Hi friends! I’m in crazy back to school mode as today is the teachers’ first official “work day” so I’ll keep this as short and sweet as I can!! Soooo here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week by linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!!
Soooo my first weeks’ plans are prepped and ready to go and I’m so excited to have had so many great activities that I’ve bought or created to make back to school planning easy peasy!! 🙂 I am so excited to use these writing prompts with my kiddos on the first day of school!
I love to do a writing prompt on the first day of school for a few reasons.
1) It gives me great pre-assessment observation data to see what my kiddos are like as writers!
Can they write complete sentences? Do they use punctuation? Do they sit and stare instead of write?! I kid. But seriously.
2) I LOVE collecting their first writing piece on day one to put in their file or student portfolio and then I pull it out at conferences to show parents how far they’ve come as writers this year!
3) It’s a good way to see who can work/write independently – sometimes in 2nd grade, they can and sometimes, well. Enter writers’ workshop! 🙂
These writing prompts come from my Back to School ELA Workout pack that you can see below and you can read more about {HERE}! It’s packed full of back to school centers and activities to fill your plans on those first weeks of 2nd grade.
If you like the looks of my ELA back to school pack, you may also like my MATH Workout, too! Click {HERE} for a detailed blog post about my math pack and {HERE} to look at it in my store!
So this week I linked up with Stephanie at Falling into First for a super fun linky party!! I spend hours and hours learning from and reading the words of my favorite teacher bloggers, but this linky gave me the chance to learn a little something more about all of you ANNND to share a little more about me! Click {HERE} or the button below to check out my post for the Meet the Teacher Linky!
Ah. Ready. to. GO!! 🙂
Before I left on Monday – my room looked so crisp and SET for the roll out of year 9! The natural lighting of the sunshine that afternoon just SCREAMED at me, “TAKE A PICTURE!” haha so that’s what I did. I truly couldn’t be more thankful for my job and for getting to do what I love each and every day, and I’m so excited to 1) share my journey with all of you and 2) reveal my classroom and so much more about my back to school shenanigans SO SO SOON! 🙂 🙂
Ok y’all. I love back to school time – don’t get me wrong. Like – I love it way more than I probably should. I think. But geesh. Lesson plans and I just aren’t BFFs. Once they’re done, I’m all like – YAY LOOK HOW MUCH I GOT DONE! but before and during?! #idratherbecreatingnewproductsorbuyingnewclipart #justsayin
I just have such a hard time getting motivated to sit down and WRITE them! Once I find my frame work and get rolling, I’m ok, but this week, I found EVERY project possible to keep me from writing them. Until I couldn’t avoid them any longer . . .
Sooooo my Everyday Math manuals (shiny and new ones that are going to reforge me to revamp my entire set of math plans and relabel my entire set of math games and activities againnnnnn) took a field trip to Panera. I get less distracted when I’m not at school nor at home. There are less A.D.D. moments of “OOOO I’m going to alphabetize the spices!” or “OMG I WANT TO CREATE NEW BULLETIN BOARD HEADINGS IN KG WAKE ME UP FOR EVERYYYYYY BOARD!!”
So yeah. Panera and I are kind of besties. Everyday Math and I? Not so much . . .do you use it? Do you revamp it?! Do you use all of the resources that come along with it?!? I just. don’t. get it. HELPPP! 🙂
Usually I save my #5 for a quote! But oh my heavens these 2 take the cake!! 🙂
These are my 2nd cousins, Jaxon and Lydia! They are just over 2 months old and the most CHILL babies ever. I wanted to hold them allllll dayyyyy long!! <3 I was so thankful to get home this weekend to be able to visit them!
Ok – back to the “OMG I’M GOING TO DECORATE MY DOOR!!” A.D.D. moments of room 201. 🙂 You can relate, yes?! Please say yes 🙂
HAPPY FRIDAY! <3
Hi Ashley,
I can relate about Everyday Math. I taught the first grade curriculum a few years back for one year. Luckily when I switched schools the next year they weren't really using it. We were allowed to use all the manipulatives and use it as a guide but use our own ideas to teach the standards. I'm afraid I'm not a fan.
Your cousins are adorable and remind me of my newest niece. She was 2 months old this summer when we were home in the states for a month. Such a fun baby age!
Happy Friday!
Joya
Liveloveserveteach
Our Panera is so busy and loud with college students that I have a hard time thinking in there! Glad you have a spot to get away to work! Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Sarah
smbhankinson@gmail.com
Learning is for Superstars
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I am so with you on the planning procrastination! I have been known to crank out some awesome activities and centers just so I don't have to get started on plans. I have to work with everything spread out on the floor, and that wouldn't work too well at Panera. But it would be a good reason to get a bagel :-)-Lisa
Your second cousins are ADORABLE!! From what I can see, your classroom looks incredible! I can't wait for the BIG classroom reveal!
First of all your cousins are adorable. Secondly I agree completely about the 'planning' aspect of school life. I also think that it has something to do with what I write my plans on. I haven't found something that I love and it changes very often. Do you have a favorite planner? Your classroom looks great! I'm excite to see all of the pictures in the big reveal. Have a wonderful weekend.
Ana
Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard
We used Everyday Math for a long time in my district…and I loved the online games. So did the kiddos! The other games were awesome, too…just took some time to create and teach, but I used them during centers and the kids did awesome independently. The math boxes were a challenge because the skills seemed kind of random sometimes, and didn't usually go along with the lesson. My high kids could breeze through and it might take longer for the low kids to do the math boxes than the actual lesson! I will say that I used Everyday Math in two different districts – in one, all teachers stuck with it and were faithful to the program (plus some supplementing) and you could see the spiral work. In the other district, many teachers did the bare minimum and there were major gaps each year. So….good luck with it!
-Meg
TalesandTeacherisms