About Squarehead Teachers

Well, I’m a travel loving, cookie eating, bright color obsessed teacher who just can’t get enough of blogging or Photoshop. I’ve taught various grades from Kindergarten to Undergraduate courses in both in the United States and in China, teaching everything from dance and PE to English and math. I come from a family of educators, and believe that all teachers (public, private, charter and home school) are grossly under appreciated and deserve a little extra help. I started my Squarehead Teachers blog in August 2012 with the hope that I can be that extra little help that makes teachers feel a little more loved!

Spiral Paper Art

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

This is probably one of the coolest art projects I’ve ever seen.

The idea is this: roll strips of construction paper into spirals and glue them onto foam board. This particular project was done as a whole class project where students wrote a wishes for the future of the school on the strips of paper before rolling and gluing them with tacky glue (gold bottle, white lid… it works the best). They called it “Wish Upon a Starry Night.” This would be a great activity after studying famous artists. You could use a smaller piece of foam board and use smaller strips of paper to make an individual art piece. It takes a while to complete, so plan more than 1 period for the project. If you have your class try this, I’d love to see how it turns out!

Liebster Award… Thank You!

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Thank you to Mummyshymz for nominating me for this Liebster Award!

The Liebster rules:

1. Post 11 facts about myself.

2. Answer the 11 questions posed by the nominator.

3. Pass the love to 11 other bloggers

4. Pose 11 new questions for the newly ‘loved’ to answer.

Part 1: 11 Facts

I’m needle-phobic but I like to sew. Go figure.

I love Wheat Thin crackers and cream cheese.

My favorite color is blue.

I prefer warm weather to cold weather.

I have 3 siblings.

The summer after I graduated from high school, I was a lifeguard.

My favorite number is 10.

I have a hard time remembering phone numbers… having a cell phone totally killed that talent.

I love playing board games.

I can’t stand the smell of beer or coffee.

I’d love to visit Europe someday.

Part 2: Answer Questions By Nominator

1. Why do you blog? I enjoy making things on Photoshop and I’m obsessed with talking about teaching.
2. Pet peeve? inefficiency
3. Name your best childhood memory Too many to narrow it down. Thank you Mom and Dad!
4. What is your comfort food? All things cheese.
5. Dogs or cats? Neither… sorry!
6. Name one item you cannot do without. My contacts/glasses!
7. Biggest fear? Not being the person God knows I can become.
8. Mountains or the sea? Sea
9. Half-empty or half-full? Half full… optimism is critical to a happy and successful life.
10. Live to eat or eat to live? Eat to live
11. Favorite fictional character? Hermione Granger

I’d also like to thank Nerd in the Brain for nominating me for this same award! Here are my answers to their questions:

1. If you could dance a jig with any fictional character, who would it be? Charlie Brown & company. They’ve got great dance moves.

2. Best movie soundtrack ever? Pirates of the Caribbean. Hands down.

3. Your thoughts on dried pineapple? I don’t really even know if I’ve tried it, so I’m not sure.

4. Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? If so, who? If not, what’s wrong with your crazy self? Yes. Captain Shang in Disney’s Mulan is a total stud.

5. Is there anything that you (intentionally) consume every single day? Water. (Deliciousness in a glass) and fruit, which I’m still working on.

6. Tell us about your pets. 1 1/2 year old Beagle puppy named Toby.

7. If you could instantly download any skill or knowledge (a language, musical instrument skills, kung fu, etc.) to your brain, what would you download? Patience, Chinese, Spanish and the ability to calculate stuff in my head.

8. Your thoughts on your belly button? It’s been there my whole life.

9. Salads – tasty treat or waste of chewing energy? Tasty (depending on what’s in them, I’m kinda picky).

10. If you could live in the setting of any book, which book would it be? I’m gonna choose the Bible. I’d love to have lived in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ so I could go see Him.

