Next Year Planning...(!)

I will admit, it was weird writing "Next Year" as the title of this post. 
Firstly because I have way too much to focus on that is happening before August (end of the year, wedding, etc., etc., etc.!!). 

And secondly, because this year cannot possibly be coming to an end. But the official countdown (not like I'm counting) is 18 days of school left. That's it. The big 1-8. Yikes!

As the year is beginning to come to close, I have really started thinking about what I want to do differently next year. A lot of what I did this year was what I saw my cooperating teacher doing in student teaching, heard from other teachers, or kind of made up as I went along. Now that I almost have one solid year under my belt, I know some of the things I want to do differently next year. Here's a rough beginning list:

1. Toughen Up A Lot Earlier.
At the beginning of the year, I definitely had New Teacher Syndrome. I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants. It was a miracle just to make it through the day. And my class saw that. They knew that I was a hot mess and knew that they could get away with behavior like talking while I was talking, not doing their jobs, playing in the bathroom and at the bubbler and all of those annoying things kids do since I had few consequences in place. Next year, hopefully I won't be so crazy and I'll have a better handle on things and be able to strict right from the get go. I'm not saying that my management was bad at the beginning of the year because no one told me that it was. However, I can see a huge difference in how my kids act now to how they used to behave at the beginning of the year. 

I'm going to start off strong with laying out my expectations and if they aren't met, there will be consequences. Period.

2. Spelling and Homework. Similarly, I didn't have any consequences/rewards for students with homework and spelling. I tried to tell myself that it's not the kid's fault that homework isn't done, but as time went on and more and more kids weren't doing homework, it got annoying. Now I have a policy where if it isn't turned in, it's lunch detention. And this week, only one student didn't bring in homework. Score!

And for spelling, a lot of my kids didn't care about doing well on spelling tests. There was no incentive. So I started the 100% Club a few months ago. If students get a 100% on the spelling test, their names get added to our Spelling 100s Club Poster in our room. Every so often (aka once), we have a 100s Club Party. I'll have to have one very soon though since I had like 15 kids get a 100% on our last spelling test. I was quite pleased about that!

So for next year - start those off right away!

3. Parent Contact. Before school started, I had huge hopes of being able to call every parent on a regular basis, just to check in and let them know that their kid was doing awesome, struggling, whatever. However, with being a hot mess, that didn't really leave much time to call parents. So next year, I want to call parents, especially right away to establish good repertoire as well as hound them about homework and other fun stuff like that.

4. No Sugar Coating.

No, I am not not going on a no sugar diet. I mean that I need to be open and honest with parents about their kiddos.

I have been talking a lot to a kinder teacher at my school who is AMAZING. Seriously, I want to be her. She always has really great parent involvement and her kids leave kinder really high. One thing she does is that she does not sugar coat anything to parents and she's not afraid to tell it like it is. If a student is struggling with reading, she simply states that to the parents and says that they need to work together to help the student grow and do the best he/she can. At the beginning of the year, I was worried about hurting parents and upsetting them, which looking back, doesn't make sense since I feel like I may have given them a false sense of how well their child was doing. So next year, I'm going to try my best to not sugar coat anything since that doesn't help anyone.

5. Be More Involved. At the beginning of the year, I could barely make it through the day, let alone think of taking on any extra responsibilities. So next year, I want to be a part of something at school. My principal just emailed out a few opportunities and I am thinking about applying to be Student Council Advisor. Just something so I am a bigger part of the school and not in my own little classroom. 

6. Calendar. I love calendar, but I don't have a good place to put it where it can be seen well and gathered around. Here is its current location:

Yep. Jammed in a teeny wall space where literally no one can gather around. Kind of obscured by books and tables. Anddddd it still says March. May is tomorrow. You can tell calendar is one of my top priorities...not. But calendar is incredibly important and I am determined to do it justice next year. Janaye over at Frogs and Cupcakes has some really great ideas for calendar math that I plan on using next year. Click the link to check out all of her ideas! 

Come back in a few days for some how-to writing and my first giveaway! I'm a bit late in the game but I've reached 100 followers! 

Unexpected Day Off and My First Freebie!

No, it's not a snow day. At least, not here in Phoenix.
Long story short, I was battling a terrible headache for forever (aka for the past five days) and it was particularly bad on the weekend. Like stand-up-and-you-feel-like-fainting-because-you-are-dizzy. Not fun at all.
This morning I did feel better, but I decided to take a sick day in hopes to shake it completely because I have to be at school tomorrow and Wednesday. 

