Five for Friday {April 3rd, 2015}

Prepare yourselves for the randomness of this post! Just one of the many reasons why I love Five for Friday!

This week, we began writing to inform.  When I introduce a new style of writing, I like the entire class to work on writing about the same topic so that we can brainstorm together.  Initially, I had trouble coming up with a topic that I knew all of my students knew enough about, but then it hit me - ME! Here we are brainstorming things we know about Ms. Nordland :)

 The warmer weather we've been having called for a new, spring-y craft in the hallway. I did a quick TPT search and found this adorable freebie from The Learning Junction.  We brainstormed spring adjectives and -ing verbs together, but the kiddos did the rest with their cinquains - I was very impressed!

My "masterpiece" from family art night - one of my favorite nights of the year!

Too cute not to share! This little boy is pretty much obsessed with one of the cuties in my class.  Excuse the blurry photo - I had to stealthily run after them to seize this photo op!

Last but not least, I came home yesterday afternoon to a handwritten thank you note in my mailbox from our assistant superintendent. Who knew this could happen?! I was on cloud nine!

April Currently

Are you as shocked as I am to be entering the home stretch?  I still have so much left to do with my first graders before the end of the year creeps up on us! 

I know I have been a terrible blogger lately.  Trust me, I have some ideas for posts and things I want to share with you all, but I never seem to have a spare second!  Okay, I have spare seconds, but I typically like to use those for naps and/or online shopping...Hopefully inspiration strikes and said posts will be coming to you soon.

But of course I couldn't miss the April 2015 edition of Farley's Currently, so here we are!

Listening: I am pretty sure that teachers have the greatest appreciation for silence :)
Loving: I am ALL about three day weekends. We have Good Friday off so tomorrow is basically my "Friday".
Thinking: I got the news today that I have a new boy starting in my class tomorrow. Of course I instantly started stressing about his arrival and am ready to meet him so I can rid myself of this anxiety!
Wanting: It's supposedly supposed to storm tomorrow and I am so ready for a good spring storm. Hopefully it happens when I can be at home cuddled up in bed.
Needing: April definitely snuck up on me.  I have two research papers and a curriculum analysis to do, to which I kept telling myself "I have plenty of time!" But now procrastinator-me has realized that there are only five weeks left in the semester. Yikes!
Paiges of Learning: I tried to get a bit creative with my blog name. I'm not sure if it worked. But hey, I think I'll keep it ;)

Happy Easter weekend!

March Currently

I don't know about you, but March certainly came in like a lion here in the Midwest! Between yesterday and today, we've accumulated almost a foot of snow.  Too bad it started too early for a snow day, right? :)

March 1st means it's time to pay my rent it's time for Currently with Farley!

Listening: While I was looking forward to some quiet time this evening, apparently my kitties had different plans. They have been tearing across my bed and leaping onto everything in sight. Hopefully they calm down before lights out!

Loving: I've been so stressed lately that I am definitely in need of some mom-time! Lisa arrives on Saturday and I cannot wait.

Thinking: I always end up with a million racing thoughts on Sunday nights. I am hoping that all goes at least mostly as planned this week!

Wanting: My best selling product is in need of a serious upgrade. I've started but can't seem to find the time to make a whole lot of progress.

Needing: Life has thrown some pretty crazy stuff at me lately to the point where it is making my emotions go all over the place. It's taking a huge conscious effort to relax and accept the things that are out of my control.

Spring Break: I'll be relaxing at my mom's house for a weekend and then hoping I can use the rest of the time to catch up on sleep and get ahead on some classroom and school-related stuff.  Spring break countdown: 10 school days!

Here's to thinking spring!

The Beginnings of Math Workshop {with Freebies for YOU!}

Attention all: I feel like I am on the verge of something good. Something really, really good. But before I get into that, let's start back at the beginning of my story:

When I heard the words math workshop, I immediately thought No, thank you.  Please, not another thing my first graders have to work at for weeks and weeks in order to become independent.  But then I took a step back and thought about how incredibly frustrated I have been teaching math lately.  Whole group is really not working.  Like, super not working.  The kids who already get it are off in outer space (more than they usually are), while my struggling kids start to drown mid-lesson and tune me out.  No one is benefitting.  Grouchy teacher is grouchy.  Something needs to change.

So the more I thought about it, the more this whole math workshop thing sounded like a good idea.  We already do readers workshop, and math workshop builds off of the same structure and routine.  By implementing them both at the beginning of the year, students should (somewhat) quickly become accustomed to the routines and expectations.

Fast forward some weeks later and here I am, the first grade facilitator for the research and implementation of math workshop.  Pause to be in awe of my fantastic responsibilities.  I am working with one second grade teacher and two third grade teachers in my building to plan professional development for the rest of our staff.  Today was our first work day and we got a lot accomplished!

Here is a picture of me reading up on math workshop this morning:

Okay, confession: That's not me. That's my cat, Jingles, reading up on her masters classes.

