September Already?

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday weekend! So sad that it is considered the last official weekend of summer... even though here in Chicago the 80+ degree weather is telling us otherwise. But now it seems everyone is back in school and back to routine!

With that being said, as every school year begins, come an open house of some sort! So I am sharing with you today the All about me puzzle that I created for Open House! My open house was Thursday August 28th, and let me tell you, it was one heck of a day! I had about 70% of my class show up which isn't too bad! It is always fun to meet the parents and actually get to talk to them face to face rather then through notes or those sometimes stressful conferences. Plus it's a great way to get parents in to see where their children are spending most of the day and meet the person their spending most of the time with!

So of course you always have student work up, an all about me for the students of some sort. I know that in second grade, the students love to do ones where the parents have to guess which one is theres. they always find it so funny when they're parents try to figure it out. There are plenty of these out there, but I wanted something a little different so I am up with this all about me puzzle!

The students write on the puzzle pieces different facts that make them unique! We then take a picture and put it behind the puzzle pieces. The parent then have to "put the pieces together" meaning try to figure out which puzzle pieces add up to their student. The enjoyed it. My whole second grade team actually used this activity and it went really well. Here are some pictures from my teacher example!

You can get this in my store here!

All in all, as the year progresses and I get to know my students more and more, I am really excited for what this year has in store! I am lucky to have such a great group of kids!

Hope this sparks some ideas for your open house!

Enjoy the Short week! Be Back Soon!

Classroom Part 2!

Gosh, I didn't mean for so much time to fall between posts! But again, we teachers know what the beginning of the school year is like!

I started week 3 today! (I know where did time go!) I would say that I am off to a good start though! Figuring out the students and what will and will not work. Starting at the beginning of the year, I often forget how taskful it can be reteaching them simple routines and getting them back into the swing of things! PLUS they're still little first graders at first until we break them in! But all in all, it is going well! I feel I am finally getting "ahead" (not that it stays for long!) but I definitely am back into a routine and plan to blog at least once a week! I feel I have so many fun things to share!

Speaking of sharing, Let me show you some more of my classroom! PLUS some freebies are hidden inside of these pictures! So keeeeeeep reading!

Let's start with my lockers and the above boards! Yes... these lockers are actually IN my classroom. But it is fun to add some decoration on them and use them to display things! Above I have my "I Can Write...." board which is a visual reminder of things students can write when they are stuck! In the middle I have my reading genre board! Then my Daily 5 board of the anchor charts!

Here is my writing board! This  is where I house my work on writing for daily 5! As well as my things for my writing workshop!

On the right are my 6 trait pencils! These are a hot seller in my store! There are two different versions... this chalk version as well as a polka dot version. You can get them here!

On the left are my Writing Aids.. to help students get started on their writing. Then of course the usual pencils, crayons, markers, glue, and scissors. On the right side at the bottom, I have my old mail boxes that I use to put writing paper in! Students can choose what they want to write during their free write time!

Then we have my guided reading board! My guided reading table sits right in front this board!

I like to make this board very interactive using post-it notes! The top posters are ones that I have bought from TPT! They are so cute! I got them from A Year of Many Firsts! Check them out if you like them!

The informational text 3-2-1! 3 interesting facts, 2 questions, and 1 opinion! Helps get the students writing about informational text!

Then here are some more freebies!

Good Readers can retell the story  (the purple)

Good Readers can ask questions (the green)

Good readers can sequence the story (the pink)

While the students are reading, I ask them to write a question about what they are reading, or to answer a certain story element on a post-it, then I stick it to the board! I use a different color for each group so I know who has done what! Great to get interactive and get the students talking and writing!

The beginning of the school year is definitely exhausting! Plus so many changes in curriculum and new things added! Then of course trying to manage your schedule and student pull-outs for services! This is what my life has consisted of! By like I said, I am finally falling into a sound routine and will be writing again very soon!

Please enjoy the freebies! Hope it inspires or sparks something new! Come back soon!

HUGE THANK YOU!

It really has been way to long since my last post! I cannot apologize enough for my absence. However, I am sure you all understand how crazy life gets! Especially for teachers during the summer when not only are you trying to enjoy your time off, but you are trying to get things ready for the upcoming year!

So what have I been up to do you ask? Well where to start is the question!

Of course like I said before, I taught the Extended School Year summer school program! It was definitely an amazing experience and I enjoyed! I had a great group of students ages 5-7! Plus 2 wonderful aides! It was something I would definitely do again!

After summer school ended, I went on our annual camping trips with my dad, sisters, and niece! This trip was especially great because for the first time in a while, me and my 3 sisters were all able to be there! It was such a wonderful weekend with them, and I am really happy that we were able to do it! The collage below shows a lil snip pick of it!!

So after that fun weekend, I got sick... great I know. The week after was my only week this summer of "down time" because summer school was over and I had no official obligation, however, I was sick! PLUS I was getting ready for my first vacation in a very very long time! So my only week of down time was spent trying to feel better, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, packing, and trying to get last minute stuff done for my classroom because I returned to my classroom right after vacation.

So this is where my BIG THANK YOU comes into place!

I cannot thank all of my supporters from TPT enough. I really enjoying making things and selling, it really is a hobby of mine. I love being able to help other teachers out and help create the classroom they really want. Plus, it is like I am helping out so many more students than those who enter my classroom with the products I create for others. So why am I so thankful, because with all the earnings I have earned from all of my WONDERFUL and AMAZING supporters, I was able to send myself on my first vacation in a VERY long time, thanks to all of YOU! As a young teacher I am still establishing myself, learning to save and plan for my future, plus I use a lot of my own pocket money for my classroom because teaching is really my passion and I want my students to have the best. Thanks to all those you have checked my products out and purchased from my store, it is because of YOU guys that I was able to take an amazing vacation!  I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for 7 whole days. It was the best way to end my summer! So relaxing and rejuvenating. So as I sound like a broken record, Thank you thank you thank you all my TPT supporters! Not only do you help me supply my classroom with extra goodies, you gave me the getaway I needed to end the summer.

Here are some pictures! They cannot even capture the fun I had!

So as you can see, I have been one busy bee! I got back from vacation on Saturday August 2nd, then I was back in my classroom trying to get ready! Setting it all up and getting it ready for the kiddos coming in on August 12th!  Pictures of the new and improved classroom will be coming soon!

I promise I am back on track and will be posting much more often! It gets easier once I am on an actual routine and schedule to post and be on top of this! So come back and check out classroom tips and ideas, plus new products and wonderful updates!!

If you teach ins grade and need a product to get your started, check out my new and improved WELCOME BACK TO SECOND GRADE packet! Great to have the students engaged while you take care of all that house cleaning those first couple of days!

Again thank you thank you and please come back soon!