Don't Bother Me Hat!

Hi friends, 

I hope you are having a fabulous back to school and are starting to get into a routine with your students. As much as I love back to school, I do find the first few weeks difficult to manage and, I do look forward to when the students are clear on expectations and routines. 

One of the things I do to ensure a smooth running classroom is to take my time in September going over routines and structure. If you take your time establishing these important rules, then you'll have a much better year!

One of the many things I teach my students is that they cannot disturb me when I'm working one-on-one or in small groups. I have a visual reminder for them called my "Don't Bother Me Hat!"

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FUN "Get to Know You" Games

Hi friends, 

Today in second grade we are going to play some fun "Get to Know You" games. The first week of school is always a little hard and we want our students to feel comfortable and have some fun!

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ELA for September

Hi Friends,

I'm so excited to share my latest pack with you!
It's one that will make your Back to School transition a little easier! Your students will be engaged, learn important social skills for the year, and work on important ELA concepts all at once!

Check out my ELA for the month of SEPTEMBER unit!

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The First Week of School

Hi Friends,

It's been a long while since I've popped by to say hello and share some of my classroom happenings! Mostly, because I've been off enjoying my summer and visiting beautiful Switzerland! 

As much as I love vacation, I'm also very excited to get back into the classroom and meet my new kiddies. I wanted to stop by and share some of the things we need to remember during the first few days of school.

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All About Apples

Hello Everyone,

Today in Second Grade we started our Apple Unit!

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My Morning Routine

Hello Friends,

I'm so excited to finally share my morning routine with all of you. Over the years I have tweaked the first 30 minutes of my day with the kiddies to make it a productive and valuable time of the day. This year I have found a balance that really works for my class and I'd like to tell you all about it!

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Summer Sports

Hey Friends, 

I hope you have been enjoying your Summer Vacation! 

I love being off. Sitting in the sun with friends, watching movies till the early morning, and finally being able to cross some things off my to-do list!

AND I'm really excited to be back to share my Summer Sports Pack with you!

It was such a great hit with my kiddies.

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Back to School Fun!

Hi Sweet Friends, 

Today in Second Grade we had some BTS fun with activities from my "Back" to School Craftivity and Back to School Read Aloud. 

 

By the end of the week we were exhausted and HOT. It's been very sunny and humid and we don't have air conditioning in our school.

I decided we needed to do some FUN and simple activities that still required us to think, read, and write. 

The kiddies loved searching for BTS words during Read/Write the Room.

They were also master wordsmiths! They created as many words as they could with the letters from BACK TO SCHOOL. 

Finally we completed a little Read Aloud on the Smartboard and then the kiddies filled out their own.

You can grab my "Back" to School Craftivity HERE and my Back to School Read Aloud HERE!

Until next time...

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Student Profiles

Hi Everyone,

Today in Second Grade we completed some Student Profiles!

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BTS Silly Poems

Hi Friends,

Today in Second Grade we completed some Silly Back to School Poems!!!!

It was a fun and engaging activity for our first week!

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Five for Friday

Hey Everyone,

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for some Five for Friday Fun!

1. Back to School

This week was our first week back with the kiddies and it would be an understatement to say that I'm EXHAUSTED! I spent all of last week preparing for the students and all of this week getting back into Teacher Mode. An early night is in store for me tonight!

Click on the picture to read my Classroom Reveal post!

2. Hair

I have had dark hair my entire life. Long dark hair (that's not true - I did have a short do once but I grew it out immediately. Thick, wavy hair is hard to manage when cut short). 

A few months ago I decided to dip my toes into coloring my hair. I wanted something understated and no fuss. I did an ombre and loved it. So last week I was a little more adventurous and lightened the ends even more! I love it!!!

Don't you think I look better in the BEFORE photo. Thought so! 

3. Giddy-Up

Next week we will begin a Cowboy theme which will bring us right into the last few days of September. We will celebrate the first month of school with Cowboy day and have us a little party!

I love, love, love everything about these packs! We are going to have SO MUCH FUN!

   

Click on the pictures to check out these packs! And stay tuned for some fun posts about how we're doing down on the ranch! 

 4. BTS/FRIENDS

Oh dear! When BTS rolls around there is so much to do that I lose track of my friends. My sweet bestie Valerie over at All Students Can Shine and I are having withdrawal! We usually text A LOT and daily. We also see one another at least once a week. The texts are scarce at the moment and we haven't seen each other since work started up again!

Here we are living it up during our Girls Trip in California! 

