Trying to catch up!

Wow, this school start has been especially hectic!  There are just too many new things going on and I can't seem to get caught up.  With common core, we have changed to the Journeys reading series by Harcourt but we aren't using the weekly stories.  We are only using the spelling, high frequency words to know, vocabulary skills and the grammar/language components from the series..  We are using exemplars and exemplar plans chosen by our district as the reading portion of the program.  We also got new math books that were realigned to cover the common core skills.  In addition to the new reading and math changes, we are also piloting a program called the PAX Good Behavior Game and we will have a grade level game coach in and out of our rooms observing and helping implement the program.  Add in an intern (who is doing a super job) which makes me feel like I should have it more together to set a good example for her.  I haven't done any official lesson plans even though she has already had to turn  in plans for some areas that she will be starting to take on at the end of the week.  I told her that the first few weeks I always play it by ear.  I have a plan of things to be accomplished during the week but I don't actually write a written plan until after the fact when I see what I got to on any given day.  To me that's better than having to redo them because we didn't get to something or things took longer or less time than I thought.  (Am I the only person who does this?)

We have got a class of 15 sweet kiddos but they have a wide ability range.  Everything from one who is still working on letters and sounds (after two years of kindergarten, but placed SLD at the end of last year) to someone reading at a 2.5 level at the end of kindergarten.  Some are good listeners and directions followers but others...not so much.  The write every day mandate that came with common core will be a challenge with some of our new friends because they just look at you when you ask them to write even a short sentence.  I know it will come with time but everyone is feeling the pressure on our first grade team.  I'm glad it's not just me.

On a personal note, my baby started kindergarten this year.  His teacher is a sweet lady who has been teaching over 30 years.  She does a great job and I know she will challenge him while dealing with his active personality.  He's excited to be at "Mama's school" this year and says kindergarten is fun because he gets to play.  Just in case starting kindergarten wasn't a sign he is growing up to fast, he also lost his first tooth yesterday.  He has spent the day playing with a Gearopolis game that the tooth fairy left him.  Doesn't the tooth fairy always leave an extra special treat on her first visit???? 

Well, I guess I'd better get busy on making some lesson plans for this week.  I need to start setting a better example for my intern!  I promise to be back soon with pictures of some of our upcoming activities and lessons.

Room Tour 2013

Well, we've finished the first two days of school last week and I'm still exhausted.  Our pre-planning days went by quickly and it seems like I'm still trying to catch up.  I've been fighting the crud (stuffy nose, sore throat and cough) for over a week now and that hasn't helped.  Our Open House was a success and we met 14 of our 15 students that night.  We started school on Thursday (15th) with all 15 friends and they are a great little bunch.  Some of them are talkers but that's common in first grade.  One or two seem to whine/complain but I hope that will ease off as they adjust to the new routine.  I also have an intern who will be with us through Thanksgiving and she is off to a great start.  She visited my class before school ended last year.  She  also attended an IEP meeting for a student who is in our class this year, attended curriculum trainings during post planning and attended another training over the summer before "officially" starting when pre-planning began. 

All of our new friends like the superhero classroom theme and I wanted to show you how the room started and how it is looking right now.


This is the load I had in my trunk the first day I went back to school.

 

Here it is after I unloaded.

This is how the room looked after the custodians had cleaned the carpets.  Most of the furniture was pushed all together on one side of the room.

 All of the books that make up my books center get stored in the cubbies over the summer.

 

 

My classroom door.  I printed on magnet sheets.



Wall outside my classroom door.

As you enter the classroom, there are student cubbies on the left that have a large bulletin board space above them.  I use the bulletin board for our content area word wall and to display our school Warrior Expectations and class rules.

Just past the cubbies is a corner that has our computer area.   I have the mathematical practices posted on one wall and the other wall will have our Daily 5 charts once they are introduced.


 

 

 At the front of the room is our whole group area with our reading strategies board, SMART board and white board.

 

 

Cooper the Super Bear will be going home with students throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

I love my rugs from Office Depot!

 

I have a wall of countertop and cabinet space along with windows and a back door that leads to the playground area.  Red contact paper on the window of the door stops kids from looking out at children playing on the playground.
 

The back corner with a sink is also home to our superhero behavior clip chart.  The bookcase there by the sink houses all of our word work activities.  The coat rack holds our two superhero outfits.  They cane from Oriental Trading and they are reversible. 

The door leads to our restroom.  There was a mirror on the door but I covered it with red contact to make it into a bulletin board.  It has month of the year, day of the week and color word cards.

 

This wall also holds the entrance to my office.  The shelf on the left has our non-AR books.  They are labeled by color and they match the colors on the labels of our AR books.

