Restart

After a tough three weeks, I finally feel like I have some of my energy back. This weekend I felt much more optimistic and eager to make some necessary changes in the classroom.

The signs below will be the individual tracking system for our "Strong Minds and Big Hearts" theme. Students will receive stickers to place on the numbers when they show one of the characteristics of someone with a "strong mind" or "big heart." Once they reach 10 stickers, they will get a certificate and a special "surprise" - aka I need to figure something out :) I think the kids will be excited to see the next bulletin board tomorrow!

Language Arts Makeover!

Below are our Reading and Writing Goal Binders. Each student has an assigned number to keep them organized. More info later on the contents inside!

I finally created my "Writing Center" to use during Daily Five and Work on Writing!  Below the writing center are our Words Their Way sort bins. Students have a word study notebook and materials for their word sorts for the week.

Some of the paper options for "Work on Writing." During Daily 5, students have a choice of what they can write about. In Writer's Workshop we focus on a specific writing skills and types of writing. We just started our Personal Narrative Unit.

I have five different word study groups based on students' spelling development stage. I am using Words Their Way to differentiate instruction for my kids!  So far I really like the program and it fits seamlessly into the Daily 5 routine.

I've been a little bit of a control freak with materials this year, so the kids will be excited to get their own pink erasers Monday. They will also have to be responsible for this mini-sharpener as a group. Always trying to minimize 2nd grade messes :)

Love Notes

This week has been extremely difficult for me.  It seems like I've been sick since the beginning of the year...as one ailment is relieved, my daily handshaking brings me something else to worry about.  I've also been pretty consumed with this job. It's been difficult to find "me" time and take my mind off the list of tasks that will never be finished.

It's so nice to receive notes like this one below! They remind me of the reason why I do this job and why it is so consuming. I may never feel satisfied with my performance because I care so much about these kids.

 And a little comic relief below :) FYI Her non-functional phone was confiscated the other day after she began "texting" during class.

Class Theme and Sharpened Pencils

One lesson learned teaching - not all pencils are created equal! Cheap pencils are sooo appealing. Seeing 10+ pencils disappear a day, erasers pulled off, and pencils split in half by your most "active" students makes it tempting to go out and buy those sale pencils - the ones you see for a dollar a pack.

There's nothing better, though, then the classic Dixon Ticonderoga... ask any teacher out there.  I also found a website that personalized notepads for teachers. I believe for only $12, I know have a great notepad for positive notes home.  LoveIt! Personalized Notepads (See here!) have tons of cute notepads for teachers.

Our class theme is Strong Minds and Big Hearts. I came up with ten characteristics of scholars who have a Strong Mind and Big Heart.  The yellow sentence strips are Strong Minds and the orange are Big Hearts. When students' actions reflect one of these characteristics I've asked them to draw their actions on a small card and I staple it next to the sentence strip.

Stickers, books, and the DRA

My school does not have a library, but I was fortunate to receive a good supply of used books from different places and people to create a pretty large classroom library. I then began debating how to organize these books.  Since I wanted to teach my students how to find "good-fit" books, I thought I could simply organize my library by genre and call it a day!  Two challenges surfaced - 1. Children's book genres boil down to two major categories - animal fiction and realistic fiction :) 2. Students continue to pick books that were either too challenging or too easy.

I decided that it was time to bite the bullet, take home loads of books in my car, and level my library. This will give me more insight into what books fit different students and ensure that kids are picking appropriate books. I decided to level my library by DRA level using the Scholastic Book Wizard (here!). Many episodes of "Mad Men" on netflix and hours later...the job is finished!

To-Do's

A long weekend is a teacher's best friend. I've enjoyed the opportunity to take a couple extra hours and do nothing! I had a great day with my teacher friends Tia and Cara in Sedona today and even got some planning done in the car there and back. 

Everything is in the details...and with so many details to attend to in elementary, it is easy for things to fall through the cracks!  I am trying to find a new organization system to make me more streamlined with planning and to help manage the plethora of "little" things I need to get done throughout the week.   Playing around with word and tables for 10 minutes yesterday, I created a Weekly To-Do template that I plan to begin using this week. I'm hoping that planning my planning and having a central place to record my "To-Do's" will make my life more manageable!

See my template below!