First Week... Check!

The first week has come and gone. I'm going to be honest... It feels like I never left. Summer vacation? Seems like a distant memory.  Is it just me???

We've been crazy busy, I feel like I'm drowning in all the beginning of the year "stuff." BUT I love my new class and it feels good to actually put on make up and real clothes. Do I miss my baby? YES. Is that even a question?!?! I miss her like crazy. I only had two meltdowns this week about leaving her all day, so I'd say that's a success.

I'm exciting to get back to sharing five things every (well... maybe not EVERY but as often as we can) week. So here we go...

One of our favorite books to read at the beginning of the year is Chrysanthemum. We love it so much we have a mini unit! When Chrysanthemum dreams of her name being Jane, I love to stop and ask, "If you could have picked your name, what would you have chosen?" This year, I got one little boy who said, Spike! LOVE IT. Spike is a far cry from Marko. hehe After the story we do a name graph and then we complete an acrostic poem. Both of these activities (and more!) can be found in our pack. 

Who doesn't love their birthday? Unless maybe you're approaching your thirties??? Lindsay drew these cute cupcakes (a freebie in our TPT store!) so we could create a class birthday pictograph. As you can see... January is a popular month for my class, it's going up the ceiling! 

The third day of school proved to be quite exciting! I pulled up to school to find 4 fire trucks. The school was evacuated and the fire fighters were geared up. Turns out one of the sensors on the roof went bad and was going off. 

Fortunately, we weren't able to sing... 

The roof was not on fire.

I had my first fail of the year. Although, it seemed like such a great idea. On those adorable little clothespins I wrote every ones class number, 1-29. (Yes, 29! It's my biggest class yet!) In theory, when number 5 is ready to turn in their paper they take their clothespin and clip it to their paper. Then I can quickly see who is still working and who is finished. Now the key there is "in theory." Pinterest steered me wrong. 

What happened in reality was not so wonderful. The clips when flying or broke. 

Clearly, this little girl didn't understand they she needed to complete the whole paper.

The clips lasted all of one day and then after school I took them off and threw them away. It was worth a try, but I don't suggest this form of organization for anyone. 

Now, baby's in bed and I'm enjoying a margarita with this stud. We are excited for a fun filled family weekend!  

Adios,

Amy 

WHAT we teach

This late night post has been delayed for a few reasons: 1) Our power went out last night and was still out this morning 2) It's my last Friday of vacation :((( and 3) I just wasn't sure what to write!

But, I have decided that my favorite things to teach are Writing and Math.  I absolutely love anything with numbers and math has always been my favorite, but I am a little nervous to begin this year because we have a totally new math series again.  The series is, Bridges, and it looks like it will be very beneficial BUT also super intensive without a lot of prepping.  So, we'll see. :)

I also adore teaching writing.  Well...usually.  At the beginning of the year, I might wanna cry and pull my hair out sometimes, but I remind myself that these little cuties will develop quickly.  I love writing because there are so many types of ways for the students to show their creativity.  We do most of our writing based on a great book and usually wrap up the lesson with a cute final copy or craft.  

Have a good weekend!  I'm going to soak up the sun and squeeze my boys tight because I know I'll be missing them like crazy next week.

-Lindsay

When... Our Daily Schedules

Every year we change up our schedules a little bit depending on our lunchtime, our resource room times, and other pull outs we might have. This year we have a new math unit, which we honestly haven't even opened yet! I know, I know... what are we doing?!?! A whole new program, school starts in 12 days, and we haven't even thought about opening our TE. Yikes! This afternoon, after visiting another second grade teacher's room, Tina and I started stressing about it. We didn't realize how many components this program has! Lindsay came a bit later and calmed us down... [she's good at that]  She reminded us that everything always works out!

Side note: Is there anyone out there who uses Bridges!?!? We would LOVE to hear your opinion/thoughts/comments on the program.

Okay... I'm getting off track so back to the topic: When. This year our days are going to look something like this...

