Catching Up

So it's been a whirlwind this past month.  I was gone on vacation at Disney for 8 days, then went right into setting up my classroom, and then right into school starting, and I can now catch my breath for a bit for a 3-day weekend and tell you what's been going on!
So Disney was of course WONDERFUL!!  It was HOT, but we had a great time and didn't let that stop us.  We took afternoon breaks everyday where we could relax and cool off in the pool before heading back to the parks.  We also took a day off from the parks, and were able to sleep in.  Doing all of that definitely helped make our trip better.  We were also happy because we pretty much got everything done that we wanted to get done and had all of our MUST DOs done.  I think we also met every single character that there was to meet.  I think my niece got autographs from 50?  Our homemade autograph book was a hit.  All of the characters and handlers loved it and we actually got special treatment because of it.  One handler told us when the character was coming back so we could be near the front and many other characters were excited that they had their own page!  Goofy was uber excited and even wanted his picture taken with his page.  Naveen from The Princess and the Frog couldn't get over it and was funny.  Buzz who only stamps his autograph actually had his handler give him a pen and he hand wrote a note to my niece.  Phineas and Ferb danced and spent a lot of time with my niece.  I also think it helps that my niece is super cute AND everyone liked the outfits we customized and made that I showed on previous posts.  So it was definitely a hit!

Day 1 at Epcot.  I have a Disney VISA and they have a special meet and greet for card holders.  We probably spent 30 minutes with Minnie and Goofy.  They were dancing with Brynn and Minnie was very excited about my purse and mickey hair bow.  We got a lot of special attention.  

Day 2 Magic Kingdom, in front of the castle with Walt and Mickey.  

Day 7 Magic Kingdom, posing with the Fairy Godmother

Trying out the hyped up Dole Whip.  I enjoyed it, but didn't go nuts over it like everyone on the internet!  lol  

We came home on a Sunday and I took the Monday off from going into my room to relax, unwind, do laundry, and catch up on things at home.  Then I went into school on Tuesday and went in every day.  I was very thankful for getting the big stuff all done before my trip so I was able to get everything else done in less than a week.  

My revamped job board for this year.  I had green clothespins and I just used sharpie to write the kids' numbers but I didn't like it.  I had these tree frogs, so I glued them on and added the numbers and I like that SO much better.  In the past I had kids fill out job applications for the jobs they want, but they don't do a good job filling them out and they complain when they don't get the job they wanted (I can't have 18 board cleaners, I'm sorry).  So I went back to rotating the jobs.  I figure I'll rotate them bi-weekly (if I can remember!).  

I had Office Max print out some of the inspiration posters I found and framed them and put them on the top of my cabinets for something different.  I used the free birthday posters from THAT'S SO SECOND GRADE and decide to do the idea I've seen around of taking the kids pictures for that month.  So I made numbers for each kids birthday for them to decorate and then I called the students up by month and took their picture, then printed it out and put it on the birthday poster.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I usually just do an 8 1/2 by 11 chart of all of them, but I thought this was more fun.  I decided to put their number cards up too since they had spent time decorating them...

My reading area with the book boxes filled with "Just Right Books" for the students, that I had ready for them based on their reading levels from last year so they could practice Read to Self before I taught I-PICK.  Let me just say, I wish I could have the 2 Sisters come teach I-PICK.  I do the shoes lesson.  I model.  I explain.  I tell why it's important to take the time to do it, and they still just grab books based on the cover and do not do the I-PICK strategies or the 5 finger rule!  Oh well.  I try.  

You can see in the bottom picture my Daily 5 rubric that I made that you can find as a freebie in my TPT store.  I had Office Max enlarge it to poster size as a visual reminder for the class.  

Here you can see my CAFE board on the left.  Under it I plan on doing like a "parking lot" kind of thing where I will have students put index cards in the pocket that matches their number to show me their level of understanding on topics.  Kind of like an exit ticket.  I saw a pocket chart online that you could buy, that gave me the idea to do it, but I thought I'll just create my own with what I have and save money.  So I took 2 Target $1 pocket charts I had, put green masking tape down the middle to create 2 columns of pockets on each chart and then used my Cameo and adhesive vinyl to put their numbers on (Tip if you want to do something like this, use the outside vinyl.  I used regular vinyl and it did not stick very well to the pocket chart, so I put clear packing tape over it so the numbers wouldn't fall off).  There is also my WHO AM I? activity I do on the first day every year.  Students give clues about themselves on the top page and then on the page underneath, draw a self portrait and write their name to reveal themselves.  I also tape the pics I take of them on the first day on the self portrait page too.  These end up going in their writing portfolio and I love looking at them again at the end of the year.  Then on the far right is the pencil from TEACHER'S WIFE I believe, that I had Office Max print out for me along with the Be-GUMing Great Writer's, Writer's Workshop system Facebook freebie from SECOND GRADE SHENANIGANS.  That table and items to the right, not pictured, is my writing center area.  

