How Do I Prepare for Back To School When I Don't Know My Teaching Assignment?? Part 1 Bulletin Boards

We all remember our 1st year of teaching in the UAE.  Where will I teach? What is my grade level assignment?  How do I prepare for the unknown?  What supplies will I have? Shouldn't I be planning something by now? The only advice we seemed to receive was "be flexible."  As a teacher of 20 years I always spent time over the summer researching curriculum, working on new units and manipulatives, and of course preparing my classroom.  As I sat through trainings and empty days in the hotel, all I wanted to do was start preparing! But for what???  Having now taught in Abu Dhabi for the past 5 years I know there are a few things you can do to make your transition into your new position and classroom a little smoother.

So let's talk bulletin boards!  Most classrooms will have bulletin boards inside and out that will need to be readied.  The first step is thinking about general bulletin boards that would fit any grade in your cycle level.  Some ideas that work well for the beginning of the year are a calendar, math tools, English alphabet, class rules, discipline, student introduction, amazing work, word/vocabulary wall, table/group numbers or names.  You might choose 2 or 3 to prepare for before arriving.  You can get them up quickly when you are placed so that is checked off your list and you can focus on learning about your school's expectations and curriculum during the 4 inservice days before school begins.

Most schools do not provide supplies for bulletin boards such as backing paper, border, or lettering so your first job is lining up these items.  There are teacher stores and bookstores in both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
     Abu Dhabi: Teacher's Place Al Muroor Rd near Emirates Supermarket, Al Batra Bookshop MBZ City, The Bookshop 2 St. next to Centro Rotana, Bookshop Mushriff Mall, Bookstore Boutik Mall Al Reem Island
     Al Ain: The Bookshop Library ِ مكتبة المكتبة (see Facebook page), Al Batra Bookshop kiosk in Hili Mall

On a tight budget and need to prepare?  Here are some money saving tips.

Flat sheets and table cloths can make amazing background material for bulletin boards that can be found for a low price and hold up for several years.  These can be found at Lulus, Daiso, Emirates Discount, Carrfour, Hamdan Center, and many of the discount dirham spots around the cities such as Dirham Tower, Dirham City, etc...

Use a local print shop for printing color copies.  Most print shops charge 1 dirham for 1-2 pages of color printing.  Many print shops have a company email so you are able to forward your printing needs with instructions and pick them up later.  Finding a print shop close to home was one of the best money & time saving things I did my first year. Ask teachers in your area if they use a certain printer or know of any good ones.

Print only the bulletin board letters you need rather than purchasing colored sets.  This allows you to choose different colors and fonts.  I use powerpoint to create fun letters of various sizes & prints!

Choose alternative border materials such as crumpled tissue, student handprints, or wavy cut construction paper rather than store bought border.

Ask on Facebook if there are veteran teachers who have extras to share.

Find printable bulletin board materials online for a lower price.  Many items can be found for free on Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook if you put in a search and choose free.

I also offer different English & Arabic translated sets such as a calendar, number line, discipline set, free ADEC sight word sets for grades 1-5, and classroom labels in my Teachers Notebook shop. These products will help you with classroom environment observations when admin will be looking for both English and Arabic labels and vocabulary throughout the learning environment.

Visit my shop at  https://teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle

 All of the sales of my products are dedicated this year to covering my son's medical expenses back in the US.

Congratulations Back To School Winners!

Congratulations to our 4 lucky winners Tai Paschall, Keisha Paschall, Betsy Lauren Lewis, and Matt Worth!  You have all won the product of your choice from our Teachers Notebook Shop!
https://teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle
Happy Shopping!

ADEC Sight Words Made Easy

Trying to keep up with 50+ students' mastery of ADEC Sight Words has been a challenge for me every year.  I was losing valuable teaching time each trimester spending countless hours testing students one on one.  So last year I decided to create a self paced system that would allow students to be more accountable for their own learning.  Over the last 4 months, teachers on my campus have been using these ADEC Sight Word & Fluency Phrase books with great success!

