Seriously?!?

Oh my goodness, you guys!! I had a first today. I'm in my 7th year of teaching, and I'm usually the teacher that gets the BIG TICKET kiddos - you know the ones ;) Anywho, I have a big ticket again, this year, but my story is not about him! It's about my sweet, quiet little Miss C.

Miss C must have been tired of waiting in line. So, what did she do? She BIT her neighbor. On the CHEEK. WHAT!?!?! I was flabbergasted. I have never seen a first grader bite in all my years. Have you?? Needless to say, mom was called and apologized for her daughter's behavior. Sigh... They're gonna keep me on my toes this year! :) Which leads me to my next point...

I am in LOVE with this! Check out the CFC blog and watch the Class?Yes! video! I am going to try this tomorrow. And the next day. And the next til it works!!

Three for Thursday!

Once again, I'm joining in the FUN over at Blog Hoppin'!  Here are my top faves in 3 categories: fonts, blogs, and online resources!! {Unfortunately, I'm apparently NOT very original! So many others share my favorites, too!}

Favorite Fonts:

Most of these are from Kevin & Amanda, but some are from Lettering Delights! L.O.V.E. me some fun fonts!

 Favorite Blogs:

Oh man... SO many to choose from!! The first blog I was introduced to was The First Grade Parade, and I instantly was HOOKED on this whole teacher-blogging-thing! :)

I also love these blogs, among several others... please check over here ---------------> for more!!

  

Favorite Online Resource:

Well, I am in love. With pinning. And boards. Oh my. Whoever invented this wonderland deserves something grand. :)

Come on over and JOIN ME!

I hope you enjoyed my list... it broke the rules. I was only supposed to name one under each category. OOPS! :)



My home away from home!! :)

Since we spend SOOO much time in our classrooms, we need to make sure we love them, right?!? This is why we work so hard the couple of weeks before school starts to get everything just perfect... and then (if you're like me) spend all year long making notes of how to make it better for next year! :)

Here's a peek into my little Room 108. Welcome! It's nice to have you!!

Walking into my door, here's the view you get! I'll show you around, heading to the right, and then we'll go all the way around the room!

Here is our large group area...to the right are my file cabinets and LOTS of StoryTown materials stored in color-coded crates!

 As you can see, I have my calendar wall here; we don't do too much during calendar time b/c we only have 60 minutes each day for math... I want to be doing my lessons and having them go to math tubs rather than sitting here listening to the Star Helper tell them the date :)

{Forgive the random label on the calendar; our writing lesson had the kids labeling things around our room!!}

 Above that is OUR BEST wall! Colorful squares of scrapbooking paper with my kiddos' names on the right side. Perfect frame for hanging wonderful work!

This is where I sit while teaching in whole group... Our Happy Habits posters are there for all to see all the time! I'm trying to think of something creative to do with the front of my Big Book storage unit - any ideas of how to cover the u-g-l-y grey?? Behind this space is my desk and our math wall that will change based on our topic of study! 

 Right now, I simply have up colors and easy stuff... it'll change soon! I CANNOT remember where I first saw these math key words, but I love them! My whole team has them up now, too!

 Here is my teacher shelf with all my materials for the day/week/next week! Behind curtain #1 are my recess tubs, #2: my anthology readers and storage containers, #3: my math manipulatives! {Those curtains are the ONLY evidence of sewing I've ever done. In my LIFE.}

 Here is my new Word Wall!!! I'm trying out an interactive one this year... so I laminated my papers and will sticky-tack my words onto the correct paper. The kids can hop up there, pull off the word they need, and get going with their writing! Wish me luck as I deal with how crooked they'll stick the words back up....!!

The colorful tubs are my math tubs (I put the numbers on after snapping this pic), and the rectangle table is my Guided Reading/Math group table.

Around the corner is my M.E.S.S of a library!!! I'm so embarrassed. This is definitely on my to-do list this year - get this thing under control!! I also store my whiteboard and clip boards down there on the left.

Here is my GR storage cart and student computer. The colored drawers hold nothing yet... but I'm sure I'll find math stuff to stick in there soon!!

My whiteboard! Above if are my StoryTown letters, below it are ways to Be In Control of us! You can also see my kiddos' tables and our focus wall.

Close up of the Focus Wall! Still a work in progress, as this is the first year we've used one. So far I like it... we'll see how I tweak it as the year goes on!

 Here are the hooks we hang our bags on with their name tags. On the left is my daily Star Helper, our Give Me Five rules, and How We Get Home poster! {Plus evidence of my too-many storage bins... crates going unused!}

Well, there it is! I hope you enjoyed your visit... come back soon!! :) Join in the party at Blog Hoppin'!

Teacher Talk Tuesday

{Pretend like I didn't just post 2x within 30 minutes of each other...}

I'm joining in again with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Talk Tuesday! It's all about advice for new teachers... I'm definitely NO expert, but here's what I've got:

- LAUGH! Laugh at yourself and laugh with the kids. Let them see you're a real person with a sense of humor. It'll make them feel more comfortable.

- GO HOME! Pick one evening to stick around a work, but the other days, leave the classroom! Even if you're not married or whatnot, get out and about and keep strong friendships. You'll need outlets as you go.

