Cactus Themed Brag Tags

So I'm a self proclaimed "Clip Art Addict!" I could easily have 1,000 sets of clip art on my computer right now. As I was making brag tags for my second grade classroom next year I ran across these cute cactus graphics I own from Creative Clips. I knew immediately that I wanted to use these! 

If you're looking to add some to your collection, they are available for download @ the Teaching Oasis!

Smiley Themed Brag Tags

Yesterday was my "blogaversary", I've had this blog for 8 whole years now! It also happened to be my mother's birthday so my husband and I spent the day with her... shopping and eating at her favorite restaurant. I even bought a new dress, did you know that Loft gives a 15% discount to teachers with your badge? I never knew! 
I snagged some new graphics from Creative Clips and decided so make some new brag tags. I've been implementing them in my classroom for 3 years and I'm looking forward to using them next school year as well. Be on the lookout for new brag tag designs this summer, I've got an entire to do list!
If you're looking to add some to your collection, they are available for download @ the Teaching Oasis!

Famous American Foldable (VA SOL2.4)

We've been studying Famous Americans these last couple of weeks. Virginia changed their Social Studies Standards and now 2nd grade has 10 Famous Americans to study. I started the unit by having students create a foldable of all of our historical figures, then I went back one by one to focus on them. 

I'm using a variety of books I own and access to Mackin Via and Scholastic Bookflix plus video clips from Brain Pop and Discovery Education to teach them. Each day consists of a book/video clip and some type of activity. At the end of each lesson, I give the students a SMART Tag (brag tag) for that person. I got that idea from Doris Young over at Third Grade Thinkers! I never thought of students earning academic brag tags until I read her post. 

To create the foldable, I took a 12x18 white sheet of construction paper and folded both sides inward. Then I cut so that there were 5 flaps on each side. I had students cut and glue the names on the front, photos on the inside flap and contributions underneath the flap. Then we drew and colored symbols over the names of them to help us remember why they're important. It took us about 2 class sessions, an hour, to complete the foldable. 

4 for Friday: Positive Classroom Environment

After a long and arduous school year, I am thrilled to be on summer vacation...even though I've taught a week of Camp Invention and I'm currently teaching summer school. I'm excited to have time to get back to blogging and I'm super excited about this new blog series, so let's jump right into it!
Positive Classroom Enviornment
1. The main component of creating a positive classroom environment starts with you. I know... I know... easier said than done. But when I start to get ready in the morning and can't find the energy to have a positive attitude, when my stomach starts to hurt the moment I get in the car, and those times, though rare, when I actually cry all the way to school...I walk into my classroom and I'm immediately uplifted. I've tried my best to make my classroom a welcoming, motivating environment. It doesn't take much, there are many resources out there for you and some great printable posters on Teachers Pay Teachers. I especially like these Positive Posters and posters from Digital Divide and Conquer. So with the bright and inspirational decor {and the smell of my essential oils} I can usually turn my frown, upside down.

2. I implemented the Super Improver Wall from Whole Brain Teaching years ago. My student teacher this past year loved it so much that she's implementing it with her first graders next year. With the SIW, students can earn stickers to level up the wall for anything you want. So pass out those stickers, the students love them! If you want to read more about it, check out my blog post here. 

3. I implemented Brag Tags {SMART Tags} in my classroom two years ago. Students can earn them for a variety of reasons but I especially like to give out the tags that relate to positive choices and character traits. Search the Teaching Oasis for Brag Tags you can use!

4. I bought this Positive Notes bundle last summer and I LOVED writing my students notes daily to encourage and celebrate them. I got great feedback from the parents of students who were absolutely excited to receive these notes. I used the square size and just purchased the clear sticker pocket sleeves from Target to put on students desks so I can slide the notes in them at the end of the day for students to read in the morning. You can download a free set of Fun Pun Notes here. Are you and your student's into Emoji's... she's got a set for that too!

Do you think you could implement any of these ideas in your classroom? Have an idea to create a positive learning environment? Leave a comment here or hop on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment. 

Classroom Tour 16-17

This is me before Open House, outfit courtesy of Lane Bryant!

Welcome Bunting

Instead of calling them Brag Tags, I settled on Smart Tags since our school motto is "Coal Miners are SMART." This is where students will store their brag tags through out the week. They can wear them on Fridays.

Guided Reading Area, Fiction and Nonfiction Posters courtesy of "A Year of Many Firsts."

Students will store their water bottles to the left of the sink, under the Hydration Station poster.

Construction paper storage, weekly subject copy drawers and brag tags.

Here are all 108 set of brag tags, in all their glory, took all summer to laminate, cut out and punch holes in!

