Vista Print Business Card Templates

It's that time of year! The time of year to start thinking about Vista print orders!

I decided to re share some of my favorite templates with you.

This post focuses only on business card templates.

Go forth and create my teacher friends!

 Bathroom Card

Cell Jail Card

Participation Card

 Pencil Card

 Reading Card

Reward Card

 Warning Card




Vista Print Free Business Card Idea

iPods and Phones in the classroom

My school is so worked up about students and their phones/ipods in school lately. 

I have never had a problem with devices in the classroom. 

I use them routinely in lessons (finding literary elements in songs) and allow students to listen to them with certain stipulations. 

A math teacher that worked at my school last year (and is one of my favorite people in the world!) came up with a great set of rules that I like to employ in my classroom.

1. Devices are only allowed during individual work time.
2. I must have expressly stated you may use them.
3. No one should be able to hear ANY sound from your devices.
4. You must have your music set to a playlist (meaning you cannot be scrolling through anything. It must be playing a playlist and on your desk not being touched)
5. If I signal that it is time to pay attention and rejoin the group, they must be immediately put away. 
6. If any of these rules are broken, you will be placed on the "No devices list" for 6 weeks. 

Since allowing their use in the classroom and having clear cut guidelines for them I honestly don't have any problems with kids sneaking them in class. 

Going back to my fellow teachers' catch phrase of the year: Devices in the classroom? "That's the least of my problems!"

I wish we could focus on the real issues at hand and not devices!

Do any of you guys have classroom guidelines for devices use in the classroom? I would be interested to hear them!

If you would like a copy of my rules to post in your classroom click HERE

Memo Books

Do any of you dread making parent contact as much as I do? You never know if the response is going to be positive, negative,  or the start of WWIX. 

Many schools require that you keep parent contact logs. Some schools have a rule that referrals to the office cannot be turned in without proof of parent contact.

One nifty thing that I discovered this year is carbon copy notepads! One gets sent home to the student and you can keep the carbon copy as proof/reminder of what you wrote. 

There are two types that I use in my classroom.

The first is for small offenses/notes because there is not a lot of space:

Click to see on Amazon 

I was walking through Wal Mart with my Mentee this summer and we came across some carbon copy receipt books. It dawned on me that carbon copy memo pads would be perfect for notes home to parents!

Click to see on Amazon

I like the above memo pad the best for several reasons.  

1. It can hold more information 
2. The address can be written (If you are mailing it)
3. The incident/reason for writing can be written on the top three lines 
4. Suggestions/ways to improve can be written in the large space below

Middle School Classroom Rules System

I recently reorganized my classroom and one of the things I decided I needed to do was revamp my classroom rules. 

I came up with the top five deal breakers in my room and gave each one a color. 

You will notice that next to each rule I have Post it Notes of the same color placed in index card sleeves. 

When a student breaks a rule I place their name on the color Post It Note of the rule they broke. 

For example, on Thursday a boy pulled out a box of Valentine's Day candy (in the middle of the lesson) and started eating it. I wrote his name on an orange Post It Note because he broke the no food in class rule. 

I created large posters and hung them on my classroom wall to place the Post It Notes on.

1. First offense is a Warning
2. Second offense is Silent Lunch
3. Third offense is a Letter Home
4. Fourth offense is a Referral to the office

Each time a student breaks a rule I look to see if they have broken that particular rule before.

• If they have: I move their post it to the next punishment level
• If they have not: They get a post it note with their name and in the color of the rule they broke added to the warning level

Students have the potential to have their name on five different color post it notes (since I have five different rules)

I have decided that students can earn Post It Notes a step back (Or removed if they are only on the warning level) if they fill out a behavior log to my satisfaction.

Behavior Log Cause and Effect by

I plan to be very clear with my students that if this sheet is not filled out to my satisfaction or  I feel like they are not actually remorseful the Post It Note STAYS. 

I have only been doing this system for two days so no one has made it further than a warning. I think it kind of reminds them of the stoplight system of elementary school and resonates well with them. 

***I am also keeping a small notebook with the students' offenses written in it in case any of my kids try to be sneaky and take their Post It Notes down ;)