Long time no talk... 2014-2015 Classroom Reveal

Well friends, it's been just about forever since Stacy and I have written a blog post for this little corner of the internet we call blogland. 

We have been more busy than ever and can't make any promises about consistent updates here but you can sure bet that when we write, you will know! :) In fact, if you hit that little button to the right that says "Click here to follow my blog on bloglovin", you'll never miss an update! Stacy is pregnant with TWINS! Though she is straight out exhausted a LOT, she is the world's best blogging buddy and she came to visit my classroom last week! I took some pictures of it before Stacy got there. You'll see a lot of familiar things from my 2013-2014 classroom but I also changed it up quite a bit!

Come on in...

 .... and then for the hallway! eeeekkkk I have to say, I'm in LOVE. I was inspired by A Year of Many Firsts and bought a class set of clipboards, painted them bright blue, put a name plate on each one and hung them up in the hallway so that my little second graders can proudly display their work all throughout the year! Get it? We're never "board" in second grade!.... oh well, my students won't understand my pun. But I think it's funny.

  Stacy has been teaching {cue everyone telling Stacy she's a crazy pregnant ladayyy for going to work} for almost a week now and I start this week! Kids come on Wednesday! 

Best wishes for a wonderful school year, friends!

No longer a blank canvas.... Classroom Tour!

Well, friends... it's FRIDAY! I know every teacher just loves a good Friday! 

This week, I had new teacher orientation and was busy finishing up setting up my classroom for a little meet and greet I had with my parents and students this morning! I've linked up with Courtney Bartlett from Swimming Into Second and Corinna from Surfin' Through Second to share with you my classroom tour!!

Now the last time I gave you an update on my classroom it looked like this....

It was a blank canvas and honestly, walking in there was 1000% overwhelming. I had way too many thoughts and ideas streaming through my head and I didn't even know where to start.  But... with the help of some more experienced educators (especially Stacy), friends and family, I'm excited to "welcome" you into my first second grade classroom through pictures. 

First of all, a couple of weeks ago we offered a fun poster freebie remember featuring our favorite obsession, Melonheadz Graphics! If you missed it, click here! I ordered it from Vistaprint and hung it on my door to welcome my little munchkins right from the start! 

Here's the view of my room from the door!

If you turn to the right, you'll see my word wall and a little bit of my Guided Reading/Small Group teaching area! I just LOVE how my word wall turned out- it brings so much color and fun into the sea of white that it once was!

This next picture is a view of my classroom from the back! You can see my morning meeting/calendar area and SMARTboard... and a brand new rug which I just adore! The blue strip of ribbon will (next week-AHHH) hold my daily schedule and beside it I will display our objectives... always important for our kiddos to know why we're doing what we're doing!

If you were to turn back and to the right from here you'd find my back wall where I used Tangled Up in Teaching's "How We Go Home" packet as well as the 2nd Grade Expert Club display from A Year of Many Firsts Back to School for Second Graders Packet. Lyndsey is probably my very favorite TpT/blogger ever- all her stuff is just too darn cute and I find myself having to resist buying it all.

 If you were to be back in the middle facing the SMARTboard and were to turn left, you'd find my reading area. I think this is one of my favorite spots in the classroom and the kids that came in today to visit certainly thought so as well! I just adore the curtains that Emily- my old college roommate and world's greatest friend- made for me. They're PERFECT and make this little room feel so much like home. We'll use this space during Daily 5 and centers during our Guided Reading block.

The next picture is a continuation of that half of the classroom where you'll find my desk. I have bookshelves going all around the room and I tried to display some of my favorites in front of my desk for now. The Giving Tree is my all time favorite children's book, and one I'll be using for a read-aloud with my kiddies on the first day! On the easel is the poster we'll write our class rules/contract on as well!

And then for my desk area... You already saw some of it up above at the top of this post with the flowers and piggie calendar. Here's the rest of it... the view from my desk... really just some emails and one of my all time favorite pictures of myself and my favorite 'siblings' in Disney World from last year. The only one who is my real sibling is my sister, Kerri... but the boys are like brothers to me, so they count too!