Teacher toolbox and storage containers. I don't have an official teacher desk so I store all my items here.

Anchor Chart Wall

Cubby Area

Storage and Library Area

Workstations, Library Area, Storage

Desk Area... see my glowing Essential Oil Diffuser... my new favorite item!

Learning Targets, Rules, Whiteboard

Decided to do a selfie theme for my classroom wish list this year.

Schedule, Hand Signals, Super Improver Wall

Writing area, #thirdgrade door.... I intend to use my new fancy Polaroid Zip to take photos of the students in the classroom and put them on the door.

View from the door.

SMORE Folder, Parent Flipbook, Chevron Water Bottle for each student, mini water bottle for the parents.

There you have it, my classroom set up for this year. I hope to focus in and blog about each area weekly.

Made It Monday 8*8*16

This week I decided to focus on student birthdays. This past year I gave students a card and a gift certificate to the local Sweet Frog frozen yogurt shop. It was pricey, but super easy... when I remembered to go buy them. This year I decided to scale back a bit.

Each student will receive a Happy Birthday Brag Tag to add to their chain.

I ordered these Happy Birthday Wristbands from Teacher Created Resources. Well technically I ordered it with my supply money from school.

I saw this class student birthday card from Teaching Maddeness. I decided to incorporate this idea into my classroom this year. I'll have a class set of these sheets run in color at the beginning of the school year. The day before a student birthday I'll have classmates sign the card so I can have it waiting on their desk the morning of.

This idea came from Doris Young at Third Grade Thinkers, she had cute Smile Treats waiting for her students during Open House. I already had my Welcome Gifts but thought this would be a great inexpensive birthday gift. You can find them at your local Wal-Mart.

In addition to the 1-Brag Tag, 2- Class Birthday Card, 3- Birthday Wristband and 4- Smile Fruit Snacks, we also do the Go Noodle Koo Koo Kangaroo Birthday Hooray during morning meeting.

That's how I'll be celebrating my students this year. We start school in September so I spend the 1st week recognizing August Birthdays. The last week of school I recognize July Birthdays. What do you do for your students on their birthdays?


For more Made It Monday ideas, hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics!

Made It Monday 7*4*16

For the past week I've been researching Brag Tags on Pinterest. One of my best friends teaches 1st grade at my school and she was sharing how she wanted to start Brag Tags in her classroom next year. She was going to purchase them but I told her that I could just make them for her. While reading up on them I decided that they were an awesome idea and that I'd love to implement them with my 3rd graders next year.

Basically Brag Tags are little badges that students earn throughout the school year. Brag tags can be academic, or character related. The following blog posts helped me understand them a little better.
 

Angie from Lucky Little Learners has a great FAQ's about them. This post answers any questions you might have about them. She also sells her Brag Tags on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Aimee from Primarily Speaking also has a blog post on Tips and Tricks for using Brag Tags in your classroom. You can check out her Brag Tags on Teachers Pay Teachers as well.

Jamie from Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher has a wonderful blog post as well. You can check her Brag Tags on Teachers Pay Teachers too.

Sample Brag Tags I'm Creating

So after all my research I think I've wrapped my brain around how I intend to implement them in my classroom. I've answered some questions below.

Super Improver Brag Tags I'm Creating

• Where will I get the brag tags? I'm in the process of making my own. There are some great ones on TpT, but I have hundreds of dollars worth of clip art and I really need to use it! School Life.com also has some you can purchase. I intend to purchase some special brag tags from them such as Happy Birthday, 100 Days Smarter, Honor Roll, Read Across America.
• How will I make my brag tags? I started making them in PowerPoint, basically copying and pasting each design into a template I made. Then I discovered this YouTube Video by Diane from 5th in the Middle and learned there was a much easier way to do it!
• Where will I get the necklaces? I'm going to get mine from School Life.com. The 24 inch Ball Chain will work perfectly for my students.  
• How will I store my brag tags? I'm going with the storage I saw on the Primarily Speaking blog post. I found the compartment organizers at Michael's for 50% off last week. That made them $1.49 a piece and I purchased 7 of them... enough to store the hundred+ brag tags I'm making.
• How will I display them? I'm thinking of using the bulletin board to hang them on. Every student will be able to wear them on Fridays. I'm debating if I will allow them to wear them any day they earn a badge. I'm also thinking I'll let students wear their brag tags to lunch if they have a family member coming to eat with them.
• Will students take them home? They will only go home on the last day of school. They will be stored in the classroom all year and free for parents to see during back to school night, conference time, classroom parties or anytime they're in the building.
• How will students earn tags? That question will be answered in a future post! Check back soon...

Hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics for more Made It Monday ideas!