School is in Session...

School has officially started! It's been awesome and pretty crazy. It was a mad rush to get my room ready in time, but with Jirik's help I made it! My class list has been changing like crazy, but it seems to finally be set at 25 (which is way better than the 29 I was scheduled to have!). I have fewer students that the other second grade teachers so I will probably get the move-ins.

I was sick over the weekend and my voice has been going out this week, which makes it kinda hard to teach. I have a pretty chatty bunch, but they are so sweet. I love that 2nd graders still really want the teacher's approval and are pretty easily motivated. I really do enjoy my class and the days fly by. We are still practicing being good listeners and working quietly, but hopefully we'll get there soon!

I posted some pictures of my classroom set-up that you can see here.

Productive Day

Today was a fun day, but also quite productive! Sharee came over to hang out and it was way good to see her! We played some Mario Party 8 to relive some of the good ol' days :-) It's always fun to talk about how silly we were in middle and high school! She also helped me move the rest of my school stuff into my classroom. It's all in their now! Now I just have to go through and set everything up and make it look inviting (and lots of lesson-planning!). Later in the day the carpet guy came and put in the new padding. So we dismantled our living room once more and put it back together again. Hopefully that room is there to stay now! We are just waiting for them to repair the drywall and repaint, then the hole fiasco is over! Yay!

Tomorrow I have my first day of teacher orientation. I have 2 weeks until school starts...CRAZY!! I go to orientation meetings until next Monday. Then I have one last week to get EVERYTHING ready and prepared. I'm excited, but pretty nervous at the same time!

School Supplies

Before this year I had never stepped into a dollar store before. I knew they existed, but thought everything inside would be total crap. I was raised with the belief it is better to buy a few nice things rather than a ton of cheap stuff. I still hold that belief to be true, but in setting up my classroom the Dollar Tree has become my haven. They have a whole teacher aisle! I admit some of the stuff looks cheap and is crap, but just often enough I find just what I need (since I don't have a ton for my class I often find just what I need, but usually not for a dollar!). Today I went and bought book baskets to fit into the wire storage cubes (my makeshift bookcase...see sample to the left). Younger readers have a hard time selecting books that show the spine, so k-3 classroom usually have covers showing (either through special bookcases, display racks, or book baskets). Nice book baskets (really just plastic tubs) usually cost $5-10, so I'm pretty excited about the $1 ones. They're not perfect, but good enough. I bought all 15 they had. I also found some other tubs to store independent math practice tools (math games, flash cards, math concept books, workbooks, etc.). This summer I've also bought posters, bulletin board letters, an alphabet strip, stickers, certificates, paper, word strips, a USA map puzzle, a Tetris Cube (for a math game), books, etc. It's been a great place to go, especially since most teacher stuff is expensive.

In the past week I've gotten many other things for my classroom too. Martin and Trish were a huge help and with the convenience of a car I was able to get 3 beanbags, animal print pillows, school supplies, games, disinfecting wipes (2nd graders have a lot of germs...), wire storage cubes, labels, hanging folders, etc. It was awesome to visit with them and they helped me get things that would have been impossible for me to get otherwise. Thanks Martin and Trish!!

Because we're lacking a car I also buy some things online. Several of things came this week that I'm quite excited about! I got a class set of individual whiteboards (I found an awesome sale!) that are great for checking for understanding. Every teacher I've worked with has used them. It's easy to have kids do a math problem or practice spelling words or whatever and then have them hold up they're answers and you can instantly see which kids have the concept and who needs more practice. I also got some organizational items that I'm thrilled about! I like everything to have a place and be labeled, so these will help me try to accomplish that. I also got some smaller items like story wands (to help with guided reading) and math fact books (these are way cool...you follow a string of math facts and figure the missing answer and then yo can check yourself with a special little decoder).

I also ordered some more this week that hopefully will come soon. Cathy was going to buy me a Safari Adventure banner from Pottery Barn Kids, but their safari stock sold out expectantly. In looking for ideas online I found some more safari themed banners from a party store and personalized some to fit my theme. Cathy bought me a couple and I bought one. I'm super excited for them to come. Preview them here:
The reading one will be hung over my reading corner above the beanbags and pillows. The monkey one will be in the hallway and have a set of swinging monkeys with bananas from the teacher store that I put below it and write each child's name on a banana. The safari one will probably hang over my desk, we'll see. Yay for cute banners and great sisters!

I'm still feeling overwhelmed by the thought of starting school soon, but I feel like I'm making progress to get where I need to be. Jirik has been a HUGE help in calming me down, finding cool stuff, and supporting me. He's coming with me to my classroom this week to help move the rest of the stuff in, put together the wire storage cubes, test markers, organize, and make the room look appealing. I have a great husband!