Daily Schedule

It was my intent to blog every single day for Teacher Week.  (<---I'm kind of laughing at that.)  Sheer exhaustation in the evening will do that for you.  I'm playing a little catch up with a few of my favorite days.

Here's a peek at my daily schedule.

I love my schedule!  It's been the same for the past two years, maybe three...honestly I can't remember that far back.

I work at a private school, so that's why you'll see Bible and a Praise & Worship time.  We have "chapel" every day.  The students sing a few songs and there's a short devotion.  It's a great way for students (and teachers) to start their day! 

8:50 - 10:20 Readers Workshop

There's 1 1/2 hours for Readers Workshop.  It seems like that's a long time, but we are constantly on the move!  I have students do a modified version on Daily Five (this year I'm only doing Read to Self and Work on Words), a phonics lesson and snack time.  

This past week I've been using Go Noodle for brain breaks during this period.  I had read about it on several blogs and gave it a try.  They love it!!  You've got to try it!

10:20 - 11 Recess/PE

The students have 20 minutes of PE, then 20 minutes of recess everyday.  On Tuesdays, they only have recess for the entire period.  I love it when they come back sweaty and stinky.  :)

11 -12:05  Math

This is the busiest time of day!  There's so much to squeeze it.  We start off with our Rise & Shine Folders.

Next, we move onto our math journal.  I've always done math word problems in a journal, but this year I decided to give the interactive journal thing a try.  (More on this later - it's going so well!!)

Usually a short brain break (something math related) before we move onto the whole group lesson.

The students end the period with math centers.  Sometimes we get to these, sometimes not.

12:05 - 12:35 Lunch - almost duty free.  We alternate lunch duty with the kindergarten teacher.

12:35 - 1:20 Writer's Workshop

I'll typical start off with a grammar lesson before we move into writing.  I feel like I'm constantly fine tuning my writing lessons!

1:20 - 2:05 Enrichment (Library, Computer, Music, Art, Cultural Studies)

2:05 - 3:05 Bible/Science/Social Studies

I don't try to squeeze in all three in one hour!  I alternate science/social studies monthly.  Right now we're studying space.

As for our official Bible lesson, it happens 2 to 3 times a week.  I really try for 3, but Friday afternoons are just an attempt at this point.  It gets better as the year goes on.

3:15 Dismissal 

Ten Pin Linky: Reading & Winners!

Isn't this the truth?  I always get a little sad when July starts because I know I only have a month of summer left.  My husband said the perfect thing when he picked me up at the airport last night. He said not to be sad for the entire month of July, enjoy the pool and look forward to our cruise.  I promised I wouldn't get sad until the evening of July 31.

I couldn't just pick one winner for the Bloglovin Giveaway, so I picked two.  Congrats to Julie P. and Yashika!  Be on the lookout for an email from me.

Today's one of my favorite linky parties.

As I mentioned last week, I divided my math and reading boards into subcategories.  Right now for reading, I have boards for sight words, fluency, non fiction, cause and effect, and author study.  My  reading board has ideas for making connections, character traits, parts of a story and general guided reading.

Source: First Grade Fabulous Fish

This is an individualized reading log for class.  The top portion tracks the students' progress on centers. The bottom part is where the students answer one comprehension question per day about the story of the week.  It's a free download when you click through to the link.

Source: Fairytale of a First Grade Teacher

Great form to plan your guided reading groups!

Love this prediction anchor chart!

Source: Tunstall's Teaching Tibits

This goes along with the book Rocket Learns to Read.  It's a great way to introduce reading in the fall.  Each student gets a puppy and practices reading with it throughout the year.  Luckily my mom saved every single one of my pound puppies, so I have a good head start.  I'd love to do this in the fall!

Write sight words on popsicle sticks and label a few with "Zap it!"  Students pull the sticks out one by one and read the words.  If they get "Zap it!" their sticks go back in the cup.

Source: The Inspired Apple

Love this anchor chart for introducing labels!

Great activity for If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.

Source: Growing Kinders

I used to do a daily message when I first started teaching, but got out of the habit.  I hope to make this part of my daily routine for the next school year.

Source: Learning With Mrs. Leeby

Track the books you read with your students throughout the year!  I have the perfect spot for this in my room and can't wait to use it!  :)

Source: Life in First Grade

Great way to introduce sequence!

Be sure to check out all the other reading ideas on Ashley's blog!

