Bright Idea: Response Rings to Check for Understanding

It's that time again! Time for all the little people to come and ruin our endless summer! Just kidding. Hopefully you're as excited as I am for this new school year because it's coming whether you want it to or not. Heehee. And here's a Bright Idea to help you be ready!

Have you ever taught a beautifully, meticulously planned lesson, delivered it to perfection, and then watched in horror as all of your kids proceeded to butcher their assignments? What happened? you thought. Where did I go wrong? 

This happened to me...a lot... especially my first year or two of teaching. And then I realized what I was missing.

One of the most important things about teaching a great lesson is constantly checking for understanding and making sure students are engaged in the thinking of your lesson on an individual basis. To help do this is a quick, easy way, I created these simple and affordable tools! 

Response Rings to check for understanding!

Response Rings are so versatile and easy to make. I take five index cards for each student, in five different colors. 

I label each index card with specific responses that I anticipate I might want students to use during a lesson, and then I laminate them.

This side I labeled with A, B, C, D, True/False, and Yes/No.

This side includes mathematical operations and their corresponding visual representation that I want kids to use in their problem solving.

Then I hole-punch them and put them on a ring.

Each student has a ring during every lesson. I ask them to take out their Response Rings and then I pose a specific question. This could be "What operation are we going to use to solve this problem?" or "Which is the better answer? A, B, C, or D?" or "From the details in the chapter, is it reasonable to predict that the Nick will follow this new rule?"

Then I ask them to "flash" me the answer! They hold their response card out in front of their chest (not waving it in the air- this discourages copying) and I get a quick check of who's with it, who's lost and what I need to do next! You can quickly scan the room and, because they're color-coded, get a visual picture of how the kids are responding! It holds all kids accountable for thinking and deciding on a response to your questions.

Easy Peasy but it makes all the difference!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, follow me on TPT, facebook, or instagram for more great ideas! For more bright ideas from more than 100 bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that insterests you! Happy browsing!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Wedding DIY: Etched Mason Jar Candle Holders

For our wedding last October, because we had the dinner and party outside, I knew I didn't want flowers as centerpieces because my mother's backyard is already full of green and flowers! So I hunted around for ideas to make a simple candle centerpiece unique and special.

These jars were a huge hit and easy (and better yet: cheap) to make! To start, I had my family and friends collect as many jars as they could. Spaghetti, jelly, salsa, olives and more come in jars! 

Once I had a large box full of jars, I filled the sink with hot hot hot soapy water and scrubbed the labels off witha steel wool scrubber. Sometimes this took some hard work, but those jars were free so you know I was going to find a way to use them!

After the jars were clean and dry, I used some handy dandy materials I bought from Michael's to etch them. Martha Stewart produces an etching cream that works very well. It comes with a little brush. Separately, I purchased some Martha Stewart sticky vinyl stencils. The stencils were surprisingly durable and lasted for over 130 jars. 

I stuck the stencils on several sides of the jars and painted over them with the etching cream. Then I let them dry and stuck them back in the sink. I used a sponge to clean off the jars with the stencils still on. Then I peeled off the stencils and laid them out on a plastic sheet. 

And then I cleaned the jars again, making sure I took off all of the residual cream

It was some work, but they were awfully affordable centerpieces and they turned out lovely.

For more great ideas, check out the link-up at Fourth Grade Frolics!

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Wedding DIY: Old-Fashioned Card Box

So you've probably seen these wedding card trunks all over pinterest because they're so cute! 

I knew my mom had this little piece of luggage in her house, so I stole it.

Samsonite....fancy.....

And I cleaned it! It was quite old.

I cut the letters for the word "Cards" out of the fabric in our wedding color - blue- and 

I used these little canvas bunting flags to spell out the word. Thinking I would be slick, I layed the letters down facedown and hot glued the backs. Then I stuck a bunting flag on each one and glued a ribbon across the top of the bunting flags to make a little banner. After that, I flipped it over.... and realized I did it backwards. Duh.

