Who else would be excited about a voluntary book study..

Only teachers! Lol okay maybe a few other professionals but you gotta admit we are a pretty unique bunch of people. I've seen so many Instagram and blog posts about this book study it really warms my heart. It reminds me that there are still teachers out there passionate about their jobs and wanting to improve. I'm really looking forward to learning from all these amazing teachers.  So here's the book...

 

 

The book had great reviews online and a few teachers have already told me it's pretty great. I'm looking forward to adding a few new tools to the toolbox after this. Here's the schedule for the Book Study.

 

Kickin it in Kindergarten- Chapters 1 &2 (February 28th)
Mrs. Wills Kindergarten- Chapter 3 (March 7th)
Queen of the First Grade Jungle Chapter 4 (March 10th)
Fabulous in First Chapter 5 (March 14th)
One Extra Degree Chapter 6 (March 17th)
Mrs. Jump's Class Chapter 7 (March 28th)
The First Grade Parade Chapter 8 (March 31st)
In April, you will be visiting these girls for the remainder of the study:
Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Chapter 9 &10 (April 4th)
What The Teacher Wants Chapter 11 (April 7th)
First Grader At Last Chapter 12 (April 11th)
Erica's Ed Ventures Chapter 13 (April 14th)
KinderGals Chapter 14 &15 (April 18th)
A Rocky Top Teacher Chapter 16 (April 21st)
Mrs. Wills Kindergarten Chapter 17 (April 25th)
Little Warriors Chapter 18 (April 28th)
Falling Into First Chapter 19 (May 2nd)
Kickin' it in Kindergarten Chapter 20 (May 5th)

Join in whenever you like! If you are not a blogger you can participate in the comments of posts!

So I'm linking up with Kickin it in Kindergarten for Chapters 1 & 2

 

Chapter 1 - Brainstorming and Discussion

"When people open their mouths to talk, they send more oxygen to the brain"

Hmm..Didn't know that!

 

I'm a major fan of using discussions in my math lessons. We often have math PDs at our school and they love stressing the importance of structured math talks and partner discussions.

 However, I realized after reading through this chapter that math may be the only place it was happening. Luckily this text offers suggestions to use in a variety of content areas.

 

My Top 3 strategies

-  Utilizing the "Bloom's Taxonomy Revised" (complete with model questions) to create questions in class.

- Using the Think, Pair, Share technique when posing questions or discussion topics.

-Waiting a minimum of 5 - 7 second when asking a question

(Sometimes I flake out on the wait time or start dropping hints to soon!)

 

 

Chapter 2 - Drawing and Artwork

"Different parts of the brain are activated when people are involved in art activities."

That one I did know, but it is useful to be reminded.

 

I feel like being a primary teacher lends really well to adding art into almost any content area. Little ones are more likely to enjoy singing a song about the days of the week or rainbow writing spelling words. Even those additions can make things a bit more engaging.

 

My Top 3 Strategies

- Let students create a personal Pictionary by illustrating vocabulary words.

- Have students design a book jacket that encompasses the major concepts that have just been learned.

-Have students design a poster that shows the major details of a specific science unit. 

 

So far, I am really enjoying the book. I also like that there is room after each chapter to record ideas that you can incorporate into your classroom. Stay tuned and hop around to the other blogs participating.

Five for Friday!!

With today being my 4th "snow" day in a row, how could I not go ahead and blog? And why not link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the "Five for Friday" Linky? First time for everything :)

Well at the beginning of this lovely week I was in California living it up! I flew out to see my bestie who moved there and her new baby (aka my new Godson :)! ) And since my silly run-crazed mommy came with me we ended up running a race on Valentine's Day.

Although my trip to California was perfecttttt, the process of coming home was far from it. We ended up stuck in LA for a night because of all the snow back in TN. That was a major bummer for many reasons including my upcoming birthday and the fact that I didn't want to keep missing work! But we made the best of it! And eventually made it back home.

 

 On Tuesday I turned 25!!! Woohooo!!! I didn't expect to spend the day stuck in an airport but I was with my amazing mommy. And my school loves me so much they gave me (and everyone else lol) the week off! How sweet right? Yeah...really it was these good ol snow days (with hardly any snow but I'm not complaining!) So I had plenty of chances to enjoy my lazy day and I sure did!

 

I finished my latest book Gone Girl and now I'm beginning The Girl on the Train. Anyone read it yet? I saw a friend post about it and after reading a few pages I went ahead and bought it. Pretty good so far, but after the craziness of GG I wonder if it will pale in comparison?..

 

 

 Since I haven't been to work all week I don't have much else to share about it so I'll sneak in some pics from last week when we went on a field trip to the Creative Discovery Museum :) and my super cute Valentine's which were a freebie from an awesome teacher!

(https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Sassy-Savvy-Simple-Teaching)

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend :)

Getting an early start this Sunday!

For some reason I was fully awake at 8 am this morning! After laying around for a while the family moved into the living room to our second favorite lazy spot, the couch! But since I'm up why not blog?

So I got an early start on linking up with the The Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop

 

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So yesterday I got a quote to replace all 4 tires! (Gahhhh) apparently they're on their way out so I need to get some new ones before hitting the road later this week. But before taking it in I'm gonna scan through Pinterest for this year's Valentines. And I'm going to sort some clothes for the laundry...eventually

 

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I need to get my sub plans together but that will probably have to wait until Monday so I can double check for materials. (Trip to Cali coming soon!) And I also need a new lunch box. I think I'm going to end up buying a 31 bag again but I am open to suggestions! It's kinda hard finding a nice sized adult lunch box!

