A productive workday

     We had an optional workday today which is literally the best thing a teacher could ask for!  A day with no meetings and a chance to get caught up is just what I needed.  To start the day I finished all my grading for the second quarter and sent in my report card marks.  I then decided I wanted to get cleaned and reorganized so I went through my cabinets.  In the process of this I found some things I bought at the beginning of the school year that I had forgotten about. The rest of my day was filled with planning and making things. Here are a few things I made today:

These are group discussion questions I put on each table for groups to use during literature circles. I'm hoping that they rarely have to use them but if they get stuck without things to talk about then I'll have them use these.

I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it was too cute not to make! My students have already been taking turns at different jobs but I thought this was a better way to keep them organized.  I have index cards in each of the pockets that I can change every two weeks.

I made these discussion dollars to also aid in literature circle discussions.  Each student will get 3 dollars that they will have to "spend" in the 5 minutes they have to discuss what they read that day.  I wanted to do these because I've noticed at least one or two students at each group who never contribute to discussion.

What goals do you have on workdays?   Wouldn't it be nice if there was a workday every month?