Ten Pin Linky: Math Ideas

 I'm linking up with Ashley again this week.

I got extra nerdy with my math board on Pinterest.  I had over 100 pins on my math board and it was just too jumbled for me.  I started with my base Math Lesson Ideas Board and then created 4 more boards - Addition & Subtraction, Place Value, Number Sense, Geometry.  I'm in the process of doing the same thing with my Reading Board, but that's another topic for a different day!

Source: First Grade Fresh

Doubles Rap iPod - My students loved this last year!  I had such a musical group.  

Source: Blooming Kiddos

What a great visual! I think this would be great to make when we are learning about commutative property with our math facts.

Source: Teach 123

Nothing drives me more crazy than the sound of the ten rods and ones. At least I know when the students are playing and not paying attention, but still! In this pin, the ten rods and ones are made from sponges.

I bought Cara Caroll's Calendar Companion last year and my firsties were actually engaged in calendar time.  (And I was too!)  This is a life size version that's perfect for your calendar area.

Source: Peterson's Pad

I used this to introduce my math centers last year.  It's like the Daily 5 for math! The pin leads to great math workshop organization ideas.

Source: Living Laughing and Loving

I really want to cut my composition books in half this year. We never use the entire book anyhow.

Source: Bunting, Books and Bainbridge

I like to send this home for homework for a number sense/tally practice.  

Easy way to teach double digit addition!  You have to go to the neighbor's house to borrow a ten...like how you borrow a cup of sugar from you neighbor.  Great analogy and I'll take anything that helps with this concept.

Ok, I didn't quite make ten, but my eyes are getting a little sleepy.  Good night!

Favorite Things: Gettin' Fit

I think I've been fashionably late to every linky party lately!  I just had to do the Across the Hall's Favorite Things Linky though because this week's topic is Gettin' Fit.

I used to workout ALL the time. And then I fell off the wagon. I'm currently trying to get back on and make working out more of a regular thing.

I love my heart rate monitor!  I have an older version than this picture, but it still works great!  You input your age, weight, and height on the watch.  Then you wear the strap right underneath your sports bra.  It tracks your heart rate (duh) and how many calories you burn. <----best feature right there

While I feel like I'm not getting faster running, I can tell that I am by my heart rate.  Right when school ended my heart rate was HIGH - around 180-182 when I was running for very short periods of time. (Let me say this was NOT fast running).  Just about a month later it's in the 160's range and I'm running farther!

I love hot yoga!  It sounds awful, but you feel amazing afterwards!  The only bad thing is that the room overlooks the indoor and outdoor pool at my gym.  You just want to jump in!

These are my favorite running shoes!  They are super pricey, so I make sure to search ebay for last season's model.

I cannot workout without music!  Love that you can just clip the shuffle to your shirt and go!

Ten Pin Linky: Classroom Management

As I was scrolling through my feed, I found the best linky. It combines teaching + Pinterest!  What's not to love?? (Plus the button is  pink & green.)

Here's how it works: You link up 10 pins relating to the topic of the week.  Easy peasy, right?

If you like something you see in this post, please don't pin from my picture - click the picture and pin from my Pinterest board.  We all want to make sure the right person gets the credit!

This week's topic is classroom management.  I pinned everything from my Teaching Board.  (When I first started out on Pinterest, I had only one education related board.  That had to change and had to spend time rearranging everything. I'm now to the point where I have to rearrange my Reading board - too much good stuff out there!)

Source: Kinder Polka Dot Patch

1. Clip Chart Management 

This is one of the first things I found on Pinterest.  I always have trouble remembering at the end of the day why someone moved their clip.  I used to have the best memory, but then I became a teacher. ;)

Source: The Wise Owl

2.  Pencil War
I kid you not, this solved any issues that I had with pencils this year.  If you click through to the pin, it links to a free download on TPT. I also wrote about it here.

Source: Time 4 Kindergarten

3. Glue!
This is genuis!!!!  I ran out of glue sticks in April and honestly could not stand to spend another cent.  I wish I would have found this idea sooner.  I made the kids stick their finger in messy glue to spread it. I tried popsicle sticks but they ended up drying to the cup.

Source: The Tattooed Teacher

4. Copy, Grade & File Containers
I found this through the Made It Monday linky a few weeks ago.  I had these files on my desk, but honestly the folders got full very fast.  I like the idea of the drawers - out of sight!

