Open House 2014

Open House was last week, but I was so wiped out, I'm just getting around to posting pix.

Here's what you see when you open the door.

To the right of the door is our library area, behind our book boxes.

Love our book boxes, I don't know why I have such a hard time committing to permanent labels.

My guided reading table...ahhh...look at how clean it it :)

This is the wall immediately to the left.  I'm really happy with the way our AR wall turned out.  You can read more HERE.

Ok, these are actually our mini-biographies.  It was supposed to be a timeline, but I thought little books worked out better. Crazy how some of my kiddos look exactly the same as babies :)

And now for our wonder animal projects:

 Love the detail and it's homemade :)

Our plant review and buzzing bees.

And lastly, I thought I would give my parents the chance to find as many ways to show 25, I should have taken a pic of the after :/

I have to say, it was a fun evening.  I always love seeing kids with their families.  Our dual classrooms always feel more like family.

Classroom Digs

Hola amigos!

This is my first week of school and I... am... beat! (it' barely Tuesday you say?  I know!)
But I do love starting a new year :) 

New kiddos, new boards, and a new classroom set up.

This year, our school adapted the Super Hero theme.

Yay for me because I started this theme last year :)

I'll post student goals and Super Student of the Week here.

But I do love my DJ Inkers decor so I used some in my library area.

My library area is behind the shelves.  

I just pulled some of my math boxes, I had to store them during the summer, and they're actually pretty well organized in a cabinet.

My new library set up!  I still need to find some comfy padding for my bench area.

I'm loving my writing wall!  After I put writing samples, you'll still be able to see a border.

Ahhh... scrapbook paper.... how I love thee!

Each class has adopted a University.
Each grade level is responsible for teaching university vocabulary and every Wednesday we can wear our university t-shirts.  Can I just say how cool it is too see classes wearing their university T's :)
We are 'SC!

Our class rules:  they're the same rules I've used, similar to Whole Brain Teaching, but with a Super Hero coolness :)

Our pocket chart area and science/history wall.

And lastly, our math wall.  I do most of it on the Smart Board, but last year my kiddos weren't able to do calendar when I had a sub, so I thought I'd put a basic one for such "sick" days ;)

I looove to peek in other classrooms, so if you're anything like me, head on over to

Adios amigos :)

Tryin To Get My B2S Mojo

Well, that's it, school starts exactly 2 weeks from today, 

2 weeks!!

I have 2 weeks to get my classroom ready, go to meetings, get my classroom ready, plan, and oh yeah... get my classroom ready!?!!

Can you feel my stress level slowly rising?

I think this is the longest it's ever taken me to get my B2S mojo back.

Normally I would have tackled so much on my To Do list,

but this summer, the only things I managed to put on my To Do list have been:

1.  Rest

2.  Relax

3. Recoup

My hubby saw me catching up on Joel Osteen yesterday and said,

"Oh, I see you're gearing up to go back, huh?"

Yes people, it was that kind of year last year.

But luckily, I managed to accomplish everything on my To Do list this summer ;)

One of the first things I always do is my room layout.

I liked my guided reading table near the entrance since it served as my desk area as well.  But it was turning into a catch all, not good for guided reading.

Wow, this is embarrassing,  can't believe I'm posting this picture, but it was the end of the year and I was trying to put stuff away :?

So I  was thinking about switching my library area with my guided reading/ teacher area.

Can I tell you what a pain moving that file cabinet was last year? 

I had to empty all 5 drawers just so that I can move it.  I have some awesome janitors that wouldn't have thought twice about helping me out, but it was the end of the year, and well, you know....

When I go back, I will definitely ask for their help :)

So here is my final plan.

My kids will ask why bother, because I like to move stuff around anyways, 

but everyone needs a good plan, right?

In case you're wondering, I'm using one of my favorite Apps, Good Notes, love it!

I was going to draw all this on paper, but using the markers on my mini iPad was so much fun :)

First Grade Pics...Finally

4 day weekend, woo-hoo!
Just what I needed after 3 weeks of school.

I finally remembered to take some pics, but I wanted to share this cool App called Photosynth.

Here's a before picture of my new classroom.

 This was very helpful when I returned home and had to decide how I wanted my class layout.

This was the only after picture I took, although my classroom wasn't complete, but it gives you a good idea of how to use the App.

 And of course, I forgot I had this cool App when I took pictures this week :(

My door sign my hubby made for me a couple of years ago, along with our some Super Heroes.

This is our library.  Although I'm trying to use Super Heroes, I couldn't resist putting our comfy Teddy.

 Writing

Word Wall

Word Bank

 Color Words

The World

with a graph displaying students and their Kinder teacher.

Luckily, I got to loop with 14 of my students :)

Language Arts & Whole Group Area

Math

 Guided Reading Table

(sorry so messy)

 My Goals

and student book boxes for Read To Self.

Have a great long weekend amigas!

You deserve it ;)

So now that I've had some time to relax, I'm catching up with all the super ideas in Bloggyland, so I'm joining a Linky hosted by Swimming into Second Grade

Kinder Classroom Update

I apologize for not posting, like many of you, 

I have been so busy getting ready for the new school year.

And as if blogging wasn't fun enough, I've found another love,

yes, I too am a Pinterest Addict.

My kiddos first day is Monday, Yay!

I still have so much to do, but I'm ready to start the new year :)

Inside of my front door.

Front of the classroom.  I decided to place larger alphabet letters above our SmartBoard for easier reference and access when writing.

This year we're beginning a great program called No Excuse University.

Each classroom chose a university,

I chose my alma mater, FIGHT ON!

Math Wall

I still have some work to do this weekend to finish it up.

Where did the time go?

Word Wall

I place student names and high frequency words here.

Teaching Wall

This is where almost everything will go.

I love the large Welcome letters above!  I was so excited that I found them in Spanish :)

Library & Season Wall

Last year I didn't utilize this space enough, 

so I thought I would use the top half as my Season Wall.  

DJ Inkers Weather Bears and my seasonal tree should do the trick.

Hmmm, I think I might need to add a border to separate the two....

I placed my animals on my back window by my Guided Reading Area.

Oops, I guess I forgot to take a picture of the whole area.

Wishing you the best of luck with your new batch of sweet kiddos!

P.S.  I decided to also join

I do love seeing all these awesome classrooms, such creativity!