Made it Through the First Full Week!

It's been a busy, CRAAAAAZZZZYYYY week!  Lots of changes this year with scheduling.  I am teaching a total of 52 different students daily.  I'm still trying to put names with faces, but I have managed to learn all (okay MOST) of them!

 

We are doing something we've never done in 2nd grade before, we are ability grouping for language arts, reading, and math so there is LOTS of moving around going on.  Out of 19 homeroom students, I only teach 4 of them in any subject that gets a report card grade.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one!

 

While I'm working all of that out in my head, I'll share some pictures with you.  Today was the first day I wasn't so stressed that I remembered to take my camera and make some pictures!  :-)

 

Here are my math students doing the daily math spiral.  Since it is a larger group than I had anticipated, I don't have enough of the   math/calendar boards that I made to go with this.  Until I can get some more copied and laminated,  we are using my brand-new write/wipe boards.  The students are working hard.

Here is a close-up view of the big screen.

The August spiral can be purchased here or the year long can be purchased here.

In Language Arts, my students made this craftivity from my Spelling Bee unit.  They are so excited about a "bee" coming to visit.  One of my students kept asking today if it had visited yet!  hahaha

A closer look.

This is one of my treasures from the recycle store.  For $1.99 I got this metal hanging square which is already the lime green/blues of my classroom.  All I had to add was the "Where Are We" labels to match my frog theme.

Here's a view of the hall.  I'm so glad to have it so bright and cheerful looking!

My "How Will I Get Home" is now hanging from a ribbon and ready to add clothespins next week!

Remember that lime green checked tablecloth that I got for $1.20 from the Goodwill store which I used to cover my door?  It included 4 clips to use to keep the tablecloth from blowing off a table.  Since they were the colors I was using, I couldn't bear to just throw them away.  So, I hot glued them to the wall and turned them into fancy hooks.  This one is holding my destination clipboard.

This one is holding the $1.50 purse I also got at the Goodwill store.  I just couldn't pass it up!  It's the perfect colors for my room theme.  This one is hanging in my spelling literacy station and will hold the spelling words/activities for the station.

 

Well, I can barely hold my eyes open!  I would LOVE to hear from you...ESPECIALLY, if you ability group.  I need ideas and suggestions! 

 

Have a great weekend!

Candyland in Kindergarten

What an absolutely FABULOUS day we had at school today.  Everything went very smoothly.  We are off to a GREAT year.

However, as all of you know how it is the first day, I am EXHAUSTED!!!  Therefore I'm leaving you with some BEAUTIFUL pictures.  These are from the Kindergarten teachers at our school.  I still miss kindergarten sooooo much!  The teachers went all out this year with their theme of Candyland.  Since none of them have a blog, I couldn't resist sharing it with you all.

C is for Classroom Pictures

Sorry I've been MIA these past few days.  I've been working like a mad woman finishing up my room.  Yesterday was "Meet the Teacher" day and I got to meet 18 out of 20 students.  Today, was a catch your breath day and get all the paperwork in order day.  Tomorrow, is the BIG day...

I hope you'll stick with me on this post.  I've got LOTS of pictures to share with you!  I've also linked up with others showing their classroom pictures.  Click on their links at the bottom.

Looking down the hallways.  They just got painted in our school colors this summer.  Aren't they beautiful?  And the floors are so shiny.  Well, that won't last long!!!

Here's the area outside of my room.  I laminated the larger construction paper and added clothspins.  Tomorrow the students will decorate their name tags to add to it.

Here's my door.  I found a brand new plastic tablecloth at the Goodwill store for $1.20.  It's the perfect backdrop to my decorations.  Since it wasn't quite long enough, I added the blue paper and some flowery vine that I had also picked up for 50 cents.

A closer look.  These decorations can be found in my Back-to-School Frog theme here.

We all have boards outside our room where we are required to display our homeroom list, our reading group, and our schedule.

Looking into my classroom.  Sadly, my boards will remain unfinished for a few days.  The laminator tore up this week, can you believe it???  Of all weeks.  I will post updated pictures later when it has been fixed and I can add my Focus Wall here.  You can go here to download your own FREE copy.

 Our reading rug my sweet son-in-law gave me last year.

Reading area with new blue and green baskets along with my frogs I've been gathering all summer.

The calendar which is also part of my Back-to-School Frog Theme packet.

Math area.  I had a bright idea to paint a RED bookshelf lime green.  Put me behind with my "To Do List" as it took SEVERAL coats of paint.  BUT, isn't it bright, cheerful and pretty??

The curtains my mom made me using the blue fabric that I had for many years on my bulletin board...repurposing at its best!

I decided to put my Word Wall on the large heat/AC unit.  These match my Back-to-School Frog unit and can be found here.

Instead of DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read), we're going to have FROG time (Fun Reading is Our Goal.)

A froggy blanket, frogs and basket.  All found at the Goodwill store!  This is in the "Book Nook" area so kids can cuddle and get comfy with a good book.

On the other side of "The Book Nook."  I hope to encourage students to "Hop Into A Good Book."  This is a freebie in my store!  Be sure to grab it!

The wall behind my reading table with magnets stuck on my new magnetic wall.

Here are some links to view other awesome classroom pictures!

Check back for more pictures soon.  If you have purchased any of my items, please send me your pictures of them in your classroom and I'll share them on my blog.  I would love to see how you used them!