These little books make teaching ADEC Sight Words and fluency so easy!  Each student can move through the lists at their own pace, allowing varying levels of readers to progress using the same tool.

First students receive Book 1, which contains the 100 Grade 1 ADEC Sight Words.  Each book page has 10 ADEC Sight Words on the front and 10 fluency phrases on the back using the same 10 words.  When students read front and back accurately and fluently they move on to the next list of 10.

I sign and date the bottom of each list to keep a record of when the list is mastered.  When students master an entire booklet, they have mastered all of the ADEC sight words for that grade level, and are ready to graduate to the next grade.  If they can get through 5 booklets, that's 500 sight words and 500 fluency phrases!

My students keep these in their home/school book bags so they are ready to practice or "level up" at any time.  There are ten numbered spots on the front of each book for coloring, stamping, or placing stickers on to show what levels have been mastered.  

I color code the covers to visually keep track of what list each student is working on.  Students are so excited to graduate to a new level which motivates students to practice at home and school.

It is up to you how often you check a student's mastery.  If students are reading accurately and fluently it takes less than 30 seconds to test.  I often test at the end of a guided reading group, during independent reading, and during recess.  

You are able to place students on the beginning level you feel is appropriate. Students that are reading above grade level do not need to begin on book 1.  I teach grade 3, so I began my higher readers on book 2.  Students have been super motivated to practice during "read with a partner" center.  I love that my higher readers are such great assistants to those on lower levels by listening, correcting, and pretesting to make sure they are prepared to test.  I keep a basket of stickers on my desk so that students are able to choose a sticker to place on the number spots on the cover of their books.  

One day a month I collect the books and mark my grade sheet by taking a quick glance at the front cover of each student's book.  This has totally eliminated my need for a week of 1 on 1 testing which has made sight word data a breeze!

These ADEC Sight Word & Fluency Phrases Books are available in my Teachers Notebook shop.  
https://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle

GoNoodle's Game On!

This week I want to share one of my favorite GoNoodle Channels, Game On!

The thing I love about the Game On! Channel is the ability to make the activities personalized to my classroom learning using the My Questions option.  Let me share some of the favorites in my classroom!

Our all time favorite so far is Body Spell!  This 2-10 minute activity lets you add your weekly spelling words so that students can practice spelling each word using their bodies by following the body outline.  This kinesthetic activity gets us using all up and moving as we learn.  It's also great for students to use for practicing their High Frequency Words!

Think On Your Feet is a 2-10 minute Kinesthetic Learning Activity with a game show type format.  The class is broken into 2 groups.  All students participate in a physical challenge such as balancing on 1 foot while the selected team answers questions to earn points.  This game also features the My Questions option so you can add questions based on your current learning outcomes or you can choose grade level appropriate questions from a bank of subjects.

Freeze It is a wonderful 1-2 minute game which also has the My Questions option.  I actually use the question bank on this game with my students to practice math skills such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  There is also a set of questions based on letter sounds which is so valuable for those students just learning letter sounds or who struggle with them.  Students move until the word freeze appears on the screen when they must freeze and call out the answer to the posted question!

Mega Math Marathon is a 1-2 minute fun game which incorporates running in place with math questions.  Although this doesn't have the My Questions option, you can choose your grade level and question set which then breaks that question set into sub sets of questions.  I love this activity for the afternoon when we are bubbling with energy and struggling to focus.  Not only does it wear us down a little but we are getting those math minutes in as well!  

As we finish any of the above activities I always transition back to a calm classroom atmosphere by choosing one of the calming activities.  My favorite being Airtime which is a 2-4 minute video which uses breathing techniques to relax and settle down for classroom learning.

If you haven't joined GoNoodle it is absolutely free!  Visit the following link to join teachers all over the world who GoNoodle! https://www.gonoodle.com/s/sturpin

I encourage you to visit GoNoodle this week with your class and give the Game On! channel a try.  I would love to hear from some of our UAE teachers who have tried out GoNoodle in the classroom so add a comment with one of your favorite activities!

