Sanity

It's been quite a while since I have blogged or posted anything 2 years to be exact.   A lot of changes over the last 2 years.. New principal New assistant principal 1:1 with Chromebooks New curriculum, Wonders addition of STEM and Art classes to our day Assistant principal left ANOTHER (and better!) assistant principal And that's just at work!  It's been crazy trying to navigate everything and still make sure I'm balancing work and life.   I am a big believer that life sends you little reminders and messages if you are listening... and mine did.   I lost my uncle and aunt last year as well, both to lung cancer.  My aunt was always around and was truly a GREAT aunt to my kids, in every sense of the word.  We shared a love of reading, technology, and trivia!!  It was hard to say good bye to her.   All of this and the changes at work I needed (and wanted) to make sure I was spending time with my family, as well as getting my work done.  So unfortunately for you all--I let the blogging slip, I haven't added much to my TPT store.   It was a much needed break to regain my sanity! I've been happily enjoying summer, trying not to do much of anything school related!  Spending time with my kids and nephew, lounging at the pool, and hanging around the house.  It's getting to be that time again, where I should be thinking about going back to school...but I'm trying to put that off as long as I can!  There are a few projects that I have done, but I count these more as crafty than actually thinking about school work. My crate seats needed to be recovered.  They were absolutely FILTHY!  

I removed the old fabric and replaced with with new!  

I also spray painted some stools from Family Dollar to match my classroom. Before too long, it will be time to be in full swing getting ready for the school year.  My goal this year is to focus on things I love and am passionate about, and to participate in activities outside of teaching that I WANT to do, and not things I feel like I should be doing because otherwise no one else will. In other words, I'm trying to follow in Elsa's footsteps.... This is a big year, my oldest is starting High School...

...this was the year the school opened.  It seemed like so long ago, and now she's a student there. My youngest is finishing grade school....

...here he is on his first day there. Where did the time go?? How are you enjoying your time off??  How do you keep your sanity??  Do you have any goals for the year??  Post in comments below!!

Classroom Reveal!

Where did the summer go??  We decide to take a late vacation this summer the last week in July.  However that was also the first week I could have gotten into my classroom!  Instead I was enjoying this view!!

I wish I had that outside my classroom window!

As soon as we got back, it was time to get into school mode.  I felt a little behind the eight ball, but at least I was well rested and had a nice tan too!

Here's what I came back to...

It's always so daunting to return after the summer with everything removed and packed up.  Luckily I had a little help, as you can see in my photo!  

I am a teacher that doesn't mind a bit of rearranging and change in my set up.  However with the SMARTboard and computers tied to where you see them in the photo it is a little challenging to do that! I spent so many late hours at school--but it's almost like a little reunion every time you go in, right??  Someone is always around, we catch up on how our summer went and try to get some work done!!  I found it a little easier to spend my nights prepping the classroom, since I spent my days with these kiddos!  

It's hard enough being a teacher's kid or nephew--they don't want to have to 'go back to school' earlier than everyone else too!!

So here's the end product!

My reveal picture is the room set up for our supply drop off.  

As a grade level we purchased these awesome folders for our take home folders.  They have a pocket in the front, so I jazzed them up with a cute beach-y cover.

I also made these...  Any guesses what they are???

  They are containers from Crystal Light...but they fit markers PERFECTLY!  I put little chalkboard label stickers on them, and had been saving them all summer--each student got one to store their markers.  Now I have no ripped boxes, or markers rolling all over the place, or markers taking up the entire pencil box. 

More goodies for my new class!!

If you didn't notice, my room has a bit of a beach theme!  Remember the vacation I just returned from??  At least I get some bright sunny beach decorations all year long. I've been adding to my theme for the last 3 years.  

Here is a closer look at some of my favorites items around the room...

I created these cute name tags this year for my desks this year with Thistle Girl clip art!  I am constantly fighting the contact paper war.  They peeled off almost immediately. Last year I tried velcro dots, but that wasn't much better...  so for now we do scotch tape!

I created this art on some wood frames. I just printed these off, painted the edges, and then I modge-podged them to the wood.  They are so cute!

If you like these you can download these for free at my TPT store!