Tomorrow is our final day to get our book ready for the Student Publishing program. If you have never heard of it, it's a wonderful, FREE program that lets kids write and publish their own stories. For K-2 students, a classbook is made; for 3-5 students, each student gets their own book. Did I mention it's free?? My kids are really excited about having their book becoming a published book for all to read.
And we still have lots to do... partially because I put it off for awhile because it was a daunting task to get started. Especially being a first year teacher.
(Mental note: Next year, start it earlier!!)
Some kids have to finish illustrating, we have to finish the cover page, dedication page, and title page. And I have to assemble it all. And put all the kids' pictures on the pages. And take pictures of my newest friends. And print them. Yikes!

On Wednesday, we are going on a field trip to Cici's Pizza. The kiddos will get a tour of the restaurant, and then they get to make their own pizzas to eat for lunch. Teachers get to as well. Not that I'm excited or anything...I love pizza. And I have never been to Cici's. 
But I have seen lots of commercials on TV for them. And it always sounds quite delicious.

Anyways, guess what?! I have created my very first freebie for you all! Last week, my students worked on adding another addition strategy to their math toolbelt - friendly numbers. So I made this little pack up (pretty quickly too for my first time making one) and I am going to share it with you all. Please let me know what you think since it is my very first one! 
Pretty please and thank you!

Click on the picture to grab it!!

Here's hoping this headache goes away soon! Hope everyone had a great Monday! I only have 24 days of school left! How about you?

Bad Case of the Mondays

Bad case of the Mondays today. Yikes, it was not a happy day. So. Much. Chatter. It was endless. I need to get some Pete the Cat mantra in my brain- It's all gooood. But since that's not on the agenda, in order to prevent a grumpy rant, I'm linking up with Latoya at Flying in First Grade. Because who doesn't love a linky party?!

TOPIC - Skittles Game

Here is the code:

Red- Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

Orange- Favorite Memory from College

Yellow- Favorite Sports Team

Green- Favorite Fast Food Place

Purple- Wild Card(Tell anything about yourself)

Red: My favorite ice cream flavor tends to vary quite frequently. But I am a Ben and Jerry's snob so any of their flavors are awesome! Especially Milk and Cookies and Cherry Garcia. So yum!

Orange: I loved getting to know such wonderful people in college. My School of Ed cohort was very close, I had awesome roommates and friends, great girls in Bible Study. I didn't think I would miss it as much as I do...

Yellow: A bit tough since I don't really follow sports teams all that much. In fact, I usually want the underdogs to win and/or the team that everyone else is rooting against. Plus I will always love the Badgers!!

Green: I love Culvers! It originated in Wisconsin (go figure) and it is the best. It's slower than McDonalds but quicker than a sit down place. The butterburgers are soooo good. The bread is buttered and grilled with the hamburger part is so delicious! They also have really good chicken tenders. And the ice cream...omg. It's really think custard that they make right there. And there is a new flavor every day. Now I want Culver's. 

Purple: Wildcard. Hmmm...what do I want to tell? I have 29 days of school left and 82 days until I tie the knot. This year certainly has flown by!

Passing the Torch

Hello all!

Thanks to Michelle at The 3AM Teacher, I, along with 80 other wonderful educators, were able to participate in The Reading Olympics. The Reading Olympics is a program that focuses on teaching kids about word roots. 

Now my school is very strict on what we teach. Like all first grades have to teach the exact same thing the exact same way. And my kids aren't allowed  to do anything fun cut or paste or color. So I had to totally modify the curriculum to fit that mold aka really shorten it and only do one word suffix. But I was able to sneak in the lesson during phonics and although it was short, some of my kids were able to catch to on.

So here it is!!

Now, even though I had to really modify the program, I really liked how the program was set up. It included adorable puzzle pieces that the students could cut and glue together to make new words, demo cards, chants to help the students remember the roots, and a cute little book so students could write everything down and then have a snazzy reference book. Basically, it had everything you need.

Like I said, I only had about 15 minutes so I really had to squish. So no book, chants, or demo cards for me =/

Instead, I introduced the -ed ending bu jumping around the room. I asked my students what I was doing and they of course said being crazy jumping. Then I stopped. I asked them what I had just done. They said jumped. I wondered aloud how I would spell it.

I got the typical answer of jumpt and jumped. We talked about how even though it sounds like a t, it's really an ed and that ed means that it already happened. We then walked, skipped, jumped, and talked around the room, adding -ed to everything. 

Then I had made a "my school friendly" sheet for them to complete. They added -ed to words, read them to themselves and to a friend and then wrote two sentences using the -ed ending.

