Honeydew Punch

I am currently doing a happy dance and a big hooray for the weekend!! The school district that I work for has alternating Fridays off, and this is my short week.  I just love it.  I had a some great days in the high school, and today I got to teach Grade 12 Calculus and Math 11.  It is always nerve racking thrilling arriving at school and frantically trying to remember logarithmic and exponential functions before the students arrive.  I AM a risk taker (at least I tell myself that) Hehe.  But I did manage to remember the information I have not used and HELP students, WAHOO! Hopefully my next week on call is just as successful.

Recently I have been working on positive behavior punch cards.  I absolutely love these in the classroom, and have found that they can make a huge difference with many students (I even saw them at the high school this week too :) ).  As I was creating these my "Man of the House" became curious about what these are and how they work.  I explained to him that when I catch the students doing something good or displaying positive behavior I reward them by giving them a punch.  When they fill up their punch card they can cash in their card for a special reward.  Well..... my "Man of the House's" eyes lit up and he asked "Can I have one?" as if this was the best thing since sliced bread.  I responded with "So you want me to punch you every time you do something nice? Sure honey, I would love to do that!".   Thinking that my man is crazy, I decided to tell my friend this story and you will never guess what she did.... her eyes lit up and said "Can I have one for my man? I really think he would benefit from a punch card.  He really likes games, so maybe this would work for him too!".  So the teacher in me is having a great laugh because I always get picked on for treating people like they are my students.  But since I was asked, I am delivering!  Here is a Honeydew Punch, specifically for your "Man of the House".  Now when they shovel the driveway, put the seat down in the bathroom without reminders, give you a back rub or say sweet nothings you can give them a well deserved punch!

Onto other more serious things.. I have made a word collector for your students.  When students are reading and they come across JUICY words they can record them in their word collector.  If this is a word that they know, can explain, and can use it when they speak and write then they can place it in the first column.  If it is a word that they know something about and can make a connection, then it belongs in the second column.  If they have heard it before or seen it, then it can go in the third column.  The last column is reserved for words that they do not know and need help on.  Students can then use this as a tool to expand their vocabulary everyday! I hope everyone has a great FRIDAY!