And here is my team and myself with the awesome shirts I ordered for us from TEACHER T-SHIRT.  They loved them and it was fun to wear them all together.  We got A LOT of compliments.  

So those are all of the pictures I have taken of my room.  We started on Monday the 19th with inservice and actually had a really great speaker, Dave Weber.  He talked about how relationships are what cause us and the students to excel or fail.  He was funny, enthusiastic, and held our attention the whole 2 1/2 hours he talked.  I usually can't stand inservice speakers, but he was great and really got you thinking.  Definitely look him up.  Then it was meetings, meetings, meetings.  Wednesday the 21st was the first day, half-day with kids.  I have 25 second graders this year.  Two are autistic, but very high functioning (the highest I've had in a while) and I got THE CHILD from last year.  I knew I was getting him.  He got on meds at the end of last year and was a little better so I'm hoping for good things this year.  So far (8 days) we've had no issues, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  As we move from review to things getting harder though I'm a little more worried.  He has shown extremely short flashes of what could come over the last 2 days when we started moving on a little.  I love my students and they are mine the second they walk through that door and they are mine forever.  My students always seem to love me too, but I do not put up with disrespect and am very strict when it comes to correct behavior because it's not fair to the other students if "little Johnny" can do whatever he wants because otherwise he has a meltdown and they can't.  So because of how well I work with the students (and it's not always easy) and get them to learn they can't do what they used to do, in my room, I always get THOSE students.  It can give me the reputation from some parents of being mean, but oh well.  They're not in my room so they don't realize I'm not mean.  I'm sticking up for the other 24 students.  I'm hoping that this year is a break and it stays fine.  As of the 8 days I've had them, I LOVE them.  They are a WONDERFUL class.  So sweet and polite!  I have 15 girls and 10 boys, and my girls are the best girls you could ever hope to have.  My boys are typical boys (sweet but squirrelly), but my girls are angels.  I think they built the class that way to give me some relief from the craziness they thought I might have. 

To start the year we did a lot of class building and getting to know you activities.  We've done a lot of partner activities and my students have loved the iPartners cell phones for picking partners.  There have been some kinks to work out each time I've told them to get with a certain contact (I have so and so, but so does this other person, and that other person), but we have been able to work it out each time so far.  It does help that I have to have a partner since I have an odd number of students, so I'm usually able to switch out my partner to make it work.  This past week I did my tattling vs. reporting lesson and read A BAD CASE OF TATTLE TONGUE and we did an emergency/not emergency sort.  I also had the social worker come in to remind them of how to handle situations besides tattling (SWAT, Stop, Walk Away, and then Tell).  We also did our germs lesson where I read GERMS, GERMS, GERMS and did the apple experiment.  Put a quarter of an apple in a container where only I have touched it, put a quarter of an apple in a separate container, this time where all of the students have touched it.  Then we leave them out.  I did this last year and let me tell you, the Germs apple got extremely gross so it really is a good lesson on germs.  We also did our Start Smart unit from Treasures and I used my TPT resources to help with it. 

Also this week, I had Back To School Night (BTSN).  20 of my 25 families showed up.  It went very well.  I got through everything I needed to in the short amount of time I had. Hopefully I didn't talk too fast and they were able to understand me.  I got a smart board (3 days before school started) so I was able to show them what my spelling lists look like and how I do them, what my homework packets look like, and our classroom website.  It was nice being able to show them that on a big screen.  I told my students how I'm new to the smart board and they have been patient with me and have even given me suggestions (myself and my teammate were the last ones in the school to get them, so the students have always had them).  

Next week we start our first story and spelling pattern for Treasures.  We also have NWEA MAP testing.  At least it's a short week!  

Today I pretty much vegged.  Tomorrow I have grocery shopping and dessert baking to do, and I think I'll print and laminate some more stuff now that my ink and laminating sheets have come in again.  Monday family BBQ.  

