." Wow! The writer has become more than just a school subject, but it is now a way of life. It is something intentionally done on a daily basis. My questions now are... What does the life of a writer look like and sound like in the classroom? What if I don't have anything significant to write about? I struggled with this a little bit because there are times where I don't blog because I don't feel like I have anything "blog worthy," especially when there are so many talented authors out there in the blogosphere. Aimee addresses this directly in her book! We don't write because we always have something significant to share, but we find significance later as we revisit and reflect on our writing. We find significance and meaning in our writing when we make it a daily habit and we put that writing in our notebook. 

In summary, keeping a notebook is a process. There's no right or wrong way to keep a notebook, but remember the true purpose behind the notebook. It's to simply practice the act of writing. It's the act of writing that leads the author to significance. 

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. I think I'm going to learn a lot and model a love of writing to inspire my students to live like a writer. 

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Come back soon to read about Chapter 2 - Launching the Notebook. 

50 Follower Giveaway & New Blog!

Woot, woot!! I have 54 followers on this beachy blog!! You guys are amazing, and I can't thank you enough for reading my random ramblings. :o)

To celebrate this joyous occasion, my wife has offered to help me out with my first giveaway. I don't have a TPT or a Teacher's Notebook store (yet!), so I thought I'd do something a little non-traditional. My wife is an Independent Director with The Pampered Chef and is giving away a $15 gift certificate to spend on anything you want! Yeah, it's not totally "school-related," but at the same time cooking lends itself well to learning to follow directions, measurement, science... all kinds of stuff!
So, how do you enter this giveaway?  You must...

• Be a Beach Brains Blog follower! This is to show you all my appreciation after all, so you have to be a follower!
• Post a comment about how you can integrate cooking into your lessons. I'm not looking for an all-out lesson plan, but just activity ideas and ways you've incorporated cooking into your lessons.
• You have until 11:59pm CST on Thursday to enter! I'd like to announce the winner some time this weekend! Good luck!!!

Also, if you guys haven't visited yet, you need to boogie on over to Misty's, my new bloggy friend, blog: 3-6 Free Resources. It's chock full of excellent resources to make your life easier, and we all could use that, couldn't we? You can also link up your blog  Plus, it's coffee-themed which is right up my alley. My wife will tell you... I'm a little obsessed with coffee. ;o)

Ok, I'm logging off for the night. Tomorrow, my Beach Brains are making 3-D solids with marshmallows and toothpicks to kick off our geometry unit. Pics to follow! Have a good one!

Hiiiiiyaaahhh!! Enter the Dojo!

One of my passions in teaching is utilizing technology in the learning process and even to make managing my classroom easier. With this in mind, I want to talk about my newest find - Class Dojo!

To quote the creators of Class Dojo, it is a "real-time behavior management system that allows teachers to recognize positive behaviors as it happens". All teachers need to do is register for their FREE account and they'll be given the Class Dojo tools. You set up your class (or classes), establish the behaviors you want to track, and you're ready to go! I could go on and on about this awesome tool, but I thought I'd hit on a few of my favorite features.

1. Avatars - Students are represented by avatars on Class Dojo. My students were immediately engaged when I introduced this tool, because they wanted to pick their own avatar. I allowed them to do this, and I got immediate buy in! You can also "unlock" a feature that allows you upload student photos to Class Dojo instead of avatars. Fun stuff!!

2. Customized Behaviors - As the teacher, you can set the positive and negative behaviors you want to track. I tried to make sure there were more positive behaviors to reward than negative, but it's totally up to you. This is especially helpful if there is a problem in the classroom community and you want to resolve it quickly. For my class, we had a hard time with following directions. We set a goal to achieve "X" amount of points for following behaviors, and was pretty quick about taking points away from students who were not listening & following directions. 

3. Reports - As teachers and school become more data driven, the reports you can pull from Class Dojo become INVALUABLE! You can e-mail student reports to parents or you can print them individually to send home. You can even track class progress as reports give you the percent of positive behavior rewarded compared to the percent of negative behaviors. I show these reports to students and it's amazing how they take control, set goals, and improve their own behaviors.

My class behavior report - 80% positive! Yay!!

4. Points - Points rewarded or taken away are displayed next to each student's avatar. This is a self-checking tool as students get the immediate feedback. My students hate to see themselves "in the red," so they really go out of their way to get noticed for positive behaviors. This way students who are having a bad morning can turn things around and have an exceptional afternoon. 

If my students are in the negative, I take away 5 minutes of recess for every negative point they have. If they get more than 5 negative points, then I refer them to the office. BUT... students can work their way out of the proverbial hole they've dug for themselves. They don't owe recess minutes unless they're in the negative at recess. 

While there are a lot of great things about Dojo, I need to tell you that this is still in beta testing. All accounts are free to teachers, but I'd be naive to state that it is always going to be free. Second, some of the features in Dojo are still a little buggy. However, they have a great area where teachers and other users can make suggestions and vote on upcoming features. The creators of this great program really take the time to listen and try our ideas.

With all of this in mind, put on your karate gi (uniform) and headband, and then head for the Class Dojo. It's a great tool that you and your students will enjoy! 

Do you already use Class Dojo? If so, post a comment and give your feedback about it. I'd love to hear your ideas & criticisms! 

You Like Me! You Reeeeally Like Me!

Howdy, friends!!

I hope you all have had an amazing week. Mine has been full of ups and downs, and I'm so glad the weekend is almost here! I'm not going to write a novel this go-around, but I did want to take this moment to thank the Diva from Down Under, Miss D, for awarding me the...

Evidently, this award is given to "up & coming" bloggers that have less than 200 followers. I am touched and honored to be given any recognition for the craziness that ensures here! Thank you, Miss D! As promised, I am going to pay it forward and award the Liebster Blog Award to the following bloggers:

1. Kelly Hall - Fabulous in Fourth! - Mrs. Hall's blog is a great source for lesson inspiration. You would be remiss if you passed her blog up. You won't be sorry!

2. Molly - Lessons with Laughter - This is my most recent "blog find". Molly integrates literature, technology, and character education into her lessons. Her passion for learning and teaching is very evident in this upbeat blog. Check it out!

3. Mrs. Landers - Mrs. Landers' Little Learners - In my opinion, anyone who teaches primary grades deserves an award! Mrs. Landers and I actually know each other outside of the "blogosphere," and is a very dedicated & creative PreK & Kindergarten teacher. You'll love her ideas!

Now that you ladies have been given the Liebster Award, go ye therefore and find other budding bloggers like ourselves and pay it forward. :)


Have a great Thursday!


Josh