"The best class to ever come through..."

The words that everyone remembers hearing their teachers say. Some of us heard them throughout school, but ALL of us heard them at our high school and college graduations! I can honestly say that until this year I assumed that teachers had been "just telling us that". What purpose would it have served? After becoming a teacher I now know they made these claims with honest hearts!

I loved the personalities of the class I taught my first year and shed a few tears the last day of school... Not sure who I was more proud of. Them for working hard OR me for surviving the first year (just barely). Then last year I felt I had the best class I would ever have and they took a little piece of my heart with them to second grade. I claimed at the end of last year that I would NEVER have a group like them again(and I won't) and they were "the best class ever".

Then this year began. We have had MANY growing pains. There were days I thought if I heard one more child say, "Mrs. Lewis, he/she..." (followed by an obviously life altering problem) I may explode. Days that I thought, "if they do not learn to raise their hand...". I'll what? Love them to death? This group of students is by far my favorite yet. And my group next year will probably knock them out of the running. Why? Are they perfect? No! They make mistakes but so do I. We learn and grow together. I love my job because each year is truly more rich than the last. And to those of you who questioned your teachers... They truly do believe you were the best... That is until the next group arrived and melted their hearts! And to the teachers out there who fear you will never have a group like this year's ever again... You won't... And you will be glad of that because you will fall in love with the next class for a whole new set of reasons!

Classroom Setup: Day 3

Today was a long day, but I was determined to be done with classroom setup in 3 days.  Drum roll please... AND IT'S DONE!!!  I did my best to take pictures of the room in the same order.  These are pictures of the final product.




This is the bulletin board that I created on the wall on the left side of our math nook.  We will be calling our rules "habits", because they are what we need to be in the habit of doing.  I will be using 7 Habits of Happy Kids as the framework of our classroom rules: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand- Then to be Understood, Synergize, and last but not least Sharpen the Saw.  There will also be pictures of the children doing each of the "habits" so there is a visual for the lower-level readers.




On this bulletin board will be pictures of the children learning and playing together.  This helps the classroom to feel a little more homey.  I did it on the bulletin board next to the rug, because that is where we meet as a family to learn and conclude our learning.




This bulletin board is directly behind my small group table.  I will use it to post the learning objectives for each group that I meet with. 




I put my word wall on my white board.  The sight words are written on index cards, and magnet tape was applied to the back.  This way the students can remove words they want to manipulate, and return them to the designated spot.




Cannot say it enough... #GOTTOHAVEAPLACEFORLUNCHMONEY... long enough hash tag for you? I am putting all classwork and homework for the day in the mailbox.  This will eliminate time wasted by passing out papers during the day... they will have everything they need for the day in their folders when they arrive in the morning! 

In the morning the students will come in and put their book bag on a hook.  They will bring their lunch money, and put it in the basket.  They will fill their folder with everything in their file, and take it to their seats. 




This turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it!  This will be where work is displayed in the classroom AND it doubles as a cozy reading nook.  All books on the black bookcases are fiction, and will be divided with the students into categories that make sense to them.  Special "thank-you" to my colleagues husband who assembled my bookcases.  When I attempted to do it on my own it went a little like this:
Step 1: Pull everything out of the box.
Step 2: Look at the directions quizzically.
Step 3: Return everything to the box, and pretend you never opened it!




How many assignments do we complete in a day?  How many students do you have in your class?  That's how many times you here, "I'M DONE, I'M DONE!".  I used this last year as well.  Students do not come to the teacher to tell them "I'm Done!"  They turn their assignment in to the "I"m done!" basket, and return to their seat to complete the next assignment. SUPER EFFECTIVE!




Something NEW I am going to try this year!  Each strategy we learn will be added to the box.  If the students come to a word they don't know while reading independently, they can go to the box to look at strategies we have learned and try to use one.  This will prevent them interrupting while I am doing small group lessons.




This is the informational text portion of my library!  I do not LOVE it, but it will do for now.




These are the name tags used on the tables.  Each table has a different color associated with the team name: pink team, blue team, yellow team, black team, green team.  Easier for the students to remember than numbers.