11. Zombies – deplorable brain eaters or misunderstood living-tissue challenged? Hmm. When the Apocalypse comes, I’ll let you know…

Part 3: Nominate Other Blogs

Crafty Creations with Kiley

Living Frugal And Fabulous

Mom’s Crazy Cooking

Living Life Purely

Cooking This And That

Frugal Makes Cents

Three Ladybugs Like to Play

Part 4: New Questions

Last song stuck in your head?
Prefer to drive or be a passenger?
1 food you dislike?
Better to contact you by email or phone?
Favorite holiday?
Ever run away from home as a kid?
One pursuit you gave up but wish you hadn’t?
Least favorite household chore?
Language you wish you could speak?
3 things you’d change about yourself?
1 word to describe your life right now?

How to Have a Great Summer Break

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

My kids can’t stop talking about summer break (even though we’re pretty far away from it). So I decided to put this energy to good use in a writing project, which I did as a warm up one day. Enjoy!

YahnooChickChick, A Chick-Chick Who Can Yodel

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s another Easter/spring folk song from my childhood that took me forever to recover. I couldn’t find a video that has the music, so I’ll keep on the look out for one. So make up your own tune, or just read it and chuckle.

YahnooChickChick

I know a baby chick-chick
On a mountain top
When he starts to yodel
He never ever stops.

Who’s that baby chick-chick
So happy hooray
Who loves to sing and yodel
While walking on his way?

It’s Yah-noo-chick-chick is a
Chick-chick- chick,
A chick-chick who can yodel!

Yah-noo-chick-chick is a
Chick-chick- chick,
A chick-chick who can yodel!

When you hear his song,
“Yo-de-lee-o”
Sing along: “Yo-de-lee-o”
And you can see it’s fun to be
A chick-chick who can yodel!

Dry, Dry, Wet! (Outside Water Game)

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

This game is a fun twist on the classic game, “duck, duck, goose!” Here’s the twist: instead of tapping other player’s heads, the person walking around the circle holds a wet sponge over each player’s head and says “dry, dry, dry…” until they come to the person they would normally call “goose.” Instead, however, the person holding the sponge wrings out the sponge over the person’s head, and thus the chasing begins. Players get pretty wet, which is nice for a hot say. For the sake of good health, don’t let the sponge touch anyone’s head or the ground. Using a big sponge is usually best, so the person walking around the circle with the sponge will still have water to wring out on someone’s head, even if they go around the circle more than once. Enjoy!

Cereal Octopus Craft

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s another fun craft my friend Carol showed us at our after school program. Even the big kids liked it (the girls thought it was cute and the boys wanted the cereal). We used the cereal Apple Jacks, but any O shaped cereal would work for the octopus tentacles. We found white glue works better than glue stick, and doing this on card stock is better than regular printer paper (since the glue makes printer paper too soggy). Enjoy!

Here’s the template:

Liebster Award… Feelin’ Loved!

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

liebster award

A big hug and a thank you to Miss Scarlett at Miss Scarlett Teaches and Learns for nominating Squarehead Teachers for a Liebster Award!

The Liebster rules:

1. Post 11 facts about myself.

2. Answer the 11 questions posed by the nominator.

3. Pass the love to 11 other bloggers

4. Pose 11 new questions for the newly ‘loved’ to answer.

Part 1: 11 Facts

My favorite TV show currently on air is Psych (I only watch Psych and Big Bang Theory).
I prefer T-shirts and jeans to dressy clothes.
My go-to store is the dollar store.
I love Zumba!
Every week, I mail a postcard to my grandpa.
I don’t like the color salmon.
My hubby and I met through a mutual friend who was on my coed intramural basketball team in college.
I get cold really easily.
My hubby and I were Smurfs for Halloween.
Clear counters are happy counters. I prefer usable kitchen counter space to decorative stuff.
I’ve lived in China, but never seen the Great Wall. (Sad, I know) We spent our travel money on the Philippines instead.

Part 2: Answer Questions By Nominator

1. Are you really you or an alias? Alias… “Lil’ Squarehead”

2. What is your favorite ever song and why? Oooh, dang. That’s a hard one- Maybe “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait, since it’s “our song” (between my husband and I). We sing it together, even though I’m not a fabulous singer. And it expresses beautifully how lucky I feel to have my hubby!

