You win some, you lose some.  Last year's attendance/lunch chart was just sort of OK.   I took jumbo craft sticks, hot glued small magnets to the back, and wrote a name on each one.  Students placed their stick under the appropriate lunch choice on the filing cabinet I set up for that purpose, which also did an automatic attendance count for me.  The problems were that the sticks fell off very, very easily and the magnets came off easily.  So much for experience.


     This year, I found larger sheets of magnets, like the size of large sticky notes.  I believe you can even find 8 1/2" x 11" sheets.  I cut them into 2" x 3" magnets, typed student names on paper, removed the protective paper, and applied the names to the sticky side.  I only got one chance - once the paper is on, it's on!


     So far, the new magnets are working great!  I'm really delighted with this easy fix to an annoying problem.  I'm sure the kids will love to keep their magnet at the end of the year for a souvenir.  I'll keep an eye out for good prices on large sheets of magnets for next year.

     What management system is working for you this year?

     We've had a great time anticipating our chicks!  My students have collected and recorded data (temperature and humidity) and have faithfully turned, turned, turned the eggs.  After twenty-one days, right on schedule, we had three chicks hatch today and expect more tomorrow!   Their little chirps are so sweet and outdoorsy-sounding.  Our 4-H rep will come this week and collect these little cuties for delivery to local farmers - for pets, I'm sure! :)  

      For the first time ever, my classes are incubating chicken eggs!  Thanks for our local 4-H organization, we have an incubator, a dozen fertilized eggs from a local farmer, and a great notebook of information.  The kids are loving it!
      My students sit in groups of four or six.  We have five of these "tables", so each table is assigned a day of the week to tend the eggs - they record the temperature and humidity level, then turn them, several times a day.  You may notice the eggs have an "X" marked on them - the other side has an "O".  That helps us know which side to turn them to.
     The most important rule is cleanliness!  We wash our hands before and after working with the eggs.

     We have 18 more days left of the 21 needed to hatch the chicks.  We can hardly wait!
                      

                                    
     Our daily classroom procedure is to pick up a Morning Work activity as you come in the door, unpack, make a lunch choice, and get started on the activity.  On most days, my students come in chatty and social.  That's great.  It's normal.  I love to hear them.  However, we eventually need to get started on the Morning Work.  I don't want to keep reminding them to settle down and, the more I do, of course, the less likely they are to do so.
     This week, I suggested to them that I set a timer for about 10 minutes.  That's their time to quietly chat and socialize while they follow the lunch and unpacking procedures.  Once the timer goes off, it's time to get to work - non-negotiable.
     So far, they like it.  As long as they are relatively quiet, they don't hear from me for that 10 minutes.  They seem more amenable to settling down at the beeper.
     We'll see how it works in the coming weeks.   Do you have a routine like this?  Do you have another way of balancing chat time/work time?  Let's hear about it!