Hellooooooo! Are You Still Out There??

So, October has been busy. It's always a crazy time of year, both professionally and personally: the first quarter ends on October 30th (which means I have a zillion assessments to finish, not to mention progress reports), and of course, there's Halloween to contend with (excited kids at school and at home...yay!).

 Think they're a little bit excited? It has been a battle to convince them that they can't wear their costumes every day after school.

Plus, I presented at a county-wide professional development last Thursday on Common Core English Language Arts...and I am facilitating a staff meeting next week about equity. Yikes! The silver lining is that I have gobs of credits for re-certification.

Thankfully, these make it all a little easier:

Oh, dear God, these cookies are amazing! They are only in Target stores for a limited time...I may have to stockpile them!

On Monday, I had the chance to chaperone on Princess A's first "real" field trip to the local pumpkin patch. It was so much fun to be a parent for a few hours and not a teacher.

Check out that perfect blue sky and those adorable smiles!

So, I am wrapping up a unit about subtraction in math, and my kiddos have really been struggling with comparison subtraction and missing part subtraction. My awesome teammate, SpurDog, put together two adorable lessons to review these two concepts. I am trying to convince her to sell it on TPT because it is fantastic! Take a peek!

Seasonally appropriate and educational!

I am in love with this activity! Can't wait to try it out tomorrow!

 

I stopped by Target to grab a few bags of candy corn to use with this lesson. Now, I just have to stop myself from eating all of them before I teach math!

Head over to SpurDog's blog and convince her to put this awesome lesson on TPT! 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

October Currently (Yes, I'm Still Alive)

Where the heck did September go? I have been so stinkin' busy...I blinked and it's October already! Time for Farley's October Currently!

Listening: So, my kids are probably too old to take a bath together. But it's super convenient to dump them in together and let them play "Titanic" or "Spa" to their little hearts' content. Lazy of me, I know.

Loving: Oh. My. God. I discovered www.jane.com, thanks to Facebook. I am completely and totally obsessed. 

I ordered this necklace in black for my daughter's teacher for Christmas (I never start my Christmas shopping early, but I can't resist, with all of the great deals on Jane!).

I also bought her this, but in turquoise. What teacher doesn't love bubble necklaces and infinity scarves??

I nabbed this adorable bracelet in silver (monogrammed, natch) for a family member.

I may have also bought the chevron watch that everyone was dishing about on their blogs a few days back, and a bubble necklace (in hot pink) for myself. I'm two steps away from needing a Jane intervention.

Thinking: I have been fighting headaches since school started (stress? barometer? mold allergy? jaw clenching?), so I've been avoiding wine. But tonight, it's Friday, and I've earned a glass (headache be damned!).

Wanting: I would kill for a maid. During the week, I get so wrapped up with work and the kiddos that housecleaning takes a backseat. So, I feel like I spend all weekend cleaning. I try to get a head start on Friday (I make my grocery list and sort the laundry), but it still seems to take me forever. Ugh.

Needing: I didn't realize until I saw this pic that I posted on Facebook how long my hair has gotten in the past few months (I'm embarassed to admit it, but I don't think scissors have touched my hair in six months!).

Yes, that's a blue streak in my hair. Our PTO was selling "spirit hair" as a fundraiser, and all of the teachers had their hair done, free of charge! Brilliant (and lucrative, too!)!

Trick or Treat: I'd love to tell you that I have new products to offer as a treat, but sadly, I don't. Maybe by the end of the weekend? In the meantime, head over to my Facebook page, "like" my page, and grab a Fan Freebie!

Enjoy your weekend! You've earned it!

Why, Hello! Remember Me?

What a busy couple of weeks! Between getting accustomed to being back to work and getting my own little ones into a regular routine, I have barely had time to come up for air! I'm sure you can all relate.

I am really enjoying my new class of firsties.  I'll admit, though, that I had forgotten how much modeling and remediation is necessary at the beginning of a new school year. I've been coming home exhausted; in fact, KShaf and I have been in bed by 8:30 the past two nights!

We started our homogenous Language Arts instruction last Monday (after spending the first week of school using Babbling Abby's Fun With Firsties pack...so cute!). We ironed out a lot of the kinks that we encountered last year, including buying these amazing bins to help the children transition from classroom to classroom:

They are a little cumbersome, but I would rather deal with unwieldy bins than listen to the sound of a thousand dropped pencil boxes hitting the linoleum any day!