Hope everyone else has been doing well and if you have started school it's going great!  :)

Back-to-School Night

So tonight was my school's Back-to-School night, which is basically, open house.  Parents come in to learn about our classroom.  This year it's earlier than normal (usually it's the week of Labor Day), but I'm fine with that because then I can get it over with and parents can get the information earlier.  So my classroom was ready, I had put up our Who Am I? clue sheets/self portraits/pictures from the first day of school.  I had also put up our wishes for 2nd grade.  In their letter they got from me before school started I had them get an All About Me poster ready to get them ready for school and so we could learn about each other.  I had everyone's poster in the hallway that has brought one in.  Then today I had the students make the "folders" that I put all of the information I pass out in (just a folded large piece of construction paper they decorate), invitations to come tonight, and little people cut-outs made to look like themselves.  They also filled out the Parent Game (we've had it for a while, I have no idea where it came from) where they put in their favorite things and then on the other side are the same questions and the parents have to guess the answers.  Always good for while parents are waiting and the kids love their parents filling it out.  So we've been busy, busy, busy to get ready and it was only the 6th day of school lol.  Then today after school I put all of the information on the desks in their folders.  I taped their mini me to their chair, so it looked like they were sitting in it, and I added the apple and cute saying about how parents are teachers too idea from pinterest.  I also got my back table ready with conference sign-ups (they're the first week in October) as well as party volunteer sign-ups.  It was hectic!  I also got everything ready on my computer so I could easily pull it up on the projector when explaining things.  I had one parent show up 15 minutes early, but it was no big deal.  It was nice talking with her and she was great while I finished the last minute details.  Then everyone came and I had a long line out my door as they were waiting to pick a conference time.  Then after the principal and PTOs announcements on the tv, I started in on my shpeal (sp?).  I got it all in on time (usually I talk fast and end early, but I think I did really well this year!) with just a couple of minutes to share.  Talked to a few parents, everyone was super nice, and very appreciative of everything done so far, and everything I shared tonight.  Once my room was empty and I looked around at the desks, I noticed that everyone had come!!  Nothing was left on the desks except the note the parents left for their child (another fun thing the parents do and the kids love reading them the next morning, it's a nice surprise).  I couldn't believe it!  This is my 11th year teaching and I have NEVER had all the parents come.  It's fabulous because I have 22 conferences scheduled.  Normally, I'm hunting people down to get a time from them.    So super happy about tonight.  I'm also continuing to love my class, which is awesome since you would have thought this group (grade level) as a whole were horror children from the stories we heard last year.  I think I was lucky this year with the group I got.  Hopefully I continue feeling that way.  Hopefully things continue to go well with parents as well this year.  I'm also happy that I'm getting better with talking in front of the parents.  My family could never understand why I didn't like public speaking when I stand in front of 25 people (basically) every day and talk.  Talking to the children, as you all know, is a completely different ball game than talking to adults.  I'm getting better with that though too.  I only had tiny butterflies when they first started walking in, but then they went away and it was great.  So yay for getting it under my belt and now I won't need to worry, stress out, and get a million things ready until conferences.  lol
Let me tell you though, my legs are feeling being back in school.  After being lazy all summer long and siting/laying around, my legs are like what are you doing after standing all day.  I'm good all day long as I'm going, going, going, but once I get home and sit on the couch, boy do I feel how tired they are!
Well thanks for letting me share how my night went.  Success!  :)

First Week

I hope everyone who started school had a great week.  Mine was wonderful, with Friday being the best day so far (I know it was only the 3rd day, but still, momentum! lol).  We had absolutely no issues on Friday.  Everyone was happy to be there all day long.  Next week we will start getting into curriculum with the Treasures Smart Start unit and the lessons in Everyday Math.  It will be good to start getting into more of what our day to day routine will be like.  I started Daily 5 on our first full day of school, so we'll continue on with that as well.  Luckily with this group, most of them did it in first grade, so they kind of know the drill already.  There are so many things I want to do with all of the great ideas I've gotten from pinterest and blogs, that I have to try and remember them all!
We also have Back-to-School Night (open house) Wednesday evening, so I can't wait to get that done with.  I never enjoy that night.  They sit there staring at me while I explain and show things and you know some of them are not taking in a thing I'm saying.  lol
Today my siblings and their families and myself are taking family pictures as a Christmas gift for my parents.  We haven't done this for 6 years and there have been 3 new members of our family since then.  So it should be fun.  However the plan (since there are so many of us) is to do it outside and there is an 80% chance of rain.  lol  The Plan B is to be in a gazebo in a park if it's raining.  So we'll see how all of that goes and how willing some of the little kids are with cooperating.  lol  It might be a long afternoon in the rain.  lol
I'm going to leave you with a freebie I use in my room every year.  The students have to think of a wish (goal) that they have for 2nd grade.  Maybe it's to make new friends or to practice their spelling or math facts or to learn how to tell time.  They write them down and draw a picture of themselves accomplishing that goal.  I display them for Back-to-School Night and then put them in their writing portfolio and talk about them at the first conference and see how it's going.  Click on the picture to get your free copy.

