My First "Back to School" Purchases for My New First Graders!

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Ohio
Welcome! I hope to use this blog to share some of the amazing things my class and school does to make learning fun! I have been teaching for 15 years already! I started teaching 3rd grade in a Parochial School, then I was hired to teach 1st grade for three years, was moved to 5th grade for 2 years, and then came back to 1st grade in the district where I attended school. I love that I'm able to give back the the school district that guided me to become the teacher I am today! I have a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, certified 1-8; a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction; and my Administrator License Pre-K-12.

Blogs I Love!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Linky Party-What Are You In Love With?

So Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies is hosting a linky party where we can post all of our loves.  What a great idea!

I need to be completely honest and tell you that I've been stalking these "Linky Parties" all summer and have yet to join one.  From what I've gathered linky parties seem to be a great way to share ideas and make connections with other teachers.
Well...today's the day!  I'm going to do it!  Even though I really have no idea what I'm doing...I'm going to try!  I already figured out how to type the name of Jennifer's blog in my post and have it work as a link back to her blog.  So far I'm pretty impressed with myself!  :)

So...a few of my favorite things!

1.  Our school mascot is a pirate so to instill school pride in my little friends, I have a lot of pirate themed decor in my classroom.  Our school colors are also red, black and white so I use these colors throughout my room.  I'd love to be able to show a picture of my finished classroom, but it looks like this as of today:
Trying not to panic....breathe in, breathe out...it will be finished before the kiddos arrive!  :)
2.  Daily  5!  If you haven't stumbled across these books by "The Sisters" you really need to give them a shot...they have totally changed the way I structure the way I teach reading and writing.  AND...I am going to their workshop next Tuesday, July 26 (Merry Christmas in July to me!) in Ann Arbor, Michigan!  I am so excited!

3.  Debbie Diller!  She is such a Rock Star!  These books are so awesome and her ideas mesh will with "The Sister's" ideas and tips!  Spaces and Places is a dream come true for those of us who love to be organized!

4.  Pinterest!  It's a social media tool where you can "pin" images from websites and also repin other people's pins.  There are some very helpful tutorials on You Tube if you're interested.  I have pinned tons of classroom ideas-posters, activities, classroom design, etc. as well as personal stuff!  I am officially a Pinterest addict.  I joined via the website and it took about a week to receive my official invitation to join.  Once I was a member, I invited others and they received their invitations immediately.  If you'd like an invite just leave me a comment or send me an email!

5.  Those Target dollar bins are pretty amazing too!  Check my blog to see some of the goodies I've found.

Oh...one more...I'm pretty excited about a tree that I'm building for a corner of my classroom...here's the first pictures:
I used 2 1/2 cement tubes from Home Depot.  We screwed them together and then reinforced them with Duct Tape.

We paper mache'd it twice.  The first time we kept it smooth, and the second coat was lumpy because I wanted some texture on it.  I'm hoping to start painting it this weekend.

Okay...so there's my favorite loves so far....now to make sure I finish this little party the right way!  :)
Thanks to Jennifer for hosting such a great bash!  Cheers!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for joining the party! I am honored to be your first linky party!
    Jennifer
    First Grade Blue SKies

    ReplyDelete
  2. I found you through a linky party- Thought I'd join your blog! I am a new blogger myself- I only have a few posts, so we can learn together! I just finished my 13th year teaching, too!
    Mandy
    firstgradetothecore

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Mandy!
    I found your blog the other day too and started following your posts! I absolutely love how you hang book jackets on your wall...so clever!
    Thanks for being one of my first followers!
    Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just found you and I am dying over the first pic! Are those colorful round tables in YOUR CLASSROOM??!! I LOVE those! Those will have to be some of my favorite things! TOO CUTE!!!!! So glad I found you through the linky party! :) I'm your newest follower!
    Kristin
    A Teeny Tiny Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Kristin!
    Yep! Those are my tables! We have our good and not so good days with them but I do LOVE having them. :) I hopped on over to your blog tonight and became a follower. I am so jealous of your view...is that a mountain behind your school? We're flat as a pancake here in Ohio!
    Thanks for following me!
    Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jenn,
    It's my first linky party too and how fun that we found new friends to follow! I am officially a follower of yours now too. :) I absolutely love those pretty tables too and you're doing an amazing job on that tree! Can't wait to see the finished project!

    Alissa~
    www.frog-tasticfirstgrade.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi again, Jennifer! I'm so jealous those are your tables - I just have desks. And they shift and move around EVEN WITH the giant rubber bands that I buy from Staples to hold the legs together. It's a pet peeve. And yes, those are mountains in the background! :) I live in Southern California and our school website boasts that we are nestled in the foothills. It is beautiful and during winter, they are snowcapped! :) That's one of the best parts about my school - it's an "outside" school so the longest I am inside is for one hour and 45 minutes. We have to go "outside" to get to the bathrooms, lunch room, office, other teacher's classrooms, library, computer lab, etc.
    Thanks for following me! I love making new friends! :)
    A Teeny Tiny Teacher

    ReplyDelete