I have introduced Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Listen to Reading...only two more of the Daily Five to go! My little ones have done an amazing job with each of the Daily Five; they have taken to them like ducks to water!

One of my little guys, reading to himself.

These three munchkins look pretty comfy in my "reading nook," don't they? What you can't see in this picture is that they were all wearing sunglasses with the lenses removed as "reading glasses."

I love that this little cutie is using his "slide" to segment and blend unfamiliar words during Read to Someone.

I had to get crafty with the area that I use for Listen to Reading. There is only room for two adult-sized chair, and the counter is too high to use little chairs. Thankfully, my students don't mind sharing an adult chair with another child!

We did some really fun activities to practice what we know about words with short a. I gave the students letter tiles for the consonants m, s, c, and t (our consonants of the week) and the vowel a, and they had to make as many short a words as they could. Some of them got really creative!

I'm ready for a cup of tea (or glass of wine...I haven't made up my mind yet), but before I go, I have to recommend the book My Great-Aunt Arizona, by Gloria Houston (you've probably heard of it before). Princess A nabbed it from my book closet at school the other day and brought it home, and tonight, we read it before bed. I don't usually get choked up (unless I'm hormonal or getting sick), but this book brought tears to my eyes. It's such an inspiring story about the last impact that teachers have on their students.

Enjoy what's left of your "hump day!"

Sunday Recap

What a busy and fun week!

Tuesday was Deedle's first day of Pre-K. If I'm being honest here, I was a little concerned about how he would do in school without his sister there to watch out for him. But he was a total pro!

Protective big sister.

Boarding the bus by himself? No problem!

On Thursday evening, we had Back to School Night (which always makes for a long day). But the day was made better when I found out that my good friend, Kelly, had her little boy! 

SpurDog and I couldn't wait to hold sweet Emmett, so we raced to town to visit before heading back to work for Back to School Night. He is perfect in every way!

Back to School Night was very successful. I wasn't inundated with parents, like I was last year, but the parents who were able to attend seemed very supportive and involved. I'm feeling very optimistic about this school year!

I was really flattered to receive a comment a few weeks ago from a teacher on TPT who was hoping to share my 6+1 Writing Traits lesson plans with her district (say what????). Thankfully, I was able to grab a few spare minutes today to finish up my Conventions lesson plan bundle. I just uploaded it to TPT...hope you can use it!

I have dinner to get started and laundry to finish folding. Have a great week!

P.S. Happy birthday to my teaching bestie, SpurDog! I hope it's the best one yet!

First Week of School and September Currently

What a week! Between getting my own kiddos ready to start school and getting myself prepped for the first days of school, life has been crazy!

Princess A started Kindergarten on Tuesday (WHAT???), and she officially loves it! It doesn't hurt that she is completely smitten with her teacher.

Love, love, love!

So proud of her. I almost can't stand it.

My new little firsties are stinkin' adorable. They are very different from last year's class, but that's part of what makes teaching so fun (and challenging!). I have been modeling everything (as a result, I've come home pooped the past few days), but I know it will pay off. They are slowly learning my rules and expectations, and there have only been a few minor meltdowns.

My work biffle, SpurDog, planned some adorable activities for the first few days of school, using Babbling Abby's Fun With Firsties pack.We read First Day Jitters and made Jitter Juice (yum!).

We also spent some time, making new friends and writing about them, too.

They loved having the chance to get up and move around the classroom. Adorable!

One of my cuties writing about a new friend.

Look! This little one's dress matches my classroom decor!

We completed a simple writing activity on Friday, using The Kissing Hand (I don't care how many times I read that book: it still gets to me every time). I was in a crazy rush on Friday afternoon, and I didn't have time to take pics of the finished product, but I did upload the lesson to TPT.

These turned out really cute, and I'm planning to display them around the classroom for Back to School Night this Thursday.

I've tried to squeeze in some quality time with each of my own kiddos this weekend, so on Saturday (while Princess A was at her riding lesson with KShaf), Deedle and I had a date at Starbucks.

Don't worry: it's hot chocolate, not coffee.

This morning, we got up early and went fishing. It was a huge success!

