A Panicked Peek at Week #6

Weekend are notorious for quickly slipping away from us. Every Sunday I find myself wishing I had just one more day to finish everything I somehow didn't do between 3:00 on Friday afternoon and 9:00 Sunday night. I'm used to this feeling. C'est la vie - that's teacher life.

BUT something feels different this Sunday. I feel panicked. Anxious. What is happening?! I felt like I was doing work all weekend. But when I went into school this morning to get things done, my to-do list seemed to quadruple in size. Holy cow, where did all of this stuff come from? And why am I feeling unusually anxious about it? Apparently I am in need of some good vibes this week - please send any extras my way!

Apparently when we discussed the story hand last week, I accidentally taught all of the lessons in German. Okay - that's not quite true, but that's definitely how I felt when Friday rolled around and only like three of my friends could tell me how we use our story hand! Talk about yikes. So this week we will review our friend the story hand, talk about the "heart" of our stories, and I will model how to make sure we are really done with our stories.

After weeks of discussion/modeling, we are starting our Reader's Workshop/guided reading groups this week. I am so, so nervous since many first graders are far from independent at this point in the year! Our mini-lessons will center around the strategy of making text-to-self connections.

Word study this week contains more short vowel word families and working on writing quality sentences. I am hoping that at least part of what we do during word study transfers over into our writing!

We will finish up my least favorite math topic of all time - understanding subtraction. There is just something about this topic that makes it extra challenging for my first grade friends. They are so frustrated with me as I flip everything they know about addition upside-down and ask them to apply it to this whole "subtraction" deal. Luckily I dug out some great hands-on centers to use this week and am optimistic that it will contribute to their growing understanding of subtraction.

Then we've got our map skills. So far, so good. We will practice in our map skills book, draw a map of our classroom, and finish our week off with one of those adorable "Me on the Map" craftivities.

Hopefully you aren't feeling as anxious as I am about the upcoming week. Show off your fantabulous plans over at Deedee's blog!

Is the World Ending? {I WON!}

A week or so ago I came across Ashley's Milestone Giveaway. I thought - heck, why not? Even though I never win anything. Seriously - the closest I ever came to winning something I was asked to sit through one of those timeshare meetings. Thanks, but no thanks.

Anyways, I woke up this morning with an email that said "giveaway winner". Immediately I'm thinking Oh, great, another spam message. But then I looked at the sender and thought, Wait a minute, don't I follow her teaching blog?

The email said I had won a $20 giftcard to anywhere. I could not believe my eyes. So I hopped on over to her blog, and sure enough - my name was listed as a winner! $20 to TPT, here I come!

I wanted to give the biggest of shout outs to Ashley over at Flying High in First Grade, as well as to all of the other teachers who participated in her milestone giveaway. I absolutely love being a part of this fabulous community of teacher-bloggers.

Four for Friday {September 12th}

What a crazy long week it has been! I don't know if it was the new boots or the constant running around but my legs are sore and I am absolutely beat. This week included a jam-packed schedule of learning activities, more MAP testing, and some very interesting behaviors (Blame it on the weather? Blame it on Monday's full moon?) I feel like I need to stand on the nearest mountaintop and scream TGIF! But instead I'll just join in Friday's fun with Doodle Bugs. Which I have turned into Four for Friday since I could not muster the energy to think of a fifth random thing to share with you all ;)

I finally finished my Halloween-themed subtraction color by number printables! My firsties really tend to struggle when it comes to getting a handle on subtraction so I needed to create an engaging way for them to practice their essential facts. Take a look at them here in my TPT store.

On Tuesday, we had our first science curriculum mapping committee meeting of the year. We are going to map/put together resources this year so that next year we can pilot new materials and be ready for Illinois' implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards in 2016. All I can say is holy cannoli, are these standards different than what we have been teaching! They really emphasize the whole "inch wide, mile deep" concept that we see with some of the Common Core. Therefore, our science units are going to be much longer, much more in-depth, and also much more hands-on!

This week, our Reader's Workshop mini lessons were centered around the different word-attack strategies we use when we come across a word we do not know. My kids were so excited to learn about a new forest friend (or two) each day - I had no idea that they would find my posters so engaging! After introducing each forest friend, I put up their poster on our back chalkboard. Now that it is complete, my students have a new resource to use while we work at becoming better readers!

And last but not least, how cute is this?

Happy, happy (did I mention happy?) Friday!

