New blog and TPT store

I opened up a Teachers Pay Teachers store with my two sisters whom also teach. I will still be posting things from my personal classroom on this blog. I find that my parents enjoy using this as a tool to see what happens at school. I do want to share my new blog with all of my current followers at http://the3sassysisters.blogspot.com/. Classroom pictures will be up very soon. I finished cutting the lamination tonight and hope to finish hanging things by the end of the week.

Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of school. I was an emotional ball all day. I wanted the day to be one to remember for all the years to come. Don't we all want that for our students? I had an amazing group of helpers and it went off with a bang. The kids were having the time of their lives running around laughing and having a good time with each other. I decided to do a circus/ carnival theme party. The idea was it to be the end of the first grade circus. Of course, I didn't have the energy to make a big banner that had the cute quote on it. However, that was the best way to sum up our year. No matter what learning disability, social issues, home life problems, physical injuries, or educational barriers we came across, each one of those students will hold a special place in my heart. We have hugged, cried, laughed, and was sick together( I will not share the details). I look forward to seeing them succeed and be awesome 2nd graders. I know the next teacher that has those names on their roster will not know how lucky she is to have that group of kiddos. Have a great summer class because you have EARNED it! I am very proud of all of my little 2nd graders! Pics will be posted to share our last day soon!

Seven more days of school!

It is official, we have seven more days of school. This is a very emotional time of year for everyone in the classroom. The students are excited to be out but don't want to say goodbye. The teachers are ready to be out but don't want to say goodbye to their class. Everyone is running on steam! The hugs grow from two a day from each student to about ten a day. Did I mention they constantly tell you how beautiful and great you are? Who doesn't like to be told those things? I found a cute idea, on Pinterest of course, to pop balloons for each day as a countdown. I always choose a student who had exceptional behavior. Yea, yea, we have to do anything we can to encourage good behavior at the end of the year. Every student turns into "Chatty Kathy" and the "Energizer Bunny".I had a mom/coworker who is full of creative ideas and she asked if I put anything in them. Ahhhh! Why didn't I think of that? Next year we will add something fun to the inside!

Field Day 2014

Field day is a day that our school puts on for fun at the end of the school year. This year was the first time to have competitions for ribbons. It was so much fun trying out and competing against fellow first graders. After all of their hard work they had a fun day of play. It was full of tug-o-war, face painting, bouncy houses, OH MY! :) We also had some amazing high school volunteers to help with our classes. I will have to say I'm pretty partial to the ones that we had and they were great with the kids. So, enjoy the pictures because we enjoyed making them.

100th Day of School!!!

We had a very busy day on the 100th day of school. We were 100th Day Superhero's! The kids loved earning their certificate and special surprise. I love every minute of days that we can have lots of imagination and movement. This first picture is Isaac (my 6 year old) and I. We like to match when the occasion calls for it. He is in Kindergarten and they made 100th day vests to wear in their parade. He decided to make it with 100 words he could read and be the Super Reader! However, we had to add a cape! Every activity was out of a Super Hero pack that I got off TPT. I need to copy and past the link to give this awesome teacher credit. The packet that I bought had a 100th Day cape which was my kiddos favorite thing.

Every second counts!

I admit at the end of the year I was burned out and running off of Christmas flames. We had several exciting activities that helped me make it through the last several weeks. We have been in school for the last two weeks and I decided that I need to reevaluate every second in the classroom. Every teacher knows that we use every second for learning. We have so much to do and every day is a race. Then, you have students miss school for whatever reason that have to catch up. I don't think anyone can understand the life of a person in the education field unless you have worked, volunteered, or observed in a school setting. So, how can I make every second count? How do I keep my extremely social class from talking? My answer............ keep them engaged at every moment. There are always going to be times that you can't control the activity and we do the best we can with what we have. I do have to say that we never have a free moment to do anything extra. However, I use my center time to buckle down on engaging activities that my kids go nuts over. I am recreating the ideas that are going into my centers these last months of school. I know exactly what each student struggles with in my class and now I just need to find a way to include all of them into that 45 minute block. Stay tuned for what I decide to do in my math and literacy centers.

It's a new year!

Wow, the break went really fast. I had all of these plans and I didn't even touch the list. I had this great vision of two full weeks of planning and creating things for my students. I was thinking that my office would be turned upside down with anchor charts and markers all over the floor. Oh..... I can't forget about all of the scraps of paper from cutting neat center cards! I wished I had a picture to emphasize the idea but I think you get the idea. I was exhausted from the last week of Christmas fun at school and I had to continue that fun at home with my two precious children. They always come into my classroom gasping at what the kids have done. Their first response was, “can we do that too? “ I am a sucker for those two little ones. I knew this would happen so, the Gingerbread houses were ready for them to decorate before they ever asked. So, what actually happened was all of that fun continued at home with my kids and I was still exhausted!

I apologize now for the poor picture quality! These were taken with my phone. Do you see this mess? Ahhhhhhh................ This is what happened next.........

Finally......

I hit the couch and didn't move for several days! I think sometimes we just need to rest! I am back in the rat race and I survived the first week back from break!