I Survived!

Yep, that's right I survived my first FULL week of school! And it wiped me out! My body is still not used to this whole working thing. It's rough going from a summer with no alarm ever going off  to getting up at 5:00 every morning!

 

Can I just say that I love my class this year! I mean I love my class every year, but I really think this is going to be a great year! My kiddos seem to get along so well and I already feel like I have known them forever. They are a low group of kids, but that just means more room for growth :)

 

Today I want to share with you our first writing project that we have finished. The project comes from a great 4th grade blogger, Lisa, at Fourth and Ten. I purchased her Story of a Name Craftivity a couple of years ago and finally remembered to take pictures of the project this year. This was a great way to start writing out. We were able to review the writing process and even add in a little Internet research. My students had a great time researching the meanings of their names and also asking their parents how and why they were given their name. Here are a few of the finished projects! (sorry for the awful picture quality!)

 

 

Click on the picture below if you want to check out this fun project!

 

 





 

Have a great weekend!

 



Give With Target! Earn Money For Your School!

 

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the big TPT sale as much as I did! I spent WAY too much money, but I'm excited about the great resources I got!

 

I also wanted to remind you of a great opportunity to earn money for your school through Target. Target has a  program going where you can earn up to $10,000 by having people vote for your school on their Facebook page. Once you get 25 votes you earn $25 and then another $1 for each additional vote! Click the picture below to find your school and vote!

 

It's All A Blur......

This past week is a total blur! I had every intention of taking lots of pictures and sharing what I did all week, but I honestly can't remember a thing!! I started school Monday with Institute and Back-to-School Night. Our school decided to do a Back-to-School night this year instead of doing an Open House in a month, like we usually do. Again Back-to-School night is all a blur. My students all came in so fast and at the same time that I know if I were to see a parent out, I wouldn't recognize them! Overall it was a really fun night though!

 

Wednesday was the first day back with students and it was a FULLLLL day, which was rough. We made it through though and it was a lot of fun! I always enjoy meeting the students for the first time and I love how quiet they are on the first day.....even though it never lasts :)

 

We did a couple really fun activities on the first day that I want to share with you all. None of the activities are mine, so unfortunately I can't take any credit. The first is a Back to School Drama Circle by Runde's Room. The first day is always full of rules and procedures so this was perfect to throw in when I could tell the students were getting tired of listening to me talk! This activity has students act out a sequence of events that occur in the first day back to school.

 

 

Matt, from Digital: Divide & Conquer was kind enough to give me his Back to School Task cards to try out and they were also a hit on the first day! I spread the cards around the room and the students had to pick 15 of them to answer. Then we got together and shared our answers. It was a great way to get to know the students!

 

 

I also had the students do the classic Me Bag activity. My students always seem to enjoy this activity and it also really helps me learn what my students are interested in. Every year I have a handful of  students that are nervous to share their bags in front of the whole class and this year I didn't have a single student who was nervous! They all begged to share and one even sang his favorite song! I guess it's a good thing that they are already comfortable with me and their peers, but it makes me a little nervous that they are going to be a VERY talkative group! I used a freebie template from Mrs. Barksdale to staple onto a brown paper bag.

 

 

Ok, this is post is getting WAY too long! One more thing..... I want to remind everyone of the BIG TPT sale! I have been waiting for this allllll summer! Tomorrow and Monday you can get up to 28% off your purchases. My store along with many others will be 20% off plus the additional TPT discount! I don't know about you but I'm excited to finally purchase all those products on my wishlist!

 

 

Have a great weekend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Classroom Reveal!

Tomorrow is the first day back for teachers and then Back to School Night tomorrow night! Kids come for a full day on Wednesday. I'm ready, but I'm not. My room is ready to go, but I seem to be struggling when it comes to the planning. It will all come together though!

Here are some pictures of my room!

 

 



Back to School Blogger Exchange!

I'm back from my vacation to California! Best vacation ever! I will be posting pictures soon. Being back in Illinois realllllly makes me wonder why I live in the most boring state there is!

 

I am in complete denial that school actually starts on Monday, but I did get a nice surprise in the mail which makes going back to school a little better!

 

I participated in Covered in Glitter and Glue's Back to School Blogger Exchange and I was paired up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper. She is one of my favorite bloggers, so I was super excited to get to send her some back to school goodies! She sent me a great package of so many of my favorite "teachery" things! Can't wait to show all these goodies to my teacher friends! Check out the adorable personalized clipboard! Thanks so much Holly!!

 

 

Click on the picture below to check out the great gifts that some of the other bloggers received from the Back to School Blogger Exchange!