Source: First Grade Fever

5. Whole Brain Teaching Freebies

I used a few callbacks last year and they worked SO well.  I didn't have any trouble getting their attention anymore.  AND it still worked at the end of the year.  Amazing!  I really want to learn more about it this summer.

Source: What the Teacher Wants

6. Tattling

Last summer I taught a week of summer camp and soon realized that I was going to have a MAJOR tattler in my class.  The sweet girl made a 4th grade boy cry!  I wanted to be proactive and did a lot of emergency telling vs. tattling lessons at the beginning of the year.

Source: Stories from Room 114

7. Behavior Board
I've seen this pin floating around a lot.  Every time the class is caught doing something good, you pull a popsicle stick (with a number written on it) and color in that number.  After ten numbers in order are colored in, the class receives a reward. I thought about making one of these with numbers to 120 since the Common Core goes beyond 100.

8. Unfinished Work

I thought this was a great tracker to send home unfinished work.  It's a free download on TPT!

Source: Fluttering Through First Grade

9. Bathroom Tallies

A few years ago I had some students that always seem to go to the bathroom. (no medical issues) I started a chart on a scrap piece of paper and all of the sudden they didn't have to go anymore!  Surprise! This chart is a little more formal and perfect if you have those kids that are up and down a lot.

Source: Doodle Bugs Teaching

10. Teaching Expectations
It's SO important to teach the students how you want them to sit, turn in work, etc.  You can expect them to read your mind and most often they want to please you.  I thought this chart was adorable and perfect for the beginning of the year.  

If you want to see more classroom management ideas, be sure to check out everyone else's pins at Just Reed!

TGIF!

Woohoo! We made it to Friday, people! It was one of those weeks where after school I came home and immediately put on my pajamas. I'm hoping this weekend my motivation to do anything will come back.

1. We started studying diagraphs and made this adorable Valentine's craft.

2. Is it just me or is inflectional endings super hard to teach? We started with past tense verbs and made it rain with those verbs. Any craft with scrapbook paper = awesome.

This craft is from Across the Hall in 2nd grade. You can purchase the templates and activities to go with the book The Day It Rained Hearts here. I used everything in the packet this week - it fit the needs of my students perfectly!

3. It's teeth time! We did the typical hard boiled egg in Coke and juice.

The smell in my room was amazing.

4. I felt like we made a zillion crafts, which leads me to tell you about my glue stick issues. I found a solution for issues with my pencils. Glue sticks are another issue. I've asked parents to send in additional glue sticks and I swear it's like my kids eat them.

I spent $20 on these big glue sticks last weekend and some students FORGET to put the lid on. Glue sticks are my new nemesis.

5. In math, I had some much fun with Michelle's Once Upon a Time Unit, I barely had time for the actual worksheets from the text.

How cute are those clocks??

I also gave my students cards numbered 1-12 and told them to make a human clock face. I should have videotaped what they did (and who became bossy). At one point I said "A clock is a circle, people." Then I selected a few students to be the short hand and long hand. They had so much fun learning about time.

***********

I'll leave you with this little gem. Don't you love phonetic spelling sometimes? The best part of this is that it was a character trait printable.

The student said it was "shiny." ;)

Five for Friday: A Week in Review

YIPEE! I just got back from a lovely Mexican dinner to celebrate the end of the week. I was really hoping for some ice or snow last night, but we didn't get any. There were some counties north of us that didn't have school or were on a delay.  Better luck next time, I guess!

I'm linking up for another Five for Five!

1. I made this Snicker-doodle (literally) recipe in my afterschool cooking class this week. While we were waiting for the cookies to bake, a students made this *funny* joke.

A Snicker and a doodle, get it? 

2.  I made it to Hot Yoga exactly 1 out of six times this week. Major FAIL. Which is really not good since I consumed many Snicker-doodles! Tomorrow morning's class is going to hurt!

3.  We wrapped up our Landform/Map unit.  We made a landform dictionary.

I hoping to post this unit soon.  If you are planning a landform unit, I do have a set of Landform Posters in my TPT store.  (UPDATE 1/28 : I loaded the landform unit to TPT!)

4.  We had a little fun making our spelling words out of Play-doh.

Yes, that's actually a "k" for key.  We teach D'Nealian handwriting.  I miss the block letters!

5. We studied Y as a vowel and made a Benny Bunny craft.

If you are looking for more ideas for Y as a vowel, I just posted my Guy Butterfly and Benny Bunny unit in my store.

Be sure to link up and check out some new blogs!