Saturday Snapshots, Classroom Tour, and TpT Sale

I apologize for being absent from my blog for so long.  I had great intentions to join in on the Teacher Week 2013 linky party this week, but I wasn’t allowed in my classroom until Wednesday.  I do have some pictures to share today for Saturday Snapshots with Miss Nelson.

This is what my new classroom looked like when I first got my keys:

I am so thankful that the last teacher left the room clean and left very little stuff.  I have spent the last three days trying to set up everything for my new second graders.  I have a few more areas to finish up, but here is a quick tour:

This rug will be for my daily Math Meetings and small group math instruction.

This is where I will meet with small groups for reading and do writing conferences.  Those speech bubbles are dry-erase, so my students can write down their thoughts and ideas during our meetings. The racks behind my chair will house my students' book boxes.  I will hang anchor charts behind my table for all students to reference.  

This is a view of my classroom from my small group table.

This is a view of my classroom from my library corner.  This large rug is where I will conduct most whole group lessons.  I scored that great rolling cart from Michael's yesterday for less than $20!  I will use it to hold activities for the week and the top will be used for my document camera, projector, and laptop.

I am so excited to use the Super Hero clip chart and Super Hero Whole Brain Teaching rules this year.   

I love using the free Assess Yourself posters from Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts.  I frequently ask my students to assess where they are on certain concepts.  My students are surprisingly honest and do not just give a 4 for everything. 

I love how this dice board came out!  Each magnetic container holds two foam dice that I made from dollar store counting cubes.  Now when my students need dice for a math game, they can easily grab a container and play.  The see-through top allows them to roll the dice without taking them out of the container.

Also, I am joining in with the amazing back to school sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Thank you to Krista for the cute graphic.  Just click on it and it will take you straight to my store. I don’t know about you, but my shopping cart has been loaded for over a week in hopes that the sale was near. 

The button above was made by Diane at Fifth in the Middle with graphics by I Teach What's Your Superpower? The graphics below are by the wonderful Amelia from Where the Wild Things Learn!  

Here are my two top wish listed items:

I cannot wait to use my Homophone of the Day Posters again this year. Spending just a week or so on homophones never seemed like enough for my students to fully grasp the concept. My posters have changed all of that. Each week I simply switch out the homophone poster, and I am able to give my students continuing practice with homophones. There are more than enough posters for each week of the school year.  

Zoo-rific Two Step Word Problem Task Cards.  These task cards allow students to practice solving word problems that require two steps.  They meet Common Core Standard 3.OA.8.

One item in my cart that I am very excited to purchase tomorrow is Addition and Subtraction Math Facts Racing Themed Unit from 3 Teacher Chicks.  I have always focused on multiplication and division facts in 3rd grade, so this will really help me in 2nd grade this year. 

August Currently...Already?!?

I cannot believe that it is August 1^st already! I have 24 days before school starts, but 9 of them are already taken up with all day trainings.  I am starting at a new school and in a new grade level this year, so I have a lot to learn.  I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy, 4th Grade! for August’s Currently…

Listening: My fiancé and his friend have been completing a lot of little projects around our new house, so power tools have been heard daily.  I love how everything is coming together!

Loving: Living in the Bay Area, we don’t get a super hot summer and each day usually starts with fog.  However, the past few days have been sunny and warm.  I have been trying to soak up the sunshine.

Thinking: I didn’t know until Monday that I was for sure teaching 2^nd grade this year, so I hadn’t printed anything out specifically for 2^nd grade.  Now my printer has been working overtime to get everything printed, organized, and ready to start the new school year.

Wanting:  I really want to meet the other teachers I will be working with this year.  The staff I met during the interview process were awesome, so I’m sure the other 2^nd grade teachers will be awesome too.  I will be meeting everyone next Wednesday, and I can’t wait!

Needing: I have no idea what my classroom looks like, so I am super anxious to see what I am working with.  The principal is going to show me my classroom tomorrow, and then I can really start planning, organizing, and decorating. 

B2S Must Have #1: I would be lost without my Scotch laminator at home (can't beat $25 and free shipping with Amazon Prime).  Having the laminator at home allows me to prep so much before heading back to school.  Plus the sheets are so much thicker than the stuff in the school laminator.

B2S Must Have #2: I am like a little kid, and like to get a new lunchbox before every school year.  This year I found a sugar skull lunchbox with matching reusable bags that I love!

B2S Must Have #3: There is always so much to get completed the first week of school, but I love to include fun activities throughout the days.  I use these fun activities at centers while teaching the procedures and routines that we will use throughout the school year.  This year I am excited to use two great resources from Lyndsey Kuster at A Year of Many Firsts. I will use her activities in Back to School for Seconds to get to know my students and teach them about the expectations in our classroom. 

I can't wait to introduce the Daily 5 with her adorable resources.  

I hope you’ll link up with Farley too because I love reading everyone’s entries. 

Monday Made It and a New Look

Before I show my Monday Made Its, I am so excited to show off my new blog design.  Diana from Custom Blog Designs did an amazing job! It was such a neat experience to be a part of every step in the design process.  If you are looking for a blog designer, I highly recommend Diana.

