Where Has The Time Gone?!

Ok, so I'm just going to pretend like it hasn't been almost 3 months since my last blog post.  Time has totally gotten away from me-with being in three weddings within weeks of one another, preparing for family & friend visits, and getting my newbies adjusted to their new classroom has been quite more time consuming than I've expected.  However, things are finally settling into place and I couldn't be happier! :)

My room is pretty much the same as last year, with just a few minor add ons or cosmetic changes.  Here's just a mini tour of our home away from home...

Math Focus Wall

*Changes per unit

Table Signs

I added IKEA frames to our computer table with our class website (including easy access QR code) as well as what students may work on during the morning, daily 5, and math centers.  Nice, simple reminder just incase we may need it-wink, wink :)  I've also added question stems to each table using the same frames and some from Michaels.  

Grab these HERE!

It's a MUST HAVE during "Royal Readers" which is our small group reading center.  

My QUEEN crown came all the way from the Magic Kingdom at the new Fantasy Land {makes me wish I was there every time I put it on!  Student crowns courtesy of Michaels :) }

Cooperative Grouping Mats and Name Tag Helpers

My new sanity savers, seriously.  I've made these mats based off of the Kagan grouping mats, just added a little more pizazz.  The numbers place students academically while the icons are randomly placed.  Time saver for putting students in groups, and handing out independent practice, which 9 times out of 10 is leveled. So I simply have to say, "All the 1s come get your paper, then 2s, 3s, and 4s." or  "All the crayons collect the materials for your group."  or "The glue bottles are in a group, erasers in another, etc."  or "Find someone who has a different letter then you, and who is not sitting at your table (As find Bs)."  Makes getting into groups so much easier and incredibly fast! #HappyHappyHappy

Try them out HERE!

Name Tag Helpers--

One side for reading help, the other for math.  Love to see my kids actually USING these!! Counting money, telling time, and contractions have been a breeze to teach! And I don't have to spend $25 on a class set EVERY YEAR!  

Find them HERE!

White Board Erasers- #DollarTree

I wrote each student's "secret number" on the side with the netting in the event of no one being able to find theirs. Which SOOOOOO did not happen at the beginning of the year... #lie

Sparkle Pens--Must Have!  

I use these for pretty much everything, but I also let the kids use it to trace their SPARKLE WORDS (aka good word choice words) while at the writing center.  Motivation Station! They also make our interactive math notebooks that much prettier :)

Weekly Anchor Chart Display 

My kiddos are OBSESSED with anchor charts this year! Totally NOT complaining! And yes, that is a giant size picture of my dog, Benson. 

New Bulletin Board to display Monthly Family Writing Projects.  **I'll be posting about these soon!

Old board-blah...

New Board~ #TripleBorder 

October Writing Project- WANTED Poster

November Writing Project- Turkey Disguise

Love this one for obvious reasons...

LOVE the creativity here!!  Their stories were even better :)

Made this little cutie using my new Silhouette Cameo--I'll have to spend an entire post dedicated to that little gem! In the meantime, put it on your Christmas List!

**Grab the Turkey Disguise Project HERE if you haven't done so already!

Work on Writing Center--

I have a MUST DO writing assignment students must complete each week.  The assignment is posted on a sentence strip next to the pink writing sign at the top of the pocket chart.  Below it, are the different components of 6+1 Trait Writing I want them to focus on while completing their must do.  Once they've finished, they may choose an "EXTRA" activity to work on.  Right now we are up to letter tiles, writing a friendly letter, making a list, and research.  It's working out much better this way, gradually adding things this week.  Students feel more comfortable with their choices their making, and also the quality of their work is much better than in years past.  I love when things work out better when you think you're behind schedule!

I once again started using 6+ 1 Trait Writing to teach my littles the various components of what makes a good writer (rather than simply handwriting and using correct spelling, which is what they think thought!)  I used this "program" when I first started teaching and can honestly say the kids really enjoy it and are making meaning of how to improve their writing.  You know it's working when we're reading a book and someone shouts, "Woah! They used great WORD CHOICE in there!" or "You can really hear their VOICE in this book!"  Seriously, makes my heart happy!!!

You can grab a set of these 6 Trait Writing Posters HERE!

*The Mailbox holds the Friendly Letter Templates.  They give them to me for a quick check once they're done and I let them "mail" their letter to their friend  (aka leave it in their friend's mailbox or slide the note under their classroom door on our way to lunch).  They take the letter home if they wrote it to a family member, and of course get to deliver it to another teacher if that's who they wrote to. I use a template from one of my Teacher Created Resources books--I love that company!

