Shopping for the new YEAR!

Like or not....  the new year is approaching.

Tomorrow I will get to return back to my room and begin setting up for the new year.

My teaching BBF and I have done some shopping and I don't think anything makes a teacher happier than new plastic book bins.  WE BOUGHT A TON!

Today I hit Cost Co and got a bunch of things to start the year off right.  Who doesn't love a pretty new pen?  I also decided to try a package of furniture pads to put on my student chairs.  I hate how fast the floor gets all messed up.  My son is helping me tomorrow and he will be so thrilled to get to put them on the bottom of the chairs.  All of this for less than $45...  Thank you Cost Co!

This summer my son had the honor to play for Team TN.  He spent time at the University of TN training in their amazing facility and then traveled to Kentucky to play at Western Kentucky University. He was treated to the full college football experience.  One of his favorite parts was staying in a hotel the night before the game.  The best for me was that several family members that haven't ever seen him play made the trip to Kentucky to see the game.

I'm a worried mom...  I admit it.  I wasn't willing to just drop Jackson off at University of TN and come back to Memphis.  We stayed in a hotel and attended as many practices and events as they let us.  So we had a lot of down time and my husband found some of the best teacher stores ever!

All of these books cost me less than $40!  I have a huge other stack that didn't make it into this picture.   McKays Used Book Store is a gem!  If you live anywhere near Nashville, Chattanooga, or Knoxville, you have to check it out.  Lots of books that are less than a $1!  The other amazing find was the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.  The books were 10 cents!  Yes, you read that one right!

TOTAL SCORE!

I have made myself a promise.  I am going to level my HUGE classroom library before the kids come back.  I've made book bin labels and laminated them.  I create stickers with the level number on them and have even done all the stickers for the books I bought over the summer.  Tomorrow I will begin to make this promise come to life!  Check back to see the pictures and a link to download all of the organization pieces.

Happy Teaching!

Reflection of 2015-16!

With only a few days left I began that ever so UNPOPULAR task of packing up my room.

As I was taking things down and packing boxes I started to think about what went right this year and what went WRONG!

First the RIGHTS....

I did much better organizing things this year!  Everything had a place and I threw anything away that I didn't use in the last year!  HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!

We did MUCH more writing.  We wrote every single day about the books we read and what we were doing in math.  I could see huge progress in their writing skills as we put the finishing touches on our writing portfolios.

Some of my favorite writing prompts....

Pick a character in the story.  What did you like about him/her?  Is there anything you would change?

What was the BEST thing we did today?  (or if it was Friday - this week?)

How can you solve this math problem?

What is something that you are wondering about?

What is something that you are noticing about your learning?

I created a Focus Wall.  Each week I hung 2 anchor charts that highlighted our BIG skills for the week.
It really helped the kids focus on learning the skill and they referred to the chart during our lessons.  I used a big bulletin board - covered it with fabric and border.  Above it I made the words - Focus Skills...  And that was it.  I didn't get a good picture before I took the room down, but I will be sure to get one for my class reveal.

We focused on understanding numbers in depth!  This was a goal for me.  We worked every morning on ripping a number apart.  It was a random number each day, but we worked it over with fact families, place value, number lines, arrays, and writing story problems with it.  I can tell that it made a difference when I listened to our last math task of the year.  The way the discussed their ideas and the use of so many different strategies let me know it was time well spent.  We used my Number of Day packets and the only thing I am going to change is that I'm going to make them over the summer this year so that I don't have to make them each grading period.  Anything to save time during the year.

My school is HUGE into AR.  I did terrible with it in the past, so it was a goal this year.  We kept track of our progress on our board and moved our pieces every Friday.  We did AMAZING!  So much improvement over my past years kiddos.  We had a BUNCH that made it to 100 POINT CLUB!  I haven't had any in years....  HAPPY TEACHER!

Point values to 300!  

 A sweet buyer asked to points from 1 to 10 to help her lower kiddos.  I'm going to add these to my board next year so they can move a little faster.  

We built a better sense of community.  These kids really do care about each other.  One of my kiddos has been with me for two years.  It was hard to say goodbye to all of them, but especially hard to say goodbye to him.  He has made so much progress over these two years and I will truly miss his sweet little face each morning.  Something tells me that he will sneak down our hall every now and again!

Now for the WRONGS!

I didn't use the Remind program this year.  I wanted to try good old email....  EPIC FAIL!  If you haven't used Remind yet, sign yourself up now!  Texting parents reminders is so much easier than running to the computer and sending an email that you hope they read.

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My class library was a DISASTER!  I've already begun researching some new ideas and when we go back it will be organized leveled and BEAUTIFUL!  I'm going to divide it into leveled bins.  On each book I am going to put the AR quiz number, level, and a colored sticker to keep them organized.  I can't wait to post the pictures.

My biggest wrong....  enjoy the kids even more!  It is so easy to get caught up in paperwork, curriculum maps, and all the crazy stuff that you forget why we do what we do.  We love kids!  We care about our kids!  We want the best for them.  So my number #1 goal.....  enjoy my kiddos even more!

I hope everyone is enjoying SUMMER VACATION!  Time to recharge and get ready for the best year ever!

Happy Teaching!

Get Your Cart Ready!

It is time for a TPT Sale!  I can't believe the year is almost over!

No better way to celebrate the amazing teachers than a TPT SALE!

Time to Focus on Our Accomplishments!

I did finally finish a product that has been a year in the making.  I like to celebrate each child at the end of the year.  Over the years I have come up with tons of different "AWARDS" to give.  I want each of them to mean something and each year I don't always give the same one.

Last year I began compiling a list of all of the favorites over the years and I put together a packet that has over 60 different options.  They are printer friendly and look amazing on colored copy paper.  It comes with teacher planning sheets with all the awards listed.  Just take a class list and match up each kid to the perfect award.  If none of them seem to be just right, no worries, I also included some blank ones so you can customize it.  It includes sections for AR points as well.  

Here is a little peek at some on my most favorite ones.

Our class starts SAT10 testing tomorrow morning.....

The kids are ready and I know they will do great BUT....
I know I won't sleep at all tonight.

Wishing Everyone Lucky and Right Answers that will be testing this WEEK!

It's April!

Well April is already here and I can't believe that the school year is almost over!

It goes so FAST!

Our big focus this month, like it or not, is getting ready for state testing.  Our 2nd graders test the first week of May.  I try really hard to make it as fun as I can for the kids.

We do a lot of reviewing sample questions and this year I wanted to have different ways to keep them engaged.

One of these best ways is SKITTLES!  Each week we play Skittle math.  I project a question on my Smartboard.  They kids write their answer on their dry erase board and cover it with their hand.  If they get it right, they get a Skittle.   We talk a lot about why the answer was right and why the other choices wouldn't be correct.  Simple, easy and they LOVE it!

This year I wanted to use A B C D cards and number cards to let them "flash" me the answer to change up our review a little.  I made the cards and my sweet assistant laminated and put them in baggies for us.  This way each kiddo has their own bag and I can easily pass them out.

I am also going to use them for races.  We will get into two teams (each team making a straight line facing me) and I will ask a question, then the student at the front of each line can "flash" their answer. Sort of like what we do with flashcard races, except this time they will have to listen for the question.  I will let you know how it goes this week....  fingers crossed!

I also wanted to get a jump start on Mother's Day projects.  We made these last year and they turned out so cute.  The kids come up with 6 ways to finish the starter...

I love you because....

They came up with most precious ideas and some of the funniest things I have ever read.

Just a few copies and your kiddos can create a special flower for their mom.

Just click on the picture to download the templates!  I hope you enjoy them!

Happy Teaching!