Happy Sunday everyone! :)

And we're back...

So I started school this week.  I had in-service Monday and Tuesday, then kids for a half-day Wednesday and first full day Thursday.  I always get nervous, just like the kids, for the first day, wondering how the group will be.  Then the day is upon me and the kids come in, most of them with their parents dropping them off and the day has begun.  Once all of the parents leave, it feels like old hat, even though it's a new bunch of kids.  All last year my team and I kept hearing, you're going to want to take next year off, do early retirement, switch grades, this group is a doozy!  I kept saying, don't worry, you'll whip them into shape before you give them to us, lol, but the group was higher needs.  I still really didn't sweat it all summer as I know that kids change and that the whole dynamic of the class can change with different students and a different teacher.  I also knew that I was getting the student who needed the most help and was going to be pulled a lot and that he didn't listen well to his resource teacher (which is why she was giving him to me, because not listening to me is not an option.  I'm firm and let them know that they need to do things just like everyone else).  Then as the summer went on I learned the other student who had a one-on-one aide was switched to my class as well.  Again fine, no biggie, I always get the special ed. cluster in my room.  Then finally my class list came out, a little over a week before school started.  I looked up their pictures (since their names meant nothing) and saw the one student who made me nervous for the start of the year.  lol  This student last year, in first grade, used to scream as if she was being stabbed or was watching her parents get stabbed, at the top of her lungs, for HOURS (I don't know how she could do it), and would have to be taken away by the social worker.  Little things would set her off apparently.  She got better as the year went on and by the end of the year at least, she wasn't screaming anymore, just crying.  So needless to say, I was not too excited about that.  Then school came and people asked who was in my class and I told them and they would say, you got all 3 of them?  In one class?  Again, there is no room that has an escape from high need kids.  I felt lucky that it looked like the rest of my kiddos were great and bright.  So after the parents left and we were settled in, things were good.  Then I asked the students who hadn't finished the scavenger hunt (a way to learn about our classroom, really those kids just didn't do the hunt) to come see me to get their first day prize anyway.  That's when the friend I was nervous about, came up to me crying because she had started coloring and had not done the scavenger hunt.  I told her it was okay, not a big deal, but to her it was a big deal.  I told her she shouldn't be upset, I wasn't upset with her, mistakes happen.  She replied that she does not like making mistakes.  I told her that everyone makes mistakes, even I make mistakes.  We will make mistakes every day, but that's okay, it happens to everyone.  She did not care because she does not like to make mistakes.  Then I told her, she had 2 options: 1, she could fix her mistake by doing the hunt and getting her prize, or 2 she could just go back and finish coloring her picture.  Either one was fine.  Then she just kept saying she didn't know.  I repeated my directions to her and she said she didn't know which one to choose.  I told her I was not making the choice for her, that she needed to make the choice.  She refused so I said okay, just stand there then, and I walked away and did everything else I needed to do and "ignored" her (although I was completely aware of her the whole time).  She then calmed down, caught my eye at one point and started up again.  I went back to "ignoring" her.  She calmed down, stayed that way and was fine the rest of the short day.  Today we had our first whole day, she was great all day.  No problems.  My other friend who does not like to listen to his resource teacher, did a fantastic job of listening to me all day.  The problem with that is that he needs a lot of one-on-one help, so him not listening to his resource teachers or assistants and swatting at them isn't an option.  Everything will fall into place and then things will be fine.  I know they will be!  I'm really happy with my class though.  They are a great bunch of kids and I'm excited to get to know them better.  It will be really fantastic once we have our routine up and running.  I'm so happy it's Friday already.  I give major props to you that have a full first day and full first week.  I like much better, our easing into it.  lol  Well I just thought I'd let you in on my first few days since I had the time.  I'll leave you with pictures of my classroom for the linky party by Teaching Blog Addict.  :)

A pic of the front of my room, with my reading chair, chart cart, calendar bulletin board, and bookshelf my brother-in-law made me.  

