A Giveaway & BTS in a Flash: Decor

Hi there--

My $20 TPT giveaway ends soon, so if you haven't signed up, click here.

I'm joining the Back to School in a Flash Linky Party that some great bloggers (Ramona Recommends, the Not So Wimpy Teacher, and Fancy Free in 4th) have put together.  This week it is decor and more!  

I use colored pencils a lot in my teaching.  I am not a huge fan of markers because they run out of ink so easily and crayons can be difficult to use due to their thicker tips...so I encourage my kids to use colored pencils on a regular basis for their coloring.  I also use them to underline specific things we are looking for in our reading, instead of highlighters (mainly because they are cheaper and you have a greater variety of colors.)  I used to just toss my extra colored pencils in a bin and when my students needed to find a particular color, they went searching.  However that took a lot of class time--waiting for them to root through the container.  A few years ago, I saw a teacher who separated colored pencils by color and then I spotted the pails at Target.  It has been one of the best improvements in my classroom!

Another thing that helps me out a lot in my room is the words that I have hanging from the ceiling.  They are the different verbs for Bloom's Taxonomy and are a great visual reminder for me when I am discussing any subject matter with them.  In the past I would tend to ask questions that were mainly knowledge or comprehension--but now I hit the higher level thinking questions with greater regularity.  In addition, having the those academic words posted is great for the kids to see on a daily basis.  

I can't wait to see what other teachers have posted...there are so many great ideas out there!