Smith's Safari... Adventures in Teaching!: August 2016

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Classroom Reveal!

Better late than never I guess!

The first week of school came and went like a crazy tornado at full speed. It has taken me days to get myself back together and ready for next week.

I realized with all the craziness I never posted some pictures of this year's classroom.

I'm giving flexible seating a try..... slow and steady wins the race right? I've only introduced a few options so far and hope by the end of September everything will be running like clock work.

My reading area is a work in progress. This year accepted the challenge to level all of the books I have and time got away from me. I still have about 300 more to level, but I made sure I had enough to get us started. The green mesh string will slowly become a jungle of leaves. I knew that the temptation to pull on them would be HUGE, so I decided to just put up the mesh for the first two weeks and after we got plenty of reminders not to pull on it we could start adding the leaves.

I have wanted bucket stools forever, but I'm not good with a staple gun. When you have a CRAFTY teaching BFF, all you do is send her a picture from Pinterest and these magically appear on your carpet. I couldn't love them more! Thanks Lee you are amazing!

The table is for small group work or if someone needs more direction than the seat they picked. I am happy to report that we have only had two visitors all year! It seems to be effective in getting them back on track to use the seats correctly. I am thinking that after Christmas it will become the V.I.P. Table.

This is my little corner with all my books. I think that I might have a serious book buying problem. Three years ago I owned 5 books sets. That was it. I can't believe how much I have been able to get. Teaching with chapter books has been a game changer for me and my kids.

These stools are a HIT! The kids love them, but we are still working hard to keep all four legs on the ground. That is a work in progress.

This is my NUMBER ONE HELPER! Every year this kid spends hours and hours helping me move, organize, and label stuff. He doesn't complain, except that he keeps asking if it is time to go to lunch! At a place of his choice of course! Love this kid!

If you haven't heard..... TPT is throwing another one day sale again this year!

I am so excited because I already had 5 things on my wish list to help with flexible seating. The sale is tomorrow! Fill up those carts and save some money. Everything in my store will be 28% off - Don't forget to use the code when you check out! Click on the picture to go to TPT.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Happy Teaching!

Friday, August 5, 2016

Amazing Inservice and a Special Thanks to some TPT Sellers!

We finished our work week today! There is no other word for it..... TIRED!

Setting up my classroom, Teacher Visit Day, leading two inservice sessions, and somehow finding time to feed my son and get him to football. Not going to lie.... hubby did a TON this week!

The last thing a teacher wants is a meeting during work week! It is brutal and all you can think about is the million things you have to get done in your classroom.

I found myself presenting twice this week. I knew they didn't want me wasting their time and I knew EXACTLY what they would be thinking.

COME ON TRACY.... HURRY IT UP!

I did one presentation on Numeracy to PK-2 teachers in my building. I love MATH and I could talk about it forever! But they didn't want me to talk forever, I can assure of that!

We talked about what we thought numeracy means and they worked in groups show their ideas. They did great!

Here are a few pictures of them!

I talked about one of my favorite strategies for math. It is called My Favorite NO! Take a second to look at her video. It is an 8th grade class, but I was able to use the same concept with my second graders and they LOVE it!

Give it a try and you will be HOOKED!

Here is another video clip of some other games that are so much fun! I taught my class how to play and we played them as a group. Once they got the hang of it, I put them in centers and the kids played almost everyday!

The second presentation I did was for all of the second grade teachers in our district. We worked together to create a CFA that we will all give online and come back together in September to discuss the results. Everyone was busy learning the computer program that we will use!

The best part of my inservice presentations were the GIVEAWAYS! I always do little prizes, but this time I wanted to go BIG or go HOME! So I reached out to some TPT authors and asked for some donations that I could give away to the teachers. I thought I might get about 5 or 6.....WRONG! Can I say that 38 different products were donated by these AWESOME sellers! The teachers were so excited! Who wouldn't be!

Please visit these AMAZING sellers and see the adorable things they have created. I have to admit I found several things to buy for this year!