Top Tips for Teams

I {Natalie} had a very fun and pretty unique experience last week. 

My entire 5th grade team got together and headed to St. George for the weekend.

{For those wondering, St. George is about a 4 hour drive south from where I live/teach.}

Now I've been on some good teams before, and I've been on some not-so-good-teams before, but this year I was on an AMAZING team! Although we do vary in age, we all got along together so well. We loved collaborating, we enjoyed hanging out together before and after school, and we genuinely liked and appreciated each other.

One of our teammates recently bought a summer vacation home in St. George, Utah and invited us all down for a little team retreat. We had a great time swimming in her pool, going out to eat, staying up late, and doing lots of shopping. Needless to say, it was the *perfect* way to start our summer break!
(Read more about our trip HERE or HERE.)

Since this trip, I've been reflecting on what exactly made our team so great, and how six people with different personalities could get along so well with one another. 

Tip #1 - Get to know your team & love them.

Find out their strengths.

Get to know their personalities.

Ask about past life experiences that make them who they are today.

Love despite differences in teaching styles and beliefs.

Put aside differences, and develop a genuine love for each other.

Forgive when needed.

Tip #2 - Collaborate & be team players.

Show up to collaboration with a happy attitude.

Assume good intentions from teammates.

Step up and take on extra responsibilities when needed.

Help teammates with projects they're working on.
Be positive with each other.

Tip #3 - Have fun together.

Chat about fun things going on.

Hang out outside of school occasionally.
Try not to take everything too seriously.
Celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.

What other tips do you have for teams?

What qualities do you look for in a teammate?

What do you and your teammates do to have fun?

Teacher/Blogger Meet-Up in Vegas

I can't even wait!  We will be soaking up the sun, going to the I Teach K Conference,  meeting "Elvis", and meeting a TON of fabulous bloggers and teachers!

Feel free to share this on your blog/facebook as well.  And no, you don't have to be a blogger to attend. :) 

Thank you to The Teacher Wife for the cute button!

Don't forget to RSVP for this meet-up {here}

See you there!

Parent and Student End of Year Gifts

The year is winding down and I went shopping today to gather my gifts for my parents and students!  Reality is setting in that the year is almost over. I LOVE my class so much!!! I'll miss them.  But... I say that every year.  My husband gets annoyed because he says that I say every year that "this class is my favorite". :)

For my parent volunteers, I bought a large pitcher from the Dollar Tree

 and a container of Crystal Light.

Click {here} to download

For my students, I bought a box of character Band-Aids,some sticky hands, and one of our readers recommended Sticky Notes. LOVE IT!

Click {here} to download

Borrow Bucket

I just wanted to stop by and give you a quick management tip.  Do you have students who are CONSTANTLY losing supplies (our school buys ALL of our students' school supplies)?  I sometimes want to ScReAm when they come up to me 10 minutes after they should have STARTED working and ask me if I have any scissors they can borrow because they lost their pair! :)  So, I have created the "Borrow Bucket" that my students can use when they've lost something.

I used Washi Tape on each of the items (scissors, pencils, erasers, and glue) so that I can identify if the students are trying to "hoard" the borrow bucket items. :)  I only put pencils in the borrow bucket because sometime (hahaha), I forget to sharpen the pencils in our regular pencil bin. ;)

Click {here} to download!