Hey there! I haven't linked up with Kacie from Doodlebugs Teaching for her famous Five for Friday Linky Party in months. (I know... it's Saturday, call it fashionably late.) What's not to love about a Linky where you can post 5 random things about your week. So let's let the randomness begin!
1. I had had my eye of this fantastic product on Teachers Pay Teachers for months. It sat on my wish list because it was a rather big ticket item. But, I was on a search for some fabulous Morning Work for my firsties. I looked at many products that were available out there and I was sold on Kelly from Teacher Idea Factory's year long Good Morning Work pack. I love that she alligned all of her product to the Common Core Standards. However, she convinced me in sharing that her product encouraged independence. There are 5 days of work that have the same directions. So on the first day of a set, you need to go over the directions closely, but then for the next 5 days the directions are the same so I have had to help less and less as the week goes on. If you are like me, you have eighty million things to do in the morning between attendance, lunch ordering, returning library books, checking in homework, etc. etc. So, students being independent is a really good thing!!
Back to this summer... This product sat on my wish list waiting for the right time... and the right time was the Back to School sale this summer. Always a deal seeker, I jumped on the opportunity and picked up Good Morning Work for Reading AND Math. So how's it going?? I love these awesome packets and my kiddies do too. The have helped me keep my sanity and the kids are getting great review! You really should check them out!
2. Check out my newest fashion accessory... I know, you're jealous. An intervention we are trying to help one of my cuties is to be mic'ed up. I've had to wear an FM system before but, it was so annoying. I couldn't figure out how to wear the headset properly and truth be told no one else seemed to know either. But then, something clicked and I realize I had it on upside down... DOH! Now I feel like 90s Madonna (minus the cones and the blond pony tail). Whatever it takes to help my kiddies! Now, I just have to remember to turn it off when I run to the ladies room, LOL!
3. I made these editable tent style name plates to coordinate with my jungle theme classroom and they turned out so awesome, I put them and some other patterns up for sale on TPT. Each set (bright colors, primary colors, lime and turquoise, and animal print) comes with 5 different prints to mix and match. All you have to do is add your students' names, print, and laminate. I did not miss writing each child's name in my neatest, most precise, first grade teacher handwriting. You probably already have name plates for your students from back to school, but if your kids are like mine, they are already half destroyed. I like to have an extra set on hand for substitutes and special guests. I am making them free in my TPT shop until Monday night. Please, just leave feedback in return!
4. This year, we are returning to a traditional math program after what seemed like forever with a very "interesting" math program that lacked in many of the basics. We were always supplementing and it was EXHAUSTING! Anyway, our new program is My Math by McMillan McGraw Hill. And so far, I love it and so do the kids and parents. We were also returning to drilling addition and subtraction facts, which took a backseat for many years. Now I'm not a huge fan of the stress of timed tests, but I do think they have a purpose to encourage fact fluency. But I wanted to use something that would be motivating to my students. Enter Rainbow Math by Tamra and Sarah at First Grade Buddies. I picked up both the addition and subtraction program. And we are ready to try it out next week. I'll post more about how it's going, but I'm really excited to try out their system.
5. I got to visit my son's first grade classroom for Back to School this week. I can't believe how fast he's growing up! He just joined cub scouts and we had a blast at his first pack meeting at a local farm. We elected not to camp out as this was his introduction to scouts and my husband and I had another commitment. But, here he is posing with one of the many scarecrows on display.
2. Check out my newest fashion accessory... I know, you're jealous. An intervention we are trying to help one of my cuties is to be mic'ed up. I've had to wear an FM system before but, it was so annoying. I couldn't figure out how to wear the headset properly and truth be told no one else seemed to know either. But then, something clicked and I realize I had it on upside down... DOH! Now I feel like 90s Madonna (minus the cones and the blond pony tail). Whatever it takes to help my kiddies! Now, I just have to remember to turn it off when I run to the ladies room, LOL!
3. I made these editable tent style name plates to coordinate with my jungle theme classroom and they turned out so awesome, I put them and some other patterns up for sale on TPT. Each set (bright colors, primary colors, lime and turquoise, and animal print) comes with 5 different prints to mix and match. All you have to do is add your students' names, print, and laminate. I did not miss writing each child's name in my neatest, most precise, first grade teacher handwriting. You probably already have name plates for your students from back to school, but if your kids are like mine, they are already half destroyed. I like to have an extra set on hand for substitutes and special guests. I am making them free in my TPT shop until Monday night. Please, just leave feedback in return!
4. This year, we are returning to a traditional math program after what seemed like forever with a very "interesting" math program that lacked in many of the basics. We were always supplementing and it was EXHAUSTING! Anyway, our new program is My Math by McMillan McGraw Hill. And so far, I love it and so do the kids and parents. We were also returning to drilling addition and subtraction facts, which took a backseat for many years. Now I'm not a huge fan of the stress of timed tests, but I do think they have a purpose to encourage fact fluency. But I wanted to use something that would be motivating to my students. Enter Rainbow Math by Tamra and Sarah at First Grade Buddies. I picked up both the addition and subtraction program. And we are ready to try it out next week. I'll post more about how it's going, but I'm really excited to try out their system.
5. I got to visit my son's first grade classroom for Back to School this week. I can't believe how fast he's growing up! He just joined cub scouts and we had a blast at his first pack meeting at a local farm. We elected not to camp out as this was his introduction to scouts and my husband and I had another commitment. But, here he is posing with one of the many scarecrows on display.
It's been a good week. My students are settling into their routines. My own kids are settling into our school and home routines. Here's hoping for another good one next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Thanks for stopping by!
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