Peek at my Week! {January 26th}

And here we are... the last week of January! It amazes me how slowly a week can go by and then when you look back the time has passed so quickly! 

We had a fun-filled week with the 100th day of school! When I was preparing for the 100th day of school, I realized that it was a 5th grader's 1,000th day of being in school since kindergarten. We had a lot of fun working on equations with the number 100 and discussing our behavior in the past 100 days. 

Cannot believe we are on the downhill for days left in school! Here is a peek at my week for WEEK 23!

Have an amazing week! It is already going to start out great with a little extra sleep tomorrow morning. We have a delay, but looking at the weather...it's not looking so good right now. 

Peek at my Week! {January 19th}

I am so happy we finally finished up a week of school without anymore closings. We started off our week with a closing due to snow and ice. It was only a 4-day week, but we'll take it! :) It felt as if we tested, tested, and tested again. Oh, and did I mention we were testing this week... I tried pumping those kids up as much as possible, but I wanted to cry for them every time I asked them to gather their materials for the test. It is so hard on them, but it is obviously necessary. 

With all the testing and computer labs booked up, it was basically impossible to get to the library. We tried a cool experiment with our librarian where she can bring a cart of books and the kids can check-out & renew books from her iPad. It is so wonderful being at a school with such an abundance of technology for everyone. 

We had to readjust for Thursday and Friday of last week, and then we had to readjust again for missing on Monday. Here's a peak at my week: (let's hope there are not changes due to closings this week.)

What do you have planned this week?

Have a fabulous week!

Classroom Reveal

Since I completely forgot to do this in August...I guess it is time to reveal the space I live, eat, and breathe in almost everyday of the week. I had started out the year with things a certain way and by Christmas break...well, they HAD to go. I added and fixed some random parts of my classroom over break. It was great going back and feeling a sense of freshness with the New Year. I have learned that you must live in your classroom to see how everything is going to turn out for both you and your kids.

So, without further ado (drumroll please)...Here is my classroom! :)

These book boxes are from Really Good Stuff. The kids use these EVERYDAY! I attached the labels with Mod Podge (more on this towards the bottom of the post) It was so easy to use!

 I just L-O-V-E how my classroom rules turned out. I clearly listened to EVERY WORD Maria from Kinder Craze said when making these. Absolutely adorable!

  This is my take on community supplies. Each student has their own part of the caddy. If I had a group of four, I gave them a cup to put in the larger spot to sort their materials better. As you can see, our oddly shaped triangular desks don't allow for much storage on the inside, but man are they great for collaboration! :) 

  This is the view from my classroom door. I truly love coming into my room each day. 

 This is my favorite part of my room. It is such a great meeting area for whole group or read aloud time, but it is also functional, yet homey for the students. Our reading nook is SO cozy! :) 

I would not have been able to create such an adorable room without the help of my mother this summer and the adorable decor from Schoolgirl Style. LOVE her stuff. It is going to be so hard not to change my decor every year! 

And now for the updates....

Since "living" in my classroom...some things have literally fallen off. My Mod Podge miracle was a total disaster in about October. I had tried this on my library bins and also my book boxes the kids use. I had letters and numbers falling off daily. My kids were so trained to just grab tape and put it back up because Miss Newell was going to fix it over break. I used it on my personal bins for my materials and that worked perfectly to this day. I also decided to move a few things around and add an amazing new tool in the classroom. (I apologize for the poor picture quality.)

#1 The caddies had to MOVE. They were a toy by the end of the semester. We have a Nesting Post that has worked wonderfully. Each day if we need supplies, my table leaders grab them and take them back to the post. 

#2 One word: Homeworkopoly. Hello, my friend. This has been such a great motivator and we have only had school 3 days!! Let's hope this behavior keeps up the rest of the year. Thank you, Jody Udovich from Create, Teach, and Share, for this amazing resource! 

#3 Book boxes and library had to change. I took off all the labels, printed some new FABULOUS ones, laminated them, and hot glued them. PLEASE last longer than two months! 

#4 So long, social studies board. Hello, math and reading focus wall. I have already used this board more this week than I ever used it before. It was a cute idea, but not practical for what we needed in our classroom. 

What changes have you made in your classroom this year? 

Peek at my Week! {January 12th}

Well, here goes another week! After two days off on Thursday and Friday for snow and extremely cold temperatures, we are crossing our fingers for a full week in school! 

I have been hard at work over our long weekend taking my lesson plans from drab to FAB! When I was working in the primary grades, I was so in love with Kicking it in Kindergarten's interactive/visual lesson plans. It was something I had only dreamed of having. Fast forward a year and I now have all my plans retyped in this beautiful new format. With the snow days, I moved my plans around and I then I moved them around AGAIN. I am so OCD that I had to print and then reprint my plans for my binder. 

I love the way this has turned out. My heart is happy seeing everything organized. Here's a peek at my changes from last week and this week:

We have a LOT to accomplish this week! Between ACUITY B testing and our STAR reading test, we are full-steam ahead during semester 2.

How is your week looking?

New Year's Resolution happening.......NOW!

Since I haven't said it quite yet and I am almost exactly 10 days late...

My resolution this year is to begin serious (but still beginner) teacher blogging. Now, I know I have already written a handful of posts before, but this is serious-stick-to-my-guns-I-will-blog-more-often type of teacher blogging. I have such a great time creating and sharing resources/ideas and this blog is an even more unique environment because I am a brand new teacher fresh out of college last year. With that said, I am not an expert AT ALL. I am not yet an expert at teaching, nor am I an expert blogger. I am testing the waters and seeing how this whole blogging adventure goes. (I'm thinking it is going to be pretty great!) I am simply an imperfect perfectionist that loves laughing and enjoying each moment with my students and team members. 

All aboard the oh-so fabulous journey of 5th grade!