GoNoodle's Koo Koo Kanga Roo!

This week has been full of awesome GoNoodle fun!  My kids have loved sampling activities from several channels this week for lots of different purposes like brain breaks, skip counting, guided dancing to get the wiggles out, and calming to help us settled down for some learning.  The kids have been so excited I wanted to take the time to share a little about one of our favorite channels of the week, Koo Koo Kanga Roo!

Koo Koo Kanga Roo is loaded with 31 fun-tastic activities.  We started out the week with Skip Counting.  This video is 2:25 of counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s.  

I was also able to get everyone cleaned up and ready to go by offering the incentive of using the Class Dismissed video which lasts a quick 1:52.

Ever wonder what to do for the few kids that know their "happy birthday"?  Try Birthday Hooray.  It's a quick 2:17 to make that child feel special!

Cat Party is one of my personal favorites and the kids love it as well.  It's 3 minutes of heart pumping fun.  I love it because I'm grabbing a few minutes of exercise during the day as well.

I hope you take some time this week to try out the  Koo Koo Kanga Roo channel on GoNoodle.  If you don't have an account yet it is free to sign-up.  Here is a link to join and I would love to hear from some of my fellow UAE teachers on how it's working in your classroom! https://www.gonoodle.com/s/sturpin

Congratulations Lucky Winners!

I am so excited to announce the lucky winners of the Happy Valentine's Giveaway.  The 3 lucky winners are Michelle Williams, Hafiza Sayed Nabee, and Andrea Gallien.  Thank you to all those who entered using the Rafflecopter.  For those who did not win but would like to pick up a copy of their favorite product, I am holding a sale for the next week on my Teachers Notebook shop at http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle.

Happy Valentines Day Give Away!

Today is one of my favorite holidays, Valentines Day!  To celebrate I am hosting a free give away!  Sign up using the rafflecopter for your chance to win a copy of your favorite product from my Teachers Notebook Shop!


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Calendar Giveaway!

Register to win 1 of 2 English and Arabic Calendar Sets in my TeachersNotebook shop at the following link http://www.teachersnotebook.com/deals/giveaways/2928.  Giveaway ends on January 9, 2014.  GOOD LUCK!!!

Welcome 2014 Using Morning Meeting and Daily Calendar

     The winter holiday is winding down and I am looking forward to the return to class next week.  As I look back over the first trimester I can pin point several strategies that are working really well to motivate my girls this year.  I hope to share a few of these over the next few weeks to help others who are searching for something new to jazz up their daily routines.
     The first day of class will be fun as the girls and I update our daily calendar.  I am so excited about my new translated calendar set because the girls love to interact with it during morning meeting as well as in their "Reading the Room" center.

   

















     This year I have incorporated music into our daily calendar routine.  We use the computer screen to the right of my calendar to sing along with several videos each day.  During trimester 1 I incorporated several songs from http://www.youtube.com/user/DreamEnglishKids.  My girls absolutely love Matt from Dream English.  They can be heard singing these songs throughout the day as they work and play. The use of music has dramatically increased their recall and sequencing of both months of the year and days of the week. I use name sticks (popsicle sticks with student names) to call on students to lead us with a pointer, writing, or adding word cards or sticks as we go through our daily routine.
     The following is a list of the activities we include each day:
1.  Good Morning Song 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Q7Y3t4m3g&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLYzr3Vg8woe3yMmzyRmIObCOnmF2E9fcI
2.  Months of the Year Song  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v608v42dKeI&list=PLYzr3Vg8woe3yMmzyRmIObCOnmF2E9fcI
3.  Student places correct month card in The month is __________. pocket chart
4.  Day of the Week Song 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36n93jvjkDs&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLYzr3Vg8woe3yMmzyRmIObCOnmF2E9fcI
5.  Students place correct cards in the Yesterday was, Today is, and Tomorrow will be pocket chart.
6.  Today's date color pattern added on the pocket chart.  This month we were using AABB patterns.
7.  How many day's have we been in school?  Student adds a straw to the base 10 pocket chart and write the number on the 100s chart.
8.  What's the Time Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBvmO7NgUp0
9.  Read the clock.  We are working on reading the clock to the hour.
10.  Counting by 2s, 5s, 10s.  Student helpers point to the numbers as we count.

