Our Party Rocks and a Freebie

Wow, talk about progress!  I'll be the first to admit that the school year started out a bit rocky.  We have a brand new math series and an ELA program that's a bit up in the air somewhere between hold steady with the old and change everything.  Oh, and let's not forget that 3 of our 4 first grade teachers {myself included!} are new.  So, baby steps was and still is the name of the game.  And then the kids showed up who really did rock...back and forth, onto their bellies, rolling around...All. Over. The. Room. It cause me to drink way too much Diet Pepsi for that to continue all year.  So, practice, practice, breathe, practice.  And now?  Our party is ROCKING for much better reasons.  Each and every day is way better than the last {I hope I'm not jinxing myself!} and we even earned our SECOND paw print for good behavior.  Our school has only earned 3 total.  Just saying....my class is rocking.

We're still knee deep in assessments and trying to find our normal routine.  Next week we're rolling out our full Daily 5 schedule with actual rotations.  I may have a small panic attack about not having total control over my class during this time.  I know it's not the "real way" but I usually have my entire class do each rotation at the same time.  This year we're going to try having different groups at different stations.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed this doesn't all fall apart after day 1.  I've spend too much time convincing myself it's going to work for it not to!

Oh, and those assessments?  We were on day 2 of Map assessments when...our servers crashed.  For our entire district.  As in a part actually broke and is still being delivered.  So, our internet is spotty at best and I have no access to any of our drives.  That includes ALL of my files.  Talk about being WAY too dependent on technology.  Luckily I still have a backup on my external hard drive that's mostly up to date to get us by.

Luckily the stuff I had planned to share with you tonight was also saved on the external HD.  I shared with you a tour of my classroom HERE.  I made most of the "poster" type things on the walls.  So, if any of them can be of use to you...here you go!  The file includes clock labels, color words, months of the year that I used as a birthday board, and money signs/labels.  I'll share my number words and tens frames as soon as I do a little editing.

I hope your party is rocking as well!

Let The Fun Begin

Clearly I was having too much fun this summer and my blog once again got a bit neglected.  All for good reason though.  Our own wedding, 2 friends' weddings, and our last summer together before my husband graduates from grad school and starts a full time job makes for a pretty busy summer!

But, another school year has begun.  I'm a bit late to board the classroom tour train, but I'm too gosh darn tired to blog about anything else.  So, here it is.

First up, our clip chart.  Someone PLEASE explain to me why red is on the TOP.  I know, I know, so kids don't associate red as being a negative color.  How about we stop worrying about negativity {they shouldn't be there anyway!} and start worrying about confusing the heck out of the teacher.

From the front corner

This is standing at the door looking straight in.

Standing at the door looking in toward the right.  Our carpet has since been flipped to go the other direction but other than that, this arrangement is working pretty well!

Standing at the door looking more to the right.

The wall to the right of the door.  Those book bins have been moved quite a few times in an attempt to find the perfect arrangement and are never. moving. again.  EVER.

Closer view of that bulletin board.  I tried to make everything BIG so my kids across the room could see it.  Unfortunately the sun shines right on the laminate and creates a glare.  And our shades are broken so no chances of blocking it.  Oh well.

Back of the room and the rest of our classroom library.  Our word wall is still lacking words, but we're getting there.

Did you notice anything missing?  CHAIRS how about?  And the math manipulatives and games that go with our new math series?  All on back order.  To arrive...some day.  Nobody knows when.  Parents looked at me like I was absolutely nuts when I told them they only had 3 chairs to choose between to fill out paperwork at our Back to School Night.  We've stolen enough from the computer lab to get by for now and the mis-matched collected is about enough to make this OCD teacher go off the deep end.  I'm not holding my breath that any of it arrives anytime before Christmas.

Speaking of Open House.  I found this idea on Pinterest last year {tell me if it was yours so I can give your credit!}.  My kids and parents LOVED it.  I'm still getting used to this whole name change after marriage things so it totally freaks me out to see Mrs. Jones on everything.  I swear I hear kids saying Ms. Schlimgen at LEAST 30 times a day.  They're not.  I'm at a new school.  In a new district.  Nobody knows my old name.

I hope your school year is off to a fantastic start!  More classroom fun and FREEBIES coming soon!