 This girl is not squeamish. She baited her own hook and caught lots of fish!

Clearly, I was really excited about catching a (teeny tiny) fish (with Deedle's Spiderman fishing rod).

So, onto September's Currently. I love linking up with Farley!

 

Listening: My kids outgrew naps a long time ago, but KShaf and I insist that they have a quiet time for an hour on the weekends. They are very rarely quiet.

Loving: Why can't every weekend have three days? Two days just aren't enough.

Thinking: I have to make these for breakfast tomorrow.

Wanting: I always fall for trends. These are all over the place right now on the Eastern Shore. Gotta get one.

Needing: I've been awful about running this summer. I'd love to blame it on the Maryland heat, but really, I've just been lazy. I need to get back into a routine because I'd love to run a 10K this fall.

Love Myself: I am going to try my darndest to leave work at work. No checking email, no marking papers, no lesson planning. We'll see how that goes. Ha! Since I'm planning to bring less work home, I should have gobs of extra time to read on my Kindle. I just finished Sarah's Key (I may need therapy after reading that book...it's a tear jerker!), and now I'm working on a few Diane Chamberlain books. I am also going to try to take things less personally, particularly when working with the parents of my students. I really try to understand and sympathize with the parents of my little guys, especially since becoming a parent myself. But I can't please everyone, no matter how hard I work or how much of myself I put into my job. So, I am going to do my best to let hurtful words roll off my back, and I'm not going to let aggressive and disrespectful people get under my skin. So there. 

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend...you deserve it!

Room Reveal

After spending a good part of last week and this week in my classroom, it is finally done! I'm really glad that I got a head start on printing and laminating this summer; otherwise, I would never have finished on time!

This is the view from my classroom door. I am so glad that I decided to order ceiling decorations from Party City...I think they make the room a lot cozier!

This is the area above my cubbies. I love being able to display family photos and teaching tchotchkes.

Aaahhhhh...my desk. It may not look like much, but I like to keep it simple. It's the only space in my entire classroom that is totally mine. 

This is the sweet saying that I have framed on my desk. Click on the pic above to go to the original source.

Organizational heaven. Love, love, love. This 3-drawer Sterilite treasure sits on wire shelves behind my desk.

These are my Science and Language Arts focus boards. Above both boards, I've posted addition strategies that I bought here. Below, I've posted my students' birthdays.

My calendar area. Even though Common Core doesn't emphasize money in first grade, I feel like I still need to expose my students to the concept.

Curtains!!!! Yay! These were so simple and inexpensive to make and they look super cute. Check out my tutorial for making them!

This is my Writing focus board. I covered the front of my air conditioning unit in black butcher paper, and the posters you see are my 6+1 Writing Traits posters (one of my top sellers on TPT).

I always have a tough time figuring out how to utilize my cabinet doors. So, I downloaded some great (FREE!!) teaching quotes and sayings from Technology Rocks. Seriously, and I framed them in 8 1/2 by 11 document frames that I got from Dollar Tree. I used clear 3M hooks and ribbon to hang them.

Here's my behavior clip chart. I backed it on black and white polka dot ribbon (imagine that!), and I made the clips by decoupaging clothespins with scrapbook paper. Then, I hot glued my kiddos' names on. 

My finished reading nook! I'm loving the aqua blue theme! (Also, mini clothespins are my new obsession.) The kid-sized Adirondack chairs were only $4.99 at Walmart.

This is my class job bulletin board. Since the pennant banner was already yellow and black, I decided to go with a bee theme for the board. I still have to finish the kids' clips this weekend. The baskets underneath are for math small groups.

Thanks, Miss Nelson, for the adorable transportation display!

And, finally...

This is the front of my classroom. My very sweet colleague gave me this adorable rug (I had been toying with the idea of buying one, but I was too doggone cheap!). I'm loving the Wow Work! display for student work.

Phew! I still have a lot of odds and ends to finish up this weekend (including getting ready for a new little one who was just added to my list this afternoon). But, I'm feeling pretty good about the school year starting on Tuesday. Monday is Meet the Teacher, and I'm really looking forward to putting names to some adorable faces. In the meantime, I think I've earned myself a glass of Barefoot Chardonnay. Have a great (and relaxing) weekend!