Holiday "Eye"-deas!

     The 2nd quarter has arrived and I, for one, am LOVING it!  My kids & I are in a routine, the weather is getting cooler {less humid anyway!}, and the holidays are right around the corner!!  I am a huge fan of all things Halloween, Fall, and Christmas and I enjoy finding ways to incorporate these themes into our learning.   Luckily, there are some pretty AmAzInG teacher bloggers out there who post lots of fantastic ideas to use with your students!  I've been scouring and felt that this one idea in particular just had to be shared.  Check it out below…
     My favorite new *idea* I have started using in our classroom is the "Eye" Like What I See behavior incentive packet created by Katie Knight at Teacher To The Core.  It is precious and is perfect to introduce this month with the goofy, monster-like faces!  Basically, I put up a small "Eye" Like What I See poster on my front white board and, each time the students do something to blow me away/go above and beyond, they earn a smiley face.  10 smiley faces = class reward :)  In addition, I also purchased a small glass jar from Hobby Lobby, filled it with googly eyes, and added a small chalkboard label that says, "All eyes on YOU!".  At the end of each day, the table that has been the most well-behaved gets to keep the jar on their table for the next school day, earns a point for their Class Dojo monster, and their table gets to go first for all of the activities on the following school day.  This incentive program goes hand in hand with the current behavior management program that I use and doesn't take a lot of extra class time or materials to implement.  It has been a great motivator for my students to really work as a team and try their best each day.  It's funny how a little jar of googly eyes can work for 7 & 8-year olds :)  Here are a few pics of the materials that Katie includes in her packet…did I mention it's FrEe on TpT?!?  She rocks!!!

     I'm going to stick with this little program for the 2nd quarter and then change it up in the 3rd quarter when my students come back in January.  Gotta keep 'em on their toes!  Happy teaching!

Poof! It's October!

     I seriously can't believe it's already October!  I am officially in the eighth week of school and I can say that I do feel like my class is "in the groove" now!  Something about October is truly magical…the changing weather, the beautiful fall colors, and the fact that 25 little people finally have our daily routine down is such a great feeling!
     Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of pictures to post this time {I keep forgetting to take pictures of everything!}, but I can say that I am enjoying teaching 2nd grade.  Of course, with every new endeavor there are growing pains and I'm living and learning, but I am proud of my students' progress!  We have begun Daily 5 with Read to Self and the kids have already made it to 18 minutes, 12 seconds!!!  I am so impressed.  Next week, I will introduce Read to Someone and they are pumped about it.  When it's time for Daily 5, the students cheer…what a WoNdErFuL sound to hear!  Now that the students are able to do Read to Self independently, I have started pulling small groups.  I feel that my small groups are very focused, but I have not been using the CAFE forms yet.  With all that comes with a new grade, I just haven't had the time or energy to begin another NEW thing.  I am recording the data from the students' small group work, but just using my own format.
     Speaking of CAFE, I am LOVING the portable CAFE board that I made over the summer.  I use it each week when we are learning our reading strategies.  I choose a student to write down the strategy on a sentence strip and add it to the board, where we reference it daily during our reading time.  It is such a great visual way to keep track of all the strategies we're learning and using.  Definitely something I will keep and continue to use throughout my teaching!
     So, on to the LIST of things that I want plan to do in the next few weeks….

• incorporate more anchor charts into math lessons
• introduce the remainder of our workstations {the students are currently doing computer, library, listening, art & writing…I still need to intro science, math, and iPods!!!}
• begin using the CAFE forms and pensieve

     I am excited to say that we've started celebrating our "Celebrities of the Week" and the students are working hard to be chosen!  I only choose students who follow our class rules and fill buckets, so it is very honorable to be picked.  They are rockstars!!!

     Now that our classroom and all things 2nd grade are under control, I will be posting more often!  Thanks for your patience and I hope your school year is also off to a great start!

Ready or Not!!!

