My Where, My First Week Back, and a Giveaway!

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to show you my "Where," and tell you about my first week!

And if you make it all the way to the end, you will find a little
*GIVEAWAY from A+ Images*!!

Whew! Is anyone else already throwing your alarm clock across the room in the morning??

"Ain't no tired like back to school teacher tired," is TRUTH, people. 

Add to that a sick husband, a mandated longer school day, AND a full first week WITH kids, and you'll find this teacher-mom wiped. out. 

BUT, we survived the first week, and I want to show you my room and what my brand new STARS and I did! 

This is my library/whole group area. I used to set my rug up in alternating colors because I liked the way that looked better, but this way is soooo much easier for turn & talk.

I can say "the red row turns and faces the yellow row and talks first, and the green row faces the blue row and talks first." No question about who their partner is. I LOVE IT. Student-centered learning is where it's at, folks.

This is the back wall of my classroom (it was overcast and rainy the day I took these, so I apologize for the super crappy lighting/quality). The clothespins hold student work, and of course I want my kids to know they are STARS!

This is the wall opposite the library/whole group wall. All ready for anchor charts and pictures of each week's STAR! Can you tell I'm hoping our "temporary" assistant gets to stay??

This is the view from the back of my room during a GoNoodle brain break.

I posted this photo on my Instagram, and GoNoodle used it in a blog post!! Click here to check it out! Seriously if you're not GoNoodling yet, start ASAP! Your kids will LOVE you for it! I'll be posting more about my GoNoodle obsession soon, but for now, just trust me and get started. You won't regret it!

OK back to the first week…

We practiced writing letters...

This is from my Back to School Zoo Review pack on TPT - I used it as a little first week assessment. 
They just thought it was a maze! :) 

And building words...

And writing numbers (I love the different ways of thinking about writing numbers)…

And practiced counting Marcy Cook style...

We also spent a lot of time getting to know each other, which is always my favorite part of the first week back!

You can find these posters in my Be A Star pack on TPT! I love how they turned out!

And of course I had to wear my new favorite shirt from A+ Images...

Because First Grade Rocks!!

A+ Images also ROCKS because they have agreed to give away a teacher shirt (up to a $20 value) to one of my readers! Check out their site here to shop! :)

These are some of my favorites (all $20 or less as of 8/19/14, and most can be found under "General Teaching")…

We all need this little reminder sometimes :) 

 For all my math friends :)

For any 'stache lovers :)

Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win!! The giveaway closes Saturday night, so don't wait!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To those of you who are back in the swing of things like me, I hope it's going well! 

Good luck to those who are preparing to start! Stock up on your caffeine now! :) 

It's Finally Done!

School started yesterday, and I don't think I was actually ready for students to arrive until Tuesday night! But, my classroom is done, or at least done enough. I never feel like it's actually done...I make changes every year. My last classroom finally felt done after being in it for three years, and then I had to move! But, this room is much bigger, and I've finally settled in. Here's the tour:

This is the board directly to the right when you walk in. It's ready for anchor charts and pictures of my Stars of the Week! And if you're wondering what "Secret Stories" are, I will post about those soon! 

Every teacher who walked in my room while I was covering the ugly black tops of my windows scolded me for being up there while pregnant (apparently there's an old wives tale about not raising your arms above your head??), but I managed to get it done! Now I just hope the tape holds it up all year!! My book boxes are ready to be filled up with Good Fit books!! 

 Organizational tip: Envision math came with all of these individual bags of manipulatives - perfect for use during math lessons - but how do you store them so they are readily available? These shoe racks are PERFECT! I have one on each of my closet doors and call my table leaders up to get enough for their tables when we need them. 

Reading Strategies (comprehension was too long for the board!), Word Wall, which you can check out here, CAFE board, and book baskets. Love my foam carpet, too. Each square is big enough to hold one child, and the whole thing was only around $35 at Menard's last year! 

My Daily Five anchor charts will go up there. The teacher who was in this room last year had an assistant, but I'm one student short of the "magic number" to get one, so this desk won't be in here too much longer!

I will never be able to get rid of my teacher desk/space! I applaud those of you who have, but I'm so organizationally challenged...I need all the space I can get to try to keep everything in its place! I really wish they'd take out the TV, though. It's just in the way! 

Love my Promethean Board (every classroom in our district has one), and check out the fab mailboxes I inherited from a retired teacher a few years ago! It takes up a lot of space, but it's so nice to have! The info board to the left needs my rule posters, but those are coming tomorrow! 

Hope you enjoyed the tour! 

Before

My principal asked me to move classrooms this year so I could have a bigger room. You're thinking, "A bigger room? That's awesome!" And yes, it will be when it's done. But for now, it's a big mess. And did I mention I'm six months pregnant?? Let me tell you, it's so frustrating to have a room full of stuff to move and not be able to lift any boxes or move any furniture by myself. So it's taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to get anything accomplished. I'll get there eventually (read: two weeks), but I wanted to post some before pictures so you can *hopefully* see the dramatic change sooner rather than later.

 View from the back corner of the room toward the door. Notice the beautiful pocket chart stand? Hubs made that for me - PVC pipe and spray paint, baby!

View from the door to the back corner.

My little love is making an appearance in the second shot. She's probably the best three year old helper ever, but it's still difficult to get too much done when she's there exploring everything. I'm determined to get everything in place in the next two weeks because school starts 4 weeks from Monday, and I REALLY want a week to plan. I brought home the first four or five reading manuals to go through this summer, and guess where they still are? If you said in my teaching bag in the laundry room, you are correct! We have a new reading series this year, which is overwhelming anyway, but factor in maternity leave with no files prepared, and I'm in full-on panic mode! Deep breaths. It will get done. I'll keep you posted on my progress!