And behind my desk I have the most adorable present from the curtain angel, Emily..... She painted me a mason jar filled with pencils that says "You'll be an ah-mason teacher". Seriously? Too stinkin cute! I also have a recommendation letter that little Rahab wrote me in Kenya. I also just love this wooden pig and just knew it needed a home in Room 130.

.... So there you have it! My classroom feels more and more like home every time I walk into it! I'm working on hanging up some brightly colored pom-poms I bought too.. Not sure how to make that happen with such tall ceilings but me and the custodian are tight and I've gotten permission to borrow the 6ft ladder for as long as I need....... We'll get to that Tuesday. 

ps- I also got my first apple from a student today. 

I can just tell this year is going to be so special and I can't even wait!

For now, I'm going to enjoy this long weekend!

Happy Labor Day, sweet friends!  Enjoy your friends and family!

SLANT box update, a peek into my new classroom and a look into what we've been workin' on!

Happy Friday, friends!!! We are both actually living it up in the woods this weekend. Stacy is camping with her family and I (Colleen) am heading up to my family's house in the Adirondacks in a few short hours BUT we thought we would get one more post in before we head out! (cue huge round of applause!)

First, we'd like to give you a little update on our SLANT box friends because they are just so awesome! We will be sending a package to Anisa at Creative Undertakings. Like us, she's addicted to pinterest and loves crafting! Something that I both love and hate about Pinterest is that it's so easy to find these wonderful, grand ideas.... See, I get so happy and excited and decide that it is exactly what I need to make or do or bake or find... So I pin it onto one of my many boards and then more often than not, I forget it's there and don't follow through on the creating of these grand ideas... What I LOVE about Anisa from Creative Undertakings is that she follows through with her pins and actually makes this stuff!! I also found out recently that she was born in Kenya which is probably the coolest thing she could have told me- (if you don't know, you can find out why this is so exciting here!!

Stacy and I are also both so excited because our package will be arriving from Terry, a teacher in Florida! She's already started school and you can read about her first grade happenings here! The connections we are already making in this August SLANT box project are wonderful! Want in on the fun for next month??? Check out Lessons With Coffee! The post introducing her genius project can be read here! We're already scheming and planning on things to send to Anisa after learning about her favorite things!! :) SO STINKIN FUN!

Another update I'd like to give you is that I finally got to see my classroom for next year! I'll be teaching 2nd grade next year and am so excited! I got my class list yesterday and I just can't wait to meet my little munchkins! I have a class of 24 kiddies and I've been working to get the room ready and I feel like I get more excited (and kinda nervous) each day!! Here's my empty room! I got the furniture in this week and am beginning putting the other pieces together, too!

Do you remember your first year of teaching? Any words of wisdom or advice that you'd like to give me? If you could pin-point it, what would be the one thing I need to know or remember?

Please leave some comments with your thoughts because I'd sure love to hear them!!

... and just to give you a little hint and clue into what we've been working on....

Be on the lookout for these fun games soon!!

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends! We'll be back next week with some more goodies!

It's Just Another Manic Monday...Linky Party and NEW FREEBIE!!

Today we are excited to be linking up with Charity from Classroom Freebies for her Manic Monday FREEBIE share.  Charity has created an incredible way for teachers to share their free products and find new and exciting blogs.  On her blog, click "The Freebies" tab and you will find THOUSANDS of free products listed by grade level.  It's amazing!!

Find additional weekly FREEBIES listed on her linky below:

And now for our NEW FREEBIE...drumroll please!

We LOVE the poster Colleen created for her new second grade classroom!!!!  It is going to bring smiles to her student's faces as they walk into her classroom on the first day of school!  Don't you love the Melonheadz graphics?

To grab your FREE poster, click on the picture.  After downloading the 6 page PDF, trim the bottom right side of each page to assemble.  If you do not have access to a color printer, Staples or Vistaprint are great options to print posters.  ENJOY!!

And don't forget about our other FREEBIE "Mirror Mirror on the Wall".  A great way to reinforce y as a vowel and y as a suffix!  Happy Downloading!!