Pencils in the Classroom-Nightmare or Daydream?

Hi everyone! It has been a few months, but I am back for good. Today I want to share with you an idea that is brilliant! I hated handling pencils in my classroom. Students always lost them or over sharpened them and they always always needed a new one. What a nightmare! I've tried many things over the last decade and this one finally solved my problem. I stumbled over this idea on someone's blog, so if it is your amazingness that I am sharing, let me know!

Simply write the student number or name on the end of the pencil and hand them out at the beginning of the month. At the end of the month if they still have their pencil, then they get a reward! I do this every month. So simple and brilliant! I very seldom have students lose their pencil or visit the sharpener too often. 

Have a fabulous day!!

Class Dojo Review!

I feel like the prodigal teacher returning to what she knows! Ha!! I've missed you guys. It has been a busy past month with few blog posts. I've had sick kids, weddings, baby blessings and so many other things. Oh, and school started :)

Okay, so I've been using Class Dojo and I LOVE it! My students are still excited about it and I am enjoying how easy it is to use.

First...what is Class Dojo? Here is an explanation from the website.

Convinced yet? Well, here are some pictures and an explanation of how I use it in my classroom.

1- After creating an account you easily enter your student names and an avatar is automatically assigned to each student.

 2. I then printed two different sheets. The first was an access code for students to create their own avatar. The second was for parents to create an account so they can track their own child's behavior.

3. The implementation of Class Dojo was completely easy. I showed it to my students and they were instantly loving it! Here is how I use it in my classroom...

---I have six student computers that we use all the time. On one of the computers I always have Class Dojo up. If a student does something awesome (or not awesome) then I tell them to go get a point for whatever they did. The volume is turned up so I can hear if they five the positive or negative (there is a certain sound for each). If a student does go into the negative they are required to stay in during recess until their good behavior gets them out of the red and back into the green.

Easy peasy! You can reset the points whenever you want. I let them go for a week and if my students as a whole get up to a certain amount of points they get a "celebration" for the last 20 minutes on Friday.

I am loving Class Dojo and so are the parents of my students! I've received tons of positive feedback and no negative yet. 

Do you use Class Dojo?

Now go link up with the awesome Holly!

Guest bloggers and a Few Egg Ideas

My dear, wonderful, amazing, fabulous friends! I am going to start having guest bloggers on my blog and I want YOU to be a part of it. I'm hoping this will generate tons of followers for you too! I've contacted a few of my amazing blogger friends but would like to set more up! If you would like to participate, please please leave a comment with your email address and I will send some questions your way!

Now on to a few ideas I just found from some AMAZING people...


Coupons for Easter Egg fillers to use in the classroom. Click on the pic to go to Mrs. D's Firsties.


This one comes from What the Teacher Wants and is a fabulous motivation/class management for spring time. Put student names in eggs in one basket and prizes in eggs in another basket. Randomly draw names and let that kid pick a prize. You could totally use the Easter Egg fillers from Mrs. D's Firsties!

Awesome Ideas from Others

Mystery Student from My Life as a Third Grade Teacher.




Student Incentives with a Book Raffle from Lesson Plan SOS.


I loved this one, so I made my own...

See the post here.




This is going to be my door next Fall!

Kickback - Classroom Management Idea

Great idea on classroom management found at Fantastic Fifth Grade! It is called Kickback and the students actually have the word Kickback on their desks. If they misbehave or forget their homework, then they get a letter taken away. One letter = 2 minutes of free time on Friday. Awesome idea!