Moving to the right, we have my guided reading area and my desk.  

Continuing on clockwise, you can see my groups of desks and counter/cabinet area.  

That leads us into my book nook area.  

There is the view of the back of my room.  As you can see, those walls open up (we could have all of the walls open and pushed to the side, but we only open that section, the rest are locked into place).  My teammate on the other side and I do Daily 5 and guided reading together, indoor recess together, sometimes math, and other activities/celebrations.  I love that feature.  Not many teachers in our building do it.  They keep the whole thing locked tight.  

Then you come around and can kind of see my writing center, mailboxes, entrance, and lunch graph.  

That leads us to our final picture, as we complete the circle around the room, of our cubbies.  The picture frames on the bulletin boards hold photos of the students (currently last year's class) demonstrating one of the six character traits we talk about, as a reminder.  

Have a wonderful Friday!!!!  :)

Busy, Busy, Busy

And it really hasn't even begun yet!  lol  I don't officially start school until the 20th (with students starting on the 22nd).  We also don't do any Meet the Teacher type event anymore either, so I definitely have time.  We can start officially working in our rooms starting the 13th, but I went in on Monday as my 15 year old niece Lizzie was available to come help me.  This was her 3rd year in a row coming to help and she is a big help.  We were told that air conditioning would only be on in our building until noon, so I wanted to get as much done as we could in the time we were there (so I didn't stop to take any before pictures, sorry!).  First up we loaded up my car and brought almost everything I brought home for the summer and the recent stuff I've purchased into my classroom (having the extra set of hands, VERY nice).  Then since I was changing some stuff around, she helped me to move around some of my furniture and figure out how I wanted it (most of our stuff is built in; cabinets, cubbies, my desk, so there is only so much you can do).  She also helped me take everything down from the top of the cabinets and shelves and put it where it needed to go.  We were there from 10-1 and I was super happy with all that we accomplished!  So much so that I don't think I'm going to go in anymore this week, I'll just wait until next week when the air will be on all day.  lol  Then today I went to the dollar store so I could get the silly straws for the birthday balloon gift idea that's floating around (now I just have to figure out what container to use because none that I already have at home were big enough for all of those straws).  I also found things for my calming caddy I'm going to make (gotta love the dollar store!).  Then I went to Michaels to get stuff to make a glitter bottle for the calming caddy, glue and magnets for my marble magnets, and stuff to make a desk blotter (plus of course other fun things).  Then when I got home, I got crafting.  I have been saving Pringles cans since March when I saw a cute gift idea with them (I decorated one in a baseball theme and put my dad's favorite kind of cookies in it as one of his gifts), so I used one to make a cute container for my spelling sticks (just had to cut it down).  I'm also going to use one to make the ruler holder that's out there, but I realized I haven't washed most of them (crumbs were rumbling around inside) so I have to do that and let them air dry for  a day or so before I can do any other projects with them.  Then I made my desk blotter (but it's not 100% done, about 75%).  Last of all I made my magnets.  I'm using them for my behavior "clip" chart.  I keep mine on my white board, and I like using magnets.  I was going to do my kids' names, but decided to go with their numbers instead.  For 1 because I was getting antsy with wanting to make them and we STILL haven't gotten our class lists yet, 2 this way I don't have to make new ones every year, and 3 because this way it's not glaringly obvious to every person who walks in the room who has been having a hard day (which was something my co-teacher said to me when I told her I was doing this system this year).  I used my silhouette sd (it's like the cameo that everyone seems to be using right now, but it's an older model.  It only fits up to 9 inches across and doesn't have all of the features the cameo has.  I'd REALLY like a cameo so I could use whole 12 x 12 sheets, instead of always having to cut the paper, but I just can't see shelling out more money for a cameo when there is nothing wrong with my machine).  I made 30 1.25 in. circles and had the machine cut them out, then I typed up numbers that I made sure would fit in the circles and the machine cut those out, then I used my xyron sticker maker to turn the numbers into stickers and stuck them on the circles.  Then I used clear packing tape to kind of laminate the circles before adding the glue, plant marbles, and magnets.  I'm very happy with them (I realized only 27 plant marbles were in the bag I got and I made 30 circles, but hopefully I won't have 27 students anyway! Although we're at 25 and registration is going on now.).  So that's what's been going on with me, what's been going on with you?  :)