I Still Show Up

If you can believe it, it's June 29th and I have only been on summer break for two weeks. Within those two short weeks however, I feel that I have reflected on the previous school year and have started changing and growing for the better. Jesus has been working on me and my soul in ways that I never knew possible, but am forever grateful.

5 Tips on Getting a Jump Start on Next Year's Organization

The end of the school year is always a mix of emotions. I'm usually very ready for summer vacation, but at the same time I'm already getting excited for the upcoming school year and all of its newness: a new set of kiddos, a fresh, clean classroom, and an organized, prepared teacher. HA! One can only hope!  In all honesty though, since having my baby boy almost 6 months ago I am now very aware of how much of my planning time was going to waste. I spent hours upon hours of planning lessons, copying and prepping material, and of course the usual housekeeping business like meetings and grading papers. Now that I have a precious baby, let's be real, I want to spend every minute I can with that sweet little chubby boy! So that leaves very little spare time for school items. I try my best to use every minute I have at school, and if needed I work on things at home, only after my baby is asleep if I'm not passed out in bed. So in trying to simplify my life I came up with a list...naturally. My husband always makes fun of my obsession of making lists for any and every occasion! What can I say? I'm a Type A personality. Ahem...
Here are my 5 Tips on Getting a Jump Start on Next Year's Organization (it's a mouthful but it works):

1.) Purge, Purge, Purge: If you are anything like me there is nothing more satisfying than dumping junk in the garbage decluttering. Start simple. Take a look around your classroom and try to spot your messiest area, or most used area, and start there. For me it's my desk. Get rid of things that take up space that you aren't using. I usually get started on this the last week or two of school. The less I have to do on our staff day or over the summer the better.

2.) Figure out what worked and what didn't work: I try to keep a list (go figure!) throughout the year of things I want to change or keep the same for the next year, such as procedures, center activities, projects or lessons. Knowing this before the next school year can help me with the next step...
3.) Organize classroom materials: Once you know what you plan to continue doing next year, you can organize your materials. I may be an organized person in most areas, but I lack in this department. Once I've taught a unit I usually throw said unit items in a plastic tub or file folder. Having the units organized now will save you your sanity next year.
4.) Begin lesson planning: Once you know what you're going to be teaching and your supplies are organized you're ready to start those lesson plans! If this does not sound like something you want to do, start small and just complete lesson plans for the first week back. Type A personalities like myself, love having our plans ready to go. I usually stay after school on Friday nights to make my plans, run my copies and get all material ready to go for the next week. Having a few weeks' worth of lesson planning done just frees up a few of my Friday nights. Yes please!
5.) Prep your activities: Not only should you do your lesson plans, but you should also prep them. Like I mentioned in the last tip, run your copies and get all your material and activities ready. I have a 6-drawer organizer that sits on the shelf behind my desk that I absolutely LOVE. The drawers are labeled for each day of the week and the sixth is labeled as "Upcoming." Slide your activities in the drawers and you're good to go!
There ya have it! Five things to get started on now. We are coming up on our last day of school Thursday, and I already have ideas for what I need to prepare. Need an idea on a Back to School activity for your class? Check out this All About Me poster in my TPT Store. Do you have any tips to get organized for the upcoming school year? Let me know in the comments!

Classroom Jobs

This was my first year implementing classroom jobs and let me just say I LOVED IT. I'm a bit of a control freak and want things done a certain way, so I would always do those tedious jobs myself either before, during or after school. Why was I doing that to myself?! I'm definitely pro kiddos helping out in the classroom and below are a few reasons why. 

Click {HERE} to get my Chevron Classroom Jobs and Application to use in your classroom.

Classroom Jobs and Why They're Important

1. It saves you time and energy: First and foremost, wow does it save you time as a teacher! I realized all of these simple tasks I was wasting time on could be completed by my, more than willing with a smile on their face, kiddos. More times than not, the students take pride in their jobs and complete the tasks with care to impress you. Yes please!

2. It develops a sense of belonging: As much as we don't like to admit it, some of our kiddos just don't like coming to school. Whatever the reason may be, we as teachers want to try and make students feel as welcome and at ease as possible. Providing students with a classroom job, much like a household chore, lets them know, "Hey this isn't just my classroom it's our classroom and you're a part of it."

