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New Year Classroom Activities

January 2, 2017 By Rachel

Celebrating the New Year in the classroom is one of the best ways to start back after winter break!  The best thing about teaching is the fact that you technically get two new years!  You get the new school year at the beginning of the year in August or September.  But you also get the actual new year in January.  And honestly…I like the January new year better because we’ve already spent the time establishing routines and procedures.  We’ve already set up classroom expectations, and now we get to really focus on personal growth and development.
Celebrate New Year's Day in the classroom with goal setting activities and a toast to the new year!

Setting Goals

On our first day back, we talk a lot about resolutions and why it is important to continue to improve ourselves.  After our discussion, I have my students fill out this sheet for academics, a behavior, and a personal resolution.  Sometimes it’s hard for students to make goals because it can seem overwhelming for them, so I do A LOT of modeling.
We also fill out a graphic organizer to hang on the wall to remind us of a few things we want to do this year!
Celebrate New Year's Day in the classroom with goal setting activities and a toast to the new year!

“Noon” Year Countdown

Another thing I do to really makes this special is to have our own New Year’s celebration!  I pick up some hats and party favors right after New Year’s Eve to get them on sale!   I also pick up some sparkling grape juice and plastic champagne flutes.  I find a countdown on YouTube and we count down and blow party horns with our hats to celebrate!  As close to noon as possible, I find a video of the countdown and ball drop.  We all countdown, blow our party horns, and wish each other a Happy New Year!  I’ve even been known to play “Auld Lang Syne”. Then we grab our grape juice and toast to a fantastic year!  
Celebrate New Year's Day in the classroom with goal setting activities and a toast to the new year!
It’s such a great way to start the second semester by focusing on how to improve ourselves! Check out the goal-setting pages here:
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  • Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: New Year, Winter

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    msrachelvincent

    Rachel | 4th Grade Teacher
    How long is your students’ attention spans? I o How long is your students’ attention spans?
I only have about 10 minutes before I lose them! 🤪
And I don’t know about you but my lessons are typically longer…so I try to mix it up every 10 minutes with a Think-Pair-Share or some kind of movement
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#teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteach4th #iteach456 #teachersofinstagram #teachingelementary #attentionspan #minilessons #thinkpairshare
    6 ways to get your students participating in your 6 ways to get your students participating in your lessons!
1️⃣ Think Time - giving your students time to think about the answer keeps your over achievers from answering all the questions 
2️⃣ Movement - Stand/Sit if this is your answer
3️⃣ Turn & Talk - Everyone shares their answer with a partner
4️⃣ Hand Signals - Perfect for multiple choice questions
5️⃣ Think-Pair-Share - Combines the think time with turn & talk 
6️⃣ Repetition - repeat important information to help it stick
🗣🗣Which number are you trying this week?!
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#teachersfollowteachers #igteachers #iteach #teachergram #iteachfourth #iteach345 #teachingstrategies #studentparticipation
    Do you have these 4 teacher goals?! 1️⃣ Instr Do you have these 4 teacher goals?!
1️⃣ Instructional Goal - How are you improving your instruction?
2️⃣ Relationship Goal - How are you building relationships with students or coworkers?
3️⃣ Balance Goal - How are you trying to have a better work-life balance?
4️⃣ Non Instructional Goal - What other area are you trying to improve?
Here’s my 4 goals!
1. Vocabulary Instruction 
2. 2 Positive Notes a Week
3. Leave by 3:00 3 out 5 days
4. Clean off back counter once a week
What are your goals?
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#teachersfollowteachers #igteachers #iteach #teachergram #iteachfourth #iteach345 #teachergoals #teachergoals🍎
    Coming back from break is a lot easier than the fi Coming back from break is a lot easier than the first day of school!
Less teacher talk 🗣
More student talk 👥
1️⃣ Give your students time to catch up with each other. Even adults like to chit chat about what we did during break!
2️⃣ Review procedures by playing a fun game. Charades is a great way to act out procedures to see if other students can guess what they’re doing!
3️⃣ The halfway point of the school year is a great time for students to set goals!
What’s your favorite thing to do after a break?!
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#teachersfollowteachers #igteachers #iteach #teachergram #iteachfourth #iteach345 #studentgoals #classroomprocedures #classroomideas
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