Back to School in Second Grade Day 10

Well, we are off to a rip-roaring and populated second grade year.  Must have been something in the water!  There is a possibility that we will get a new teacher--we are still waiting...and growing older....Stay tuned!

We have been using a great back to school packet by The Bubble Blond Teacher that the kids are loving.  It is great to use right now because I am so busy doing Back to School assessments.

Click here to buy it!

This is what I am using to do some of my assessing with.  It is FULL of different types of assessments so I anticipate using it all year.

Our focus right now is Problem Solving on your OWN!

Not that I want to start with the negative, but this may come in handy for you.  These two were pushing and shoving in the line...they were at the end, mind you....and could not work out their issue by themselves.  So, in my room, if you can't work together as friends, I will FORCE you to become friends!  These two spent about 15 minutes holding hands while trying to work together, getting water, and cleaning up.  Needless to say, at the end of that 15 minutes they were fast friends and ready to be rid of each other.  I haven't had any more pushing and shoving either!!  The wonderful thing about it---no parent can be mad at me for doing something ridiculous.  At least not too ridiculous.

Right now our second grade classrooms are departmentalized.  I teach half a day's worth of literacy to two different blocks of students.  My partner teaches all of the math.  Because of our enrollment, we may be adding a third teacher and if we do, we will all be teaching every subject.  So, I am really interested in looking at this book.  From what I read, the curriculum spirals.  So...anticipating that I may need to problem solve on my own, I am looking ahead!

We have already had a case of lice this year and hopefully it is the last!  I am trying to figure out if I am brave enough to buy this new book from David Shannon of No, David! and David Goes To School fame.  My kids have read both of these books until the pages are falling a part, so it is time for me to re-order them.  

Available on August 27, 2013

Again, I am trying to problem solve on my own, so I am using Lice Logic hairspray.  The scent keeps the critters away! Again, I am problem solving!

  Oh!!  Remember that I am looking for pictures of anchor charts!  Feel free to email them to me at jennh13 <dot> aol.com.  Include your name and state for posting!  For those of you that have sent me charts, I will begin posting them soon, so be on the look out!  I can't wait for you to be pinned!!!

More later!

Tools For School--Classroom Printables

I have just a sec, so I wanted to share this offer I got this in an email so I thought I would share it with you!

Have you been to the new teacher store, Tools for Schools?  There are lots of materials available there from teachers all over the world, including yours truly!!!  Be sure to go follow me there!  They also have a great group of boards on Pinterest!

I had over 561 emails that I had to read, so as I read I fulled information that I thought other teachers might enjoy.  Here is a treat for you as you go into the weekend!

Teacher's Notebook Back to School Sale

Teacher's Notebook has kicked off their Back to School Sale today!!  I forgot to mention it in my last post.  Feel free to visit my store and browse!!  You can also enter my giveaway!  All of my items are 40% off!!

Made It Through The First Week

Whew!  Has it been a week.  I have 26 second graders right now.  It is looking like we may get another teacher, but until our enrollment period is up, we just do the best we can.  Out of that 26, 8 are native Spanish speakers and another 11 received RTI services.  My work is cut out for me!!

Below is a little bit of joy that brought into my life....a 'real' treasure box that I got at Hobby Lobby.  This is how I 'rewarded' myself for teaching my 20th year of school.  It seems like just yesterday that I was furiously trying to organize my <then> Montessori classroom!  My kids are pretty impressed with it and asked me if I went scuba diving and found it! hehe

This is a book that I shared with you a few weeks ago.  It was recommended during our Common Core training.  It has assessments for all grades <even up into high school> and I am using a phonics screener to assess my students.  The theory behind it is that students read at a different phonics stage than they are able to spell, so to adequately meet their needs we have to know what type of patterns, blends, digraphs, etc. they are able to read and this information, in turn, will help us determine which phonics levels meet their needs in spelling.

click here for more info!

This is the first page of the phonics screener...it simply assesses letter names and letter sounds and progresses to the different vowel sounds, nonsense words, short vowels, long vowels, affixes, and multi-syllabic words.

We got this freebie from TpT to send home to our parents in the hopes of gaining more info about our kids.  All you have to do is click on the pic to go and grab it!  

click here for more info!

I am also going to be using these next week!  Just click on them to get more info!

Have a great weekend!

Apps Gone Fwee and Ewapsed Time Pwactice

Just click here to go check it out!

I'm weally psyched to be starting the yeaw off with Wodney and his Wat fweinds!  Wodney has been a favorwite of my past classes for yeaws and yeaws.  Wodney is a gweat book that helps teach about bullying and acceptance. I am cuwwently wowking on a mini unit fow this book!!  Love him!!

We went back to school yesterday and spent half a day meeting as a staff and half of the day working in our rooms.  Over the summer I had reconfigured the book shelves that I had made with boards and cinder blocks <see the pic in the middle> and just realized after getting the baskets on there that I don't have enough shelf space.  I am trying to figure out what to do to fit all 35 baskets of books while not hiding the space that is usually my word wall.  Any ideas?  I am open to suggestions!!

So finally after sitting there looking at it all, I did get all of the Journeys materials that came in a zillion boxes hidden but plan on going in and taking care of the books bright and early Monday morning before registration gets started.  This is what happens if you have a children's book addition!

If you teach elapsed time, here is a great packet <with an answer key!!> which gives students plenty of experience with figuring out elapsed time and the concept of being early, on time, or late.  I used it with my second graders, but since Common Core moved that concept to 3rd grade <Thank Goodness!!>  it is just sitting in my store, being all lonely.  So, feel free to pick this packet up if you teach 3rd, 4th, or 5th grades.  Feel free to share this with your upper elementary friends, also.  Elapsed time materials are hard to come by!!

