LEVEL UP!

Hi, Friends!  How are ya?

Boy! Is anybody as tired as I am? We started back to work this week and I have to say….man! I’m about to fall off of my feet! Our work week got off to a very inspiring start, but this night owl is struggling to stay away ALL.DAY.LONG.

I am super excited to have finished up a little project that has been a personal goal of mine for the past 3 years! That was really lonnnnnng term, huh?  All in due time, all in due time! 

Actually, I didn’t realize how BIG of a project it could turn out to be!

Since I began teaching first grade, my goal has been to level my personal stash of books.  Well, the clock ticked and days passed.  They turned into weeks and well, quite frankly, those weeks turned into 3 school years that went by in a flash!

Enter….{content sigh}….and a wonderful feeling of relief here. =) Our fantabulous Instructional Coach asked our team what we would’ve liked the most to promote reading success and listened intently as requested “good fit books”.  When our little boxes came in this year, it felt like Christmas in August! What teacher doesn’t love receiving boxes full of books?

I know that there are many of you with huge, massive literacy libraries! Starting a new campus from the ground up, takes time to establish.  I’m so grateful to “level up” with my firsties this year! Seeing those bins sorted, labeled and ready for kids feels grrrrrreat!

 

Now, you might ask…why are those other bins on the floor?  Well, the story goes a little something like this:  the rack that holds them is on back order until O-C-T-O-B-E-R! Can you say “popular”? Totally annoyed! Jeez….so until then, on the floor they rest.

I kept going back and forth and researching how to organize my library this summer.  What I saw most often that offered the kids the most bang for their buck was a combination of leveled books and books organized by topic or genre.  I went with topic and I am looking forward to seeing them in the hands of my little class of emerging readers!

Did you notice that I finally put away that roll of blue butcher paper that was leaning against the wall?  Hehehehee. Well, praise the Lord for the amazing Cara Caroll!  Her tip to use painter’s tape and hot glue worked like a charm! I *LOVE* not having to look at an entire span of plain white wall!

Things still look a little bare because I feel like its oober important for the kids to help put the room together.  I set the backdrop and they fill it in as we build our classroom community.  Make sure to stay tuned to see what we have in store for the coming weeks!

Sorting and organizing all those books has got your girl beat!  My fingers and toes are crossed in hopes of receiving a class list tomorrow!  Wish me luck!

“See ya” soon!