Wednesday 29 August 2012

Pinterest - Classroom Ideas and Inspiration

In less than a week the summer holidays will be over and I'll be back into the whirlwind of teaching once again! I've been trying to get my brain back into "school mode" and I've been in and out of school sorting out my classroom and finding sources of inspiration. I have found some great teaching ideas over on Pinterest. If you haven't explored Pinterest, I urge you to now. Here are my Pinterest pin-boards.

 The best ideas are the simplest, you can pick up these little pots for very little cost. There's always the potential for chaos during a maths activity if everyone in the class needs to be rolling dice, so this is the perfect solution!

This is one of my favourite ideas! In year 3 one of the science topic looks at what plants need to be healthy and this is the perfect and really easy way to illustrate to children exactly what is happening when a plant grows. One of the most interesting stages of a seed germinating is that first moment when the seed sprouts roots and this is ordinarily completely hidden from view. I'm definitely going to try this with my class this year! I also came across a fabulous idea of growing seeds inside lightbulbs that you hang from the window frames in the classroom. 

What a brilliant idea! My sister The Style PA suggested it could be adapted by inserting Kings and Queens. But this idea could be used in many ways. With a variety of book characters inserted, it would be a powerful way of children developing their skills of character description and would be an exciting way of starting a literacy lesson on descriptive language.

 Another brilliant and cost-effective storage solution.

A great way of teaching children about erosion.

Another recycling idea - using Starbucks plastic cups as paint pots.

I think I may have to steal this for my classroom. I currently have words around my clock, but this is a simpler and and more visual aid for telling the time.

Every child works at different speeds and there are inevitably going to be a few children that finish tasks early. This is a great way of having a quick and easy bank of extension tasks that can easily be adapted and added to depending on the context.

 This is a lovely idea for an early morning activity while children are filtering into school, a time filler activity, or as part of phonics sessions.

(for sources follow this link)

Wednesday 1 August 2012

My Classroom!

It's that time again folks... the start of the summer holidays and I've been busy in my classroom preparing it for September. I really like coming in for a few days in the summer holidays when it is quiet and I can have fun making resources and displays. I found the idea for this door display on Pinterest (there are some really inspiring and creative ideas on there, check out my classroom "pinboard").

This is another gem I found on Pinterest initially and hunted down a blank printable version over at Teachernet. After a bit of a struggle getting my class to complete homework consistently last year, I thought I'd use this fun and exciting incentive this year. If a child brings in their homework for the week, they get to roll the dice and move their name around the Homeworkopoly board. They can win stickers, mystery prizes and opportunities to play games. Some of the "stops" on the board have a little challenge the children have to complete in order to win the prize. (I think I might be even more excited than my prospective class about this addition to my classroom!!)

 Learning Partners display and traffic lights

 When children make good contributions to classroom discussion, or work particularly hard, they can get their name on the "Superstar Board" and earn themselve team points.

 Beautiful Presentation reminder

 Cursive alphabet

 You can't quite see from this photo, but I have put numbers on each of the chairs. They have 1-30 on them on a variety of different animals. I am going to use these to build some maths and word problems into everyday classroom routines... e.g. "If your number is in the 3 x table join the line for lunch" etc

 Maths area

 This is my new targets display. The children have their targets on little rockets. Each time they meet their targets they get to move to the next planet and eventually end up on the Sun! My class really will be reaching for the stars! :) I just can't wait to get started... not that I'm willing away my summer holidays of course!