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Whew! We made it through the first week!

I don't know who is more exhausted, me or the kids. Ok, probably me, but seriously...this was one crazy week! I will say that aside from the heat advisory that kept us cooped up inside all week, this school year is off to a fantastic start! We have an amazing group of kids...seriously. We are probably the smartest class of first graders. Ever. Wink, wink. Well, I am eager to share with you what we did all week, so here we go!
We started the week getting to know the rules and procedures for our classroom. We read a book called "David Goes to School" about a naughty boy named David who got into all kinds of trouble at school. After we read, we talked about what a good student looks like and how David was not a good student! We made this chart to remind us not to act like David!

Yep. I drew that awesome picture of David. We also practiced reciting our classroom rules with fun hand motions to help us remember them. One of our rules is about being kind to others. We read this book:

After reading, we talked about how to be "bucket fillers" and not "bucket dippers". We made a chart of our ideas.

Everyone got to decorate their own "bucket" which we then put on the wall. Once we start using the writing center, we will have forms for students to fill out where they can say something nice or encouraging to another student and put it in their "bucket". When we start community circle next week we will also take time to share moments from our day in which our bucket was "filled". We will also discuss times in which our buckets felt empty and how we can help each other when things like that happen.

Another book we enjoyed this week was "Yo! Yes." which was about being different. It is a book about two boys that don't have much in common and don't really understand each other very well, but they become friends anyways. After reading the book, we wrote about ourselves and something that we like to do. I was really impressed with some of my little writers! I love this one. It says I like to do "crafts". Great inventive spelling!

                                                                         By Student #5
Another way we built our classroom community this week was by reading "The Giving Tree" and making friendship trees for a classmate. I failed at getting a picture of that (and my phone camera was really frustrating me this week because it kept deleting all my pictures!!!) but they turned out super cute!

Once we got to know each other a little better and got acquainted with the rules and procedures of the classroom, it was time to start earning some rewards! The kiddos were eyeing my lollipop tree (thanks Pinterest) during open house, and that was one of the first things they asked about on the first day. I had a few kids that I caught setting a great example for their classmates this week, and my lollipop tree was a huge hit! The cool thing about the lollipop tree (besides getting a lollipop of course) is that if you pull a lollipop with a pink stick you get to visit the treasure box!

Another cool part of being in our classroom is the "special supply bucket". We are sitting in 5 "teams". Each  team has the chance to earn points throughout the week by listening, keeping a clean work area, helping one another, sharing, following directions quickly, etc. On Thursday at the end of the day the team with the most points is the winner, and they get to use the "special supply bucket" all day on Friday. Who wouldn't love to write with a rainbow pencil all day? Let me tell you, it certainly makes school work much more fun. Our winner this week was team number 1, and they earned it! I think they were excited.

Next week, we are all ready to get rolling with Daily 5, Fundations, and writing. This week we introduced "read to self" during our Daily 5 time. I have decided Daily 5 needs its own blog post, so that's on my list of things to do (along with 5 trilling other things). But here is a quick peek at one of our friends practicing "read to self", along with our I-Chart to help remind us of our roles during read to self.

Well, thanks for stopping in! I hope you enjoyed a peek at our first week of school, and I can't wait to share our learning with you throughout the year! Please check back frequently and leave comments. I am trying to get access at school so I can share your comments with the students. I want them to be a big part of the blog eventually, and even write posts, so I know they will appreciate having an "audience".

Ready or Not...

Well, the room is ready (kind of), lesson plans are typed, desks are labeled, and copies have been made. Open house is tomorrow night. After two full weeks of training, meetings, meetings, and more meetings I think I am finally ready to welcome students...but man am I exhausted! I would like to say I am going to spend the weekend resting up and preparing for Monday, but I know I will be busy worrying about all the details of that first day (while chasing my busy little boy around and trying to clean up the mess that is my house). Teachers get nervous about the first day too, and it doesn't matter how many years we have been teaching. This year is extra nerve racking for me being in a new school and new grade, but I have an AWESOME support system. I pink puffy heart my new coworkers. I hope they feel the same about me! I am so excited to meet all my new little friends tomorrow night, and I am ready to get this school year started! I know we are going to have a fantastic year. As far as the blog goes, I am going to make it my goal to post once a week at least. I am working on getting blog access at school so students can also view the blog (under my supervision of course) and contribute eventually. So far that hasn't happened. I am packing my camera to take tomorrow so I can get lots of pictures of the room and of course open house. I will update sometime in the next week, hopefully with some pictures and all kinds of fun news about our first week!

Couldn't Resist...Writing Center Preview

I know, it's June and I am supposed to be on summer vacation, but most teachers will tell you that real teachers work all summer:) Teaching is my profession, but it's also something I enjoy, and creating new things for my classroom is like a hobby. So anyhow, after pool and play time, I use Luca's nap time to work on some new things for school. It's over 100 degrees out, what else am I going to do? Not only am I starting a new grade this year, but I am also in a new school AND a new district. Is that enough change for one year? It's going to be a learning curve I am sure, but I am looking forward to the challenge! This year I will be introducing Daily 5, and hopefully Cafe into my classroom. I will post more about that later, but one of the components of Daily 5 is working on writing...and after scouring Pinterest (my other obsession) for hours, I compiled some of the best ideas I could find for my writing center. I have only been in my new classroom once since I don't have a key yet (boo), so my home office/guest room has become my temporary school room. I can't wait to really get going on setting up a brand new classroom, but for now I will give you a sneak peak of what will become part of our writing center...

I LOVE Instagram...but if anyone knows how to upload Instagram photos to blogger faster than my method...please let me know! I usually email them to myself, then save to a folder, and upload them here. TIME CONSUMING. Anyways, who wouldn't love to write with these awesome gel pens? I am hoping to inspire some serious writing...oh, and in case your wondering, the cute container is a sweet dollar bin find from my all time favorite store...Target.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the blog for room 202! Whether you are a parent, family member, student, or fellow teacher blogger, I hope you enjoy taking a peek into our classroom as we grow and learn together in first grade. Summer vacation is in full swing, but as usual I am busy working on new ideas for the new school year. I can't wait to meet all of my new kiddos and get to know each one of them! I have some really exciting new things planned, and I am looking forward to sharing them here. Please read through the "about" section above to learn more about our blog, and check back frequently for updates! Also, comments are welcome and encouraged. I hope to share them with the class.