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

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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.

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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

September Currently


Confession...
I actually typed this up yesterday morning, but because I already posted about my color activities, I decided to save this post until today.  AND...because it's already done, all I had to do was publish it this morning before I left for school!

So, I'm joining in on the fun of Farley's September Currently!





I don't know if I really have to explain too much, but here it goes....

Pirates of the Carribbean was on TBS and I couldn't help but wish there was a G-Rated Pirates movie made by Disney (that wasn't animated).  Jake and the Neverland Pirates is too young for us but I think they would like Peter Pan...but remember Blackbeard's Ghost?  I wonder if that's still available somewhere??

I'm loving my extra day off this week!  A full week of school for the first week can be a bit of a shock to our systems...especially with the heat and humidity.  Several grade levels in our district have staggered starts which would really help, but whenever we ask for First Grade to have a staggered start, we're denied.  It would be so much easier to get all of those assessments done if I only worried about 6 or so kiddos a day!

We're doing "After Hours Social Hour" this year for our families.  We're inviting our families into our classrooms just once a month to showcase the learning that's happening.  Our first one has a Superhero theme so I'm reading some books and trying to sketch out some ideas.  (Is Super Hero one or two words?  Every time I type it, I think differently.)

Due to this...I am wanting some superpowers (again...a compound word?) to help me get everything done...or maybe just the power to clone myself to be in more than one place at a time.

I'm needing this humid weather to depart for good!  I'm really tired of feeling the drips of sweat down my back and trying not to stick to my new kiddos when they come in for a hug!

Things I would love to accomplish this month...

  • I need to get myself back to where/what I was before summer.  I'm feeling funky...and I know what I need to do to fix it...I'm just lacking that motivation.
  • I need to start running again...we've been walking, but I think I've secretly been craving my early morning runs with my sister...although she's always ahead of me.  And...it's not pretty at. all. I'm definitely not the one that jumps out of bed @ 5:30 to go and run.  I have to sometimes talk myself through those three miles..."Okay Jenn, go to the next stop sign, okay, the next light post, the next mailbox, the next driveway, one more step..." but when I'm done I do feel kind of proud of myself and my head is always more in "the game".  
  • I'm feeling a little uncertain about everything lately...I'm needing to pick myself up and really be an advocate for my students...and myself.
Ready to bring on this 4 day week?
Have a good one!


Monday, September 2, 2013

Colorful Week Ahead!


Happy Labor Day!

Hope you're enjoying your 3-day weekend!  We're back at it tomorrow...and it's full steam ahead!  I always feel like that first week back to school is the honeymoon period of our year!  My three classes are pretty amazing and I think we're going to have a great year!  I don't really plan a lot because so much of that week is spent on rules and procedures and getting my new kiddos acclimated to life as a First Grader.  Now it's time to get down to business!  :)

This week we'll be reviewing our color words with a few activities that I've found while catching up on my blog stalking this weekend!  I'll share them as we do them...there will be a little of Pete, some naked crayons, and some opportunities to get my kiddos working together in a splash of color!

I wanted to create a few activities that my kiddos could work on with their friends at their tables...because we're still establishing our community!  I uploaded them as FREEBIES to my TPT shop last night.  Feel free to click on the links below to download them!

Free Download @ TPT
  
Free Download @ TPT
Free Download @ TPT

Enjoy your day!