Bully Free Zone

Every year we start off with my wrinkled heart activities and then carry on the through the year with our school wide character trait program.  As a teacher you hope that this will be enough. However this year my co-teacher and I have noticed one particular student has been the easy target for our class. She is the sweetest girl with the best attitude so it just doesn't make since.

I was picked on, teased, bullied you name it. I always had trouble making and keeping friends. I was often an easy target and can remember this happening from 1st grade on until freshman year of high school. That being said I DID NOT WANT IT HAPPENING IN MY CLASSROOM.

I got to work. I asked a veteran teacher at my school what she would do. (She is the kind of teacher you strive to be and I am lucky enough to work with her.) I stalked teacher blogs, pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. Here is what I came up with:


Day One:

We revisited the wrinkled heart poems and discussed exactly what each part meant.

I also told them that I would have zero tolerance of any bullying and if I heard it or saw it they would move their clips.

Then we stomped on, crumbled, hit but did not tear a piece of paper. Then we opened the paper up and told it we were sorry. Then we had a discussion about how saying sorry doesn't always fix everything.

Next we turned this wrinkled paper into the cover for our friendship journal. This is our no bully zone scrap book and I will get back to that in a little bit.

The last activity we did that day was from the Bad Apple.  In this activity the class brain storms what it means to be kind. Then they have to write something kind about other students.

There were a few students that I was worried about not having enough kind words so I did write on a few.

Then they glued the star in their friendship journal and reflected on it. You can grab that here.

Day Two: We discussed ways to not be a bully and completed a book. Its by Natalie's Nook and you can find it here.

Day Three: We wrote about a time our heart was wrinkled and what we learned from it.

Day Four: We completed this activity by the Clutter Free Classroom. Each student told me who they wanted to work with and nominated someone as a student role model. This is when we introduced the kindness desk. I shared the nominations with the class and told them if they didn't hear their name this week they should make it their goal to have someone nominate them next time.

The kindness desk is where anyone who is being very kind can sit. This desk has special supplies to use and even is home to our author's chair when it is not in use. This has the same rules as most Fancy/ MVP desks. Its fluid and students can move in and out of it. I got the idea off of instagram (you can follow me @teachinginbroncocountry) but I can't remember who! I really tried to find it too. Thank you to whomever it was!

I created it from things I had laying around the classroom and its a hit. 

Day Five:

I read Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig  (I bought several of her books and will be reading them in the days and weeks to come.) Then we signed No Bullying Pledge with our favorite color marker and added it to our Friendship Journal. 

I found some no bully zone items on Oriental Trading and that is where the No Bullying Pledge came from. I haven't decided what I am going to do with everything yet. 

A small victory came today when the student I mentioned was picked on again and two girls spoke up for her. I gave them a sticker and thanked them. We aren't there yet but we are taking steps in the right direction. Check back with me to see how it is going and what other activities we have done. 

If any of these activities are of interest to you please check them out tomorrow at the Teachers Pay Teachers Site Wide Sale.  I will be participating and my store will be 28% when you use the promo code HEROS. 

Author's Chair

I have been thinking of creating an author's chair for a while. We had a writing PD recently and I decided it was time to take the plunge! One of my sweet parents donated a chair and I got to work!

I really enjoyed creating it and I will be debuting in class tomorrow. I do have to say it took a whole lot longer than I anticipated! It was about 10 hours total.

I used craft paint and sharpies to write and then I sealed it with glitter spray and that didn't work very well so I ended up using Modge Podge.

The beginning. 

Cute fabric from Hobby Lobby. I used a coupon and it was only $3.00! I also finished the seat with vinyl in hope it will last longer and keep it clean. 

The first night of work. 

Almost done.

Here it is! 

If you have a share chair or author's chair I would love to see a link. 

Giveaway Just Because

 

When ever I read about the latest and greatest on teacher blogs I WANT to have it. This happened when I heard about the Classroom Friendly pencil sharpener. Only I didn't really need one I had a big fancy pencil sharpener. I used my supply budget and bought one. It was fancy it was great a little light even turned on when the pencil was sharpened! AND THEN a student knocked it off its resting place and it broke into millions of pieces and I was pretty sure the warranty wouldn't cover it. So I shed a tear and asked for a donation of pencil sharpeners. Three YES ThReE more pencil sharpeners were burned through in the course of a year. I took the plunge and invested in the Classroom Friendly sharpener. The nice thing was it didn't cost much! Just $24.99 that I can afford even on my part time teacher budget! Take a look for yourself http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com

Its here and my students love it! They are itching to sharpen their pencils all of the time.  Here is a video about how it works. I needed the video and I showed it to my students too.

 Now here is the good news. The sweet people at Classroom Friendly Supplies want you to have a one! Enter the giveaway below and you get to pick your own color and everything! How great is that?!

Please note this update! This contest is open to US residents only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine Freebie

It is almost that time again. Wasn't Christmas yesterday? Time is flying! Well I have been away a little bit because the tummy bug hit my family hard. Everyone had it and I am so over the laundry and the smell!!!! We seem to be on the mend now.  I wanted to share some Valentine themed items with you and offer a freebie.

I have been selling my Wrinkled Heart Activities like crazy! It maybe because of Valentines or it may be that we need an anti-bullying refresher. My class needed the reminder too and I think we are back on track. So if you are interested here it is. Wrinkled Heart Activities

This is what it includes:

2 pages of teacher notes and lesson plans
3 different sets of posters
Two pennant flag words for bulletin boards: Think and Be Kind
Writing prompts for primary and intermediate grades
2 Heart templates
2 Book Marks

I also have two other Valentine items in my shop. These are fun activities to do leading up to the party or during the party. I have a primary and intermediate version. Check them out. 

This is what it includes: 

Make as many words as you can out of Valentine
A writing prompt
Valentines for the kids to write 
Valentines mad libs
printable valentines for the class

The primary version has primary friendly lines. 

Last year I made some Valentines for my class and they were a no homework pass. I wanted to share those with you. So here it is your Valentine Freebie! 

Grab it here! 

I am going to do something similar this year, but I just haven't come up with it yet. I will share it with you when I do!