 

 

The cart under the office window houses big books and the top holds our listen to reading boxes (tape players and Tag readers).  The back of the shelf on the right has a pegboard back with a pocket chart hanging on it.  Right now I have my number word cards there.

 

 

The front of the shelf has some of our AR books that are grouped by author.

 

 

Our other AR books are grouped by book level.  All of our books have colored labels that indicate what level they are. 

 

 For example: 0.0-0.9 books have a purple label, Blue labels are books that are 1.0-1.4, etc.

 

Above the AR books is our high frequency word wall and you are back at the entrance to the room.

These posters are on the back of our student mailboxes which sit in behind a table by the student cubbies.  I should have put these two pictures up earlier in the post.

 

 

 

 Well, if you made it through all of that you've seen our room.  Below are pictures that were taken at our Back to School Open House.  Our team always get a team picture taken and this year I also had a picture taken with my intern, Eliza.  Its going to be a great year!  (I'm the one in the black dress with the flowered jacket.)

It's Back to School Time

Well, today is the last day of my summer vacation!!!  Tomorrow is an inservice day that covers our new reading and math curriculums.  Everyone moves to common core this year and we get new reading and math series that are aligned to the common core standards.  It is an "optional" day but I think most people will be there since they are paying a stipend and because it's important content.  We also had an optional training last week that I went to on the PAX Good Behavior Game.  It's a program that our school is piloting for the state and it's going to replace the PBS we had for the past few years.  It's sounds interesting but it's one more new thing in a year of BIG changes!!!  Here is a link if you're interested in learning more.  http://www.goodbehaviorgame.com/

Friday is our first official day back and we'll kick off the year at the district's annual Back To School Breakfast.  Each year our district has a breakfast for all of the teachers at the high school.  Principals get to introduce new employees, our district teacher of the year speaks and it's a great chance to see friends at others schools and catch up on all the news.  The district hosts a lunch on the same day for support staff so everyone gets a great welcome back to start the year.

I went into school yesterday and worked in my room for a bit.  I painted some sections of my bathroom wall to convert into bulletin board space.  I'm planning on putting border around the rectangles that I painted and I'm planning to post the weekly spelling words and other important information.  I had the brainstorm at the end of the school year that I could make bathroom time learning time if I did this and my principal said it sounded like a good idea when I asked for permission to paint.  I also covered the big mirror on the outside of my bathroom door with contact paper to turn it into a bulletin board.  I've covered it up for several years with a pocket chart but had the idea of contact paper over the summer.  I think I'm going to use it like a mini word wall by using this spot for my superhero days of the week, months of the year, number and color word cards.  I'll post pictures this weekend.

Thanks to those who have purchased some of my superhero items on TpT or Teacher's Notebook.

TeachersPayTeachers and Teacher's Notebook

I've just started a store on Teacher's Notebook for those who would rather shop there.  I've got about half of my superhero items on there and I'll finish adding the rest this week.
http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/bethcooper

I just got through adding my Superhero Sight Words packet to my TpT store.  The packet covers 120 Dolch words that young readers need to know.  The words are divided into 10 word units. There are word cards (4 to a page) for use in small group instruction as well as smaller words cards (10 to a page) that students can use for individual practice.  There are five different bingo cards for each set of 10 words for a fun word review.  There are two different progress monitoring checklists, one in ABC order and the other set up in the ten word units.  When students reach Super Reader status, you can give them a Super Reader certificate to celebrate their achievement.  If you are interested check it out here.

More Items posted in TpT

I just got through redoing my reading strategy cards and headers and posting them on Tpt along with several other superhero themed items.  I now have 12 items in my store and 10 of them are superheroes related.  You can  view pictures of some of these items here. I'll post more pictures when I head into school in the next week or so and start setting up.

I have the following items:
behavior clip chart
nametags
desktop name tags
days of the week
months of the year
number words
Daily 5 posters
reading strategy cards and headers (common core aligned)
reading mini-posters
reading posters (3 Ways to read a book, I PICK a good fit book and EEKK)

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/First-Grade-Super-Friends

I'm finishing up a sight words packet and planning a calendar set so keep checking back at my store.  Please be sure and rate my products if you get something.

Adding to my TpT store!

I finally broke down and upgraded my TpT seller to the premium level.  I've added a few of my superhero items and more will be on the way.  Check it out at:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/First-Grade-Super-Friends

I'm back!!!

Sad to say I got sidetracked last year and stopped blogging for a while... a long time!  But I'm back and I'm going to do better.  I realized that the end of the summer is quickly approaching and I'd better get busy on my to do list.  I just spent an hour or so on one of the tasks on my list.  I just reorganized my pinterest boards to make things easier to find.  Next up, adding some of my superhero projects to TpT.  Stay tuned for more information.