Back to School...

Is it just me or does anyone else hear Billy Madison (as played by Adam Sandler) singing this whenever it's said?

Just me?

Ok.

I approached the dawning of this school year more calmly than I ever have.

I didn't set foot into the school until last Monday.

That's unheard of for me.

I am usually the teacher that will go in every few weeks to clean and organize or spend hours online looking for new projects and ideas.

Well, not this summer.

It can best be summed up like this:

I needed time to be "Jordan" and not "Mrs. B" for a while.

My teacher batteries were running on empty.

**I wouldn't let my phone battery get that low, if you know what I mean!

So, I geared myself up and headed back to school.

I had a meeting Monday morning, student home-visits all day Tuesday, and meetings all day Wednesday (our first contract day).

Thursday was a work day followed by our back to school Meet, Greet and Eat night where the students and parents can come into the school, drop supplies off and meet their new teachers.

I spent the day purging cupboards and organizing anything I could get my newly-polished nails on.

It was very cathartic.

However, that meant that I was scrambling to clean the visible parts of my room an hour before parents were set to arrive!

Whoopsie.

I like to begin the year with my walls being a clean slate.

I get overwhelmed by visual clutter and know that my nuggets usually appreciate a visually non-stimulating environment as well.

Also, since we start fresh each year with anchor charts and such it lets the children slowly adjust to where learning resources (anchor charts, posters, signs, etc) are located in the room.

One thing that I changed this year is that I didn't label ANYTHING before the children arrived.

I usually label their lockers, books, and supplies.

However, we had some major glitches in our student data system which left class lists very up-in-the-air.

So, I decided to take labeling off my plate.

During the Meet, Greet and Eat I carried a dry-erase marker with me and let the nuggets pick their locker placements.

They loved the ownership and I loved that it took some work out of it for me.

Here are some hastily snapped photos of what my room looks like so far:

Carpet area (view from door)

Mrs. Miller's corner (our Title One Instructor) 

View from the back door of the room 

Where my class' writing binders are stored. 

 Science book storage
Classroom library
Writing binder storage for the other two classes
(I was so bummed to find out that they didn't fit in the desks and take up a TON of room!)

Our SLANT poster (from Teach Like a Champion) ((will be framed by tomorrow))
Daily and End of the Week objective frames

Work display area
Coffee nook

 View from behind my desk

Isn't this the most perfect writing teacher sign?!

Important information
(The schedules will be framed by tomorrow...had to go the the dollar store!)

I think that the best recurring tidbit of advice I hear is "Be flexible."

I agree whole-heartedly.

These are a few of the ways that I started off flexible this year.

Laters!

Mrs. B 

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's here!

That day when the week is half over, but I still have two more days until the weekend begins.

Ya know...Wednesday.

I'm linking up with this kind of love.

This has been one of those weeks where things are up and things are down just as fast.

So, here's to the ups...

I'm loving that people loved my Faux Turtles!

I made a bunch more tonight for some more sharing at work.

I'd better head to Sam's Club again soon!

I had some extra time after school yesterday, so I decided to do some organizing.

Yes, my colored pencils are sorted by color.

Don't judge.

I adore seeing the multitudes of writing paper sorted and stacked so neatly.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I LOVE coming home to an already cooked meal after a long day.

3 lb. roast, carrots, red potatoes, and a bunch of garlic.

Handsome Husband was a happy dude.

I'm glad he is because he's been pretty sick lately. :(

Long live crockpots!

As my nuggets were changing into their gym shoes today I noticed that one of them had kick-butt socks like me.  We had to commemorate it together. :)

I loved seeing her face light up when I noticed.

I hope your weeks are going swimmingly.

Are you ready for Christmas yet???  Huh, huh, are ya?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Laters!

Mrs. B

Yay! Clean Corner!

I had a T.E.R.R.I.F.I.C. weekend!  You saw my purchases from the weekend yesterday, but I also tackled something at home that was LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG overdue.  

My mother-in-law knows that I love to read and is the person who fuels my gossip rag addiction with US Weekly every year.  She is also the queen of magazine subscriptions.  In turn, she passes them on to me whenever Handsome Husband and I come to visit.

Welp...I had developed a bit of an...overflow, I guess you'd say.  I have been taking them from her but haven't been reading them so they just kept piling up.  

