Better Late Than Never....Classroom Reveal

So this has been a super busy week with happy students (and teachers), long hours, and no extra time. I have been meaning to do a post to reveal my classroom but haven't had one spare moment this week.

So...without further ado

My 2014-2015 Classroom

(it's always a work in progress)

 

 

                                                        I can statements!

 

We start every morning off by saying this quote by Rita Pierson. I love it. Some of my sweet kiddo's even had it memorized by today. They simply amaze  me! I have the sweetest little bunch this year.

 

 

 

 

Computer Center

 

 

 

Reading Center & AR Boards. (Inspired by Amy Lemons)

 

 

Writing Center

 

 

Collaborative Table (Extra Writing Table =)

 

 

And just in case my students may need a moment to "cool down"

 

Hope you enjoyed my classroom reveal. Now this exhausted teacher is going to hit the hay.

 

 

Happy First Week Everyone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Better Late Than Never....Classroom Reveal

So this has been a super busy week with happy students (and teachers), long hours, and no extra time. I have been meaning to do a post to reveal my classroom but haven't had one spare moment this week.

So...without further ado

My 2014-2015 Classroom

(it's always a work in progress)

 

 

                                                        I can statements!

 

We start every morning off by saying this quote by Rita Pierson. I love it. Some of my sweet kiddo's even had it memorized by today. They simply amaze  me! I have the sweetest little bunch this year.

 

 

 

 

Computer Center

 

 

 

Reading Center & AR Boards. (Inspired by Amy Lemons)

 

 

Writing Center

 

 

Collaborative Table (Extra Writing Table =)

 

 

And just in case my students may need a moment to "cool down"

 

Hope you enjoyed my classroom reveal. Now this exhausted teacher is going to hit the hay.

 

 

Happy First Week Everyone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



When: Scheules & Convocation

It's WHEN Thursday, and today I am sharing my schedule, two of the curriculum maps for this year, and a little special on our amazing back to school Convocation.

 

Here is my schedule for this year! It might be kind of hard to read so you can grab it here. We do 120 minutes of ELA per day and 90 minutes of math. =)

 

In our county we have 4 nine week periods, and for each nine weeks we do curriculum maps as long term planning. It is very helpful and makes doing lesson plans a breeze! You can grab a copy of the curriculum maps here. Even though your pacing may be different you might be able to get some shared reading book ideas =)

 

1st 9 Weeks:

 

 

2nd 9 Weeks: (Click here for a copy of the 2nd 9 weeks map)

 

 

I wish I could share my lesson plans, BUT unfortunately they aren't done yet. We go back to school Monday and I have been busy getting my room put back together and with convocation and orientation today it just didn't get done. Best laid plans right? Since I have orientation under my belt now I plan to do lesson plans tomorrow =)

 

On another note.... we had our Back to School Convocation today. (Something our county does as a back to school kick off...kind of like a pep rally with all of the Elementary schools together showing school spirit. The middle and high schools do theirs together) And let me just say I had SO much fun!

 

These are seriously some of my most favorite people!!

(From left to right: Courtney my Wild and Fun 2nd grade teaching buddy, Shannon our Instructional Facilitator who also has a heart of gold, Me, and Amy our wonderfully sweet Principal) LOVE these girls! <3

 







 

 And guess who was one of the winners of the spirit award???

 

PLEASANT RIDGE!

Our staff ROCKS!

And as if this day couldn't get ANY BETTER guess who our key note speaker and entertainment was???

 

Drum Roll Please....

 

American Country Singer and Song Writer

Jimmy Wayne

 

 

His speech and story were wonderful. We were all in tears and extremely motivated to help all the kiddo's we come in contact with. His story was so inspiring and truly touched my heart. I don't know how your county kicks off their school year but I have to say WAY TO GO Gaston County because that was pretty awesome! I will never forget today.

 

In case for some crazy reason you don't know Jimmy Wayne's music, click here for to listen to my favorite song by him, "Stay Gone"

 

What an awesome day!

Head on over to Blog Hoppin' for more get schedules & lesson plans!

 



 

 



 



 







Organizing Queen (Sometimes)

Today is the 3rd day of the 2014 B2S Blog Hoppin' Week, and today is all about organization!

I am an organized person by nature. Yes, I am one of those people who say, "Everything has a place." I like any and all things to be organized BUT I will say this....I do have a junk drawer at home and sometimes when I'm a scramble I will shove everything into a closet until I have time to get it organized the way I want it.

*True Confession-I do have a storage closet at school that is in need of a little TLC, but who has time for that when your classroom looked completely upside down and orientation is tomorrow! =)

Here are just a few of my organizing tips:

I got these tubs from Walmart a couple years ago, and labeled them by subject. (I have also labeled them by the days of the week) I put all my copies for each subject in the tubs and it makes it really easy when I need to go grab something for the next lesson. Nothing fancy but helps me keep my copies organized.

These are some of my math manipulatives. Nothing fancy here either but I got these white containers at my favorite place The Dollar Tree, and just slapped on a simple label. This really helps during math small groups so students can easily access math materials.

