Week in Review {08.12.13-08.16.13}

Another week has come and gone. Last week was the second week of school. We started by taking our district benchmark tests for reading and math. All of the students worked very hard and they were excited to see all of the fun and exciting things we will be learning in second grade. 

I love using manipulatives to allow the students to be hands-on during math time. Last week we worked with pattern blocks. We talked about the names and attributes of the shapes (how many sides, colors, etc.) Then the students got to discover the pattern blocks on their own.

Here the students are working together to create designs.

Here are some of the designs that they came up with on their own. I was very happy with how creative the students got. One student even gave his pattern block person a mustache.

 

On Friday we talked about repeating patterns. Students then worked together again to create as many repeating patterns as they could think of.

I need to get in the routine of taking pictures again. I love my class this year and I can't wait to share all the amazing things we do.

First Week

I successfully completed the first week of school. I have 28 second graders. This is the largest class I have ever had in my whole six years of teaching. It's definitely more management at the beginning then normal, but I know it will be worth it. I have a pretty good class and I am looking forward to a new exciting year. 

Week in Review

Nouns

This week we have been working on nouns. The class has been pretty successful with knowing what a noun is and being able to sort them into a person, place, or thing. The first activity that we did was a noun search. After teaching and reviewing nouns on Monday and Tuesday, by Wednesday we were then able to work with a partner and find different nouns around the room. The students had to then decide whether the noun they found was a person, place, or thing and then put it in the correct column. On Thursday they got to complete a noun sort. The students had a lot of fun. At first they we using the picture sides of the cards to sort and then got brave and started challenging themselves with the word side.

Chrysanthemum

Every month we will be reading books by different authors. This month we are reading books by Kevin Henkes. All week we have been reading Chrysanthemum. It's a perfect book for the first week of school because it teaches the students that everyone is different and that is what makes you special.After reading Chrysanthemum a few times the students were able to make their own Chrysanthemums to display in the classroom.

I am linking up over at...

Chalkboard Name Plate

Today is the first day of school and I am surprisingly pretty calm. Normally I can't sleep the night before and I get super nervous. I feel prepared this year and even though I am already at 28 students, and probably will hit 30 by the end of the day, I feel like it's going to be a good year. I wanted to get more done this weekend for Monday Made It, but my new motto is, "It can get done tomorrow". Normally I would have just stayed up all night making things and then go in super early to set it all up. Then I realized, it can all be done tomorrow. So I will show you what I made today and show you the rest... tomorrow. ;-)

1. Chalkboard Name Plate

I bought these supplies earlier on in the summer because I wanted to get a head start on these name plates. Unfortunately for me, I waited until the last second. I filmed a quick tutorial, but I will be editing it late. Make sure to check back later to see how I made this name plate.

2. Teacher Binder

I also put together my teacher binder. You can find the file that I used HERE. I plan on making this my binder for lesson plans as well as a data binder. Normally I would always keep them both separate, but this way is easier. Next year I will definitely be buying the Erin Condren Lesson Planner. So much easier to have something that is already done for you.

3. New Shoes

I didn't make shoes this weekend, but wouldn't that be cool if I did!? I went searching for a good pair of shoes and I found some at my first store and in my size! That never happens to me!!! They are Clarks and I've hear really great things about them. Even the cashier commented on how comfortable the shoes are. I guess I will let you know after today.

4. Classroom Tour

I consider this my biggest Monday Made it of the whole summer and that is redoing my room. If you want to see more detail pictures. Please visit the blog post HERE.

5. Custom Borders

I also created my own borders to help in the decorating process. I have a whole post on this process as well as a video. You can view that post HERE.

Thank you for checking out my Monday Made Its and I hope everyone that is going back to school today or ones that have been there for a few weeks are having a great new year. And to all of you who are still on summer vacation... I hate you. Haha, JUST KIDDING!!! Enjoy your summers because they go by fast (like I'm sure you already know). ;-)

Classroom Tour

Tomorrow is the first day of school and after a week and a half of redoing my room, I am ready to share what it looks like.

First a quick story on my room. My first year of teaching I had a huge red wall and it drove me crazy by the end of the year. After that I ripped it all down and wallpapered my room in black. It stayed like that for 4 years. This summer I decided to redo one wall with purple fabric after talking to my teaching buddy/BFF. Once that wall was done everything else just seemed out of place. That's when I slowly created a purple theme. I didn't think anything was going to match, but somehow it all came together.

 View from the door

 My desk is to the right as soon as you walk into the classroom

 Right side of the classroom

 Front of the classroom

 Where I display student work

 Back of the classroom

 Left side of the classroom

 Bathroom

 Word Wall

 Anchor Chart Wall

 Writing Wall

Library

I love my classroom this year and I can't wait to spend time in there with my students. It took a lot of work, time, dedication, and sore legs and feet, but it was definitely worth it!!!

DIY Border

Tomorrow is the first day back for teachers. Student come next week so I guess I still have a little bit of "vacation" left. Today I want to share with you something that I came up with a couple weeks ago and that is DIY Borders!!