And piling up.  

And piling up.

Until I needed to purge.  

I got rid of all of these:

And still had all of the ones below in the corner...

I HAVE to keep the Better Homes and Gardens...ideas, ya know??

I feel so much better about that corner now (even though, since I took these pictures we have gone to my in-laws to eat and I have recieved MORE!!!)

Oh well...I'll purge again in a couple months. :)

Laters!

Mrs. B

I'm Here!!! I swear!

Oh. My. Heart.  School is kicking my butt!!  I realized that it's been forever since I have posted anything.  School and all of it's components have kind of (ok...totally) taken over my life.  I just sat here grading papers for THREE HOURS.  I hate grading...and being the writing teacher for second grade I see 66 pieces of writing a day!  That's a lot...especially when I get behind.

Oh well...Maybe I'll find more time tomorrow.  Here are some of the things I've been up to since then:

My new favorite nugget...baby Jayde 

Dinner with good friends and yummy food!

A project to be posted soon!  (I swear!)

Cleaning the house because we rented it out for the weekend...not sure how I feel about that.

Nutter Butter Balls!

New door mat...one that doesn't look like a postage stamp with our HUGE front door.

Putting some miles in.

Wine with momma.

Chasing flies.

Watching horrible scary movies while getting ready in the morning.  (Scream 2:))

Ok...now I'm off to bed...woot woot for an 8:30 bedtime for me!  I NEVER thought I would say that.

Laters!

Mrs. B

Post-It Plan Book!

I saw this post on...wait, what's the name of that site...?...OH YEAH!  Pinterest!!!!  It's been so long since I've been able to get on there and browse since school has started that I forgot!  (Yeah right...I didn't forget...I think about it daily, but I need sleep more at this point in order to survive!)

I have struggled the last two years to find a planner that truly worked for me.  The first year I used a normal plan book (a mass-produced, pre-separated thingamajigger) and last year I created a Word document that I customized to fit me.

I found that there were sections that I never wrote in and others that I needed to be much bigger.  The three main sections that I needed were reading block, math, and miscellaneous.  Only 3!!!!  Why in the world I ever had at least 10 for each day, I'll never know.

My school corporation has said that no matter what, we need to have 40 minutes of science, 4 days a week for the 1st and 3rd quarters this year.  My team decided that instead of doing a bunch of things half-way that we would split grammar/spelling, writing and science up between the three of us.  I got writing!!  I'm super psyched!!

Because of that shift, I now only NEED to write down information about 3 THINGS!!!!!!  How stinkin perfect is that??!!

Here is what you need:

• a spiral-bound notebook (she suggested a vinyl cover because they last longer...I agree!)
• Post-it notes (I picked up 3 packs at Target during a back-to-school sale)
• marker (Crayola or permanent)
• ruler
• scissors

Here are some photos from my adventure...yeah...I called it that.  I am a bit dorky when it comes to crafty things.

Here it is!!!  Isn't it beautiful?

I laid the Post-it notes out on the page to get an idea of how much space I needed.

I had to bite the bullet and make Friday smaller...I can deal :).    The purple is the "Targets" column.  Blue is reading block, pink is math and green is writing/miscellaneous.  Man!!!  That's sexy!!

Here is this week in the works.  I bought some funky shaped Post-it notes to show changes or notes that I actually had to notice (I don't notice things sometimes...hey...are you perfect????).  I find it easier to read everything and plan for the week this way.

The original poster shared her "Daily Schedule" page.  I did not because we are only 1 week into the school year.  Plus, Monday is the only different day.   Tuesday through Thursday are the exact same and I don't know when my students are going to be pulled out for speech or other interventions yet.

I had a sickeningly fun time making this thing.  For serious.  Writing in it still appeals to me at this point...5 whole days into the school year.

I'll update this post once I get more of this year under my belt and mess it up a bit more! :)

Laters,

Mrs. B

Curriculum Organization

My school corporation adopted a new reading curriculum this year.  We knew that there would be a lot of materials involved, but we didn't realize that they were spread out over a toooooooonnnnn of boxes, books, and manuals.

While browsing the wonderful world of Pinterest I stumbled upon this blog link where she explained how she organized all of the curriculum.  I was inspired, to say the least.  My team members decided to board the crazy train with me, however, and do theirs too!

