Where it all goes down Wednesday...

I realize I'm posting this SUPER late.

At least on Monday's post I only said that I would TRY

to post every day this week:)

That's what happens when you find out you 

have a torn retina and have a lazer

procedure to hopefully fix it,

{fingers crossed!}

and then my sweet two-year old

got sick last night. :(

So I've had a sub two days this week and life

has been a little crazy so please forgive

me being tardy to the Blog Hoppin' party!

{don't judge the Real Housewives song reference}

Ok, anyways, here are a few pics of my classroom this year.

These are the before pics.

You may remember from my previous post that I

had to switch classrooms this year.

Lots of fun.

Ok, not really, but a loads of WORK.

Like, 40 boxes of work!

My room is definitely not finished, even

it being the second full week of school but it

will eventually get done.

At least that's what I keep telling myself:)

 

Bucket filler board

Math wall

Concept/Question board for Open Court Reading

LOVE these for my clock I found from someone's generous

blog. I've been seeing them pop up in several other

bloggy teachers' rooms, too!

 Word wall

 My super MESSY desk:)

 Calender area

 Our new school slogan and expectations for PBIS

this year.

 Class libarary...and awesome new pencil sharpeners

that are literally saving my life!

 Book boxes from Target:)

Hoping to implement some/all parts of CAFE

and Daily 5.

Don't feel like I'm doing a very good job

of that so far!

 Supply cubbies. 

I saw somewhere in Pinterest

Land how a teacher used chalkboard vinyl, cut with

a Cricut or other cutting machine,

for labeling bins! Brilliant idea!

That is what I did for my book bins above, too.

I bought a chalkboard marker and it stays on

great so the kids can't just wipe it off.

But, it will come off easily with a damp paper towel

to change something quick and easy.

 Our safety stars courtesy of Officer Buckle and Gloria!!!

And that's all the pictures I have right now. 

Please excuse the poor quality, all I had was my phone.

 

Thanks for checking out my room and I can't wait

to head over to Blog Hoppin' to get

some inspiration!

Advice for Newbies!

Today over at Blog Hoppin',

we are all giving some advice to 

new teachers.

I think one of the HARDEST

things to do as a teacher is find

balance between school and home.

Because, let's face it, a teacher's

to do list is never done!

Before I had my daughter, I could

stay late most days if I wanted

or needed too, but then that all

changed when she was born!

There are still days when I need

to stay past 3:30, 

{like every day the first week of school!}

but I try to not let it become too frequent

because school is not the only thing going 

on in my life!

I figure since the things I want to get done

or accomplish in my classroom will

never get completely finished, I need to 

accept that and be OK with it!

I will never get every Pinterest DIY project for

my classroom done, so why beat

myself up about it?!?

Overall, finding balance has been pretty easy

for me. But, I know some struggle with it 

more than others.

So, if you are a new teacher, don't worry

about making everything perfect!

It's important to do a good job but

don't feel guilty if you leave school

to go enjoy a beautiful afternoon!

Meet the Teacher!

I'm going to try and participate in this year's

Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin' every day

this week so here goes day one...introduce yourself!

I'm Leanne from Kansas and this is my 6th year of

teaching! I currently teach 2nd grade and LOVE it.

I've also taught 3rd and 4th grade.

I just had to pack up and move my classroom

a few doors down...so I feel like I'm way behind

this year! However, the first week of school

went pretty well considering all the extra stuff

there was to get done.

Here is a pic of my little family....me, the hubs, and sweet Lainey:)

When I'm not teaching, I love to spend time with my family

just relaxing and enjoying life! We love to go to the lake for boat rides, 

camping trips,and watching KU sporting events.

I'm fairly new to the teaching blog world and enjoying

every minute of it! I've gotten SO much

inspiration from fellow bloggers that I wanted to start

my own to share my ideas.

I've been blogging for a while over at my personal

blog, made by lee, where I write about my fam

and also my little crafty business.

I can't wait to meet a bunch of new

teachers this week through Teacher Week!

a couple of questions!

Like many of my fellow blogging teachers,

I read two AMAZING books

this summer.

Actually, I just finished the second one last night!

I can't even tell you how many lightbulbs

went on for me as I devoured every word.

Maybe I'm slow to discover these little gems

but its better late than never...

So, my question is how do I use what I've

learned from these books and incorporate

into a basal reading program???

One way I think I can defintely incoporate some of this

would be the "Read to Self" component into what I used

to call DEAR {Drop Everything And Read} time.

I was frustrated with DEAR last year because I wanted

my students to be held more accountable for what

they were reading during free reading time.

I had several students who would pick the SAME book

everyday from the classroom library and stare at it

the. entire. time.

Even though we had the rule that once you picked a book 

and a spot around the room to read,

you did NOT get up because this time was only

for silent reading, I still had the 

kiddos that would get up and start walking towards me.

I'd see them out of the corner of my eye

and just wave them to go back and sit down.

The same kids every day.

I'm mean, I know;)

I'm also planning to incorporate picking "just right"

books and hopefully having a book box

for each student.

I know that once the year starts and I'm

using our reading program {Open Court}

I may realize I can incorporate more

of Daily 5/CAFE,

but I'd appreciate any tips you have before 

the year starts!

Another random question I had was about hanging chart paper.

I don't have one of those fancy, schmancy primary easels...so

where should I hang my paper? 

Use hooks on the whiteboard?

Seems like a hassle to take the tablet off the clips, turn over

to a new page, and hang back up, doesn't it?!?!

Maybe not...but I need some IDEAS please!