Highs and Lows Linky

Hey Everybody!

It has been a busy week getting ready for a whole new year! This week I saw each of my students for a half hour to get a baseline assessment of where they will be coming it at. This coming week we will be doing our "phase-in", in which I will have a class of seven students at time ( Monday-Thursday) and then I will have my entire class on Friday. I am looking forward to getting started! I'm really excited about the group of kiddos I have coming to my class this year and am anticipating another great year!

Long story short, I am linking up with A First for Everything for her weekly high and low link up. This is my first one and I am excited to share with you (even though I am a day late...oops!)!

My high this week was for sure open house night and getting to meet the kids and their parents! They were all so sweet and excited to come to school! I even got my first two pictures from my kids this year and they are proudly hanging on my wall! :) 

My other high from this week was my organized parent orientation folders... they helped me organize and file away all of my important forms and they were pretty cute if you ask me! If you would like to see the outside of these cute little folders refer to my last post. My mom helped me make them with her Cameo Silhouette machine. Those things are AWESOME!

My low this week isn't really too much of a low, because in a way I am excited about it, but yet I am also a little stressed! I decided to go back this year for my Masters and am doing it all online. I have two classes this fall and they started the same day I went back to school! My first week is done and so far it hasn't been too bad,  but I know that as the semester goes on, the more the work will come. I put this as my low just because I know that it will take some time out of my weekend. However, I am excited about what I chose to study. I decided to get my Masters in Assessment and Evaluation. I am excited to learn new ways to assess my students and even myself as an educator! Here is a picture of two of my textbooks! I just finished reading for next week: 

Enjoy your Monday off ( If you have it) and have a fantastic week! I am hoping to stop by this week and FINALLY share some pictures of my classroom. It is finally done! 

Sarah :)

Monday Made It!

Hey Y'all!

Linking up here bright and early for Monday Made it, I am excited about the things I made this week!

Love! I made this teacher tool kit this weekend and am just starting on filling it with goodies to keep in my small group corner! I got this great idea from Mel at Seusstastic! Check by her page to see what she keeps in her teacher tool kit. 

I took this picture from my Instagram page, but I could not be  anymore excited about my book bins for the kids this year! I adore this tape. It is wayyyy too cute!!! Scotch Tape knows what they are doing when it comes to tape design!

One of my teammates found this awesome idea on Pinterest and shared it with me. We are both trying it out this year and this is my version! The purpose of a chit chat chart is to provide the kiddos with a visual for the times they talk out. After three reminders to raise their hand, the kids will then have to move their clip on the behavior wheel. You can see that I kept my chart pretty simple, I just put their mailbox number on there and then took index cards and cut them into little squares/rectangles. I plan on using velcro to attach them!

I am really excited about this one! I am blessed to have three lovely ladies to teach with, so this year I wanted to give them something special to start their year off with! My mom made the little bags on her silhouette machine ( that thing is amazing, btw!!) and I put a few pens and a highlighter in each. The label reads "Working with you will be the highlight of my year! Happy first day of school! Love, Sarah."  They will get them today after our district meeting! I am hoping to have the tag/label on my TpT store as a freebie by the end of the day!

Well, I am off to my first day back! I will get to meet my kiddos tomorrow! Yay! 

Stop by 4th Grade Frolics to see what some other great bloggers have been up to! 

Have a fantastic week everyone! 

 

Sarah :)

Five for Friday!

Linking up with Doodle Bugs for her Five for Friday Link Up (This is one of my favorite link ups!) again this week!

This week has been super busy and also super fun, I can't wait to share some of it with you!

The past two weeks I have been getting my room ready for a whole new school year and a whole new group of kiddos! I am really excited with how it turned out.  I wish I would have taken pictures last year, so you could all see the old room compared to the new room! I have two favorite parts of my classroom ( ok, I actually love the entire thing but I am only going to share two!)  which are my new classroom lockers and my teacher/small group corner.  Just today I found these sweet little stools (not pictured!)  to go around the kids side of my table! They were only $7.99 (originally $19.99 by the way!)!!!