 

This will be added after Christmas most likely.  I made this little ditty from my dog's old "Greenies" dental bones box!  They are such sturdy well made boxes, I have a tendency to hoard them until I figure out a use for them. This Student Shout Out Box was a perfect fit :)  They'll write on square pieces of colored paper I've had sitting in my desk for about 3 years because I thought they were post its, but aren't, so I really have no use for any type of paper that isn't a post it. 

Writing Samples (letter, story, book, list, and card) along with a Writing Rubric for students to assess themselves once we get into the whole "story writing" thing-- #SlowAndSteady

The SPARKLE WRITING is for someone who produced a BEAUTIFUL writing piece while at the writing center that week.  We display it here and the student receives a little treat for doing such SPARKLY work! They of course get to share their writing aloud with the class, too!

Base Ten Holders-

Got these babies at the Dollar Tree.  They are small enough to stack inside our math cabinet, yet big enough to hold a smaller box for ones cubes and dice (use these for building numbers), while the tens, hundreds, and thousands (paper manipulatives printed off) fit perfectly without getting smashed! They're easy to grab and go since we pull these out at least once each week. #PlaceValueIsNeverEnding

This hot mess...

Just got organized into THIS beautiful creation!  #Ahhhhhhh #Relieved

Got these at Big Lots for about $4/ box.  They fit folders perfectly!!!! #WishIHadRoomForMore

iMath! Center Bins--

iPad

Math Facts

At My Seat

Teacher Choice

Hands On

! Computer

They have a "MUST DO" math activity to complete each time they go to that particular center, and then can choose from any of the games and activities inside the basket.  

The Must Dos correlate to the skill(s) we're practicing in class, or a spiral review of some sort--that's what I check for assessment.  The other games and activities don't necessarily provide a "product" so the Must Dos are great for keeping tabs on my little friends!

Headphones for our class iPads--

Best $25 I've ever spent! Got these at 5Below while I was back home for one of the 18 weddings I had this year. :)  #PeaceAndQuiet #SanitySaver

Used command hooks to hang and yes, my friends wrap them up beautifully each time!

Word Work Centers-- 

These little gems came from Lowes and I've had them for a little over 4 years now and they still look BRAND NEW!!! I change their choices out once every nine weeks, while changing out their "Theme Centers" once a week, or every other depending on mastery of the skill. 

New Star Student Instagram Wall! 

 Students post a "comment" about our Star Student of that week to place on their "Star Student Instagram Poster." I have these displayed in the hallway this year instead of in our classroom.  Everyone loves reading the comments from 7 year olds, such as, "I like your face." 

You can grab your freebie of this HERE!

Welp, that pretty much sums up some of the things we've got goin' on.  I can't believe it's going to be Thanksgiving already--Excited to travel home and to start Christmas shopping!  I would say decorate, but that's already been checked off the list.  #DontJudgeMe

Back-2-School with some fun Tech Ideas :)

Well, the time has come.  The alarm is set for 5:30 am, coffee cup is out and prepped, along with the same dress I wear every year on the first day of school {hooray for it not going out of style yet! WOOT-WOOT!}

The beginning of the year has totally snuck up on me this year.  I think I was having way too much fun over summer vacation to get myself mentally ready for the new year! Did I mention I was standing FEET away from this gorgeous specimen a few short weeks ago?

...and I may or may not have super imposed my face on a few of his ex girlfriend's bodies...

...and maybe some people he used to work with...

Hey, there's no harm in pretending, right?!

Getting back from vacation three days before the teachers headed back to school, I felt totally unprepared for my room set up this year.  When I began to feel my heart rate speed up, I reminded myself of those late nights I spent staying up until 2am working on new material for the upcoming year! I love when I forget things I so lovingly worked on during my time off...it's like an early birthday present to myself {on a sadder note, a few weeks from now will be my last year as a twenty-something...#DepressionStartsNow}.

Anywho, I'm still putting the finishing touches on one or two things in my room, so I'm not ready for a room tour just yet.

Honestly, I cannot believe I am starting off the year with an unfinished bulletin board! I'm waiting on two packs of border I ordered two weeks ago to get here so it can be finished!  However, I am proud of myself I did not put up something temporarily and have to take it back down again making double-duty work for myself--trying to think positive here people...even though it's killing me my favorite area in our room is not yet finished--OCD on overdrive!!!! Deep breaths...deeeeeeeeeep breaths...

In the meantime, you can view last year's room in my post HERE to possibly get some organization ideas until my room is up to Perchinsky standards. :)

While I try and relax knowing that I have 20 shining faces coming to see me bright and early tomorrow morning, I'd like to offer some of my "Go-To" resources for the beginning of the year goodness!  Hopefully you can find use for them in your classroom this year, also!  I know we are all looking for some extra time savers from all the craziness that is the beginning of the year, so I promise these will not require a massive amount of work! You can thank me later ;)

Front Row Math Resource

 I'm not going to elaborate on this because I dedicated an entire blog post to it a few months ago {find it HERE}! Not only is this an absolutely amazing resource when it comes to differentiating math practices in your classroom, but it's FREE!!!!! They've added some amazing new features so be sure to check it out for yourself--if you don't try any of the other resources listed here, you've got to get this one!

