September 2012

Why Didn't I Think of That!?!?!!?

It's been two+ weeks of school!!! And I am exhausted. And I feel so disconnected from the blogging world! I haven't had time to catch up or write posts or sit down or eat! Yikes!!! I feel terrible about my bloggy buddies who I've neglected these past few weeks! I'm so sorry!!!!

Other than the heat here in SoCal and the exhaustion from the beginning of the school year ;-) we're doing great and starting (starting!!!) to get into a routine.

Here are some things thanks to my amazing boggy buddies and Pinterest that have made my life so much easier!!!

Check it out...

X Marks the Spot

I've eliminated the kiddos' constant need to bust into my small group time with this. I am working on teaching the kids that if they need help or anything while I'm at my small group table with a kid, they need to ask their table for group for help. Here are my rules for the X

1. Only one kid at a time on the X.
2. While waiting, no talking! (Or flailing your body around like crazy. Or making noises. Or whistling. Geez!)
3. I will call you over when it is convenient for our group.

We also talk A LOT and REPEATEDLY about acceptable reasons to stand on the X. To tell me your cat threw up last night is NOT an acceptable reason. If you are bleeding or are about to throw up are.

Homework Turn In

I must thank my bloggy BFF Lisa at Fourth & Ten for this magnificent idea!!!! The kids turn their homework in here first thing in the morning according to their class number. I can quickly see who has it and who doesn't. The key here is quickly!!! MUCH easier than pulling it all out of the turn in tub, sorting it, checking it off, etc. This has eliminated at least 10 minutes of wasted time out of my days! That's 50 minutes all week!!! Love it!!! Thank you Lisa!!! You can find the chart HERE. And the cute numbers are from Kristin at Ladybug's Teacher Files. You can find them HERE.

Lining Up

Duh!!! Now they know where to line up!!! And they're actually in a straight line!!! Yipeee!!! The original pin for this doesn't link. Was it your idea!?!? If so, please let me know so I can personally thank you!!! Here it is:

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Sandy on Pinterest

No more mess for us!

Whoever thought of this was also brilliant! These little trash cans (I found at the Dollar Tree!) have saved us from HUGE paper messes all over the floor! And from traffic jams around the trash cans!!! (We were working on Hadar's School is Cool activity! You can find it HERE!) And now, of course, I can't find the pin. If this was yours, PLEASE let me know!!! :)

What are some things that have made your classroom life easier lately!?!?!

Remembering 9/11

AAaaahhhhhh!!!! One week of school officially down! And lots more to go! I absolutely adore my kids! And I can't wait to get my feet underneath me and get the kiddos going with our routines so we can really start rockin' and rolling! (And I can get back on Blogger and catch up on blogging and blog stalking!!!! Eeek!)

Our school had a flag salute and moment of silence this morning to remember 9/11.

We wrote "powerful sentences" about our country. Here is a completed project from last year (ours aren't quite finished yet):

The kids either chose red or blue to paint their stripes with a roller sponge. Then they did a self portrait to glue on top. I bought the flags at Party City. And our powerful sentences were glued underneath.

Tomorrow we will be writing letters and more powerful sentences about firefighters and other community heroes.

It is so important to honor these heroes everyday of the year.

We also remembered 9/11 by reading parts of this wonderful book:

It's full of letters and pictures and poems of kids responding to 9/11. I think my kids were really able to understand.

I hope you had a wonderful day, and took a moment to remember 9/11 and all of those people affected, and honor all of the heroes that help keep our country safe everyday.

Today's Numbers

Number of kiddos I have: 25

Number of times I said, "WOW!!! I LOVE how you're following our classroom rules!!!!!!! WOW!!!": 845

Number of hugs given and received: 40

Number of criers: 0 (yippee!!!)

Number of shoes I tied: 4

Number of shoes I untied (the left and right somehow got tied together...hmmm.....): 1

Number of hours I "held it": 6

Number of things I got done from my plans: 1/2

Number of Master's classes I have to go to after school: 0 (YAY YAY YAY!!!!!)

Number of days until I can get back to this:

179

If today was your first day back, I hope you had a wonderful first day and I hope you fell in love with your kids like I did!!!

And now.... time to rest up for Day 2!!!

:-)

classroom pictures iMovie new blog technology project

My Classroom is ready! My classroom is ready!

I have been M.I.A. lately (apologies!!!!) because I've been getting my classroom ready for another great year! And (thanks to my wonderful mom) is finally, finally kid-ready! Take a peek...

(Thank you first grade teachers!!! Love you!!!)

We had a district wide common core training last week and one of our tasks at the end of the training was to create an iMovie trailer about what we learned! It was hilarious!!! And I can definitely see how this could be used in the classroom to create an introduction to a topic, or allow the kids to show their learning about a subject!

So many things in my classroom were inspired/stolen :-) from some amazing bloggers out there!!!!