Welcome Back!

I figured if I wanted you to come to the blog I better post some stuff for you to read. We got through the first week of school, boy was I tired Friday, and we're into the second week. 

Your child is settling in and learning the classroom routines. Last week we looked at translating our name pattern's into actions, sounds and on paper and with colour. More work is going to be needed. 

This week we'll be working on building routines for Reader's Workshop and Word Work. We are up to 8 minutes of reading stamina. Yay!!! You may have heard that we collected rocks today for our Rock Investigation. We'll be working on Perseverance, tomorrow you can ask your child what this word means. In our rock unit, we'll be learning how to sort, work with mass, learn how to persevere and build a plan for breaking rocks. Don't tell them about this because it's a surprise for the end of the week. In math we're working on learning how to subitize (when you look at a collection you can identify it without counting) and seeing the parts inside the whole number. For example, the whole number is 6 but the parts might be 3 + 3, 2 + 5, etc. 

In writer's workshop they are learning to write from their own ideas and begin to organize their writing on a 5 Finger Planner. 

Looking forward to posting some photos. 

Great Start to the Year!

We are on day 2 of school and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful group of students. They are problem solvers, good listeners, polite, etc. I'm very blessed. 

We are slowly getting to know each other and learning the routines of the room. I've got some good feelings about this group, we're going to go places this year. 

I know how tired they much have been today because I was feeling the same thing. They were such troopers in math and solving the "Giant" problem. I'm interested to see what they are going to come up with tomorrow.

I'm starting off with some measuring activities to see if they can compare, measure, how do they measure, how do they attack a problem, do the persevere through tasks, and can they solve it without my assistance. I saw a lot of great thinking today. 

Wow! I can't wait until we really start getting into some stuff. Tomorrow is Quickdraw and I'm interested to see what they come up with. 

Favourite Day of The Year

Just as everyone else has written about the end of summer holidays, I'm doing the same thing. Tomorrow is my official day back to work. Unofficially, myself and several other colleagues (keeners) have been working on and off all summer long preparing for the year. 

I know I like to be as prepped as I can be. It sure makes life a lot easier. I've worked all week inside and decided to take today off. It's been hard to not go in. Well, I'm not really taking the day off just not in the classroom. I'm sitting on my deck and enjoying the nice day.

Tomorrow is our PD day, Tuesday is Staff Meeting in morning then the afternoon to prep. Wednesday is the official first day for the students.

I don't know about you, but the first day of school has always been my FAVOURITE even when I was a little kid. You'd go to school in new clothes with new supplies to meet new friends and of course your new teacher. What would they be like? Would they be nice or mean? Would homework be assigned the first day? Would they let me go to the bathroom if I asked? These are just a few of the questions I'd have in my head. 

I like the first day as a teacher because it's a fresh start. Sometimes after a difficult year it's nice to start with a clean slate. Both for the students and yourself. The kids are new and eager to want to be at school in anticipation of having their curious questions being answered. I'm eager to start in on routines and see all the new little faces that will become like family to me. I get to help make a difference in their little lives which is one of the many reasons I went into teaching. That and all the children's literature I get to buy. If you think I'm kidding then you don't know me very well. 

For anyone starting school this week I wish you a fantastic first day and let me know what your favourite day of the year is and why.

Happy First Day!!!

I Shouldn't Have Gone! But I'm Glad I Did!

I really shouldn't have gone to Dollarama but I did and I'm so glad I did. I had come from an afternoon matinee because I can due to summer holidays with my friend Mem and I asked if she wouldn't have minded go to the store. I had never been which she found quite shocking. After my purchases, I know why I hadn't gone before, in fact I had to go back to get more of the smaller containers and found even more.

I had noticed other teachers were posting some great finds at Dollar Tree, Target Dollar Store, etc. We just got the Dollarama a couple of months ago and I refrained from going because I knew there would be things I came out with that I didn't really need. I'm trying to down size. The items I found were exactly what I needed. Are you ready to see them? 

 I bought these little butter containers so kids could put their cut out words for Word Study in them. They will fit in their book boxes perfectly.

 I had to buy these because Mem suggested it. They are nice and big for mixing paint.

 This was a fab find when I went back for the butter containers. I am planning on making word sound cards for Word Hunts. These cheese boxes will store these cards perfectly.

 The table cloths are for art. Instead of putting out newspaper every time we do art/paint/oil pastels, these table cloths can quickly be put out and cleaned up easily. Best idea I've had in about 2 weeks :-).

These rectangular tubs will be used for math work stations. They are nice and wide to have images taped to bottom or lid as well has hold any materials needed. So excited to build the stations now. Shoe tubs were too skinny for what I needed. This is a great find.

Oops!!! I forgot to take an individual picture of the paint brushes. These are nice and small for little hands and they last a long time especially if they are taken care of. Plus if something happens, they are 20 cents. Not a huge loss. 

I hope you have gotten some inspiration from seeing the items I found today.

Have fun shopping!

Going Back to School

I just received the news today. I was officially accepted into the Master's Program at the University of Alberta in Elementary Mathematics. I can't believe it. I'm so excited about learning new things and expanding my knowledge further. I'm looking forward to reading and having discussions with others about how children learn math and what are best teaching practices. My mind is filled with all the possibilities. New books, new readings, new ideas, new debates, new challenges. I wonder if kids feel the same way when they begin school in the fall? What I'm not looking forward to is writing papers and deadlines. Perhaps our students in our rooms feel the same thing. Something to think about. I'll keep you posted about what this new journey is going to be like. It's so exciting.