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Five for Friday – February 28, 2014

Uncategorized March 1, 2014

Wow…where did February go?  Crazy to think that March starts tomorrow!! I’m linking up today with Doodle Bug’s Five for Friday.  Be sure to link up with her blog here…

 
This week in Math, we learned how to add 3 digit numbers.  Here’s our anchor chart we created to show our various strategies…
 
 

We also worked on three digit subtraction.  We started with place value strategy and then some students wanted to learn break apart.  I love all of these kiddos being excited about learning new strategies.
 

 

In Writing, we finished up our President Reports.  We researched George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Barack Obama.  Here’s one of the kids working on their Abe Lincoln report. I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture of their finished All About Presidents book, but they turned out great!
 
 

 
In reading, we worked on standard RL.2.4 – looking at words and phrases in poems, songs, rhymes, etc.  I used have fun teaching’s RL.2.4 packet and her response page for poems along with some rhymes I typed up.  The kids did an awesome job finding the rhyming words, repeating phrases, creating a mental image, and deciding what the rhyme was about.  Check out have fun teaching’s packet here.
 

 

In writing station, my kids love to make cards and notes for friends and family.  Here are two sweet notes I received….  these are the moments when you remember why you teach!

 
 
 
Be sure to link up with Doodle Bug!
 
 

Five for Friday – January 24

Uncategorized January 24, 2014

I’m linking up over with Doodle Bug for Five for Friday.  You can link up with her here.  For a short week, it sure has felt like a long one. I know there was a full moon last week, but I swear the effects were long lasting lol.  Here’s what we’ve been up to this week….

 

We started our All About Penguins Project this week.  We began by learning penguin vocabulary from a teacher-created PowerPoint. 

 
Then, we started our research using National Geographic Kids.  They had a great article on penguins in the January/February issue.  We’ve been reading through it, discussing, and adding facts to our circle map.

*Disclaimer – I tried to get this picture to go the correct way about 10 times and this is what I got…Sorry

 
In reading this week, we began working on Theme.  I read multiple books such as – Ferdinand the Bull, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and the Little Red Hen (more books to come next week) to introduce and discuss theme.  They’ve done a great job with it and have even picked out the theme in most books on their own without too much prompting, which isn’t easy.  I always find theme to be a hard one for them to understand.  We’re also working on a circle map and adding themes to it as we go.  We’ve also started written response about theme now that they are familiar with it.

*This picture wouldn’t go the right way either :-(.
 

New Website – I heard about Weebly from a co-worker and knew it was something that I would get to eventually.  At my old school, we each had our own website through Schoolwires, which had teacher and class info, but also links to practice various skills.  I missed this terribly and I missed having links readily available during stations.  So, this weekend since it was a long one I finally sat down and got one up and running.  It’s very basic and still needs work, but now I have some reading and math links all ready to go for the kiddos.
 
 

TPT Success – I opened my TPT store this summer and have been gradually working at growing it.  Now, I’m not very far and this is nowhere near the success some people have had, but I was super excited to reach 100 items sold today.  I still have more goals ahead of me, but for someone who just started out I was excited to see that people are buying, using, and finding my products helpful.
 
 
 

This is a personal weekly item, but I finally upgraded my phone to the 5S.  I’ve had the iPhone 4 for 2 and a half years and let me tell you it was time.  My poor little phone just couldn’t keep up like it used to. So now I have a new phone that is quick and takes beautiful pictures!  Love it!
 
 
 
 
That’s it for my week! Can’t wait to see what everyone else has been up to. Be sure to link up!

Five for Friday

Uncategorized January 17, 2014

I’m linking up with Doodlebug for Five for Friday.  Join the linky party here…

 
This week we spent a lot of time researching and learning about Martin Luther King Jr.  We watched a Brainpop video and “Martin’s Big Words” on Bookflix.  We read two articles and read a mini biography about him.  To keep track of our facts we used a circle map. Then, we planned our writing and wrote All About Martin.
 
 
 

 

We also learned about Author’s Purpose this week.  We made a little flip book for the different reasons authors write.  We made a characteristics chart for specific things to look for with each purpose.  We also used the lessons from Readworks.org.  They have great lessons for Author’s Purpose and also provide text for the students to read at their level. 

 

For the final activity with Author’s Purpose, we did Author’s Purpose Scoot with a packet from Fishy Rob that can be found here.  The kids had so much fun moving around and practicing their new skills with this activity.

 

In Math this week, we worked on comparing numbers. We started by making an anchor chart with important vocabulary and some examples. Then, we practiced whole group with some practice problems on white boards.  We also played games from Sunny Days unit, which can be found here. The kids had fun playing Compare and Capture.  We also played Roll and Compare a little game I created (which will be a freebie here later this weekend).
 

 

 

And, my last excitement for the week – new books! We’re starting to teach theme next week so I ordered some new books from Amazon to add to my teaching collection!
 
 
Hope everyone has a great start to the 3 day weekend!