My classroom is finally a place that I am excited about living for the next year!  Now it is time to move into the new house!  Has anyone ever said, "there are not enough hours in the day"?

 

 

 



Classroom Setup: Day 2

Today was VERY productive!!  Tomorrow will consist of assembling the bookcases, finishing organizing the books, putting titles on the bulletin boards, thinking of the best place to put science and social studies anchor charts, and some last minute tweaking to make it first-day ready! 

  The black wall will be used for the students to hang work they are proud of!  I am still figuring out what exactly to do with the area just to the right of the door.

 

Do not mind ALL the baskets... I decided to begin unpacking them before leaving this afternoon.



The front wall will be used for all literacy anchor charts as well as the word wall that the students will be able to access. 

This is going to be my math nook.  All anchor charts pertaining to our current learning (in math) will be posted on this wall.



 

Classroom Setup: Day 1

Let me begin this post by saying that school starts for teachers on August 12th.  As we all know, that first week is full of meetings and planning.  Only small classroom things need to remain on the to-do list at that point.  My husband and I close on our first home at the end of next week.  YIKES!  This leaves me with 3 more days to complete my classroom.  However, I am determined to do it in 2.  That's right... 3 days total to finish my classroom.  I wanted to post pictures of the process, because too often it seems that you see these amazing classrooms, but have no idea where to begin.  OR you begin to panic when you get started and your room looks like a hurricane came straight through the middle of it!  I chose to begin with organizing this year, because that was the part I wanted to do differently.

Am I the only one who arrives in my classroom on Day 1 rejuvenated, and with so much excitement, and then I spot it...

THE PILE of furniture, boxes, and miscellaneous items.  At this point... all of that rejuvenated excitement is replaced by "Oh my lawd, how will I ever get all of this done?!" 

When I find this pile, my first order of business is to sort out the classroom library books, and get them out of the way.  I know that the books are the very last thing that I need to put out.  Partially, because at the bottom of this pile... are my new bookcases waiting to be assembled.

This is at the end of Day 1.  Along the wall are the cabinets that are waiting to be assembled.

End of Day 1

End of Day 1

End of Day 1

Most of what I did today was organization, and finding places for things!  The next step... beautification, assembling bookcases, and organizing books!!! :)  Anticipating 2 more working days. 

Behavior Plan & Classroom Library Checkout Procedures

I LOVE when my students ask me to borrow a book for the evening!  It makes me realize I have passed my enthusiasm for reading onto the hearts of my students!  However,  I have a tough time keeping track of who has what, and making sure that it returns to our library.  I will post this on the side of our bookshelf for students to write their names and the title of their book.  They will only be able to do check books out of the classroom library during morning work or at the conclusion of their small group time.  They will then have to ask for my signature stating that the book was checked out and again when it is returned.  This is solely for taking books home.  The books they read during the school day can be pulled out and returned at will. 

Why am I changing my behavior system?  I had a difficult time last year managing the school wide rewards (giving tokens), adding flies to the jar (class reward), and moving students up/down the behavior chart.  I would move students up, and forget to give tokens which meant less school-wide rewards for the students.  The tokens can be cashed in for the quarterly PBIS celebrations or to pay for little treasures at the school store.  This year I plan to tie them all together to ease my brain and to benefit the children. 

 

How am I going to implement the system?  I have some cardboard treasure boxes that I finally have a use for!  Each student will decorate their "piggy bank" at the beginning of the school year.  The goal is for the students to earn money by working hard and following the PBIS matrix (posted on the left side of the calendar).  They will add or take away money based on their choices.  If they earn a token (school-wide system) from another teacher, they will cash it in for a nickel to add to their bank.  If another teacher catches one of my students not making wise choices, they will remove money from their bank. 

 

How will I notify the parents of their child's behavior?  The child will be responsible for counting his/her coins at the conclusion of every school day, and recording it in the appropriate day of the calendar.  I and the parent will initial this amount everyday to show that all parties are aware of the choices the child is making at school.