I have quite a bit of white walls to cover up... it is a work in progress! I'll share photos of my lockers on Monday!

And on Thursday night this happened: Parent Orientation! I was lucky enough that all of my parents were able to make it and I think we had a good time! I can't wait to meet all the kids at Open House next week! EEK!! :)

As part of the back to school link up over at Blog Hoppin', I am sharing just  a little sneak at my daily/weekly schedule for "When Thursday". This is the new lesson plan format I am using this year and I am digging it. It's so organized and I  looooooove when  things are organized! I also love the cute Cara Carroll fonts I used to make it! :)

As part of the same back to school link up, for "What Friday", I am going to talk about my favorite things to teach! My favorite things to teach are letters, letter sounds, and sight words. Well, basically anything to do with reading because reading is one of my most favorite things to do EVER! Over the summer I worked hard to create new games, center activities, and flash cards to make my word work time even more fun for the kids (ok, and myself!)! I can't wait to use them! 

I think I learn this more and more as I get further into my career. I am blessed to have the job that I do and blessed that I find going to work to be so much fun! I am looking forward to another great year starting Monday! 

To all my fellow teachers out there, have a super duper year!!! 

Sarah :)

Where and Why?! Back to School Blog Hop!

Hey all!

I have been extra busy working on my room this week! As many of you may have read in my last post, this is my second year of teaching, which means I really get to make my classroom my own this week and mannnnnnn I can't wait to fill it with kiddos and start learning! 

Since I have been so busy working on my room I ran out of time to link up yesterday. So I am doing a two for one today ( well tonight actually.... pretty sure this is my latest blog post ever!) 

I'll start with...

 Where Tuesday!

Like I said, I have been working reallllly hard to make my classroom my own this year, and therefore its not completely 100% finished. Well at least not to where I want to share all the deets yet! So here are a few sneak peeks! 

This is the view from my doorway...ahhhhhhh! :) We are doing a school wide carnival theme for the year and boy it sure has been fun! 

and below you will find my favorite new addition to my room! My lockers! My dad was nice enough to make these for me and all my future kiddos! and those cubbies?? Yes, Please! 

Why Wednesday

Like pretty much any teacher I know, I  l-o-v-e, love organization. I mean c'mon, it's an obsession.  But like I said I am only a second year teacher so I am still kind of finding out what works and what doesn't. So I am going to share two things that I am loving at the moment! 

Ignore the things on top, I forgot to put them away before snapping this picture! But every teacher has to have one of these carts right? I got mine super cheap at Pat Catan's and it was love at first sight! It's a new addition to the room as well!

For right now these tubs are how I organize my read aloud books and my centers. My books are in the purple bins and are organized by months. I started this last year and I am liking it! I am sure as my collection grows I will either have to find bigger boxes or a better way to store them, but for now, it is perfect! In the clear boxes I store all my math and literacy centers (also by month). Each activity is in a manila folder with a label and of course decorated with washi tape! 

Well that about does it! Hoping to link back up tomorrow for  When Thursday! Please check out Blog Hoppin' and visit some other teacher bloggers sites for some cool ideas! 

Sarah :)

Who Monday: Blog Hoppin Back to School!

Hey Y'all!

 I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' today ( and hopefully the rest of this week) for their back to school linky!

I already linked up and did the meet the teacher linky, so I will try to make sure I don't repeat myself!

A few of my favorite things: the color orange, washi tape, organizing my classroom, and blog stalkin'!

My favorite children's book: The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. A classic that I could read over and over and over again!

My favorite book ( because I love books and because I love reading in general!): To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. 

and ok so I have to be honest about my love for children's books... I am kinda maybe   completely obsessed with them. I have a knack for remembering titles and even authors. I rarely forget one. Have you heard of the trivia game quiz up? I used to hold the title for best in Ohio. It was a proud moment, y'all!  A proud but nerdy moment. 

Aside from books I really enjoy watching movies and spending time with my family and boyfriend! Here is a silly picture of my guy and I at a local little festival ( we had just eaten the best steak sandwiches ever!) 