     This semester I plan to add some new songs as well as a daily number pattern.  I hope some of my ideas help you throughout your teaching in 2014.  Happy New Year!!!

Discipline Success In The UAE!

Last year one of my biggest frustrations with teaching in the UAE was discipline.  During my 20 years of teaching experience in the US I had success using many discipline strategies and thought they would easily fit into my classroom in Abu Dhabi.  That did not turn out to be the case.  I'm not saying the students were running wild and out of control, but I wasn't experiencing my usual level of success.  I realized it all came down to one very important missing component, parent communication.

Parent communication has been a huge challenge for me over the past year.  I work in a community off island where most parents speak little to no English and I speak little to no Arabic.  My campus is not equipped with a translator so phone calls home are nonexistent.  I needed a way to communicate with parents concerning the students daily behavior and how they could play an active role in the educational process.  This was the beginning of my English and Arabic Discipline System.

I have been using the new discipline system since school began and I cannot describe the difference in my classroom this year.  I began by creating the translated color poster and displaying it on a magnetic surface in my classroom.  I use magnets this year with each students' number but others on my campus are using clothespins with student names. I also sent home the translated parent note as that explains the discipline plan in both English and Arabic which is the first step in communicating with parents.

Students begin each day by placing their magnet on ready to learn (green).  As students progress through the day they earn moves up the chart for positive behavior such as working quietly, turning in homework, helping a friend, or any other behavior you would like to reinforce.  Each behavior earns 1 move up the color chart.  For negative behaviors students are required to move their magnet down one color level.  I love that students are able to turn their behavior around and move back up the chart with a change in behavior.  I find that my students will do just about anything to move those magnets up.

Each day 3-5 minutes before class ends students are asked to color the monthly discipline calendar included in the set.  As students color I walk the room and sticker or stamp any calendars who were initialed by parents the previous night.  This calendar has a translated color chart so it is clear what behavior their child had that day.  If students end the day on Parent Contact (red) I send home a translated parent letter that includes a list of negative classroom behaviors.  I am able to check the areas that students struggled with during the day.  Parents are asked to discuss this behavior at home with the child then sign and return the note to school.  This note is placed in the child's folder as documentation of parent contact.
                                                           
This Behavior Set includes English and Arabic translated introduction parent letter, 2013-2014 school year calendars, translated parent contact note, 7 Level Color Coded Behavior Chart.  I also have a document to track weekly behavior that accompanies this set available in my freebies.  If you are interested check it out.
http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle/english-and-arabic-behavior-management-set

Translation Nightmares!

I have finally managed to get all of the new English and Arabic products back up on the Teachers Notebook store site.  I was so excited when I opened the store on the first day back in August.  The excitement came to a sudden halt when a couple of customers contacted me the following day saying that Arabic teachers had pointed out many mistakes.  My joy turned into a nightmare!  I ended up quickly pulling all products from the store and emailing customers about the mistakes. Finding another translator took a bit of searching and time.  With school starting it was hard to find someone qualified to translate educational documents who wasn't already busy getting prepared for a new school year.  I am happy to say that this first glitch has been worked out and I have learned a huge lesson.  I have also managed to add some new freebies to the store as well as my paid products.  Hopefully we can continue to provide products that teachers can succesfully incorporate into their English and Arabic classrooms with little effort.

3 Lucky Winners!

Congratulations to the 3 lucky winners!  Gayle Avila, Tawnee Brilla, and Marsha will all receive a copy of the 6 products offered in my Teachers Notebook Shop.  I was so excited you would have thought I was the winner!  I hope you all enjoy your new items and please let me know how they are working out in your classroom.  For those of you who didn't win, I plan to host a giveaway each time I add another product to my shop.  Pssst!  I'm working on one now.  Thanks also to those who have already purchased some of the items for sale.  If you haven't visited my shop, hop on over using the Teachers Notebook button on my blog and grab a copy of my subject cards which are a freebie for everyone!