 

How will they be able to attend the school store/celebrations?  The celebration is worth 20 tokens, and if each token is worth a nickel... the students will be able to attend the celebration as long as they have at least $2 in their bank account by the conclusion of the quarter.  Additional money may be used to purchase items at the school store.

 

This will be a great way for the students to have additional practice with counting coins (major challenge in 1st), and identifying the current day on the calendar.  Lifelong skills!!  I am on a roll... more to come!

 

End-of-the-Year Preparation

It is with sad and happy tears in my eyes that I prepare for this group to move on to 2nd grade.  They have blessed me in so many ways with laughter, hugs, excitment, and teamwork. 

 They have learned to cooperate with each other in almost all situations.  They have learned to solve their own problems peacefully, because it is "not going to be peaceful if Miss Thomas/Mrs. Lewis does it!".  They have learned how to treat others.  We read "You are Special" by Max Lucado, and they have learned to try and not let the hurtful things people say stick to them. They traveled through the journey with me of getting engaged and married, and they showed so much excitment for both events!  I feel as though each of the 22 children in my class are my own, and I hate to see them go!

However, they are so ready for second grade, and I am going to try to keep posting things I am using to prepare for the end of the year.  Here is a poem that I wrote to them.  I am going to attach it to a collage of each of them holding a sign with a letter that makes up the statement Oh, The Places We'll Go!!! Ambitious, but I am hoping I will have the time to complete it!



The stories to get me through...

These stories are for the days (that we all have) that are not full of so much smiling, laughter, and childlike joy:

Story 1: My class enters the hallway from the cafeteria heading towards academic arts.  I realize that one of my more confident students was observing his reflection while showing varying emotions.  Out of the corner of my eye I noted he had a Spongebob type expression (wide eyed and mouth open) while snapping and pointing his fingers once at his reflection.  I approached him and said, "What are you doing, sir?"  I fully expected him to take his place in line and begin following our hallway procedures, but I should have considered his personality.  His response was, "Miss Thomas, I was tellin' myself I am lookin' gooooood!"  At this moment, I took my place and try to keep myself composed until passing my class to the next teacher.

Story 2: About mid-morning I look out into my wonderful class to see that all of them are steadily working on their writing.  I could not help but think, "How did I end up with a class of first graders who love writing SO much?"  Then, I spotted him... whistling and piloting his brand new paper air plane (engineered from his writing paper of course).  I called him over to my table to discuss work-on-writing procedures.  I said, "During this time we are working on our writing by getting our ideas on paper through pictures and words... here is a new piece of paper for you to get started."  He sat next to me at our conference table and told me that he did not know what to write about.  I instructed him to look around the room for ideas.  He looked around the room for what seemed like eternity or... 2 seconds, and spotted the container of jellybeans.  He said, "I don't know how to spell that word".  I reminded him of our work-on-writing procedures, and that he was to underline it if he was unsure how to spell it.  I then overheard him sounding it out... "Jo-ey-beans".  Looks like that will be a new nickname for the remainder of the year.

Story 3: Our class had just endured the entire Everyday Mathematics block, and was heading into Science.  I turned on what we call a wiggle song, and the children did the usual and jumped up to dance and sing to the song.  Suddenly, I got a whiff of something that belonged... well, not in the classroom.  I asked the student closest to me if they needed to use the restroom (thinking that they just had gas).  The response was, "Nope! I don't have to go... I just did!"

Prologue: I have a child in my classroom whose entrance to a room cannot go unnoticed.  Story 4:  We were mid-lesson this afternoon learning about the properties of water.  The children were very into the experiment of water taking the shape of the container it is poured into.  This highly entertaining child enters the classroom from using the restroom and (without a breath) shouts, "Miss Thomas, I had to poop and I couldn't but then I did and then I couldn't get it off and I thought I was going to have a heart attack but then I got it off."  (Side note: Your facial expression right now times 21... mmhm) 

Story 5: One of my children trips over their shoe laces, forgets to tuck in his shirt, and bumps into the person in front of him in line ALL on the way to recess. When he makes it out on the playground he approaches me and says that he has bad karma, and explains the situation.  When I explained to him what karma was... we agreed that what he actually had was bad luck.  At the end of recess he approached me and said, "Actually, Miss Thomas... I do have karma... I knocked over my neighbors folder this morning."  I LOVE the little teachable moments!

