Name Change and Some Freshening Up

Is freshening even a word?!  Who knows, but I'm gonna use it ya'll!

So I have decided to rename/re-brand the blog.  I was kind tired of the old one but even more so because apparently there is already a blog named "Fabulous First Grade" and I was running into problems everywhere!  So, here it is!  

Whale of a 1st Grade Tale

I.am.in.love!  I live in Florida so the theme is fitting.  The look of the blog is in the process of changing too.  I have the background and header changed.  More to come over winter break.

Thanks for taking a peak!!

Christmas Celebrations!

Ahhhh!  Say it with me; a collective sigh!  Christmas break is here finally!  As a teacher I look forward to this time of year as soon as we go back to school after Thanksgiving!  Don't you? Christmas at school is so exciting though.  

Last year I was fortunate enough to win an Elf on the Shelf from the company in their Teacher Giveaway!  I was so excited.  I look forward to getting him out now and making him do lots of non-naughty things. I don't know about you guys but mine is used for "crown control" therefore he does not do naughty things.  He is teaching rules and manners.  :-)  However, I have a confession to make.  I didn't want some silly name for the elf.  My OCD wouldn't allow it.  I also don't want it to change every year.  So I named him (he came with his certificate already) and this year he kept his name.  His name is Kevin Clark (named for Kevin from Home Alone and Clark from Christmas Vacation...my two most favorite holiday movies).  Here are a few things Kevin Clark, or KC as we call him, did during school.

Something my team and I do every year is "Christmas Around The World".  We love it just as much or more than the students do.  It's so fun to learn about other countries!  This year we purchased SEVERAL kits from TpT to assist us in the journey.  Here is a look at one of the student books they all made.

  

  

  

 

These are some of the kits we used...

Christmas Around The World Scrapbook and Kit by First Grade Garden

Christmas Around The World Scrapbook by Sarah Cooley

Christmas Around the World by Bonnie Kathryn - Kinders and Beyond

Christmas Around The World by Jessica Rosace

No Christmas celebration in first grade would be complete without Polar Express and Hot Chocolate and then of course a Christmas Party!!

Have a wonderful holiday!!

My team this year!

A Long Hiatus and How I Decorated My Classroom

Who would have thunk (is this really a word?) that my 4th year would be WAY more intense and stressful than my first year in 1st grade!?!  Well, I am here to tell you it is tough.  I am not sure if it's because our district changes things so much, if my expectations are too high for myself and my students, or if I have just taken on to darn much.  Whichever it is, I need it to slow down.  Like yesterday!  :-)

I had intended on blogging very regularly but due to unforeseen stress this year I fell off of the bandwagon very quickly.  Ha!  I am going to try to catch up with a series of posts over winter break.

Let Me Start With My Classroom Set-up This Year...

When I took these photos, the room was still a work in progress.  It was mostly complete but I still had some housekeeping and organizing to do.  This is a pano view from my desk.

Here are some individual photos of different areas in the room.

First up is the front of the room.  On the board is the "Lend A Hand" Station.  We are a Title I school and with donations from the community we are able to provide the students with all of the school supplies they "need" during the year.  Parents can choose a hand from my set-up and donate things to my classroom that I wish to have.  It alleviates a very small amount of the money that I spend out of pocket every yea, but it helps.  Things they can donate are dry erase markers, tissues, plastic zippy bags, extra glue sticks, markers, color pencils, extra crayons, extra scissors, loos leaf paper, copy paper, page protectors, binders, pencil boxes (like the ones on the table) and so much more!

The alphabet line at the top was a new addition this year.  I bought the Original Formation Letter Cards, but found out the day after I paid to have these printed and laminated, that I had to have italic formation.  So I got crafty and cut up my old line which happened to be italic formation and adhered them to the printouts and then got them laminated.  It all worked out.  However, you can buy them in italic formation too.

This is a view of the classroom entrance with the teacher cart to the left"ish" side.  The workstation that controls the doc cam, SmartBoard, and movie player.  I also keep things in a tray that I use on a regular basis like math tools, writing utensils, paper clips, crayons, etc.

This is a view of my small group center - teacher center.  Also on the bookshelf is my classroom library (sans basket tags - they weren't ready yet).  There is also a number line above the boards. My students use as much as I had hoped they would.  On the dry erase board there are schedule signs that I will use to guide our daily schedule.

On the desks are their pencil boxes, group boxes, and welcome folders.  Inside the welcome folders I include a letter to the students and parents, wish list for supplies, student info form, a transportation form, lunch forms, dawn-to-dusk (school based daycare) forms, August calendar, first months words lists, and much more.

Behind the closed door is a bathroom!!

The computer station!!  I LOVE that we are so fortunate to have this station in every single K-2 classroom (and their are 24 classrooms).  I have 6 computers in my classroom which is perfect for small group centers.

Also, those paintings are done by yours truly!  ;-)

I will try my very best to post some updated photos soon.  While it has stayed predominately the same, it has changed a little bit.  I don't really have a specific theme in my room.  I just LOVE color and bright images so that's how I roll.

*I have linked to all of the products that I used in my classroom.  You will find them throughout the post.

Summertime Blues - Part 2

Whew, that last post was long!  This one may be as well, but I will try to shorten it.

The last thing we did before we left was celebrate the 4th of July!!  It was so nice to have a good old fashioned BBQ with the family before heading back to Florida.  My in-laws are French-America.  While America is obviously important to them, they don't traditionally celebrate the 4th like I grew up doing.

My 2nd cousin Cross.

  

My daddy Jerry!

My niece Madelynn.

My 2nd cousin Cannon.

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I also got to meet a brand new cousin (at the time).  He just turned a year old! These are pictures of me holding him and my husband holding him.  Nothing is sweeter than a man holding a baby.  ;-)

 

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When we left to head home my niece Madelynn and nephew Trevor came home with us!  I was so excited and had so much planned for them to do.  We had a blast!  Here are a few photos from the week.

                                                Did I mention it's a LONG car trip?!  :-)

At the Florida Welcome Center.  They loved this chair!

We went to the movies and then to IHOP for National Pancake Day!

This is a kid after her aunts heart.  She loves painting as much as I do!

Oh, and she adores her Uncle Noel!

We went to the city pool!  This place rocked!  They had water slides and other stuff.

We did movies at home too.  We introduced them to Jurassic Park!  Of course there was popcorn!

No trip to Florida is complete without a trip to the beach!

They tried sushi for the first time....it didn't go so well by the way.  Hehe!

Heck, this one wouldn't even try it.  He demanded (okay he asked nicely) for Chick-Fil-A instead.

Did I mention that she loves Uncle Noel a lot?

This was technically after their mom had come in to town.  We went to the beach for family photos!

My summer was VERY busy and very fast!!  I wouldn't trade it for the world though.  Now it's time to get back into the "school zone" because Day 0 is approaching fast and I am vastly unprepared!  See you in the fall!