January Currently

Uncategorized January 5, 2014

This is my first time linking up with Farley for her monthly Currently.  Be sure to link up at her site here…

 
Listening: I’m currently listening to some Law and Order SVU on their usual Sunday USA Marathon while I’m attempting to get ready, clean, and get some work done.
 
Loving: This past weekend I got to go to Phoenix to catch up with friends and also see my fiancé’s team play two games in a tournament in Scottsdale, which they won both. It was so great catching up with my friends from my old school and from Phoenix. 
 
Thinking: I really should do school work, but I really don’t want to.  Anyone else having this issue on the last Sunday before break?
 
Wanting: More days for break.  I feel like every weekend flies by and even when you have two weeks off those seem to fly by too.  I could use a few more days to get ready for going back now that I’m done traveling for break.
 
Needing: Motivation – I need some motivation to get going on work stuff and to get motivated for getting back into work mode. I’m also needing to find some motivation for the gym.  I’m thinking an upcoming wedding will help with that motivation :-).
 
 
Tradition: Every Christmas when we were kids, my parents would have most gifts wrapped under the tree, but then Santa would give us a Christmas Scavenger hunt with clues that lead to many wonderful gifts – Tike House, Barbie Motorhome, iPod, etc…  Since this is our last Christmas in my parent’s house, they planned one last one for my sister and I – even though we are 23 and 28.  It was pretty fun and pretty difficult.  The clues were much easier when we were kids.
 
 
Hope everyone is having a great Sunday! Be sure to link up with the January Currently!

Teaching Blog Linky Party

Uncategorized January 1, 2014

Love this great idea that Jennifer at Simply Kinder had for her Teaching Blog Link-Up. I love this idea because I too have found there are a billion awesome blogs out there that I still haven’t seen yet.  Be sure to go over and link-up!

2014 New Year’s Resolutions

Uncategorized January 1, 2014

I’m linking up with Jessica at First Grade Nest to share my resolutions for 2014.  Make sure to join the linky party here so we can see everyone’s great goals!

 
Here are my goals…
 
 
Here are some more goals for 2014…
 
Continue to search for and create creative lessons that fit with Common Core to keep students engaged.
 
 
 
Blog 3 times a week consistently and try to create a new TPT project once a month and hopefully more once I get back on a roll with it.
 
 
 
Get into better shape.  I just got engaged and like most brides would like to be in better shape for the wedding and just in general.  I’ve got about a year and a half until we get married, but would like to start now so I can feel better and more fit. So, my goal with this one is to work out 3-4 times a week and start taking more classes at the gym to keep me on track.
 
 
I want to get organized with a lot of things in life. I want my house to be organized so cleaning takes less time and also want to organize my finances better with a budget so I can save more money.
 
 
Stress. I’m sure most people would like to give this one up lol.  I won’t be able to give up all stress, but I’d like to work on not stressing so much over things I have no control of.
 
 
Start running again.  I’m not a huge runner, but had fun running when I took it back up a few years ago. I’d really love to get started with it again and be able to run for  half hour without feeling like I’m going to pass out.

Make sure you link up and Happy New Year! Hope everyone’s 2014 is off to a wonderful start!

Thirteen in 13

Uncategorized December 31, 2013

So I’ve been very MIA from the blogging and TPT world lately, but that is one of my resolutions for 2014 to work on that. The holiday season and many other events came up and it seemed there wasn’t much time for blogging, but I’m back.  I decided to join in on the Thirteen in 13 Linky Party to wrap up what was a wonderful year and have a chance to reflect back on it before starting those fun resolutions.  Be sure to link up here.

Here are my top 13 memories from 2013

#1 – Getting engaged.  My wonderful boyfriend now fiancé popped the question in December right before Christmas. We’re so excited to start a wonderful life together!

 
#2 – Visiting Chicago – I had never been and got to go this summer and see the city and all of it’s wonderful tourist sites.

 
#3 – Starting my own store on TPT – I have a long way to go, but I’ve had fun creating my own projects to share with others.  Check out my store here.
 



#4 – Beach Trip – Before school started, we took a road trip to Santa Monica and got some much needed R&R beach time in.

 


#5 –  Moved to Las Vegas this summer to be in the same city as my boyfriend (fiancé) – no more long distance for us!


 
#6 – Along with the move came packing up at my classroom at the school I began teaching at and giving up my big, big classroom – worked there 6 years.
 
#7 – Moving in to a much smaller portable to teach 2nd grade in Las Vegas.  Love teaching 2nd grade, but wish I had a bigger classroom.

 
#8 – Kenny Chesney Concert at the Hard Rock Hotel – he puts on a great show!
 
 
#9 – Staying at the Bellagio – I’ve always, always, always wanted to stay here and my fiancé surprised me with a stay at the beautiful Bellagio hotel as a part of our engagement/Christmas present. This is the view of the water show from our room…
 
#10 – Decorating both basketball dorm houses for Christmas – I love decorating for Christmas so when I had the chance to decorate for the team my fiancé coaches, I jumped on it!


