Where has the time gone?

It is hard to believe that my 1st 6 weeks in 1st grade will be in the books at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. It has been a crazy ride, but this has by far been my favorite year of teaching yet. I am not exactly sure why, but it has just been awesome! I love the fact that I get to teach the same 21 children every single day and that I get to really know them. It has been amazing watching them grow during their short time in 1st grade already. 

We have launched the Daily 5 and I am meeting with Guided Reading groups on a daily basis. I love working with small groups and that is something that I for sure did not get enough of in 6th grade. I am hoping to introduce guided math in the coming weeks and pull small groups during math as well. I just think that time is so important for students and their growth as a learner. 

I am also super excited about some changes I am making in my classroom that I think are going to make a huge difference for my students. I have some energetic students who love to be active and moving. I kept finding myself asking them to get back in their seats and back on task. I had read lots about the use of stability balls in the classroom instead of a traditional seat. I thought, why not try it out and see how it goes. Oh my goodness!!! The results were awesome and I could not believe the change in their attention and focus. Let's just say that thanks to Teachers Pay Teachers I was able to buy a whole class set and they will be here on Wednesday! I am pumped and my kids cannot wait either. No worries, I will share lots with you all about that change in my classroom. 

Writer's Workshop...I'm in Love!

It is hard to believe that we are already into week 4 of our school year. This is actually the first full week that I am in the classroom. I technically was week 1, but that does not really count. It feels so good to be getting into a routine and to see the students remember our procedures and such for our classroom. 

On my campus 1st grade is in their 2nd year of implementing Writer's Workshop. I knew that I wanted to wait to start it until I was going to be in the classroom for a long time without interruption. That happened on Tuesday. I decided that my kiddos were ready for the introduction of Writer's Workshop. 

We began the introduction by talking about the fact that everyone has a story to tell. I had several students tell me that they were not good writers yet, and I was excited to hear that. I wanted them to realize that we don't have to use words to tell our stories. I started the lesson by telling them a story about when I went to Disney World as an excited 9 year old girl. They were engrossed in my story and dying to hear more about it. They could not wait to tell me their stories too! 

Next we talked about what they were thinking about while I was telling my story. They told me that they were making a picture in their head and I thought my heart was going to skip a beat! It was the perfect lead into the next part. I wanted them to understand that we can tell a story with our pictures too and that sometimes we do not need words. We made an anchor chart of things that good artists do such as color in the lines, use colors that make sense, and to not leave any white space on their pages. 

Then it was time for them to practice. We talked about the different details that they needed to add to their pictures to help tell their story. I could not believe how quiet and involved they were creating their stories. Here are a few pictures from yesterday which was the first time we "wrote" our stories. 

Today I gave students the opportunity to share their story if they were interested. Some of course were hesitant, but overall they wanted to share. It was awesome to see them so excited to tell their classmates about their story that they "wrote." I hope that their excitement for writing will continue throughout the year! 

Can I Pass Go?

Can I get an Amen? 

One of my teammates sent this to us on Facebook today and I could not agree more! 

This week is the 1st grade week to test both TPRI and DRA for all of our students. We are so blessed because our district provides us with either a substitute or paraprofessional to cover our class so we can test our students. This is awesome because we are not trying to make sure the classroom is running smoothly (that's a lie because I am still worried) and our focus can be the testing. I have 21 friends in my class and I was able to get 15 of them through TPRI today. That was a good feeling! 

Here is to hoping that day 2 of testing is just as productive!

September Currently

I can officially say that I survived my 1st week as a 1st grade teacher! I loved every minute of it and so know that I am now in the right spot! Don't get me wrong, I liked 6th grade, but I love 1st grade!

It is the beginning of the month so I am liking up with one of my favorite ladies, Farley, for her monthly Currently party!

Listening: I am not a person that can sit in a silent room. I am not currently really even paying attention to the TV, but there is noise coming from it. I really need to get better about listening to music instead of just putting the TV on. 

Loving: 1st grade and everything about it! I always thought I wanted to teach 1st or 2nd grade, but it has now been confirmed that is where I am supposed to be! It just feels so right! I have an amazing class of 21 little friends, 10 boys and 11 girls. They make me giggle on a daily basis and I may be biased but they are pretty darn smart!!! I cannot wait to watch them grow throughout the year!

Thinking: All of 1st grade (minus one teacher who is teaming with another) has to be out on Wednesday for a training on the new Math TEKS. This will be the 7th day of school! I would be lying if I said I was not freaking out about it. In middle school it was not a big deal because the kids did just fine, but we are still working on rules and procedures for 1st grade. I hope my friends will have a good day and that we will not have to do too much retraining on Thursday. 

Wanting: I think we all can relate to needing more time in the day. I think a 36 hour day would be about perfect! I could get everything done and still find time to sleep. :)

Needing: I need to go shopping for a new wardrobe! I was spoiled the past two years because I pretty much wore jeans every day because we had a shirt to go with them. I am in serious need of some dress pants and dress capris! Oh wait, I need time in order to go shopping though! 

For Me: 

1. I need to be consistent about doing my devotional each morning while I eat breakfast. Too often I find myself saying I am too busy, but I need to make time for that!

2. I need to exercise because I know that I would feel so much better about myself. I have been doing a better job of eating better, but I still need to consume more water on a daily basis. 

3. I have got to get home quicker on a daily basis...I could stay up there all night. My goal is to leave no later than 5:00 p.m.