Kahoot!!

Kahoot!! 

I may be a little behind on this but I recently discovered a website that can be used as and replace a poll response system in your classroom. 

Visit getkahoot.com to create your FREE account and then you can create quizzes or surveys for your students (or potentially parents) to do. I'd stick to 8-10 questions because beyond that it can get kind if boring. After you make a Kahoot you will get a code to share with your audience. 

Next they visit Kahoot.it and enter the code. This works for any device that has internet.... iPad, iPhone, android, laptop, anything really. Once people have entered the code you can start by projecting it on your smart board and having them enter their choices. 

It is pretty awesome and hope this helps you in your classroom. You can use it in any grade level really. In kindergarten I would use it for --

Review, word recognition, number recognition, colors, shapes, sight words. 

On Fridays a teacher friend of mine allowed her kids to bring their tablets or devices to school and she used them in her classroom and then let them have free time to use them as a reward if they had good behavior or completed work and the like. Shout out to Courtney Ewing, a fabulous teacher!! Anywho, I will probably do that this year, with my kids. There are so many kids that have tablets and I really want to find ways to incorporate those in my classroom the best I can. The possibilities are endless and I am so excited to try it out this year. 

Working in chunks- kids with ADHD

Sometimes kids need tasks to be broken down into smaller tasks. This is a great idea for kids who have a short attention span, are autistic or have ADHD. Cut a file folder into strips. The shorter the attention span, the smaller you will cut the strips. This one is cut into 3 parts. Students open 1 flap at a time and always begin at the top and work their way down. Students complete the work that they can see when a flap is open. This is brilliant!

This image was from Pinterest, but I have done this in my classroom and it has made a world of difference for some kids. 

Shhh! Don't bounce the balls

I'm telling y'all whoever came up with this idea is a genius... If you go to this website and turn on your microphone this screen will pop up:

 I have found it worked best with upper grades (3-5)...

When the microphone picks up noise the balls will bounce. Whenever it is quite they will be still. I tell my kids they have to keep the balls still and cannot make them bounce. They work so quietly because they are scared the balls will go bouncy crazy.

Here is the website: http://bouncyballs.org

No more flying dice

Place your dice in small tupperware to keep them from rolling off the desks and all over the floor. You can put just one die in the container or multiple dice in there depending on what activity you are doing. They are really good for centers.