School Days, School Days...

School days, school days,

Dear old golden rule days

Meetings, and messes, and lack of sleep,

So much to do it'll make you weep!

And so it begins. The pictures above are the horror I created as I tried to clean/set up my classroom between many meetings. As I was putting them together for the blog, I noticed my daughter - teeny, tiny in the background. I had to laugh. Like many of you I'm sure, I bring my children with me to work and throughout the day they get buried in the mess. Looks like she found a good spot to bury herself! She would never get away with that much computer time at home. She's a crafty one.

Well while the youngest daughter was locked in the computer corner, my oldest daughter decided to organize my BIG BLACK CABINET. It is the cabinet that houses everything that has no home, that is out of place, and that needs to belong. I wish I had a before picture of the cabinet and one of my daughter's face as she pulled Cheerios (for counting activities), scraps of paper (you never know), pretzels (hello...log cabins!), macaroni (I had to keep those; dried macaroni is so useful), goldfish (oceans, I don't need to explain), and other sundries from its depths. In the end, I thought she did a nice job. She works for Sonic Blasts if anyone is interested!

The rest of the room came together as well...eventually. It was a hard pull at the end. I was done around 8:00pm the night before school started. I heaved a sigh of relief as I snapped these pictures on the way out the door.

My AR board - compliments of The Teachers Cauldron
Sailing Through A.R. Pirate Theme

Part of my A.R. Library. There is a shelf like this on either side of my Promethean Board with  a display shelf in the middle for the books we are studying right now. I'm fairly proud of the shelves. They were ancient throw aways that I put contact paper and polka dot ribbon on to dress up. Turned out rather nice and saved me a bundle!

My computer center. You can see the Birthday Board back there. That is from the  Pirate-Themed  Classroom and Decor Organizational Pack from Rachel Parlett. I used it to deck out my room in pirates.

My Math Focus/Calendar wall. Again compliments go to  Pirate-Themed  Classroom and Decor Organizational Pack from Rachel Parlett.

My Morning Routine, Clip Chart, Daily Voyage, and Listening Anchors. I can't tell you how many times I have said...Listen like a Pirate. At the beginning of the week it was the happy "Arggh, we listening like pirates?" By the middle the week..."We need to listen like Pirates, please." At the end of the week..."Class, are we listening like pirates? Ears, feet, hands, and eyes, thank you. (In my head I'm thinking, "For crying out loud, sit still and listen! Whose idea was it to start school when it's still summer outside!!")

My room from the door. Not huge, but it works. I love the big window out to the courtyard. It us fun to watch the seasons unfold outside.

Getting Ready and an Award

Well, it's here...my first day of work. I go back on Tuesday. I always have mixed feelings about this. I like getting back into a routine and the excitement of a new school year, BUT I miss the lazy summer days with my family, especially my kids. I'm blessed in so many ways because my school is five minutes from my house (past a few farms, some cows, and a couple of fields), and there is a nursery on site. I know how lucky can a girl get? The whole family is in one spot! Having everyone close does make it easier, but I still miss spending time with those crazies!

Little brother on his hand-me-down big wheel.

With school starting I've been hard at work trying to get myself organized. I've spent some time at school, but I try to finish what I can at home first. This way my little shadows can continue to soak up some summer fun.

Soooo, my room is still a mess. No pictures please. I have crossed several things of my to do list though: science and social studies pacing guides, my year plan, printing/laminating/cutting my word walls, pirate numbers, and calendar/math focus pieces. I've also dressed up some power verbs for my room.

What? Last year our county decided the students needed to be familiar with the verbage used on standardized tests. When they evaluated us they wanted these words used in our lessons. These words are: analyze, categorize, examine, explain, justify, prove, summarize, compose, relevant, irrelevant, predict, compare, and contrast.

These can be difficult words for primary students to grab onto, so the teacher down the hall from me had a brain wave and made posters for each word with the definition. She hung these in the room to remind her to use them and to help the students remember them. I loved the idea, so I've dressed them up in pirate gear to match my room.

They will become my Pirate Words of the Week and I'll introduce them one at a time until my firsties have them down. Then they will be posted in the room as a little reminder. What do you think?

And now for the reward....

While I was two-steppin' in Nashville at the DFA YC Southeast Dairy Conference (loads of fun, lots of dairy info about stuff like milk prices, cheese, cows, grazing, you get the idea), I was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by Laugh Live Love Learn, Crazy Daze in 1st Grade, and Smiling and Shining in Second Grade.

               

     

Now, its my turn. Here are the rules...

1. Follow the person who gave you the award.
2. Link back to the person who gave you the award.
3. Pass the award on to at least 5 new bloggers.

Here are my nominees...

First Grade with a Cherry on Top