First Day of my 2nd Year of Teaching

left/right hand reminders

my new book shelf! :)

other side of my new bookshelf

clothespin on the tag of the basket where they get their books

door design

no name clip area

I also made a "first day of first grade" frame that each student took a picture with today.  So cute!
The day flew by today, and I hope that's how the first couple of months go...
Day 2 tomorrow!

'twas the night before Teachers' First Day

back to school message for the kids (tag found on Pinterest)

trying to stay organized this year...

morning meeting central

Classroom Set-up

Day 3-- Pinterest idea for organization

Days 1-4 working on my classroom library

Day 5-- my new classroom library :)

Labels (some found on Pinterest and some by me)

Day 5-- new Word Wall (tablecloth background)

Day 5-- new bulletin board! Pinterest idea, again...

Now, the question is...should I go in on Monday, or will I be okay with just 2 hours on Tuesday?  Before school starts on Wednesday?  Hmm...

And so it begins...

hot.mess.

the beginnings of a library...

Last Friday, I went back into the classroom for the first time to begin setting it up.  Let me tell you...ROUGH times and OVERWHELMING.  It's funny how it feels like I just packed it up, and now it's time to do it all over again!  Just look at all those boxes, stacks, and clutter-- embarrassing!  But my new project is to create a "real" classroom library for my kids.  I want them to be able to easily find and read books at their level or by their interests.  

Spent Friday and Monday at school 8-2pm...back again tomorrow & gearing up for my 2nd year of teaching!

Summer Vacation

On hiatus until August 28th-- which is the first day back for teachers!

Tuesday-Friday?

Notes:

• I had a personal day last Monday, and the rest of the week flew by.  On Friday, we had Literacy Day at school, and my class hosted our program from 10:45-11:15am (which obviously ended up ending at 11:35-- and only because I kicked everyone out!).  The kids were SO nervous-- and so was I!!  They did an awesome job thought singing their 7 songs and the first graders +1 each made small speeches for each song explaining the learning behind each song and what the songs taught them.  I was so proud of them! :)  Then, the kids were each matched with an adult to read leveled books and writing from the past year.  I invited so many people that each student was able to work one-on-one with their adult.  Hooray!  Props later from my principal as well.  I'm happy it went well today, and I'm glad it's over!

Photos of the program I made:

cover

information inside

back cover

Wed-Fri

Notes:

• LAT data sheets are being completed...so much to get done with those, report cards, and end-of-the-year assessments! 
• getting reallyy stressed about Literacy Day on Friday because only 4 of my parents are showing up...meaning 6 kids will have no one to read with Friday morning...I'm hoping that some of the people I invited from around community will come in to read with my kids...including my mom and sister who I may have to force!
• one of my kids has a mom who is having a baby, and I can tell that he and his family are really excited...he told me that his mother would be happy about his prize box prizes because the baby likes erasers...super?
• My Food Plate presentation by the director of food services was on Friday, and the kids LOVED the chef hats and trying different fruits!  We partnered with the DLC class for the presentation.
• Caterpillars are all in their chrysalides, and on Thursday afternoon, one of them was going nutso side-to-side at the top of the butterfly pavilion...I almost had a heart attack!! I had videotaped the chrysalides moving for the kids to see the next day on my Mac, and they went absolutely crazy for it...I wonder if the butterflies will have emerged by tomorrow! 
• 18 more school days left, I think?  my, time flies!