Monday, August 31, 2015

5 Facts About Me for Teacher Week 15


Number 1: I have been married almost 26 years (on September 22nd) and have two grown children- Jake and Becca. I have known my husband since I was 3. Our mothers were best friends.


Number 2: I love photography. I have really been more into it in the past couple of years. I took this picture of my son and his wife for the invitations.



Number 3: My husband and I have been remodeling our whole house this year. We redid the floors in the house. I love the wood floors we chose. This is the living room. 


Number 4: I collect snowflakes and snowmen. I got this one last year when we went on our 25th anniversary trip to Tennessee.


Number 5: I went to Harry Potter world at Universal in April. It was amazing and looked just like the buildings in the movies.






Monday, August 24, 2015

Coffee Table Makeover

Today is the first day of school for us.I was able to finish one of my favorite projects last week just in time for school to start.




I had this old square coffee table that I painted for my room last year. By the end of the year, it needed to be refreshed. My husband had the wonderful idea of covering it with a white bord from Home Depot. Here is what it looked like at the end of last school year:

Home Depot cut a sheet of white board into a 45 inch square. I attached it with Power Grab glue and put white duct tape around the edges of the table. Here it is now:


I let the children write their names on the table at Meet the Teacher night.


One of the best parts about this project was that the white board sheet was $14 and I have a large enough piece left that I can recover the table next year if it gets messed up for some reason.

Now, I'm off for a busy first week of school. 






Friday, August 21, 2015

5 For Friday

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This was my Preplanning week. School starts on Monday. We had Meet the Teacher on Tuesday night. 18 out of my 21 students came! It was so nice to meet that many families before the school year begins.





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I took my IKEA shelf and bins to my classroom. I got a blue beta fish before Meet the Teacher night. 




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I finally decided where I could put my "Daily Data" area in my classroom.It will be o this white board easel. Then, I can wheel it around the classroom if I want to use it somewhere else.

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How cute is this Hungry Caterpillar baby outfit? I am expecting my first grandchild in early March. I am so excited! My daughter has had a tough time over the past year and a half with having 2 miscarriages. We are hoping and praying a lot this time.

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I  just found this list in one of my mother's notebooks. She fell into a coma unexpectedly in October 2013 and died a month later. This list made me so happy. (Jacob and Becca are my children.)







Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Math Plan

I have been reading more about Guided Math and been thinking about how to plan for my Math classes this year. I will have two Math classes again this year.

I set up a Calendar area in my classroom. Here is a picture of what I am starting with:

The first week of school, I will introduce the elements of our Calendar Area. On the first day of school, we will look at the Calendar to determine the date and what day of the week it is. I will have the students determine what day was yesterday and what tomorrow will be. We will begin counting the Days of School on the chart. One popsicle stick goes in the pocket for the Ones each day until we trade them in for a Ten. We will review Fact Families with the Fact Family chart. That will be all we do with it the first day.

On the second day of school, we will do the elements from yesterday and we will write the time on the clock (I will start with the hour and half hour since it will be a review from 1st grade.), I will introduce the "Show Me the Money" chart and have the children show the money with coins.

On the third day, we will do the elements learned so far and add the large numbers next to the Calendar. I am going to put up a 3 digit number (I have the numbers 0-9 on each ring so I can just flip the numbers). In the blue pocket chart we will  show the number by adding the Hundreds, Tens and Ones. For example, 124 will be shown 100 + 20 + 4.

On the fourth day, we will do all the elements and add in a Word Problem. I have a Word Problem box of cards someone gave me from Lakeshore. I am going to clip a card on the small white and chevron paper above the Calendar. We will discuss the Word Problem and I will record their different ways of solving the problem.

On Fridays, I don't plan to do Calendar skills. I want to spend more time on Fridays with challenging Word Problems they solve in pairs or groups. We will then discuss the different ways they solved the problem.

For the first few weeks, we will do the Calendar Mondays through Thursdays with both of my Math classes. Then, I plan to alternate Calendar days with my classes. So, one class will do it on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other group will do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I plan to add more measurement-type skills in another area and the students will do those skills on the days they don't do Calendar skills.

I plan to give a whole group lesson and instruction on new Math Centers and games on Mondays. So, I may not pull groups on Mondays. On Tuesdays through Thursdays, I plan to give a short whole group lesson and the call my Guided Math groups during Independent work time and Centers. On Fridays, we will focus on cooperative group work. When I get my Centers going the second week of school, I will post about how I manage the Centers and keep track of all the supplies.