To help with classroom management, I use 2 important tools.  One is our behavior clip chart--all beach themed of course!  This allows each student to monitor their own behavior throughout the day.  The children have the opportunity to move up the chart or down, depending on the choices that they make.  In years past I have used liquid tie-dye to dye my clips fun colors--but I had trouble finding it this year!  So we settled for using chalk markers on our clips.

The other item I use for whole class management is my beach behavior bingo!  I love this and the kids are always so excited about it.  They are practicing reading 3 digit numbers, it incorporates technology, and encourages a collaborative, cooperative team atmosphere!  What more could a second grader ask for!?!

Here is how we use this... when the class is following rules and routines as a whole group, or if we get a compliment from another teacher in the building!  The children earn a bingo chip!  When we pull a chip, then the students have to read that 3 digit number and find it on the chart!  The reward is a big surprise until we get a bingo!!  Once we do, they scan the QR code on top and it is revealed!  Some of my prizes were movie day, pajama day, bubble party (we chew gum and blew bubbles outside), technology party, and board game party!  If you like this item it is available in my TPT store as well!  QR codes are not included!

I'm a little bit of a tech nerd too, so I had to incorporate a little of that into my classroom as well!  My job board is a giant tablet.  Then as one of our activities the first week, my kiddos each create their own 'app' card to place on the board for their job.  I just use velcro dots to secure them and then I rotate them one spot over each week!

We hired a new principal at our school this year, and one of her new requests is to post learning targets for the students.  I created these little posters and then just purchased some document frames to make them look a little prettier!  I can easily write on them with dry erase markers to change them once we hit our target!

No classroom is complete without a library!  I had my very handy husband build these 2 shelves for me last summer to hold these cute baskets.  

My newest little obsession is those chalk markers and little chalkboards--so I picked one up at Hobby Lobby!  How cute!  It just adds a little pizzazz to our classroom and helps us get through those first few crazy days of school!

Thanks for taking your time to read all about my classroom! I hope I gave you a few new ideas for yours!  

Go on over to Lucky Little Learners to check out all the other great classrooms!

#2getherwearebetter

Summer Fun

Well... my summer is half way over!   It's a sad week, however... I have been successful at not doing very much school related work and turning off my teacher brain for the last month.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep it off. Here's the fun we've been having so far!

 

Of course, we've tried to keep some of that LEARNING stuff going this summer- (teacher's kids have it rough!!).  My kids are participating in the local summer reading program at our library.  We've found some great new books!  My son is a future Silicone Valley pirate and has been reading a non-fiction series call Technology Pioneers.  He has read about Microsoft, Apple, and Google so far, but is hoping to read all the ones they have.  They are published by ABDO.  

 

He has also begun reading a series called Here's Hank!

It's a cute series and it's co-written by Henry Winkler!  Perfect for the second grade reader!!

My daughter is entering 7th grade, so her choices have been a little more challenging!  But some of her books we share!  This one in particular is REALLY good..

Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt

She's also really been enjoying the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot!

Also, mostly because of my son's interest in it, we have been trying out some STEM activities.  Both of my kids have really enjoyed these fun challenges and have amazed me at how they can just predict so accurately how and why they work or don't!

We have tried:

 stacking books on different shape columns

building a tower using one material (index cards)

building catapults 

I am hoping to try and incorporate some of these into group activities with my second grade class and lessons on teamwork.  The catapults so far has been my favorite!  And instead of using marshmallows or ping pong balls--my son had the bright idea of using small pom poms!

I simply have just searched on Pinterest and tested them out!  If you follow me on Pinterest, you can see some of the ones I have pinned!

It's almost the time to start thinking about school again...but we still got a few more weeks of summer fun!  Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!

Wrapping up the school year!

It was a busy, busy end of the year!  How is it that every year I feel like the end of the school year sneaks up on me??  I know it's coming, but then the list of things that need to get done gets bigger, and BIGGER!!  The last 2 weeks of school we worked on these awesome memory books...

I love reading all the things that the kids write---my goal is to get this up on TPT, but when I originally made it, I didn't pay attention to all the fun fonts I used!!  So maybe next year!

We also enjoyed field day and made these awesome 2nd grade shirts! Don't we look like a fun team??  We totally are!  I am blessed. My team all agreed we should make them earlier in the year so we can wear them with the kids all year long!  Bleach water and giant number 2's--so easy!

We also had loads of fun with a selfie stick on field day as well!!