We plan together and do all the same activities but we don't always do them the same way or at the same time. Our schedules have a little bit of variance just to meet our own personal needs. Me, I'm not good at keeping to a schedule, I like freedom. But this year I'm really going to try and stick to what I have posted.

I'm trying something a bit different this year and I'm going to split up my Daily 5 block. I'm renaming it Daily 3. Writing and Word Work are going to be separate.  I'll update you on how those changes are working out for me. I'm hoping it will keep my kids better engaged during their independent working time.

Our district is also implementing a new handwriting program this year. If you notice, we don't have that in our any of our schedules. We plan on getting a handle on math and then implementing handwriting in January.

Today we planned our first week... It's def a sloppy copy right now that I'm too embarrassed to share. Once I get it legible I'll post it.

See ya tomorrow for the last Link Up with Blog Hoppin' Back to School 2014.

The Where and Why of our Classrooms

Well..we are a day behind but are linking up with our WHERE and WHY along with Blog Hoppin'.

Our classrooms are coming together with a few days left before we report for PD next week.  Tina decided to switch her theme this year.  She's had a cute movie theme for the last couple of years and decided to go with some black fabric backgrounds and bright colors.  It's coming along great!

Amy's room has blue paper backgrounds and some pops of color as well.  We are very lucky to have big, open rooms!

As for me, I am sticking with my same theme as last year.  I bought a pack from Hope King and loved the way it looked with my black backgrounds...so why mess up a good thing, right?!  I still have to add a few things, but I like to put kids work up during the first couple of days of school to decorate it a little more.

We've decided to show you how we stay organized with our Classroom Library.  This is Amy's room.  She's moved her bookshelves into this new, cute spot this summer!  

The CUTEST part of this pic is her sweet little love snoozing away while mama works!  What a doll.

Here are a sample of the book bins.  They are labeled by theme.

All of the books are then labeled with a small sticker that has the basket number.  This allows for students to easily place the books back where they found them every single time!  LOL Wishful thinking.

And I'm off...going to go check out the BOOST sale on TpT one last time before bed.  We've posted several new units this week including a bundle of EMERGENCY SUB PACKS.  Grab them quick for a great deal!

Who Are We?! Our "Coming Out" Party!

Hey there everyone!  We've finally decided that with the big Blog Hoppin' reveals this week that it is time for us to SHOW you more about us.  It's been nearly two years in the making and we are ready to get a little more personal for you all!  We hope by the end of the week, you will know a lot more about us.

So here it goes...

This pic is from July when Sister 1 (better known as Tina) tied the knot!  On the right is Amy (Sister 3) and mom to the adorable little girl that you may have seen on the blog or on our Instagram.  And I'm on the left (good 'ole Sister 2), Lindsay!

Here are 10 things you don't know about us yet!

Thanks to our blogging idol, Amy Lemons, for the graphic! :)

We'll back to REVEAL more tomorrow!

And we're back!!! Halloween, Happiness, and Headaches!!

First...let us start by apologizing to all of you!!  We have been MIA for the last few weeks with SO much school stuff.  You get it right?  SOOOO much school stuff!  The beginning of the year is just plain exhausting.  We love the excitement of back to school but we must forget how tiring it is.  Have we mentioned the SOOOO much school stuff?  Anyway...boo hoo enough about us!  You are all in the same boat and so we can sympathize with each other!

So forgive us for being absent for so long!  But we are back!!  Things are finally settling into a routine and we can get back to what we love....blogging, our teacher friends, and TPT! :) All three make the three of us very happy ladies!

We've worked on a few products in the last few months to prep for the fall season. Somehow working on TPT is like therapy that relaxes us...yes, we need help! :)

Check out Apples, Fall Writing, and Halloween!  All three are packed with fun for this season!

 

We have a new math series this year.  It is the absolute DEATH of us so far.  We know that new things come along and we always adjust what we do as the years change...however, sometimes we are forced to use things we don't think are the best materials for our students.  We are trying to stay positive that the farther we get into it, the more it will all make sense but....eeekk.  Right now all three of us worry about our math instruction.  We've decided to try to find a happy medium of the program we have to use and supplemental materials...for the kids and for maintaining our sanity.  We don't want to give out the name (to protect the innocent...lol) but out of curiosity...what math program do you use at your school?  More importantly tell us what you think of it!

