Linking Up: Currently, Plus a Classroom Freebie

Happy Sunday to you all! Are you enjoying your extra hour of sleep today thanks to Daylight Savings Time? I know I am! Today I’m linking up with Farley for Currently, and I am also sharing a classroom freebie.

Here’s my Currently for November…enjoy!

I am currently listening to the Hobbit and the Lorax. I’m watching the Hobbit and little man is watching the Lorax, but I can hear it. It is seriously his favorite movie and he’s just a baby. I am currently loving the extra hour of sleep due to DST. I feel like I have a lot of time to do things today. The downside is that it’ll get darker earlier. I am currently thinking that I need to finish grading papers. I think that is a #teacherproblem! I am currently wanting a new car. I think that I have outgrown my small car, and I need to step up to an SUV. I’m thinking…a Ford Explorer? One of the first vehicles I drove as a teenager was an OLD Explorer, but they look so fancy now! I am currently needing a personal assistant. Don’t we all! A yummy pin was not hard to find. I love Pinterest and I have a whole board dedicated to food (sad, but true). So, I just picked one of my faves.

It’s Baked French Toast by the Pioneer Woman! YUM. You can find website with the recipe from the original pinner here, and you can find the original recipe from the Pioneer Woman here.

So, In my classroom, during center rotations, I have student that is designated as the center monitor. During our rotations, I am at my teacher table, and the other students are in their centers. If a student has a question, they know that they must ask the center monitor. Sometimes the monitor can answer the question and sometimes the center monitor has to ask me. My students know that the center monitor is the only person that is allowed to come to my teacher table to ask a question. Well…it had been working fine, but I noticed that I was answering TONS of questions during our rotations. Many of these questions could wait until later, or the students should have known what to do. Another problem is that my center monitor would be working so hard in their center that they would forget to look up and see who was raising their hands for help. So, I had to constantly call the monitor’s name to go help people. Ultimately, I wasn’t giving my small group the attention they needed and that is a big problem. To remedy this problem, I created these center monitor statement cards.

The cards have statements that the students can present to the center monitor. When they need the center monitor, they will choose a card and write their names on it. Then they will place the card in a special box that I gave to my monitor. The monitor will know that someone needs help, and she can go to him or her without me having to tell them. I also created this poster. I posted this poster in the area where I have the statement cards set up. And as the poster states, if my students have a question that is not on the cards, it can wait! I am going to be trying this out on Monday. I think it will really help me reduce the amount of time that I spend away from my teacher table. In the freebie, you will have all of the cards that I used above, and I’ve also included blank copies just in case you’d like to come up with your own. You can download this freebie here and please leave me some comment love if you enjoyed it!