July Currently...just a tad late!

Many of you know that I spend my summers working as a camp director just a little ways away from where I live. This is part of the reason the blog has taken a back set for now too. I simply do not have time. It has been another great summer so far, but I am starting to stress about getting a new classroom set up again. This will be the 4th time in 4 years. :) 

Team Teaching...Here I Come!

I know I have mentioned it before, but I am so excited to be team teaching in 1st grade next school year! I think it is going to be great, however, I also know that there is a possibility that it may flop. In my opinion though we won't know unless we try! I thought in honor of my upcoming journey that I would share some of the things I am most looking forward to in this new chapter of my teaching career!

One.
I am so looking forward to becoming a guru in what I am teaching. Right now I feel like I am a good teacher in all of the subjects, but I cannot wait to feel like an expert in Math, Science, and Social Studies. I know I am going to be a better math teacher because that will be my main focus. One of the things I am looking forward to most about teaching math is implementing true guided math in my classroom. Currently in my classroom I have roughly an hour to teach math. In my team teaching setting I will have about 90 minutes to teach math. I cannot wait to see what a difference having 90 minutes will make not only for my students next year, but just for their math career in general. The way our day is set up right now does not allow us to really teach Science and Social Studies explicitly and I cannot wait to do that either.

Two.
I am excited to have someone else to share my first grade friends with and the fact that I will get to touch the lives of twice as many of them too. One of the things I liked about teaching middle school was the fact that I knew I had the opportunity to touch the lives of so many students. My last year in 6th grade I taught 105 students to be exact. Their smiles are the reason I do what I do each day. There is also just something special about teaching 1st graders. They give the best hugs, they love you no matter what, and they just truly enjoy being at school.

Three.
I am excited to have a teaching partner that I can share ideas with and have someone else to talk with about our kids. Parent conferences can sometimes be a difficult task and you have to share some things with parents that are not the easiest to do. Being to have two different thoughts and people who are noticing the same things will be so helpful when those difficult conversations happen.

I am absolutely pumped for next year to get here so I can have this experience that I think is going to be just awesome! I promise to share more about the adventure as it happens. The goals for now are to survive our Author's Tea, have our Field/Water Day, and End of the Year Party, and did I mention that I am going to be setting up in a new classroom for the 4th year in a row? Oh well, it is so worth it this  year! 

May Currently

Is it seriously already May 6th? I cannot believe that I only have 22 more school days with my first grade friends! This year has had its ups and downs, but overall it has been my most favorite year of teaching yet. There is just something about teaching 1st grade and their sincerity in the fact that they truly love their teacher. There is not many things that are better then a big smile and a warm hug from my friends each morning. :)

Being that it is May I am linking up with Farley for her monthly fun. 

Wordless Wednesday

What is your favorite bulletin board that you have put up this year?

Currently- April Edition

I seriously cannot believe that it is April! I know I say this every month, but where the heck is the school year going? Since it is the 1st of the month I am linking up with one of my favorite blog buddies, Farley, for her Currently Party!

Let It Go- STAAR

It is that time of year that state testing begins again in Texas. As many of you know I spent my first two years teaching 6th grade language arts and testing was a big stress of mine. I know there are different things that stress me out now in 1st grade, but I know there are so many teachers who are worried about  the upcoming tests. This video was sent to me by one of my readers that volunteer in my classroom from the church right down the road. Don't stress…just let it go! 

Bright Ideas Hop: Storing iPads and iPods in the Classroom

If you are coming here from 2 Peas and a Dog, Welcome!

I am so excited to be participating in the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! You are going to find so many new tips and tricks that I know you will be able to implement in your classroom. 

One thing that I am very passionate about is technology and making it accessible to my students. I am lucky enough to have three iPads and two iPod Nanos in my first grade classroom right now. I am even more excited though because I have another iPad Mini on its way thanks to a Donor's Choose Project! 

One of the toughest things about having this technology in my classroom is how to store it and make sure it gets charged daily. I am so glad that I have finally found the perfect solution for my classroom and I am so happy to share it with you all! 

To most this looks like a normal set of plastic drawers, but it is my technology hub! This has made my life so much easier and we do not have the problem of devices that are dead. In the top two drawers you will find our regular iPads. 

They fit in the drawers perfectly and are accessible to my firstie friends. All of the power cords are run through the back of the drawers so they are not in the way. It is nice not having to find outlets all of the time to plug them into. The key though is to find a surge protector that can fit multiple chargers because sometimes they are to close to each other and you cannot use all of the plugs. 

We had a quick training on how to plug the devices in when we are finished with them and the kids have done a great job of making sure they stay charged. 

In the third drawer you find our iPad Mini as well as our two iPod Nanos and our Bluetooth iHome. We use the two Nanos for our Listen to Reading station and it has made life ten thousand times easier. Before we had a CD player that would not take headphones so I was constantly asking them to turn the player down while I was meeting with small groups. My first two students who choose Listen to Reading get to be in charge and they know to take the iPods to the Listening Tubs. 

The only real hangup that we have had is finding the best headphones for our devices. I think that we have finally found a good fit for us. We store them in a tub at the front of our classroom and students know to go and grab a set when they are using an iPad or the iPods. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and seeing how I store technology in my classroom! I hope that this gave you an idea or two that you can use in your own classroom and I know you will find many more throughout the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! 

Be sure to head on over to Angela's blog to see how she breaks the Nagging Cycle! I know you will not regret reading it!

Do you want to hop by grade level? Just click below!

An InLinkz Link-up

   

    An InLinkz Link-up