Now for my Monday Made Its:

I picked up these clipboards and large memo holders in the Target Dollar Spot because they matched my classroom colors.  I wasn’t sure how I would use them until I saw Miss Nelson’s Monday Made It this morning.  I simply clipped the clipboard onto the memo holder and voila…an instant easel to display information in my classroom.  I am going to use these to display directions at my workstations. 

I created posters that can be used for Daily 5 and Math Rotations.  I decided to print mine on cardstock and laminate to make dry erase reusable directions posters.   These posters will be free all week as a fans only freebie on The Traveling Teacher Facebook page.

The next Monday Made It is really something that AMC from Looking from Third to Fourth made and graciously offered as a flash freebie.  To create this adorable superhero behavior clip chart, I just had to print out the pages on cardstock, laminate, and tape together. I can’t wait to use this in my classroom this year.  The clip chart system is definitely something I can’t live without.

Honored Again with a Liebster Award

It wasn’t long ago that I was nominated for my first Liebster Award, so I was surprised to be nominated again by Kelly at Sliding into Second. I love reading the answers of all the teachers nominated for a Liebster Award because I feel like I get to know each of them a little better.  I hope you will visit the bloggers who I nominated and become their newest followers.

The "Rules" to Accept the Award:

• Link back to the blog that nominated me

• Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers 

• Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator 

• Share 11 random facts about yourself 

• Create 11 questions for your nominees 

• Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them

Kelly’s Questions:

1. If you could teach ANY grade level (Pre-K - college) besides the one you teach now, which grade would it be? I did my second semester of student teaching in kindergarten, and I absolutely loved it.  I have enjoyed teaching 3^rd and 4^th grade, but I would love an opportunity to go back to teaching kindergarten one day. 

2. What's your favorite way to unwind at the end of a long work day? The most effective way for me to unwind at the end of a long day is go to the gym for a spinning class and then come home and take a hot bath.  Although watching some terrible reality television does the trick some times too. 

3. If you could retreat anywhere for a weekend where would you go? I would go to Hawaii for a weekend retreat.  My fiancé and I met in Hawaii, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. 

4. If you could spend $1,000 at any 1 store, what store would it be and what would you buy? I would love a brand new work wardrobe from Banana Republic.  Their clothes definitely fit me the best, but I don’t have many items since they are so pricey.

5. What's your favorite season? As much as I love having summer off, my favorite season is fall.  I am in love with everything pumpkin or apple.  Fall clothing is also my favorite…thankfully I get to wear fall clothes almost all year here in the Bay Area. 

6. What's your guilty pleasure(s)? I am a sucker for teenage drama television shows on ABC Family and the CW.  I have at least a couple on the DVR for when I just need to unwind.  They are also great background noise when I’m correcting papers. 

7. What organizational advice do you have for veteran/new teachers? Start by making a yearly plan to ensure that you will have time to cover everything that needs to be covered.  Then you can go into the specifics of what to teach each week.  Having a yearly plan really helps me stay on track.

8. What is the most recent Pin (or idea if you're not on Pinterest) for your classroom are you most excited about doing/trying? I am excited to try using behavior/brag beads in my classroom this year. Last year, I really tried to limit buying prizes for my students and went to coupons for privileges in the classroom.  I love the idea of the beads because it is a tangible reminder to the students of what they did well.

9. Which childhood book was your favorite growing up? The very first book I read by myself cover to cover was Go, Dog, Go, so that always was a special book to me.  As I got older, the most memorable book I read in elementary school was The Giver.

10. What is your teaching goal this school year? My goal is to stay organized throughout the school year.  I am great at getting everything organized in the summer, but then stuff starts to pile and my organization goes out the window. 

11. What is your greatest teaching accomplishment? My greatest teaching accomplishment is watching the pride in my students’ faces when they finally learn something that has been a struggle from them.  With third graders, I see this most often when multiplication finally clicks for them.  I love those light bulb moments!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I have moved 18 times in my life (all but one move was within the state of California).

2. I currently have two dogs as pets, but have had cats, rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, and turtles.

My two pups, Stella and Guinness, at the lake near our house

3. I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was 27, but now I can’t go a day without it.

4. Water is my drink of choice. Other than water, I only drink coffee and iced tea.

5. Sushi is my favorite food and I would eat it every day if possible.

6. In high school, I thought about going to culinary school instead of college. 

7. I could live on bread, but sadly developed a gluten sensitivity in my 20s.

8. I love watching football.

9. I even play fantasy football with my fiancé and his friends.

10. I would be lost without the navigation in my car.

11. While driving, I love to sing along to the radio…especially country songs

Blogs That I'm Nominating:

Jessica at Ruminations of a FirstGrade Teacher 

Crystal from Second Grade Zing! 

Miss Muir at Sprinkles for theTeacher 

Brianne from Hooo-Ray for Teaching 

Ali from Teaching (Powered byCaffeine) 

My Questions:

1. What song describes your personality?

2. What is one item in your classroom that you could not live without?

3. How did you end up teaching at the school you are at?

4. If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be?

5. What is your favorite hobby outside of school?

6. What is your favorite unit/concept to teach?

7. If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

8. What is your favorite thing about having summers off?

9. How do you spend your weekends during the school year?

10. How do you unwind after a long day of school?

11. If you could time travel, what era/time period would you go to?