Week 2 and 3

Okay, so week 2 and 3 have officially passed.  What does that leave... 33 more? I am SO just kidding.  I absolutely love the children that I have the opportunity to work with this year.  We have practiced wanted behaviors for Read-to-Self, Read-to-Someone, and Work-on-Writing.  The children are doing a fabulous job with the expectations of each of these.  This week I introduced Read-to-Someone on Tuesday (the day after a long holiday weekend).  It was a struggle for my children to come up with the ideas of wanted behaviors, but when practicing they did it with ease.  By the end of the week I was able to have them try a half-and-half split.  Half of the students were doing read-to-someone while the other half were doing read-to-self.  When half of the allotted time for reader's workshop had passed I clapped twice and they switched.  Next week, I will be introducing Word Work and Listen-to-Reading.  Once these have been introduced the schedule will finally be on track to normalcy.  My goal for the upcoming weeks is to have 3 types of assessment per lesson that I teach, and use the results to drive my instruction.  I am going to keep it short, because it has been a LONG short week (as we had a school holiday on Monday).  See y'all in a week!

Week 1

As I sit down to figure out what I am going to do for Open House next week and to describe my first week in words... I am failing.  It was an absolutely AWESOME week!  I originally had 22 children on my roster, and 20 of them came to Meet and Greet the Friday before school began... for a Title I school I'd say thats pretty impressive.  I have 21 first graders now which is way better than many teachers across the state (from what I am hearing).  Each one brings so much to the environment of the classroom.  I have had a breakthrough with a student who has had difficulty at school in the past.  On day one when I asked him for his agenda book, I had to assure him that I was writing a good note to his mom before he would surrender it from his death grip.  Today, I had forgotten to sign it and he came up to me as we were walking out the door and said, "Miss Thomas!!! My agenda book!".  I know as teachers we can agree, but it really does not take much to make us get all ooey gooey inside.  The first day of school I began implementing The Daily Five, and the first day my students were determined that they were going to get settled for only 30 seconds before their lack of discipline (on the first day of school... imagine that) caused me to ring by bell and join together to review wanted and unwanted behaviors.  I am also proud to say that after only a week of implementation and practice of the "Read to Self" strategies, my student have already built their independent reading stamina up to almost 10 minutes!! Minor Celebration on my end.  They even know what it means to "build stamina".  I do have table place mats that I place around the room on the floor, and the students know that is a place they need to put their bottom (MAJOR help in making sure they choose a space where they can be successful).  I was a believer after reading the book, but I am DEFINITELY a believer now that I have seen the impact.  I can actually visualize painlessly pulling my students to do reading assessments in the upcoming weeks... painless for me at least. 

We have practiced, and practiced, and practiced walking in the hallway using the acronym Hands by your side, All eyes forward, Lips zipped, Low speed... and if we practice, and practice, and practice some more I think we will get it.  I used many of Julia Cook's books to set expectations.  I read Personal Space Camp and we discussed why it was important to have your own personal space.  I read My Mouth is a Volcano and we practiced raising our hands and waiting our turn to share our "very important words".  I read Bully B.E.A.N.S to show the importance of standing up to bullies, but also giving them a fresh start at the beginning of the year in case they have changed.  I also read Tattle Tongue and we created an anchor chart of the difference between tattling and telling the teacher something important.  One of my children was actually convinced that he was getting "tattle tongue", because his tongue began to itch after we read the book.  After much discussion of the credibility of this book one of my students came to the conclusion that a teacher read the book so it must be true and we better stop tattling... so, I am considering it a success. 

I am so looking forward to learning from and teaching each of these students.  They have already become a huge part of my life, and I know I will shed a few tears of motherly pride as I pass them on to the next teacher.

cute, Cute, CUTE notebook labels!

I found these on http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chevron-Binder-Covers-editable-and-free.  It gives step-by-step instructions on how to get the font.  I am IN LOVE with these!  I created all of the binder covers that I thought I would use this year.