First Day Down

Well, I made it through the first day of school and everything went pretty smooth.  I will be teaching second grade this year and moving to a new room.  I love the thought of creating a new classroom from scratch.  I plan to do many things differently this year based on lessons I learned from my first year of teaching in the UAE.  My biggest change will be creating an English and Arabic print rich classroom. I have printed off all of the classroom labels, calendar, posters, and discipline set to hang tomorrow as I begin working on my classroom. If you have not had time to check out these resources hop on over to my Teachers Notebook shop and take a look http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle .
I am so excited to be giving away a complete set of all my translated products to 3 lucky winners.  If you have not signed up for the drawing using the rafflecopter on this page you still have a few hours to earn up to 11 entries for the drawing.  I will post the names of the winners on the blog page and FB.  Good Luck and welcome back to school!

Teacher Notebook Giveaway!

A Dream Come True!

I have been dreaming of a way to help my college kids with their educational expenses for the past several years.  I have worked diligently over the past summer to get my Teachers Notebook shop up and running with a selection of English and Arabic translated products.   Each product was designed to enable myself and other teachers working in the UAE to create print rich environments and communicate with Arabic speaking parents and students.  To celebrate,  I am offering up a chance to win 1 of 3 prizes.  Each winner will receive a copy of all 6 of my new Translated Products:

*English&Arabic Behavior Management Set

*English&Arabic Calendar Set
*English&Arabic Color Posters Set

*English&Arabic Classroom Supplies Label Set

*English&Arabic Classroom Furnishings Label Set

*English&Arabic Number Set 0-20 with Ten Frames
I would like to give a HUGE "thank you" to my friend, Majd, for all of his help with my translations. Please visit my Teachers Notebook shop to check out my products and grab a freebie!!

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/TeachingAbuDhabiStyle

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New School Year Necessities

I grabbed a few treasures yesterday on my way home from Dallas so I am officially ready for back to school.  I am in love with chevron so my new rolling teacher bag is absolutely perfect!  Last year I carried a laptop bag but it was so heavy.  I found this rolling bag on clearance along with an insulated lunch bag.  I love the red monogram T!  My new insulated cup is super cute owls so I hope it will encourage me to get my water in each day.  Bealls clearance rack along with a 25% off coupon made for a fantastic deal!  Last year we were only able to bring necessities with us when we left our home state of Texas to head over for our first year in Abu Dhabi.  This year I have been able to pick up many things for our home and school that are what I would call simple pleasures.  It is going to be a great year!

Oh Sweet Summer!

I can't believe my summer vacation is disappearing so fast!  I have been visiting, lunching, and hanging out with family and friends for 5 weeks.  I have 2 1/2 more weeks to go and I really want time to slow down.  I am headed out of town to spend a few days with my daughter getting her new duplex set up and ready for the school year at Texas A&M. Then it's onto Dallas for a meet up with several high school friends I haven't seen in more years than I can count.  I am looking forward to another great week!

I Love School Supplies!

We are back in the US for 7 weeks!  I am spending lots of time with family and friends and loving every minute of it.  I am also Bargain Shopping!  Anyone who knows me will tell you I love a bargain. Don't all teachers?  I have been picking up tons of great deals to carry back to Abu Dhabi with me when we return September 1.  My absolutely favorite spot to shop is The Dollar Tree.  I have to stop at every location because they all seem to carry different products. I have picked up some great center games, fun foam letters, paint with water pictures, and large magnifiers for reading the room.  My second favorite spot is Walmart.  I am so excited about my new desk nameplates and all of the new Scentos products.  I know my girls will work really hard for smelly stamps!  My bulletin boards will be decked out with some of the cutest borders from Walmart along with clearance bin material for the backing.  I am planning a shopping trip with some of my great teaching partners from the states in two days and I hope to finish up the last of my classroom shopping.  Here is a preview of some of my recent Walmart purchases!