It was this kiddo's birthday, hence the beautiful birthday crown!

Writing sentences - "I climbed the monkey bars."

Overall, I wish I had been able to do the program how it is meant to be. Although some of my kids benefited from it, learning more Greek roots would have been great for them. A lot of them are ELLs so learning "tricks" about the English language would have probably really helped them get a better grasp of English. Oh well though - if your school is like mine, it is possible to tweak the program to make it fit your precise needs!!

But you can discover the program IN FULL ACTION in more K-6th grade classrooms as you Pass the Torch!! Get ideas, discover the progression of the program, and enter the Raffle for a chance to win ONE of the three prizes listed below!!

First Place Winner : Gold Medal

Prizes: 

Complete Reading Olympians Program
$50.00 Amazon Gift Card

50% off Discount Code for a 1-Day shopping spree at The 3AM Teacher's Etsy store!

Second Place Winner: Silver Medal
Prizes: 

$25.00 Amazon Gift Card

40% off Discount Code for a 1-Day shopping spree at The 3AM Teacher's Etsy store!

Third Place Winner: Bronze Medal

Prizes: 

30% off Discount Code for a 1-Day shopping spree at The 3AM Teacher's Etsy store!

Pass the Torch!!!
Click the image below to visit the next blog - Practice Makes Perfect 

Currently

It's that time again! The beginning of a new month. A new Currently.

So go link up with Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

Listening: HGTV. Specifically Property Virgins. Gets me pumped for when it's my turn to buy a house.

Loving: That I have Friday off!! Kind of a random day off. Other teachers at my school are convinced district made a mistake on the calendar and given us off Good Friday instead. Oh well. A day off is a day off :)

Thinking: Whenever I get home from school, I am always starving!! I haven't had a snack yet so I need to get something and fast!

Wanting: A massage. But who doesn't?

Needing: A manicure. My nails are gross and I've been meaning to paint them but it's so time consuming. And it always chips shortly after =/

Advice: Probably one of the most important things I have learned this year. Be true to you. No matter what. 

Happy April!

Let's Get Reacquainted!

Where has the time gone?! Seriously. 
1. 8 weeks left of school. Whattt?
2. Entering the double digit countdown until Evan and I get married.
3. It's April. Tomorrow.

This year has been a weird one. It's gone by so fast yet so slow at the same time. It's been really difficult being so far away from Wisconsin and I am still struggling with it every day. One of the other first grade teachers (she's a brand new teacher just like me) moved here from Texas so she's experiencing similar feelings of hardships. It's nice to have someone to talk about it since she's going through the same things I am. Yet I can't believe that my first year of teaching will be over in 8 weeks. My first set of babies are almost ready for second grade! And then I'll start over with some new babies! Ahhhh!

Latoya from Flying into First Grade has posted another linky that is one of my favorites since it lets us learn more about other teachers. And since I am so nosy, it's just perfect!! 

Although there are some tough questions this time around...

Favorite Place to Shop

I have two:

Store #1 - Kohl's.

Can't go wrong with Kohl's. And here's why:

1. Big selection.

Need some shoes? Kohl's has some! 

Need a new shower curtain? Kohl's has some!

Need a new bread maker? Kohl's has some!

Need any form of clothing? Kohl's has some.

Basically, Kohl's has about 95% of what I need/want. Minus groceries.

2. Cute clothes. I used to not like Kohl's as much when I was younger and in middle school. But now, there are so many designer collections at Kohl's that are great as the Kohl's brands have really stepped it up in terms of style.

3. Sales/Coupons. I love a good sale and I hate to pay full price for anything. At Kohl's, pretty sure 99% of the store is on sale plus they hand out coupons like there's no tomorrow. My dad always jokes about the time that the store will have to pay him at checkout since we save so much money.

#2 - Old Navy

This year in particular I have really started to love Old Navy. Now they tend to be a bit pricier than I prefer, but they sometimes have amazing sales! Plus they also sometimes give out those spend $25, get $10 off. I actually have one of those to spend this week! Plus I love their dresses. 

Favorite TV Show
Yikes. I watch a lot of TV - honestly, it's one of the few things that actually helps me unwind. Especially the drama-filled shows since the characters' lives are usually far more complicated than mine. 

#1 - Body of Proof.

I'll be honest. When this show first came out, I didn't give it the time of day. Why you may ask? Because Dana Delany had just left Desperate Housewives as Catherine, the crazy woman obsessed with Mike Delfino, who was obviously meant to be with Susan. I didn't watch it until I was home with my parents one evening. They watched it so I watched it too and ended up loving it. It's kind of like Bones or CSI but with more drama.