3. If you could change one event in history what would it be and why? Hmmm… can I say all the small moments of pain brought to this world by selfishness and pride. I know it’s not technically an event in and of itself, but I’d like to change that… get rid of it.

4. What is the scariest experience you’ve ever had? I get scared easily. I’m jumpy and my husband knows it… so he likes to startle me and then laugh. Basically, my hubby provides tons of 3 second scary experiences all the time.

5. Should I go for the lost love or remain true to my comfortable love? I believe you should choose your love and then love your choice. Loyalty is a big part of love in my book.

6. What’s your opinion on human rights? We’re all children of God and we should treat each other as such.

7. Dogs or cats? Neither… sorry! I prefer people!

8. Is there ever ‘necessary evil’? Yes, there will always be opposition (including evil and righteousness), but just because it exists doesn’t mean we should choose or tolerate it.

9. What do you hate most about yourself and why? Sometimes, I’m quick to judge. I need to work on that.

10. What do you love most about yourself? I try to encourage others. Everyone needs a cheerleader.

11. Scrunch or fold? Scrunch

Part 3: Nominate Other Blogs

My Home For The Holidays

Just Wild About Teaching

Game4Learning

Post Departum Depression

Part 4: New Questions

White bedroom walls or color?
If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?
Your lifestyle best matches the lifestyle of what animal?
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
What’s the last movie you saw in theaters?
What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?
What does your favorite T-shirt look like?
What do you miss most about being a kid?
Which do you prefer: chocolate, strawberry or vanilla ice cream?
If you could switch lives with anyone for a day, who would you switch with? Why?
What’s one quote/saying that had greatly impacted your life?

Emergency Sub Plans

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Every teacher/class needs emergency sub plans. These are for the day when you’re too sick, stressed, caught off guard to write sub plans… *gasp!* Things you must have in your emergency sub plans:

Substitute Folder Checklist
Use this checklist to prepare a notebook for substitute teachers. It will ensure that
your classroom runs as smoothly as possible in your absence.
____1. Fire Drill Procedures
____2. Evacuation Procedures
____3. Emergency Situation Procedures/Key Codes
____4. School Discipline Plan (including names of teachers the sub can contact if they need help with a student)
____5. Classroom Discipline Plan (including notes about students with unique circumstances, and something to help the teacher gauge how much to use the plan/what warrants certain rewards)
____6. Discipline Forms (referral forms, detention forms)
____7. CURRENT Seating Charts with essential student information included for all classes and students who come in your room (photos if possible)
____8. Emergency Procedures
____9. Daily Schedule (with duty location, parent helpers who come in weekly, special classes, etc.)
____10. Bell Schedule
____11. List of contact people (helpful students, staff members)
____12. Lesson Plans for the week–or–suggested activities to reinforce
concepts and/or skills

Numbers 9 and 12 are the zingers in my opinion. How do you keep updated plans in your sub folder and how can you write a schedule when every day is so different!?

Here are some tips:

A. Use old math assessments (from the previous units or grade). Chances are most kids will have seen them before. When you finish a math unit, stick a class set of the unit test in the folder. Even if you never have to use it when a sub comes, you can use the copies at the end of the year to review for testing.

B. Writing activities. Choose a fun writing activity (that includes an example and good instructions). Leave directions for how to publish the final draft (does it get glued on colored paper? Does it need to be accompanied by a picture?)

C. Just do it. Some teachers put off gathering sub plans and then they regret it. Just do it at the beginning of the year, and then set yourself a reminder (in your planner, Google calendar, whatever) to check it every month. It’s always better to prepare than to repair.

D. Put the sub plans in an obvious place and let your team teacher know where they are also. I put mine in a neon pink binder with huge letters labeling it “Emergency Sub Plans.”

E. Extra milers will prepare plans for each day of the week. Many schools have weekly schedules, where days of the week vary because of fine arts classes, computer lab times or library schedules. Save yourself some time and do it all at the beginning of the year. Again, anything you don’t use during the year can be used for end-of the year review and activities.