It's Here! It's Here! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the time has arrived [finally] to open my own classroom.  While there were some paper work items I could gather ahead of time, I pretty much had to wait until last Wednesday [the day before Thanksgiving] to begin working on the room.  I had to continue teaching the 10 older students who I was filling in for the maternity leave with.  It was a juggling act; one I hope I do not have to do again; but we made it through.  I was able to hand over progress monitoring completed through the 3rd week and all work graded when the teacher I was in for returned.  She had three non student days to ready her new room and once the students left on Wednesday, I began "remodeling" the one I was staying in.

My group is [currently...though rumors are floating of an addition coming before the end of December] 6 boys, all 14 or 15 years old and one male aide. Two have a TSS who comes daily/multiple times per week.  *Speaking of TSS...I should probably pull in some extra chairs! oops....*  You'll notice from the photographs that I did my best to tone down my girliness and make sure the things they are going to be using on a daily basis are "boy friendly" and not all pink and purple....though my stuff is :)

I hope you enjoy this first tour of my new classroom!! I still have a few items, which I'll post in the coming days, to add, but overall....we're ready for tomorrow :)

...well, the room is!  I'm still working on my nerves!!!

Math Station

Quiet Zone [aka...sensory corner]?
First Classroom Rule!

Reading Station
Second Classroom Rule

Spelling Station
Third Classroom Rule

Writing Station

Bookshelf: Student Supplies
Mapping Station
Door:  "Finished Work" Folders and Visual Schedules

Classroom Aide table for Aide Time
Morning Meeting board

Information Station
Earn your field trip chart and behavior chart!

My zone :)
SMART Board
and Birthday poster!!!

Teacher time table
Group schedule table
LOVE my little green [dollar tree] bucket!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

Right side of the room

Left side of the room

I'm in love with this room already....I can't wait to see what the kids think tomorrow :) Happy Teaching!!!!!

-M

...review in photos

So for about the past month I have been taking and storing photos of my kids and classroom :)  I finally remembered to bring my camera home, download the photos and now I'm going to post them :-D  Lucky you, dear bloggy friends!!!!!  Enjoy the photos :)

Partner teacher had been telling me for about three weeks "Wait until
the trees outside your window bloom - they are fantastic"....Yippee I thought.
He was right :)  They were beautiful!!

We had a "showcase" night a few weeks back, and we cover
our hallways with the students work.  I decided to cover our door,
and had the students write what their favorite part of fifth grade was.
I now get to start my day by seeing this first....pretty positive eh?

Contraction Caterpillars!  The initial idea came from Pinterest.
I created my own template and requirements...and even my fifth
graders had a good time creating contractions!

This is another partner teacher idea - He has a bowl FULL
of miniature letter pasta.  I didn't realize letter pasta existed
outside of Spaghettios.  haha I found the bowl digging through
one of his various cupboards and pulled the activity out for spelling.
My kids LOVED it!!  Hands on, Kinestetic spelling practice!

I will be starting my literature circles in two weeks.  I knew before anything
else that I needed some way to be organized with it.  Thank goodness for Dollar
General and my Cricut :-D  I rearranged a few shelves in my room so that I could
clear this cart off.  Each basket will hold the book, folders, and comprehension
cards (I'll post photos soon!) for each group!  I'm excited and fully nervous about these!
Hopefully my early planning and OCD organization will pay off :-D

 Not bad for the last month huh??  There are more photos, but I must have downloaded them from partner teacher's camera...so they are still at school....hang tight for another review in photos!

Happy Teaching!

well, we survived...

We made it!  Four days of school and I have not been this exhausted for a long time :)  I stayed until 4:45pm planning and copying necessities for next week.  I do love this job, I really do.  Planning for the week that is coming spurs my excitement!  Yes, I was tired at 3pm when I walked my class of students to their buses, but the empty room, organizing all the little things, and making fresh copies certainly sparks my interest in the next week!  I have been blessed to have a great experienced teacher who continues to mentor me.  I am grateful for his insights and encouragements.  He has been a blessing in coaching me how to best acclimate myself to this classroom, to continue to build the team, and discipline the students appropriately.  While I'm sure I could write about what we did this week, I am feeling exhausted and will probably go to bed soon, yes it's only 7pm, but I have some photos to share with you :)

The teacher whom I am subbing for had the paper and border up,
but nothing was up.  We are supposed to post our weekly objectives
so they are visible.  The other fifth grade teacher helped me with this idea.
Using page protectors and printing the objectives each week!  My Cricut
provided the labels and when I create my objective card format, I'll post that also.

The students found these on their desks when they came
on Tuesday.  I used Doodlecharms to create the stockings
then I taped a pencil to the back :)  I thought they were cute!

What you need to know is that "space chair" is AWESOME.
The chair is from Ikea and has a sweet story.  The cushions were
recovered by my AMAZING mama.  It has become a favorite spot
for the students to read!  Thanks Mama

Have a happy weekend :)  Our first wedding anniversary is on Sunday!  Thankfully I will have my school work all done and we can have a great day together.  Oh, wait.  It's football season... :)

in preparation...

I really enjoy using my cricut!  Since I had the winter break to play...I did :)  Among various items, I found myself making four folders, which you can see below.  Two I made in preparation for students who are absent.  The other two I made for myself to stay organized!  I didn't think to label which cartridges I used for which folder but I do know I used Locker Talk, Doodlecharms, Plantain School Book, and Walt Disney Font.

Enjoy the photos!! I'm so excited to go to school tomorrow!!!!!

a few more days...

In less than one week I will be in 5th grade :-D  I am getting so very excited...and a little bit more nervous each day.  My plans are 98% complete; I need to make a few copies, and I have a "space ship" chair I'd like to get into the classroom before school starts again, but I think I'm ready!

I'm sitting bundled up (it snowed last night....just a tiny bit) because it is terribly cold today!  My husband man is playing a video game that I am enjoying watching.  We successfully purchased a mattress today....but I think it took all the energy I reserved after sleeping on our crappy mattress last night!

I got some very exciting Cricut cartridges for Christmas...I have a few things made, but want to make a few more things then I'll post some photos :)  I'm very excited to share my creations!  I think tomorrow may end up being a "leave me alone, I'm cricutting" day :)

a (not so) wintery day...

For four years I lived in a place that averaged 3 to 4 feet of snow in a few hours during a "normal" storm.  Prior to those four years I grew up in a place that would average 2 to 3 inches over night :-D Needless to say, snow is not my favorite (nor desired!) weather!  However, this year is odd; we don't have snow yet.  We've had a little bit (probably not even 2 inches total yet) and it hasn't stayed for more than a day and a half.  Christmas is two days away....doesn't it know it's supposed to be a WHITE not GREEN Christmas??  Oh well!!

I picked up the classroom key and teaching manuals on Wednesday for the classroom I am blessed to teach in January!  I have started to work on my lesson plans and am over halfway finished with those!  I am so excited!

I have a Cricut (college graduation gift from my family!) and a fair amount of cartridges to go with the machine.  I am really getting into it having this classroom now!  Once I have my little things finished, I'll post some photos!!  I'm waiting until after Christmas because I know of one certain cartridge (...Locker Talk...) that I am SO excited to open and play with!  Then I'll be able to finish some folders and extra things!

Here's to the next few days of being busy, full of love and family and praising an amazing Savior who was born, only to die and save me :)

Merry Christmas!