Hey, ya’ll! How are ya? Another Wednesday has rolled around and I’m hijacking another of my own Wisdom Wednesday posts! The nerve….lol! Today has been a pretty inspiring one. Beginning next Wednesday, I’ll begin posting the Wisdom Wednesday quotes to social media instead of here, on the blog…and actually from the handy dandy iphone! Be sure to follow along, so that you don’t miss any little tidbits! For now….here’s the last one for the blog…
Of course, you can’t think of absolutely everything, but you can be purposeful in planning to prevent a few things. I posted this picture to Instagram and FB earlier today and got a question that I thought I’d drop in to answer. It goes right along with setting students up for success.
The die cut circles are going to be used as our “success spots” for the upcoming school year. What’s a success spot, you ask? Wellllll…it’s a good choice for seating, in a place that will help a student to be successful in the classroom. Ever tell your kids to spread out or find a good thinking spot? Ever think of actually marking them on the floor? If you have, success spots may just be the thing for YOU!
If you look very closely at this picture from my classroom last year, you’ll notice little lengths of tape on the floor. We used those to help guide students’ choice of seating for ‘Read to Self’ or ‘Read to Someone’. We ended up working on the floor A LOT and for reasons other than just reading, so next year, they’ll have a new name! Having choices for successful seating helps students to choose quickly and get right to work! By placing them on the floor, I help to guide the distance between students without ever having to voice it….so control and choice are both ultimately up to the student.
Those little silver circles are cut from sheets of decorative duct tape! They last for quite a while. Fingers are busy tracking print, cross checking print and pictures and holding materials, so they don’t bother them. Occasionally, one may come up from normal wear and mopping. I’ll be sure to die cut a few extras to serve as replacements.
…and because comfort is important to learning, our classroom design will take on a much different look next year! I’m so excited! This is a little sneak peek of some of the changes coming to our classroom and a hint of my color scheme. There’ll be a few “bright ideas” added before it’s all wrapped with a bow and finished. Stay tuned!
Comment below and share one of the ways you set your students up for success! See ya soon! =)
P.S. No students were harmed in the making of this blog post. That kid stretched out on the floor is my son, lol! Teachers kids have it hard! Give one a hug of encouragement from time to time! =)
Hi, Friends! How’ve you been? It’s been a while, so I’m gonna crash my own Wisdom Wednesday to catch up with ya!
I’ve been working on taking a little of my own advice and getting some much needed rest over these first few days of summer. That’s right folks! That fat lady has sung…the curtain has closed and it’s a wrap! We’ve celebrated the end of another fantastic year in 1st grade! It’s really true that time flies when you’re having fun! It’s so hard to believe that another year has come and gone.
Our A-Z countdown was a big hit! Watermelon Day was a favorite! There were lots of grateful yums and a whole lot of slurping going on in the classroom that day!
We reviewed animal habitats as we ended the year. Care to guess what habitat we illustrated as part of our math lesson? I’ll give you a hint…..it has several layers and is such a hoppin’ place that there are animals swinging from the trees! Lol…..exploring {the rainforest}…..was exciting! We read non-fiction texts, reviewed their features and used details to illustrate rain forest habitats after decomposing numbers on the tree branches. We did this activity on one of our very last days so it got packed up before I could snap a picture of the final product. After working with a partner to decompose the numbers written in the trees, students were free to conduct independent research using PebbleGo.com and add details to their illustration to show what they had learned.
We also reviewed a different phonics skill each day of the last week-ish. Do your kids enjoy The Little Old Lady…books? Mine did! Being that one vowel sound slides right into the other when we pronounce words with diphthongs, we usually use a wide mouthed illustration of the little old lady when we brainstorm these types of words. The trouble with that is…..I tend to forget that The Little Old Lady that Swallowed a Diphthong….{ahem}….may not be such a great title to use for this little activity!!!! Geez, lol! She’s eaten a lot of things, but ummmmm, that’s one we’d better skip! If you’ve got a suggestion for another good illustration, help a girl out and leave it in the comments. I guess we could just illustrate the words on the web, huh?
After creating a word web of each of the spelling patterns together on chart paper, we completed a directed drawing for students to illustrate and create their own word webs. Students then chose words from each of the bubbles to include in a creative writing about our very greedy friend. They turned out looking a little something like this…..
Field Day…Play Day….Watermelon Day…..review, review….Awards and our very last day as a little school family were all loads of fun. I wish I could share them all, but we were so busy creating memories that the camera got left behind a LOT on those days! I’m so proud of how hard my kiddos worked this year, even up until the very last couple of days. Daily 5 time was absolutely sacred and they didn’t let anything interrupt their procedures! I was in awe of how well they worked together.
To hear my firsties reminding each other about how to choose helping partners, reminding each other to still check for understanding….even with only a day left?! To hear them using the language that we practiced all year, the language that we began using on the very 1st day of school?! Amazed and just plain ole proud! Yep! They were ready. There was nothing more left to do other than enjoy making memories and send them off to 2nd grade with a bang!
As the year came to an end, I also received an awesome surprise! This year, without a doubt was one of the best! I had the best class of inquisitive little loves. We learned so much and grew so much….TOGETHER. After making sure each one of them ended the year feeling loved and celebrated, I was invited to a celebration of my own! Just last night I was recognized as TEACHER OF THE YEAR for my rockin’ campus! I can brag on my kiddos all day, but I get a little shy when it comes to directing attention directly on me.
It was a sweet show of appreciation and I couldn’t have been a bit more grateful to my coworkers that took time out of their summer evening to come support me. It was great to see my very 1st principal’s smiling face in the audience and then there’s the person that nominated me…my current principal. Let me just say, that could be a complete, whole ‘nother blog post! If she moved to the moon, I’d be ready to suit up and follow…..she’s absolutely the BEST! She encourages each of us to strive for excellence in such a way that makes it easy to go the extra mile, to show up and rock each and every day. Our school is a place that is filled with love and laughter and people that genuinely care for each other. The positive atmosphere on our campus is like no other and its all a tribute to her leadership. To be complimented in this way, by her…means a lot to me. My heart was completely filled with gratitude and I appreciate the recognition for doing what I love and LOVING what I do.
I hope you’re enjoying some rest and relaxation too! Stay tuned….I’ll be back soon to share a TREAT from our very last day!
Welcome to the very first installment of Wisdom Wednesdays! This will be a quick weekly post to share a word of encouragement, piece of advice or funny that has helped me to endure this wonderful, wacky job we love! It’s inspired by friends like you, conversations that I’ve had with new to the profession teachers and maybe even….me encouraging myself to just keep moving forward! I hope these weekly little tidbits will inspire and be of help to you.
Each week, I’ll post a simple picture in the style of a text message from my handy dandy iPhone. Please feel free to pin or share. Enjoy! See ya next Wednesday!