Getting Ready

Well, I spent 5 hours working on my room today <pics to come!!> and got a lot of things done, cleaned up and then, of course, made an even bigger mess that I had to leave so that the custodians could lock the school up for the evening.  Don't you just love how that works???

While I was there I went through the supplies I had leftover from last year to see what I need to buy...as always I have a back to school budget also!  I got home and opened my email and found this nice little linky-poo.  It links you to everything imaginable plus some stuff that you didn't even know existed!!  So, I thought I might ought to share it with you.

Shop Amazon - Introducing Education Supplies for Teachers

Now, your assignment is to take a look and report back <in the comment section> a deal that you think others might need to take advantage of!  I can't wait to see what you find!  Make sure to leave the name of the product, the price, and your plans with it!

A little later on <I am writing this at 5 AM> I'll probably be back with some ideas of my own and some eye candy!  Until then!  Enjoy your shopping or browsing!!

Pin It To Win It--Bloggy Style!

I worked ALL DAY LONG on this packet today and I am completely worn out.  To tired to even pin my latest creation.  So, I am going to ask you for some help!!  All I need for you to do is pin this packet to Pinterest to let the world know that there is something new out there.  I am planning to use this baby to keep everything working smoothly when we go back to school and I am doing my running records.  Just pin the pic and leave me the link below in the comment area.  Tomorrow night I will have my 8 year old pic the winner <or maybe a couple of winners if there is a good turn out!!> and announce it on the blog.  We'll work out the details of how I am going to get it to you later...my brain just stopped working.  Oops.  Night ya'll!

If you want to take a sec to look at it on Teachers pay Teachers, just click HERE or on the pic below!

 HINT:  The page below is the best one to pin!!  <wink wink>

Hi everyone! I'm Jen from

I'm so excited to be over here for Jenn. I wanted to share a few things you might want to use in the beginning of the year (ack! don't hate me for talking about the dreaded BTS....BUT, I'm less than a month away, so that's what's on my brain...sometimes! lol)

This time capsule is something I do every year, here is a picture of us doing it at the end of the year and comparing it to the one from the beginning of the year. It was so neat to see how they've grown!

It's a FREEBIE! And there is one for grades K-5!

See the blog post on these HERE 

Also, on that blog post, I have a lot more freebies to get you started for the new year! If you're anything like me, I try to get as much for the next year copied off before I leave for the summer. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post! Thanks, Jen for letting me come by!

Hope you enjoyed this post!!

Back to School Sale--Buy 2, get a 3rd free!!

I had a wonderful day with my new students!  The best first day ever!!

Remember that there is still a sale going on!!  Just because I had such a wonderful first day back with my students, I am going to change things a little!

 

For every 2 products you purchase, you get a freebie of the same or lesser value!  Just purchase your 2 products and then email me at jennh13@aol.com and tell me what your TpT name was what you would like as your 3rd product <for free!!!>

Just hop on over to my store and shop away !!

The Together Teacher: Back to School

Well, it is back to school I go.  For real.  Today.  At 7 A.M. <gotta drop the kidlins off at daycare for the first time in weeks...they are thrilled, but their mama is not>, which is like the crack of dawn for me these days.  I am a sleeper.  I love to sleep.  Sleeping has been my life this summer.  I am about to give up lots of sleep.  Lots and lots of sleep.  I miss it already.  For real.  I should be in bed asleep but I am too keyed up to sleep.  So....I figure I better get myself together.  QUICK!!!


A few months ago, I was sent the book written by Maia Hetck-Merlin called The Together Teacher:  Plan Ahead, Get Organized, and Save Time

As you guys probably know by now, I love professional books.  I collect them.  I really read them, too!  When I got this book in the mail I knew it was an OMEN. =)  My cluttered room had to go.  I had to start getting my reports and other professional papers turned in ON TIME.  I need SANITY.  I clung to this book in the hopes that this might save me.  And...to beat it all....I think it just might!  

This summer I have been busy preparing for the Common Core.  When I started I felt like I was working on a curriculum written in Chinese.  Now...it is more like Spanish.  I can pic a few words out....remember a few phrases here and there.....read and understand more than I can discuss it.....you know....

I love the way this book is organized.  The headings of the chapters scream my name!!  Also....if you have a quick minute and there is something on your mind, you can find the chapter and there is usually a nice little gray box.  I started thinking about them as the 'getting me together gray box'.  I could read that and in a flash new what direction I needed to go in with my work as I was preparing for this school year.  Yeah.  The one that begins in just a few hours.  YIKES!

Even more, I liked the "A Day in the Life" profiles that punctuate the book.  I found something in common with every one of the teachers that were spotlighted.  It was sort of like making a text-to-self connection.  I had either fought the battle they were fighting and had won....or I was busy gathering up my artillery for this school year.  And yeah....you know what is next....the one that begins in just a few hours.

One of the neatest aspects of the book is that it comes with a CD.  The CD is ideal for creating your own little organized world!!  It works on both Macs and PCs and you can save your documents on your computer so that it is forever and unmistakeably, yours!

I think this book is a keeper!!  It sure is going to be kept close to me at school for those times when I feel the dreaded clutter monster or I feel like I am losing control amongst the papers!!  

Good luck all.  Happy school year to my co-workers and teachers of America.  And remember....I've got your back!