     I go back to school in exactly 1 week.  Yes, you heard me….ONE week!!!  This summer flew by so fast.  I have so enjoyed the slow & relaxed pace of summer vacation, but at the same time, I am ready to be back to a routine again.  NOT so excited about grading papers on a regular basis, but I *think* I have prepared myself for all things 2nd grade!  Our 2nd grade team met today and I am very excited to work with this group of women.  They are excited about teaching and are all inspiring educators.  I am a very blessed girl!!
     This year will be different for me not only because I'll be teaching a new grade level, but because my children will not be attending the same school with me anymore.  We made the decision to move them to a Catholic school at the end of last year and this will be the first time that they will not be just a hallway away from me :( Pete & I prayed and prayed about this decision and I truly do feel that we are doing what is best for our kids, but it is still going to be hard for me to not just be able to peep in and check on them whenever I want.  It will all work out and I know that God will give me the strength to handle being away from my children during the school day and be the best teacher I can be while I'm at my school.
     So, in preparation for back to school, I have been getting materials ready for my future 2nd graders! I have made their daily folders using a template from April at A Modern Teacher.  She has some amazing ideas and products for student organization!

     In addition, I FiNaLlY read The Cafe Book by the Sisters.  I have been doing the Daily 5 in my classroom for the past 2 years, but had never integrated the CAFE system.  After reading it, I am PUMPED about working more closely one-on-one and in small groups with my students.  It is written in such teacher-friendly language and I love how it is very explicit in how to implement it in your classroom.  The only unfortunate thing was that the sisters highly recommend having a bulletin board to display the reading strategies that are being taught and I had already set up my classroom, bulletin boards and all.  So, after brainstorming with another teacher friend/CAFE buddy, I decided to do a portable CAFE bulletin board.  I used a black project display board, some pennant border, and some {freebie!} CAFE signs from TpT (there are a ton of free CAFE signs & strategy cards with many different themes available).  This is the outcome:

     I am happy with it and I actually like the portability of the board because I don't always teach in the same area of my classroom.  I can't wait to put it into action with my 2nd graders!!

     I also uploaded a new product to my TpT store!  I wanted a fresh look for my weekly newsletters, so I created this newsletter template to match the color theme of my classroom this year.  What do you think?  I like that it is simple, includes the weekly homework (to cut down on copies), and has a modern teacher twist with the dotted apples and chevron!

     So, this will most likely be my last post of the summer…I'll be back next time as an official 2nd grade teacher!  I'm off to enjoy the rest of my *free* days :)

  

Favorite Pins Friday!!

     I love Pinterest.  It has become quite the obsession for me & many of my friends!!  I am linking up with Cara from The First Grade Parade to bring you my favorite pins from this past week.  {You can link up on her blog to share your fabulous finds, too!}  So, the way it works is simple…just post your favorite pins with a link back to the original poster (not back to Pinterest) and, while this is a teaching blog, the pins do not necessarily have to be teacher-related!  Because we know we do not always follow the lesson plan, right?!?  So, here goes…

I am loving this management idea from Teaching is a work of HEART!!.  Each student has a clothespin with his/her name or number and clips it on the library basket when he/she picks a book.  When it's time to return the book, the student looks for his/her clothespin so that he/she will return the book back into the proper basket.  Genius!!!

So, I'm on a serious budget these days.  Aren't we all?!?  I am definitely guilty of spending a little too much money in my classroom and it's nice to find a *free* way to reward your students for great behavior!  Thanks to Peace, Love, and First Grade, you can use these adorable freebie reward coupons to give to your students :)

"Is it time for lunch yet??"  I'm pretty sure every teacher {and parent for that matter!} has heard these words from their kids!  These clock displays with important times during the school day are perfect not only to let students know when daily activities will happen, but it also reinforces clock reading skills.  Thanks to Christi from Ms. Fultz's Corner!

And on to some non-teacher related pins…

I'm a Louisiana girl through and through and I'm in LOVE with this tee from Bourbon & Boots.  You might see me in this very soon!

Shoe addicts everywhere NEED this little poster :) Thanks Style-Delights: Humor In Life!

So now that both of my kids are into sports and getting LOTS of t-shirts from the different events, I thought this was a perfect way to make use of their tees once they have outgrown them {especially since I do NOT sew!!!}  Love this idea from Fabulous Home Blog!