Here are some photos to show what we did:

I went to Staples and bought 1 1/2" file POCKETS.   We chose the pockets so that nothing would fall out the sides like would happen with a file folder.  They cost around $30.00 total.  We color coded them by unit.  Each unit has 5 "lessons" (weeks).  The last week is rainbow because there were 6 folders of 5 colors.  

We bought Post-it label tabs (color coordinated, of couse) and labeled each lesson.  Lesson 1, Lesson 2, etc.

The Grab and Go booklet.  It has blackline masters, reproduceable materials, running records, assessments, etc.  There is one for each lesson (week).

We have 3 reading levels (below, on, above) and a vocabulary reader for  each lesson (week).  The lesson plans that go to each book are provided for us (woo hoo!!) so those are included in each folder as well.

Each 2nd grade lesson had 10 High Frequency Word cards

The cards were numbered, so it was easy to check and see if I was grabbing the correct ones for the lesson.

There were 4 retelling cards for each lesson.

There were 8 vocabulary cards for each lesson.  My only gripe with these are that they are NOT  labeled as to which lesson they go with so they will be a bear to file if they ever get out of order.

Here is the finished product.

So much neater! 

I have a picture of what it all looked like before, but it is being held hostage by my camera at school.  To be posted...

Laters!

Mrs. B

Classroom Organization...I Think I'm Almost Ready!!

Whew!  It has been a L-O-N-G three days in my classroom.  I have spent them checking in new curriculum, purging, organizing and rearranging.  I am proud of all the work I have done!  Totally not understanding the new curriculum aside, if I had to start the year with students tomorrow I would be ready.

That feels AMAZING!  I finally feel like I can rock out from the get-go.  The first year I got a classroom I had no idea what in the world I would need, so I held on to E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.  And I mean everything.  My cupboard situation was stick something on any shelf that had space, shut the door quickly and pray that it didn't all come tumbling out the next time I opened the door.

(On a side note, that is what my bedroom looked like until I got married and my mother forced me to throw stuff away...I'm wasn't quite "Buried Alive: Hoarders" but it was close.)

I have slowly become more and more organized as I have grown into myself and space personally and professionally.  There is a place for everything and everything in it's place.  Here are some pictures of the work that I have done this week:

My corner all put together.

Standing in the doorway looking in.  You can't see them very well, but my mailboxes are at the bottom of that middle post.

From the back corner.

I am using smaller, less fussy name tags this year.  The past two years I have used large name tags with different resources on them (100s chart, money, shape and color words, etc.) and most of my students peeled them off.  These will only be their name and number, can easily be removed if they become a distraction and make rearranging the seating chart amazingly easy.  I simply move the name tags instead of the desks...I'm planting a palm on my forehead as I type this because it only took 2 years!!!!!!!

My corner with my freshly painted wall and border.

Above the sink.  I'm not sure what else is going to go here yet.

The classroom library is on the middle few shelves.  The books are organized by Fountas and Pinnell (F & P) levels.  Our science curriculum books are on the top shelf and the students' book boxes on the bottom few.  They were a bit unruly in desks last year so they are starting here and may be relocated at some point.

Supply storage, crafty things, and Quizmo/Bingo games on the top three shelves.  ONE section of books in my room.  (They are hidden E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. in the room (filing cabinet, plus 2 (TWO!) other cupboards that are hard to get to) since I don't need all of them at once.

Randomness.  Note to self; see the books on the bottom shelf????  DON'T put them on anything but a bottom shelf.  If you put them on a middle shelf (such as the one here) they will collapse the shelf, scaring the living daylights out of you and the janitor across the hall who thought that you had hurt yourself when he heard your scream!  Not that I did that or anything. :)

Math manipulatives, clipboards, random math thingys and desk offices.

The language arts cupboard that I have kinda-sorta-not-really tackled yet.

UGH!  I attempted to understand and organize our new language arts curriculum today.  I gave up.  This is what it looked like when I left today.  It'll get better...I know that.  It's just daunting when I know that we start using this on the second day of school!

Now, I just have to remind myself that it may take a little more time to put things away right when I'm done with them this year, but it will save me in the long run.  Let's see how that works!

T-minus two weeks until school starts!