we are surviving!

 We've had two full weeks of school and we are surviving!  This time last year is was evident we were barely treading water.  I was barely treading water.  I think all the ground work I did last year with my lesson plans and such is making this year an easier start.  Hopefully that only continues!

 

 
We've got a second grader and third grader and fourth grader this year. 

Hubby's parents came down this year and stayed with the kids so I could do all the back-to-school meeting and work time without stressing about getting home as soon as possible.  Last year the kids went to summer day camp that last week of summer and wanted picked up as soon as I could get free each afternoon. It was not the best way to do that.

 
Our third grade team has a new addition and Bee's teacher from last year went off to have a baby.

My class is really good too!  There is less testosterone than I had last year, three fewer bodies and a nice balance of academic needs.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the first two weeks feel in the classroom can carry on awhile longer.

One of my sweet students showed up with these shoes the first day!

 
My youngest sister sent the kids a piñata in the mail so we could start our school year with a 'bang.'  She filled it with good candy too!  It came just like that... with the mail stickers right on the piñata.

Look at these two sweet girls I get to enjoy this year! Here we are at the first chapel of the school year.

The homework has started... Bee has a good amount of fourth grade homework!  Here, grandma was helping Bee with homework, I was grading papers and Lou was to be working on a handwriting paper.  As you can see, it was the world's hardest handwriting page.  He'd do a word, cry that it was hard and lay down.  It took him about 8 times as long as it should of... then we saw it had a backside!

classroom sneak peek

 

My third grade students walk in the room Monday morning (tomorrow!).  After I go back his afternoon and reset everything, it will be ready for them!  I have to tear down a good deal on Friday afternoons and reset either Sunday afternoon or early Monday morning.  Little kid Sunday school meets in there on Sunday mornings.  I also have a group that meets in there on Wednesday, but they are older, like divorce recovery or Boy Scouts or something.  Add that to afterschool care, which meets in there after school everyday until about 6:00pm and this poor room is busy busy.  Those groups pose a lot of restrictions on my room set up and decorations, but I think I learned last year and was able to work my restrictions this year.  It's honestly freeing almost that when I walk out the door to take my kids to their parents at 3:00, the room is ready for the next group at 3:01 and I can't do some of the cute things I see on Pinterst as far as room set up goes.    Plus ,our Fire Marshal is a stickler.  I have anther name I call him, but I'll just say stickler.   (last year pictures)

 

 

This is the back of the room.  It's the library and calendar area. Everything along the back wall has to get turned around or moved on Friday.  A lot of things get pushed against the wall with the windows, which is where they shove all the student desks too.  The bulletin boards can stay up of course. 

 

The AR % tracking display is being reused from last year.  I did it in vinyl so I could leave it up, otherwise everything comes down and is packed away over the summer.   The school gives me three laptops and then I've acquired two other old ones from family members, so I have  5 going.  We have a mobile lab that the third grade shares, but it's nice to have several I don't have to worry about reserving to use each morning or for centers.   The blank wall space will be used for displaying anchor carts.

 

 

I'm going to try to be better about using the student jobs.  It's easier for me to just ask students who are done with their work to do all the jobs. 

 

 

This birthday display is new this year and hopefully, if no one picks at it, should last a few years.  I cut the pieces out on my silhouette in sticky vinyl.  It was a shape I had to create through the tracing feature. 

 

 

This is the view from the back.  It turned out a little blurry, I'll have to re-take this picture. I have a table in the front that I use for my small groups and also do a good bit of teaching from.  Others in my hall don't have a table up front and I don't know how they do it.

 

 

I redid my two front bulletin boards.  This one will always display the sheets that go with our story of the week.  Last year, I hung them on a clothes line and no one could see them.  My team purchased these as part of a packet for each unit for our reading series from teachers pay teachers online.  It is a wonderful supplement to our curriculum. 

 

 

I reworked the CAFE board too.  I only want to have a few strategies up at a time.  My student and I did not reference them last year... at all and it was wasted space.  I have to have something CAFE up, so this may be a solution.  My third graders all read so well, some of the CAFE items are below what they need.  I'm excited about having the whole pad of chart paper up at once so it's ready when I need it. 

 

 

This is the room as you walk in.  The far wall with the windows is 'my space' where the other groups aren't supposed to touch, which means a lot of stuff is shoved against it.  Most of these pictures were taken on back to school night so the info folders are on their desks.  If they ordered a school supply kit they came in cardboard boxes, so that's what you see on those friends desks.  I love school supply shopping, so we'll never order a kit at our house!  

birthday chair

I wanted to do a little something to make birthdays fun and special at school, but can't do treats.  The office gives a pencil, but that's about it. I made this little seat cover to fit over the chair of our birthday friend.  I love it and can't wait until the first birthday!

and the winner is...

 

 

We had 160 entries for the pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies.  The winner of the amazing awesome pencil sharpener is #15, Emily Z.  I'll be in touch Emily!

 

 

 



and then summer was over- back to school gift for the teachers

It seriously seems like summer just started and here we are getting ready for back to school week.  What happened?  It totally freaks me out too when I think that I only really get few summers of the kids being little and being at home with me and now half of those are over for Bee.  She'll be all grown up with places to go so soon.   

Anyway, we threw a little something together for the teachers.  Let's call it preemptive. I didn't want to spend a bunch since I'd already spent... um... more than I intended for my own classroom, not to mention the long school supply the kids needed.  I also wanted something cute since once school starts,  all creative energy is blown on other areas.

 
 Sam's club had packs of 40 gel pens for $14! This let me give 10 to each teacher and keep a handful for myself too.  That worked out well... for me!  I just used some scrapbook paper, free form cut some different flower shapes and hole punched a few times in the middle to make the hold big enough for the tip of the pen to poke through.  We did a little folding and rolling of some petals to make them not just lay flat and gathered them in a little flower pot. 

 
At the last minute I remembered we still had a few of these adorable little labels left from like three years ago.  I've used them here and here.  They are from Skip to My Lou.   I think they turned out pretty cute and it's a item the teachers will like and be able to use. 

I'm back to school on Monday and the kids have a week before they come. That means, my fun, fun giveaway ends in two days!