As for my teacher side, I am about to start my second year of teaching next week and couldn't be more excited! This year I am trying something completely different from what I did last year....the Daily 5! I am excited and nervous about the whole thing.  If you have any great tips feel free to leave them in the comment section, because I wouldn't mind reading them! :) 

Well thanks for stopping by and learning more about me! Check back tomorrow for my post about where I teach! I should have my room mostly finished by then, so I will be able to share some pictures! Yay! :) 

Stop by Blog Hoppin' to meet some other great teacher bloggers! 

Five for Friday!

Hey Y'all!

   Linking up a little late here, but I got to go into my classroom this week and I have been busy, busy, busy!!

This is my new writing center! My bulletin board is not completely finished but I am excited with the progress so far! My board is actually not your typical bulletin board. It is this rather ugly green square that I think was once a chalkboard. All of the paint is chipped and it was uggggggly! Last year I put cork contact paper on it and it just wouldn't stay! It was a pain in the neck and not the prettiest sight!  This year I used white contact paper. I am hoping this will last for more than a year because contact paper is a pain for a perfectionist like me. I poked many of air bubbles in that baby today! My plan is to change it monthly and slowly but surely add more things to it! 

I found this question mark at Target this week. It lights up! I plan on putting it at my small group center.      I plan on using it as my do not disturb or "ask three before me" light. It was too cute to pass up! 

This is my new and improved Eye Like What I See Chart. I used this last year for a while and it worked well! I found the googly eyes at Jo-ann's I believe, and just put some magnets on the back. The c and t below stand for class and teacher. If I like what I see , they get a point. If I don't like what I see then I get a point. I think this year I will use different easy rewards like pack up five minutes early or an extra dance break. The kids can "win" by having the most points at the end of the day. Hopefully I never have the most points! ;)

I went to a balloon lift yesterday and it was soooooo pretty! Another sign the summer is coming to a close though. 

Made dinner for my man tonight and it was so yummy! It was my first time grilling by myself and I am kinda proud of it! ;)

Stop by Doodle Bugs and check out some other fab Five for Fridays!

Have a super Weekend! 

Sarah :)

Meet the Teacher!

        What better way to introduce yourself as a blogger than link up with some other teacher bloggers, right? So here I am linking up with Falling into First for her meet the teacher link up! 

Here is a little bit about me...

I am a second year Kindergarten teacher and I LOVE my job! Don't we all, right? :) I decided to start blogging this summer, after blog stalking for the last two years. There are SO many great ideas out there and I wanted to share some of mine too. 

I have three sisters and they are pretty awesome! Especially when they help me with my school stuff! ;)

I also have a fantastic man! Next month will be two years! He spent about an hour and a half with me in the Lakeshore store last weekend. Can you say keeper?? ;) This picture was from one of the two weddings I was in this summer! 

Q: These are a few of my favorite things…

A Washi Tape, books, storage containers and Coca-Cola! I can't live without it!

Q: If you weren’t a teacher, what would you want to be?

A an editor or a historian!

  

Q: Finish this sentence, “___________________, said no teacher EVER!!”

"I love sharpening pencils allllll day!", said no teacher EVER!!

Q: It’s your birthday and you can invite anyone {dead or alive} to the party. Who are you inviting?

My grandma! And if we are allowed to invite book characters... Nancy Drew. She is my hero!

Q: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?
A Teacher, Teacher!

Q: You get to pick one superpower. What is it?
A This is a hard one...but I think I would have to go with invisibility! I would like to sneak up on people and pull pranks!

Q: What’s your favorite quote or saying?
A"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn!"

Q: If you HAD to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be? 
A I would probably get voted off before I sang the first word but... probably a song from Grease because i know those by heart! 

Q: Are you a morning person or a night owl?
A Night owl for sure! 

Q: What’s your favorite resource that you’ve created in your TPT shop?
A I don't have two many of those but probably my Orientation Forms. I feel so organized with them! :)

Q: Share something we might not know about you!

My birthday is on Halloween! :)

Now it's your turn! Head over to Stephanie's blog to link up with some other fantastic teachers!