Go Character Education - Teaching Positive Character Traits in the Classroom with a Pokemon-like Feel

Are your new students obsessed with Pokemon?

Would you like to teach your little monsters about positive character traits?

Are you hoping to infuse responsibility, respect, and gratefulness (just to name a few) into your classroom schedule?

Well, I have the perfect program for you!

I've created Go Character Ed, a character trait program to infuse positive character trait instruction throughout your day.

I've collected, created, and packaged together loads of resources for you:

- Read Aloud Lists

- Classroom Activity and Lesson Ideas

- Task Cards

- Bulletin Board Display Items

- Posters

- Bookmarks

- Wristbands

- Postcards/Notes Home

- Reward Certificates

- Tickets / Brag Tags

- Discussion / Scenario Cards

- Journal and Prompts

....and more!

Infuse character traits into your language arts centers with task cards that contain quick activities that students can complete independently, with partners, or in small groups.

Students can write and reflect on the traits in their own personal journals.  Print the cover on colored paper for a little extra flair.

Reward students for showcasing positive character traits, or simple remind them, with wristbands and bookmarks.

Fill your teaching toolbox with warm-ups and activities to explicitly teach the character traits to your students in small blocks of time.

Print off the tickets and pass them out to students as part of your behavior management system.  I plan to pass them out as our classroom currency earned for displaying role model behavior.  Students can collect them inside vending machine capsules that slightly resemble Poké Balls.  At the end of the week students will be able to exchange them for prizes.  The colorful ones could be laminated as Brag Tags.

 Each character trait will be available individually, or you can purchase them bundled together for a nice discount.

So far I have the following packs available:

- Responsible
- Respectful
- Grateful
- GROWING BUNDLE

Why wait, catch them all now!

Problem of the Day - Aligned with Engage NY's 4th Grade Math Module Application Problems

Do you use Engage NY's 4th Grade Math Modules?

If so, then I have a product that you will LOVE!

My Problem of the Day Problem Solving packs!

I rewrote each of Engage NY's Math Module Application Problems into 3 fun formats.

The Cut Out versions contain four of the same problem on one page.  Have students cut them out and paste them into their very own Problem of the Day Journal.

The full page layout contains just one problem per page with lots of work space for students to draw a picture or diagram, show their work, and write an answer statement.

Projectable pages are also included.  One slide contains the problem and work space.  Have a Smart Board?  Students can come up and show their peers how to solve the problem.  Then flip to the next slide to see another possible solution.

There are a million and one uses for Engage NY's Application Problems.  Engage NY suggests in their lessons that the Application Problem be completed right after that day's fluency activities and before the Concept Development.

This year, I plan on having students complete this daily problem in their Problem of the Day Journals for morning work.

 Not every lesson contains an Application Problem.  Sometimes I want to expand a lesson across 2 days, instead of just 1.  There isn't an Application Problem on review or test days.

But, I would still like students to complete a problem for morning work.

So, I created an add-on pack with 35 extra problems.  There are 5 problems for each of the 7 fourth grade modules.

You can purchase the Add On Pack here in my TPT store.

You can find an individual pack for each module here for FREE!

Prepare Your Classroom for the 2016 Presidential Election

Is your classroom prepared for the 2016 Presidential Election?

Bundle and Save with my 2016 Presidential Election Bundle.

This is a combination of 2 of my hot Election packs:

- Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump
- Election Vocabulary Posters and Activities.

With these packs, you will get an article and paired passages to compare and contrast background information and viewpoints on various issues for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Students are also provided with graphic organizers and final copy paper to create and display persuasive letters as to which candidate they most support.

Print the vibrant posters in color or black and white to create a classroom display or word wall of all the important election vocabulary.

Provide students with mini dictionaries to keep track of all their new Election vocabulary words.

Use the playing cards for a quick matching game like Memory or glue them back to back to make flash cards for study.

Further practice these new Election vocabulary words with a matching worksheet, word search, and 4-square organizers.

Create trading cards for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Save 20% off individual pricing when you purchase the bundle!

How will you prepare your classroom for the 2016 Presidential Election?

Earth Day Classroom Display

Reduce, recycle, reuse . . . how do you encourage students to help our Earth?

Earth Day is just a few days away.  Since it is one of my favorite holidays, I spread out our learning throughout the whole month.

Over the last few weeks my students have been learning about our Human Footprint on the Earth.  They have been examining ways that we positively and negatively impact nature and the environment.  As we learn, we have been keeping track of interesting facts we find.

Students then wrote a letter to Earth making a promise to leave a positive Human Footprint throughout their lifetime.

One of the materials we had received from Donors Choose was water color paints.  We painted our Earths to get a more natural look.

I took pictures of students with their hands up and they glued their Earth and their letter to their hands.

We displayed them in the hallway for all to see.

My students have the whole world in their hands.  Hip Hip Hurray for the Earth!

2016 New Year's Resolutions

Welcome 2016!  A new year, a blank slate.

One of my favorite New Year's traditions is creating some new resolutions!  I love looking back at the previous year, reminiscing about what worked well and what I could improve, and setting some new goals.

This year, rather than setting specific goals, as I have often done in the past, I have made my resolutions a little more vague.

My first resolution is to live healthier.  Having Type 1 Diabetes, this is a major goal of mine.  I've kind of, shall I say, let myself go after having Natalie.  It's time to treat my body with the respect that it deserves so that I can have more energy and a happier spirit.

 My second resolution is to live happier.  Rather than focus on what I want in the future (last year's goals included a shorter drive to work, teaching at a new school, purchasing a new house) I want to sit back and enjoy what I already have.  I want my focus to be on making and developing connections with family and friends and experiencing new things, rather than focusing on tangible items.

I want to show my thankfulness for those around me, slow down, and enjoy the little things.  I want to look away from my cellphone and into daughter's shinning eyes and share her adventurous and joyous spirit.  I want to put down the computer and enjoy a nice conversation with my husband after dinner.  I want to hold off on cleaning more and play with my dogs.

My third resolution is to Create, Connect, and Collaborate more with educators, families, and experts around the world.  During the school year I plan on setting aside a little time each weekend to work on transitioning products that I have created for my classroom to be polished and ready to be posted on TPT.  I plan on scheduling posts and comments for my blog and Facebook at this time.  I plan on prioritizing my projects so that i can focus on the ones that are most meaningful to me and my classroom, and then sharing them with teachers all over the globe.

I am truly excited to be attending the 2nd Northeast Regional TPT Meet-Up in Rochester, NY this April.  I can't wait to share what I've created so far, connect with new friends, and collaborate on some new projects with teacher educators from all over NY and beyond!

My final resolution is a big one: to find BALANCE!!!  This is a goal I continually find myself returning to.  Sure, I've balance out my time pretty well over the last few years....but it still never feels like I have enough.  I want more time to sleep, more time to spend with family and friends, more time to create.....but I can't create more time.  At the age of 30 I've finally come to the realization that maybe my issue isn't that I don't have enough time.  Maybe the issue is how I am managing it.  Maybe my to-do list is too long?  Maybe it is ok to not check off every item on it.  Maybe I need to prioritize what needs to get done.  

I plan on spending my time by focusing on bettering myself, my family & friends, and society in hopes for a better future.  

Have you thought about your New Year's Resolutions for 2016?

Happy New Year!