First Day of School!

Tomorrow is my first day of school! I am teaching 5^th grade this year. Here I am sitting in bed about to fall asleep and excited about tomorrow. A week ago, I returned to set up my classroom. I had bags everywhere after arranging the desks. I had to reorganize my library, put things away, and label all the supplies for the students. It doesn’t sound like much – but it is!

On Saturday, I was able to leave with the pleasure of knowing I was all ready for Tuesday and I could enjoy my holiday too. Here are some pictures of my class room set up. 

I also decided to use binders for the students again this year. I have had more success with the binders. The folders were getting all bunched up in the desk. Plus the students would wrinkle the papers as they closed the folders. I label my binders with tabs for each subject – Reading, Writing, Math, Social Studies, and Science. I feel I have a good handle on the binders after doing it for a year.

Well, good luck to those who are starting tomorrow! I know a lot of teachers have already started, so I hope all is going well for you too! I will be back next week to let you know how my first week went and the fun things we did.

Returning to School in One Week!

I always have ideas to share, so here is two this week. When I get into the full swing of school I will have many more. I am technically on vacation still – 5 more days! And what am I doing – teacher stuff. It is in my blood and I can’t help it!

I never used my plan book for a whole year until I bought one from Erin Condren. For about 16 years, I always started with good intentions of filling out my plan book and after a few weeks, it started to collect dust. I am not saying you should run out and by one, but now that I have been using it for several years, I have found some great value in writing in it. First of all, I am now using last year’s as a guide and a reference to what I am teaching this year. Sometimes I forget when I did something or how long it took us to complete. Second, it helps me plan units (especially math) so that I complete a unit at the natural breaks of holidays and vacations. One of my pet peeves is I hate giving tests on Mondays – I don’t think it is fair to the students.

Anyways, I am already excited to start writing in this year’s planner – so weird how something cute and fun is a motivator for doing something! Here is a picture of my planner this year!

My next tip is Class Dojo – Love it! I have the app too. If you have not tried it – you should check it out. It is free and is a nice way to keep track of positive and negative points your students earn in class for behavior. I use mine as a currency, so students can buy privileges and rewards. I have it displayed on my Promethean Board when I am not teaching and my students are very responsive to it. I also use the app when I go pick my class up at the line-up area. They can earn points for lining-up quietly and if they don’t – well you know. The amazing thing is by the time I get back to the class the points are already there on the Promethean Board – amazing! Each year the company has been improving it – this year it went school wide. So, if you team teach or share students, more than one teacher can give or take away points. Pretty Cool!!! Anyway, check it out at classdojo.com. 

My Summer is Almost Over!

School starts in less than a month and my vacation is almost over! I am glad though! I get really excited this time of year. The start of new beginnings and a refreshed outlook.

This year has its challenges because I have 22 students looping with me. I had them as 4^th graders in my 4/5 combo last year and I am very happy to be teaching a solid 5^th this year. However, as you know, this poses its own challenges, since I can’t use anything that I did last year – books, lessons, projects, etc. So I have already been working on new ideas to revamp my room for this year while getting my students excited about 5^th grade.

One of the new things I will be doing is changing my first day picture book that I read to start class off. I usually use The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard. I read it with the class and then we look at the pattern of writing the author’s use in the book. Then my students write about themselves using the same pattern. I also take a picture of each student on the first day of class. Finally, we publish the poem with the picture for Back to School Night. I always get a lot of great comments from parents about them.

This year I will be using another book that was an idea from my partner, LeAnn. She has used The Best Part of Me: Children Talk about Their Bodies in Pictures and Words by Wendy Ewald. After she reads the book to the class, she takes a picture of their body part they want to write about, and then the students write a paragraph about it. For example, a student may take a picture of his eyes and write about how he views and interprets the world through his eyes, while others look into them to learn and understand him. Another student may take a picture of her feet and write about how her feet take her places in her life. I am looking forward to using this book in September.

No matter when you start, all of us have to get things together – shopping for supplies, organizing classrooms, and preparing for a new start. I wish all of you a happy and low stressful beginning to the school year of 2014-2015.

TpT Conference 2014

What a fantastic time I had in Vegas at the first TeachersPayTeachers Conference!

I arrived on Wednesday and met up with the Blogger Meet Up at the Venetian – where I won two door prizes! I got a doc cam and a subscription to the Social Studies Weekly for a year.

 I meet some great people, did a little shopping, and learned a lot. I was lucky to attend four great sessions.

The first session was with Deanna Jump and Deedee Willis. They were spectacular! I learned about some great clip artists and where to get royal free pictures. Also, they were inspirational and reinforced that I am on the right track with my products.

The second session I went to was with Nikki from Melonheadz! She made me feel like I could be an artist! I don’t think I have a talent, but maybe I could make a few things for my own products! She was funny and very sweet, I appreciate all she had to share!

Rachel Lynette was in my last two sessions. She had a lot of words of wisdom. She talked about finding your niche. She also gave good advice on selling with her experience.

Rachel Lynette and Laura Candler also had sound advice about making K-5 products for TpT. They gave me many things to think about like designing my products to copywriting my freebies!

Overall, the experience was overwhelming and full of information, but I enjoyed every minute! I am looking forward to next year’s conference!

Working on More TpT Product

My partner in crime and I are working today on TpT products. Having a lot of fun! Great way to spend the summer. We are excited to be going to Vegas soon for the TpT Conference!!!

Summer Vacation!

              Summer Vacation is finally here! And what am I up to? Getting things together for next year. I am going to be teaching a solid 5^th grade this year instead of a 4^th/5^th combo. I am very excited! Twenty-two of my 4^th graders are looping with me. So, along with writing new projects for TpT, I have been browsing pinterest, blogs, TpT, and the internet for fun and exciting activities. Here is a little of what I have found.

These binder covers are great! They were actually designed by a friend of mine – Molly. You can find them on TpT at her store – Lessons with Laughter. I am going to use these this year!

I love this idea! As much as I try to stay on top of Birthday’s, I feel like I am always running behind when it comes to getting everything together. This flower arrangement looks good in the classroom and I don’t have to think when a Birthday comes about – I will be ready!

These clipboards are beautiful! I want to make them for my ROP students who come from the high school to help in the classroom. They would also be great for my fellow teachers or student teachers. Now I just have to find some clear clipboards.

I thought these were so cute! I am always looking for ways to Wasi tape. Wouldn’t this be great to use these popsicle sticks for calling on students randomly?

I have some table numbers, but they are a little tattered. So I think I will make myself some cute ones like these!

Have a great summer!!!

Things I use in my class!

These are the latest activities I have for my classroom. My 5th graders are studying the state capitals, so we play the "I Have...Who Has?" game in class to help them remember.

I also finished putting my bathroom passes and homework passes together. I have been using them for years - I finally put them into a pack.