Long Time Since I Checked In...

This past year has been a crazy year of learning!  As most teachers know, moving schools is stressful.  Every school does things differently, has different routines, and expectations.  And these are the schools within the same district!  Moving across the country and starting a new school is all of this times 10.  Standards of behavior, expectations, and even culture are different.  I will say that it has made me a better teacher.  I better understand when a student comes in class that lived somewhere far different and doesn't act like the other children.  I'm the oddball, now.  I'm too friendly.  I have a strange accent. 

So, here is what I've learned about getting a new student:
1.  Just because s/he doesn't know what you are talking about, doesn't mean that s/he didn't learn the concept before-s/he may have learned it differently.
2.  Expectations of behavior should be seen within the context of where the child lived before.
3.  Moving is stressful and scary!  Remember your student is going through a very traumatic experience.
4.  Try to help your student make friends-over a year in Washington, and I don't have any close friends.  I miss my friends in Oklahoma, terribly.
5.  Students from other places may eat strange foods because it's comforting to eat food from your home.

There are so many things to be said for moving schools, grades, districts, and even states.  I feel I'm more open to the varieties in education.  I now see the validity in NOT having a federal standard on what children should be taught.  Here in Washington, a lot of nautical classes are offered in high school.  In Oklahoma, you can take Cherokee has a second language.  There is a reason for having regional classes.  It doesn't make sense to learn a lot of nautical things in a land locked state, and, conversely, nobody speaks Cherokee in Washington.

Even in elementary, I found it important to teach to the students of my area things that had meaning to them.  Last year, I was teaching about Native Americans, and there was actually a unit about the Five Civilized Tribes (who were brutally driven into Oklahoma).  Though, this is a necessary lesson, second grade seemed like the wrong year to teach it here in Washington.  The students' background knowledge of states is limited and so this had little to do with them.  In Oklahoma, second grade may be the perfect year to teach it, but those kids don't have to have as much understanding of geography because they have the background knowledge of where the Five Civilized Tribes landed.

On the other hand, I discovered some awesome ways that my new school teaches math.  The idea is to make sure that students have a very grounded understanding of number sense and value.  Students don't appear to get as far in how big the numbers are that they are working with, but they are able to explain their reasoning for what operations they are doing.  Students also have an amazing understanding of story problems, which is a very difficult concept for young students.

Overall, what I've discovered through this process is that teaching looks different in different settings, and there is a lot to be said for teaching in different areas, diverse groups, and other settings.

Classroom Tour

I think I'm ready for kids!  Yay!  Transporting a whole class 2000 miles is a lot of work, but it's done. :)  School starts Tuesday.  Getting the classroom ready has been a lot of work, but I've had some great help.  My husband and sons moved a lot of it, and helped me get it into my class.  My oldest son hung all the high stuff.

Here is a look at my room:

This is the view as you walk into my class.  I love having windows!  I added pennants that I cut from an old Mother Goose book.  My desk is on the left, and under the windows, I have the class library.  The wall to the right when you walk in has a math resource board, and an empty board on the left.  I plan to use the left side for student work so it was left blank.  The bins are for school supplies and won't be left there:

Looking back at the door, I left a lot of curriculum posters up for reference.

I worked a lot on the front of the room since that is where the students look, frequently.  I added letters above the board and left space for students to make pictures to go with the letters.  I also added a focus wall for the ELA curriculum.  I always try to leave some white board because I end up using it, occasionally.  Also, it's helpful if a substitute can use the white board since s/he doesn't usually have access to the Smart Board.  Under the board, is where I put birthdays up.  I usually take a picture of groups of students, all in the same birth month, holding the number date, and then I add it to the circle that has the correct month under the Smart Board.  The table has my Elmo, and some workspace.

Lastly, I have a close up picture of the class library.  I changed my library this year to Lakeshore book bins, and changed the AR levels on the bins.  I use to have a broad AR levels, but I felt that it was better if I marked them a little better this year.

