Quick Tip: I CAN statements for Spanish class

Why hello there!

I am sorry I have been MIA on the blog, but as you know the first weeks of school are a whirlwind of to do lists, additional meetings, and my own extra needy kids who just can’t hang after 9 hours of day care. On top of the first week of school, it was time for two big birthdays in my house. My first day of school baby from last year is now ONE, plus he was born on my husband’s birthday. This means I was trying to get ready for hosing a birthday party at my house, which meant shoving everything in cupboards and frantically cleaning during their nap immediately before the party (which had the theme of “Target Dollar Spot Birthday”). To top it off my little guys molars are coming in, so he likes to scream for a good solid hour around 3am each night. Let’s just say we are all aboard the hot mess express eating leftover pizza from the party all week for dinner and trying to figure out how to function as a family with mama back at school. Did I mention my hubby was also chosen for the jury at jury duty this week?!

OK enough about me. Time to share just a super quick tip that has helped me be more organized this year and saves me time. I promise I have more posts in the works in my brain, but I just need time to do them. I posted the photo below on Instagram this week (@SraWienhold) and got quite a few questions about my “I can” statement posters, which are along the top of the board in pink.

Quick Tip: I CAN statements for Spanish class

Two years ago I used electrical tape “borrowed” from my husband to divide my side whiteboard. I have four columns for each of my four preps #deptof1Life, and three rows: I can statements, in class agenda, and future assessments and reminders (we rarely actually have homework anymore). For the past two years I have written the I can statements for each class before leaving the day before if I am on top of it. I always meant to type something up to make my life easier.

This year I finally did it and made these very simple signs. You can download them for free! I just ask that if you post them in your room, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram, or if you make them better, share them back with me! Without wanting to use color ink, I actually just printed them on Astrobrights card stock, and then laminated with my awesome personal laminator. I made four of each statement, in case we are addressing the same standard in all classes, like on the first day when all classes were exchanging information (Speedball & Find Someone Who). What ended up working best to hold them up, was putting squares of magnetic strip in each corner. This way I keep them all on top of the filing cabinets and quickly just slap up each I can. If I was putting them on a wall, I would punch a hole in the top and hand them on command strips.

Here are answers to a few questions I have had. I have them in English so my administration can easily see what we are working on. I also have them super broad so I do not have to have a ton of separate ones. These four are actually my grade book categories too (interpretive reading, interpretive listening, interpersonal speaking and presentational writing). Obviously many days we address multiple, but I put up which ever is the biggest for that lesson. Other items in the picture include: a teal organizer from a garage sale with my clipboards and whiteboards for my deskless class, and the absent folder for any extra paper copies sorted by class that I made my first year teaching by taping together file folders.

I hope to share about my first days of school soon, because overall it has been amazing! If you are back or preparing to start next week, I wish you a year full of positive vibes!

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