I was at home one day I just decided to run a strip of cardstock through my crimper and the rest is history. You can make any color imaginable (as long as you can find the paper. You could also print out a pattern and use the same technique).

I also wanted to share one more thing with you. I created these amazing stamps over at Vista Print. I caved and made a 2nd Grade Quality one. Maria from Kinder Craze had such a great tutorial on it that I decided to make one of my own.

I have a few more things coming in the mail from Vista Print today including a signature stamp and some magnets. I'm very excited!!!

Back to School Goals

I go back to work in exactly one week. Next week is just for teachers and I don't actually see kids until two weeks from now, but the time is approaching very quickly. I wanted to start thinking of the goals I want to set for myself, both professionally as well as personally. It's very easy to get caught up in "teacher  mode". You all know how it goes, come in to work early and stay late. Take work home and stay up until midnight getting ready for the next day. My main goal is to STAY BALANCED. This will be my reminder every day to balance out everything that goes on in my daily life. Of course I have broken my larger goal into smaller, more manageable goals.

Goal #1: Make a schedule and stick to it.
This goal can be used for everything. Mainly, it's for my time that I spend at school. I start at 7:00 and end at 3:00. That's it!! If I don't finish something, there's always tomorrow. I can always spend 5 more minutes on cleaning my room or make one more extra copy. Do you know how many times those 5 minutes have turned into a couple hours? Do you know how many times that extra copy ends up in a drawer that never gets used? I was so much happier when I came to school on time and left on time. I used my time that I did have at school more wisely and I was a happier teacher. Not to mention a happier person!!

Goal #2: Finish four masters classes this year.
I am currently getting my masters. I have been pursuing it for over a year now and I must say that at times it can be very stressful. My program is completely self paced so it allows me to focus on what is most important... teaching. Self paced has its pros and cons. The pros are that there are no due dates. The cons... no due dates. I often put all of my masters work off until the last minute and then rush to get it done on a "timeline" that I created. I like to set myself due dates to finish a class and when I don't finish it by then, I feel stressed. This school year I want to devote 30 minutes a day to school work. That way it's doable, but still not overwhelming.

Goal #3: Stay crafty.
I have had many hobbies in the past, but none have really stuck with me the way crafting has. I love being creative and learning new crafts. This year I plan on incorporating crafting more into my teaching. I have already done so in the past with craftivities for my kids, but I want to take it to the next level. I have always wanted to create a scrapbook of my teaching, but never knew what I wanted to do. I didn't want years and years worth of scrapbooks that would just sit on a shelf and never be looked at. I love documenting lessons or activities that I enjoy doing with my class. I think I'm going to try to make a scrapbook that reflects lessons I want to remember as well as special memories we had throughout the year. I think would also be nice to have a special area for completed scrapbooks that I can share with future students.

Those are just a few of my goals this school year. Of course there are many more, but these are just a few of my top three goals. I would love to hear what your goals for the school year are. Feel free to link up and share with all your bloggy readers as well. Maybe your goal will help someone else!!

Monday Made-It {07.21.13}

Today's Monday Made it is just a small share of the few things I made this week. I go back in a little over a week. My summer is sadly coming to an end. I enjoyed relaxing and making things for my classroom. I know the school year will bring so many great things. Summer is not over and I will be back next week to share what I make for my classroom. But onto this week...

Item #1- Bathroom Sign
I am lucky to have a bathroom in my classroom that I share with the classroom next door. My lovely teaching partner came up with the idea of using magnets on the back of sticks for monitoring bathroom usage. At the beginning of the year students love going to the bathroom whenever they feel like it. You would think that having a bathroom in your room would provide very little disruptions. Well it seems to be the opposite. I think since the kids see the bathroom in the room, they want to visit it more. I also use the bathroom sticks, but they would always fall off the door frame if someone walked into them and bathroom sticks went flying. I decided I needed something a little more practical. I created this hanging sign. It's just a magnetic whiteboard that I decorated. Very simple and hopefully it will cut down on the sticks being bumped into and flying everywhere!!

Item #2- Cheers
It seems like everyone is all about cheers in their classroom. I love celebrating moments with my children and sometimes it's hard to come up with something on the spot. I'm sure that these cheers will come in handy this year. You can get your own copy of these cheers HERE. You can print them full page or smaller. I choose to print the smaller ones so they are a little more portable. I can take them onto the carpet, in line, or even outside!!

Item #3- Rules
Last year I used the Whole Brain Teaching rules in my classroom. We went over them every morning and my students knew them, but we didn't always use them. I was pretty fortunate to have a pretty good class last year. Even though most of the time they followed the rules, I still didn't feel like those rules reflected what I expected of my students. This year I am using a new set of rules. You can find a copy of them HERE. It's great because you can use the rules that are already created or edit them to fit the needs of your classroom.

Item #4- Clock Labels
I have seen so many different clock labels out there and for the last few years I have been using post-it notes as my labels. I decided to step it up a notch and create my own this year. They are using my new forest theme. Now all I have to do is buy a new clock that has a silent tick. :-)

You can get a copy of your own labels HERE for free.