So I cut the flags apart and glued them back together the right way.

To add some sparkle, I used some glitter and Elmer's glue to fancy up some tiny clothespins. 

Then I clipped one on the top of each bunting flag! Easy peasy card holder box!

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Wedding DIY: Chalkboard Welcome Sign

Our wedding was back in October, and I've had this huge pile of pictures and DIYs that I wanted to share with you readers! I finally put them together this week and so I should have posts ready for the next seven Monday Made-Its! The first one I'm sharng was a fun project! I bought a simple chalkboard from IKEA and fancied it up for our wedding to greet our guests!

 I cut a piece of fabric to fit in the chalkrail that matched our wedding colors. I used string, hot glue and scrapbooking paper to make a little bunting to drape across the top, and in one corner I glued some paper flowers matching our wedding colors.

Then I found these little jars and popped fake daisies in them to match my bouquet. I printed out the text I wanted on computer paper using fancy fonts and spent about forty-five minutes recreating the lettering and the little bride and groom outfit underneath. It's not perfect, but when I look at it, I'm kind of amazed I did it at all lol. Considering it was the night before the wedding!

Then I wrapped the top part of the chalkboard in saran wrap to protect the chalk from smudging while we transported it to the church. We placed it in front of the church and later in front of the house for the reception and party to greet our guests!

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6 TPT Tips I learned in Vegas

A couple days ago, I blogged about the adventures I had in Vegas, but I knew I was far from done with sharing about this conference. The whole reason I went (aside from the free drink coupons) was to learn about the business!
 I know so many of us have had similar experiences on TPT - we start out as basic sellers and plug along for a few months (or years) and decide that maybe we're ready to take the plunge. We debate the pros and cons of spending the 60.00 to become premium sellers. Finally, we decide to "just go for it" and "hopefully I'll make the 60.00 back!" 
So we put up products, sell items, get feedback and cheer, get feedback and cry, make adjustments, and try to figure this mess out. But it's better to share, because, as Rachel Lynette said (that JRK said before her), "A rising tide lifts all boats."

During the sessions at the conference, I heard a few specific and concrete tips that I have begun implementing and I though you'd like to as well. Here's what I learned in Vegas:

Tip # 1 

This one was big. I know that, because we're teachers, we love cute. We say it all the time, "Oh, that's so cuuuuute!" But in several of the sessions, they mentioned the importance of having functional product names. If your product is titled "Pop the Top!", NO ONE is searching for it. It's cute, but the only people who will end up on that page are the ones who clicked through from a place you're advertising it. Name the product something functional, like "Mixtures and Solutions Science Stations Activity and Game" and people might actually search for some of those words. The product cover can include any name you want, but the name of the product on TPT when you "Add a new product" should be searchable. BIG TIP for me!

Tip # 2

This one's easy. Just do it. Add a custom category and then put you products in it! It makes your store more easily navigated. And it's easy to do! On a Mac, to add more than one custom category for a product, you can select the first category, hold down the command key and then select the second or third one you want. 

Tip # 3

For me, finding a community is tricky. I tend to be a bit of a lone wolf and it's hard for me to sustain relationships when I've never seen you. Consider me like a two-year-old - the face on the screen in the little TPT circle is hard for me to connect to a real living, breathing, problem-solving person. So I have to really work hard on building a community that I consistently communicate and organize with! This conference, I think, really helped me in that respect. I met real people and I'm looking forward to organizing with them!

Tip # 4

I spent all day yesterday doing this one. When a piece of feedback is clicked on the little "Marked as helpful" button, that piece of feedback is cycled to the top of the string of feedback for that product. The more times it's clicked, the higher it goes up the chain. You as a seller can only click it once, but DO IT! Read through your feedback and click "Mark as helpful" for any feedback that is specific and highlights the strengths of your product. That feedback will show up first and it will give your buyers a good picture of why they might like to buy your product. Because let's be honest: "Thanks" or ":)" never convinced anyone to buy anything.