Well, that's it!  I'm ready for second grade!

Classroom Decorating

I have not fell off the edge of the world…I just feel like it.  I've been nonstop busy working on putting away classroom (and house) items.  All of our things arrived a week into August.  That is ALL OF OUR THINGS!  So I had to get my house in order to start on my classroom.  House was quickly put in order in a week of constant frenzy.   After that, I've been working hard in my classroom.

I've moved classrooms before.  I've moved schools before.  I have never moved across the country with a classroom.  It's much more difficult and costly than most people imagine.  My classroom stuff took up so much of the moving van that we had to leave a few important things behind. :(

This was what the truck looked like when we got all or our household items out!  Eek!  We actually just parked the giant moving truck at the school and unloaded.  I didn't want to unload all of this at my house and slowly take it to the school.

When it got into the classroom, this is what I had to face:

Last week, I worked very hard and was able to get a lot of my classroom decorated.  A couple of tips I would give to any teacher moving with a large amount of classroom stuff:

Tips for Moving Your Classroom Across Country ...Or Anywhere ;)

1. Get rid of anything that can't be replaced fairly cheaply.
2. Don't expect to be in the same grade so don't be so grade specific when you pack-it's sometimes cheaper to resupply that to transport old stuff!
3. Label everything!  We moved classroom and house items together.  Across my classroom boxes, I labeled "Classroom" in large letters.  I added a smaller label with info about what was in the box.
4. Find out if where you are moving has access to the same school supply stores (or some of equal prices).  For example, I came from a state that had a very cheap school supply store, and now I haven't found anything comparable.
5. Put all your boxes in one area of the classroom, and begin labeling with Post-its (easily moveable) cabinets and other storage area in your classroom.  Think about what students need to be able to reach, and what you won't be using very frequently.
6. Begin opening one box at a time, and putting away the contents.  Immediately, break down the box, and add to the collection for the janitors or your pile to take out.
7. Temporary labels outside of drawers, cabinets, and other storage have been a lifesaver!

I have made a huge dent in the decorating/organizing.  Time to start taking pictures!  Which means…it's almost time for a classroom tour!!!   But for now, I'll show you my most recent work. :)

I'm very excited about my new decorations and my new class!  I'm SUPER excited about my new school, the new kids, and Second Grade!  More classroom pics to come! :)

Throwing a Sale!

Teachers Pay Teachers Sale starts Today!!!!  Woohoo!  I always have about 40 things on my wish list so I'm always so excited to get the email giving me the dates of the site wide sale.  This year, I have even more than normal that I'm buying since I'm moving to 2nd grade.  I'd like to make my own homework, and, probably, will, as the year goes along, but until then, I plan to make use of some of the great resources I've found.

My store is 20% off, in addition to the site's sale!  In celebration, I'm offering a form from my Open House Packet (which isn't quite finished, but will be soon *fingers crossed*).  This form has been one I have used over and over, and has helped me to get so many volunteers in my classroom.  With all that we have on our plates as teachers, it never hurts to have a volunteer to call on for the things that take away from our actual job -  TO TEACH!

Just CLICK HERE!

I have one month to get ready for school, now!  I'm feeling the pressure.  I have a whole list of things to finish, as I'm sure you understand!  One of my goals is to get my classroom management procedures written the way I teach them so I can share on here before school starts.  Plus, it always helps to remind me of everything I teach those first days (weeks?) of school.  Those are the days that create the culture of your class!  

And don't forget to check out my store!  Click on the picture to be taken there and get your discounted items-->

 Happy Shopping!

Starting the School Year Right!

This summer has been all about getting organized and ready for the beginning of school since I have a whole classroom to set up.  Those days in August when I'd normally be making copies, creating my lessons, making lists, checking them twice, marking whose been naughty or nice…oops! wrong job!  well, those things that we teachers do to be prepped for students, I'll not be doing them first.  I'll be redecorating, dusting off boxed materials, putting books back into AR level, setting up bulletin boards, etc.  All those things I haven't had to do for several years since I hadn't changed schools, I'm going to be busy doing.  Which means all those other things, that have to be done, I'm trying to prep for now, or write on that list spoken of before, not the naughty or nice one…that comes much later ;).

