Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving and D.O.G.S

So THANKFUL that Thanksgiving break has officially begun! I really enjoyed the littles today. Yesterday and Monday...I could not have said the same thing! They drove me nuts were excited.

I had a dad volunteer during the part of our day. He is so AWESOME to come in and help out several times a week. This year we started a new club for dads called D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) It's not only for dads, but for positive male role models to come and invest in our students. It has been great having so many gentlemen come in and be a positive influence. Many of the students that attend my school do not have strong positive male leadership, and through this program they can see what being a "man" could look like.

Here are our coffee filter turkeys:
And, here are our pilgrims:
Happy Thanksgiving :)


Saturday, November 17, 2012

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week. This whole year has flown by. I'm not just referring to the school year, but the whole year of 2012! I didn't feel well this week. Last weekend I entertained out of town family and didn't get enough rest. Then, I got the pleasure of fighting a cold for the rest of this week. Thankfully, it's almost gone :)

Despite my cold, we have done a few Thanksgiving themed things in class. Of course, they were all things borrowed from the AMAZING blogs that I stalk regularly. I forgot to take pictures. I will try to remember to next week and put them up for a visual, but we made coffee filter turkeys. We began reading about the pilgrims, the mayflower and the first Thanksgiving.

Hopefully, the 3 days left before my break will be enough time to get to all that I want to do!


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Duty

Wednesdays would be sooooo much better if I didn't have morning playground duty or afternoon crosswalk duty! The mornings aren't that bad. Basically, I go outside and police watch students play before the bell rings to line up. It's only 15 minutes earlier than I would normally go out and pick them up anyway. I can handle the mornings. Afternoon crosswalk duty is another story entirely. I already feel like I rush through math in the afternoon, but on Wednesdays, I feel like I have to be a superhero. On paper, my math time is 1:50-2:58. Sounds decent. Doable. In reality, it is not. Oh, in case you didn't know, school is dismissed at 2:58. That means that my littles need to be packed up before 2:58. We still need about 15 minutes of pack-up/wrap-up time. I like to end with what I call "the good stuff." This means I like to send my littles home with a smile and possibly give out a few stickers for being covered in awesome-sauce. I like to sometimes play a cheesy little game or send a note home to brag on said awesome-sauce. But on Wednesdays, I just feel rushed because as soon as the bell rings, I need to walk like crazy out to the crosswalk to fulfill my duty. I need to plan Wednesday afternoons a little better. I need to be nicer to myself and not overplan. Keep it simple. Hopefully, next Wednesday I will remember these words.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Apples!

For the past 2 weeks, we have been doing lots of apple themed learning.  The littles have been working really hard on all the apple activities and have had a blast.  Today we worked on our apple stained glass mosaics.  I am pretty sure that this idea came from Cara Carroll over at thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com.  It is relatively simple to get ready and the littles think it is the coolest.  Which is REALLY important in 1st grade!
 
 
 


We also have learned a bit about Mr. Johnny Appleseed.  We wrote about our learning in writing and included it in a craftivity.  I got this idea from a free download on TPT.  I wish I could give credit to the originator, but I only printed out the template and didn't fully download the other materials. Sorry! 
 
"Johnny Appleseed he met a wolf the wolf died." 




















I am including a few other photos of the classroom.  We have been in session for a little over a month...I wish I would have taken the photos when the room was still bright and shiny.  But, alas....life (first grade) happens :) 
 
 
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

So far...

School's been in for a little over a month and I have come to the following conclusions:

1.  I always seem to end up with the cutest kids ever!
2.  It is impossible for my students to eat lunch quietly.
3.  The desk fairy at my school needs to get her act together and visit more often.
4.  Assessing and goal setting are important, but they are not my most favorite activites.
5.  I need more time in my day. 
6.  I need a personal assistant to cut out things, make copies, remind students to use their inside voices and bring me coffee when needed :).
7.  If I ask if it's an emergency bathroom request, it ALWAYS is.
8.  On the days that I need to be left alone before school begins, I will be interrupted.
9.  Pretending to call Justin Bieber on your cell to brag about your students independent reading stamina will make you famous for the rest of the day.
10.  First graders are THE BEST!!!



 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Hello, Friends!

Welcome to my little spot on the internet! I have been an avid blog stalker for a while and love the community that is being created between teachers. I wanted to get on board and be more than a lurker :) Hopefully, I can soon learn to navigate how to upload resources to this site to share with you all. I am a better teacher because of the online teacher community. Here are my must follows:

http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/

http://www.ateenytinyteacher.com/

http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.com/

http://ericabohrer.blogspot.com/

http://firstgraderatlast.blogspot.com/

http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/



If you haven't checked these amazing ladies out...do it now! You won't be disappointed.