5 for Friday- Saturday Edition

 It feels so great to be linking up with Kacey again, just don't judge that today is not actually Friday. 

One. Character Parade

We had our Book Character Parade on Friday to celebrate the end of our book fair and I had a blast. At first I was not sure what or who I wanted to be, but was very happy with how my costume turned out. 

 Two. Cold Weather

I just love cold weather and we got a serious blast of it in Central Texas on Friday. It was in the mid 30's pretty much all day and we did not even go outside for recess. Currently we are under a Winter Weather Warning and there is a possibility for snow on Monday. Fingers crossed for a late start since we are one of the few districts in the area that has to go to school through Tuesday. 

There is also just something about spending the evening at home with a fire in the fireplace. 

Three. Christmas Music

It is pretty much my favorite and we listen to it daily in my classroom. So blessed to work in a district where it is okay to celebrate the holidays. 

Four. Whole Brain Teaching

It is completely changing my classroom and our behavior. I promise to share more in the coming weeks about what works and does not work for my classroom. The biggest thing to remember though is that you have to make it your own. Just because you see a video does not mean that your classroom has to run exactly like that.

Five. The Little Things
I have absolutely loved every minute of teaching 1st grade. There are for sure days that are harder than others, but my students make it all worth it. On Friday as we were leaving for the day, one of my friends had a bit of an issue that we had to take care of before she could leave. As she is getting ready to leave, she asks if I would walk her to her bus. I told her absolutely and then she grabs my hand as we are walking. When I got to the gym door with her she turns and tells me with a big smile followed by a hug that she loves me and she loves being in my class. She melted my heart and really made me realize why I do what I do. It is these little moments that make what we do all worth it. 

Whole Brain Teaching…I'm Sold!

I am sold on Whole Brain Teaching and everything that goes along with it! I actually began implementing the five rules and the "class-yes" portion of WBT in my 6th grade classroom. I have been using these same two components in my 1st grade classroom since Day 1. I knew that I wanted to implement more, but I was not really sure how to do it. That is when I came across this video. 

I bit the bullet and implemented the scoreboard last week. It was a hit on day one and the kids were sold on it. It was awesome when they walked in today and their first question was if they were going to win the game again. :) Day by day I am getting better at implementing the scoreboard and becoming more religious with rewarding points for both good and bad. We got over 30 marks on our board today which was quite exciting. 

Today I introduced the concept of mirrors. Another huge hit!

I promise to keep sharing with you all on my WBT teaching journey! I am also going to be participating in a WBT Book Study that will begin in January! Be on the lookout for more posts about WBT!

November Already?

Is it seriously November? I have been a horrible blogger lately, but I have just been so busy. I actually missed four days of school last week because I was sick. That was no fun at all!!! Let's just say that my kids were super excited to see me on Friday. 

We have been up to so much lately. We have learned a little about…

bats

spiders

pumpkins

fire safety

being drug free

how to make applesauce

and so much more!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks! 

We absolutely love our ball chairs! :)

We are launching  math stations this week so I will be sharing how that goes in the next few days as well as updating you all on how the Daily 5 is running in my classroom.