HERE is what we have actually been reading.  The top book is the group's favorite (and, in my opinion, the most user-friendly).

Either of these two books are a great place to start if you are considering math workshop for your classroom.  Today we worked on developing a common language for math workshop and looking at different ways teachers could begin to set it up. 

Enter: my math workshop rotation board.  Which I invite you to download, for free!

I also developed a sample of what the first few weeks of math workshop could look like in an elementary classroom.  This sheet will be passed out at our PD meeting and teachers can tweak it to their liking.  It is also yours, for free :)

Some resources I am looking at to supplement my centers/independent work:

In summary (if you're still with me after all that rambling), I am now SO pumped up for math workshop.  Stay tuned for more!

Five for Friday {Sunday Edition}

Oh how happy I am knowing that an extra day off awaits me tomorrow morning!  Who else is looking forward to some extra time off this Presidents Day weekend?  This means I can take a break from grading and homework and research and all that jazz to actually blog!  Granted, my Five for Friday post is coming to you two days late.  But better late than never, right?

On Friday, we had our Valentine's Day party at school. This year, my first graders made little love monster bags for their treats. I threw this together kind of last minute but am very pleased with how it turned out! The kids thought their bags were so cute and really had a blast making them their own.

At 24 years of age, I finally made a batch of cookies from scratch that were edible amazing tasting!  I used this recipe that I found on Pinterest. If you are a fan of brown sugar or any type of sugar cookie, you have to try these! I nearly ate them all within a matter of days.

I've decided to try out some hot dots in my classroom this year. I think we are at the point in the year where my students could benefit from something new, since the novelty of the tablets and computers is starting to wear off. I purchased two pens and two different sets of cards, so we'll see how they like it!

I finally took the plunge and scheduled my first ever fix from Stitch Fix - and boy was I thrilled! Everything my stylist picked out was so me and I could tell she took the time to look through my Pinterest boards to see what kinds of things I liked. I decided to keep the two blouses pictured in the middle and have already scheduled my next fix. It's safe to say I am hooked!

Last but certainly not least, I had an amazing Valentine's Day - dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, a trip to the teacher store, two tickets to 50 Shades of Grey, and one dozen roses.  How sweet is my man?

February Currently

Hello, blogging world! Long time, no talk! January has been a crazy month so far. From institute days to holidays and four (yes, four) snow days, I feel like my schedule has been all jumbled up. Plus I spent some time at home celebrating my 24th birthday and graduate classes started up again. Have I had much time to breathe? Let me get back to you on that...

In hopes of jumping back into the blogging world, here I am for Currently with Farley :)

Listening: I'm not going to pretend like I am even remotely invested in the Superbowl this year, but nonetheless it is on in the background. On a whim, I chose the Seahawks to win, and so far we are lookin' pretty good!

Loving: One of the best commercials I have seen in a while. It was great because I was just discussing the whole problem of "like a girl" with someone the other day.

Thinking: I don't want to be greedy, but after being out of the classroom for three days last week to attend a conference, I could use another day to mentally prepare myself. My hometown up near Chicago is getting hit pretty hard - why don't they share the wealth down in central Illinois?

Wanting: I just received a handout from the 2015 "I Teach First" conference in Vegas and I am dying to go! Unfortunately it is pretty darn expensive and I doubt my school would pitch in for the costs because they just paid for me to attend the Reading Recovery and Comprehensive Literacy conference in Chicago. But how I would love to hang in Vegas and see some of my teaching idols favorite teacher bloggers.

Needing: I have tons of Pinterest inspiration and nothing to show for it in my apartment. I've been here for over a year and a half and really feel like I need to up my decorating game. But...how?

Pageant Title: The fact that it took me forever to come up with a pageant title is quite fitting ;)

Have a great week, everyone!

January Currently

What a better way to wrap up the blog for 2014 than with Currently with Farley! Here is what I am up to.

Listening: I love relaxing and watching Girl Code whenever I can! Such a good way to laugh and I catch myself relating to it all the time.

Loving: If you haven't heard of Norwex yet, you need to check it out! Even though I hate cleaning, I was immediately sucked into their products and love how easy they make things. I got the mop for Christmas and just tried it out - it was awesome! Or at least as awesome as cleaning my floors can be...

Thinking: I'll be heading over to a friend's house soon to participate in some new year festivities. I am excited for a fun night and for a fresh year.

Wanting: I've been putting together some book studies to go along with the Magic Treehouse series. I am really excited to finish them up and try them out with my higher reading groups.

Needing: Came back from my mom's house, threw all my crap in the middle of the room. Still there. I should maybe get going on that.

Yes: I joined a gym back in October. But do I actually go to the gym? I should probably start going to the gym.  

Maybe: It's been a while since I've gone a trip with friends. I think it would be fun to put something together for this summer that I can look forward to!

I Wish: My Masters will be finished in 2016. One more year!

Cheers to 2015!