 



#11 – Spending holidays with family. We got to spend Christmas with his family in Tucson and then I got to fly to Boise to spend a 2nd Christmas with my family. So glad that the holiday season could be spent with them.  No pictures yet…
 
#12 – Maroon 5 Concert for New Year’s Eve – another Christmas surprise.  No pictures of this either since it’ll take place tonight.  Maroon 5 is one of my absolute favorite bands and I’m so excited to see them tonight on New Year’s Eve!
 
#13 – Looking forward to a great 2014 – again, no pictures yet, but I have so much to be thankful for in 2013 and can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store for us and to begin wedding planning!
 
2014 resolutions are coming tomorrow. Can’t wait to see everyone else’s great events from 2013. 


Work In Progress – Classroom Update – Day #5

Uncategorized August 22, 2013

So, I’m to the exhausted, delirious point that all teachers reach at some point during back to school set up. The other day I literally was walking around with the stapler in my hand trying to find my stapler.  I think we’ve all had moments like that :-).  Today we only had a few hours in the afternoon to work in our classrooms after many hours of school professional development.  Here’s the current state – I’m almost ready to take the work in progress label off of it.  After five days (not full days) of work….

The beginnings of my new bucket filling area.
 

Clip Chart all hung up and ready to go!
 

View from the door of my classroom.  Trying to get all the “stuff” put away.
 

My MVP Board – then it’ll be the kiddos turn as the weeks go on.
 

My desk area. I always like to put up some personal pictures and old school pictures – not sure why this picture turned out so blurry.
 

My new lesson plan bins. Saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to try it out for storing daily materials.
 

View from the front of my classroom.
 
Almost done and I need to be because school starts Monday and we have an all day training off site tomorrow. Anyways – bedtime for me!

Work in Progress – Classroom Update

Uncategorized August 17, 2013

So I finished Day #3 of working in my classroom. We only had about half of the day to work in our rooms since we had another new teacher meeting in the morning.  I got more done yesterday and am starting to see a classroom coming together out of the mess.  I got more boxes out, which helps. See my progress below (again, major warning – I still have a lot of work to do!)

One cabinet full! Lots of teacher books, extra math manipulatives, and academic games.
 

Second cabinet full. This one is kind of a miscellaneous cabinet – a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I don’t have a lot of storage except for these two cabinets so it’s not organized 100% to my liking, but it’s workable. In this cabinet, I have extra supplies, teaching supplies, board games for Fun Friday, and extra containers.
 
 

View from my teacher area. As you can see – less boxes today :-)!  My first goal on Monday is to get the desks put in place so I can see what space I’m working with.
 

View from the front door. Yes, still a mess, but I’m getting there.
 

View of my small group area.  This table is a little big, but they’re trying to get some more kidney tables which will fit better. I’m going to use that white storage drawer set for small group stuff.
 

My beautiful new bookshelves that my lovely boyfriend put together for me. Got these two Target bookshelves at Target in the college section for $17 a piece- great deal! This will house supplies for the students to access and writing materials.  I still have room so I’ll post a picture when I fully figure out how I’m going to use these bookshelves.
 
 
Thank you for checking out my progress.  Slowly, but surely I’m getting there. 
 

Teacher Week – Wednesday – Organizing for Instruction

Uncategorized August 15, 2013

I survived the first day of New Teacher Training for my new district. Man, those meetings are long though. I forget how overwhelming it is to be new somewhere.

Anyways, I’ve been looking forward to this all day and have even spent some time daydreaming during training about what I would share with you all today – time to link up for Wednesday’s Teacher Week 2013 – Organizing for Instruction over at Blog Hoppin’.  Now, as I mentioned yesterday – I love my labels and my storage containers. I should seriously buy stock in Sterilite with how many of their tubs and containers I have. See below for some organization ideas from my classroom…

One of my favorite organizational items I started using a few years ago is my TEAMS (Teaching Everyone About Management Skills) binders. These take-home binders are a favorite of mine and I love how it helps keep me organized and how it teaches kids to be organized.  See the picture below and check out my old blog entry on how I set them up here.
 
 
 
At the beginning of the post I mentioned my absolute love for labels.  This picture below gives you a quick glimpse into how I organize community supplies for students. 
 
I know it’s not a close-up, but this is the best picture I have.  I haven’t set it up in my new classroom yet, so you’ll have to see it in action in my old classroom.
 
 
For younger kids, I’m a big fan of shared classroom supplies, but I also want easy access for them.  On each table above, you’ll see a Target shower caddy that I bought a few years ago during all of their college sales. Inside each bin I have 5 orange cups with picture and word labels.  I have a cup for pencils, glue, scissors, markers, and white board markers. The kids get really good about putting things in the right spot which makes for a clean classroom and a happy teacher.  They also put their box of crayons with their name on it in the black shower caddy and I have a sock eraser for white boards for each student in there too.  I found this has worked really well for me in the past and it provides everyone with the supplies they need right at their fingertips.
 
 
Thanks for stopping by to check out my organization ideas. I always love learning new tips and tricks to keep things organized so I’m excited to check out everyone else’s posts!
 
I’m off to bed – another day of training tomorrow for me. Night everyone!