Tip # 5

Rachel Lynette told us this one, and I was like, "Oh. Duh." You know that little quote space on the top of your store? Well, on mine, and apparently on many sellers', it read, "Follow my blog, Buzzing with Ms. B, for teacher tips and tools!" Well, Rachel, (this is so duh that you probably already know it, but I'm going to say it just in case) said, "Don't do that. Don't send people away from your store when you've finally gotten them there. The purpose of your blog is to drive people TO your store, not the other way around." O.M.G. that was embarrassing. Because she was talking to me.

Use your blog, pinterest, and facebook to provide content at least 80% of the time. Don't do freebies all the time, because then your followers/fans/viewers expect something tangible all the time and they'll wait for it. Do freebies and giveaways randomly and infrequently. 

Tip # 6

Possibly my favorite piece of advice. Rachel Lynette was describing how to work with other TPT sellers, and she encapsulated several guidelines into this one guideline. "You know, don't be a jerk." I wrote it down verbatim, because I knew I wanted to quote it. It's my kind of advice. It applies not just to blogging, or selling, or any other specific niche, but to the world. If you're a jerk, according to Rachel Lynette, "you will not get invited to play in other peoples' reindeer games." So if you've made some mistakes, ask for forgiveness and try not to do that again. 

I hope these TPT tips I learned were helpful to you, too. If you got something out of this post, click over to check out all the other blogs that linked up with Mrs. Russell's Room for her Learnin' in Vegas: My Reflections Link-Up. It's worth the visit!

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Adventures in Vegas

I'm home again. After a whirlwind three-and-a-half days in Vegas, I'm back. I've resumed my position on the couch, laptop on lap, TV on Weeds (but goodness, how I despise Mary Louise Parker), bowl of frozen cherries at my side.  I may look calm on the outside, but inside, my brain is racing. You know how you feel when you have 8,000 things on your to-do list but you don't know what order they go in? That's what's happening here. Why am I so full of  stuff? Four Words: TPT Conference in Vegas.

I. Had. A. Blast. I attended awesome sessions and listened to great TPT and blogging stories that gave me so much to think about, and so now my head is full of list after list of things to consider: ad pages to include in my products, and rewriting my titles and product descriptions. Following up on some of the relationships I started with great people I met, and making myself a schedule and sticking to it. Unfortunately, I already didn't do one of those things today. I woke up late and then I really HAD to finish the book I was reading, The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. It only took me about five hours (I wasn't really all that close to the end but it was soooo good), but I've already spoiled one of my resolutions about dedicating specific time to blogging, writing, marketing, blah blah blah. Oops. So I guess I really have to jump on it now. Like, for reals. So I'm going to give you a little debrief (Like an episode of Entertainment Weekly, you won't get the whole deal, but you'll get the gist) of my trip!  Before I left, I had plans to room with four other ladies I'd never met. I mean, we'd "met", you know, by sending irreverent facebook messages to each other, but that was about the extent of our relationship. Oh, and once Natalie sent me wine, forever leaving an indelible mark on my lush's heart.   But basically, I had no idea what to expect from these (mostly Texan) girls. It's a little nerve-wracking, spending three nights in potentially close quarters with virtual strangers (haha get my pun? Because we only communicated virtually? heehee) But when one of them arrived a double-sized bottle of wine, happily proclaiming that it was only eight dollars, I knew we were going to be A-OK. These are the ladies:

Cheryl from Crayons and Curls, Farrah from Mrs. Shipley's Whole Brain Teaching, Katie from Keep Teaching & Planning (KTP on TPT), and Natalie from Teachery Tidbits. Oh, and me :)

And they are lovely, indeed. One of the best things about the conference was that they know what lies deep in the hearts of teachers. This included free drink coupons LOTS of time to talk. Oh, and free stuff. Lots of free stuff. 