Hope you are all having a wonderful beginning of the year and settling into your routines!  Halloween will be here before you know it!

It's not over....right?!?

Summer is in full swing!  At least that is what I keep telling myself!  However our Instagram tells a different story!  People all over are prepping their classrooms and/or starting back to school!!!  I can't believe it but I forget that lots of us are on different schedules so Happy Back-To-School to those of you heading that way but for those of you on our schedule....the glorious vacation continues (for a little while anyway)!

The three of us have been very busy this summer as our last post tells!  For me, the last few weeks have been busy preparing for my best friend's baby shower!  It's been a long time coming and I am so happy for her to finally be a mom!  She's having a boy who seriously has the cutest room ever....think tropical Pottery Barn!  Friday's shower is also a tropical ocean theme!  We've been burning up the Cameo with ocean things galore and I think we are finally all set and ready!  I can't wait!

Now, I do have a confession to make.....

In between the planning and my fun Chicago weekend, I have been thinking non-stop about the upcoming school year.  Seriously.  I've been shopping, creating, and crafting.  I don't know if it's the thrill of being a TPT seller this summer that motivates me to be thinking school and redoing curriculum or it might also be that little thing I mentioned in the beginning....I-N-S-T-A-G-R-A-M!  I don't know how you all feel but I find it addicting.  The more I look on it during the day, the more great things I see all of our fellow teachers (maybe even YOU) doing.  I get overwhelmed feeling like I want to do it all!!  Yes...every last adorable idea.  I love seeing what everyone's classrooms are shaping up to look like and the amount of great things I see being added to TPT daily is so wonderful.  I've always been proud to be a teacher (as are Sister 2 and Sister 3) but what is happening on blogs, TPT, Facebook, and Instagram, really makes me proud of our profession as a whole.  No more boring "Open your book and do problems 1-10." Now we are all creating and revamping everything...including our classrooms and I LOVE it! :)

Okay so now that I have confessed to being a teacher-aholic this summer, here comes the big decision I have been pondering!  Last year, I redid my whole classroom.  It's all black and red and movie themed and I love it.  But you know how when you shop, you see 100 things you want even more than whatever it is you have?!  That's what is happening to me!  I am thinking of redoing my room...again...this year!  It's quite the time sucker and costs tons but right now I am in love with black-grey-teal-hot pink-lime.  To the point, I spent tons at Target buying "just in case I change my room" things.  Check it out...

Yes...it doesn't look too crazy but trust me...that bin is F-U-L-L!   And I've been working on a new classroom pack for TPT that just happens to be learning in the direction of color matching all this good stuff!

So to change or not to change....that is the question!  Are you redoing your classrooms this year?  What kind of theme can I do with these colors?  Any suggestions?  Anyone voting for keeping the movie theme?

~Sister 1

Sunday Smorgasbord

It's been awhile since we last posted so it's fitting that we link up with Fabulous in First today!

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went to a friend's wedding. Because it was about 2 hours away we decided to make a weekend of it! Luckily, the city was also hosting the tall ships. It was so cool!

The same weekend Sister 1 took a trip to Chicago, for the Taste of Chicago, with her boyfriend and a bunch of friends.  Mmm I think I just might have to join her next summer! 

Last Friday a friend and I went to lunch and shopping at a local outdoor mall. We found this adorable new store and couldn't resist stopping in. We were hooked... Have any of  you heard of Alex and Ani? The store is full of bangles! Who could ask for more? So an hour later I left with this! I'm addicted. 

This weekend Sister 2 has been at her oldest son's baseball tournament in the Upper Peninsula.  The drive up there was a little concerning but you know what they say... rain brings luck! (Or maybe I just made that up?) But either way, their team is doing great! If they keep winning she'll be there until Wednesday. 

We've also been very busy getting our units in order for the beginning of the year! We've upload our September packs to TpT! Check them out by clicking on the covers.

I think that's all for now! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

- Sister 3 -