Monday Made It - Homework Black Book & Washi Tape!

Wow! Has getting back into the swing of school been as crazy for you as it has been for us? We finally have made some time for a blog update...and we have decided to do our first "Monday Made It"! Here are two things that we have made this week:
First up:  THE HOMEWORK BLACK BOOK! (Cue scary music)
This is a trick I use in my fifth grade classroom.  Introduced at the very beginning of the year, it has the power to put a little fear (aka motivation) into the students as far as getting homework completed on time.  To introduce, I simply tell the students that this book will be out and ready each day.  Any time that they do not bring an assignment back to school (or one is incomplete), they must simply sign their name in the "Black Book".  During parent-teacher conferences, I will have the Black Book out on the table for the kids to show their parents.  I began using this last year and it proved to be a major success.  I did find this idea on Pinterest, so if anyone has anyone has also seen it please let me know so I can give them credit!

Each student has their own page.  They must write the date, assignment, and the reason they did not complete the assignment.  Last year I had a student with an excuse for everything.  I believe he even once wrote, "I was doing my homework in the tree and a squirrel grabbed it from me.  It was the scariest day of my life".  Not kidding.  Needless to say that his parents were not amused when they read over his list of excuses.

 Monday Made It #2:  Washi Tape!

Has anyone else become addicted to this stuff?  It can brighten up anything! Abby has cleverly used Washi Tape to decorate her clothespins.  Clothespins themselves are one of the best investments you can make in your classroom.  They can be used on management boards, to hold vocabulary words, and even used on bulletin boards by simply hot-glueing a thumbtack on the back. The possibilities are endless!