3. It develops a sense of responsibility: This kind of goes hand in hand with #2. Let's face it, now-a-days it seems kids get away with more and more and it starts in the home. In my opinion it's because kids. have. no. responsibility. Parents do everything for them. Sometimes students come into the classroom with the same mentality that everything will be done for them. Well let me tell you something! ;) While it's not our job to parent students (ahem...) it is our job to teach them as much as we can for the 180 days they are in our care. Providing students a classroom job, not only provides a sense of belonging as stated above, but it teaches them responsibility. EVERYONE NEEDS RESPONSIBILITY. I don't care how old you are! Students learn that our classroom runs smoothly, but only when everyone takes part in taking care of it.

Earth Day Fun

Earth day is right around the corner. I'm really looking forward to it this year because our 2nd graders are going on a field trip that day and my husband gets to come along! I conned him into chaperoning (he has a background in Education also), but I bet he's secretly excited for it. Ha!

Even though we'll be gone most of the school day, my students will still be able to do some Earth day activities that week. I just finish an Earth day unit you can get {HERE}.

Here's a quick craft you can do with the Earth day badges found in the unit. Use them as headbands, badges, or necklaces.

Happy Earth day!

Measurement Mania!

We are all about measuring this week. This has been a fun week in Math so far and it's only Tuesday! I teach two Math classes. The first class is right after recess and belongs to the other teacher in my pod, and the second is with my homeroom. In my first class, I asked the kids to get out some supplies and one of my kiddos said, "I was so excited for Math today I left my work box in my desk!" Talk about a happy teacher! (It's every teacher's dream that their students are so excited about learning that they forget their supplies, right?! Ha!)

Keeping the students engaged and interested this far into the school year is my mission. After spring break we are in the home stretch for summer vacation (insert happy dance here!). Usually the kids are pretty squirmy, but since it's still in the 30s here (in April.....the 30s) they've been pretty good. Below are some pictures of an engaging measurement activity from the Measure Up! unit by Hope King. 

First, I read the kiddos the book "How Big is a Foot?" by Rolf Myller.

 It's about a King who wants to get the Queen a bed for her birthday. But how big is a bed? The King uses his foot to find out the measurements instead of using a standard unit of measurement. Will the King get a bed in the correct size in time for the Queen's birthday?  

Next, I explained that the students were going to be on a TOP SECRET mission to build the Queen a bed. I put the students into groups where they assembled the beds. 

When the groups were finished creating their beds I collected them from each group, all while trying to prevent the other groups from realizing they all did different sized feet. The students came to the carpet where the beds were unveiled. We compared the different beds and talked about standard and nonstandard units of measure.

Need something quick to assess standard and nonstandard measurement units? Find a freebie HERE!

 

Peep Nest Snacktivity

It's official. Today is my last day of relaxation spring break. I still have the weekend, but it will be jam packed with family and Easter activities. Both mine and my husband's families don't really have many young kids to make baskets for or have Easter egg hunts. So we start the day out by going to church, then we usually go to eat or have lunch with one side of the family, then visit the other side for dinner. It seems funny to some but Justin and I have always bought each other little gifts to make baskets for each other since we were dating! 

One thing that I do look forward to when we eventually have our own kids is holidays. Getting to instill our traditions, make new traditions, watch all the different holiday movies and do fun holiday activities will be so fun with little ones. That's why I love holiday celebrations in my classroom so much. The kiddos get so excited to have a "Party" day at school. Sometimes the celebrations you hold in your classroom are the only celebrations some students get. Not all families have the means to and sometimes family time is just not a priority which is so heartbreaking. With that in mind I try to make all of our classroom celebrations special and create fun memories for my students. Here is a fun snacktivity (I just made that up...is this a thing?! ha!) I did with my kiddos for our Easter/ spring party the day before break.

Peep Nests

Supplies:

*Rice Crispy Treats

*Eggs (Chocolate eggs, jelly beans, etc.)

*Peeps

Directions:

1.) Wash hands

2.) Have students shape the rice crispy treat into the shape of a bird's nest (this is harder than it sounds!)

3.) Place "eggs" into the nest

4.) Place the peep on top

Voila! Your Peep Nest is complete and ready to eat! Here's a few my kiddos made.

Do you have a snacktivity or craftivity you like to do with your kids for Easter?

 Let me know in the comments below!

Feedback

I am already working on some products to add to my TPT store but I really need to hear from you! I want to create products that you need and want to use so I need your feedback. You can copy and paste the questions below into a comment box and answer the questions, or if you want to answer them on my Facebook page that would be great too. Any feedback would be appreciated!

What will you need products for? (Teaching, parenting, homeschooling)

What grade(s) do you teach?

What subject(s) do you teach?

What social media sites do you use the most? (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram)

If I could produce one free product for you, what would it be called and what would it include?