And I enjoyed my last time of being in the same grade as my little, I mean, big guy!

He's on to 3rd grade next year, and more than ready for it, but seeing as how I can only teach up to 3rd, and I won't be next year---it's our last chance of being together in the same grade!  Count me lucky to have been able to be in 2nd grade with him every day!

But now it's on to summer...

and I will be spending it with these 3 troublemakers...

and I absolutely cannot wait!

A Season to Celebrate!

I have been missing in action for a few months.  Things were busy at school...snow days had taken their toll and we were playing a little bit of catch up.  As March approaches we enter what I like to call "Birthday Season" in our household!  As a teacher, it worked out well that both of my children are spring babies...made for nice maternity leaves and extra time at home.  Now??  It makes spring a little bit chaotic as we celebrate 2 birthdays in 3 weeks, plus Easter.   But we found some time to celebrate! Speaking of celebrating...we also took time in March to Celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss.  Not only did we have fun learning about the author, we also read LOTS of Dr. Seuss books.  I love to choose some of the 'less popular' books to share as read alouds with the kids. Plus Dr. Seuss has many books that have lessons or messages in them and are longer stories.  Second grade is the PERFECT age to share these!  One of my favorites is The Sneetches.  I was thrilled when one of my smarties made the connection to Rosa Parks and MLK!!  I love those moments. We also celebrated with a theme week all based on Dr. Seuss books.  On Monday, we read Fox in Socks and wrote our own tongue twisters!  Of course we wore crazy socks too. Tuesday was Oh the Places You'll Go.  We wrote about a place we would like to visit, and then we got to wear shirts of places we've been or would like to go! Wednesday was WACKY Wednesday.  This was a real fun one!  We dressed in wacky outfits...my team was amazing with their creativity---but if I post that picture here, they may be a little upset with me!  We also make our own wacky posters, and the students enjoyed trying to spot the mistakes. The Many Colored Days was Thursday's theme.  We painted our 'faces' different colors and wrote a poem about how those colors made us feel.  The music teacher helped us out with an activity that related the colors to sounds as well, and the kids really enjoyed it!   Friday was the old favorite, The Cat in the Hat Returns.  We had read the original earlier in the week, and drew these awesome cat pictures.  I had the kids write a reading response of what they would do if the cat came to their house about The Cat in the Hat.   Once we read the second one, they compared and contrasted the two books. It was a fun filled week and sent us right into Spring!  Before I knew it the quarter was over, I was busy with report cards and then relaxing during our way to cold Spring Break! Hope you've not been as busy as I was!  Here's to hoping the last 9 weeks fly by!

Time for a review

After an extended winter break (thanks to some extreme wind chills!), we returned to school!  Our first order of business?  Review rules and routines, of course! 

 In our class, children worked in groups to create posters that reminded us of the 'three R's-Respectful, Responsible, and Ready.'   These are part of our school-wide PBIS plan.  I happen to be the Tier 1 coach for our building, my team and I have worked really hard to combine the 8 Keys of Excellence in Quantum Learning with our PBIS plan.  You can see some of my kiddos are making the connection in their posters--they wanted to draw the keys on their poster!

As part of a school-wide lesson, each classroom made a poster for a specific area and 'R' and they are hung all around the school!  My partner in crime over at First Grade on the Brain had this awesome idea to encourage kids to earn the keys of excellence over the next 8 weeks!  Keeping that positive behavior up for the 3rd quarters!  We have keys hanging all over our room, school, etc!  The kids are loving it.
We also began learning double digit subtraction...  While I don't mind the challenge of whipping these kiddos into Math Wizards, the concept of 'borrowing,' I mean ungrouping, decomposing, whatever you want to call it....is a tough one.  Our new 'common core' math curriculum is a little lacking in the area of manipulatives and hands on lessons--so I was super excited to come up with this idea to incorporate some interactive learning to help with this concept!  

One friend was the 'Ones' and one was the 'Tens', we had a third friend be 'THE SUBTRACTOR!"  We used unit blocks and the kids could SEE when we didn't have enough to subtract.  I made a huge deal, and we put the bucket upside-down and I banged on the bottom and asked the kids, 'what's the problem??'

 We had lots of fun, and I could refer back to it in the next few days when we were just doing pencil/paper.