Life

I have tried to manage my time and give my students all that they need and deserve. However, that has been a very difficult task. I have been overwhelmed by grades, data, misc. tasks, planning, anchor charts, and family life. Yes....... I do have a family! :) This year has already ran me over and backed up. It has been a great year though! Things are starting to settle down. Some of those things I have just forced to settle down. All I can say is that I LOVE my job!!!! If I am feeling bad, one of my students will come up to me and say one little thing that makes everything better. One of my Firsties knows when to come and give me a hug! :) Highlight of the day: I have a little jokester who is normally quiet and very well mannered. He comes up to me and says, "Mrs. Clark..... chicken butt?????" I just stand there with a blank stare. I say, " Why did you say that?" I had no idea why or where that came from. His face lit up and said, " it's funny." How can you not love this guy? This is why I do what I do!!! I love my job, I love every one of my students, and we have fun while learning. I realize that my style of teaching is not for everyone. However, I decided that I was going to stop letting things steal the joy in my classroom and do whatever I feel my students need. Yes, it's a lot of work but it's worth every minute!

2D Shapes

This was a fun unit! The students were engaged every day and they aced their test! What more can you want? Here are some pictures of the activities we did together in class. We built shapes with pretzels, marshmallows, and tooth picks. The students love to work with food! After they had the hang of making the shapes they had to find ways to build one shaped with other shapes. It was a blast and they all did such a great job! They also made shape monsters which I bought off TPT from Primary Graffitti http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shape-Monster-Craftivity-367617. These are so stinking cute! They made 2d shape hats which I got from A Spoonful of Learning at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2D-Shapes-Activities-GALORE-870143. This was another big hit with the my kiddos. There wasn't enough time to do all of them but, they are thrilled that they will be working on them during centers next week. How cute is this?

Math Centers

My class loves math centers! They look forward to it all day. I have all different types of centers that have skills they previously learned in math. I change all of the centers out every 2 weeks if not more. It just depends on if they are actively engaged the entire time. I have a worksheet to go with each center except the game center. This gives me a way to hold them accountable and to see if they need to spend time with me in a small group. I love having this time to work with students who need extra small group instruction and I love to use it to challenge my higher level learners. They love this center. I call it "roll and cover" because they take two dice, find the sum, and cover that number on their folder. The first one to cover them all gets a sticker. :) In this center the students built 2d shapes. They also started building 3d shapes all on their own. They are little smarties!!! This little cutie is playing a football comparing numbers game that I made from teachers pay teachers. I LOVE this site! These little cuties are building shapes!!!

MIA

I have not forgotten about my blogger friends and parents. I have been super busy trying to get everything in order for the new school year. Finally, I feel like my feet are back on the ground and I can be myself. I am starting to understand CSCOPE and can manage my lessons to better fit the needs of my precious little ones. We had so much fun during our 2D Shapes unit that I had to take a couple of pictures for you. I was caught in the moment on a few activities and forgot to take pictures. The student's light bulbs were burning bright and I couldn't quit smiling. :) I managed to get one at the end of our Math Monsters activity! First activity was using marshmallows, tooth picks, and pretzel sticks to build shapes. The challenge was for the students to figure out how one shape can be used to make another shape. For example, two squares put together make a rectangle. My kiddos were amazing! They were building trapezoids and hexagons out of triangles. It is amazing how engaged the students get when you tell them if they stay on task they will have a snack.

My Classroom is finally ready!!!!

Take it easy on me as this is my very first classroom! I am super excited and I hope the students will be excited as well. This is just for the purpose of Open House. I like to be organized and most of the time you have more than one parent in your room at a time. This gives them a start on where to put things while they wait for me.

View from my teacher's corner/ guided reading area. Don't look at the top of my cabinets. I'm still waiting to see what all I need to keep and what I need to get rid of from the previous teacher.

Guided Reading table

My Library :)

From the door

Thrilled in 1st Grade!

I have been a busy bee! I am so excited to be in first grade! I decided to go with a Seuss inspired classroom because I love colors and patterns! It is impossible for me to choose just one! I had four days to sew and get the classroom arranged and cleaned up before I left to finish the journey of moving. Here are pics of what I have done so far.

One week until the night before school!

I am super excited that the time is getting near to begin school. I think my classroom is set up the way I want it. I am sure there will be many things that I have to change once the kids enter! We have open house this Thursday! I will be posting pictures this week. I just need to tidy up the last minute things and cross my fingers that this new internet provider will upload them. I LOVE being in the country but, the internet is sooooooo slow.