#2 Speaking of Bones...

Evan tried to get me into Bones about a year ago on Netflix, but I hated it and kept falling asleep during it. But once I was actually able to stay awake during it, I ended up really liking it. Now that Bones and Booth are together, it's a bit less tension-y, but I am a few episodes behind so I'll have to see where tension comes next.

#3 - Degrassi

Now many of you might not know this show because 1. it's filmed in Canada and 2. it's meant for teens. But I love it. I've been watching it since I was in middle school and still love it now as much as I did then. It takes place at a high school called Degrassi and follows the lives of high schoolers dealing with high school problems, both big (like pregnancy, suicide, eating disorders( and small (like relationship drama and fights between friends). I think I will continue to watch it until the day it is canceled for good. 

Honorable Mentions - 

1. Glee. It would have been my top three, but my love of Glee is based on what songs they sing. If they sing songs that I don't like/know, then I don't like it.

2. House Hunters. I love House Hunters except when the people are whiny and/or annoying. Like when people moving abroad complain that the homes don't have/look like the ones in America. Newsflash - if you want an American home, then stay in America!

3. New Girl - I want to be Jess. The end. 

Favorite Sweet Treat
I love sweet things, but I feel that I am kind of picky about what sweet things I actually love. For example, cake. I love a good cake. But my favorite cake is sheet cake from the grocery store. Something about the moistness of the cake and sugary-ness of the frosting. But it has to be white or yellow. The only good chocolate cake is the kind that is super chocolately like this one...

The Great Wall of Chocolate from PF Changs.

Favorite Food
Another tough one...
It honestly changes. I love pizza because there is so much variety. You can have a normal one with pepperoni. Or you could have a BBQ chicken one. Or a garlic chicken one. Or one with pesto. Or a macaroni and cheese one (For real!). If you are ever in the Madison, Wisconsin area, you must go to Ian's Pizza. They have such unique and delicious pizza flavors here such as my fav, Mac and Cheese. They also have other ones such as Chicken Alfredo, Buffalo Chicken, Steak and Fries, Gyro, and Spinach Artichoke - just to name a few!!

Favorite Restaurant
Seriously, all these topics are super hard for me. I love different restaurants for certain foods. Like I love Jimmy John's for their tuna subs, a local place about a block from my apartment called Gallo Blanco for their breakfast foods, another local place called Mary Coyle's for their ice cream and 50s style food, Culver's for their ability to remind me of home, Melting Pot for a special occassion, and Applebee's for their buffalo wings. Which makes it difficult whenever Evan and I want to go out for food since I am usually little to no help since I never know what I want.

Your turn! Go link up! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Already got a bit of Sunday Night Blues but we have off on Friday. It's our "Mid-Quarter Break" aka the quarter just started and district got the day wrong since in the past, we've had Good Friday off. Oh well, I won't argue with a day off :)

Let's Get Acquainted!

This is the first time I am linking up with Latonya at Flying into First Grade. 
I just love learning about other teachers and learning about their lives.
But that just could be that I am nosy. 

It is about nouns. My favorite person, place, thing, and animal.

Favorite Person: My wonderful fiancé Evan. 

He brings out the best in me. I can be a bit high strung, a bit emotional, a bit irrational, a bit impractical, and a bit a impatient. But he really grounds me and brings back to Earth on so many occasions. He can always make me laugh and we have such wonderful times together. And we are almost approaching double digit days until our wedding day. Yikesssss.

Place: It's a tie!
For nostalgic reasons, I have to pick Milwaukee. Moving away has made me realize that home is where your heart is and my heart is in Milwaukee. 

But my favorite city in the entire world is Paris. It just never gets old, and if I spoke French, I would love to live there for a bit.

Thing: Hmmm, tough one. I like a lot of things, but I'm not sure what my favorite thing would be. So I'll just list a few of my favorite things: Tivo (because I always fall asleep during my shows), good food, cozy homes, and my thrift store Fossil purse.

On the day I went thrifting with my sissy Melissa, I told her that I was hoping to find a brown cross body bag from Fossil. I had been looking at them for awhile but they are kind of pricey so I was hoping to find one at a thrift store. She looked at me like I was crazy, but low and behold, there it was! Pretty ironic, yes? 

Animal: I love my sweet dog Marlee. She can be annoying at times - like when she eats random things. To date, she has eaten Legos, socks, a towel, twist ties, paint chips, housing insulation, paper, and I'm sure other things that I don't even want to know. But just look at how adorable she is!!

Your turn! Go link up!