Happy pinning y'all and happy Friday (although it's summer for us teachers and EVERY day is Friday :)  

classroom makeover part 2

     I am not gonna lie, I have been up at school a LOT over the past month.  I admit it….I was a little paranoid when it came to moving EVERYTHING out of my old classroom into my new classroom.  I am not a "wait until the last minute" type of person (BIG surprise).  Just when I thought I had gotten all of my things out of my 1st grade classroom, I would go back to do a final "sweep" and I would fill up another entire dolly with more *stuff*.  OMG, I discovered that I have way too much stuff that I had not been using and didn't envision using any time soon, so I put a lot of it out into the hallway to find a new home, which apparently it has since it is no longer there!  I hope that other teachers will find a way to incorporate those things with their students :)
     Anyway, I feel like I am finally at a point where I could take pics of my classroom because I'm about 90% done with it!  I know it seems crazy, but I like taking the beginning of the summer to get my classroom ready for next year and then having the second half of my summer relaxing and not doing anything too much school-related.  I just really don't like being rushed to get everything done in the last 2 weeks of summer!  I am lucky that my school is open during the summer so that I can have the opportunity to work in there when it is convenient for me.
     I decided to do a rockstar theme, but not go too into the theme so that I could reuse a lot of my bulletin boards for next year if I wanted to.  This way I will not have to change everything just because I'm not doing the same theme from year to year.  So, I have a few "theme-y" things up, but for the most part, I just chose patterns and designs that I liked!  Here are the pics of my new 2nd grade classroom!!!

     

     I am really excited about the way everything came together in my room!  Now I just have to get my door and hallway decorations done, along with my calendar bulletin board and I will be ready for kids!  

classroom makeover part 1

     I recently found out that I'm going to be moving from 1st grade to 2nd grade in August and I couldn't be more thrilled!  One of the best {and worst} things about this is that I'm going to a new classroom.  On the upside, I am getting a fresh start in a new room and a chance to make it my own.  On the downside, I have to move all of my junk!!!!!  Luckily, my kids are doing a drama & music camp at our church this week, so I'm getting some time to work in both of my rooms and get some things accomplished.  One of the first things I was bummed about was that I wasn't going to be able to bring my file cabinets that I made over last summer with me.  I had Mod Podged scrapbook paper on the drawers to add a colorful pop to them!  Here is a glimpse of last summer's project:

     I really liked the way they looked, but the Mod Podge was very time-consuming and I just wanted a different look for my new classroom.  SO, off to Pinterest I went and found some *cute* file cabinet makeover ideas.  (Can you not just find anything & everything on Pinterest?!)  Anyway, I still have a looooong way to go on my 2nd grade classroom {...evident in the background of these pics!!!}, but I have tackled one task, which was to redo the file cabinets.  Here is the big reveal, lol!

     I am really happy with the way they turned out :) Crazy how much a little bit of high gloss latex paint and some wall decals will spruce up something boring into something much more….POSH!  All for about $30, too!  I'll be back with more before and after pics soon!

Table for...

     I recently had a friend ask me how I felt about switching from desks to tables this school year and my response was quick--"I love them!"  Of course, there are pros and cons to just about anything, but for me, tables made life in the classroom simpler.  For one thing, they were a major space saver and helped to keep the classroom cleaner because it is easier to sweep under tables than individual desks.  Also, I am a big believer in teamwork and tables are just so conducive to team building activities.  Lastly, there was a lot less junk in the student's areas because there was no desk for the kids to pile papers and miscellaneous items.  One of the cons to having tables is that you do have to find a place to keep all of the student materials that would normally be kept in their desks!  Luckily for me I have lots of storage options in my classroom that made this doable.  The other major drawback to tables is that, if you have a student who needs his/her own individual space, you will have to find a spare desk for that child because (obviously) you can't disassemble the table.  Here are a few pics of how I made tables work in my classroom this past year:

Black shelf {Wal-Mart purchase!} for math workbooks that would normally be kept in student's desks. I also use this shelf for puzzle storage, morning meeting materials, construction paper, and our sharpened & broken pencils buckets.

Each table has a bucket where they store their glue bottles, washable markers, and dry erase markers.  Our class set of dry erase boards are stored on the bottom shelf and the class cubbies are on top.

I use an over-the-door shoe organizer with numbered plastic cups to keep the students' extra pencils and glue sticks.

This all-purpose organizer from Lakeshore stores our reading practice books.  I have numbered the boxes so that the students can easily and quickly find their workbook.  

     I am moving to 2nd grade next year and I'm using my tables again with my new students.  I am planning on making a few adjustments to how I managed my tables this year, but I'm looking forward to setting up my new classroom with these tables!