Saturday, August 11, 2012

1st Week as a Teacher and a *FREEBIE*!

Hey everyone! I'm so excited it's finally the weekend. My 1st week was AMAZING! Everyday, I go home thinking about how much I love my job and how lucky I am to have such an amazing opportunity at such an innovative school. I was sooo pooped yesterday from all the excitement this week that I didn't get to add my Freebie Friday post...but I know ya'll love freebies so I didn't want to disappoint.

I actually created this freebie to use when I was subbing, before I was hired as a 3rd grade teacher. I found that I always preferred to leave the regular classroom teacher a note at the end of the day, and they appreciated it as well. I created this form to make it easy and cute!

{For some reason, the picture makes it look like there is only border on one side, but the actual file includes the entire border and everything is centered!}

You can grab a free copy of the "A Note From the Sub" {here}!


I also promised that I would post a couple of more pictures, so here ya go!

My job board: "Whooo is helping"
The sign I painted for door to my classroom!
This is my meeting area. My mom found this rocking chair on our local Buy, Sell, Trade and spray painted it tiffany blue! She also painted the owl stool {on the left} for me as well as a gift.

The top of the table my mom painted for me!
The rest of the table. I love it!

My mom also painted a stool for my best friend, who is also a first year teacher teaching 2nd grade {on the right}!
This comic doesn't really pertain to me, but I thought it was funny! Gotta love life as a teacher!


Have a good weekend!
Photobucket

Saturday, August 4, 2012

O.W.L. {Outstanding Weekly Learner} of the Week

This morning I woke up and realized that this is my last weekend of the summer. My life will forever change on Wednesday... my first day of school as a TEACHER! I have been waiting for this moment since I was in 3rd grade, but I am still starting to get nervous. I have a million post-it notes in my purse, car, nightstand, couch, pants pockets etc with reminders of things I need to do! My mom asked me yesterday what else I had left to do for my classroom and I told her "I have no idea! I'm just gonna keep going until I can't think of anything else!" haha

My classroom is thiiiiisss close to being finished. I will be posting pictures as soon as I think it's ready...which will probably be Monday night.

In order to strengthen my classroom community, I decided to create my own version of Student of the Week. In one of my practicums during college, I was in a 3rd grade classroom where they had a student of the week every week. The teacher did a great job of keeping up with it, and it allowed students to feel special and share parts about their life that may not have come up otherwise. It also allows students to find things in common with other students!

So, I will be implementing an O.W.L. of the week to go along with my classroom theme of owls! O.W.L. stands for Outstanding Weekly Learner. If you are interested in having an OWL of the week, you can click {here} to check it out at my TpT store!



Now, off to the pool to enjoy my last weekend of summer :)
Photobucket

Friday, August 3, 2012

*Freebie* Friday!

Hey ya'll! How is everyone's week going? I have been crazy busy this week. In addition to getting my room ready, lesson planning, and doing home visits, I had a 3 day orientation for my school district for all new hires. Each day, orientation lasted from 8:00-3:00, so it didn't leave much time for extra blogging time. I am SOOO glad it's Friday ya'll, so to celebrate the weekend, I decided to do a Freebie Friday!


I have been making a TON of stuff for my room, so I thought I would post some of it for you to use, if you wish!

First of all, I saw several "sharp" and "dull" pencil labels floating around the Pinterest universe, but none that I really loved. So, of course I made my own! I tell you what, I don't know how in the world something so little could make me so happy, but it does! I also have a pencil sharpener job on my job board, and these little labels will make the routine so much easier to teach and implement!

Talk about micro-organization :)

Click {here} for your FREE copy of these adorable pencil cup labels.


In addition to this freebie, I have ANOTHER freebie! I've been one busy girl on my Macbook, and loving every minute of it. The school where I work requires us to post the acronym W.A.L.T. {We Are Learning To} our board  as a way to display our learning objectives every day. If your school just so happens to expect the same, or if you just want the letters as well, here they are!

Check them out {here}!


I hope you are able to use one of these freebies in your classroom! If you do, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it!


Lastly, as a 3rd grade teacher, I think time telling is a VERY important skill for our students to learn for many reasons. I have been searching for ways to implement as much time telling into my lessons, and I ran across this great idea! In addition to managing your student's bathroom trips AND creating a clear classroom routine, these worksheets also get students to tell time with every bathroom trip! Students must sign-out and sign back in every time they use the restroom during class! I LOVE it!

Check them out {here} at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 


Photobucket