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 =)