First Week is in the Books!

Oh my word what a fantastic week we have had!  I have been so enjoying getting to know each one of the sweet students in our class.  They are such kind, hard working, responsible kiddos, which makes my days kinda dreamy. ;)  Here is how our first fun-filled week went down...

We started out the week by reading one of my favorite books, First Day Jitters.  It was so cute to see the students faces when they found out the main character (who was full of first day jitters) was actually the teacher!  Then we read a sweet poem about Jitter Juice and of course drank our own Jitter Juice to help calm all our first day jitters (I definitely poured a glass for me too!).  When asked if the Jitter Juice was working, one second grader said, "I had an army of butterflies in my tummy and they all flew away."  Sounds like it worked! Yay!

Next we got busy writing!  We have written a few journal entries telling about our first days, and about what the kiddos were up to all summer as I was waiting for them in room 8. :)  Ask your little one to tell you all about how I was waiting, and waiting... and now they are FINALLY here!  We also made this adorable banner telling about some of the things we plan to do in second grade.   We are going to feed our brains, create sharp work, and share bright ideas!

So many of the materials I use in the classroom have been created by other talented teachers.  This craftivity is from Reagan Tunstall.

We kicked off our year in math by creating these cutie-patootie mathematicians while discussing and writing about the wonderful things mathematicians do.  We came to the conclusion that we are all mathematicians!  Then we made a class promise to work hard, try our best, and never give up!

Later we had a super fun time figuring out these collaborative SILENT math puzzles.  Yep, the students worked as a team using only eye contact and gestures to solve their challenge.  Everyone did fantastic!  The students realized how valuable it is to work together as a team. 

Special thanks to the super fantastic Amy Lemons for these great lesson ideas!

We also made a beautiful art project showing how we are each beautiful and unique, but together we are a masterpiece.  <3 

Phew!  What an awesome week!  There is so much more that happened, these are just a few of our highlights.   We of course have been going over rules, procedures, and how to have the HEART of an Eagle.  But man-o-man our class sure knows how to have courage, be responsible, do their best, show respect, and be a good friend.  Room 8 most definitely has the HEART of an Eagle. <3

One more highlight I have to share is how AMAZING you all are!  I sat down this afternoon to check homework folders and the 10,000 forms that needed to be signed and returned by you all.  ;)  Parents and students all completed their week 1 homework.  Hooray for you!  Thank you for making my job so smooth by being so on top of it.  I really appreciate how quickly you all took care of business.  Thanks for being AWESOME!

Here is a little FLIP of our first week.

Enjoy the long weekend friends, I'm off to take a nap. ;)

Our Sweet Home Away From Home

Well...it's finally time to show off our space!  I have been having such a great time putting all the finishing touches together in our classroom this week.  Here are a few photos of our happy room.  :)  Although I am enjoying how super clean it is at the moment, (Take a good look, it surely won't look this clean again till Open House! Ha!) I really just can't wait for it to come to life with student work.

With no further ado, come on in!  Welcome to our sweet home away from home. <3

Our front door.

Drop station as you enter the room.  This important table is where papers that are ready to be returned
 are filed, Wednesday folders are stashed, homework folders get filled and checked, school library
books are stored, and students turn in their best effort work!

The view as you enter.  So very thankful for the awesome parent who donated our comfy colorful rug! Love it!

Cute little Table 1 

Our Reading CAFE board.  So excited to get this baby up and running!

Many hands make light work. :)

Along the back wall we store math manipulatives, and lots of supplies.  I love our journeys map.
My students created it years ago and it has become such a valuable resource to our curriculum.
(Gotta get some work up quick to cover that jagged seam, eek!)

This is our school mascot that I use in my bald eagle lesson to show the eagle's awesome wingspan.
I decided to hang him up this year so the kiddos can add a feather with their name on it each time they earn the HEART of an Eagle.  I expect "Matey" will be soaring high with wings full of feathers very soon!

Ta-Da! Just might be my favorite spot in the room, our library.  It's still a work in progress, but little by little, it's getting very organized.  Wouldn't you like to curl up with a good book here!?

I made a huge dent organizing books this summer.  Some day in the near future, each and every book will have a
label and a corresponding tub.  Any fellow organizers out there want to help me finish up? :)

Clip chart and "In This Class" poster.

One more poster I just had to make.  I love the things that take place in our class everyday.  <3

Hope you enjoyed the tour!  In the coming days it will really come to life.

I am so excited to document our 2014-2015 second grade joys!


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I'm So Excited!

...And I just can't hide it! :) I've been M.I.A. on here all summer, but I am back and ready to kick off a great school year! Tomorrow I meet my 21 new kiddos and their families!  I just can't wait to see everyone's smiling faces at the Back-to-School Bash! To make tomorrow's festivities extra special I made stuck a sweet label on these fun welcome snacks. Welcome to second grade friends, I can't wait to meet you!