A Look at my Plans {Week 5}

Confession: I am so not ready to go back to work this week. My mom visited me this weekend and we had lots of fun together - I just don't want it to end! The highlight was definitely walking around a local broom corn festival. We ate fair food, browsed through the special vendors, explored antique shops, and bought some amazing homemade coffee cake and fudge. (Side note - Who knew broom corn was an actual thing?)

You'll notice that I have Tuesday blocked out in this week's visual plans. I've been put on our district's science curriculum mapping committee and our first meeting is all day this Tuesday. While I am so excited to have the opportunity to work on this committee, I am so not excited to prep for a sub.

With Writer's Workshop, we've been practicing getting our stories down on paper. This week, I will introduce the term "narrative" and model how to focus in on a small moment. I will also begin introducing our word attack strategies during our Reader's Workshop mini-lessons. We will have our first attempts at our center rotations, too! Wish me luck!

Our afternoons this week consist of writing sentences, learning about maps/globes, and understanding subtraction. Bring it on!

Five for Friday: A September Shopping Spree!

By the end of week four, I'm finally feeling like I'm getting into the swing of things in the land of first grade. I'm even going to post my Five for Friday on time and on the right day!

I recently succumbed to a bit of a TPT binge. I say "a bit" because it could have been a lot worse.You should have seen the size of my cart as I debated what I should buy/hit myself over the head repeatedly for not taking advantage of the boost sale a few weeks back.

Anyways - I ended up purchasing five items. Which worked out perfectly for this week's Five for Friday.

1. Let's Learn our Sight Words play doh mats by Miss Kindergarten - My firsties love love love play doh. I love love love when they know their sight words. Enter the perfect resource. Added bonus: these cards have room at the bottom to practice writing the words with a dry erase marker.

2. Write & Wipe Alphabet Mats from the Printable Princess - The handwriting. It's pretty bad. Dry erase makers. The kids love them. Another win-win product.

3. Harvest Fun No Prep Packet by Annie Moffatt - My addiction to Annie's products is out of control. Everything she makes is so adorable and so appropriate for my first graders. I own every single seasonal packet of hers and continue to buy the new ones she comes out with. I even have my own binder dedicated to her no-prep printables (am I coming off as a total fangirl right now?)

4. Interactive Math Packet Bundle by Annie Moffatt - See above. I love how this packet is no-prep but adds that extra interactive aspect to each printable. The kids think they are getting to play games! (Teacher Tip #358: Take every opportunity to trick your kids into thinking they are playing games. Watch the level of engagement magically grow!)

5. Interactive Reading Notebook from All Students Can Shine - I really want to incorporate interactive notebooks this year. This product is for reading responses and is exactly what I needed!

Side note - I've now looked at the word "spree" so many times that it does not look like a real word anymore. Isn't it weird how that happens?

Wordless Wednesday: Symbaloo

Happy hump day, everybody! For this week's Wordless Wednesday, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite free resources that I use in my classroom.

This is Symbaloo. And this is amazing. Each one of my little tiles links directly to a learning game appropriate for my firsties. I have reading games in the upper left, word/phonics games on the right, and math games along the bottom. This eliminates the time wasted searching through websites for games to play - an answer to my prayers as I prepare to introduce our "reading with technology" center to my students (something brand new I am trying this year - fingers crossed!) You can make your own for free or search other peoples' Symbaloos. It took a little messing around to get the hang of things :)

What are some of your favorite computer-based resources?

Currently {September 2014}

I am so excited for my very first "currently" with Farley! In my opinion, there's no better way to start my extra day of rest and relaxation :)

Listening: I think I watch way, way too much HGTV. Can't resist a good marathon of people complaining about the fact that their master bathroom lacks two sinks or that they really prefer white cabinets to darker ones. Really - I live for hearing the phrase "open concept". 

Loving: If I've said it once, I've said it one thousand times - the weekend needs to be just one day longer. I'm fine with the week staying the same length. Just give me another day to get things done, please!

Thinking: Pretty self-explanatory. 

Wanting: Allow me to continue to throw my credit card around haphazardly. Oops.

Needing: One of my graduate classes this semester is a remedial reading practicum. I get to meet my student this Thursday and am so excited to start planning for our weekly lessons! Now if I only knew her reading level...

Trips: I've wanted to go to both Australia and Africa for as long as I can remember. That's for the adventurer in me. For the sloth that loves to lie in the sun by the water? Bring me to one of those fancy Bali places I see all over Pinterest.