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Despite the fact that my mental to do list is growing by the minute, I'm going to enjoy being lazy for just a little longer with this handsome guy and adorable pup. Then coffee, yoga and finally starting my day.

 

Enjoy your Sunday too!

 

 

 

It's February! Yay!!

I absolutely love this month! Valentine's Day means I get an excuse to make just about everything pink and put hearts on it (score!). My birthday is on the 17th! (turning the big 2-5!). And we always get a day off for Presidents Day. Plus this year I'll be making a trip to meet my new godson in person!!

Linking up with Farley for the oh so popular currently! How amazing is it to see so many teachers blogging and sharing :)

So of course we are currently watching the Super Bowl and eating wings and nachos! It's only right. But truly here in a second I'm gonna paint my nails and then dive back into this book. I've been reading Gone Girl and so far I loveee it.

But before that..here's a few pics from our classroom

A free sight word activity in my store. These dice are from Dollar Tree.

100 day necklaces in progress! (Found on Pintrest!)

100 dots we later turned into gumball machines. (Idea from Pintrest!)

100 days brighter!!

My lovely student teacher taught the Constitution last week.

We discussed weather tools in science. Shout out to my student teacher again on the chart. :)

K off to paint my nails and such! Have a great night yall

Checking in once again!

Can't believe I'm posting so soon! It's only because we have had today off in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I'm looking forward to reading about him and discussing his accomplishments with my firsties tomorrow. I wanted to post over the weekend but for some reason the pictures from my phone hadn't uploaded to the "cloud". Fixed that. So here's a few snapshots from the room.

 

 

We've been studying various American symbols and creating a class PowerPoint Presentation. Maybe I can post it when we finish!

 

 

Both of these are adorable ideas our team borrowed from The First Grade Parade !

 

Then we made cloud books!

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This last pic is from an earlier lesson about the water cycle I wanted to share)

 

 

We also enjoyed some wintry poetry, creating penguins and cheering a classmate on at the annual "Pig Race"!

 

 

 

Fun times in the classroom for sure. All the more reason I love my job.

 

 

Pair that with the "Snow Day" we had Friday (although there was no snow, just tons of ice!) making this a 4 day weekend...pretty sure I'm loving my job right now hah! And coming soon...our 100th Day Celebration. I've been seeing some awesome ideas among bloggers :).

 

Well enjoy your evening teacher friends! And have a great week!

 

 

 

 

My 1st Sunday Scoop of the year :)

Happy Sunday guys!

 

Linking up with the Teachingtrio for the Sunday scoop :)

 

So here's mine

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That laundry has been clean and sitting in the laundry room for at least 3 days, probably longer. It just keeps falling to the bottom of the list. We are usually really good at meal planning but have been slipping lately and it shows every time we have the "What's for dinner?" discussion haha. So I've added my meal planning freebie at the bottom if ya want. I planned out my outfits a few times last semester and it really helped in the morning so I'm gonna try to get back on that!

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 I try to assess sight words at least 3 times a year and I'm halfway done with my mid-year testing. I really want to finish by Monday (since we have extended days). And I'm trying to get ahead in my grad school classes by getting at least 2 assignments done this weekend.

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It's wayyy more fun to plan for the week in my colorful EC planner. I've really gotten into adding stickers and washi tape and stickers everywhere. I'm all about being organized!

 

Thanks for reading. Now head over to their blog so you can link up too! It's pretty easy!

 

 

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And if you'd like here's a copy of the meal planning chart we use here at the house. I laminated it and you could add a magnet on the back and stick it to the fridge. Then you can use a dry -erase marker or a sharpie (erases with a magic eraser). Enjoy!

And just like that the year is almost gone!

I cannot believe it is already the end of December! I have been wanting to blog more but also wanting to maintain my sanity with school, grad school, a life etc..

But to update, the semester came to a nice close with a fun Polar Express Day! We have also been loving the assistance of our student teacher!

 

 

With my grad school classes I finished the semester with 2 A's :) and I have registered for my next set of classes. I will be finished next December! (Speaking it into existence!)

 

 

With my life in general things have been swell and I am THOROUGHLY enjoying this break! I've been blessed to have some family time and some lazy time. And we had a very Merry Christmas :)

 

 

 

But anyways..

As I prepare to look ahead and make some New Year's Resolutions I wanted to reflect back over some goals I set at the beginning of the school year.

 

 

I have been continuing my yoga but I haven't been going to classes as often as I'd like. I have a student data binder now but it still is not implemented as fully as it could be. The lesson plan goal has been accomplished (yay!). I haven't been able to attend any conferences yet but I'm still looking. Proudly, my student centered goal has shown some progress. My students are very self motivated and have been learning a lot! And that verse has been a pleasant reminder throughout the year.

 

Hmm.. some improvements but I still have a way to go. Good thing I'm a work in progress! Definitely some things to keep in mind as I move forward.    

 

Well in appreciation for any readers out there here's a link to a flash freebie in my store until tomorrow. Please download my math game and let me know what you think!

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/True-or-False-Equations-1621294