Breaking into 2nd Grade

As a first day ice breaker, I highly suggest "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes. It's a cute story about a young girl starting school and getting picked on for her awesome name. In the end, the character felt good about having a different name, and her peers were actually jealous. After reading the story and talking about the importance of names, my students used oil pastels to draw flowers surrounding their names. Today was only the second day, and I referenced that story at least three times in the past two days. It also gave me the idea to do some friendship building today. I declared today, (the second day of school) "friend day" and my kiddos loved it! I read a great book about how to be a good friend and then we created a poster titled, "tips on how to be a good friend". They were pretty creative with this activity and the poster turned out to be something we can hang in our room all year. Supporting a positive learning environment where the kids work together as teams is something that I strive for in my classroom. These two activities actually helped a bit.

The Beginning of Second Grade

I think I'll start a teaching blog. Maybe the thought of another blog sounds brilliant because it's the end of summer and I could possibly be a bit bored and out of ideas to keep myself busy. I'll keep it to myself for now and see where it goes. I do have a lot of great teaching ideas, so why not take the time to write about them and share some photos. I can take some shots of my classroom in shambles as I get through the beginning of the year meetings with little time to spend in my actual classroom, and then after shots of when the room is ready for students. Let the creativity begin...

Goodbye first grade, I do love you.

What a perfect year to dip my feet into general education and step away from the computer and stress of special ed. I couldn't have asked for a better group of students and first grade is pretty much the best years of life in my recently biased opinion. I liked it. I loved it. And now, I've been asked to teach second grade next year and I'm slowing digesting the idea as quickly researching trends in second grade. It scares me to learn a new grade, but I killed first grade, so why would second be any different? It'll be great, and most importantly, I have a job:)

Today was our last day and I did my best to put stress aside and have a perfect sunny day with my kids. We played duck, duck, goose, musical chairs, yearbook signatures, pictures with friends, all things wonderful required on the last day of school. I wasn't sad to say goodbye to them at the end of the day, and I think they were pretty excited to leave for the summer. I'm not teaching summer school because of dates and travel, so I have to wait for a few months to see their little faces again. I didn't dare tell my kiddos that they may have me as their second grade teacher. I figure a summer away from each other and a fresh start in the fall may just be the way to let them know they have me for another year:) As of now, I've got 17 students on my list for the fall. Sounds hefty compared to my 12 this year in first.

Honestly, I'm happy I have a job for next year and that I'm staying at the Tribal School. It really has been a wonderful year and I think I'll warm up to second grade after a few months. But for now, stress free summer full of travel and moving houses. Happy house hunting to us and happy summer to all...

WRITING RULES

Author Study

We did an author study this month and the kids really enjoyed it! We focused on characters, setting, problem and solution. It was an interesting approach to deepening their comprehension, but overall, success!

Robust Vocabulary Web

Spring is Here!

It's that beautiful time of year where flowers are starting to bloom and the sun is poking back out. I love Spring! Why not bring a little Spring into the classroom.

Healthy Eating

Food Sense is an amazing organization in Whatcom County that will come out to schools and educate proper nutrition. My students love it! They learn, try new foods, ask questions...all around fantastic program!

Elephant Education

My friend Gretchen Rumsey is an Elephant Guru, so she came into the classroom to provide some interesting education. The classroom was silent during her presentation, and the kids were in ah. She had brought some paintings back from Thailand and shared them with the students. Being inspired, everyone LOVED the painting exercise where they were allowed to use their mouths to paint. It was a great experience!