Clipboards and Post-its

I think it is a requirement of teachers to...

1. Love clipboards... and have about 1 million.... you never know when you need one.
2. Have a near obsession over post-its.  Cant they be used for just about anything!?!? Math... yes.... Science... yes... Reading... always.... Love them!

So what's a better way than incorporating the two into a great gift for my Secret Pal at school.  She's a teacher.... any by that fact... she must love school supplies.  What teacher doesn't???  The smell of crayons... having paperclips in a wide variety of colors... and when paperclips cant work pull out those marvelous big guns.... the bracket clips....

Ahhh yes.... teacher supplies.  

So this is what I made for my wonderful teacher friend:

It took me about an hour and a 1/2.... because I am a perfectionist.... but I did all 3 in that time! :)  That's 1/2 and hour per gift!  (yes... I am a math teacher... )

Here are the supplies I needed:

 Lets start with the post-it note holder.... soooooo easy.  Get yourself a cardboard coaster from a place like Chili's.

Grab your trusty mod podge.  Mine is glossy, but I only used it as a glue.

The secret to all mod podge: some sort of squeegee!!! You must press out all those air bubbles or your paper will crinkle and it will not be pretty.

Use an exacto to carefully cut around the edges of the coaster.

One side was covered in dots, the other in black and white.  After I covered both sides, I dipped my brush in black paint and painted the edges and speckled the side as if I were stenciling.  I really like the effect.

Then just add a big clip with some post-its and you're done!

Clipboard:

Paint the sides first.

Cut your paper to the size you want.  I wanted to use 2 different types of paper.... I started with the bottom and worked my way up.

Mod Podge only the bottom.  I used mine only as a glue; I did not put a top layer of it on.

Use that squeegee to get it nice and smooth with no bubbles.

The toughest part was cutting around the silver head area.  You could paint the top black and skip all the cutting, but I only wanted it covered in paper. 

I used the same painting technique around the board like I did on the coaster.  Then add a little bow... so cute!

I used stickers to spell out her name and some kinda paper boarder sticker that I glued on to add a little whimsy to the area where the 2 papers meet.  The back of the board looks close to he same as the front.  Only difference is I didn't add her name to the back.

 Ta-Da! Done.  And if you want to know more about the teacher survival kit... you can find that post right here.  Or a little more about secret pals.... you can check here.


Have fun crafting.... and if you don't have a secret pal, maybe make something special for that wonderful custodian or secretary who we all know the school would burn down if we didn't have either of them :)

Bucket Filling 101

I am still new to bucket filling.  It is something that I learned through proteacher last summer.  If you are not a member to the wonderful site, filled with teachers, for teachers, and tons of ideas about teaching... then you need to go now!  Just click on the link, but would you please finish reading about bucket filling??

Bucket Filling is a new take on the age old principle "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or "Treat others how you want to be treated."

Bucket filling is a way of classroom management and it works!!!  Especially if you start off from the get go with it.  This past year, on the first day of school, I read this book to my students in our library area:

It's about this boy who has this imaginary bucket over his head - we all do- and our daily interactions determine whether we fill a person's bucket (you want to do this) or dip from a person's bucket (don't do this).

After reading the book, my class and I made a T-chart with one side being ways to be a bucket filler and the other was ways to be a bucket dipper.  We then brainstormed actions, sounds, and words that we associated with both being a filler and a dipper.  At the bottom of the chart I wrote, "We promise to be bucket fillers!" and each of us, including me, signed our chart.  I then hung it on our door in the hall.

I wish I had made little cards, like many teachers have, but I saw 80 kids a day and didn't know where or how to organize 80 kid's buckets.  But I did read it to all my students, and I posted this banner I made on vistaprint above my door to remind the kids and myself about being a filler:

If you like the image you can get it here at this website.

I am teaching 6th grade this year, and I still plan on doing the same thing as I did with my 4th graders with them.  I will only have 40 kids this year and see each class for half the day.  I think I am going to have a bucket per table and fill it with little pom-pom balls when they are on task, or working well together, or if just one person does something great, I'll still add pom-poms to that bucket.  I want to do cards, where the kids fill out who filled their bucket and how.  I was  thinking of having them turned into me and I would draw one from the stack and give a free ice cream or lunch in my room for the student who wrote it and who they wrote it to.  Then I was thinking of passing all the cards to the people they are written for.

Sixth grade is the beginning of an emotional whirlwind and the thing I am most concerned about is embarrassing someone.  I think if I do bucket filling the way listed above, I am rewarding those who are the fillers and the students who recognize it, and I am preventing embarrassing the student who it is written about.  If they want to share it, they can.

I am open to any suggestions you may have on how to make this work in the intermediate classroom.  :)
And if you would like to learn more about bucket filling head over to First Grade Brain's Linky Party on bucket fillng.

So the big question you need to ask yourself everyday and with each human contact you make is "Am I filling this person' s bucket?"