- MAKE MEMORIES! Keep a folder, file, post-it pad.. whatever floats your boat. But write down the hilarious things that happen. Keep the handmade cards you get for the holidays. These items will help you remember what it was that got you into teaching in the first place. And on those tough days (which we all have!), pull out that file and remember the good things. Smile, it makes you feel better!!

And, that's all I've got. I'm pooped, and have to get ready for my LOOOONG day tomorrow (last day of meeting for grad classes - WOOT!). Can't wait to read all of your ideas and advice! Join in the party!

(The button is still not working for me.. I've done this a MILLION times, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...)

So, I'm a little behind....

But I hope you'll "meet" me anyways! :-) Here is my post to link up with Blog Hoppin'! I'm a teeny bit stressed out between the beginning of school, a new reading series, and other stuff, so this is a WELCOME distraction!!

Tell us a little something about you.....

I am 28 years old, and I just began my 7th year of teaching. I have always taught 1st grade, and, while I'd be open to a change some day, I'd be perfectly happy staying right here! I have been married to my hubby for 3+ years now, and we have a black lab "puppy" (she's over 1 year now...) named Lucy. She's my spoiled little baby!!

 

How long have you been teaching?

As I said above (I'm not good at reading all the way thru before I start something, oops!), I started my 7th year of teaching last week. I am 6 weeks away from finishing my Master's degree in Elem. Ed. and I can't WAIT for the boost in my paycheck!! I'd love to go back some day to study curriculum.

You might not know.....

That blind dates really do work!! My hubby and I met on a BLIND DATE! Good thing his best friend knew we'd be a great fit! So great, in fact, we met August 28, got engaged January 20, and married June 14!! Less than 10 months, start to finish :) As noted by my lack of ability to read something all the way before starting, I tend to jump right into things I know are good!!

What are you looking most forward to this school year?

I can NOT wait to see how math tubs work in my classroom! Even tho I was a slacker on my blog in posting about the Debbie Diller Linky Party, I sure read everyone else's posts! My whole team (even the 2 new ones!) is on board, and we're ready to get going!

What do you need to improve?

Oh dear.  Hmm... where to begin!! I really want to stretch myself in the area of StoryTown - I tend to teach the basal and read thru the lessons as they are written and I don't think outside the box to much! I've already noticed in the 2 days I've taught it this year that my kiddos are going to need some serious brain breaks during our 1 1/2 hour ST literacy block! Eek!

What teaching supplies can you not live without?

My HUGE water bottle (I always forget how SORE my throat gets every August!), my Mr. Sketch smell-good markers, my Sharpie flip-chart markers, and tubs. Bins. Organizing items. I LOVE them! I have so many of them, and I can't stop from buying more!

I hope you'll link up for the PARTY! ( I don't know why the blog button isn't working for me... click the link at the top to join!)

A Few of My Favorite Things! *Linky Party*

What a week... Meet the Teacher night and 3 1/2 days with my new little bunch of kiddos! I am plum tuckered out, friends. But, this is a great little brain break for us all this weekend... join in Fabulous in First's Linky Party!

Here are some of my contributions:

My favorite websites

(No, I'm not a Mom yet, but this site leads me to great budget-saving ideas!)

 
The Pioneer Woman! Yumm-o!

Click here to check out and follow my boards!

My favorite graphic and font sites

Due to some recent changes in some of these websites' policies, pleae read their TOUs carefully before selling/creating products with your purchases!!

  My favorite home stuff

I just bought this Scensty warmer for home...

and this one for school! Shh... hubby doesn't know yet... :)

I have this stuff in every room of my house... LOVE it!

My favorite normals...TV shows, colors, movie... :)

I cannot get enough of this show! I just love Abby :)

Big Bang Theory... great for good belly laughs after a long day at school!

I love all shades of blues and purples... so soothing!

Ahhh... Ghost.

Gotta love Dopey!

Thanks for allowing me to take a little break from reality and revel in my favorite things for a while. I hope you'll take the time to share! Click Michelle's button to join in the F-U-N!!

 

Flash Mob 2011

So... I guess I can cross "be in a flash mob" off of my bucket list! (Except I don't have a bucket list... but if I ever make one, I'll write that on there simply so I can cross it off...)

About 40 of us from the district were asked to secretly be a part of a flash mob on our first day of reporting back to work this past week. We always meet for breakfast before the Convocation and speaker begin, and our mob was the segue from breakfast into the auditorium! Check out the following pics of myself and a few co-workers. Some are blurry - but we were a movin'! :)

(I apologize in advance for the AWFUL face I'm making in the last picture - it was snapped in the middle of my, "Come on, guys, get moving already!" face... oops!!)

We were the first group to start the mob... no one really noticed yet!

Starting to get the idea here... all the dancers were forming a circle around the room.

Finally - jackets OFF! It was darn hot in there!

We moved our way to the middle of the room and now faced out towards everyone else.

Check out our shirts! It says MOB: Making Ourselves Better. This was the theme of all of the speakers in the best Convocation I've ever attended. It ended with our football coach coming out as Tina Turner singing "Simply the Best!" with 3 of our Board Office ladies in neon wigs as his backup dancers! HI-LAR-IOUS!

How did your district kick off the year??