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Introducing Mrs. Kitchen's Class Read Alouds!

Hello, friends! I recently started a YouTube channel that is meant to coordinate with this blog. As you can see, I'm not the BEST at posting here. ;) I hope to be better soon! I'm just stopping by today to share that I have started to do read alouds on my channel, and I hope you'll join me! I will have a new one each day for the rest of this week, then hopefully weekly on Saturdays. The first installment is below! Enjoy!

Character Cards

Hello, all! I hope your July is going well! I have been taking time to read and relax. But I've also been prepping for the upcoming school year and rethinking my classroom management plan. I stick to my old reliable tools and tricks, but I try to add something new in each year. 

I'm hoping to share something with you that I have found to be tremendously helpful and effective for all of the students I've had. You may know them as Brag Tags, but I choose to call them Character Cards. Why? Because I don't think bragging has a positive connotation, and I think that when we focus on character in the classroom, we get better result.

What are they? Character Cards are fun little cards that students can be given for any reason and at any time. Because my school is a Leader in Me school, I've created some with a leadership theme. I have a *FREEBIE* of these below, so stay tuned!

When do I give them out? I give out Character Card regularly, but I am very free with them during "difficult" times of the year. You know what I mean--the first few weeks, right before winter break, right after winter break, right before spring break, right after spring break, and as the year ends. Wow. That's literally almost all the time. ;) I also pass these out with specific purposes. Each card I have made has a positive message and reason I am giving it out. I try to be very choosy about the cards I give out. 

What do my students do with them? There are two options for how to store your cards in my classroom--either in baseball card sleeves in a folder, or in a zipper pencil pouch. My first year with Character Cards, I thought my students would be overjoyed with them and want to take them home at the end of the year. Not so. I actually had students asking if they could throw them away. I had spent HOURS printing, laminating, and cutting these things. I was NOT about to have them in the trash. This is when inspiration struck. I told them they could throw them out, but why would they want to if they were going to get to use them at a class store at the end of the year? Voila. Best behaved class the last week of school, and I had some friends with some serious behaviors that year. I have since upped the store to twice a year--once before winter break and once at the end of the year. My change this year will be to allow them to use their Character Cards to buy small, free incentives at the end of each week. 

How do I store my Character Cards? I store my Character Cards in a plastic parts storage drawer (not an affiliate link). I love it, it's the perfect size, and it doesn't take up too much space! I need to purchase another one, but until I do, extra cards can be stored in those skinny pencil/pen baskets from the dollar store. I tried to find a close up of this in action, but the best I could find is the photo below...

Still not sure if Character Cards are for you? That's totally fine! BUT, if you're thinking you'd like to get your feet wet at try them, I have two freebies for you!

These two cuties are a part of a full set that you can purchase from my Teachers Pay Teachers store HERE! Please do not use these freebies for anything other than personal use, though. I trust you, I just have to say that. ;)

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by today friends! I hope that what I've shared today is helpful for you as you decide on a classroom management strategy for the upcoming school year! As always, if you have something you'd like me to write about, or have a request for a digital worksheet or other product, please email me at mhkdesigns.etsyATgmailDOTcom! Until next time, HUGS and happy teaching!

Teaching Gratitude

I pondered quite a bit about what the first topic would be on this blog. I am sure some of you are a bit stymied as to why I chose teaching gratitude as my focus. My "why" for this post comes from experiences I have had all my life that boil down to this--those who are grateful are more happy and content. And isn't that what we crave in our classrooms? Happiness? Content? I know I sure do! It is SO much better to come to work in an environment where people are happy and content. Seriously.

Gratitude can be shown by all ages, races, economic classes, genders, religions, or any other group we could use to categorize people. One of my favorite quotes on this subject is from Aesop--"Gratitude turns what we have into enough."

It seems that in education there is NEVER enough. Never enough time to cover all the standards, never enough paper for that project, never enough money for all the technology that will somehow make things better. I don't buy into this mentality. Things will never bring happiness. If you can't be happy with what you have, you will never be happy with more!

So, how do we teach gratitude to our students? It's simple really--we teach by example. We are cheerful. We are thankful for what we have. For both people and things. It is enough. We vocalize our gratitude daily, and for a variety of reasons. Think about a time when someone thanked you. Sincerely. Didn't that make you feel good, needed, and worthy? When we share this with our students, they will rise to our expectations for them, and usually go beyond! When we vocalize gratitude for others, relationships flourish. Let's take a look at some examples...

• "Suzy, thank you so much for putting your name on your paper! Now I know who did this beautiful work!"
• "Johnny, thank you for smiling at me this morning! I needed that!"
• "I am SO thankful for my computer and our projector, aren't you? Don't these tools make learning fun???"
• "Guess what, friends? I get to attend a meeting to learn about how to be a better teacher for you! Isn't that exciting? I am so thankful to get to go!"
• "Thank you, Mr. Principal, for all the hours you put in for our school! I am so grateful that you are willing to do that for us all!"

It's really all about attitude, isn't it? Instead of worrying about all that we DON'T have, when we focus on what we DO have, things just naturally seem more manageable and do-able! It also helps create an environment where everyone feels loved, safe, and needed. Who could ask for more?

If you wanted to do even more to encourage gratitude, you could create a classroom where notes of gratitude are encouraged and are also praised.  I do two activities each year that my students LOVE and that bring us together. Let me tell you what we do...

In December, we do "Stocking Stuffer" notes. Each student creates a paper stocking (FREE file by Susan Jones HERE) that hangs in our classroom library area. In February, we do "Love Notes". Each student creates a Valentine Each day during the two week we participate in these activities, students get to write a note to another student in the class. I model what I expect in the notes. I want them to be specific and sincere. There shouldn't be notes that say, "I like your shoes." It's important that these notes to say things like, "You are a caring friend. Thank you!" so that students see value in themselves as people, and not on what they wear, etc.

How do I make sure each student is chosen? Simple! I create notes that have each student's name at the top for each day. It does take a bit more time, but it's worth it! If you don't want to use names, you could do student numbers and keep a numbered list by the basket of notes. I also make sure that each student gets a note from me each time we do these activities, and allow them to write to me, as well! It is SO much fun to get to come home for holiday break and read the sweet things my students say about me! Reading what they write after Valentine's Day helps me make it through the winter slump until Spring Break! It's a total win-win for everyone involved!

Below are some note templates you could use for these activities, if you want to use them in your classroom! They use a variety of Hello Fonts and clipart by Creative Clips. Just right click and save, then put them into a word processor (Word, etc.) to print. PLEASE make sure to use them for personal use only and do not use them to sell. Thank you!

If you would like files that has multiple designs (color & black and white) plus a text box to type in student names, you can find a variety of Stocking Stuffers HERE and Love Notes HERE in my Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) store!

Thanks for stopping by today, friends! I hope what I've shared is helpful! As always, if you have something you'd like me to write about, or have a request for a digital worksheet or other product, please email me at mhkdesigns.etsyATgmailDOTcom! Until next time, HUGS and happy teaching!