Ten Pin Linky Party

     I am a pinterest addict so when I found Ashley Reed's Ten Pin Linky Party I knew I had to participate.  I just began a new blog documenting my adventures teaching in Abu Dhabi, UAE so if you check out my blog you will see it's just getting off the ground.  I hope some of you will revisit my blog spot as I share my experiences!

1.

I absolutely love this center set up. The bed tray type containers would be perfect for small students and they keep everything so organized! I found this idea on tickledpinkmandy.blogspot.com

2.

I hope to sew some of these precious owls for small boo-boos next year. I found these on http://www.etsy.com/listing/78812407/lovely-plush-mini-owl-choose-any-color?ref=v1_other_2


 3.
I am in love with this lantern owl also. I may see a room theme in my future but I can't commit at this point until I get home to Texas to see what is cheap and light to bring back in my suitcases. I picked up this pin on http://pinterest.com/source/dollarstorecrafts.com/

4.

My husband is king of the zip ties. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. I can't wait to use this tip to create tables out of all those desks! I found this pin on http://schroederpage.blogspot.com/


 5.
With my tables zip tied together I am going to need to be able to move my desk tags easily. I have been using box tape for years and hated it. I was excited to grab this pin on http://www.elementaryorganization.blogspot.com/


 6.
Teaching a room full of second language learners led me to this pin. Most of my summer work will be across the world from my actual classroom. In the UAE teachers don't have the luxury of spending time in their classrooms over the summer so I will be working on bilingual labels for my classroom and I want to use actual pictures whenever possible. This link came from http://pinterest.com/source/adsit.net/

 7.
These ice trays and crayola markers are at the top of my list of things to bring back from the US.  I am hoping this storage idea will make it easy to check that all markers have a lid in place when we clean up.  I cried every time I lost a marker this year from drying up because I knew it would be months before I was able to get replacements.  I grabbed this link on pre-kpages.com

8.

I love the idea of using a lazy susan with containers attached for my tables next year. I need to find a source for cheap ones. If anyone has any tips on where to purchase them at a good price I would appreciate the help! I grabbed this pin on http://rowdyinroom300.blogspot.com/

9.

One of my biggest headaches this year teaching in a new culture is the number of interruptions I get from people opening the door to see which of my 2 classes are in the room or to ask where they are.  I plan to modify this idea to include 2 classes and of course have it translated into Arabic as well.  I hope it helps!  I picked up this idea on mrsfreshwatersclass.com.

10.

I have not tried this yet but it is another goal I have for the summer while I am limited to computer work and shopping.  I think this classroom management tool will be great for those girls who speak little to no English.  I know it will give them confidence in using classroom routines without having to ask another student what is being said.  Visual and auditory clues are high on my list this year!  If anyone has any tips or ideas for this goal I would love to hear them.  I grabbed this idea from http://classroomcollective.tumblr.com/tagged/Classroom+Organization/
I can't believe I'm already at the end of my first try with a linky party.  I had a blast and I hope you find something useful for yourself!  Have a wonderful week!!!

Let's Get It Started!

     As my first year of teaching in Abu Dhabi winds to a close I have made the decision to try my hand at blogging about this educational adventure.  I began blogging last year as my husband and I decided to make a move from Texas, USA all the way across the world to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
     I began teaching 21 years ago in Texas.  My husband and I became empty nesters last year when our youngest child headed to college at Texas A & M University.  Our oldest child had been at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas for 2 years when we decided to embark on this adventure. As a veteran teacher I never realized how much I would learn about teaching as well as myself as I spent my first year teaching overseas. The past year of teaching second and third grade girls in Abu Dhabi, UAE has been an incredible learning experience to say the least.
     I am ready to head home for the summer to spend time with family and friends.  I am also looking forward to another great year of teaching in the UAE.  As most teachers do, I am already thinking of things that I want to change or update for next year so I plan to document my summer planning and the next year of teaching in Abu Dhabi.