 

Next up table baskets and tidy tubs. I'm not sure who the original creator is for Tidy Tubs, but if it is you THANKS! My sweet mentor shared this idea with my last year! =) I love these mini trash can Tidy Tubs. I got them from the Dollar Tree and this really helps keep traffic in the classroom at a minimum when we are cutting up paper etc. They have no need to get up and go to the trash can. I have one at each group table, and the table captain empties it when it is full.

  This is where I keep all my classroom supplies (crayons, rulers, glue, etc.) Basically just more baskets and labels. Are you noticing a trend here? =)

 

I spent 9 hours cleaning, organizing, and trying to get things ready for tomorrow. We have our Convocation tomorrow morning and orientation tomorrow afternoon and I still have a few things to get ready, but it will all come together =)

 

I'm super excited to meet my kiddo's tomorrow. (Some of them I had in Kindergarten and I am SO excited to have them again) It's going to be a GREAT year.

 

Leave me a comment and let me know your best organizing tips! I'd love to read them =)

 

Head on over to Blog Hoppin' to check out other great organizing tips =)

 

 

 



 

 



Mrs. Grant- Room 101

It's day 2 of the 2014 Back to School Blog Hoppin' Week! And today is all about "Where you teach."

 

Since we just went back to school yesterday my room is still pretty much a mess, so this will be a very quick look at some of the things in my room. I will post a classroom tour on Friday once it's all done.

 

Last year I changed my theme to Dr. Seuss, and I loved it....for that year, and then I quickly realized it takes a lot to commit to a "theme." While I still love all my Dr. Seuss stuff I decided to change it up a bit and go with more of a color scheme than theme. I basically gave my classroom a face lift. =)

 

Last year this bulletin had truffula trees and a Dr. Seuss quote on it. It was really cute, but my 3-dimensional truffula trees did not want to stay on the wall. Every morning I would have to come in and re-hang them. It was a true pain in the behind! So this year I decided to stick with the a quote and this is one of my favorites by Rita Pierson. I plan to start off everyday by having my students repeat this quote during our morning meeting. I hope that after saying it all year it will stick with them. Some of our precious babies really need to be reminded of this!

 

 

AR is a big thing at our school and we push it very hard! I got this idea from Amy Lemons, and since this wasn't an item in her TpT store I did my best to re-create it. Each time one of my students reach an AR goal I will have them sign there name one the correct points board.

 

This is another bulletin in my room. It is above my computer table so the computers cover up a lot of the board so I thought another fun quote would be a good way to dress it up.

 

And after working another 9 1/2 day this is all I was able to get pictures of. The bigger classroom reveal will come later this week. Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peak.

 

Make sure to stop by Blog Hoppin' to check out all the other fabulous ideas from great teacher bloggers! 









Who is Mrs. Grant???

Hey Friends! So since I am still getting my toes wet with the whole blogging thing and I thought it would be fun to dive right in and participate in the 2014 Blog Hoppin Teacher Week.

 

Here is what you can look forward to this week:

 

So let's get started with Monday!

 

My name is Elizabeth Lee-Ann Hayes Grant. I teach 2nd grade for Gaston County Schools. I work in a title 1 school and LoVe it. I was born and raised in Dallas NC. As my friend Libby would say, "I am a Bi-product of Gaston County Schools." I am so happy and thankful to work for the county that I went to school in. I met my husband when I was in 12th grade. We went to school together for 3 years and never knew each other. (Funny huh?) Once we started dating we never looked back and we are coming up on 10 years together. My handsome husband is a County Planner and I think he is pretty brilliant.

Here's a little flashback to some of our favorite moments.

 

 

               

*Fun Fact-In the photo of our wedding, that is my sweet father in law who married us; such a special moment. 

 

On January 4th 2012 we welcomed our sweet boy Kipton Michael Grant. There are no words to describe how incredible it was to bring this sweet miracle into the world. He has changed our lives for the better. Every day he reminds me how precious life is. I love watching him grow and become his own person. He is full of life and so social. The past 2 1/2 years have flew by but have been the best ride I have ever been on. Meet my heart, my world, my precious loveable boy. (I'm probably a little bias)

 

 

 I'm getting ready to start my 3rd year teaching. My first year I taught Kindergarten, and last year I taught 2nd. I absolutely love 2nd grade. I love the quality of work that students are able to produce. I love all the fun books and activities that we get to do. Our school is very small and we mostly only have 2 teachers per grade level. This year I am teaching with a new teacher who ironically taught Kindergarten last year in my old room, but I am super thrilled. We have become great friends and our work compliments each other well. I am SUPER excited to see all the fun things this year brings along with my new blogging hobby =) Stay tuned for exciting posts in the future.

 

So I will end with 10 things you didn't know about me already! (Thanks for the template Amy Lemons! You are AWESOME! ) If you haven't checked out Amy's Blog head on over. She is brilliant and super friendly.

 

 

 

Make sure to head on over to Blog Hoppin' to learn all about other teacher bloggers!