Guest Blogger {FREEBIE & GIVEAWAY!!!}

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself. 

My name is Halle and I blog over at Across the Hall in 2nd Grade.  I have a pretty awesome grade partner named Jenna who also occasionally blogs there too, when she’s not out leading her super-fab life!

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I’m super excited that Alisha asked lil’ ol’ me to be her guest blogger today, so before I get to the goods I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself.  Think of it as that Oscar speech the little known director gives when she wins.  This is the Oscars.  I’m that director.

I am currently in my fifth year of teaching.  I taught 3rd grade for two years before moving to 2nd grade, my true love.  I love their innocence and excitement and appreciation for school, and I love that they have that level of independence.  Not to mention my grade partners rock and I know that they’re a HUGE part of why I love doing what I do!!! {Oh, and I have a pretty cool student teacher too!}

As for my personal life, I have been happily married for 7 whole months to my husband Dave.  We live in wedded bliss {except for when we argue about whose turn it is to change the cat box} with our lovable fur babies Georgie {dog} and Mack {cat}. We love trying to new things {especially new recipes & craft beer}, working on our house, and the beach.

all about me

{Sidenote: I don’t like the term fur babies, but I don’t love the word pet either.  Any suggestions for what I can call my loveable furballs?}

Now let’s get down to business…

One thing I know that many of us are struggling with right now is Spring Fever.  I mean, know I have Spring Fever, but my kiddos have come down with a MAJOR case of it.  They’re slacking in their work and they’re extra chatty.  {And we’re still 2 weeks away from Spring Break!!!}

And when does their Spring Fever really kick in?  Well, just about every time they have to read and follow directions!  Imagine that!

Well I have the cure!  The cure is more cowbell a sneaky quiz!

The Sneaky Quiz has a story…

My math teacher, Mrs. Novak, gave us a modified version of this quiz when I was in 7th Grade. {I suspect it was during the spring for some reason}. It was a little more involved, and I think we had to do a few equations or something, but the point was the same.  The point was…

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!

Look at the quiz below.  Follow the directions to a T.  Do you see the sneaky element?
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Of course you do!  You’re a teacher.  {But, just in case you don’t…students should read through not only the directions, but also steps 1-11, before they begin.  If they do this, they will read number 11 and not do anything. Anything!  The page should be completely blank.}

Sneaky huh?

Except if your class is anything like mine, the pages won’t be blank.  I did not have even one single student pass this test!!!  Now I admit it’s sneaky {and I giggle the whole time they’re plugging away at it}, but it’s also a great platform for the mini-lecture that follows about following directions. 

Sidenote: Before I hand out the quiz I let them know it is a SUPER IMPORTANT quiz.  I happened to let my kiddos know that report cards were coming out and this was part of their “Following Directions” grade.  I really gave them every chance in the world to do well on this!  But still, not one of them passed!

After the quiz I end my mini-lecture with a warning that this quiz could come up again anytime, so they really, really need to carefully read the directions on all their papers. This leads to a few good days in a row of following directions. A few!

If nothing else, this quiz makes a really great April Fool’s Day prank.

Oh, and my class really loves this part, I always send a blank copy home so they can quiz Mom and Dad.  It’s a huge hit every year!  Thanks Mrs. Novak!

I’ve uploaded a file to Teachers Pay Teachers with this quiz, as well as a more basic one for younger kids.  And if you think my quiz is just too sinister, I’ve included the quiz without the twist at the end.  It’s still a good way to assess students’ ability to follow written directions. And it offers temporary relief for Spring Fever!

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{Borders on all quizzes by the fabulous Alisha}

As a thank you for reading past the first line of this here post, I’m hosting a giveaway to win 2 items from my store! You can enter in the Rafflecopter below!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll come and visit me across the hall!

Halle

a Rafflecopter giveaway

42 Comments

  4. I played a prank last year for the first time. My boyfriend's family is really big on it. It was my best friend's bachelorette weekend and he called my parents and said he had just gotten a call that the bachelorette's had gotten out of control and I had gotten arrested for punching a girl in the bar. Needless to say they were not too happy with their 28 year old daughter!

  8. I don't play pranks on others… but my co-worker pranked me. She switched out all the keys on my keyboard, covered the light on my wireless mouse so it wouldn't work, and left a toy snake in my purse. I vowed to get her back, but never found the perfect prank.

  10. One time my class snuck into our "buddy" classroom while the teacher was picking them up from a special and we really quickly took all the chairs out. We hid them in our classroom and left them a note with a clue… and then once they came in we shared a little snack with them to thank them for being good sports!

    Jenny
    Luckeyfrog's Lilypad

  12. Since we have five second grade classrooms, sometimes we will go to another class and start the teaching as if it is our own. The kids get a kick out of it. We also give a spelling test with words not from our spelling units but when read down they say a message. I haven't pulled it out yet but it says "This is not a real test, happy April Fool's Day from your teacher." Those are not the exact words but it is similar to that.

    Cindy
    Luoma@Mentorschools.org

  13. I haven't done any pranks but I'm thinking of doing this quiz on April Fool's Day. They take the state test the next day so I think they'll get a kick out if this. Thanks for sharing!

    Bren P. @ The Teacher Diaries

  19. One year our assistant principal had 10 of us teachers go in and tell our principal that we were pregnant. He believed every single one of us! He couldn't believe we were all pregnant. The reason he never suspected anything was because one year we had 12 pregnant at one time! He thoguht it was a repeat! 🙂 Now I can't repeat that every year, but it was too funny not to share!

    Ashley
    ashleysanderson1@hotmail.com

  21. I did a fake engagement once! All the teachers were jealous of my big ring! (it was a cheap-o $10 ring from Kohls! lol)… we are on spring break this year for April Fools day, but I think I'm going to use your sneaky quiz the first day back from spring break as a friendly reminder to follow directions (they are struggling SOOO much with my student teacher in control). I also thought it would be funny to add something at the bottom — instead of just put your pencil down and wait for others to finish… I would love to make one that says "bring your paper to me to get a treat", and they'd only get a treat if they turned in a BLANK paper 🙂

  26. I played a prank once on my third graders. We live in the desert and so one year it was unseasonably cold. I asked them if they had seen the snow over night. I had them so convinced they were asking other teachers if they had seen the snow, too. It was awful! I hate lying!

    However, I LOVE your quiz and need it for my kiddos on Thursday.
    Reyesremarkablerants at gmail dot com

  31. Really like the quiz, really does check to see if they follow directions. I have done non-harmful april fools day pranks.

  33. Well, I have not done any pranks on my students, but my fellow teacher got a hand-me down car last year and told us all it was because she won on Tim Horton's Roll Down The Rim Contest…. We all believed her. At first….

  36. I usually don't do any pranks…especially with this group b/c it would get so out of hand. I might say something like "free 30 minute recess" and then say "April Fools" but that's the extent of my pranking. I dread what my student's this year are going to do 🙂

    Stephanie Ann
    Sparkling in Third Grade

  40. I don't usually do any April Fool's jokes. But I always let my firsties try to do so if they want

    Lynda
    mshamm1stgrade at gmail dot com

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