Dream a little dream and a new toy....

You know what I'm talking about... the dreams that all teachers start having about 3 weeks before school starts.  Summer is running in the opposite direction and the to-do list comes crashing into our brains- while we are trying to sleep!

Last night, I dreamt...
Our contractor (we are having some work done on our house) came in and asked why I was home. 
What? 
Where else would I be, besides ready a mindless book on my Kindle? 
Lady, today is the first day of school.  Your kids' bus just went by.
Nooooooooooooo!

(exit dream sequence, enter me waking in a cold sweat)

Seriously, my stomach is still upset an hour later.  The 3 cups of coffee (so far) are probably not helping, either.  I'm in a holding pattern (still!) as far as getting into my classroom, but I'm doing okay on the planning end.

As I said, we are having work done on our home, so that is keeping us pretty busy and somewhat distracted.  However, I think teachers have an internal clock that tell us that we are supposed to be doing something.... something that will help us sleep better at night!

Since we know I'm a planner (and LOVE all things organizational and in an office supply store!), I thought I'd share my new favorite toy.

Hurray!  I almost kissed the FedEx guy (this is normal for the UPS man, but rarely, does FedEx get this kind of greeting from me).  I just had to show off my new Erin Condren Life Planner (click HERE to see the website).  Let me just say that I am in NO WAY being paid or asked to endorse this product.  In fact, I willingly paid FULL PRICE to get it.  (I'll review a free item I got next week :) ! )  I just had to have it after hearing of the cute personalized items and checking out the site.

This is how it arrived (so precious!):
 

     

Here is a quick tour of the inside



     

     

      

 

 

There a bunch of other cool goodies, but I had to stop taking pictures so I could start marking up that bad boy with big plans!

Daily Agenda & Schedule

Having a daily schedule/ agenda posted in the classroom is so important.  At the lower elemntary grades, it helps teach the students the concept of passing time, sequencing, and gives them a sense of security in knowing that we have a plan for the day (although it may change sometimes!).

I've had the same schedule cards for a while and wanted to update the look.  I use a long pocket chart to house the schedule.  That way, I can move things each day, if needed, or make adjustments throughout the day (we all know that math just takes longer some days!).  Here is what my calendar area looks like (photo from last year).

The pocket chart on the left has my daily agenda.

Since I thought others may like a little updating, too. . . .  I just uploaded the files to my TPT page.  You can get it HERE.  If there are other items that you'd like to see added to the schedule cards, just let me know and I can update the file :)

I know some are also getting ready to start school (or at least plan).  Here is my schedule from last year for 1st semester (readers and writers workshop gets longer as they build stamina).  If you are new to first grade, this may help you figure out how to get it all in throughout the week.

Here is a LINK if you'd like a closer look!

That's all for now... I'm off to ANOTHER baseball game.  Between the 2 boys, we've only had 6 baseball-free days since school got out.  However, I do have one wicked farmer's tan!

Quest for Clutter-Free Walls

I like things to match and cannot handle a lot of visual clutter.  Seriously.  I even made agenda labels for a friend's wall because her handwritten/ computer combo labels did not match-- it was driving me nuts.  She didn't understand why it would bug me through a bathroom and cinder block walls.  I knew it was there!  Can I get an AMEN to my insanity?
One of my favorite blogs has provided a bunch of organization inspiration over the last year.  A girl after my own heart!

I am always on a quest to make my walls simple and student directed, however having a workshop format has loaded my room down with TONS of anchor charts and it's a constant battle.  I only want to keep up what is current and being used every day by my students.  Inspired by this week's Clutter-Free challenge, I took some photos of my current walls.  I'm trying not to cringe as I actually see what I live with every day!