These are our swag bags full o'teacher stuff. By the end of the conference, I had collected this variety of freebies:

The happy hours and meet-ups were some of my favorite things. In the midst of this talking- picture 600 teachers smushed into one space and EVERYone uses their teacher voice - the noise was deafening - I managed to squeeze through and around and meet some bloggers and sellers who I really admire. 

Amy, who is an absolutely adorable individual. If I used the word "adorbs", I would use it to describe Amy. But I don't use the word "adorbs" because it's pretty ridiculous.

I met these charming ladies, too, and so many others. 

Confession: when I met Jennifer Runde of Runde's Room, I'd already downed both the free drink coupons TPT had given me. Kind of fast, actually, because big groups aren't exactly my favorite. (I'm not the go-up-and-talk-to-you type.) So when I walked up to Jennifer, full of liquid courage, I said, "Hi Jennifer! I'm Chrissy from Buzzing with Ms. B, and I love your blog. It's so specific and full of thorough teaching practices!" 

I was doing well so far. 

"Thank you!" she said sweetly, gesturing with the international sign for thank you. 

"I'm so impressed with your consistency in posting, too."

"That really makes my day," or something kind along those lines. "I'm blushing!" she said.

To this point, I appeared to be a normal individual. I should've stopped while I was ahead.

It was at now that the wheels came off the cart.

"Well," I stumbled here, not sure what was to come after that grand opening. "You should constantly....be....flattered.... of yourself?" What? What does that mean? Is that English?

"Thank you," she said, as I silently prayed that the teacher talk in the room was so loud it drowned out my ridiculous words. "I appreciate that!"

Lovely woman. Thanks for not calling me out on my absurdity.

See the glass? My downfall.

At one point in the weekend, some of my roomies and I decided that we wanted to take advantage of the fun photo booth in the corner of the meet-up room. We made our way over to stand in the line and giggle. While I was there, I met Ari, the Science Penguin. Anyway, all of a sudden, Paul (yes, that Paul), Deanna (yes, that Deanna), and John Yoo (yes, that John Yoo. I know, I didn't know who he was either, but he's a muy importante individual.) headed over to the booth where we were standing. They nicely asked (I guess they didn't actually HAVE to ask, because they were the ones paying for the photo booth in the first place) if they could cut. John graciously announced he would trade selfies for a cut in the line. So I did! I snapped a picture of Deanna and Paul, 

and then John snapped a picture with me! 

Considering I was about four drinks deep in my five-free-drinks evening (we met up with some preggos and they gave us their tickets :) I think I'm maintaining pretty well!

Later that night, we hit Fremont street and had some fun adventures there. I'll spare you the details, but our first picture pretty much sums it up. See the photobomber? Yeah? We didn't. 

Natalie, Haley from My Silly Firsties, me, and Cheryl

I close this account with the crowning moment of my trip. I, probably as many of you are, am a big fan of Kristen from a Teeny Tiny Teacher. Her writing style is inspired and I love it. So when someone whispered to me in the midst of a crowded room, "There's Kristen! Like, A Teeny Tiny Teacher Kristen!" I was like, "I must go bother her." So we headed over. Sure enough, there she was in her teeny tiny glory. "Hi, Chrissy!" she said brightly. "What's your blog?" "I'm Buzzing with Ms. B," I said. "Oh, I know your blog! You're hilarious!" Kristen said. "AAAAA! You know who I am!" I squealed, trying not to wet myself. I couldn't believe I was on the teeny tiny radar! She agreed to pose for a picture with us and so my evidence is below:

So there was all the fun stuff from Vegas. I intend (I really do) to share some of the bullet points of my learning from the trip too, as soon as I can muster the energy. Vegas kind of wore me out.

I linked up this post with A Burst in First! Click over to read all of the other fun Vegas posts!

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