Can't wait to see her again! And to get back to our normal routine. 

Good thing I work with my other bestie/sister Leslie from First Grade Frenzy because if not I'd be having withdrawal from her too!!

5. Travels

Speaking of vacations. I am getting the itch for more!

I love to travel and luckily I have a few trips lined up this year!!!! 

Here is my collection of trinkets. I love to bring back something from each country I visit (I still get something from each U.S city I visit hehe). It used to be each city but then it got to be a little much! 

I just can't wait to pack my bags again!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Until next time...

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Classroom Reveal

Hi Everyone,

I am soooooooooo excited!!!!!!!! 

Tomorrow is the first day of school and my class is actually READY! 

You have to understand where I'm coming from. 

In the last 5 years, I have moved schools, moved classrooms, changed grades, AND changed themes. 

This is the first time I had minimal classroom prep (if that's even a possibility). 

So here it is! My bright and colorful classroom!!!!

I kept the same theme as last year and tweaked a few odds and ends. 

As you can see, I love three things:

COLOR

ORGANIZATION

SPACE

Everything I mean everything has a place and a home. 

Everything and I mean everything is colorful and bright.

AND I have minimal furniture which equals maximum space!

So let's get on with the tour shall we?!?! 

First stop my Word Wall! This is a MUST in any first or second grade classroom and I am lucky enough to have a magnetic Word Wall to boot! 

Next stop, my focus wall!

   

Here is where students will find the calendar, place value chart, number chart (they refer to that A LOT) schedule, math word wall, anchor charts, sound posters, and well some snapshots of our classroom happenings!

 I also have a pocket chart set up for word families and blends. I will put those up as we review them in the coming weeks. 

REVIEW is a must in September! 

Storage is key and I like to have everything in a labelled basket. 

I got rid of 3 bookcases in order to maximize space. I prefer having tables to allow students to have different work spaces available. In turn, that means that most of my books remain in storage and I change the baskets accordingly.

I also love being able to walk around the room without bumping into everything! 

Finally, having a large space for students to gather for whole group instruction and to move around in during brain breaks is really important to me.

This is the direction in which the students face. The Smartboard at the center of it all, a bulletin board to display work (our Back to School Silly Poems are going up there!), and our data wall. 

I chose to use only one bulletin board to display student work because I love to use the string to hang their work AND we have designated bulletin boards in the hallways too!

Showcasing their work is so important and I do so as much as possible!

The data wall will be used to display class progress in math facts and reading levels. 

As you can see, there is ample space for student gatherings and movement!

There are also two work spaces available (which come in handy).

On the far left you'll find my Theme Word Wall pocket chart. Right now it's filled with Back to School Words! I like to separate the word walls so that students get to move around during writer's workshop AND so that one area of the room doesn't get too crowded. 

The piece below the Smartboard is from Ikea (most teachers probably know this - we know the catalogue by heart!). I store scrap paper and cleaning products in the blue bins.

The following areas are at two opposite ends of the room but are both important!

 I LOOOOOOOVE my hexagonal table. It is constantly being used!

I also love my big windows and nice shelves.

I place the students in pairs for book baskets (according to reading levels of course) because I just don't want to clutter those awesome shelves! We get so much light and open space because of them and I like to keep them as clear as possible!

Of course I have a little designated corner for myself too! 

My desk and my picture wall. Had to add a few personal touches after all. 

I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Be sure to travel with Today, in Second Grade again!

Until next time...

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Friendship and Teamwork

Hey Sweet Friends, 

I'm here to share all about a unit I did a few years back. I chose to do it during Black History Month, but it can easily be completed at any time of the year. 

It's a great way to build a positive community in your classroom during Back to School. 

The premise of this unit is to encourage students to embrace each others differences and accept one another for who they are. It teaches them to be a good friend and to work well with one another.

I start off by reading the book TEAMMATES by Peter Golenbock.

Then we talk about how we should treat others and 

have a serious discussion about respect and kindness.

Then, the students take part in a few fun and simple activities about friendship. 

These activities are fun because many require the students to think about their own friends.

This helps make the experience more personal and meaningful.

   

   

Once the students have completed the activities. They write their definition of friendship and/or teamwork and make a craftivity of themselves with a friend. 

   

Of course, this unit can be completed in any order and the students can write about any topic you choose. It is a great way to promote positive relationships and demonstrate that building each other up is important! A great Back to School activity!

You can check out my Teammates Pack HERE or by clicking on the pictures below!

Until next time...

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