I use Math Journals regularly, so we will be involved with those almost everyday. I plan to introduce those the second day of school. 

Monday, August 17, 2015

Monday Made It

 Monday Made It


I filled bags with goldfish crackers and attached this tag. I am going to have these on the students' desks for Meet the Teacher this Tuesday. I found the free printable on firstgradeblueskies.com.


I had a basket in this spot on my classroom counter. But, the more I thought about it, I decided that I want to have the students help sort the papers. There is a space for Homework, Math (for 2 different classes) and Science. I used a scrapbooking shelf unit I had at home and printed labels for each shelf. I think this will help me keep the papers better organized this year.


This was a small bamboo hamper I no longer used at home. I removed the top and painted it turquoise to match my room. I hot glued ribbon around the top and bottom. I am using it in my classroom to hold various items such as yard sticks, a broom and rolls of paper.




I had this stool in my class for last couple of years. I painted it to match that classroom. It didn't match my new room, so I painted it black. I was planning to paint a design on it, but I haven't decided what I want to paint. So, for now, it is black and blends in better with this room.




I made this plaque for the house. I printed out a quote I like on photo paper. I painted a wood shape navy blue. Then, I mod podged the quote on the wood. I attached a hanger on the back.

I go back to work this week, so I'm not sure if I will be able to make things this week, but I hope so. It is very relaxing to be crafty! 





Friday, August 14, 2015

5 for Friday

This was my last week off for the Summer. I go back on Monday. The students come back on Monday, August 24th.

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I went to IKEA for the first time ever on Tuesday. I love that place! Too bad it is 1 1/2 hours from my house. I did get a few things for my classroom and some things for my house. I got a white shelf and black bins to store Math Center supplies and some small plastic containers for cards.



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I spent time each day in the pool. It was so relaxing!



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I mostly finished my classroom on Sunday so I could just relax these last few days off.


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I got the new Dr. Seuss book in the mail. I love Dr. Seuss! I have my first grandchild coming in the Spring. I have already started collecting Dr. Seuss board books for him/her (we will know which gender in a few weeks).

Product Details

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I bought some new clip art from Etsy. I love all the clip art at Jessica Sawyer Designs. 

80% OFF - INSTANT DOWNLOAD,  Doodle font - alphabet clipart - commercial use -  - card making - digital scrapbook - digital element

I don't know her personally, but I have several of her clip art sets. She is having a Back to School Sale until the 15th- 80% off! If you are interested, you can click here to see her store.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Classroom Reveal 2015

I finally have my room done! Yeah! There are still a lot of little things I want/need to do, but I feel like my room looks done enough for Meet the Teacher which comes on our first day back. After Meet the Teacher, I plan to get some of the small things done.

I switched rooms (and grade levels this year). So, I wanted to change things up a little bit, but be able to use some of the things I bought a couple years ago when I went with a turquoise and lime green theme.

I found this set by Schoolgirl Style.


 I love the colors! And my turquoise and lime green bins fit right in. I added some navy blue and chevron print to what I already had.

Here are some pictures:


The bulletin board on the left is where I will hang student work and put the Math skills we are working on. Our rules are on the top of the bookshelf. The math manipulatives are on the shelves. There were still boxes to be taken out on the floor in front of the bookshelf when I took this picture. 
Under the clock, I have 2 small pocket charts for my Math Center rotations. Under those pocket charts are my books.


This is the Calendar area. The wire shelves to the right will be cubbies for the students' backpacks. I plan to hang anchor charts on the back of the wire, which will help to hide the cubbies.


This is the board at the front of the room. The Book Baskets are on the shelf under the board. 


The Word Wall is on the bulletin board above the green shelves. On the right is the Science bulletin board (on the front of the cabinets). The short table is one of the Center areas. There are pillows under the table for the students to use. 


This is my tiny Social Studies bulletin board. This round table will be used for Centers. The easel on the left will be for our "Daily Data" questions. 



Here is a view from the back of the room.



This table will be used as another Center area.


These cabinets hold a lot of my teaching supplies. Students will turn in their work in the basket on the counter under the green arrow.My Teacher Manuals are behind the striped cloth.Our Class Schedule will go in the black pocket chart. 



 
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