This is my favorite wall- I finally got back to this side of the building and LOVE my view.  Cheesy, but it reminds me of the Pacific Northwest- very Twilight-ish when it rains :) 

So, I have a few thoughts for next year:

• I really like the blue paper on everything.  I think this will stay the same. 
• The word wall is too high on those cabinets.  I'll move that over to the big bulletin board at the back of the room (over the built-in cabinet/ counter.  That way, when they write the room or are using it in writers workshop, they will have a surface to write on.  Also- they won't hurt their little necks :)
• I don't know if I made good use out of our Bucket Filler board.  I'm wondering if I should put the pockets on their lockers instead of name tags to keep the concept in the forefront of their minds.
• I like my math/calendar area.  I think the rest of the board will be a permanent home for the current readers and writers workshop anchor charts for the unit.
• I REALLY want my windows bare, or at least to just have student seasonal artwork along the laundry line.  I'm conflicted, because my students do use those charts (as I put them up and rotate them) throughout the day. 

My door is a bit lame at the start of the year... I saw this an I really like it, as it goes with our class theme about being a "school family".

Link to blog for details...

I would change the colors to match my blue and green.  I take a photo of everyone on the first day, so I can have this prepped ahead of time and just add the photos after school.

Math Station Meyhem!

Yowza!  My math station organization was in some serious need of help!  Sure, I like to project the image of matching bins and decor, all neatly organized- however, under all the matching light blue and green, I had a dark secret my friends.  Not only do I have a "Monica's Closet" (obscure reference to an episode of Friend's which I may discuss at another time- like when I get around to cleaning it!), my growing Math Station games and activities were taking over and perhaps breeding little math games.

Because I switched grades this year, I gifted a kinder teacher many of my math games.  The stack of 1st grade games and activities were limited at the start of the year.  As I taught the new standards, I began purchasing (thanks to the creative teachers from TPT) and making the new activities.  Without tons of direction or thought involved, I've been tossing them in a small drawer that gives the illusion of organization.

 As you can see, I've out grown the drawers and something needed to be done.  Just about the time I was ready to tackle this project, I was in my my teaching partner (Health Nut)'s room.  We have been making games and talking a lot about the practice aspect of math and interventions.  Right there, on her counter, was my answer/ inspiration!  She has been slowly purchasing these awesome, plastic folders as she created games.  They hold 9X12 items and have a snap closure.  I got mine from Target (5 for around $3.75).  They kind of look like this:

I used my label maker to label them.  It seems to work better than making labels on the computer.  I didn't need them too fancy, since I'm the only one who will see them. 

Once I had these done, I needed the PERFECT container to keep them all in and divide them out by curriculum strand.  I keep these in my tall cupboards.

On a side note, I don't keep all of the activities out at once.  I find that they get to involved in the choosing and will either waste time or pick the least challenging one available!  As I change the stations, I keep the child-accessible ones in these bins (clear ones inside the cabinet):

They pick their assigned activity up at the back of the room and get started.  You can read more about my Math Stations in previous posts and get the labels HERE.

Happy organizing!

A World of Weather unit & Pinterest find...

Hurray!  I finally finished the weather unit that I started over Christmas break.  I had high hopes that I would kick it out and share with the world.... then, I went back to school and the real world set in.  Basically, I worked on it, as my students were learning the material (at least I know it all works!).  All of the experiments, crafts, and ideas have all been used in my classroom between last year and this year.  I just fancied it up with some cute clip art from Scrapin' Doodles :)  If you're interested, take a peak!  You can click on mt TPT link at the side of this page.

On a side note... I'm on break today and tomorrow (lame as it is, I'm happy to get 2 days).  I've already read 3 books and have developed a sore forearm from playing on Pinterest during this long weekend.  One totally cute idea I found was from Miss Kindergarten:

She originally found it on Playing with Pixie Dust (formerly Frogs, Bees Under the Seas).  The photo link on their site of this project no longer works (which is why I posted Miss Kindergarten's instead of the original).  It pays to read old blog posts over a break!  I'm totally making this next weekend.  Right now, my Kindle is feeling neglected.