ScootPad: Math and/or Reading Resource

I love ScootPad because it's naturally differentiated for each student.  There are paid and free subscriptions for this site {and free App}, but I've been using the free one for about 4 years now, and it does the job just fine.  Students earn coins based on the number of correct answers they get for each session.  I've set up a class "bank" where students can use their coins to purchase classroom reward coupons! They love being able to buy things online.

I doubled everyone's coins at the end of the year last year to help give them a little more incentive to continue working.  This year, I may decide to double them at the end of every nine weeks.  We'll see how this year's class does with it before I put my foot in my mouth.  We may be having too many vacation days for my liking...

Class Dojo

This app is what you make of it honestly.  If you use it to fidelity in your classroom, it will work wonders for you!  If you only use it from time to time, the kiddos aren't going to care too much about it to make it work.  I require my students to earn AT LEAST 5 points each day--these are taken from class participation, homework completion, clean work area, staying on task, helping others, etc.  At the end of the week, students must have 25 points or more to participate in 30 minutes of Fun Friday Time!  This year, I think I'm going to allow the students to use their points to purchase items from our class prize box {I've used this Classroom Bingo board in the past and have LOVED it, but I need a little switch-up to keep my their interests going :) }

GoNoodle for Classroom Brain Breaks!

I love this site for brain breaks so much I also did an entire blog post about it HERE! It's great for when you don't have access to Youtube {or if your school puts a block on it}, or when you're pressed for time.  Some of these I can drag out for both of our daily 5 brain breaks (we do three rotations each day and take a 2 minutes break in-between where we're up and active to keep our brains and bodies moving!}

Kahoot!

LOVE LOVE LOVE KAHOOT!!!! My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE IT TOO!!!!  It's super easy to use and gets all of your little ones engaged!! You can use this interactive site for literally anything!  I'm busting this out Friday to "quiz" my new friends on our new classroom (rules, expectations, procedures, dos and don't, etc.)  You can read more about Kahoot HERE.

If you weren't wowed by any of those babies, here are some AWESOME digital learning apps that are so easy to use even your Kinders can use them!  

Animoto and Adobe Voice are very similar, but I think Adobe Voice is a little cuter :)  

I will be using Adobe Voice this year to make my "Meet the Teach" video for the kiddos on the first day.  My husband says, "Why can't you just tell them? You'll be standing right there..." If you're not a teacher, you just don't get it... I'm also planning on having my new friends compile one based on a new friend they made this week {I'm keeping my fingers crossed doing this on the third day of school, but it's that simple I'm pretty sure they're going to pick it up with no problem}!  You can watch a quick video on adobe voice HERE to get a better understanding of how it works-- Oh, and it's free, too :)

Popplet is a digital "web" you can use for science, vocabulary, math...pretty much whatever you want!   You could use at the beginning of the year for your classroom rules dos and don't s, sequence what you do in the morning, how to pack up at the end of the day, etc. I was introduced to this app later in the year and haven't used it as much as I would like but plan on using it a ton this year since the possibilities are literally endless! Did I mention it's free? Yeah, it is. :) Watch a short clip HERE to check it out!

Sock Puppets and Toontastic would be cute to go over your classroom rules and produces for the first time with your new students!  I have used this in the past for fluency readings and for students to explain specific reading and math skills and it is oh so cute!  Students could use it too to explain some fun facts about their new classroom! Both apps have free or paid subscriptions to choose from.  I use the free ones in my classroom and I really don't think we're missing out on anything.  However, if you are lucky enough to get an iTunes gift card from one of your fabulous parents or principal this year, I say buy it up!  Here's some video clips for you to see the awesomeness in action {SockPuppets HERE -- Toontastic HERE}

App in action--isn't it adorable!?

ToonTastic--it is just way too much fun!

As the year goes on I'll be sure to share some other fabulous apps and online resources we use on a daily basis, but thought these ones were the most important to get you set up for the beginning of the year!  I've been working on updating our classroom webpage, which is an entire week's worth of work in itself but I'll be sure to share others I feel are worthy of taking a second look at. :) I'm really, really, really going to try to post something each week that has been helpful to myself or my littles so be sure to check back for some other exciting resources that don't require four hours of prep work!

 I hope everyone has a great back to school week {if you haven't started already} and enjoy the first day of school--you only get one each year so make it count!  I added a new print to my room this year for a great reminder of why we do what we do everyday- sometimes we get so caught up in the politics and chaos of it all that we often forget why we became teachers in the first place!

Have a fabulous week!