Therapy & Freebie!

I am linking up again with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week... 2 posts combined into one :)

I know that I am a little late to the game, but my sweet baby came down with his first ear infection this week, and that leads to a very unhappy 4-month-old! :( Blogging took a back seat for a few days...

Anywho, here is how I unwind after a long day/week/month/year at school - my "therapy"!

Pedicures always make me happy!

Speaks for itself ;)

Chocolate Moose Tracks Ice Cream... yum... my favorite!

But the best, best, BEST therapy for me??

Snuggles with this cutie pie!!

*************And now for your Friday Freebie!*************

This is usually for sale in my TpT store for $6.00, but I'll give it to you, my lovely followers, for free this weekend! The link will be good through Sunday night... so spread the word! If you like what you see, head over to my store to find some more great activities! Also, please follow my blog and let me know if you like the Making Words activities!

EDIT: The link is now closed, but please visit my TpT store to find the Making Words activity that so many people enjoy!!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend, everyone, and link up if you can!!



I Must Have....

I love Teacher Week! I'm excited to be linking up with Blog Hoppin' this week to share fun ideas with wonderful teachers all around! :-)

Here are the things I must have for each day/year/start to school!

* Big ol' teacher notebook!

I love having all of my long range plans, weekly lesson plans, student info, meeting notes, etc. all in one handy-dandy location!



* New Mr. Sketch Markers



I love using these on my poster papers when working as a whole class... and the kiddos love the pick their favorite scent to write in! Anything to motivate :)

* Family pics

Looking at the sweet faces of my hubby, my baby, and my nephew (another nephew pic to be added soon!) give me the little extra boost I need on some rought days... y'all know what I mean!!

* Water!!!



I drink AT LEAST 4 of these bad boys full of water every day while at school... as well as 1 before school and several when I get home! And I don't use ice; I prefer my water lukewarm - weird?? I know!!!

* My new Silhouette Cameo!

I got this baby over the summer, and I can't get enough! I loved being able to label the boards in my classroom with my favorite fonts and fun papers rather than the same ol' punch out letters that everyone has :)

* Netflix!!



We got rid of satellite this past year, and got Netflix instead! This has been a lifesaver in several ways... I don't spend as much $$ on TV each month! I don't spend as much time watching TV each night! And the TV I do watch is commercial-free and I can watch what I want when I want to! :) My faves lately have been "How I Met Your Mother" and "White Collar" and "Bones." Anyone have any other great suggestions??

Click the pic at the top to join in the linky fun this week!!

Welcome to my room, friends!!

Here is what life looks like in Mrs. Scoma's First Grade classroom this year... enjoy your little tour :-)

Here's what my door looks like for the little ones coming in. My window is covered with random scrapbook paper so I can pump in private during my lunch/plan breaks ;)

Directly to the right of my door is my little memo station and my "How We Get Home" clips. Looks to me like I need to stabilize the bottom of the ribbons so the clips don't make them go crooked!!

Keep going to the right and you see my gathering place, my math wall, word wall, and focus wall!

Close up of my word wall and focus wall - all set up for Lesson 1 of Story Town this week!

My desk area... Not sure what will fill up my space, but probably some student drawings!! {The reason my paper is rippled along the wall is due to a beam that runs up from the floor to the ceiling that houses computer cords... I pulled it as tight as I could, believe me!}

On my desk... my little happy place :-)

Area where my Daily 5 I-charts will hang eventually. Behind the curtains that my sweet mom made for me are my math maniuplatives, recess toys, and student reader anthologies. Oh... and a whole section full of tubs/containers!!

My student area

Close up of some D5 posters and my READ letters. The blue selves house my library... there's a DEFINITE reason I didn't take a picture of it! That's on my to-do list this week!

Current housing of book boxes... these will be moving to the black shelf I'll be purchasing and putting along the wall to the left of the window :)

More student space, white board, and BINGO board.

Here is the one area I didn't work on this summer... my feelings posters and my coat hooks with the shelf that houses all sorts of randomness.

Here are my table tubs this year! Yay for my Cameo :)

My kids' work display area and the drawers that will house my Work on Words/Writing materials. Thanks, Dad, for spray painting them!!

Close up of "Our Rockin' Work" display!

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Room 108... thank you to all who inspired an aspect of my room this year; I'm forever grateful for your creativity and sharing it with the blog/Pinterest world for all to see!! :-)

Link up and share your pics!!



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'!