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!

FLASH FREEBIE & Stacy's Five for Friday Fun!

Happy Friday Everyone!  I don't know about you, but I am EXHAUSTED after this busy week.  After easing into the new school year, this was our first full week back.  Wow!  I'm pooped!  It didn't help that we had Curriculum Night on Tuesday and a few days of unseasonably 90 degree days up here in New England.  Unfortunately, schools are not air conditioned so the poor students and teachers at my school were rag dolls by the end of the day.  However, things are looking good for the weekend with cooler temps to enjoy some fun family time (i.e. running my boys to football games and soccer practice).

Today we are linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday linky party.  I'm so excited to show you some projects that I've been working on in the Reading Room this week!

 I was thrilled to add this adorable welcome sign from JD's Rockin' Readers to my door.  It perfectly coordinates with my jungle themed room and it's a FREEBIE on TpT!  I love the way it complements the bunting banner that Colleen made for me last year.



The Reading Tutors and I have been knee-deep in DIBELS testing this week.  As a school, I am responsible for administering this assessment to all students Grades K-2 and select students in Grades 3-5 three times per year.  In addition to the DIBELS, all students are given the Fountas and Pinnell in the fall so my school is in a beginning of the year assessment frenzy!  At our monthly grade-level data meetings that begin in a couple of weeks, we take into account all of this data as well as MCAS results (state testing) to determine which students will continue or start working with me.  It's a big responsibility but I enjoy being the school's "Data Keeper". 

Despite being busy, I was able to find some time to clean, purge, and reorganize my room.  One of my projects was setting up a new bulletin board using our Which Tools Will You Use fix-up strategies bundle.  One thing that I struggle with in my room is the small amount of wall space we have for displaying instructional materials.  This bulletin board is thankfully next to my guided reading table but I have two other tables that the Reading Tutors use for groups that do not have space nearby.  To solve that problem, I also put the decoding strategies on small task cards so my tutors can refer to them during small group instruction.   

Last weekend was Massachusetts Resident Day at one of my all-time favorite places to visit this time of year...the Southwick Zoo!  It is a privately run zoo that has the most amazing variety of animals I've ever seen.  If you ever are visiting in Massachusetts, I'd definitely recommend a trip to see their animals!  Here are a few pictures of our trip!!





A very important tip when visiting any zoo!



Mom! What is that awful smell??



 My little buddy feeding the deer at the Deer Forest. So cool!!

 

 Colleen and I were jumping with excitement when we reached over 100 followers on our Facebook page this week!!  To commemorate this milestone and thank everyone on the TpT forum who helped us reach our goal, we will be having a FLASH FREEBIE until midnight EST tonight!  Sweet Tooth Crush has been our top seller since we started our TpT store two months ago.  Grab it while you can for FREE!

Have an awesome weekend, friends!!  TGIF!!

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!