Some of the things foremost on my mind: my very detailed lesson plan for the first day of school.  I always make a VERY detailed plan of the first day of school.  I have many reasons for this.  The main reason is that I'll still be on lazy summer day brain, and school brain will not have kicked in, yet.  I need to have a schedule of everything I'm doing (much like I leave for a substitute-HA!).  I like to put descriptions, games, rules, procedures, practice, and time for first day pictures in this lesson plan.  Since this will be my first year in 2nd grade, it will probably have more stuff than I'll get to.  In 1st grade, you need such a detailed plan because those little guys and gals get lost easy, and you can't be puttering around looking for what you had planned or you may lose a kiddo!  I think 2nd grade won't be so dangerous! :)

After the first day plans, I usually use my regular lesson plans from then on.  After obtaining a calendar, a schedule for next year, and copy of another teacher's plans (thank you, new teammate!), I got a better idea of what next year was going to look like.  I decided to create a new lesson plan book that would also contain my grades.  Grades are new for me!  My first grade years we assessed ability, rather than kept grades.  I've been reading blogs, pinning on Pinterest, and asking questions of teachers to see what the best ideas were for keeping grades.  I know there will be a software to enter grades, but I needed a grade book to keep with my plans.  After some research, I created a new {EDITABLE} lesson plan book that contains the grade book I need, plus a calendar, and other necessary forms.  My hours of work can be obtained from my TpT store, but here's a preview:

I'll be adding to it, and updating the calendar each year!  The price will change accordingly as I add to this file, but you can get it now, and any updates will be free!

What's New Going Back to School?

The big news that I spoke of….I've relocated to Washington State!  This is a huge change from Oklahoma.  One of the most significant changes…rain, but no tornados!  Yay!  Well, no significant tornados (aka, giant, mile-wide ones), and July has been beautiful.  I've really enjoyed the change.  Another change-a new school and a new grade.  I'll be teaching 2nd grade this year, which brings me to the problem of how to change the name of this blog.  I'll still be making products for primary grades, but I will be including things that I'm doing in my class this year.

With the new school, the new grade, and, of course, a new classroom, I've been working on some new projects.  Mostly projects that will include decorations!  I'm very excited about this, but don't want to post any until I have them on my classroom walls to be sure they look as good finished as they appear on my screen. :) Since that will be a little while (my stuff for my classroom is still in storage in Oklahoma and yet to arrive *fingers crossed only one more week*), I've decided to post about a first days rule book that I created last summer.

I used this at the beginning of last year in first grade, but it easily adapts to 2nd and K.  It is a lot of coloring and tracing, as well as a guide to move through the rules.  I love this product, and will be using it again.  I'm discounting it in celebration of my new move!

Get it HERE! 

Big Changes!

It's been a while since I posted, and it's been a crazy year!  Last summer, I taught summer school, which was a lot of fun but kept me from posting some of the great stuff I've been working on.  One of the things I meant to post about was some RTI Fluency Practice that I used in summer school.  The class I had was first graders moving to second, but needed a little boost in reading.  I added this practice, which I could do very quickly, one-on-one, with small groups, to boost fluency:
The great thing about this little gem was that I could teach 5 Dolch words at a time, review them in easy sentences, and the next day add 5 more.  Many of the sentences would repeat previous words that had been taught to create fluency.  I kept my sentences in chart form, but over a full school year, it could be used to cut in strips and have students review words in pairs.  To get this product at a discounted rate, check out my TPT store:

HERE

I have several new items I've created to add, but also exciting news about moving to a new state, a new school, a new grade, and an updated blog to share in upcoming posts.  Until then, here's a hint for the new blog look: