Monday, December 9, 2013

December Currently

December is finally here and Christmas is right around the corner! Yay! This is my favorite time of year because of all the fun times spent with my family and loved ones!  I also LOVE Christmas decorations and the most important reason for the season...Jesus!

I am a little late on posting my currently!


We have had two snow days (a Friday and a Monday), so we had an extra long weekend!  I love snow days, but I can't wait to see my kiddos!

My all time favorite Christmas tradition is watching Miracle on 34th Street every year.  I do have the new version, but the story gets me every time!


Have a great day!  I will be back later this week with our Elf and what he's been up to!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

November Currently & Happy Fall!

It's November!  This school year has flown by and it's Currently time!



This one of my favorite fall pins! 

A Yummy Pin! I love roasted pumpkin seeds! 


Hope you enjoy your weekend and this fabulous fall weather!!  Link up with Farley!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

My Classroom, October Currently, and a Freebie!

It has been FOREVER since I have blogged, but I read other blogs everyday!  I promise!  This summer  I posted about moving to 1st grade and I absolutely LOVE it!  I have been so consumed with working on my room and getting back into "primary teacher mode" that I haven't blogged at all!

So here is my new room!!!

Our Fall Door!



The front of my classroom! I LOVE my new rug!



I did change the cubbies for my Daily 5 buckets. 




 Focus Wall
I love how organized it is!  I have also added more to this.  

You can grab any of my Focus Wall Sets Here!


Calendar Wall
This is just a quick reminder for students and I have added more to it.  
We complete all of our calendar on the ActivBoard each day. 


FREE!! Days of the Week Posters! 




 Reading Chair and Book Bucket


Computers


Small Group Table
I have already moved this to the back of the room!


 Classroom Library






 Our Bucket Filler Area


 My organization area! 
I love how everything has a place!



Pick Me and Star Student Sticks 

 Lunch Choice
This works great!
I have one student who announces our main lunch choice everyday. 


 Writing Area




My kids love this area! 


Word Wall 

CAFE Menu

My CAFE headers are from Faith Wheeler!

 Math Wall 


the number posters are from Christine Statzel!


Student Work Area


 Behavior Clipchart from A Cupcake for the Teacher!
This works great!

 Classroom Jobs!



Classroom Mirror and Leader sign! 
I will post this sign as a FREEBIE soon! 


Outside my classroom! 


I will also post this as a Freebie soon!






I hope you enjoyed my classroom tour!  I am so in love with my new room and my first graders! 
They make me laugh everyday!

Now here's my October Currently!









Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Teacher Linky & Focus Walls

Summer is almost over for me, but I am oh so excited to begin a NEW school year with my little first graders!  I am linking up with Miss Kindergarten to tell you 10 things I have learned from teaching...I have only been teaching six years, but I feel like I have learned SO much since my first year.  Don't we all feel that way?!



1. Procedures:
*Always take LOTS of time at the beginning of the school year and after any break to teach procedures.  Your day will go so much smoother if you take time to thoroughly teach kids what they are expected to do.  Don't forget to MODEL what they are supposed to do.  Teaching procedures can be fun if you add a silly skit or song to teach it!

2. Be Prepared & Flexible:
*I added these two together because you can never be over prepared, but at the same time your lessons will change based on student needs or an unexpected interruption.  So be Flexible!  It's not the end of the world if you have to change your lesson.  Now back to being prepared...I drive forty minutes to school everyday, so I always have everything ready before I leave school every afternoon.  But a lot of teachers come in extra early to get their materials ready.  Either way, having everything ready before the kids enter your classroom will help you!

3. Parent Communication:
*Always, Always, Always communicate with your student's parents!  Whether you call, send notes, or email, parents love hearing from their child's teacher about how they are doing in school.  

4. Collaboration:
*Collaborate with your team teachers and other teachers in your school.  You cannot do everything by yourself AND you learn so much from your peers, just like kids do.  

5. Kids need a Schedule:
*Just like we need to know what we are doing for the day, our kids need to have a schedule and know what we expect them to do.  With that being said, they will still ask you what time is _____, or when is recess!  It never fails!

6. Learning Centers & Stations:
*I have found that learning centers/stations have really worked in my classroom.  This gives students an opportunity to review skills you have taught them during whole group instruction and allows you to work with small groups or individual students.  For them to be effective students need to know exactly what they are supposed to do and centers need to be well organized.    

7. Caffeine:
*Dr. Pepper gets me through the day!  It's an addiction!

8. Bathroom & Shoe Strings:
*If a kid has their shoes untied and they come out of the bathroom with wet shoe strings and asked you to tie them...good luck!  I learned my lesson!  

9. Reading Books on the Carpet:
*It never fails that if you are reading to your class and they are sitting on your big carpet...one of your littles will touch your toes or want to play with your shoes!  But I love them anyway! 

10. Have Fun!  
*You can teach and have fun!  Sing songs (especially to the little ones) and give lots of praise! 



Now onto my new products!  I have a focus wall in my classroom and I love it!  It allows for the students to see what we are learning about and always includes our learning goals for the day.  Here are some focus wall sets that I have created.  They are focus wall headers (labels) to help you organize your focus wall board!
Click on the pictures below to view each set!


 Each set includes large and small signs. 

















I will be back in another post to show you pictures of my Focus Wall and how they can be used in primary and intermediate classrooms! 
Enjoy!